Upgrading Operating System Mac Pro 2008

I'm currently running 10.5.8 on my Mac Pro which I bought in September of 2008. Can I upgrade to any of the latest versions?

Upgrading to a later version of Mac OS X does not, in general, improve the speed of those things. What will help a little is the change to 64-bit kernel that is possible in 10.6.8, and is the default in later Mac OS X versions.
More memory is often helpful. You can use Activity Monitor to analyze your use:
Using Activity Monitor to read System Memory and determine how much RAM is being used (OS X Mountain Lion and earlier)
Many MacPros are actually I/O bound due to a "traffic jam" around the Boot Drive. This tip can help you consider a different organization that provides an overall speedup:
User Tip: Creating a lean, fast Boot Drive
All paths to later versions of Mac OS X go through the 10.6 DVD available at the Apple Online Store. Once Installed and fully updated, the Mac App Store appears, and it is used to "buy" later versions including 10.9 Mavericks.

Similar Messages

Trying to download the HP photosmart 7960 printer to an upgraded operating system Mac OS X 10.6.8

We have uninstalled our printer, and have tried to download any updates for the updated operating system, but can't seem to progress. Is it even possible.
Thanks Becky

Hi terryfromgreatfalls,
I apologize, I'm a bit unclear on the exact details of the printer software you are trying to download. If you are trying to update your HP printer drivers to use with OS 10.6.8 Snow Leopard, you may find the information and steps outlined in the following articles helpful:
HP Printer Drivers v2.16.1 for Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard
Mac OS X Snow Leopard v10.6.8: Printer and scanner software available for download - Apple Support
Regards,
- Brenden

Mac Pro 2008 Install Blu-Ray Internal ODD Port?

Hello everything together I has the LG GGW h 20 L Blu Ray and would like the burner to internal port to attach, but that unfortunately cannot be done. Toast detects the burner however it can only CDs and DVDs burning and no Blu-Ray, I have myself an PCI x Card bought with the SIL 3132 chip record, but
this does not want to function so correctly. What can I make? Greeting
from Frankfurt
My System Mac Pro 2008 2x2,8 2 TB HD end 16 GB Ram

The PCI card might be causing your issues. There are 2 SATA ports on the Mac Pro's motherboard that you can attach the drive to, but it can be tricky trying to reach them. Also, make sure you have the latest version of Toast. The minimum requirement is version 8, but version 9 is recommended.

Can a Macbook Pro 5.5 with operating system MAC OS 10.5.8 be updated?

Can a Mac book Pro 5.5 with operating system MAC OS 10.5.8 be updated? I tried to back up an Iphone 5s and was informed that it needed a newer ITUNES software but then tried to update I TUNES software and could not because it is not compatible with MAC OS 10.5.8

A 13" 2009 machine? Sure, you can even run Mavericks (and install up to 8GB of RAM), but you'll have to upgrade to Snow Leopard (latest release was 10.6.8 - you can purchase the disc from the Apple online store -> http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573Z/A/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard - $20 and FREE SHIPPING!!!).
After updating to Snow Leopard, then you can upgrade to Mavericks free. I don't know how much RAM you presently have, but your machine will accept up to 8GB of 204-pin PC3-8500 (1066 MHz) DDR3 SO-DIMMs RAM. I would recommend upgrading your RAM, if you haven't already, before installing Mavericks, though.
Good luck,
Clinton

Mac Pro 2008 - upgrade to 2010 model or not?

I have a Mac Pro 2008 2.8 gHz with 12GB RAM. I'm not running Premiere Pro CS5 which is great and seems to love RAM and processor speed. I also recently got a CUDA card to take advantage of it's GPU acceleration.
My question is: Should I get a new Mac Pro 2010, 6, 8, 12 core or just upgrade my RAM to say, 24GB and perhaps get some SSDs (maybe even in a RAID 0) as my boot drive.
The RAM upgrade will be in the $650 range, SSDs could be at least that. I'll need RAM anyway for a new model as my old RAM isn't compatible.
Getting a new model could set me back $5000 (or more) when it's all loaded.
I'm also a little disappointed in the 2010 Mac Pros, for example my 2008 Mac pro was a no-brainer, but now I'm ambivalent about this upgrade to 2010, thinking there may be new models out this year that fill in all the holes. I kind of feel like the 2010 Mac Pro upgrade was a little like the Final Cut Pro 7 upgrade, it was a stop gap because Apple needed to do something. I could be wrong about this though.
I know this is kind of a difficult question to answer, but if you have any opinions, please feel free to lend any advice.

