EHTV_Wyo
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Frequent Crashes & Poor Performance MacPro Late-2013

Hi,

 

The last couple of days my MacPro late-2013 model has crashed several times out of nowhere. No spinning beachball of death or software freeze or other warning sign. I'll literally turn away for a moment and computer has dropped to black.

 

This system primarily used for video editing and graphics production using the Adobe suite. Though frequent render issues and playback performance has me toying with FCP X. However, even FCP X is not running up to par, nowhere near the "smoking fast" speed descriptions I have read in other forums and reviews of FCP X on a new Mac Pro. In fact this morning, I attempted an export of a simple HD video only two minutes long and FCP X froze and I received "System has run out of application memory" warning. The only programs active at the time were FCP X, Google Chrome and Finder. I don't understand how that could overwhelm this hardware. In fact, I reverted the project in question over ot an older iMac system (so I can still work while I troubleshoot the almighty "trash can"), and the project exported with no problems in less than 10 minutes. It took ten minutes just for the MacPro to get to the point of running out of application memory on this same export.

 

I tried running the diagnostics feature, but no problems were identified. Reference Code: ADP000

 

Below are my system specs:

 

 

 

 

I also have two Drobos connected via thunderbolt where my project files and raw media live.

 

I have been reluctant to update Yosemite for fear of exacerbating the issues I have been experiencing. But these drop-out, black crashes are increasing in frequency even with decreased workload.

 

I must admit the fact that a new MacPro purchased in early 2015 is a late-2013 model is disconcerting. Either these towers are cost prohibitive for most or something is wrong steering professional users elsewhere. The performance of the older iMac system here is quite comparable to my working experience on the MacPro. I would expect an increase in performance and workload capacity, right? I mean I don't think I'm crazy...


Any thoughts or suggestions will be appreciated!

 

<Edited by Host>

Mac Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.1), null

Posted on Jun 16, 2015 8:37 AM

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EHTV_Wyo

Q: Frequent Crashes & Poor Performance MacPro Late-2013

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  • by EHTV_Wyo,

    EHTV_Wyo EHTV_Wyo Jun 16, 2015 1:46 PM in response to EHTV_Wyo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 16, 2015 1:46 PM in response to EHTV_Wyo

    I just disconnected one of my thunderbolt displays after the most recent restart. In hindsight I should have disconnected the display before the restart. Moments after I removed the thunderbolt cable from the tower itself, the system crashed. It was strange that just prior to this crash, my creative cloud app produced a notification that internet connectivity had been lost. I have feeling I just jostled my ethernet cable, but thought I would mention it just in case.

     

    Going to try a Safe Boot now.

  • by The hatter,Helpful

    The hatter The hatter Jun 16, 2015 2:13 PM in response to EHTV_Wyo
    Level 9 (60,935 points)
    Jun 16, 2015 2:13 PM in response to EHTV_Wyo

    CCC http://www.bombich.com - a "must have" and first line of defense and to have a copy ol the system or any drive from befoe changes were made or disaster struck - or you want to go back to earlier version before trouble started.

     

    Any drivers for Drobo? Even if the devices are not connected drivers / extensions still matter.

     

    Clone the system, take the OS X installer and either install to another drive or partion or you could erase (because you have a fully bootable copy of your "working" (sortof) system now.

     

    There are easy to find articles on clean install and running OS X as a guest VMware

     

    Verify with DU seems like a waste of time. _Plus_ it only checks the directory, not the actual files and full file system. CCC can do that and one thing Disk warrior can do is scavenge the whole volume and look at all the file segments to build a new directory but that is not what ppl generally do or use it for.

  • by EHTV_Wyo,

    EHTV_Wyo EHTV_Wyo Jun 16, 2015 2:28 PM in response to The hatter
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 16, 2015 2:28 PM in response to The hatter

    Thanks for clarifying CCC for me Hatter! That looks like an excellent resource. Similar to a Time Capsule, correct?

     

    Yes, there is a Drobo driver installed. I had not considered that as a conflict. While I closed out the Drive desktop plugin, I do believe the Drobo extension was still active.

     

    Considering that the system just crashed in Safe mode less than 25 minutes after the last restart...I think a clean install is in order! Time to do some reading!

     

    Your input is priceless, thank you.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jun 16, 2015 2:34 PM in response to EHTV_Wyo
    Level 10 (208,044 points)
    Applications
    Jun 16, 2015 2:34 PM in response to EHTV_Wyo

    If you reproduced the crash in safe mode, third-party drivers have nothing to do with it.

  • by EHTV_Wyo,

    EHTV_Wyo EHTV_Wyo Jun 16, 2015 2:35 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 16, 2015 2:35 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Thanks for confirming Linc. That was the understanding I thought to be true. More likely a physical hardware issue then?

