MacPro 2008 won't start.

The computer was working fine, I left for vacation, unplugged it, returned home, plugged the power strip in, and tried to turn it on. The fan whirrs, and the light on the power button flashes but doesn't boot up, suggestions?

How To Install and Remove Memory Mac Pro
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT4433
2008 Mac Pro Memory Arrangement
http://eshop.macsales.com/Customized_Pages/Framework.cfm?page=install_videos/mac pro/macpro_quicksheet.html
Mac Pro 2008 800MHz 8GB Kit eBay (Europe)
http://viewitem.eim.ebay.dk/KOMPUTERBAY-8GB-2X4GB-MEMORY-for-APPLE-MAC-PRO-EARLY -2008-31-DDR2-800MHz/140962093586/item?transId=808969265004
Ideal RAM config is 8 DIMMs - offers 17% improvement memory bandwidth performance
667MHz FBDIMMs are cheap, excellent and 4% 'hit' you would never know about.
http://www.barefeats.com/harper5.html
2x2GB FBDIMM DDR2 667MHz @ $32http://www.amazon.com/BUFFERED-PC2-5300-FB-DIMM-APPLE-Memory/dp/B002ORUUAC/
Komputerbay 8GB (2x 4GB) DDR2 PC2-5300F 667MHz CL5 ECC Fully Buffered FB-DIMM (240 PIN) 8 GB w/ Heatspreaders
http://www.amazon.com/Komputerbay-PC2-5300F-Buffered-FB-DIMM-Heatspreaders/dp/B0 05HIWD5U/
FBDIMMs fail. They are cheaper and better though now.
Monitor temps, and even boosting the fan by 300 rpm to a higher low base level gives better air flow and cooling.
Use a 900W highly rated UPS.
And use your OEM DVD with Apple Hardware Test (it is not conclusive, so if it does not find or report an error it does not mean the hardware is fine and actually "passed."

Similar Messages

MacPro (2008) is not starting ...

2008 Mac Pro
Running 10.8 mountain lion
Won't start at all ...
Just blank screen
I try starting with option, nothing
I try starting with command-R, nothing, no recovery partition , although I know it's there, have used it before,
Just nothing!
Help!
I haven't changed anything since yesterday when it started with no problem ...

thank you Steve!
I used the procedure which an apple tech guy told me years ago -
I have no idea what it's called, but I mentioned it previously, before I tried it - as follows :
* unplug everything, every USB, ethernet, even power,
* push the front power button & hold it for 120 seconds
* then just plug in one monitor, the keyboard USB cable, and the power...
it then started!
does anyone know what this process is? why it worked? like I say, there just seemed to be no connection between the hard drives / OS and the overall equipment, I'm sure I'm not describing it adequately...
w

MacBook original(2008) won't start after water damage

Hi guys, my macbook originial (2009) won't start because of I think water damage. I was on a plane and I found my backpack was wet be ause of my leaking water bottle. I immediately took out everything. My iPad,the MacBook and all the chargers and whatnot. The water touched the left side of the macbook (the USB side) including the MagSafe port. So I wiped it and left it to dry for about 36 hours. When I got to my house, I checked the iPad and it was ok and so was its charger. I tried to connect the MagSafe but it shows a dim light which means its not charging. So I decided to clean the connections and tried again but no luck. I got once lucky by reconnecting multiple times till it started and it's fans were blowing like ****. Everything was normal then I saw the battery icon. It said batteries not available. Powered by power cord. Then I went out for a while and when I came back the macbook was switched off by my brother. So what can I do now?
Sorry but I live in Malaysia so there is no genius bar :(
Any help will be appreciated!

