Mac Pro dead after installing the 4870 upgrade

[akadmon]

UPDATE: Problem Solved. One of the RAM sticks got unseated while I had the machine on its side.

I put in the Radeon 4870 (new one I just bought from Apple) into my Mac Pro 1,1 and after putting everything back together the machine will not boot. There is no chime and the light above the power button is blinking about once per second. I hear a fan going at a constant speed (presumably the one on the 4870) so I doubt it's the PS. I did not touch the RAM, but did remove the HDs during the installation to get a little more working room. I also moved the 7300GT into slot 3.

Any ideas before I take it into the Apple store for repairs? I'd hate to lose the machine for a week if it's something that I can fix myself

 

[Peace]

Compatibility:
Requires Mac Pro (Early 2009 with 1066MHz DDR3 memory) or Mac Pro (Early 2008 with 800MHz DDR2 FB-DIMM memory) with PCI Express 2.0 slot
Mac OS X v10.5.7 or later

In other words. your Mac Pro can't use it.

 

[bozz2006]

incorrect Peace. It has been WIDELY reported that the 4870 is compatible with any mac pro.

 

[Peace]

incorrect Peace. It has been WIDELY reported that the 4870 is compatible with any mac pro.

That may be but officially Apple says different.

 

[bozz2006]

try taking out the 7300GT and trying it without that, and make sure your HDDs are seated tightly.

 

[bozz2006]

That may be but officially Apple says different.

whether or not it works is not the same thing as whether or not apple officially supports it. examples: RAM limits for many apple computers, using USB connected ext HDD to airport extreme for wireless time machine backups.

 

[Peace]

whether or not it works is not the same thing as whether or not apple officially supports it. examples: RAM limits for many apple computers, using USB connected ext HDD to airport extreme for wireless time machine backups.

I responded because the OP asked if he should take it in for repairs. The Store would have told him they don't support that card on his Mac Pro.

 

[bozz2006]

That's true. But I'm sure they would still be happy to fix whatever's broken. If there is something broken, that is.

 

[akadmon]

Oooff, false alarm! After removing the side panel and rebooting I noticed one of the lights on the top memory riser stayed on. I reseated a couple of RAM sticks and everything is A-OK

I did this upgrade not because I needed a performance boost (I don't game and don't do much HD video), but because I wanted to future proof. My Apple Care is about to run out and, as MP upgrades go, this is one has a lot of potential for things going wrong (you wind up touching various internal components no matter how careful you are). So I thought, if anything goes wrong (as it seemingly did) I'm still covered.

Anyway, I'm not sure what it is that I'm actually getting for my $350. I really don't see any obvious improvements. In fact I've noticed at least one thing that's not working right. In Lightroom, when I drag a zoomed portion of a photo around the screen really fast I get severe tearing (I think that's the correct term). This does not happen on the 7300GT. See attached screenshot.

 

[21ce]

Oooff, false alarm! After removing the side panel and rebooting I noticed one of the lights on the top memory riser stayed on. I reseated a couple of RAM sticks and everything is A-OK

I did this upgrade not because I needed a performance boost (I don't game and don't do much HD video), but because I wanted to future proof. My Apple Care is about to run out and, as MP upgrades go, this is one has a lot of potential for things going wrong (you wind up touching various internal components no matter how careful you are). So I thought, if anything goes wrong (as it seemingly did) I'm still covered.

Anyway, I'm not sure what it is that I'm actually getting for my $350. I really don't see any obvious improvements. In fact I've noticed at least one thing that's not working right. In Lightroom, when I drag a zoomed portion of a photo around the screen really fast I get severe tearing (I think that's the correct term). This does not happen on the 7300GT. See attached screenshot.

That is some bad tearing there...i'm glad you were able to figure things out... is it only in Lightroom?

I'm still a bit dumbfounded that Peace was trying to say that your card wouldn't work with a 1.1 MP?....I mean who cares if Apple doesn't OFFICIALLY say it is compatible... I agree, that is probably what they would tell you over at the Mac store... which is why SOME of their techs are so sad. Anyone who just concludes something is not compatible without research shouldn't be a technician anyways...

 

[slicecom]

In Lightroom, when I drag a zoomed portion of a photo around the screen really fast I get severe tearing (I think that's the correct term). This does not happen on the 7300GT. See attached screenshot.

My boss has has the same problem on his 2009 MacPro since upgrading to Snow Leopard. It didn't happen in Leopard. We figured it was the OS.

 

[akadmon]

Hey guys, does any of you happen to have this card and Lightroom, and are running SL (10.6.1)? Have you noticed this much tearing on your setup?

Lightroom tearing, while admittedly annoying, is not a killer issue for me. I'm just afraid that this may be an indication of other things potentially being wrong with this card on my system, or with my particular copy of this card. I have tried fast-dragging an image in PS4, the Finder and Safari and have seen no tearing. Also no tearing in Lightroom in Windows 7 running in Bootcamp. Actually, the card seems to hum right along in Win 7. My Windows Experience score went up from 4.2 running the 7300GT to 7.4!!!! Sorry to say, but LR seems a lot faster in Win 7 than in SL, at least when it comes to importing RAW files. Hm...

 

[slicecom]

Hey guys, does any of you happen to have this card and Lightroom, and are running SL (10.6.1)? Have you noticed this much tearing on your setup?