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jun 16, 2015 3:05 PM in response to EHTV_Wyo
    Level 10 (208,044 points)
    Applications
    Jun 16, 2015 3:05 PM in response to EHTV_Wyo

    Certainly a hardware issue. Whether internal or external is not determined.

  • by EHTV_Wyo,

    EHTV_Wyo EHTV_Wyo Jun 17, 2015 6:26 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 17, 2015 6:26 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Well I performed a clean install of Yosemite last night. When I arrived at the edit suite this morning the system had crashed at some point. Again, the power button was illuminated, but the system would not wake. I powered it off, waiting a minute or two, powered it back on and it did begin the new OS setup steps, but crashed just a couple of minutes into that process. I powered off the tower again, removed all thunderbolt cables from the tower, and connected a monitor via HDMI. After restarting with the HDMI monitor connection, I was able to complete the OS setup and so far the computer is still on.

     

    My next step at this point seems to be to try to isolate a specific, problem thunderbolt port by a process of elimination, assuming it doesn't crash with the HDMI connection. Using HDMI is not a long term solution, but at least it gives me some breathing room.

     

    Strange that a thunderbolt port can cause such havoc.

  • by The hatter,

    The hatter The hatter Jun 17, 2015 6:57 AM in response to EHTV_Wyo
    Level 9 (60,935 points)
    Jun 17, 2015 6:57 AM in response to EHTV_Wyo

    CCC is bootable nd usually an exact copy of the volume (system) or a data drive. Not a repository of things.

  • by EHTV_Wyo,

    EHTV_Wyo EHTV_Wyo Jun 17, 2015 7:53 AM in response to EHTV_Wyo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 17, 2015 7:53 AM in response to EHTV_Wyo

    I officially have a single bad thunderbolt port isolated as the problem. Crazy. At least I know which one and I can move on with my life and/or get it repaired.

     

    Linc, you mentioned having anecdotal evidence of others experiencing a similar problem? Can you provide some links to those posts etc? I am just curious to learn more about the durability, life span of these connections.

     

    I appreciate all of the advice and assistance of those of you who contributed to this effort. Thank you.

  • by EHTV_Wyo,

    EHTV_Wyo EHTV_Wyo Jun 17, 2015 8:18 AM in response to EHTV_Wyo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 17, 2015 8:18 AM in response to EHTV_Wyo

    Ha! That was just way too easy. After testing each thunderbotl port individually, isolating the "problem port," plugging my two monitors and a Drobo back in excluding the problem port, the system crashed and restarted itself yet again! No happy ending yet.

     

    Off to our nearby Apple provider we go!

  • by The hatter,

    The hatter The hatter Jun 17, 2015 8:44 AM in response to EHTV_Wyo
    Level 9 (60,935 points)
    Jun 17, 2015 8:44 AM in response to EHTV_Wyo

    Two monitors and they don't get along? interfere?

    Your problem child TB port, could be the cable or not.

     

    Thunderbolt - which has direct memory access, there were (are?) storage drives that were dropping or self-ejecting; monitors that have needed firmware updates to work.

  • by EHTV_Wyo,

    EHTV_Wyo EHTV_Wyo Jun 17, 2015 9:02 AM in response to The hatter
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 17, 2015 9:02 AM in response to The hatter

    Hi Hatter,

     

    Yes the two monitors will interfere with each if they are thunderbolt connected in ports which are directly parallel or horizontal to each other. This was a problem I discovered when we first secured the second monitor, a 4k BenQ monitor. This adjacent set-up prevents the 4K monitor from being recognized as a device. I tested using an HDMI connection from the 4K monitor directly into the tower, and the system did not crash.

     

    Monitor Specs:

    BenQ LCD Display Model No: BL3201PH - Connected via display port (monitor) to TB (aka mini-display port) tower

    Apple Thunderbolt Display 27-Inch

     

    I have not had any storage drop-offs or self ejects. When I performed the the tests to determine which TB port was faulty, I did not have any other TB devices connected. At this point, the system was clean installed with Yosemite, but I have not re-installed any software or other applications.

     

    I located this Thunderbolt firmware update: Thunderbolt Firmware Update v1.0 But it appears to be from 2011, so I would assume this would be included with the Yosemite OS install.

     

    I will look further into firmware updates. And also perform individual TB port tests using the TB connection for the 4K monitor solely. That may help isolate the issue to the cable for the Apple monitor.

     

    Thanks!

  • by EHTV_Wyo,

    EHTV_Wyo EHTV_Wyo Jun 17, 2015 9:40 AM in response to EHTV_Wyo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 17, 2015 9:40 AM in response to EHTV_Wyo

    Well I've performed some tests using solely the BenQ monitor with TB connection hoping to isolate the issue the Apple display/cable. No luck. Still crashes. Yuck.

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