Mac Pro screens go black unexpectedly?

I have a 2008 Mac Pro running 10.7.3 with original ATI Radeon x1900 xt (512MB) powering two displays (30" Cinema & 17" Studio Display) and all of a sudden they both go black. System seems to still be running. Assume it's the card because both displays are affected.
Has happened 4 or 5 times just lately. No common action to try to repeat problem.
Only recovery seems to a forced shutdown via computers power switch, wait a minute or so and power button restart. All is then good.
I have zapped PRAM and reset SMC to no avail. Completely baffled! Never happened before. Help!
CC
ps: Did notice that the firmware version of this ATI card was113-A52027-140 and I heard that there might be a update but no enough not to go outside Apple's firmware updates with each new version. AMD also defers to Apple on their site.

FWIW, I have ATI Radeon 5870's and I've had failing fans on two of them (on my third now). Maybe the fan motors used in the 5x70 cards are the same ones used on your older card. When mine cut out it would look like the mac pro was in sleep except for one exhaust fan.
Moral here is it is a good idea to check that that fan is moving even when you machine appears to be running. Take a peek every now and then. Also add one of the temperature monitoring utilities like iStat Pro, iStat Menus, Hardware Monitor, Temperature Monitor, etc.

Similar Messages

Mac pro screen goes black at login

mac pro screen goes black at login

Congratulations. I think this is very hard to do.
However, this is a forum devoted to video editing. You want one associated to the MacPro.
x

My Mac Pro screen going black while turning on.

My mac book pro 13" screen going black while turning on.

Hello, Gaganpreetfromnz.
Thank you for visiting Apple Support Communities.
Here are a couple troubleshooting articles that I would recommend going through when experiencing this issue.
Troubleshooting: My computer won't turn on
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1367
Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570
Cheers,
Jason H.

Mac Pro display remains black after start up.

My 2008 Mac Pro display remains black after start up. It is plugged in properly and the light comes on, but the screen stays black. It first started doing this about a week ago, but after a manual restart or two, it would start up properly with the display working. Today the display has remained black every time I've tried to start up. Any suggestions for troubleshooting would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Safe Mode uses a very simple way of talking to the screen -- it does not even load the screen driver, and it uses a very common low resolution.
If it does not work that way, it simply does not work. You need a replacement graphics card.
User Tip: Mac Pro silver tower (2006-2012) Replacement Graphics cards

My Mac laptop screen is black but everything else is on

My Mac laptop screen is black but everything else is on.

Hey Cdronet14,
Thanks for the question. I understand you are experiencing issues with your iPhone 5. I see that you have already attempted a reset of the device. To isolate the issue further and determine if it is hardware related, the next step would be to backup and restore your device as new:
iOS: How to back up your data and set up your device as a new device
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4137
After erasing and setting up as a new device, your device is now in a factory configuration. Test to determine if erasing and setting up as a new device resolved the issue. Content on the device may have caused unexpected behavior.
If the issue is still present, you may want to contact Apple Support.
Thanks,
Matt M.

My mac pro screen has vertical lines... How much does it cost to get it fixed?

My mac pro screen has vertical lines... How much does it cost to get it fixed?

When you fail to give information on the exact model MBP that you have, how do you expect anyone to provide you with any specific information?
I suggest that you go to the iFixit.com and Powerbookmedic.com and look for parts and prices. That naturally assumes that you know what parts are defective and need to be replaced.
Ciao.

I am a brand new mac user...trying to figure out how to switch from the Mac Pro screen to my external monitor. Appreciate any help.

am a brand new mac user...trying to figure out how to switch from the Mac Pro screen to my external monitor. Appreciate any help. thanks

In Finder... goto Help... In the Search Window type in Displays...
Lots of Useful Information there...
You may find these Links Useful too:
http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/
http://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro/
Cheers,

Thin purple vertical line appears on my Mac Pro screen

A few days ago I started getting a thin purple line running vertically on my Mac Pro Screen. It comes and goes.

It is probably a hardware fault. Make and appointment with your Apple Store to have it checked.

