Strange corrupted screen and hanging 10.8.5 Early 2008 Mac Pro

For the past couple of days (and also a couple of times in the past I remember) I've been getting a strange corrupted screen and the computer freezes. I can still move the mouse around but nothing clicks and the computer is completely non-responsive. I can't force quit and programs or the finder and the only way out is to restart the computer.
Yesterday, when this first started happening the computer wouldn't actually restart properly and hanged at the grey screen/apple logo .
I did all the usual like booting in safe mode, which booted up and seemed to work OK but I didn't try for long enough to see if the crash happened again.
But when I tried to reboot in normal mode the same grey screen/apple logo and no further, just the mouse pointer which I was able to move around the grey screen.
I did disk utility in safe boot mode, repaired disk permissions, reset the PRAM/NVRAM ( think I've got that right).
I even did a new install of 10.8.5 - but not a complete clean install wiping the disk etc, but re-install on top.
That solved the problem or so I thought - the computer started up normally and I was able to carry on working.
But since then I've had about 4 crashes throughout the course of the day - I've been able to get work done but every so often the screen (apple cinema display) will get a funny hatched effect on part of the screen or a corrupted screen - I've attached pictures so you can see.
I've set up a Genius Bar appointment for tomorrow but wondered if anybody has any suggestions before then?

The strange thing is that a Apple Hardware Test (run from the original 10.5.8 install CD) shows no problems with the hardware.
Yes, the screen corrupted when starting up from a completely different drive and from the recovery disk this morning - suggesting to me that the fault is definitely not with a corrupted hard drive/software but on the video side of things.
How can I definitively find out if it the graphics card that just needs replacing as opposed to a new HD which my repair centre have suggested is at least one of the problems?
Confused now as to the next step forward.

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Mountain Lion Hangs on Early 2008 Mac Pro

I installed Mountain Lion 12A269 on a freshly formatted disk on my Early 2008 Mac Pro. I have 10 GB of memory.
Once or twice a day, the computer hangs. I can move the mouse cursor, but can't click on anything and the keyboard is inactive. The dock doesn't raise when I move the mouse over it. CMD-OPT-ESC doesn't bring up the force-quit window and none of the menus work. All I can do is hold the power button in to shut down and then restart the computer.
There's no kernel panic -- the computer just hangs.
The console shows two System Diagnostic Reports:
Finder_2012-08-28-093935_Disk.hang
RPDLAgentHelperE_2012-08-16-14738_Disk.crash
Since it just hung a few minutes ago (08/30/12) I don't know if either of these files are relevant. Neither one is helpful.
I'm looking for suggestions for fixing this problem or additional troubleshooting. The computer just hangs -- there's no consistent action to trigger it. It's already resulted in a lot of lost work and productivity.

The console messages indicate a problem with your disk drive. It may be failing.

Early 2008 Mac Pro and the 5870

Several sources has stated that this card will work in the Early 2008 Mac Pro, but I am having issues. The card tests as bad and on restart the card is not seen as being installed. I can Screen Share and verify through System Profiler that the card is not seen by the system. Is anyone else having this issue, or is it just my luck?

and this is an Apple version card, right? not a PC.
What other video card did you have etc?
Apple ATI 5770 and 5870 work with 10.6.4+ in all Mac pro models.
ATI Radeon HD 5870 Upgrade
Radeon 5870 vs 5770 GTX 285 4870

I have an early 2008 Mac Pro, 8 gb ram with a Dell 27" display and a 42" LG TV. I am thinking about upgrading the stock ATI Radeon 2600 graphics card for better resolution, preferring 2 dvi outputs. Does anyone have any suggestions on the best card?

