Display says "no signal" at startup with no login prompt

Question

Level 1

5 points

Display says "no signal" at startup with no login prompt

The external display (Eizo), as is typical, shows a text message that says "no signal." The display is otherwise black -- no other image. Pressing any key on keyboard will not make login prompt appear on display.

I did a manual shutdown, and at startup, I heard the startup chime. Restarting did not help.
I tried safe mode startup, I heard startup chime, but it did not show the Apple logo.

I have turned off all external drives and removed usb devices.

I checked all connections and cables and even changed the display port...just to be sure.

Followed all Apple online advice to check for problems related to the display -- nothing helped.

Perhaps the video card has failed? Are there any methods to check for problems with video card?

My computer was fine yesterday and suddenly does not work today.
There were no visible symptoms of failing video card (distorted image) or any other odd behaviors.

MacPro 3,1 (early 2008)
2 Quad-Core Intel Xeon 2.8 GHz Processors
16GB RAM

Video card: ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB video ram
External display: Eizo CG276

OS X El Capitan

Mac Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11), MacPro 3,1 (early 2008) 2 Quad-Core

Posted on Dec 24, 2016 10:45 AM

Reply

Answer 1

mario49

Community Specialist

Dec 25, 2016 1:13 PM in response to jimmo94

Hello and welcome to Apple Support Communities, jimmo94.

Thanks for all the details about what you're experiencing with your Mac Pro. If I’m understanding you right, when you start up your Mac you see "No Signal" on your external display and are never presented with the login window. Since your Mac Pro has to have an external display connected to be able to use the computer, I’m sure you're anxious to get things up and running again. You’re in the right place for a solution.

If you haven't already, make sure you try all suggested troubleshooting steps under the "Check connections" section in Get help with video issues on external displays connected to your Mac . Ignore any of those steps in which you have already completed. At this point, the only way to check to see if this is a video card issue with your Mac Pro is to try connecting a different external display to see if you experience the same thing. You can also try connecting your external display to a different Mac to make sure the issue isn't with the display itself. I also recommend bringing your Mac Pro in for service to check for a possible hardware issue. You can locate an Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider here: Find Locations .

Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.

Take care!

Reply

Answer 2

jimmo94 Author

Level 1

5 points

Dec 25, 2016 1:18 PM in response to jimmo94

I rechecked all connections, disconnected and reconnected the video cable at both ends (computer and display), and messed with the external display's hardware settings, including the power save settings and resetting to default settings. Somehow, the signal from computer to display was restored. So, all (at least for now) is well. Thanks for your help, mario49!

Reply