My Mac Pro screen went grey ?

My Mac Pro screen went grey ?

Aamirfrom,
boot your MacBook Pro into Recovery mode by holding down a Command key and the R key as it starts up. Once the OS X Utilities menu appears, select Disk Utility. On the left-hand side of the Disk Utility window, select your internal disk’s boot partition (typically called “Macintosh HD”). On the right-hand side, press the Verify Disk button if it’s not greyed out; if it is greyed out, or if it reports that errors were found, press the Repair Disk button. Once the verification/repair is completed, exit Disk Utility and select Restart from the Apple menu to restart in normal mode. Is your display still grey?

Mac Pro 3.1 black screen, loud fans

Hello community,
I have a Mac Pro 3.1, 2008 dual 2.8ghz computer. I bought it cheaply as the original owner claimed it had a problem where it would randomly sleep, and a hard reset was neccesary in order to restart the computer. On turning on the computer myself I soon saw what he meant, all of a sudden, quite randomly the screen would drop out entirely and about 8 seconds later the fans go on full whack. This could happen before the computer boots, or could happen 15 minutes later. Sometimes it would happen more often when say I watched a youtube clip on full size in 720/1080p. This shut down can only be stopped by hard resetting the unit.
Originally i thought it might of been the graphics card (Nvidia 8800 GT) which upon researching had found out there have been issues with this graphics card for other people in the past, however they speak of glitchy graphics, over-heating and 'baking' the card. I tested the temps on the gfx card and they were not abnormally high at all. Infact on monitoring all the temperatures when the computer was on i noticed no abnormality with any temps apart from maybe the north bridge which was max 62 C when idling. But my macbook pro hits 75 C on the CPU when using intensive software (logic pro etc). I also tested the gfx card in both available pcie slots aswell as cleaning out excess dust from the gfx card using compressed air.
The computer has a WD velociraptor 128gb 10k rpm HDD installed. I tested the computer with a 128gb SSD which i know worked. I managed to install snow leopard from a DVD onto it before a crash and the computer worked for maybe 20-25 mins then it blacked out again. Not the hard drive then. Tested all the ram (6gb), moved them around etc, no red dimm lights on either board. Not the ram.
The only main components left really are the power supply and the logic board. I have no red leds on the logic board lighting up, so no obvious failures. And when the computer is on it works a treat.
Does this sound like the PSU is dying/dead? I thought this could be an easy software fix, but am now chasing the hardware train....
Any help would be greatly appreciated and thanks in advance!
Cheers!
Catro

I had a similar problem. Old mac pro and randomly the monitors would go black.
Replying to this incase anyone else has this problem…
Tried all the restarts under the sun, reset the board only to get temporary fix. It got to the point where the monitors would black out repeatedly after a few minutes of resetting.
My final solution (May not work for everyone): Remove the graphics card and check to see if the copper fins in the heat sink are "caked in dust". On my ATI card i can see this from the bottom end. I took the hoover and placed it at the opening and the bit of the hoover nozzle that stuck out I covered that with my finger for maximum suction, I repeated this process from the opposite side where the air exits, after a few seconds the suction was enough to clean out the heat sink and the fan started to spin with the power of the suction.
I have replaced the card and now my mac is running very quiet for the first time in years. On removing the graphics card I noticed the bay was very hot including the card. I'm guessing the card cuts out to protect itself from overheating.
Don't forget to wear an anti-static wristband or discharge yourself first. Using a hoover was a drastic last step. Don't think an air duster would solve the problem as well as suction.

Mac Pro (early 2008) black screen after 2015-004 Mavericks security update

Hi,
My Mac Pro (early 2008) does not start up after 2015-004 security update last week. I can't
get anything on my monitors. I can hear it starts booting, but not sure if does so fully, because the screen
stays black. Have tried all the different booting options, e.g. safe boot, but no effect. Is there a way to revert
the update or even do a clean OS install, even if I can't see anything on the monitor?
I just noticed that Apple has released a supplemental update today for Yosemite 10.10.3,
"that will fix video driver issuesthat will prevent your mac from starting up when running certain apps that capture video"
I am wondering if this is my problem, even if I use Mavericks. Any thoughts?

