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Level 1

7 points

Mac Pro (Early 2008) running Lion, freezes on Start up screen

I have a Early 2008 Mac Pro running Lion. Its been running well but then last night it froze while I was on the internet. Pretty rare that this happens so I held the power off button and turned it off. Turned it back on and it made the chime noise, apple logo came up, a grey spinning wheel came up for about 30 seconds and then it stopped spinning and the computer froze there.

I tried a bunch of different things. I tried rebooting in safe mode, Recovery mode, From time machine external hard drive, Tried booting in the Windows partition that I have (its on the same as the boot drive I'm trying to boot in Lion off of).

Any ideas on what is wrong with this? I'm hoping its just a hard drive but i fear worse.

Thanks!

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.1), Mac Pro Dual 2.8 GHz Quad Core Processors, 2 GB Ram, NVIDIA GeFo

Posted on Mar 29, 2012 5:14 AM

22 replies

Tyashinsky Author

Level 1

7 points

Mar 31, 2012 9:04 PM in response to Tyashinsky

Tried booting from disk holding C when starting tonight, It ejected the DVD drive, made a noise like it wanted to read from it, gave me spinning wheel, then froze. Pretty much lost for what to do next. Without any parts to swap in I'm not sure how to further troubleshoot this. Any ideas? Motherboards cost $800 if it is that, I feel like it can't be a video card issue since it won't let me boot.

Apr 1, 2012 9:04 AM in response to Tyashinsky

Stopping at the 'spinning gear' during boot-up suggests the routine cannot get past a particular hardware fault. To assume it is not your video card is a bad assumption. I went through the exact same issue and it WAS the video card. Please review the following posts - this may just help - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3775027?answerId=17747064022#17747064022

Tyashinsky Author

Level 1

7 points

Apr 5, 2012 12:42 PM in response to jamesfromyorktown

Took it in for repair. They narrowed it down to either a bad Logic Board or both processors went bad. I'm Screwed.

Apr 5, 2012 1:25 PM in response to Tyashinsky

I know ir is faint consolation, but:

2009 and later models have comparable performance with HALF the nominal number of processors due to Muti-Threading and memory improvements.

If you have to replace it, a 4-core will be nearly as fast as your 8-core at the same CPU clock speed.

Tyashinsky Author

Level 1

7 points

Apr 5, 2012 1:27 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thanks. I might be getting it claimed on home owners insurance as there was a storm the night it stopped working and computer place agrees it could be lightning damage.

Satrop

Level 1

6 points

Apr 5, 2012 1:32 PM in response to Tyashinsky

Oh dude! That really ***** that the hardware went a bit t**s up! I hope you can get the cover sorted. I know then can be a real ***** to payout. Just be prepared for the words... "act of god". I hoe you don't get that!! Best of luck in getting you Mac back up to speed.

The hatter

Level 9

60,990 points

Apr 5, 2012 1:43 PM in response to Tyashinsky

Make sure to invest or replace any current UPS for a step up like Cyberpower 1500VA Sine or simulated SMART series that go for about $180-220 (prices inched up a bit this year).

http://www.amazon.com/CyberPower-CP1500PFCLCD-1500VA-900W-Compatible/dp/B00429N1 9W/

Mac Pro (Early 2008) running Lion, freezes on Start up screen