Weird Mac Pro screen issue....help

peejack · Jan 21, 2008

Hi,

I have been having a few problems and wondered if anyone here could enlighten me as to what it might be.

First of all I have the new mac pro 2008 standard config only with a couple more hard drives. I have the Dell 2407wfp-hc monitor.

A while back I got these problem with the screen, it just happened from no where:

The only way I could correct it was to reboot then it was fine.

Since then I have various issues like that where the screen went a little strange and everything froze and I had to reboot.

Today this happened, again from nowhere:

After a while it went to a blue screen and this came up every now and again for a few seconds:

Again the only way to cure it was to reboot and now it's fine.

What is likely to be the cause of this? Is it the screen? The Computer or a software bug in leopard?

Would really appreciate the help as this appears to be a regular occurrence.

Thanks

trainguy77 · Jan 21, 2008

If possible give it a shot with a different monitor. If the problem still exists then give apple a call.

sweedigel · Jan 21, 2008

Tipical from a video card issue.

darthraige · Jan 21, 2008

Maybe Apple really hates Dell and wrote a code to force you to get another monitor. lol ... It's weird. It could just be a defective graphics card maybe? Try seeing if its plugged in all the way or try unplugging it and putting it back in. I had to to that with the Hard Drive that came with it.

peejack · Jan 21, 2008

trainguy77 said:
If possible give it a shot with a different monitor. If the problem still exists then give apple a call.

I don't have a different monitor to try, The monitor is only a few days old, but pcbuyit refuse to swap it over without checking it first and didn't believe me even though I sent them pictures when the problem first arose and just told me to call Dell direct.

I just wanted to see what the most likely cause you experts may think it is?

trainguy77 · Jan 21, 2008

If i had to guess without trying anything else i would say a bad graphics card. Could you borrow a monitor from a friend just to try it?

peejack · Jan 21, 2008

sweedigel said:
Tipical from a video card issue.

You mean this is a faulty video card or something software wise with the card?

trainguy77 said:
If i had to guess without trying anything else i would say a bad graphics card. Could you borrow a monitor from a friend just to try it?

No not really

It just happens out of the blue and sometimes not for ages so it's hard to see if it's solved.

Im on the phone waiting for applecare now, should I stick with them?

Should I try anything myself?

darthraige · Jan 21, 2008

peejack said:
No not really It just happens out of the blue and sometimes not for ages so it's hard to see if it's solved.

Im on the phone waiting for applecare now, should I stick with them?

Should I try anything myself?

You need to somehow get another monitor to rule out that theory of it being the monitor. Otherwise shut down the computer and take out the graphics card and pop it back in. Could just not be in all the way.

peejack · Jan 21, 2008

darthraige said:
You need to somehow get another monitor to rule out that theory of it being the monitor. Otherwise shut down the computer and take out the graphics card and pop it back in. Could just not be in all the way.

Ok I will try.

sweedigel · Jan 21, 2008

peejack said:
You mean this is a faulty video card or something software wise with the card?

I don't think it's the driver because nobody have the problem. I would rather bet on a hardware issue.

trainguy77 · Jan 21, 2008

Does it happen more often when the room is warm or your doing GPU intensive things?

peejack · Jan 21, 2008

trainguy77 said:
Does it happen more often when the room is warm or your doing GPU intensive things?

Not really just seems to be random.

I have just opened it up and taken the card out and slotted back in and checked it secure, i also done the same with the ram while I was there.

Ill see if the problem happens again now, and report back if it does.

Thanks for everyones help, stay tuned

surflordca · Jan 21, 2008

peejack said:
Hi,

I have been having a few problems and wondered if anyone here could enlighten me as to what it might be.

Are you sure that you don't have a bent pin when you plugged anything in

peejack · Jan 21, 2008

surflordca said:
Are you sure that you don't have a bent pin when you plugged anything in

Could be possible but if that was the case wouldn't the issue be apparent more often?

trainguy77 · Jan 21, 2008

peejack said:
Could be possible but if that was the case wouldn't the issue be apparent more often?

Yeah it would be there all the time. Not just once in awhile. And you can tell if you have a bent pin very easily.

Kuraudo · Jan 21, 2008

Thats exactly how my x1900 XT was. Its the video card. Apple replaced mine yesterday, no problem anymore.

It happens to be my second dead video card from ATI.

Its not your monitor buddy.

Send your video card back!

Jonny427 · Jan 21, 2008

I would try resetting your PRAM:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238

1- Turn off your computer
2- Turn on your computer
3- Hold down "Ctrl + Option + P + R" before the gray screen appears
4- Continue to hold down the 4 keys until the computer restarts again.

Kuraudo · Jan 21, 2008

Can you tell me what the PRAM is ?
I hope that works for him, to save him time. Both times I had this occur it was my video card.

Jonny427 said:
I would try resetting your PRAM:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238

1- Turn off your computer
2- Turn on your computer
3- Hold down "Ctrl + Option + P + R" before the gray screen appears
4- Continue to hold down the 4 keys until the computer restarts again.

Jonny427 · Jan 21, 2008

From the link I posted above:

Contents of PRAM
Some Macintosh computers may not have all the settings described below. For Mac OS X information, refer to Mac OS X: What's Stored in PRAM?

Status of AppleTalk
Serial Port Configuration and Port definition
Alarm clock setting
Application font
Serial printer location
Autokey rate
Autokey delay
Speaker volume
Attention (beep) sound
Double-click time
Caret blink time (insertion point rate)
Mouse scaling (mouse speed)
Startup disk
Menu blink count
Monitor depth {Might be the problem}
32-bit addressing
Virtual memory
RAM disk
Disk cache

peejack · Jan 21, 2008

Thanks again for the advice everyone, it's all been taken on board.

If I get the problem again ill try the PRAM if not ill see about a replacement.

Quick question, resetting the PRAM, can that cause any problems?? or is it safe to do ?

GangsterTalk · Jan 21, 2008

sweedigel said:
Tipical from a video card issue.

This happened to me when I got my PowerMac G4. I had to use the warranty and get a replacement video card.

trainguy77 · Jan 21, 2008

peejack said:
Quick question, resetting the PRAM, can that cause any problems?? or is it safe to do ?

Yeah it safe. It probably won't fix it though. I have never heard the PRAM causing this type of problem.

sandylp · Jan 21, 2008

I had the same problem with a Dell computer one time. The picture was similar to the one you posted. I, too, had to reboot to make it work. Eventually, I had to reboot more and more and after about a year, even rebooting didn't fix it. It was the graphics card and replacing it fixed the problem.

darthraige · Jan 21, 2008

Jonny427 said:
I would try resetting your PRAM:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238

1- Turn off your computer
2- Turn on your computer
3- Hold down "Ctrl + Option + P + R" before the gray screen appears
4- Continue to hold down the 4 keys until the computer restarts again.

Command key. NOT Control.

SheriffParker · Jan 21, 2008

darthraige said:
Command key. NOT Control.

good catch.

Weird Mac Pro screen issue....help

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