10.9.2 update borked Radeon 7950 GPU (Display Port - DVI is OK)

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Level 2

330 points

10.9.2 update borked Radeon 7950 GPU (Display Port - DVI is OK)

I have a 2009 dual quad core Mac Pro (4.1) with an upgraded Radeon 7950 GPU. I use a 30" Apple Cinema display (DVI) and a 27" LED Cinema Display (Display Port). After updating to 10.9.2, the Mac would not boot, but went on a continuous re-boot cycle every 5-10 minutes without a flicker of life in either display. I unplugged both displays and the Mac booted. I could log in remotely from my laptop. I then attached the 30" Cinema Display into the DVI port and the Mac booted normally.

Not sure if Radeon or Apple will (hopefully) fix this issue at some point (I assume the drivers come from Apple in an OS update?).

I recently decided to upgrade my old Mac rather than buy a new "trash can" Mac, but now I wonder if that was a good decision. Now, I hate to put out a huge amount of cash for the new Mac, wait two months, only to find out the Radeon 7950 issue is resolved.

Any comments or suggestions?

Dave

Posted on Feb 28, 2014 9:41 AM

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Answer 1

munsayac

Level 1

9 points

May 6, 2017 6:27 AM in response to David Strait

i'm also experiencing a flickering issue having just replaced my stock radeon 5770 with a radeon 7950 mac edition, running sierra on a mac 5,1 3.33hz, six-core... my cinema display flickers every 10 minutes or so for a split second. but the flickering issue doesn't exist on another test monitor (lg flatiron) or when a second monitor is connected (though not powered on).

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Answer 2

turbostar

Level 4

2,941 points

Feb 28, 2014 9:53 AM in response to David Strait

Is this the Mac version sapphire 7950 or a PC version? Run a SMC and PRAM reset just to see if they help.

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Answer 3

David Strait Author

Level 2

330 points

Feb 28, 2014 10:05 AM in response to turbostar

Turbostar,

This is the Mac Edition.... I will try your suggestions, but can you clarify hoe to re-set the SMC? Apple says:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

Shut down the computer.
Unplug the computer's power cord.
Wait fifteen seconds.
Attach the computer's power cord.
Wait five seconds, then press the power button to turn on the computer.

I recall that this procedure is slightly incorrect after speaking to an Apple Genious last year (I tried the steps above, didn't work, then took it to the Apple store who successfully tried a slightly different procedure - which I have now forgotten!)

Thanks

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Answer 4

Feb 28, 2014 10:17 AM in response to David Strait

Add:

2a. press and hold the power-on button for a quarter minute to completely discharge the power capacitors.

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Answer 5

David Strait Author

Level 2

330 points

Feb 28, 2014 10:36 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thanks Grant,

That was the missing step for the SMC reset (I wonder how you let Apple know their support documents are incorrect?).

Unfortunately, the SMC and PRAM re-sets didn't help the Display Port issue in the 7950 GPU. I see there are a couple other threads in the OS X forum relating to this issue. One involves a somewhat sketchy fix for downloading extensions for a Radeon 5870. Not ready to try this yet!

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5943974?answerId=25020027022#25020027022&ac_cid=tw123456#25020027

Dave

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Answer 6

turbostar

Level 4

2,941 points

Feb 28, 2014 11:11 AM in response to David Strait

Good to know, so this is it? Or do you hold down the button before unplugging the cord?

Shut down the computer.

Unplug the computer's power cord.

Hold down the power button for 15s

Release power button and wait 15s

Attach the computer's power cord.

Wait five seconds, then press the power button to turn on the computer.

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Answer 7

David Strait Author

Level 2

330 points

Feb 28, 2014 11:28 AM in response to turbostar

turbostar,

I think that is the procedure Grant suggested to re-set the SMC. My Mac Pro (4.1) wouldn't boot last year and I tried the Apple SMC re-set procedure (without pressing ther power button) without success. I finally hauled it down to the Apple Staore and they tried it with the correct method which immediately solved the problem (and I felt like an idiot because I thought I had mis-read the instructions). I rechecked the instructions and found they were incorrect. That was 8 months ago and they are still incorrect. I spent many hours of troubleshooting this issue after trying the (incorrect) SMC reset before taking it to the Apple Store. At least it was a free fix.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

I did provide feedback to Apple on this error.

Now if I can only get the Radeon 7950 fixed!

Dave

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Answer 8

Feb 28, 2014 11:57 AM in response to turbostar

turbostar-

Yes, the latter.

The only difference is that holding power-on for a few seconds with no AC power available makes certain the power capacitors (storing some DC power in the Mac) are drained completely. Then when you re-assemble and re-apply power, everything will notice power has been newly applied and everything will Reset completely.

