mac pro 3,1 dual 2.8 firewire cannot be found?

[j2048b]

mac pro 3,2 osx 10-6-8 and 10.6.9 on seperate drives and the same issue:


ok so a bit of an issue as of late: NO FREAKING FIREWIRE????

have no ide if i can somehow patch some kind of drivers, or even a repair disc perhaps?

ive got a firewire hub that connects both of my 20" apple monitors so their dual firewire ports get powered,

but today i even plugged in my external directly to the front at first and the back fire wire ports and NADA!!

i then ran a check using a handy little app called EtreCheck and when it runs thru everything on my set up fire wire just says:

firewire:
(and the rest is blank, no firewire is displayed) where as usb and anything else has serial numbers and the like....


when i check my mac info it says this:

FireWire Bus:

Maximum Speed: Up to 800 Mb/sec

Built-in Hub:

Maximum Speed: Up to 800 Mb/sec
Connection Speed: Up to 800 Mb/sec

Unknown Device:

Maximum Speed: Up to 400 Mb/sec
Connection Speed: Unknown

Unknown Device:

Maximum Speed: Up to 400 Mb/sec
Connection Speed: Unknown

Unknown Device:

Maximum Speed: Up to 400 Mb/sec
Connection Speed: Unknown


so what can a brutha do? any patches, or anything i can do so my firewire is recognizable again?

 

[OS6-OSX]

http://hintsforums.macworld.com/archive/index.php/t-76065.html

 

[j2048b]

http://hintsforums.macworld.com/archive/index.php/t-76065.html

for the life of me I CANNOT GET THIS MOFO INTO OPEN FIRMWARE AT ALL! ive reset this pos like 25 times to no avail!


what else can i do? ive tried the command-option-o-f and it just does nothing!

 

[DanielCoffey]

I found this while searching... "You can't boot into Open Firmware on an Intel Mac, there is no Open Firmware to boot into."

EDIT : yup - firmware access is not listed on the Intel boot options... http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1533?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

 

[j2048b]

I found this while searching... "You can't boot into Open Firmware on an Intel Mac, there is no Open Firmware to boot into."

EDIT : yup - firmware access is not listed on the Intel boot options... http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1533?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

Thanks dan, then how do i go about resetting the firewire ports? Mine will not work all of a sudden in either 10.6.8 or above in mavericks either...

 

[Macsonic]

Thanks dan, then how do i go about resetting the firewire ports? Mine will not work all of a sudden in either 10.6.8 or above in mavericks either...

Not sure if this solves your problem. Years ago all the FW ports in my 2008 3.1 Mac Pro went out or could not be detected. I reset the PRAM and restored and solved my problem. All my firewire ports were fine and ever since the problem has never come back. I consulted a Mac tech guy and he mentioned the 2008 Mac Pro has some kind of safety mechanism that disables the FW it's overloaded with many devices. I could not recall the exact words or the exact problem the tech guy told me as I had deadlines to meet that time. At that time I had devices connected to all my FW ports. But this is the first time I heard about the FW ports being overloaded as I am just surprised.

 

[j2048b]

Not sure if this solves your problem. Years ago all the FW ports in my 2008 3.1 Mac Pro went out or could not be detected. I reset the PRAM and restored and solved my problem. All my firewire ports were fine and ever since the problem has never come back. I consulted a Mac tech guy and he mentioned the 2008 Mac Pro has some kind of safety mechanism that disables the FW it's overloaded with many devices. I could not recall the exact words or the exact problem the tech guy told me as I had deadlines to meet that time. At that time I had devices connected to all my FW ports. But this is the first time I heard about the FW ports being overloaded as I am just surprised.

tried both to no avail, my next try was to hold down "D" when restarting in hopes of a hardware check, but all i got was a folder with a ? in the center then loaded like usual...

any kind of software that can be had that will do a full hardware check for logic board etc...?

 

[MacUser2525]

tried both to no avail, my next try was to hold down "D" when restarting in hopes of a hardware check, but all i got was a folder with a ? in the center then loaded like usual...

any kind of software that can be had that will do a full hardware check for logic board etc...?

Apple Service Disk it is hardware specific so you need a version of it that is made for your machine.

 

[j2048b]

Apple Service Disk it is hardware specific so you need a version of it that is made for your machine.

if i have the 2008 mac pro, where can i get this service disc?

 

[MacUser2525]

if i have the 2008 mac pro, where can i get this service disc?

Call Apple look for a torrent/download .. them sort of ways.

 

[j2048b]

Call Apple look for a torrent/download .. them sort of ways.

Thank u

 

[pastrychef]

Have you tried a clean install of OS X?

 

[j2048b]

Have you tried a clean install of OS X?

Yes i have.... Mavericks anyways... I should start back w snow leopard and clean instal and update thru the releases?

 

[pastrychef]

No, I don't think going to an older version of OS X will help.

 

[CDivander]

Have you tried resetting the SMC?

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

 

[Macsonic]

tried both to no avail, my next try was to hold down "D" when restarting in hopes of a hardware check, but all i got was a folder with a ? in the center then loaded like usual...

any kind of software that can be had that will do a full hardware check for logic board etc...?