I have an early 2008 Mac Pro, 8 gb ram with a Dell 27” display and a 42” LG TV. I am thinking about upgrading the stock ATI Radeon 2600 graphics card for better resolution, preferring 2 dvi outputs or 1 dvi and 1 vga vs 1 dvi and a mini. I don't do a lot of Final Cut Pro, gaming, etc. I am interested in best value for the graphics card.
Does anyone have any suggestions on the best graphics card for these larger displays for the best value?
Thanks,
Kevin

I recommend you install nothing older than the Apple-firware 5770, about US$250.
RE: Mac Pro Replacement Graphics cards
1) Apple brand cards,
2) "sold in the Apple store" cards, and
3) "Mac Edition" cards ...
... show all the screens, including Boot up screens, Safe Mode, Installer, Recovery, debug screens, and Alt/Option boot screens. At this writing, these choices include:
1) Apple brand cards:
• Apple-firmware 5770, about US$250** works near full speed in every model Mac Pro, Drivers in 10.6.5
• Apple-firmware 5870, about US$450
2) "sold in the Apple store" cards
• NVIDIA Quadro 4000, about US$1200
• NVIDIA Quadro 5000, about US$2500
3) "Mac Edition" cards -- REQUIRE 10.8.3 or later:
• SAPPHIRE HD 7950 3GB GDDR5 MAC Edition, about US$480** Vendor recommends Mac Pro 4,1
• EVGA GTX 680 Mac Edition, about US$600
The cards above require no more than the provided two 6-pin aux power connectors provided in the Mac Pro through 2012 model. Aux cables may not be provided for third-party cards, but are readily available.
If you are Meet ALL of these:
• running 10.8.3 or later AND
• don't care about "no boot screens" etc AND
• can re-wire or otherwise "work out" the power cabling, THEN:
You can use many more cards, even most "PC-only cards"

Where and what type of solid state drive should I buy for my early 2008 Mac Pro Desktop??

where can I buy and what type of solid state drive should I use to upgrade my early 2008 Mac Pro Desktop??

Rick,
When you get a chance.... DSLReports is off line: their SQL server decided to take its indexes and access to data. Power. Not enough of the right kind of UPS. Same happened to StorageReview's "Drive Reliability Database" about 8-9 yrs ago.
dslreports.com is offline
Fri Apr 20 09:05:55 EDT 2012
SSD: Loading CS5 plus other little monsters might matter.
Lots of small I/Os
latency of 1/100th where nanoseconds replace those "long" milliseconds
System: Small and fast.
DLLoyd even goes for short-stroking drives to get and maintain highest I/O
The new 10k VRs hit 200MB/sec - I still use them and still find them useful, long lasting, feel responsive with whatever I ask of them. I know they get criticized and "cost too much"
Just bought a new WD Black and yes it is better than the 2008 model I was using.
600GB 10K $200 vs $150-220 for WD Black. your choice
I can destroy a 7.2k drive, I have brought ever 10K drive back after a simple WD Extended Test in Lifeguard.
I don't really care about $$/GB or I wouldn't have just bought Intel 128GB $149
Database: the pros put the index in memory and page fix (virtual volumes in memory; cache; hold disk drive index in memory). Caching storage has been around for almost 40 yrs.
Today you can use SSDs as front end cache to hold DB indexes and frequent data for web servers and such adn use slower secondary storage.
SSD + SAS + 4TB storage
Separating the system from data: #1 must
Having data on array: been what I use
I put a large photo library on 2 x 10K VRs vs SSD and couldn't tell much difference (SSD is soundless of course) But my WD Blacks make as much noise and run 15*C hotter than those 10K (not what you expect?)
While 10K and 7.2K are in the 140-180MB/sec range, they are in 3.0 to 12.0 ms seeks, not 0.01 ms.
People wonnder why shrink a drive to 2.5" (or why not go down to 1.8".
How long does it take to reposition a disk head? how often? the 10K VR travels on outer tracks at 70 MPH. Really trying to fly off into space.
It uses one step to find the "zip code" and then another DSP to find the "house."
True of any high density perpendicular recording mechanism.
And of course while the Raptor-X tried to find a home with famers, Cheetah buyers, the WD 10K line has more of a home where servers and small form factor drives - and 100s of them - can fit in a rackmount server I imagine.
Anyway.... if SR and DSLReports can drop out of site due to power and hardware failure and loss... we can learn some and hope to protect our own data and investments.

Installing OS and Apps on SSD boot drive on early 2008 Mac Pro while keeping all other data from old iMac on hdd

So I've just got myself a early 2008 Mac Pro with a OCZ RevoDrive 80GB PCIe SSD to replace my old iMac which is slowly but surely giving up on me. I want to put my OS (mavericks) and some/all (whichever is possible/easier) apps, both apple and 3rd party, from my old iMac, onto the SSD but keep all my other data on the 2TB HDD, also from my old iMac, in the mac pro. Can anyone tell me how to do this/if its possible? (not massively tech savvy so simpleish language and steps would be handy!) Thanks!