Try booting to Recovery and repairing the the startup disk via Disk Utility.
OS X: About OS X Recovery - Apple Support
Next try resinstalling the OS
OS X Mavericks: Reinstall OS X

Mac Pro Early 2008 - Black Screen problem

Set-up
Mac Pro 3,1 (Early 2008)
Processor 2 x 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Memory 32 GB 667 MHz DDR2 FB-DIMM
Graphics ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024 MB
Storage 2 TB SATA Disk , 2 x 500GB SATA Disk , 128GB Solid State SATA Disk
Display LG 19LS4D-ZB
Operating System Mavericks (10.9.4)
Hi,
I received this mac yesterday from an eBay seller. Everything once booted is running well, I spent most of the day yesterday installing various softwares such as the Adobe Creative Suite (CS6). Then all of a sudden, after around 8 hours of using the machine and editing some video content on Premiere Pro, I get this black screen (with absolutely no warning). The computer didn't change tone or anything with the way it was running, it sounded the exact same as it was. It wasn't like there was no signal coming from the graphics card, there was a signal, it was just a black screen (no cursor or anything). Eventually, I had to turn off the computer using the button on the front.
I have messaged the person who sold me the computer about this, and he has said "The problem is very simple: VGA card goes to sleep. You can change the 'go to sleep time' as Windows system, but don't know where this is with a mac". I've googled to the end of the earth but can't seem to find anything on it!
I've attached these screen shots too just in case...
Any help would be greatly appreciated or happy to answer any questions,
Thanks,
Sam

Try booting to Recovery and repairing the the startup disk via Disk Utility.
OS X: About OS X Recovery - Apple Support
Next try resinstalling the OS
OS X Mavericks: Reinstall OS X

My Mac Pro screen is completely black when I turned it on

My Mac Pro turns on but nothing shows on the screen. The screen is completely dark. Is it because I need a new battery for my MacBook Pro? My MacBook Pro is three to four years old and I never change the battery on it. Could some help me out!!!!

Try Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM

Mac Pro (ATI X1900) black screen at boot

Hey there,
I've been seeing some problems with my early Mac Pro when booting. Upon the first boot of the day, the machine sounds like it's starting up however the display remains black for upto 15 minutes before kicking in.
The problem used to happen occasionally but it's just been getting worse over the last 6 months.
It's got to the stage that if you put the machine into sleep mode, then come back 30 minutes later I'll have to wait for another 15 minutes before I can log back in.
If the machine has been running for a while and you perform a regular reboot, you can see the system booting and the login window comes up straight away.
I've tried a fresh install of Leopard on an external drive, problem still exists.
I also tried hooking up another display to the system just to check it wasn't the existing monitor and sure enough the problem remains.
Recently the display has been blanking for a few seconds when I've been using the system.
Searching to forums seems to suggest a whole bunch of issues with the ATI X1900 card, which is installed in this system.
Does anyone think the ATI card is the fault here?
In addition, I know the system is out of its initial years warranty but it seems like the ATI card has some known problems, so what's the likelyhood of Apple helping me out here?

You are chasing down the wrong rabbit hole is my best guess, as bad as the X1900 might be.
Rule out marginal RAM, Seagate drives, 3rd party USB/FW devices, controllers (other than X1900), even modem/router. All it takes is a bad USB or FW (or probably RJ45) cable.
No need to reinstall. Now that you have, clone your system for backup and testing with SuperDuper and run Disk Warrior, too, and try that. Might want to rerun the last combo update. And I always run the combo update from another drive than the system being updated.
SuperDuper forces the newly cloned system to rebuild all the temp files, logs, caches and such that are best done by itself when first booted.
Other things to try are reset the SMC RESET button on pre-2008 Mac Pro (on 2008 model, leave it unplugged overnight, no cables attached to clear or reset the SMC) and then zap NVRAM on cold boot.
See this article:
http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20060131080021235