BUMP

Mac Pro 2008 Won't Start Up without Option Key

Hi.
I cannot start up my Mac Pro 2008 without holding down the Option key.
My Snow Leopard internal hard drive failed, so I replaced my failed internal drive with a brand new one and put the cloned backup onto it. I also have other internal drives and partitions with systems 10.5.6, 10.7.5, and 10.8.4. I briefly added a Mavericks partition, but removed it.
I THINK the problems started after the HD failure, but I'm not sure. I added no peripherals recently, although I did add 4 gigs of RAM which were faulty and I had to replace them. But they test fine with a memory test.
If I Restart, the Mac comes up with a grey screen and won't boot into any system.
If I Shut down, then Start up, I get the gray screen.
In System Preferences, I can see every single possible Startup Drive, but no matter which one I select, the same gray screen happens on boot up.
However, if I hold down the Option key (from startup or restart), then I can choose any startup volume and it starts just fine.
I've run Disk Utility many times for Repair Disk and Repair Disk Permissions on every volume. I've run Disk Warrior. I've zapped the SMC/PRAM, etc. I've tried starting up from external firewire drives and USB drives. No matter which drive I select in StartUp Disk Preferences, it's the same grey screen.
I've tried starting up with ZERO peripherals attached except for USB keyboard and mouse.
I've taken out all startup and login items.
I'm don't know what else to try. I don't mind using the Option key every time, but I'm worried it's a sign of impending problems.
Thanks!

Barry, thanks for your reply. Yes, that's what I mean when I wrote:
"In System Preferences, I can see every single possible Startup Drive, but no matter which one I select, the same gray screen happens on boot up."
I selected a default startup volume in sys preferences, closed it, and restarted. I tried every volume possible in turn.
But thanks for doublechecking

Issue with Office 2008 - won't start

I've just installed Office 2008 and done updating it to 12.1.2. I'm using a MacBook with Leopard 10.5.4 running.
But everytime I open anyone of the Office 2008 applications, the Get Started app pops up and Autoupdate follows. After Autoupdate finishes checking (no updates found), it just stays there.
The Application I selected be it Word, Exel or Powerpoint, won't open. What's wrong?

Since Office is not an Apple product, you should consider posting your question on Microsoft's own forums for their Mac products, as they would be more focused on the issue than an Apple forum that deals with installation issues of OS X:
http://www.officeformac.com/productforums

MacBook Pro (Late 2008) won't start up

Since December 2012, my MacBook Pro (late 2008) refuses start up. After trying many, many things (from online forums - nothing worked), the solution I found by hit and miss is to heat up the back of the laptop in front of my fireplace (or with a hair dryer), to remove the battery, to wait a few seconds and then to put it back in; after doing this, it turns on without a fuss and remains in perfect running condition until I turn it off again. I now leave it on 24/7 when at home, and I don't dare taking it away with me again... Seems to me a contact got loose and the heat expands it just enough to make it work again. Manufacturing problem?
Has anybody else got the same or a similar problem? I hope to fix this without going to an Apple store if possible, as it's not under warranty any more...
By the way, I have since replaced the battery and the hard disk, but that particular problem remains; I'm running OS X 10.8.2.

It coule be one of two things:
1) Your hard drive has become corrupted, and you'll have to reinstall the OS and cut your losses.
2) Your logic board is fried. I seriously hope that this isn't the problem, but if it is, then it's time for a new mac.
My macbook pro was stuck on a bootup loop, and I finally had to reinstall the OS. This fixed my problem. On the other hand, I had this same problem on my iMac, and an OS reinstall didn't do anything.
Before making any judgements, take it to the genius bar and get some expert advice.

Mac pro (2008) won't start - led flashes

it's been a while since i've had a mac issue.
today my mac pro decided not to boot up. the led light by the power button simply flashes and i have no image on my monitor and it doesn't chime at attempted start up. i've scoured the forums and it appears it may be an issue with the RAM and/or video card.
in this thread - https://discussions.apple.com/message/12852794#12852794 - a poster said:
"If the status light still flashes, determine the number of flashes to identify the problem:
• One short flash followed by a longer off period: No valid memory.
• Three short flashes followed by a longer off period: Failed memory."
does anyone know what continuous led flashing might mean?