How to use an SSD with your HDD
If you are going to use an SSD as a boot drive together with your existing HDD as the "data" drive, here's what you can do.
After installing the SSD you will need to partition and format the SSD using Disk Utility. Then, install OS X on the SSD. After OS X has been installed boot from the SSD. Use Startup Disk preferences to set the SSD as the startup volume.
Open Users & Groups preferences. Click on the lock icon and authenticate. CTRL- or RIGHT-click on your user account listing in the sidebar and select Advanced Options from the context menu. You will see a field labeled "Home dir:" At the right end you will see a Change button. Click on it. In the file dialog locate the Home folder now located on the HDD (HDD/Users/account_name/.) Select the folder, click on Open button. Restart the computer as directed.
When the computer boots up it will now be using the Home folder located on the HDD.
Another more technical method involving the Terminal and aliases is discussed in depth here: Using OS X with an SSD plus HDD setup - Matt Gemmell. This is my preferred approach because I can select which of the Home's folders I want on the HDD and which I don't want. For example, I like to keep the Documents and Library folders on the SSD because I access their content frequently.
Be sure you retain the fully bootable system on your HDD in case you ever need it.

Early 2008 Mac Pro, NVIDIA Quadro 5600, and Adobe CS5 - HELP!!!

Hello, I am currently pulling my hair out over my GPU situation. I'm eagerly awaiting the ship date for CS5, but I'm concerned about one of its system requirements, where it says an OpenGL capable card must be supported for the software to work.
So I went to their handy chart explaining which cards are supported, and mine, the Quadro FX 5600, is not listed on the Mac side. It is however listed on the Windows side.
But when I bought my Mac Pro, the 5600 was being offered by Apple, they're the ones who installed it for me! Haven't had a problem in CS4, but now I'm afraid I won't see the significant boost in power Adobe is promising from CS5.
When I called Adobe about it, I was on the phone for more than 45 minutes, talking to people in India who I even got to admit don't actually use the software, and ultimately told me they simply couldn't answer the question.
So if anyone could advise me wether or not my Early 2008 Mac Pro with Quadro FX 5600 graphics card will support OpenGL in After Effects CS5, I'd be eternally grateful.
Thanks so much!

I have always assumed there would be no problem. You can download from
http://www.realtech-vr.com/glview/download.html
the OpenGL Extensions Viewer, which, when launched DIRECTLY TESTS with which versions of the OpenGL standard your card is compatible. (Right now there appear to be download problems with the URL above (a 421 FTP error: server is limiting available connections.)
I'm also hoping this indicates no problems with CS5!
Hope this helps.
DMW

Purchased a early 2008 Mac Pro in 2010. Yesterday I updated my mac to System 10.9 and now I have a dialogue box in system preferences saying I need to update the NVIDIA CUDA drivers but the servers are unavailable. I download a driver from the site but th

Purchased a early 2008 Mac Pro in 2010. Yesterday I updated my mac to System 10.9 and now I have a dialogue box in system preferences saying I need to update the NVIDIA CUDA drivers but the servers are unavailable. I download a driver from the site but the Mac would not open it. This system has an ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256 MB graphics card. What do I need to do. Do I need a new Card?
David Rosenblatt
<Email Edited By Host>

Vista Ultimate 64-bit recognizes 8 cores. 32-bit recognizes one physical cpu.
I've had very little trouble in two years. And now I do like Windows 7 but also eager for the RC.
I've been using the latest Nvidia. There is a method to the madness of how to uninstall/delete and install graphics drivers, or madness in the method. The W7 drivers are easier.
Nope. Something else. More sensitive to disk errors. You aren't running a program to boost fans. Something.
And some AV software is more prone to causing trouble. But all you need is a good AV/malware program, and even Norton AV 2009 is acceptable, or Avast or one of the others.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1866970&tstart=0

I just installed a 3TB hard drive on an early 2008 mac pro and the system doesn't recognize the drive. What now?

