Mac Pro 1,1 running very slowly after crash...

[lucidmedia]

a few days ago i unplugged a USB cable from the back of my MacPro 1,1 and the screen turned all blue (like an overlay) and the machine crashed.

Since then the computer has been running extremely slow… it takes 15-20 minutes to start up (if not more) and once booted, every action is delayed as the computer is "thinking". I can type about three letters into a search box per minute as an example.

The machine has moments of clarity where I can open a window or start launching a program, then to begins to pause again.

The machine as of now is unusable. I have been able to get the process manager open and did not see anything unusual.

So far I have reinstalled 10.6, done the usual disk utility things, reset the SMC, and reset the PRAM. All with no effect.

I did notice that the screen flashes bright magenta on startup now...

Any other suggestions?

The machine is (of course) off warranty…

thanks for any useful advice anyone can provide.

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

In cases such as this the problem is nearly always the hard drive. I'd recommend you back up all your files on your boot drive pronto and then look into getting a new drive.

Try booting with your install disk and see if the install utility (which runs from the DVD) also exhibits this very slow behaviour.

 

[lucidmedia]

In cases such as this the problem is nearly always the hard drive. I'd recommend you back up all your files on your boot drive pronto and then look into getting a new drive.

Try booting with your install disk and see if the install utility (which runs from the DVD) also exhibits this very slow behaviour.

Interesting. The Mac pro has 2 drives in it, and I have reinstalled a new OS on each. I get the same performance no matter which drive starts up the computer.

And I believe the DVD does show similar performance... it is hard to tell because the DVD is naturally slower...

 

[Sun Baked]

Download SMART Utility.app and take a look at the bad sectors and drive errors.

Likely you'll find that 1 drive is dying.

All it takes is one lagging drive to bring a machine to a crawl.

---

NOTE: simply erasing and reinstalling the OS will not get rid of the problem slowing the drives down if you do find a lot of bad sectors and errors.

Yank the problem drive, and the machine should speed back up.

You are not looking for a pass/fail, since a failed drive will likely still pass. The bad sectors and triple digit errors will likely point to a dying drive.

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

Interesting. The Mac pro has 2 drives in it, and I have reinstalled a new OS on each. I get the same performance no matter which drive starts up the computer.

And I believe the DVD does show similar performance... it is hard to tell because the DVD is naturally slower...

Take all drives out bar one and try it then all drives out bar the other and try it. Make sure you don't have any superfluous USB devices plugged in etc. You may also want to check your system logs to see if it's getting stuck doing something in particular.

Failing all else, get out your original install disks, take out all bar your smallest two RAM sticks and run the apple diagnostic tools - quick test first and then full test (don't do a full test with all ram slots filled because it takes hours and hours and hours).

 

[lucidmedia]

thanks everyone... I will give this a try tonight!