2008 Mac Pro only starts when resetting PRAM

Try these in order testing your system after each to see if it's back to normal:

1. Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM
2. Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
3. Restart the computer in Safe Mode, then restart again, normally. If this doesn't help, then:
4. Restart the computer and after the chime hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the Utility Menu appears.
5. Select Disk Utility from the Utility Menu.
6. After Disk Utility loads select the hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the side list. In the Disk Utility status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (S.M.A.R.T status is not reported for external drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select the indented (usually, Macintosh HD) volume from the list. Click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. When it finishes click on the Repair Permissions button. When that has completed quit Disk Utility and return to the Utility Menu. Select Restart from the Apple menu.
7. Download and install the OS X Yosemite 10.10.5 Combo Update.
8. Reboot from the Recovery HD. Select Reinstall OS X from the Utility Menu and click on the Continue button.Reinstall the 10.10.5 update, OS X Yosemite 10.10.5 Combo Update, if required.

also make certain you have set a Startup disk in:

System Preferences > Startup Disk

The choices made with the Option key at Startup are only temporary (this time only). To make a semi-permanent change, the approved method is to use Startup Disk. But I see that is not working for you.

You may be able to work around the issue by Restarting into Recovery mode, and choosing its slightly different version of Startup Disk off one of its menus, then restarting.

It is possible that you do not have a Recovery_HD on your drive. Installing one at this point may take erasing your drive.

Do you have a Trusted Backup? or two?

The command to check the drive partition names in terminal would be:

diskutil list

and would return a list of each partition on the drive --

one small one for EFI,

one large Macintosh HD (or equivalent),

and one small one for Recovery HD.

connect your Time Machine drive and see if there is a Recovery HD on it (using Option key at startup).

There is supposed to be one on that drive after 10.7.3. If there is, see if you can set Startup with its recovery HD.

English Rebel wrote:

I very rarely turn off my 2008 Mac Pro as it's a hassle to restart. I get a gray screen with no action so have to shut down, pull power cord for 15 seconds and then do a PRAM reset as it starts.

Any idea what's going on -- maybe a failing battery on the MB?
Thanks

Alan

2008 Mac Pro here -- and did have issues starting -

I did change the battery that keeps the time and date - major pain - instructions in the everything mac book -- not sure I really had to do it.

In general - all that reset stuff turned out to be a waste of effort and just prolonged the problem.

On startup - if the chime is fine and no light flashing - just wait until it gets from grey to blue to the desktop -- if the desktop does not look okay - or it loads not in a big splash - restart immediately - repeat until its ta-da -- best test use go to bring up a folder and open an item on it.

If you are using Time Machine - it may be the problem - also if you have never configured spotlight preferences - consider if you want to use it.

In knowing what I know now - getting rid of my existing time machine backup - starting anew - big help (if you cannot enter time machine and page back through time without a freeze it is lost)

As to leaving it on all the time - I shut down after every use - and only after the Finder/spotlight indexing had memory leaks - did startup become a problem.

The startup delay may have something to do with the OSX Unix stuff having to do some housekeeping.

if you have not changed the battery in the last 4 to 5 years, nows the time.

English Rebel wrote:

NotCloudy

My issue is that the startup disc is not defined so it takes a long long time to start up.

Alan

After the chime quickly hold down the option key - even if you only have one disk it will let you select the startup drive --

OSX has been known to lose preferences after you do resets -- so after you startup go into preferences and reset the default startup drive.

Even when it is configured you may get a long startup -- since OSX (I found my book for it) there has been an issue with the finder - that and my panther manual include mention that if finder appears to not be working you should force quit and relaunch it.