I just installed a 3TB hard drive on an early 2008 mac pro and it is not recognized/not visible. What now?

If the drive is correctly installed on to the sled, and the mounting screws are snug, not tight, and the sled is inserted properly so that all the roof-tangs catch as the sled is inserted, failure to show up in Disk Utility means the drive is not useable.
A Bug in 10.8.4 and later precludes Disk Utility ERASE-ing large drives in Internal bays. Use PARTITION only, and create one new partition, GUID partition Map, Mac OS Extended (journaled) Volume.

I have an early 2008 Mac Pro and want to install a 3TB internal hard drive. Is this compatible? The manual indicates 1 TB per bay, but I have already installed two 2 TB hard drives in two other bays, and have had no problems. Any suggestions?

I have an early 2008 Mac Pro and want to install a 3TB internal hard drive. Is this compatible? The manual indicates 1 TB per bay, but I have already installed two 2 TB hard drives in two other bays, and have had no problems. Any suggestions?

RE: SATA Bus speed:
Typical Rotating drives available today, whatever their SATA spec, can source data off the spinning platters no faster than about 125MBytes/sec.
SATA 3 is rated at 6G bits/sec, which theoretically is about 750 Mega Bytes/sec
SATA 2 is rated at 3G bits/sec, which is theoretically about 375 Mega Bytes/sec
SATA 1 is rated at 1.5G bits/sec, which is theoretically about 187.5 Meg Bytes/sec
None of the SATA Busses is a bottleneck for consumer Rotating drives you can buy today. Trying to speed up the SATA Bus will not provide any real-world performance increases for Rotating Drives.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/22690384

Early 2008 Mac Pro shut downs during start up and restarts to full power fans, Help!

I have searched through all the forums all day and can't find anyone with the exact same problem.
It doesn't matter if I'm booting up to Windows 7 (boot camp) or OS X.The computer will start booting... and anywhere between the "apple tone" and the login screen it will shut off all the displays, shut down the HDDs, shut down the GPU fan and spool up the main fans to 100%.
I have reset the SMC and PRAM. All the diagnostic LEDs are displaying correctly (no overheating, GPU lights on). No RAM LEDs are lit up. The white LED on the front remains lit constantly. It won't stay running long enough for me to run the diagnostic disk.
I first thought it was a GPU (Nvidia 8800) issue, but after removing it and booting up with no video card... the outcome was the same. I'm leaning towards a PSU failure, but I haven't found anything to back up my theory. I'm hoping it's not a logic board failure... I would think there would be LEDs lighting up or something more definitive.
Can anyone help?!?!

There are multiple threads and reports of issues with Icy Dock - there is one on Amazon that lines up properly.
The drive sled length of 2009-2012 Mac Pro are longer. Maybe OWC needs to be clearer.
You'e right half-way and maybe some corrupt plist or interferring process you have, or even another hardware item or cable - external - even printer drivers or something that refuses or does not like sleep. Controller card?
All around I'd have to vote for Samsung 830 model. Then Intel 520. Crucial is out with x4 now (Or is it "V"?)
SSD firmware continues to be trouble. Even May-June the SandForce firmware had major issue and reason to hold off any using theirs. Reason to see if yours needed to be updated. Someone last week with m4 found they had old firmware and needed to update it.

Hello, I have a early 2008 Mac Pro and it won't boot even with SL DVD

My Mac Pro (3.0GHz quad core (dual CPUs) 8GB 667 RAM) won't boot. it gets to the grey screen/ Apple logo and hangs on the logo for a few seconds then flashes either the question mark folder icon or on the circle-slash icon () for about half a second then the logo for a few seconds and repeats. It will go into Target Disk Mode (T) but not Diagnostic Mode (D)
Here's what I have done to try to fix it:
unplugged all peripherals
tried to force DVD boot holding C (checked disc for errors on SL iMac)
removed all HDDs and rebooted holding C, plus a combination of having some in/ some out.
removed first DVD-ROM and used second drive
removed second DVD-ROM and used first drive
held shift during startup
held option during startup
removed graphics card
put HDDs back in with GFX card out, plus combinations
put only the boot drive HDD in (not time machine or 3rd HDD)
put blank HDD in and booted DVD
put mac formatted (used iMac to format) HDD in and booted with DVD
used an G4 USB keyboard again for all of the above
All of this has not worked so I am stuck with what to do. It was all working fine a couple of days ago. At the time it randomly shut down I was trying to use Boot Camp to create a Windows 7 area, but I made sure it was using the 3rd HDD I had put in the machine a couple of days before so it shouldn't be interfering with normal operations. I had also formatted it to NTFS earlier but reformatted it on the Mac Pro to Mac OS Extended - I don't know if this is even relevant.
Any suggestions (except taking it to a Apple repair centre as I can usually fix anything myself!)
Thanks.