10.5.7 Fundamental Incompatibility with Mac Pro - Screen/System Lock ups

Hi all.
It looks like 10.5.7 is causing a lot of problems, but I think I found a problem that is very fundamental.
First, my system. It's one of the original Mac Pros with Quad Xeons at 2.66GHz. It has 24GB of RAM and several drives in there. I have 3 30" displays plugged into 3 NVIDIA GeForce 7300GT cards. I originally ran a 10.5.7 combo update on my 10.5.6 system, and experienced these problems (detailed below). As I was also running a beta of iTunes and the iPhone SDK (the 3rd release), and beta 2 of Safari 4, I thought this may have caused some trouble. So, I tried an experiment.
I bought a new Corsair 256GB SSD for my startup drive. Loaded my family pack of 10.5.6 onto it as a fresh install, and just applied the 10.5.7 combo update. I get the exact same behavior with no further software. So, this is a fundamental incompatibility of 10.5.7 with a machine having these specs.
Now the problems. They start with the primary (in my case center) screen locking while the other two screens keep working. Meaning, the primary display "works" but none of the windows move, the clock freezes...yet, if you move the mouse there and luckily grab a window, you could move it out onto the other 2 displays and it would allow you to continue to use the application. If you hit the CONTROLkey and scroll up and down (zooming the display in and out) it can sometimes "unlock" the primary display, but then there are many artifacts. For example, the shadows cast by windows appear as plain grey "dashboard esque" blocks and have black stripes at the edges. Also, at random times, the machine just seems to hang completely, and unlock a minute or 2 later. Eventually it locks for good.
Unfortunately this has lead me into a deadlock situation. My iTunes has been updated to the 3rd beta in the iPhone 3.0 SDK release. The library has been modified and only works with that version now. That version requires 10.5.7. So if I revert back to 10.5.6, I lose my iTunes Library or have to wait till the offical version of iTunes is realeased (although that may still require 10.5.7).
I see lots of people are having Firewire (800 in particular) problems, and I have several drives I need on Firewire. It's not a solution to yank them. It all works fine under 10.5.6, of course.
So the question is...is help on it's way? What to do!?
Thanks for any insights.
More info on the system below:
Hardware Overview:
Model Name: Mac Pro
Model Identifier: MacPro1,1
Processor Name: Dual-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 2.66 GHz
Number Of Processors: 2
Total Number Of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per processor): 4 MB
Memory: 24 GB
Bus Speed: 1.33 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MP11.005C.B08
SMC Version (system): 1.7f10
NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT:
Chipset Model: NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT
Type: Display
Bus: PCIe
Slot: Slot-1
PCIe Lane Width: x8
VRAM (Total): 256 MB
Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)
Device ID: 0x0393
Revision ID: 0x00a1
ROM Revision: 3008
Displays:
Cinema HD:
Resolution: 2560 x 1600
Depth: 32-Bit Color
Core Image: Hardware Accelerated
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Supported
Rotation: Supported
Display Connector:
Status: No Display Connected
NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT:
Chipset Model: NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT
Type: Display
Bus: PCIe
Slot: Slot-2
PCIe Lane Width: x8
VRAM (Total): 256 MB
Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)
Device ID: 0x0393
Revision ID: 0x00a1
ROM Revision: 3008
Displays:
Cinema HD:
Resolution: 2560 x 1600
Depth: 32-Bit Color
Core Image: Hardware Accelerated
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Supported
Rotation: Supported
Display Connector:
Status: No Display Connected
NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT:
Chipset Model: NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT
Type: Display
Bus: PCIe
Slot: Slot-3
PCIe Lane Width: x4
VRAM (Total): 256 MB
Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)
Device ID: 0x0393
Revision ID: 0x00a1
