Catro91

Q: Mac Pro 3.1 black screen, loud fans

Hello community,

 

I have a Mac Pro 3.1, 2008 dual 2.8ghz computer. I bought it cheaply as the original owner claimed it had a problem where it would randomly sleep, and a hard reset was neccesary in order to restart the computer. On turning on the computer myself I soon saw what he meant, all of a sudden, quite randomly the screen would drop out entirely and about 8 seconds later the fans go on full whack. This could happen before the computer boots, or could happen 15 minutes later. Sometimes it would happen more often when say I watched a youtube clip on full size in 720/1080p. This shut down can only be stopped by hard resetting the unit.

 

Originally i thought it might of been the graphics card (Nvidia 8800 GT) which upon researching had found out there have been issues with this graphics card for other people in the past, however they speak of glitchy graphics, over-heating and 'baking' the card. I tested the temps on the gfx card and they were not abnormally high at all. Infact on monitoring all the temperatures when the computer was on i noticed no abnormality with any temps apart from maybe the north bridge which was max 62 C when idling. But my macbook pro hits 75 C on the CPU when using intensive software (logic pro etc). I also tested the gfx card in both available pcie slots aswell as cleaning out excess dust from the gfx card using compressed air.

 

The computer has a WD velociraptor 128gb 10k rpm HDD installed. I tested the computer with a 128gb SSD which i know worked. I managed to install snow leopard from a DVD onto it before a crash and the computer worked for maybe 20-25 mins then it blacked out again. Not the hard drive then. Tested all the ram (6gb), moved them around etc, no red dimm lights on either board. Not the ram.

 

The only main components left really are the power supply and the logic board. I have no red leds on the logic board lighting up, so no obvious failures. And when the computer is on it works a treat.

 

Does this sound like the PSU is dying/dead? I thought this could be an easy software fix, but am now chasing the hardware train....

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated and thanks in advance!

 

Cheers!

 

Catro

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Jun 2, 2014 3:00 PM

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Q: Mac Pro 3.1 black screen, loud fans

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  • by bjbest,

    bjbest bjbest Sep 3, 2014 7:25 AM in response to Catro91
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 3, 2014 7:25 AM in response to Catro91

    I had a similar problem. Old mac pro and randomly the monitors would go black.

     

    Replying to this incase anyone else has this problem…

     

    Tried all the restarts under the sun, reset the board only to get temporary fix. It got to the point where the monitors would black out repeatedly after a few minutes of resetting.

     

    My final solution (May not work for everyone): Remove the graphics card and check to see if the copper fins in the heat sink are "caked in dust". On my ATI card i can see this from the bottom end. I took the hoover and placed it at the opening and the bit of the hoover nozzle that stuck out I covered that with my finger for maximum suction, I repeated this process from the opposite side where the air exits, after a few seconds the suction was enough to clean out the heat sink and the fan started to spin with the power of the suction.

     

    I have replaced the card and now my mac is running very quiet for the first time in years. On removing the graphics card I noticed the bay was very hot including the card. I'm guessing the card cuts out to protect itself from overheating.

     

    Don't forget to wear an anti-static wristband or discharge yourself first. Using a hoover was a drastic last step. Don't think an air duster would solve the problem as well as suction.

  • by paulfromla rochelle,

    paulfromla rochelle paulfromla rochelle Mar 12, 2016 2:47 AM in response to bjbest
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 12, 2016 2:47 AM in response to bjbest

    I Have a similar problem on my macpro 3.1 2008.

    running 10.9.5 but i had the same problem under capitaN before I downgrade

    The screens goes black silently and after few second all the fans start spinning high speed. At that point there is only force shutdown to do

    TThe problem seemed to happen when I work on editing video or compositing in after effect, but it also occurr when running avast scan or backup data copying on exter al drive. So it seems to be independent from CPU or graphic load.

    PPlus I had the same problem with 3 different gpu ( gtx570 Radeon 7950 and Radeon 2600xt ) the fact that It does the same with 2600xt makes me say it s not a power gpu matter because this card require very low power to run.

     

    I Also unplugged every external drives, pcieusb3,0 card without progress.

    I Ran reset pram smc hardware test (5hours ram test) everything stayed green.

    SO so now I am thinking it could be osx problem OR power supply unit.

    I Will try to remove all internal drive except osx and restart from 2dimm ram instead of 8 32gb

    though this is exhausting and really **** me off if any of you get progress please post!!