Go to System Profile and look, does it say "MacPro3,1"?
That is 2008.
FBDIMM would be 800MHz. Did you use older slower 667MHz in yours?
You can but take a hit in performance.
Sounds like MacPro1,1.
Mac Pro (3.0GHz quad core (dual CPUs) 8GB 667 RAM)
In 2007 March an 8-core 3GHz did come out 2,1.
So just to be clear.
===========
It was all working fine a couple of days ago. At the time it randomly shut down I was trying to use Boot Camp to create a Windows 7 area,
Whenever you want to install Windows, remove all the drives other than the one Windows goes to. And if you use a dedicated drive YOU DO NOT NEED Boot Camp Assist, unless you use XP, which really is limited and crippled (one processor, 1.9GB RAM support).
And when it freezes, your only choice is to nuke (reformat) and restore or get out that backup CLONE you made before (ie, Step #1 in the Boot Camp Guide).
Sure that whole NTFS / MBR / GUID could be an issue, but you should just have a blank drive or clone.
No don't bother Apple, they seem to not have a good sense about Windows on Mac Pro anyway.
Other than zap pram from cold boot / tried booting with NO drives inside and just 10.6. DVD - should be fine.
You should be fine iwth Windows 7 DVD and one drive, or even XP.
Make sure you take your time and reconnect cards etc properly and any cables.
Booting from OS X DVDs may not work if there is a drive with a totally shot directory or partition table. Put them in FW case and turn on AFTER OS X is booted.
Why aren't people Cloning as a Backup Strategy
Carbon Copy Cloner 3.4.2
How To clone

NVidia Quadro 4000 and early 2008 Mac Pro (3,1)

Hi to all.
I think my display card just died.
I've been wanting to get the NVidia Quadro 4000 for a while now as I do editing professionally and would like to make the Adobe Production suite zippier.
So now, I have no functional card for my monitors. Can I use the NVidia Quadro 4000 for my Dell monitors? One of the Dell's has a DVI-D2 input but the other has only VGA as far as I can tell. Or does it make more sense to get a different card? Or both the Quadro and a lower level card?
Also, does the NVidia Quadro 4000 need extra power and if so, how easy is it to connect and would I be able to use the DVD burner?
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Running Snow Leopard, 18GB RAM

So many questions and so little time... lunch!
There is Wikipedia.
AMD = OpenCL
Nvidia = OpenCL and CUDA
CUDA is part of every Nvidia card, GeForce GTX or Quadro
Open source compiler to make CUDA and OpenCL much easier and better (OpenCL is 4-5 yrs old but a pain to code and optimize with a lot of micro management. Not today but AMD's support for just OpenCL is limiting. But something to support both technologies is a year away probably.
Dual boot is a must! Clone your system / or install Lion on 2nd drive
Setup Assistant to import from 10.6 to Lion so you have both.
Clones as backup.
Out of the box: the startup is missing on screen without the modification. The drivers are normally and only found bundled into OS X which is why you don't normally see or have to go to AMD to get the latest driver. Or downgrade to a better working driver. you have to rely on OS X and version.
That is why GTX 5xx and 10.7.3
OWC charges more than Amazon or Apple and charges for 6-pin cable. The 5770 does work - with 10.6.5 or later. It does not work with older OS - no driver. It does not allow you to boot from your 10.6.0 DVD and install.
You could order the GTX 570 (I'd skp on 560, I have looked into both but up to you). And 680s are not supported yet, and still scarce. But great card for the $499.
The GTX 570 2.5GB was the one recommended with its 2.5GB VRAM. $349.
http://www.evga.com/products/
To get a boot screen means modifying the card which means sending it to Calif and $100 + shipping.
Some people use the GTX purely for CUDA and still use ATI 5770 for their monitor.
Oh, yes, died. No card on hand as backup or spare.
Shame. I'd toss coin and then go with.... Q4K but
http://www.amazon.com/PNY-DisplayPort-Profesional-Graphics-VCQ4000MAC-PB/dp/B004 CRS78O
You could wait and see. I'd over night the Q4K for $810, then see how that does, it does have 2x the VRAM. And you could use GTX 570 or 680 down the road when you do upgrade to Lion plus.
Comparing 5770 to Q4K:
http://www.jigsaw3d.com/articles/gpu-performance-review-nvidia-quadro-4000-for-m ac
Quadro CUDA driver support
http://www.nvidia.com/object/mac-driver-archive.html