The conventional way to proceed when you have no chime is to remove all items that may be dragging down the power supply if they were malfunctioning.
Remove:
Hard drives
optical drives
PCI slot cards including the graphics card
all the memory except the minimum -- be sure to remove and re-insert each module that remains, to clear corrosion. If your Mac has separate riser cards, remove and re-insert them as well.
Try to start up again, looking for the chime.
A) If you get the chime, add the graphics card so you can see what is happening. The minimum needed to do something is to start up while holding down the Option key, to run the [all-in-ROM] Startup Manager. It will show a blue screen and an image for each bootable drive (there won't be any yet).
Then add in the optical drive and attempt to boot from an Installer/Utilities DVD appropriate for your Mac, or try the Apple Hardware Test DVD (and hold down the D key as you start up, as it says on the face of the DVD).
B) If you don't get the chime, it's off to the repair shop.

MBP A1260 (Early 2008): Won't start, black screen, continuously lit LED - bad logic board?

Hello everyone!
I'm having a rather serious issue with my MBP A1260 (early 2008) running the latest version of OSX 10.5. This is what happens (or doesn't happen) when I start it:
Usual start-up sounds (fans, HDD, Superdrive)
No chime at startup
Blank screen (I even can't see anything if I hold it against a light source)
The LED is on continuously. Bright at first, then after a second only dim
No backlight of the screen, no keyboard lighting
No reaction to pressing the volume or brightness keys, even after waiting for a while (the OS isn't password protected)
I tried a couple things and googled for a bit. This is what I've tried so far:
Plug in an external monitor - no signal
Removed the battery, used an old battery (which doesn't hold too much power anymore, but is working) - nothing
Restarted with alt-key pressed to bring up the bootcamp menu - nothing
Reset PRAM and NVRAM (P+R+opt+cmd at startup) - nothing
Reset SMC - nothing
Removed all RAM - nothing
Tried all combinations of RAM modules and RAM banks individually - nothing
As you can see, I've already tried quite a bit to get my computer back up, but there's been no success so far. As far as I can tell, this thing's logic board is broken, which would be a prohibitively expensive repair at about 600€ to 700€. I know the logic board is basically the whole computer, but that's an insane amount of cash for a four year old computer.
Do you wise people have any other ideas how to get this thing running again?
If not, I can only come up with three options:
Sell the MBP on ebay as broken
Buy another A1260 with a working logic board and exchange it or
Pay for the insanely expensive repair
Do you have other ideas?
Luckily, I have another early 2011 MBP, which I'm using right now. But to be honest, it may be the last mac I ever own.
Anyways, I'm thankful for all responses. I promise to keep you updated if I get the machine running again.

Any ideas?

Mac Pro 2008 won't start

I was doing some mixing earlier on today and my Mac Pro and it was working fine.
I then come home and go to turn it on and there are these green lines in groups of 3 across my screen. No idea whats going on. My computer then crashes and won't go any further and says hold down power button to turn off the computer. I have tried to run in safe mode, it won't let it happen. I have resetting PRAM.
Has anyone had this problem before? Is my graphics card dead? Any info would be much appreciated.
It is a 2008 Mac Pro 8core, if that helps at all.

Hi-
Welcome to Discussions!
Will it boot to the original software disc with the Apple hardware Test on it?
If so, run the test.
there are these green lines in groups of 3 across my screen.
Could be the graphics card.

MacBook Pro (Early 2008) won't start

Hello,
I have an early 2008 model MacBook Pro running Snow Leopard and Windows XP through Boot Camp. From searching, I can see that people have had issues booting but their computers had at least turned on - mine doesn't even get that far.
I went to use the computer yesterday and was unable to turn it on. I looked up the Apple support website on another computer and tried the two fixes there (I believe it is called resetting the PRAM and SRAM?) but still no luck.
The battery light indicates that the battery is fully charged and there is no indication on the computer that it is turned on, no light on the opening clip button thing and no light on the Apple symbol.
I am thinking this could be the Logicboard issue but I have never had a problem with video before.
Any help/advice?

