Mac Pro Early 2008 (3,1) Won't Boot, AHT Shows "No Trouble Found"

Here are some photos that I took, first one was the last time before the computer stopped booting:

Now it won't boot past this point:

But at least no trouble was found! The Apple Hardware Test wouldn't shut down either, the screen just froze like this so I powered off using the on/off switch.

There's also an Inateck KT4004-US PCI-E USB 3.0 expansion card installed in the computer. Was a b*tch to fasten into the slot, so I was hoping not to remove it. Has been in there for about 10 months with no apparent issues though.

Thanks much for the feedback! I'll start reading some reviews of those compatible graphics cards next. As for Safe Booting, I had tried holding down the Option key, but looks like I should try booting again using the Shift key.

I was thinking about trying to find a refurbished iMac through Apple and then adding AppleCare to get it warrantied for three years. But that would involve data migration, getting drive enclosures for my hard drives, etc. If it's just the graphics card, I think that would be fairly easy to swap out.

Overall, it's been a good machine. Biggest issues I've had aside from this incident were defective memory from OWC (the LED was flashing on the riser) which was exchanged at no charge, and a Seagate drive in bay #2 that "bricked." Took me a long time to figure that one out since the computer wouldn't boot at all, and replacing the operating system drive in bay #1 and reinstalling the OS didn't resolve it! Anyway, once I resolved, that gave me the benefit of a clean install and then I moved my data over manually and reinstalled the apps.

So a new graphics card might be the least expensive and most convenient solution to get a few more years out of my Mac Pro (fingers crossed)! Will provide an update on how things turn out.

Glad to hear! The video cards compatible with the 3,1 (Early 2008) seem fairly scarce these days, but I did find an ATI Radeon 4870 Graphics Upgrade Kit (1GB RAM, condition: new) for $240 with good reviews, and several people have installed it in the 3,1 with good results. It's supposed to be a step up from the GeForce8800GT, but tends to run a little hot from what I've read. From what I've found so far, it's down to either that or an ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256mb DDR3 that goes for about the same price, so I'll probably go with the 4870.

I decided to order the Radeon 4870 Mac Pro kit from Videocardseller on Amazon, should be here in a few days. I'm not affiliated with this vendor in any way, but their policy is to exchange cards out within six months, even up to a year since the manufacturer doesn't warranty them anymore.

While I'm waiting for it, thought I'd brainstorm some ideas to keep the silver tower cooler if possible. Removing one of the card slot covers would allow the other enemy of dust, imo, and I'm not sure if dust or heat would be worse. I'm wondering if there's any kind of mesh "hybrid" slot cover that allows airflow but keeps out dust? It's in the 90's this week here in Southern California, so the heat is definitely on!

As for safe booting while holding down the SHIFT key, same result as before (see second picture above). I've reinstalled the memory modules per above configuration (not the ideal configuration per Apple, but the 4GB modules don't work on the other riser, oh well!) So as Tom Petty would say, "The waiting is the hardest part!" 😉

I replaced the old graphics card with the ATI Radeon 4870 today, and happy to report that the computer boots normally again and everything looks fine. The Chrome browser even restored the old web pages from when the computer crashed, and there was my message on the Native Instruments forum (which I had already retyped again since then).

I do have a couple of installation tips for anyone who either needs to remove the NVIDIA GeForce8800GT card or install the ATI Radeon 4870 from a Mac Pro Early 2008 (3,1):

1. The Radeon 4870 uses two power receptacles, while the GeForce8800GT only used one. It might be advisable to open up the computer to verify that both receptacles would be available for the new card (one was free in my case, the other was plugged into the 8800GT.

2. The 8800GT card cannot be removed simply by lifting it out. I looked a few places for instructions on how to free it from the slot, since it was stuck, and saw a tip here in the Apple forum to pull some lever on the upper left side of the card. There is no such lever on this card, but I did find a PDF document from Apple that explained how to replace the graphics card and it was useful:

https://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/0/MA178/en_US/MacPro_PCIeCard_DIY.pdf

The end of the PCI-Express card slot is about halfway under the 8800GT graphics card. There's a "lever" at the end of the card slot (look at the lever on one of the empty slots to roughly determine its position). Once you find the lever underneath the 8800GT, pull it up (toward the hard drive bays) while simultaneously pulling the card out of the slot and it should come free.

3. I had a difficult time seating the new Radeon 4870 card into the slot for a couple of reasons. The first is that the card enclosure is pretty wide and you cannot see the card slot underneath it. I even removed all the other PCI-E cards and tried using a mirror, but still couldn't see it from above. The second is that I had assumed the old and new card used the same card slot covers. The 8800GT actually uses only one of the slots (so the first slot cover is removed) and the second one was still there. The Radeon 4870 card uses two of the slots, it has a built-in louvered slot cover that covers the second PCI-E slot opening.

So without being able to see anything underneath the card, I had been pushing down the Radeon 4870 onto the second slot cover which was still in place! Before installing the Radeon 4870, be sure that the card slot covers for both slots 1 & 2 have been removed. Now it's still difficult to line up the card, but I found that angling it slightly toward the hard drive bays helped to see the card slot and then once the card was aligned over it, straighten it and push straight down. It was a perfect fit after the second card slot cover was removed, doh!

4. Connect the power cables to the card (I actually did that before installing the card) and the other side into the power receptacles just underneath the first hard drive bay. I read that this was the hardest part for some people, but I found it quite easy to do with the computer laying on its side. Just line them up with the receptacles and push down to snap into place.

Here's what the card looks like from the outside after it's installed, note that the second slot cover (built into the 4870) is louvered to allow for increased airflow and heat dissipation. I replaced all the other slot covers to keep out dust and hopefully it will still run cool enough.

Thanks again for everyone's help! Now I can get back to what I love and continue working with music. As a Musician's way of saying thanks, you're welcome to listen to my latest Progressive House mix here:

http://www.mixcloud.com/DonMuzikk/

Perhaps it will brighten someone's day a bit, and if not, there's always the "off" button! 😉

Well, it's a little under 9 months since I replaced my original graphics card with the ATI Radeon 4870. Has been working fine so far, but yesterday the computer wouldn't boot past a screen that looked like this. Then I rebooted and all was normal again. Happened again today, this time on two successive cold boots. Third time it booted normally again, and I'm using the computer now.

Before I contact the graphics card vendor about the issue, thought it might be worth getting some second opinions. I haven't run another Apple Hardware Test yet, and I recall that it required the installation CD (which I do have), but I don't believe it would detect any issue with the graphics card (if it's at fault). The vendor had told me that their failure rate on these cards was something around 3-5%, and almost all of those were within the first two weeks. They offered a warranty of "up to a year" when I had inquired about it before purchasing the card.

I'd hate to return the card and then find out it wasn't causing the problem, so any other ideas on how to diagnose this would be welcome. I safe-booted (holding down SHIFT-CMD-V) and it booted up normally. I didn't notice any critical errors in the log that appeared on screen, although if that's saved I could copy here if it might be of any help.

Computer wouldn't boot again last night after 3 cold boot attempts. Wouldn't safe boot either, kept getting a similar screen to the one above. One time a "cross" pattern appeared in light colors against the white screen and then faded away. The other times it would show faint purple and green vertical bars against the white screen.

Tried again this morning and it booted up normally, so ran the Apple Hardware Test from Install Disc 1 and result was: "No Trouble Found." Seems that all signs point to a failing video graphics card, so I think my best bet is to contact the vendor to see if it can be exchanged.