PCIe 3.0
USB3
Intel SATA3 6G
Socket LGA1356
Socket LGA2011
3G SSD (by the time 4th Gen SSDs are out, one unit would make out our current SATA channel bandwidth)
Mid-range Xeon roadmap:
Socket LGA1356, a direct replacement for the current Socket LGA1366. The parts here are 6-core and 8-core Sandy Bridge single-socket and dual-socket capable but mid-range positioned Sandy Bridge Xeon - and, ultimately, Core i7 - parts with up to 20MB of L3 cache, three DDR3-1600 memory channels just like the existing LGA1366 Westmeres with one memory speed grade higher, and 24 PCIe v3 lanes on-chip.
The single external QPI v2 link runs at up to 8 gigatransfers/sec, or 32GB/sec bidirectional bandwidth, a 25 per cent speed up over the current generation, but also feeding a third more cores on each socket.
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/feature/1811091/2011-intel-xeon-update-holy- socket-trinity
Intel is set to replace its current high-end socket, LGA1366, when it releases its new 8-cores processors in the Late 2011. This socket is expected to be released alongside Sandy Bridge-EX in Q3 2011, and will support 4 memory channels as well as 40× PCIe 3.0 lanes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGA_2011

When upgrading the operating system mac os x 10.5 to 10.6, should i do a back of my computer or if i do it directly i would loss all my music, videos, documents, etc?

when upgrading the operating system mac os x 10.5 to 10.6, should i do a back of my computer or if i do it directly i would loss all my music, videos, documents, etc?

Hi ocio,
First of all, you should always do a backup of your computer before doing an upgrade - always.
Things can go wrong, and if they do, you will be out of luck without a backup.
Upgrading should not affect your music, videos, documents, files in general. But don't take any chances in case things go awry....back it all up first!
Cheers,
GB

Mac Pro 2008 won't boot from install disc - black screen

Hello,
I recently purchased a new hard drive to replace the original that came with my Mac Pro 2008. I was able to format the new drive using Disk Utility. I am now at the point where I need to install OS X onto the new drive, but the computer refuses to boot from the disc. The disc is recognized by the computer (I can access the disc and am able to use the BootCamp applications, etc.) but I just get a black screen when trying to boot directly from the disc. The computer boots fine otherwise.
I have tried the following:
I have tried using both the gray install disc that came with the computer and the Snow Leopard Install DVD disc.
I have tried booting using the "C" key and the "option" key but still receive a black screen following the chime (I've held these down for several minutes).
I have tried restarting from either install disc using the Bootcamp Assistant.
I have tried running the installation software to get it to restart from the disc.
I have tried a combination of the drives, i.e. trying to boot from the discs with just the new drive installed, just the original drive installed, and with both in bay1 and 2.
Everything results in the computer starting up, hearing the chime, and then nothing..just black screen. I have the original drive partitioned with BootCamp with OSX Snow Leopard and Windows 7 installed (I don't know that that matters).
I am at a loss as to what to try next. It doesn't seem like the superdrive because it is recognizing the disc, it just won't boot from it.
Any help is appreciated, thank you.