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Answer 9

The hatter

Level 9

60,990 points

Feb 28, 2014 12:25 PM in response to David Strait

Apple does not provide archived history links or show changes but the page on SMC reset has changed with every new model and been rewritten. And some suggestions were bad. The 1,1 and others that have a physical motherboard reset button use t o be shown and mentioned. Taking out and reinserting or replacing the battery too.

When I had hardware problems and NVRAM seemed to be at issue, I had to get a new/different USB keyboard, take out PCIe 3rd party cards and even disk drives to get it back to norm.

10.9.2 improves upon Safe Mode ability to boot a system that has minor errors sometimes from a OS update or other problem.

The G4 MDD was when we would also as well as hit power while unplugged and was a godsend to discover, also req'd removing RAM as well. And the name has changed from PMU to SMU to SMC over the years.

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Answer 10

David Strait Author

Level 2

330 points

Feb 28, 2014 12:55 PM in response to The hatter

Ha! I should re-name this thread to "How to re-set the SMC on an older Mac Pro."

I guess that's simpler than fixing the GPU issue! ;-)

However, I'm beginning to think only Apple can fix the GPU issue...... (and I bet it won't be soon, if ever). I really should have purchased the new Mac Pro rather than upgrading the 4,1. I doubt that fixing drivers for a third-party GPU on an out-dated Mac is high on their priority list (even if they did break it).

I bought the 7950 GPU so I could add an Apple 27" display as a second display.... then I had to find an old 27" Cinema Dispay since the Thunderbold displays won't function on the older Mac Pros. Plus, the old/used Cinema dispalys aren't that much less expensive than the Thunderbolt displays!.

Waaaaaa!

Dave

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Answer 11

Genetixa

Level 1

5 points

Mar 1, 2014 5:11 AM in response to David Strait

David, I have the same problem with an Radeon 7970 (R9 280x) in a 5.1 MacPro. Had to go back to 10.9.1 because of the displayport issue. Logged a call to Apple. This is very frustrating, they change something in 10.9.2 that cause a lot of problems. Apple will have to fix this somehow, this is a software issue not an hardware problem.

I switched to OSX from the PC 5 years ago, because of the stability of the platform, and now I have the biggest bug never encountered on PC on my genuine Mac.

Very frustrating....

Best Regards.😎

Seb

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Answer 12

David Strait Author

Level 2

330 points

Mar 1, 2014 5:39 AM in response to Genetixa

Hi Seb,

Glad to hear that "solved" the problem... I will do the same. What is the best way to go back to 10.9.1? I have a time machine backup, or is it best to re-install the entire system? If it makes you feel better, I started using the Mac in 1984 (original model) and this is the first tme I've needed to "back-track" a system update. After using Windows/Unix/Linux at work for 20+ years, its going to take more than this to get me to switch! ;-)

That said, I am NOT happy about this, but I'll cut them some slack since this is not their hardware and I've never seen any official statement from Apple of support for this GPU (they don't sell it). Radeon's support email consistented entirely of "did you reinstall the drivers" (knowing the CD will not install them with this hardware/OS configuration), then "radio silence."

Thanks,

Dave

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Answer 13

Genetixa

Level 1

5 points

Mar 1, 2014 6:01 AM in response to David Strait

David, for safety and since I have 2 Mac, I always burn a dvd of the os. This time it served me well. Reinstall from the dvd and then downloaded the 10.9.1 upgrade from the Apple.com. I should have made me a recovery partition but I did not....nor did I backup the system disk. My system is back exactly as it were before the 10.9.2 upgrade with the reinstall.

Still monitoring the situation and hopefully someone will find a temporary fix until Apple fix this.

Best Regards

Seb.

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Answer 14

David Strait Author

Level 2

330 points

Mar 1, 2014 8:29 AM in response to Genetixa

Seb,

I found this Apple support document: OS X Mavericks: Revert to a previous OS X version

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14176?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

This document suggests you simply boot from the recovery disk, then revert to an earlier version from Time Machine. This method obviously keeps all your files in place (but, deletes any changes since the 10.9.2 update, which is OK for me).

Others appear to recommend erasing the disk, install a clean version of OS X, then update to the version you want (e.g. 10.9.1). I am unclear how you copy your apps and files (easily) using this method.

Do you have any comments/clarifications on these two methods? The first sounds easier, but can to cause problems?

Thanks,

Dave

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Answer 15

David Strait Author

Level 2

330 points

Mar 1, 2014 10:18 AM in response to David Strait

I contacted Apple Support and was able to discuss the issue with a senior level support technician. He agreed it was probably a problem with the 10.9.2 update and he emailed me an app which collected system data to send to the OS X software engineers to evaluate.

He thanked me for bring this to Apple's attention and did recommend reverting to 10.9.1.

Fingers crossed.

Dave

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