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Having various 8-core 3GHz Mac Pro (2007) problems - Mostly software related

J

jshbckr

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 20, 2007
421
1
Minneapolis, MN
For the past several months, due to being too busy to do anything about it, I've been experiencing problems with my Mac Pro.

To start things off, no matter how my energy settings are set, the computer will not fall asleep. Also, even if I manually put it to sleep, it will eventually somehow wake up on its own.

Second, fans. I don't know if my fans don't run correctly, but this sucker runs HOT. I notice high temps when I use iStat Pro, so I installed SMC fan control and cranked up the fans. But I'd rather just have my fans work correctly and I've heard that once you start using SMC fan control your computer's SMC can't control the fans (so you have to keep using it).

Third, Safari will NOT stay in the dock. Ever. This probably came from a problem with .Mac syncing my dock items (although I've kept Safari in the dock on all my Macs). The only remedy I had was to make an alias and then use a Terminal tweak to remove the "alias arrow" on the icon.

I'm not sure when these started, it just seems like they've piled up. I want to just wipe my computer clean, but I'm worried about losing important things that I may overlook. I have Time Machine back up everything, but I'm afraid to restore from a Time Machine backup because I think it would have all the messed up system settings (which could be the cause of the problems).

If I wipe the drive (which is 250GB), could I instead install my system to my other drive (320GB) if I put it in Bay 1, then use Time Machine to put all the files back... can I choose to only transfer files that are: 1) not applications and 2) not system files?

Also, would it be worth it to call up Apple? Could this be somehow linked to any other problems with the system?
 
I recently started having the same problem with the refusal to sleep. Anybody else with that problem? I'm going to try a cache clean with Onyx, but I don't know if that's going to help. Haven't had any other issues, though.
 
jshbckr said:
If I wipe the drive (which is 250GB), could I instead install my system to my other drive (320GB) if I put it in Bay 1, then use Time Machine to put all the files back... can I choose to only transfer files that are: 1) not applications and 2) not system files?
Click to expand...

Yes. I hate to be a jerk, but this was three clicks in on Apple's support site.

I'd say even better, since you have two drives it's dirt simple to be a control freak... just pull the existing drive, put in the new one, install a fresh OSX, pop the old one in, and restart. You'll see both, and can just drag over stuff you want to.
 
jshbckr said:
To start things off, no matter how my energy settings are set, the computer will not fall asleep. Also, even if I manually put it to sleep, it will eventually somehow wake up on its own.
Click to expand...
What kind of monitor do you have? I've noticed when I have my USB mouse/keyboard plugged into my monitor the machine will instantly awaken when I attempt to put it to sleep. I'm using an Ultrasharp 2009 WFP.
 
I understand I could probably find the Time Machine stuff on Apple's site, I just thought I'd throw it in here since I'm in no hurry.

Also, my monitor has no USB ports, so that can't be it.

As for the multiple hard drives thing... The only problem is that right now I am using the 320GB drive as my capture scratch, so i've got some stuff on there right now. Maybe I can back up what I need and then wipe that drive.
 
No consolation but lots of people have had this problem - I was one of them and after doing everything, absolutely everything including SMC resets and god knows what else I never ever got to the bottom of it.

Solution for me - set the Mac Pro to be a home server and run 24/7, accept a bit of electricity cost and carbon pollution, plant a tree and stop winding myself up to the point of getting seriously stressed and losing about 2 hours sleep a night staying up late trying to fix the damn thing!!

(OK - you're right I never planted that tree!)
 
I might have to run my Mac Pro non-stop, which will also make Back To My Mac really useful (I've got a MacBook Pro for the road). The only thing I fear is the increase on my electric bill, the Mac Pro has got a 1000w power supply!

Also, with this never-sleep issue, sometimes I come home and I just hear the fans blowing hard. How much electricity is this wasting? No applications are running, the screen is off, but the fans are just going crazy. My computer also makes my room pretty hot... So I don't know if I'm having an issue with cooling/power/fans... but it worries me.
 
jshbckr said:
I might have to run my Mac Pro non-stop, which will also make Back To My Mac really useful (I've got a MacBook Pro for the road). The only thing I fear is the increase on my electric bill, the Mac Pro has got a 1000w power supply!

Also, with this never-sleep issue, sometimes I come home and I just hear the fans blowing hard. How much electricity is this wasting? No applications are running, the screen is off, but the fans are just going crazy. My computer also makes my room pretty hot... So I don't know if I'm having an issue with cooling/power/fans... but it worries me.
Click to expand...

Just because it has a 1kW psu, that doesn't mean that is how much it is drawing. That is just the maximum. It probably uses around 300, I think apple has the official rating for it. It may be around 380 or something, I can't remember.
 
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