Clone should be a must and easy to do and learn (learn by doing! 2)
6800 would 'qualify' as 5x70 series flashed etc and same rule: 10.6.5
In the past there was 10.4.6, 10.5.6, but not 10.6.6 - even though strong need for such a DVD.
10.6.8 DVD would be excellent
Lion or ML - buy, download, make an installer flash card would be what I would do at this point.
Then keep both - dual boot as you learn and test and see what ML does and waht you had that required Rosetta to support PowerPC. See www.roaringapps.com about that.
With Carbon Coyp Cloner - was share, now commercial, great utility been around since 10.2.2 at least - this time 2003. 10 yrs.
You can clone the system folders, you can even selectively choose. You can skip copy of most of your home account and do that separately to another drive if you want.
Clone Windows with Paragon or WinClone and use Windows 7 or 8 DVD to do a system repair (automatic) or to edit the BCD file. It can and should - and all you do is boot Windows 7 DVD w/ only the one drive present and go at it. Piece of cake. But yes, Windows gets fussy if you change or remove or move. BCD to the rescue. A proper program for cloning like Paragon's "Clone OS" meant for going from disk drives to SSDs, knows that and how to do it.
Back to how to clone etc:
Clone
Disk utility has RESTORE which will also clone your system but not the Lion Recovery partition. Oddly Apple did not 'endorse' making bootable clone of the system which works too but most choose Carbon Copy Cloner - it works more consistently; it allows for smart update of the backup volume. Both can backup to a sparse disk image if desired.
Using Cloning as a Backup Strategy
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/7032/carbon-copy-cloner
http://www.bombich.com/software/updates/ccc-3.5.html
OS X Lion Install to Different Drive
How to create an OS X Lion installation disc MacFixIt
Migration Assistant Update for Mac OS X Snow Leopard
http://www.apple.com/support/lion/installrecovery/
Create an OS X Lion Install disc
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20080989-263/how-to-create-an-os-x-lion-ins tallation-disc
How to clone your system:
http://macperformanceguide.com/Mac-HowToClone-backup.html
http://macperformanceguide.com/Mac-HowToClone.html
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/7032/carbon-copy-cloner
http://www.macperformanceguide.com/blog/2012/20120711_2-MacPro-internal-clone-ba ckup.html
The DVD is dependent on your hardware. And your hardware changed. The drivers for the 5780 and 6xxx are bundled in the OS and lacking. Minimum build thing.
Put the new drive anywhere you want. Does not matter. Can move it later. Can be drive bay 0-3 or a Firewire external or under the DVD drive.
When you clone pull the old drive and boot from the newly cloned.
After that keep a backup clone around all the time. Takes less than 10 minutes to do a smart update to copy just the changes to keep it current. So you have working copy of the system. I keep Clone "A" that I keep "as was" the system as of last month or whatever (like 10.7.4 before upgrade to 7.5).
Comes easier after doing it once and have all your ducks in a row.

Mac Pro 2008 Can't start Windows 7 / 8 Installer

I'm trying to load Windows 8 (And have previously tried everything with Windows 7) on my Mac Pro early 2008 with Mountain Lion, and cannot get the installers to initiate.
When I start the bootcamp assistant and reboot, my mac freezes before ever getting to the installer. When I reboot and hold option to manually select the installer, it freezes as soon as I select it. I've tried this from a DVD, USB, and even an install partition i setup on my HD, all with the same freezing results. This is a legitimate copy of Windows 8 system builder I'm working with and have installed it perfectly in Parallels.
I should note I upgraded my video card a long time ago to a gt 120, so I'm wondering if the video card might be the problem. I've installed Windows 7 with this video card in the past so I'm guessing this is a Mountain Lion/Bootcamp 5 issue.
Has anyone else with a Mac Pro 2008 succesfully installed Windows 7/8 from Mountain Lion/Bootcamp 5?
Any input would be immensely appreciated!

There are no Windows 8 Bootcamp drivers. Windows 8 is not supported.
Use Parallels or Fusion to install Windows 8. By doing so you eliminate the need for drivers since the virtual machine creates virtual hardware and drivers.
Once the Windows 8 Bootcamp drivers are developed and released you can then install using Bootcamp Assistant.
Read this forum. Some people are posting that they had some success with the Bootcamp install. but if you have to rely on your computer then don't take the chance.

Mac Pro 2008 or iMac 27 i7 ? Which to choose?