    CCheers

    paul

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Mar 12, 2016 9:34 AM in response to paulfromla rochelle
    Level 9 (60,714 points)
    Desktops
    Mar 12, 2016 9:34 AM in response to paulfromla rochelle

    look in the location mentioned in this article for any genuine KERNEL PANIC reports:

     

    Mac OS X: How to log a kernel panic - Apple Support

  • by paulfromla rochelle,

    paulfromla rochelle paulfromla rochelle Mar 12, 2016 9:45 AM in response to Catro91
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 12, 2016 9:45 AM in response to Catro91

    Yes I have some kernel report in the few last days.

    I also have powerstats diagnostic report and a system stats spin report at the exact time of a black screen + fan crash

     

    How can I read and understand these report?

  • by paulfromla rochelle,

    paulfromla rochelle paulfromla rochelle Mar 12, 2016 9:49 AM in response to paulfromla rochelle
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 12, 2016 9:49 AM in response to paulfromla rochelle

    This is ironic,

    but I am currently trying each pair os 4+4 gb dimm with very light config radeon 2600xt, and no more hard drives inside except os ssd.

    The system is very stable, has been running After effect render on 8k video without any problem!!!

    Better be a tortoise than hare ?

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Mar 12, 2016 9:53 AM in response to paulfromla rochelle
    Level 9 (60,714 points)
    Desktops
    Mar 12, 2016 9:53 AM in response to paulfromla rochelle

    Kernel panic reports contain a lot of information, post the text of a recent one and readers can help you interpret the report.

     

    Application crash reports and system spins are generally only interesting to the developer -- please do not bother to post them.

  • by paulfromla rochelle,

    paulfromla rochelle paulfromla rochelle Mar 12, 2016 10:00 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 12, 2016 10:00 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    Here is one from wednseday, could indicate a wrong fb dimm?

     

    Anonymous UUID:   09199C56-110D-56FC-85D6-1EADB19FB16A

     

    Wed Mar  9 15:24:46 2016

    panic(cpu 0 caller 0xffffff7f98bce084): "Uncorrectable Fbd memory error detected. FERR_NF = 0x00000020 , NERR_NF == 0x02000021\n"@/SourceCache/AppleMCEDriver/AppleMCEDriver-119.4.0/AppleMCEDriver .cpp:947

    Backtrace (CPU 0), Frame : Return Address

    0xffffff8394543c70 : 0xffffff8017623139

    0xffffff8394543cf0 : 0xffffff7f98bce084

    0xffffff8394543d60 : 0xffffff7f98bcd3c6

    0xffffff8394543db0 : 0xffffff7f98f7c68a

    0xffffff8394543df0 : 0xffffff7f98f7c256

    0xffffff8394543e00 : 0xffffff7f98f86c33

    0xffffff8394543e30 : 0xffffff7f98f86ab4

    0xffffff8394543e90 : 0xffffff7f98f88ec1

    0xffffff8394543ec0 : 0xffffff8017acaf59

    0xffffff8394543f00 : 0xffffff7f98f42ad7

    0xffffff8394543f50 : 0xffffff7f98f7399f

    0xffffff8394543f60 : 0xffffff7f98f7b7c8

    0xffffff8394543f80 : 0xffffff80176dc06b

    0xffffff8394543fd0 : 0xffffff80176f4649

      Kernel Extensions in backtrace:
         com.apple.driver.AppleACPIPlatform(2.0)[BC44CC56-BEAC-30C0-9A5F-AE7D939EEF48]@0x ffffff7f98f6d000->0xffffff7f98fc5fff
            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOACPIFamily(1.4)[045D5D6F-AD1E-36DB-A249-A346E2B48E54]@0xfffff f7f98484000
            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.9)[96B2C1FB-5CF4-3F49-AECF-530084C81DC9]@0xffffff 7f97cc1000
         com.apple.driver.AppleAPIC(1.7)[CCE6DBBD-004D-367D-9C8C-25DE3A6A5D92]@0xffffff7f 98f41000->0xffffff7f98f43fff
         com.apple.driver.AppleMCEDriver(1.1.9)[95CF919D-57C6-3336-B7D4-14D44861E4B0]@0xf fffff7f98bcc000->0xffffff7f98bd0fff
            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOACPIFamily(1.4)[045D5D6F-AD1E-36DB-A249-A346E2B48E54]@0xfffff f7f98484000

     

    BSD process name corresponding to current thread: CEPHtmlEngine He

     

    Mac OS version:

    13F1603

     

    Kernel version:

    Darwin Kernel Version 13.4.0: Wed Mar 18 16:20:14 PDT 2015; root:xnu-2422.115.14~1/RELEASE_X86_64

    Kernel UUID: 8B1A8FD1-2344-36C0-A7F5-D9D485A995FA

    Kernel slide: 0x0000000017400000

    Kernel text base: 0xffffff8017600000

    System model name: MacPro3,1 (Mac-F42C88C8)