ROM Revision: 3008
Displays:
Cinema HD:
Resolution: 2560 x 1600
Depth: 32-Bit Color
Core Image: Hardware Accelerated
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Supported
Rotation: Supported
Display Connector:
Status: No Display Connected
ATA Bus:
SONY DVD RW DW-D150A:
Model: SONY DVD RW DW-D150A
Revision: 1.MD
Serial Number:
Detachable Drive: No
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Internal
Low Power Polling: No
Power Off: No
TSSTcorpCD/DVDW SH-S162L:
Model: TSSTcorpCD/DVDW SH-S162L
Revision: LC02
Serial Number:
Detachable Drive: No
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 1
Socket Type: Internal
Low Power Polling: No
Power Off: No
FireWire Bus:
Maximum Speed: Up to 800 Mb/sec
Built-in Hub:
Manufacturer: Unknown
Model: Unknown
Maximum Speed: Up to 800 Mb/sec
Connection Speed: Unknown
FreeAgent Go FW:
Manufacturer: Seagate
Model: 0x2200
GUID: 0x20370200105F82
Maximum Speed: Up to 800 Mb/sec
Connection Speed: Up to 200 Mb/sec
Sub-units:
FreeAgent Go FW Unit:
Unit Software Version: 0x10483
Unit Spec ID: 0x609E
Firmware Revision: 0x110
Product Revision Level: 410G
Sub-units:
FreeAgent Go FW SBP-LUN:
Capacity: 149.05 GB
Removable Media: Yes
BSD Name: disk5
Mac OS 9 Drivers: No
Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. status: Not Supported
Volumes:
Seagate149GBTote:
Capacity: 148.73 GB
Available: 132.95 GB
Writable: Yes
File System: Case-sensitive Journaled HFS+
BSD Name: disk5s2
Mount Point: /Volumes/Seagate149GBTote
Unknown Device:
Manufacturer: Unknown
Model: Unknown
GUID: 0x0
Maximum Speed: Up to 800 Mb/sec
Connection Speed: Unknown
OEM ATA Device 00:
Manufacturer: OEM
Model: 0x0
GUID: 0x30E102E0454B7D
Maximum Speed: Up to 800 Mb/sec
Connection Speed: Up to 200 Mb/sec
Sub-units:
OEM ATA Device 00 Unit:
Unit Software Version: 0x10483
Unit Spec ID: 0x609E
Firmware Revision: 0x110
Product Revision Level:
Sub-units:
OEM ATA Device 00 SBP-LUN:
Capacity: 931.51 GB
Removable Media: Yes
BSD Name: disk4
Mac OS 9 Drivers: No
Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. status: Not Supported
Volumes:
TimeMachine:
Capacity: 931.19 GB
Available: 606.63 GB
Writable: Yes
File System: Case-sensitive Journaled HFS+
BSD Name: disk4s2
Mount Point: /Volumes/TimeMachine
Unknown Device:
Manufacturer: Unknown
Model: Unknown
Maximum Speed: Up to 400 Mb/sec
Connection Speed: Unknown
Unknown Device:
Manufacturer: Unknown
Model: Unknown
Maximum Speed: Up to 400 Mb/sec
Connection Speed: Unknown
Unknown Device:
Manufacturer: Unknown
Model: Unknown
Maximum Speed: Up to 400 Mb/sec
Connection Speed: Unknown
Unknown Device:
Manufacturer: Unknown
Model: Unknown
Maximum Speed: Up to 800 Mb/sec
Connection Speed: Unknown
Unknown Device:
Manufacturer: Unknown
Model: Unknown
Maximum Speed: Up to 400 Mb/sec
Connection Speed: Unknown
Memory Slots:
ECC: Enabled
DIMM Riser A/DIMM 1:
Size: 4 GB
Type: DDR2 FB-DIMM
Speed: 667 MHz
Status: OK
Manufacturer: 0x8551
Part Number: 0x373254353132393230454641335343322020
Serial Number: 0x02007D11
DIMM Riser A/DIMM 2:
Size: 4 GB
Type: DDR2 FB-DIMM
Speed: 667 MHz
Status: OK
Manufacturer: 0x8551
Part Number: 0x373254353132393230454641335343322020
Serial Number: 0x02006013
DIMM Riser B/DIMM 1:
Size: 4 GB
Type: DDR2 FB-DIMM
Speed: 667 MHz
Status: OK
Manufacturer: 0x8551
Part Number: 0x373254353132393230454641335343322020
Serial Number: 0x0200711F
DIMM Riser B/DIMM 2:
Size: 4 GB
Type: DDR2 FB-DIMM
Speed: 667 MHz
Status: OK
Manufacturer: 0x8551
Part Number: 0x373254353132393230454641335343322020
Serial Number: 0x02007012
DIMM Riser A/DIMM 3:
Size: 2 GB
Type: DDR2 FB-DIMM
Speed: 667 MHz
Status: OK
Manufacturer: 0x830B
Part Number: 0x4E54324754373255344E4231424E2D334320
Serial Number: 0xA4730244
DIMM Riser A/DIMM 4:
Size: 2 GB
Type: DDR2 FB-DIMM
Speed: 667 MHz
Status: OK
Manufacturer: 0x830B
Part Number: 0x4E54324754373255344E4231424E2D334320
Serial Number: 0x70780241
DIMM Riser B/DIMM 3:
Size: 2 GB
Type: DDR2 FB-DIMM
Speed: 667 MHz
Status: OK
Manufacturer: 0x830B
Part Number: 0x4E54324754373255344E4231424E2D334320
Serial Number: 0xE4760245
DIMM Riser B/DIMM 4:
Size: 2 GB
Type: DDR2 FB-DIMM
Speed: 667 MHz
Status: OK
Manufacturer: 0x830B
Part Number: 0x4E54324754373255344E4231424E2D334320
Serial Number: 0xF0770241

