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Ancient 2008 Mac Pro video card/start up problem

Hello all-


It's ancient I know. I keep my old 2008 Mac Pro around to run some legacy programs I need to occasionally revisit.


Recently, when I tried to wake it from sleep mode a fan came on and whirred constantly. There was no other activity. I shut it down and tried to restart. The fan again came on and stayed on but there was no chime and no further activity. I powered it down, unplugged it and let it sit for 24 hours. After that period was up I powered up the machine. It chimed and it started up perfectly.


Yay thought I. Life is good.


Days went by then yesterday when I again tried to wake it from sleep mode the same thing happened. All fan all the time and no chime. No life. No joy.


I opened it up and reseated the video card and ram modules. I let it sit for an hour and then restarted it with the case open. I then noticed that the fan sound was coming from the video card (ATI Radeon 5770). The RAM cards lights flashed on start up but that was all. Just the fan whirring on the video card and nothing else.


I need get a few more weeks out of this machine if possible. Can anyone suggest a cheap fix? I don't mind replacing the video card or RAM if I have to. EBay to the rescue.


Any thoughts anyone?


Many thanks.



Posted on Jul 24, 2020 12:36 PM

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Posted on Jul 29, 2020 9:04 AM

<<The RAM cards lights flashed on start up but that was all.>>


Those lights are turned ON by startup signal, then turned OFF when they pass the Power-On Self-Test. These Xeon Mac Pro have Error Correcting Code RAM, so the Power-ON Self Test is definitive, and uncorrectable errors are detected immediately.


RAM problems do not fester undetected.

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2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 29, 2020 9:04 AM in response to Adrian Smith4

<<The RAM cards lights flashed on start up but that was all.>>


Those lights are turned ON by startup signal, then turned OFF when they pass the Power-On Self-Test. These Xeon Mac Pro have Error Correcting Code RAM, so the Power-ON Self Test is definitive, and uncorrectable errors are detected immediately.


RAM problems do not fester undetected.

Jul 29, 2020 8:50 AM in response to Adrian Smith4

Hello Adrian!


I had a similar issue with my 2006 Mac Pro where the GPU fan would run at full speed, and the issue for that problem ended up being a faulty RAM Riser Board. Not the actual RAM stick, but the riser board. I would suggest removing one of the Risers and trying to boot again, and if that doesn't work try the other Riser alone.


Hope it helps!

-Geotrax

Ancient 2008 Mac Pro video card/start up problem

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