     

    System uptime in nanoseconds: 1269538186853

    last loaded kext at 35810897491: com.apple.filesystems.msdosfs    1.9 (addr 0xffffff7f97fec000, size 65536)

    last unloaded kext at 169132464446: com.apple.driver.AppleUSBXHCI    683.4.0 (addr 0xffffff7f98248000, size 118784)

    loaded kexts:

    com.github.osxfuse.filesystems.osxfusefs    2.8.3

    com.avast.AvastFileShield    3.0.0

    com.avast.PacketForwarder    2.0

    com.nvidia.CUDA    1.1.0

    com.LaCie.driver.PXHCD    1.0.10

    com.apple.filesystems.msdosfs    1.9

    com.apple.filesystems.autofs    3.0

    com.apple.driver.AudioAUUC    1.60

    com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothSerialManager    4.2.7f5

    com.apple.driver.AppleHDA    2.6.3f7

    com.apple.driver.AppleUpstreamUserClient    3.5.13

    com.apple.driver.AppleMCCSControl    1.2.5

    com.apple.kext.AMDFramebuffer    1.2.4

    com.apple.iokit.IOUserEthernet    1.0.0d1

    com.apple.Dont_Steal_Mac_OS_X    7.0.0

    com.apple.AMDRadeonX4000    1.2.4

    com.apple.driver.AppleHWAccess    1

    com.apple.iokit.CSRBluetoothHostControllerUSBTransport    4.2.7f5

    com.apple.kext.AMD7000Controller    1.2.4

    com.apple.driver.AppleLPC    1.7.0

    com.apple.driver.AppleMCEDriver    1.1.9

    com.apple.driver.ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin    1.0.0

    com.apple.driver.Oxford_Semi    3.4.1

    com.apple.iokit.SCSITaskUserClient    3.6.7

    com.apple.driver.XsanFilter    404

    com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeDataless    1.0.0d1

    com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeLZVN    1.0.0d1

    com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIBlockStorage    2.6.0

    com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeZlib    1.0.0d1

    com.apple.BootCache    35

    com.apple.driver.AppleUSBHub    683.4.0

    com.apple.driver.AppleIntel8254XEthernet    3.1.4b1

    com.apple.driver.AppleFWOHCI    5.0.2

    com.apple.driver.AppleAHCIPort    3.0.5

    com.apple.driver.AppleIntelPIIXATA    2.5.1

    com.apple.driver.AppleUSBEHCI    660.4.0

    com.apple.driver.AppleUSBUHCI    656.4.1

    com.apple.driver.AppleACPIButtons    2.0

    com.apple.driver.AppleRTC    2.0

    com.apple.driver.AppleHPET    1.8

    com.apple.driver.AppleSMBIOS    2.1

    com.apple.driver.AppleACPIEC    2.0

    com.apple.driver.AppleAPIC    1.7

    com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagementClient    217.92.1

    com.apple.nke.applicationfirewall    153

    com.apple.security.quarantine    3

    com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement    217.92.1

    com.apple.kext.triggers    1.0

    com.apple.iokit.IOSerialFamily    10.0.7

    com.apple.driver.DspFuncLib    2.6.3f7

    com.apple.vecLib.kext    1.0.0

    com.apple.iokit.IOAudioFamily    1.9.7fc2

    com.apple.kext.OSvKernDSPLib    1.14

    com.apple.driver.AppleSMBusController    1.0.12d1

    com.apple.iokit.IOSurface    91.3

    com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothFamily    4.2.7f5

    com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport    2.4.1

    com.apple.iokit.IOAcceleratorFamily    98.26

    com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothHostControllerUSBTransport    4.2.7f5

    com.apple.kext.AMDSupport    1.2.4

    com.apple.AppleGraphicsDeviceControl    3.6.22

    com.apple.driver.AppleHDAController    2.6.3f7

    com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily    2.4.1

    com.apple.iokit.IOHDAFamily    2.6.3f7

    com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireIP    2.2.6

    com.apple.driver.AppleSMC    3.1.8

    com.apple.driver.IOPlatformPluginLegacy    1.0.0

    com.apple.driver.IOPlatformPluginFamily    5.7.1d6

    com.apple.driver.AppleUSBHIDMouse    180.9

    com.apple.driver.AppleHIDMouse    180.9

    com.apple.driver.AppleUSBHIDKeyboard    170.15

    com.apple.driver.AppleHIDKeyboard    170.15

    com.apple.iokit.IOUSBHIDDriver    660.4.0

    com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIBlockCommandsDevice    3.6.7

