if84

Q: Mac Pro (late 2013) Graphic Issues

Hi everyone

 

I own a Mac Pro from late 2013 and occasionally run into graphic problems. I work on a dual monitor setup, mostly drawing CAD. At times my monitors freeze while background processes continue to run (music etc.). At times I still manage to control the interface,but it's very sluggish. When I open activity monitor I can see that there aren't any processes that could slow down my mac as much, so I'm quite confident, that the graphics card is at fault (also because sometimes my mac even tells me "there was a graphics card problem"). Problem is when I run the hardware check everything seems to be in order.


This is really frustrating and I'm unsure what to do about this. Does anyone else have problems with this?


Kind regards

Mac Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.2)

Posted on Feb 25, 2015 6:42 AM

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Q: Mac Pro (late 2013) Graphic Issues

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  • by flur,

    flur flur Feb 14, 2016 11:48 AM in response to guitarsos
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 14, 2016 11:48 AM in response to guitarsos

    I can report that I had my Mac at the genius bar and they replaced the graphics card.   They called me a few days later to tell me they, in fact, were going to replace both graphics cards, so it would take a few days longer.   It's been home for 48 hours and so far, I've seen no problems.    Fingers crossed it will remain all clear!

  • by guitarsos ,

    guitarsos guitarsos Feb 14, 2016 12:18 PM in response to flur
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Feb 14, 2016 12:18 PM in response to flur

    Great news Flur...did this cost you anything ? Is your Mac still under guarantee? Because mine's not

  • by Switch900,

    Switch900 Switch900 Feb 14, 2016 11:13 PM in response to flur
    Level 2 (228 points)
    Apple TV
    Feb 14, 2016 11:13 PM in response to flur

    I think apple stores should stock up on these cards for further future repairs, because think of it its proprietary, graphics cards. For what I feel, there will be a hit and miss, of many of these machines that will died on some people, forcing them to buy another mac pro. It should not take days to fix it should take a few hours. Selling mac computers with no reserve parts is a good way of making a business last long. Lets all cross fingers we don't have to seek around Ebay for use parts.

  • by Switch900,

    Switch900 Switch900 Feb 14, 2016 11:26 PM in response to flur
    Level 2 (228 points)
    Apple TV
    Feb 14, 2016 11:26 PM in response to flur

    Think about it we are talking about someone who has spend, in some of these machine 10 gran for a fully spec out mac pro, that in 3 years or 4 from now will be outdated and a production company to spend another 10 gran for a fully spec mac pro again its throwing money out.... Where did I miss out on the component parts here, is the technology industry being regulated for these prices? I just had an iMac late 2009 27 inch quad core, yes the first 27 inch iMac fully spec which I spend 2000 plus gran, and guess what still working, but one thing fail the most important thing which was the graphics cards, guess what no parts for it in the apple store, they said its a vintage computer we don't do this repair, I spend 2 months trying to find the one part to fix, and it was all used graphics card, not only this but they were asking after 6 years for a part that old 300 dollars for that a supposedly vintage machine from apple and all these sellers were on eBay, I told one of them you expect me to pay 300 almost 400 dollars on a use part to get my iMac fix which the only thing is broken is the graphics card the rest still works. I was then debating in going back to windows or losing my software licenses on my mac to go back to windows which I left windows 10 years ago. So yes I decided to go with the mac pro and even this is not a guarantee that I will lose one of the graphics cards and then have to dump this machine to the recycling bin because there won't be any parts for it in the near future.... We talking about a pro machine a machine that should last us many years and especially those who spend 10 gran, A college buddy of mine was also debating because, he had a 2012 mac pro fully spec which cost him back then around 15 gran but he could not render virtual reality content because it was taking days to render. He was going to make a hackintosh and decided to go for 2 fully spec out mac pro each of them costing him a total of 20 gran, now if one of those machine fail, I will **** sure want them to have graphics parts for them.