Simular issue here.
Last night, I closed the lid, putting the machine to sleep, as always.
This morning, I opened the lid again, it started with a Black Srceen, so I though "Let's turn the backlight up" No function there "Reset display?" I closed and re-opened lid, nothing "Restart!" pushed power-button, followed by enter, still nothing, so I held down the power-button to completely kill the machine, then to boot it up. I pushed the power-button again... It started up the fan and disc-drive for 1.5 seconds, then shuts down again.
I've tried it all, reset SMC, PRAM, checked power-cord, check the battery, boot without battery, re-insert ram, but nothing!
It seems the power-supply goes on, asks the logic-board for activity, get's no answer, and commits suicied again.
I'm out of Apple-care, I live in Denmark, so no genius bar for me.
Thanks in advance!

MacBook Pro 2008 won't start up - can anyone help?

I had left my Mac on last night and came down this morning to find it wouldn't respond. I could hear it whirr a bit but nothing on the screen. I pressed the shut-down button, thinking that it would shut down and then start up again. I could see the light at the front go off and it shut-down. When I pressed the button to start-up again there was no dong noise and it sounded as though the DVD drive was trying to read the DVD that is in there. The fan started up after a while and then it went 'dead'. Still nothing on the screen.
The fan has been making a lot of noise when I am doing something that seems to be demanding and I know the battery probably needs replacing. It has been cutting out after a very short time of usage without power without even warning me that it is running low.
I would be very grateful if anyone has any suggestions.
Thanks,
Susannah

There's no telling what's wrong - it's most certainly a hardware problem and can only be properly diagnosed by a qualified Apple technician. If I were you, I would take the machine to your local Apple Store or AASP and have them run diagnostic tests on the machine and give you an estimate on what it would take to fix it.
Sorry, but it's difficult to diagnose these types of problems over the Internet...
Clinton

My Windows Server 2008 won't start anymore

They have PV Drivers installed but now none will start.
They are running on OVM 3.2.2.

I almost had a heart attack... everything is fine now.
MV Manager was running on a virtual machine with just 1GB of memory. It has a lot more now and it's working fine.

Office 2008 won't start after migration

I recently replaced my hard drive. After doing so, I migrated all my applications and files from another computer and updated to Maverick. Now every time I try to open any office file, Setup Assistant opens and asked if I would like to do some survey, then goes to "Learn more... or Register" When I push register it takes me to a site that tells me I no longer need to register. I can't open any file in Office.

Contact Microsoft, you're having a licensing issue.

I did a factory reset on my late 2008 MacBook from a Snow Leopard disc. It installed fine, but as soon as I began to use the computer (safari) it froze. Couldn't even force quit. So I held down the power button to turn it off, and now it won't start up.

I did a factory reset on my late 2008 MacBook from a Snow Leopard disc. It installed fine, but as soon as I began to use the computer (safari) it froze. Couldn't even force quit. So I held down the power button to turn it off, and now it won't start up. It goes to the grey Apple screen and just sits there loud as can be. Help! Please keep in mind I've not done anything like this before and am going to need a little hand-holding. Thanks in advance.

Hi. Don't worry it's nothing serious. Insert the Instal Disc (Snow Leopard) and press the C button while turning on the computer. Once you see the desktop, go to Utility and choose Disk Utility. Select the Macintosh Partition on the left window pane and then click on Repair Disk and Repair Disk Permissions on the bottom right corner. Wait for both processes to finish. Click on the Apple icon (top left corner) and choose quit. Your computer should restart. See if it reboots normally. If not you can always reinstall the OS following the same steps. Good luck!

2008 24" IMac won't start.

Hi.
I have a early 2008 24" 2.8ghz IMac that won't start. There is a short dvd drive sound only. No hard drive noises, fans or display. Nothing else. Status led's 1 through 3 are lit. Not 4. Tried the usual tricks from the boards already. Any ideas?
Thanks in advance.

My computer is a 2008 so this applies:
LED #4
Indicates that the computer and the LCD display panel are communicating. This LED will be • ON when the computer is turned on and video signal is being generated. If the LED is ON and there is no image on the LCD display panel, the LCD display panel or inverter might be installed incorrectly or need replacement.
Even if the display was having an issue wouldn't the fans and hard drive still run?
Logic board problem?

MacPro 2008 won't start.

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for