Mac Pro won't restart

We have a late 2008 Mac Pro that won't restart from the Apple menu, nor are we able to reset the PRAM with the keyboard. The computer will almost shut down, but hang right at the end, making the DVD drives click on and off.
We have tried the following to remedy the situation:
Run Disk Warrior, repair permissions, tried two other keyboards, start from a different system drive, start and restart from a new user account, disconnect each DVD burner separately, disconnect both DVD drives simultaneously, re-install (archive and install) the 10.5, install 10.5 on a fresh hard drive that has been zeroed out with Disk Utility.
We have removed and reseated all the RAM.
We have also unplugged the all cables and hard drives and removed the battery for 20 minutes to try to reset the PRAM.
We've used another Mac Pro and Target Disk Mode to run Disk Warrior on all the drives.
Other weirdness: the option key won't work on start-up.
The computer will shut down normally and start normally, but won't Restart from the Apple Menu.
2 x 2.66 Dual Core Xeon
16 GB RAM
4 - 500 GB Seagate Barracuda drives
High Point RocketRAID 2322 SATA RAID - disconnected for the time being.
I'm struggling to think of other things to try and uneasy about using the machine until it works properly.
Thanks,
David

Hi, I have the same problem.
Ever sonce day 1 when I first restarted the mac It did not work. The mac pro was delivered with 3 GB of ram. (2x512 and 2x1GB apple ceriefied).
So My question. Would it be able to restart when I pair the rams up?
I also purchased 4x2GB) OWC ram.
Curently the setup on the risers is:
A) 2x512MB | 2x2GB
B) 2x1GB | 2x2GB
(667MHz)
What would be the idael setup for it (lot of Final cut studio work)?
I would realy like to get this problem fixed since installing programs on mac is very annoying when they ask to restart the mac and give no option to shutdown manually.
I could not return it then because I needed it a few days after to start a documentery project (MP arrived 3 months late after the first fell down of a truck or somthing during shipping.
Thanx in advance for you response
Philip

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My Early 2009 Mac Pro won't restart after installing Mavericks

I have installed Mavericks on my Early 2009 Mac Pro and all seemed to install just fine but when I restart the Mac then it won't get past a grey screen with Apple logo. It seems that it does get reasonabley far into the startup, it gets passed the grey screen with cricling progress thingmy under the Apple logo, then it flashes very quickly and after that it is a grey screen with the Apple logo and no further.
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Here are the things I've tried which have made no difference:
Removed all peripherals, so that now nothing is plugged in except the original Apple Keyboard, my Apple trackpad and my Eizo monitor.
I tried starting it in Safe Boot mode but this made no difference.
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I would be most grateful if someone could assist.

Take each of these steps that you haven't already tried. Stop when the problem is resolved.
Step 1
The first step in dealing with a boot failure is to secure your data. If you want to preserve the contents of the startup drive, and you don't already have at least one current backup, you must try to back up now, before you do anything else. It may or may not be possible. If you don't care about the data that has changed since your last backup, you can skip this step.
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b. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, boot the non-working Mac in target disk mode. Use the working Mac to copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
c. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.
Step 2
Sometimes a boot failure can be resolved by resetting the NVRAM.
Step 3
If you use a wireless keyboard, trackpad, or mouse, replace or recharge the batteries. The battery level shown in the Bluetooth menu item may not be accurate.
Step 4
If there's a built-in optical drive, a disc may be stuck in it. Follow these instructions to eject it.
Step 5
Press and hold the power button until the power shuts off. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed to boot, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Use a different keyboard and/or mouse, if those devices are wired. If you can boot now, one of the devices you disconnected, or a combination of them, is causing the problem. Finding out which one is a process of elimination.
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Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
When you boot in safe mode, it's normal to see a dark gray progress bar on a light gray background. If the progress bar gets stuck for more than a few minutes, or if the system shuts down automatically while the progress bar is displayed, your boot volume is corrupt and the drive is probably malfunctioning. In that case, go to Step 6.
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Step 7
Launch Disk Utility in Recovery mode (see Step 1.) Select your startup volume, then run Repair Disk. If any problems are found, repeat until clear. If Disk Utility reports that the volume can't be repaired, the drive has malfunctioned and should be replaced. You might choose to tolerate one such malfunction in the life of the drive. In that case, erase the volume and restore from a backup. If the same thing ever happens again, replace the drive immediately.
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Reinstall the OS. If your Mac was upgraded from an older version of OS X, you’ll need the Apple ID and password you used to upgrade.
Step 9
Repeat Step 6, but this time erase the boot volume in Disk Utility before installing. The system should automatically reboot into the Setup Assistant. Follow the prompts to transfer your data from a Time Machine or other backup.
Step 10
This step applies only to older Macs (not current models) that have a logic-board ("PRAM") battery. Both desktop and portable Macs used to have such a battery. The logic-board battery, if there is one, is separate from the main battery of a portable. A dead logic-board battery can cause a boot failure. Typically the failure will be preceded by loss of the settings for the startup disk and system clock. See the user manual for replacement instructions. You may have to take the machine to a service provider to have the battery replaced.
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Hello. My mac pro early 2008 restarts after sleep mode and it works slower. I tested it with apple hardwear test and it seems to be ok. Thank you.

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Message was edited by: macjack

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