  • by Macilias,

    Macilias Macilias Mar 3, 2016 4:41 AM in response to Sole-69
    Level 1 (15 points)
    iWork
    Mar 3, 2016 4:41 AM in response to Sole-69

    i hope not to disappoint you, but i have the same issue with a WindowServer[]: GPU Driver appears to be hung (over 5 continuous seconds of unreadiness) on iMac 5K all over the time (especially after some hours of usage).

  • by iMacGyverParis,

    iMacGyverParis iMacGyverParis Mar 3, 2016 5:54 AM in response to Switch900
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 3, 2016 5:54 AM in response to Switch900

    Hi everyone,

    If you cannot find a GC compatible with your iMac (or MacPro: it should work with any Graphic Card : ), here is a testimony of my personal experience to make my ATI 4850 to work again.

     

    I have a late 2009 iMac (2,8 GHz Intel Core i7, 12 Go RAM ans a 256Go SSD replacing the superdrive in addition to the 1To Hard Drive), which worked perfectly until a Graphic Unit issue:

    after suddenly having some video artefacts, the iMac simply didn't want to boot, I was stuck with the Apple logo and horizontal lines covering the display…

    I first boot in "safe mode" (shift key down) to make the Mac working again, then I found the GC extensions and removed it from the Extentions folder.

    This way, you can use your iMac nearly the same as usual even if the display is slow (no more artefacts or freeze : )

    As the iMac is declared "Obsolete" by Apple, they don't sell any spare pieces and you cannot find a new compatible GPU anymore, except some very expensive refurbished units…

    After searching the web, I finally decided myself to try to "bake" my GC… and it worked!

    The process is a bit "touchy" but not very hard:

    - unplug the iMac and then, push the start button for 10 seconds,

    - remove the front glass (with suction cups, or even your nails!): 20 seconds

    - unscrew the display: 8 screws, 1 minute

    - carefully unplug all the wires (5?) between the display and the motherboard etc (and don't forget to replug them when you're finished!): 5 to 10 minutes if it's your 1st time and you are a bit anxious…

    - remove the display

    - find the small wire between the GC and the motherboard and unplug it from the motherboard (don't forget to look how it is plugged: it is very small and difficult to replug because it is located beneath the motherboard.

    This way, you don't have to remove the motherboard but it took me 20 to 30 minutes to replug this fu…ing wire!
    - unplug the GC, remove the radiator, remove the thermal paste, stickers, and the black foam from the card (everything that could burn): 5 to 10mn

     

    Now you can put your GC in your oven:
    I've preheated it at 210° (10mn) and then put the GC on an aluminium sheet ± 10mn

    In the meantime, you should clean all the dust accumulated inside the iMac:

    I personally carefully use an aspirator and a soft brush to clean everything I can (and it took me nearly an hour do do it!)

     

    When the GC has cooled down, carefully put back a new thermal paste (Arctic Silver is a good one) where you have removed it, and the original foam and put everything back as it was.

     

    Don't forget any wire:

    I personally forgot one and my display stayed dark at the 1st attempt… I had to open it again to replug the one I had forgot!

    Depending on your skill, it can take 15mn… to 1 hour if you have some trouble to replug one…

    Another thing which can be time consuming is to perfectly remove all the dust between the display and the covering glass and I had to do it again several time : (

    - When it's done, replug the iMac and boot:

    if you've removed the GC extensions from the Extentions folder, you have to put them back where there was.

    - To make it work, I had to reboot 1 time in "safe mode" (Shift key down), and then reboot normally, and then…

    Ta Daaa: it works!!!

    Just in case, I've installed "Macs Fan Control" to be sure that the iMac doesn't go too hot, and I cross my fingers:

    it's been working flawlessly for 2 weeks now : )

     

    I hope it my experience can help, but I was sooo upset about the Apple politic considering any product "obsolete" within 5 years that I've launched a Change (dot) org petition (in French for now) to try to make them change this "obsolescence philosophy ", and you can easily find it if you search "Apple : Stop à l’Obsolescence Programmée !".