    com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireSerialBusProtocolTransport    2.5.1

    com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireSBP2    4.2.6

    com.apple.iokit.IOUSBMassStorageClass    3.6.0

    com.apple.driver.AppleUSBMergeNub    650.4.0

    com.apple.driver.AppleUSBComposite    656.4.1

    com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIMultimediaCommandsDevice    3.6.7

    com.apple.iokit.IOBDStorageFamily    1.7

    com.apple.iokit.IODVDStorageFamily    1.7.1

    com.apple.iokit.IOCDStorageFamily    1.7.1

    com.apple.iokit.IOATAPIProtocolTransport    3.5.0

    com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIArchitectureModelFamily    3.6.7

    com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily    3.2

    com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireFamily    4.5.5

    com.apple.iokit.IOUSBUserClient    660.4.2

    com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIFamily    2.6.5

    com.apple.iokit.IOATAFamily    2.5.2

    com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily    686.4.1

    com.apple.driver.AppleEFINVRAM    2.0

    com.apple.iokit.IOHIDFamily    2.0.0

    com.apple.driver.AppleEFIRuntime    2.0

    com.apple.iokit.IOSMBusFamily    1.1

    com.apple.security.sandbox    278.11.2

    com.apple.kext.AppleMatch    1.0.0d1

    com.apple.security.TMSafetyNet    7

    com.apple.driver.AppleKeyStore    2

    com.apple.driver.DiskImages    373

    com.apple.iokit.IOStorageFamily    1.9

    com.apple.iokit.IOReportFamily    23

    com.apple.driver.AppleFDEKeyStore    28.30

    com.apple.driver.AppleACPIPlatform    2.0

    com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily    2.9

    com.apple.iokit.IOACPIFamily    1.4

    com.apple.kec.corecrypto    1.0

    com.apple.kec.pthread    1

     

    System Profile:

    Model: MacPro3,1, BootROM MP31.006C.B05, 8 processors, Quad-Core Intel Xeon, 2.8 GHz, 32 GB, SMC 1.25f4

    Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 7950, AMD Radeon HD 7950, PCIe, 3072 MB

    Memory Module: DIMM Riser B/DIMM 1, 4 GB, DDR2 FB-DIMM, 800 MHz, 0x802C, 0x333648544635313237324638304545314434

    Memory Module: DIMM Riser B/DIMM 2, 4 GB, DDR2 FB-DIMM, 800 MHz, 0x802C, 0x333648544635313237324638304545314434

    Memory Module: DIMM Riser A/DIMM 1, 4 GB, DDR2 FB-DIMM, 800 MHz, 0x0198, 0x4B494E4753544F4E20202020202020202020

    Memory Module: DIMM Riser A/DIMM 2, 4 GB, DDR2 FB-DIMM, 800 MHz, 0x0198, 0x4B494E4753544F4E20202020202020202020

    Memory Module: DIMM Riser B/DIMM 3, 4 GB, DDR2 FB-DIMM, 800 MHz, 0x802C, 0x333648544635313237324638304545314434

    Memory Module: DIMM Riser B/DIMM 4, 4 GB, DDR2 FB-DIMM, 800 MHz, 0x802C, 0x333648544635313237324638304545314434

    Memory Module: DIMM Riser A/DIMM 3, 4 GB, DDR2 FB-DIMM, 800 MHz, 0x802C, 0x333648544635313237324638304545314434

    Memory Module: DIMM Riser A/DIMM 4, 4 GB, DDR2 FB-DIMM, 800 MHz, 0x802C, 0x333648544635313237324638304545314434

    Bluetooth: Version 5.2.7f4 15858, 3 services, 22 devices, 1 incoming serial ports

    Network Service: Ethernet 1, Ethernet, en0

    PCI Card: AMD Radeon HD 7950, Display Controller, Slot-1

    PCI Card: AMD Radeon HD 7950, ATY,HamachiParent, Slot-1

    PCI Card: pci1033,194, USB eXtensible Host Controller, Slot-4@7,0,0

    PCI Card: pci1b4b,9120, AHCI Controller, Slot-4@8,0,0

    Serial ATA Device: OCZ VERTEX-PLUS, 240.06 GB

    Serial ATA Device: WDC WD40EFRX-68WT0N0, 4 TB

    Serial ATA Device: SAMSUNG HD103SJ, 1 TB

    Parallel ATA Device: PIONEER DVD-RW  DVR-112D, 3 MB

    USB Device: Keyboard Hub

    USB Device: Apple Optical USB Mouse

    USB Device: Tablet WP8060U

    USB Device: Apple Keyboard

    USB Device: Bluetooth USB Host Controller

    FireWire Device: built-in_hub, Up to 800 Mb/sec

    Thunderbolt Bus:

