Mac Pro 3,1 Early 2008 weirdness

[AltStruis]

Hi all,

Since yesterday, my Mac Pro 3,1 won't start any more. The day before, it needed two starts before working perfectly all day, but now, it won't work. Saying that, it will start, power led doesn't blink, I do hear the bong, it does start booting CD's (Lion install CD), but nothing on my monitor. Also nothing when I use a DVI -> VGA converter and a different connection to my monitor (VGA side has been confirmed to work)...



It does miss it's battery on the mainboard though. Never bothered the system before, so would be weird to start now. Of course, I also reset the PRAM and booted with the Option key. Still nothing.



I also disconnected my optical drive, harddisks and played around with the memory, but still the same problem...



Tried typing blind to get my decrypt password right and in at the right moment to see if I could boot it blindly, but couldn't do that.



Unfortunately, I don't have anyone anymore that uses a Mac Pro to test my videocard with...



Am I forgetting something, or are there other cool tricks to use? Buying a 100 euro second hand is kind of steep, if you really don't know whether it actually IS the videocard...

It might also be interesting to flash a PC videocard to Mac. I read that's possible. Don't know though whether it's worth it..

Cheers, Bas.

 

[AltStruis]

Well, I bought a tested second hand GeForce 7300GT videocard from a 2,1 Pro. Still the same problem. Which basically means that either my monitor has a problem, or something is really structurally wrong...

 

[Gomff]

In these situations, it comes down to a process of elimination. Try removing all the peripherals the system doesn't need to boot (if there are any, such as PCIE cards etc). Also try removing all but the bare minimum of RAM and switch the sticks around to see if the cause is faulty RAM.

Also, obviously try and get your hands on another computer to test the monitor.

Sorry you're having problems with your system....Hope you get it sorted out without too much expense and in good time. Best of luck,

 

[Macstefws]

Try when powered on pushing a possible diag switch on the motherboard if found in the 3.1 model. I've only got 1.1s and they do have such that'll use an array of LEDs to indicate possible errors found.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2591814

Also search Apples fora and possible ask your friend 'G'

Hopefully you'll successed too!

/Steffen with a similar none-booting Mac Pro 1.1

 

[Macstefws]

Also search Apples fora and possible ask your friend 'G'

Well assume you already done this

https://discussions.apple.com/message/19992968

Alternative #1 if it's important for your business, take it to a repare shop and get a diagnose and possible prize to get it fixed. They might figur out whether it's just the graphic card or not.

Alternative #2 find another used near by on eBay possible with less ram HDDs etc. and reuse from your current to get a cheaper deal. It might not be all that more expensive than buying just a Graphic card and then you might get a spare when later fixing the current box.

But my own issue for similar symptom indicates a defect on motherboard it self

 

[El Awesome]

Open the case and check if you see any diagnostic LEDs running. That might help finding the root of the problem.

 

[Alexrat1996]

take it to apple

 

[OS6-OSX]

I think it is illegal to post in October 2012, not return to comment and then take your 2008 MP to Apple almost 3 years later!