    If you feel like to sign it…

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Mar 3, 2016 8:02 AM in response to iMacGyverParis
    Level 9 (61,048 points)
    Desktops
    Mar 3, 2016 8:02 AM in response to iMacGyverParis

    iMacGyverParis--

     

    While your story is interesting, and may apply to the Silver Tower Mac Pro, the late 2013 model being discussed here has NOTHING in common with the information you posted.

     

    The late 2013 model uses two graphics cards in a custom form factor that is not interchangeable with anything else on the market. At this writing, the only possible replacement cards are Apple brand.

  • by iMacGyverParis,

    iMacGyverParis iMacGyverParis Mar 3, 2016 12:00 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 3, 2016 12:00 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    I've noticed the iMac and the Mac Pro are not exactly the same machines ;-)

    Anyway, it could be useful for Switch900 who had an issue with his late 2009 iMac (as told in his last post), and I don't see why you couldn't try to "bake" the Mac Pro Graphic Card if it's already dead:

    at worse it will do nothing, and at best it will save the day, at least for a few weeks, or months… or years ?!

    Several people told you could do it several time, and I think it's worth the try (for now, my iMac is grateful : )

  • by Switch900,

    Switch900 Switch900 Mar 4, 2016 8:34 PM in response to iMacGyverParis
    Level 2 (228 points)
    Apple TV
    Mar 4, 2016 8:34 PM in response to iMacGyverParis

    I Got a Mac Pro late 2013 model the iMac has been sent out to the the garbage 

  • by guitarsos ,

    guitarsos guitarsos Mar 6, 2016 10:37 PM in response to if84
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 6, 2016 10:37 PM in response to if84

    Hi I have exactly the same problem except I work as a music producer and the freezing constantly happens in front of clients (extremely embarrassing) I've done all the fresh installs and had it at the service centre for 8 days (work lost) came back with a clean bill of health....still the hanging continues...beginning to think I've terrible mistake buying the Mac pro(3000 dollars) really will appreciate any advice and suggestions ....thank you

    Kind regards

    Ralph Martin

  • by Macilias,

    Macilias Macilias Mar 7, 2016 1:45 AM in response to guitarsos
    Level 1 (15 points)
    iWork
    Mar 7, 2016 1:45 AM in response to guitarsos

    same problem on the iMac 5K here: WindowServer[]: GPU Driver appears to be hung (over 5 continuous seconds of unreadiness)

    I´ve been told it has to do with the "creative" applications, like music DAW´s or photoshop, but, hey, thats way we buying it for.

  • by Switch900,

    Switch900 Switch900 Mar 7, 2016 11:15 PM in response to Macilias
    Level 2 (228 points)
    Apple TV
    Mar 7, 2016 11:15 PM in response to Macilias

    the iMac 5K is a mobile device component its not meant to move so much pixel, mac pro is the only computer as of now to buy from apple

     

    https://youtu.be/uI7ni7zL8qU

  • by TypeAMedia,

    TypeAMedia TypeAMedia Mar 14, 2016 5:53 AM in response to if84
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 14, 2016 5:53 AM in response to if84

    MacPro is 7 days old and I am now getting lines in my video, playback on the record side of Premiere as well as on export....

    6 core, dual D700 graphics card, 512SSD and 32Gb RAM...$5K computer that I cannot use...

  • by Switch900,

    Switch900 Switch900 Mar 14, 2016 5:57 AM in response to TypeAMedia
    Level 2 (228 points)
    Apple TV
    Mar 14, 2016 5:57 AM in response to TypeAMedia

    try and render with final cut pro x, but I am guessing this is an adobe issues someone before mention the same thing about having lines on their video.

  • by TypeAMedia,

    TypeAMedia TypeAMedia Mar 14, 2016 6:12 AM in response to Switch900
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 14, 2016 6:12 AM in response to Switch900

    Hey Switch900,

    Thank you for the quick reply. Are you saying import the project into X then export. Sorry, I'm of a DP than a editor...

    Jim

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