I can only tell you that I've run 10.5.7 on my Mac Pro, same model as yours, without any problems. As a beta tester my Mac Pro was the main hardware on which 10.5.7 was tested. I currently have it installed on a first generation iMac, MacBook, and MacBook Pro as well as a second generation MacBook Pro. So far not a single problem.
But, I don't have multiple video cards nor do I use any beta version of iTunes (didn't know there was one since each system upgrade includes the current release) but I do use the Safari 4 Beta - the most recent version just released when 10.5.7 was released.)
I can suggest you read the following about updates of system software:
Essential Steps Before Updating OS X!
Please do things right before updating OS X in order to avoid problems.
A. Repair Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger and Leopard.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now restart normally.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior (4.0 for Tiger, and 4.1 for Leopard) and/or TechTool Pro (4.6.1 for Leopard) to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
B. Clone Using Restore Option of Disk Utility
1. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (journaled, if available) and click on the Erase button. This step can be skipped if the destination has already been freshly erased.
4. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
5. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
6. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means your backup drive (should be erased first.)
Source means your startup drive or volume.
C. Download the Standalone Combo Updater from Apple.
Be sure you quit all running applications and disconnect all peripherals (except original keyboard and mouse) before running the installer. When the installer is running do not use the computer in any way other than to respond to an installer dialog.
Install the update by double-clicking on the installer package icon. When the installation is completed Restart the computer. Your computer will boot twice - this is normal. Upon completion of the update use Disk Utility to repair permissions. Not all permissions will seem repaired. You will get spurious reports regarding permissions related to iTunes, Front Row. These can be ignored. They will appear every time you repair permissions.
Following these basic steps should prevent most if not all updating problems. Note that if you have unrepairable disk problems reported in Step A then DO NOT update your system until those problems are resolved.
If you find that you did not follow these suggestions, then you might consider reinstalling OS X and going about the process properly in the hope of a successful result:
How to Perform an Archive and Install
An Archive and Install will NOT erase your hard drive, but you must have sufficient free space for a second OS X installation which could be from 3-9 GBs depending upon the version of OS X and selected installation options. The free space requirement is over and above normal free space requirements which should be at least 6-10 GBs. Read all the linked references carefully before proceeding.
1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.
Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported, then quit DU and return to the installer.
2. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.
3. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.
4. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.
5. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.
6. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update.

Mac Pro screens go black unexpectedly?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for