The PRAM reset was the only action I did at that time as I did not use any software to fix the problem. I just recalled, the tech guy also told me sometimes if the FW cable is grounded, may also cause your FW ports to be disabled.

 

[j2048b]

Ive opened her up, pressed both buttons on logic board for about 3-5 seconds, ive tried different cords, unplugged everything, and waited 15-30 min,

 

[OS6-OSX]

tried both to no avail, my next try was to hold down "D" when restarting in hopes of a hardware check, but all i got was a folder with a ? in the center then loaded like usual...

any kind of software that can be had that will do a full hardware check for logic board etc...?

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1509
Shows that 10.7 is needed for "D" to work but read article pertaining to other OS's

 

[OS6-OSX]

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1315411/

Interesting

 

[j2048b]

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1509
Shows that 10.7 is needed for "D" to work but read article pertaining to other OS's

yup tried pressing "d" and i got the folder with a ? in the middle, and it bypassed that and went directly to the start mode where the sign on box shows up,

----------

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1315411/

Interesting

yes very interesting as ive posted above that it does show my firewire ports, and all say unrecognized as such:

FireWire Bus:

Maximum Speed: Up to 800 Mb/sec

Built-in Hub:

Maximum Speed: Up to 800 Mb/sec
Connection Speed: Up to 800 Mb/sec

Unknown Device:

Maximum Speed: Up to 400 Mb/sec
Connection Speed: Unknown

Unknown Device:

GUID: 0x0
Maximum Speed: Up to 400 Mb/sec
Connection Speed: Unknown
(this one is the only one showing a guid but nothing shows up on the desktop or under finder, except for 1 usb drive i have connected)
Unknown Device:

Maximum Speed: Up to 400 Mb/sec
Connection Speed: Unknown

Unknown Device:

Maximum Speed: Up to 400 Mb/sec
Connection Speed: Unknown


now i have 2 -20" monitors that are running to a usb and a firewire hub in order to activate both sets of the monitors for usage of those plugs, BUT ive tried to plug the firewire externals 1 at a time into the computer and they still would not come up....

 

[OS6-OSX]

yup tried pressing "d" and i got the folder with a ? in the middle, and it bypassed that and went directly to the start mode where the sign on box shows up,

Read what Pennbank wrote here:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3960020

Also, when you hold down "D" it has to be the "software restore DVD" you are booting from. So says:
http://macenstein.com/default/2007/03/apple-hardware-test-disk-utilitys-ugly-step-sister/

 

[j2048b]

Read what Pennbank wrote here:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3960020

Also, when you hold down "D" it has to be the "software restore DVD" you are booting from. So says:
http://macenstein.com/default/2007/03/apple-hardware-test-disk-utilitys-ugly-step-sister/

alrighty so im about to try this again using alt/option d instead of command d as i was told to do a while back, not in this thread but in another one, im going to unplug everything but my mouse and keyboard and my monitors...


ill update everyone when im finished and let u know what happens

 

[j2048b]

alrighty so im about to try this again using alt/option d instead of command d as i was told to do a while back, not in this thread but in another one, im going to unplug everything but my mouse and keyboard and my monitors...


ill update everyone when im finished and let u know what happens

just read up on openfirmware and this was stated:

There is no Open Firmware on Intel Macs. COMMAND-OPTION-O-F does not work. Intel Macs use EFI not Open Firmware. If you need to access single-user mode then boot using COMMAND-S.

so ill try command s and then input :

RESET-ALL (ENTER)

IF this doesnt work and my firewire ports are not working then that means my PHY is damaged...

 

[j2048b]

just read up on openfirmware and this was stated:

There is no Open Firmware on Intel Macs. COMMAND-OPTION-O-F does not work. Intel Macs use EFI not Open Firmware. If you need to access single-user mode then boot using COMMAND-S.

so ill try command s and then input :

RESET-ALL (ENTER)

IF this doesnt work and my firewire ports are not working then that means my PHY is damaged...

ok once i got into single user mode, it said firewire was not connected, then below said it was activated!!!

ive managed to have 1 of the 2 drives mount, but unfrtunatly the other just clicks so it maybe shot,

the other drive that mounts, i enter it, and click on a folder and it does nothing, im trying to verify it via disck utiility and it just shows the verifying, and the bar below it is stripped blue and white and has not verified anything...

shoot just popped up saying it needs repaired, bit i have all my music and movies on it and important stuff...so im trying to repair it...

NOTE:
dang it now it says it cannot unmount the disc, for the one firewire drive that was being repaired,

what can i do to get everything off the other firewire drive?

it wont mount, at all, but i have a ton of important stuff on it..., also gonna, hopefully if it repairs, copy everything off of it onto one of my new samsung 3tb drives when it comes in...



im gonna have to do nightly image back ups or something...

SUPER DUPER OR CARBON FOR THIS?

IVE GOT BITCASA AND PLAN TO BACK UP ALL IMAGES TO THAT CLOUD IF IT WILL LET ME...

 

[j2048b]

ok so the one that mounts, wont unmount for a repair...

can i still make an image of its contents and reload it on another drive?