  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass Mar 12, 2016 10:10 AM in response to paulfromla rochelle
    Level 10 (188,002 points)
    Desktops
    Mar 12, 2016 10:10 AM in response to paulfromla rochelle

    This

    panic(cpu 0 caller 0xffffff7f98bce084): "Uncorrectable Fbd memory error detected. FERR_NF = 0x00000020 , NERR_NF == 0x02000021\n"@/SourceCache/AppleMCEDriver/AppleMCEDriver-

    indicates bad memory

    Periodically look at the Memory topic of System Profiler and see if they all say OK. The display is static so y have to close and then reopen it to update it

     

    Ecc memory.jpg

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Mar 12, 2016 10:25 AM in response to paulfromla rochelle
    Level 9 (60,714 points)
    Desktops
    Mar 12, 2016 10:25 AM in response to paulfromla rochelle

    That one is likely to be a memory problem.

     

    Mac Pro with Xeon processor features error detection and correction Hardware.

    every read from memory is checked by hardware, and if a single-bit error is detected, it is corrected in Hardware in one stretched memory cycle.

     

    Double bit errors are generally not correctable, so by design they cause the machine to halt with a kernel panic, machine check, often detected by multiple processors.

     

    In your case, appleMCE driver  appears to have installed software to capture the fault. but it does not seem to have called out the module.

     

    Sometimes if you remove the side door after such a panic, there will be an LED next to the failed module. also this report can be run, but its information is S}TATIC, so new data are only produced when it is run again:

     

    eccerrors2.jpg

     

    graphic from anandtech.com

  • by paulfromla rochelle,

    paulfromla rochelle paulfromla rochelle Mar 12, 2016 11:07 AM in response to Catro91
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 12, 2016 11:07 AM in response to Catro91

    Does that mean I only have to replace the faulty dimm ?

     

    And , Should I see a kernel panic report each time it crash like this (black screen + fans)

    For example I don't have any kernel panic report for the crash I had this night at 00:25 but It seems to be the same crash as the last ones.

     

     

    If it is only a dimm to replace it 's fine, easy and cheap compare to psu or logic board!

    thanks you all

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Mar 12, 2016 11:54 AM in response to paulfromla rochelle
    Level 9 (60,714 points)
    Desktops
    Mar 12, 2016 11:54 AM in response to paulfromla rochelle

    Nothing you have posted is indicative of a logic board or Power supply issue.

     

    But you may have more work to do after you eliminate the faulty DIMM(s)

  • by paulfromla rochelle,

    paulfromla rochelle paulfromla rochelle Mar 12, 2016 2:50 PM in response to Catro91
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 12, 2016 2:50 PM in response to Catro91

    Hello again,

    I wen't out 4 hours and let it render a big video project.

    As I am getting home, It was crashed black screen and fan overdrive,... no heat at all.

    No led that indicates faulty ram dimm, the diagnostic led on the logic board test , were all off except standby (yellow) and EFI green. (in normal time I have also gpu and power that are lights on)

    the upper button on the rear of the logic board that is supposed to test the psu and or shut down the system, did not had any effect.

     

    So far, I restarted the computer, and I can't see any new kernel panic report

    in the system log the last line befor crash is

    Mar 12 22:37:57 Mac-Pro-....- xpcproxy[1454]: assertion failed: 13F1603: xpcproxy + 3438 [D559FC96-E6B1-363A-B850-C7AC9734F210]: 0x2

  • by paulfromla rochelle,

    paulfromla rochelle paulfromla rochelle Mar 13, 2016 5:53 PM in response to Catro91
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 13, 2016 5:53 PM in response to Catro91

    I 'm quite lost,

     

    I've been doing some cross test with only 2 dimms one in each riser, And it still crash the same way.

    So I tried with only one dimm 4gb, doing some ae render or rember test.

    each time I had a crash, 5 or 6 today, i isolate the "faulty" and check another one...the two first (kingston seemed good at first and tonight they re going messy, the 2 last crashes) the other are from komputerbay.

    So still crashing with any dimms and still no kernell report, no Led. only black screen and fans.

    What can I do to understand better this situation?

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Mar 13, 2016 6:08 PM in response to paulfromla rochelle
    Level 9 (60,714 points)
    Desktops
    Mar 13, 2016 6:08 PM in response to paulfromla rochelle

    Are you saying there are no kernel panic reports stored at:

     

    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports


    How do you know it crashed?

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