I have a MacPro 1,1 with 6GB RAM, official 4870, heck I even have the same monitor as you and I have no tearing issues in LightRoom. I'm not sure whats causing it on yours, or my boss' 4,1 who has the same issue.

 

[Macinposh]

In other words. your Mac Pro can't use it.

This is the worst p.o.s that I have seen in a long time here in the forums.
Agree with 21 here,really dumbfounded by your comment Peace.

Worst case fearmongering and apologism going on.


Apple reason for not officially supporting the MP 1.1 & 2.1 is anyones guess.
I think the reason is plainly greed as they try to push the users to upgrade machines.Cant think of any other reason.

Here I know intimately two 1.1 rigs,and 1 2.1, video(fcp,ae,cin4d),photo (apert,LR,ps) and music (protool+logic).
None has had any issues under any programs.
And apart from op´s LR tearing,I havent heard of any issues here in the forums either.


Akadmon : tested the LR with two machines. No tearing,but os is 10.5.8.
So it could be snowleotard.

 

[Peace]

This is the worst p.o.s that I have seen in a long time here in the forums.
Agree with 21 here,really dumbfounded by your comment Peace.

Worst case fearmongering and apologism going on.

Have you always been an ass or were you born that way ?

Had you read a post you would know why I said that. And It's true.

 

[akadmon]

Regarding the tearing issues, it does look like it might be OS related. I don't see it under Win7 in Boot Camp. I'll fire up my 10.5.7 Leopard partition tonight to check LR in that environment.

What test programs do you recommend I run to measure the performance of the card?

 

[Cindori]

Regarding the tearing issues, it does look like it might be OS related. I don't see it under Win7 in Boot Camp. I'll fire up my 10.5.7 Leopard partition tonight to check LR in that environment.

Yeah, the tearing is probably a result of bad ATI drivers in OSX. Next update, 10.6.2, will bring updated drivers. Hopefully some fixes to your problem.

I have the 10.5.7 drivers lying around somewhere. If tearing is gone when you test tonight, give me a shout and i'll upload them so you can try installing them in snow.

What test programs do you recommend I run to measure the performance of the card?

http://krull.se/macpro

that is the best and most GPU-depending benchmark for osx. but, you can still get 100 more or lower even if you have the same card. it relies somewhat on other components too. But it's a good pinpoint.

 

[akadmon]

Thanks, Cindori.

 

[benborman]

I could only get very minor tearing to occur occasionally in LR (2.5) but only when violently dragging a zoomed-in photo back and forth (Don't usually find myself doing that under normal circumstances). Tearing never remained long enough to grab a screenshot. Photos are camera Raw files from Canon Rebel XTI.

Setup is: MP 1,1 , ATI 4870 (apple version) OS 10.6.1, 6GB RAM...

Have you tried Lightroom 3 Beta yet?

 

[akadmon]

Did my little LR test under 10.5.7 and saw no tearing. BTW, benborman, I use a Canon T1i and work RAW in LR, just like you.

I'm attaching a screen shot of the OpenGL Extensions Viewer test page. I ran the test using the same settings as on the krull site. My FPS numbers are 5-10% lower. I assume it's because he ran his tests on a newer/faster machine.
So it seems the verdict is my 4870 is working well enough under SL, hence I don't think I'll bother Cindori about the 10.5.7 drivers.

@ benborman
I just learned about the LR 3 beta today. From what I've read on the LR forum, it's still a long way from being ready (e.g., slow import speeds). I don't think I'll migrate everything into it just yet, but I'll take it for a spin to see what new things are coming down the pike. Apparently this beta expires in April, which probably means that we won't see the final product until mid 2010. Bummer.

 

[benborman]

Mods: Please remove. Double post, sorry.

 

[benborman]

@ benborman
I just learned about the LR 3 beta today. From what I've read on the LR forum, it's still a long way from being ready (e.g., slow import speeds). I don't think I'll migrate everything into it just yet, but I'll take it for a spin to see what new things are coming down the pike. Apparently this beta expires in April, which probably means that we won't see the final product until mid 2010. Bummer.

LR isn't part of huge part of my normal workflow - I don't spend enough time there to need killer speeds out of it. But I do like some of the interface improvements and features in the LR 3 Beta.

Well, lets hope the 10.6.2 video driver updates help!

 

[Mark Booth]

I'm attaching a screen shot of the OpenGL Extensions Viewer test page. I ran the test using the same settings as on the krull site. My FPS numbers are 5-10% lower. I assume it's because he ran his tests on a newer/faster machine.

Yes, some of the test figures out there were run on faster Mac Pros. Here's my OpenGL Extensions Viewer results for the 512MB XFX 4870 (flashed with Apple's ROM) that I put in my Mac Pro 1,1 2.66GHz 2xdual-core (4 cores total):

As you can see, my figures a pretty much the same as yours.

BTW, no tearing issues on my Mac Pro but I don't use Lightroom (Aperture all the way!!).

Mark

 

[akadmon]

Good for you for saving yourself a couple hundred bucks by getting a PC version. I'm probably a fool for buying it from Apple at a premium price, especially given the distinct the possibility that Apple will not honor the warranty, or even provide phone support in case of any driver issues. And why should they?! After all, I'm running it on a machine that is "incompatible".

Aperture? This is where your luck runs out: LR all the way!!!