2008 Mac Pro Monitor loses picture, computer becomes unresponsive and the fans run fast.

My early 2008 Mac Pro is dropping the signal to the monitor and the fan on the back begins to run at max speed. I have to do a force shut down and start again. It will then run ok for several hours. This typically happens when it wakes up, I log in and begin doing a task. However, it has been known to do this at a random time. This has progressed to a once a day event mostly in the morning after it has been sleeping for several hours.
I pulled the cover when it did it last and pressed the diagnostic button. LED's for the GPU and PWRG did not light.
I am wondering if it is the power supply beginning to fail or if it is the logic board or, is it something else.
Can anyone help with this?
Thank you
Processor 2 x 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Memory 6 GB 800 MHz DDR2 FB-DIMM
Graphics ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256 MB
Software OS X 10.9.5 (13F34)

When using the Hardware Monitor software (from http://www.bresink.com/osx/216202/Docs-en/faq.html ) -- i emphasized the stuff in red
The sensor X shows the reading Y. Is this normal?
If you want to find out whether a sensor value is within normal limits, please select the menu item Window > Show Overview (or press ⌘+1) and look for the limits in the third and fourth columns of the sensor table. They contain the known official limits Apple has specified for readings acquired at the given sensor locations. If no limit is given in the table, this either means that it does not make sense to specify a limit for this particular sensor (e.g. the battery capacity should not have limits), or Apple hasn't published any specifications for this sensor.
Note that all up-to-date Macintosh models automatically shut down or enter sleep mode if one of the readings exceeds a critical limit. For this reason it is impossible that your computer can be damaged in an overtemperature condition.
For old computers without temperature managment, no limits have been specified by Apple. In this case use the following limits as orientation:
Most older G3 or G4 processors are designed for a maximum operating temperature of 105 degrees Celsius (221 degrees Fahrenheit), measured at the chip die of the CPU.
G4 processors of type 7455 or later (typically used in Macintosh systems with 867 MHz and above) are designed for a maximum operating temperature of 65 degrees Celsius (149 degrees Fahrenheit), also measured at the chip die of the CPU.
Most desktop hard drives are specified for a maximum operating temperature of 55 degrees Celsius (131 degrees Fahrenheit). For exact information, use the Drive Overview window (⌘+8) to get the manufacturer and model code of your hard drive, and then direct your web browser to the manufacturer's web site to download the official data sheet for this drive. The temperature limits are always specified.
==================================
And don't forget you can look at the fan speeds (there are several in the Mac Pro) - that sometimes will give you a hint something abnormal is going on if the fans start running a lot.

Hello, my iphone 5s fell, thereafter i tried taking a picture, the camera app just shows a black screen and hangs, the front camera works on other apps but the rear camera is not working, all other apps work perfectly well, how do i resolve this

Hello, my iphone 5s fell, thereafter i tried taking a picture, the camera app just shows a black screen and hangs, the front camera works on other apps (such as facetime and skype) but the rear camera is not working, all other apps work perfectly well, how do i resolve this

Double tap Home button and delete Camera app from multitask-list.
Do a
Reset: Hold down the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button at the same time for at least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears. Note: You will not lose any data
If problem persist, make an appointment with genius bar for evaluation.

Strange corrupted screen and hanging 10.8.5 Early 2008 Mac Pro

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