Trey
Level 5 (4,225 points)

Q: 2006 4x2.66 Mac Pro won't boot from any media

Hello,

 

This Mac Pro will get to the boot options screen, where I'm able to see all attached disks. But once one is selected, it goes to the typical Apple logo with spinning icon, then flashes blue for a second before going to a grey screen with SBBOD.

 

I've tried booting up with each RAM card removed and get the same issue wither way. Nether RAM card indicates bad RAM. The diagnostic lights on the board above the RAM do not indicate a problem.

 

I've also tried booting without the video card by using a test system that has Remote Desktop enabled, but no luck.

 

Reset PRAM and SMC.

 

At this point the only thing I can think of is the logic board, but that seems a bit extreme. Does anyone have any ideas what else I might try?

 

Thanks!

Posted on Aug 18, 2014 10:54 AM

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Trey

Q: 2006 4x2.66 Mac Pro won't boot from any media

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  • Helpful answers

  • by The hatter,

    The hatter The hatter Aug 18, 2014 11:06 AM in response to Trey
    Level 9 (60,935 points)
    Aug 18, 2014 11:06 AM in response to Trey

    Strip the system and remove the drives. And list the hardware,GPU.

     

    Look for obstructions. Why remove the Riser? And what was last changed? Power outage? other?

     

    What OS and what last installed. Tried from backup clone?

  • by Drew Reece,Helpful

    Drew Reece Drew Reece Aug 18, 2014 11:14 AM in response to Trey
    Level 5 (7,793 points)
    Notebooks
    Aug 18, 2014 11:14 AM in response to Trey

    Are you using the original grey install disks?

     

    One disk will have Apple hardware test instructions printed on it. Try following that to see if it can boot to run a test. (Hold D at boot IIRC).

    You can try downloading the AHT images & burning them to a CD if you know the model number - there is a list of AHT images at…

    https://github.com/upekkha/AppleHardwareTest

     

    You could also try target disk mode to see if the hardware can boot & allow the internal disk(s) to be read on another system (assuming you have the correct leads - Firewire or Thunderbolt are supported).

    How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode

    Target disk mode is a firmware feature so it may help isolate the OS's or disks as the issue.

     

    Don't forget about single user mode & verbose mode - they may give you more items to look at, but can be very confusing to look at

    Mac OS X: How to start up in single-user or verbose mode

  • by Trey,

    Trey Trey Aug 18, 2014 11:19 AM in response to Trey
    Level 5 (4,225 points)
    Aug 18, 2014 11:19 AM in response to Trey

    My apologies... it looks like we didn't properly test the machine without the GPU, as now I'm able to get it booted without GPU installed.

     

    Does anyone know what would be a good replacement?

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Aug 18, 2014 11:24 AM in response to Trey
    Level 9 (61,390 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 18, 2014 11:24 AM in response to Trey

    User Tip: Mac Pro silver tower (2006-2012) Replacement Graphics cards

  • by The hatter,

    The hatter The hatter Aug 18, 2014 12:14 PM in response to Trey
    Level 9 (60,935 points)
    Aug 18, 2014 12:14 PM in response to Trey

    If you are running Lion (which is the only real supported OS now for this machine) there are a couple options.

     

    I don't consider a $450 card to be an option! I would consider a number of GTX 5xx or 6xx.

     

    There are forums, consider  Netkas.org a good forum, for help using PC cards that offer you some selection.

     

    MacVidCards on ebay and MacRumors forum is a pretty good source but 32-bit EFI on this machine is the major limit in OS and in graphic cards.

     

    Grant: I would say your tip should have more 3rd party sources and is oriented to 2008 and later at this time, not 2006.

  • by Drew Reece,

    Drew Reece Drew Reece Aug 18, 2014 12:34 PM in response to Trey
    Level 5 (7,793 points)
    Notebooks
    Aug 18, 2014 12:34 PM in response to Trey

    It just occurred to me that I had Apple replace a graphics card for this model for free. I reported a graphics issue to them at the store & they said it was a known fault & offered to replace the card with a NVIDIA 8800GT card. It was fine after that.

     

    It was several years ago now (I'm fairly sure it was around 2010). If you had Applecare it could be worth contacting Apple or an Apple Store, sometimes they go out of their way to help, but I suspect they no longer stock replacement cards for the original issue.

  • by The hatter,

    The hatter The hatter Aug 18, 2014 12:40 PM in response to Drew Reece
    Level 9 (60,935 points)
    Aug 18, 2014 12:40 PM in response to Drew Reece

    8800's were sold and were also 'frequently' failing but can be 'fixed' by baking in an oven. Not a great choice and can cost $170 but also can find flashed PC G92's - likely on ebay macvidcards

     

    7300GTs have been failing or two of its capacitors do. 8 yr old machines lack of parts - the OEM 2600XT was for 2008 3,1 and those were under warranty replacement but X1900 or 7300GT?

  • by Drew Reece,

    Drew Reece Drew Reece Aug 18, 2014 1:06 PM in response to The hatter
    Level 5 (7,793 points)
    Notebooks
    Aug 18, 2014 1:06 PM in response to The hatter

    I'm afraid I don't recollect what the original card was, the 8800 was offered as a replacement when I said what OS it was running at the time, I think it was 10.6 that meant Apple gave me the 8800GT. Earlier OS's would have lead to a different replacement according to the genuis behind the bar.