I am looking to upgrade to a faster Mac from my current Macbook Pro and decided either on an iMac 27 inch i7 2.8 GHz 8 Gigs RAM 4870 Video card or buy a used Mac Pro 2008 with 2 x 2.8GHz 4 Core (8 core total) with 10 Gigs RAM and an 8800GT video card.
Both come to almost the same price. Problem is I don't know which to get. The system will be used mainly for software development, running windows 7 and linux as Virtual Machine, some light gaming, and music (sampling, etc)
I love the iMac's LED screen and the i7 certainly is fast but love the Mac Pro's expandability in terms of hard drives and memory and I would use it on my 30 inch LCD. That said, would I ever go past the Mac Pro's configuration of 2 TB's of drives (maybe) and more than 10 Gigs RAM (don't know)? You're stuck with the iMac in terms of hard drives forced to add slow external cases.
The Mac Pro is over 2 years old at this point but I know the Mac Pro is a work horse and the iMac has had issues.
Anyone have an opinion on this? Might it be worth saving some more cash (although would take another 6 months) and getting a 2009 Mac Pro?
Let me know...

Asked a lot and the new iMac makes it look better, but not for triple boot unless you stict to VMs most of the time. The freedom of having alternate OSs on their own drives and such.
AppleInsider gave the high end iMac makes sense if you go that route, and if you would need a monitor as well?
Barefeats has posted a number of tests of the iMacs
http://www.barefeats.com
Even the 2009 $2149 4-core is no slouch and easier to find and work with.
At that price, you are close to the 2010. So wait another 36 hrs.
http://www.apple.com/macpro/specs.html
http://www.barefeats.com/nehal17.html
Apple Specials change during the day, they disappear quickly.
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/mac_pro

Replacing old HD with SSD and Hybrid HD Mac Pro 2008, 10.7.5

My old 1tb 7200 rpm drive has started doing some quirky things, so I decided to upgrade to a 240 Gb SSD for my OS and App's, and I would install the 2TB Hybrid drive to hold the home folder with movies, pics, music. So I formatted my 2TB disk in disk utilities.
I copied, by dragging and dropping my home folder from old drive to new 2TB, I went into system preferences, under User/Group created a new user at the administrator level, and set the new user to open at login.
When I restarted it was the old galaxy screen, the dock had moved back to the bottom and it was set up different.I also can open Iphoto or itunes and they are empty, "The folder “Pictures” can't be opened because you don’t have permission to see its contents", and the same goes for Itunes, I haven't tried FCPX or the Adobe Products I use.
"So, I think well I probably just need to set up my ssd with my OS and App's so the new disk can see my prefrences", so I format, use Carbon Copy Cloner, deselecting, under the User tab, my old User and the New user I had created for the new 2TB drive, because I have no room for it on the 240 GB drive. And, I deselected some apps I didn't want to come over. I cloned it, changed my start up disk in my preferences, and restarted.
I still get the same thing when I logged into my new 2TB Drive. I am planning on keeping my old drive for archive, and I also backed up to an external using Time Machine before I started messing with the new drives.
Please Help!
Mac Pro 2008
OSX 10.7.5

Mac OS X is inherently a Multi-User system designed to protect each User's data from all other Users. A new User does not have access to your existing files, including the desktop Preferences and the Dock Preferences
You need to do one of:
a) change all the permissions all around -OR-
b) make this change without creating a new User (e.g., by cloning your original User or by Installing a new version of Mac OS X and using Assistants to connect to the old User data. This guide can help:
Setting-up a new Mac from an old one, its backups, or a PC

Compatible HD for Early Mac Pro 2008

Hello All,
I have two failing drives in my early Mac Pro 2008 and its time to find some replacements. The drives I need to replace are 1TB in size but I was looking to get something larger being 1.5TB. I read on a site that this version of Mac Pro supports a maximum of 4TB accross all the four bays which would essentially mean a maximum of 1TB for each Bay. Here is the link to the site: http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_pro/faq/mac-pro-how-to-upgrade-hard-dr ives-what-type-supported.html
Question I have, is whether its safe to add two 1.5TB drives (I also have a 640GB for the boot and 500GB additional data drive) or should I stick with 1TB drives? Also, is there any advantage in going beyond the 3Gb/s Serial ATA spec as I would suspect the faster drives would not be utilized to their capacity given the older data path in this machine.
Any help/advice would be appreciated and thanks in advance!
Cheers,
Vin.

You can put any make and any size 3.5" drive in all the bays in any combination. Also SATA 3's will work but of course at not their full maximum speed as you mentioned so SATA 2's are OK.
As an example, if you got 4 3TB's you could stuff them in there for a max of 12TB. Bit of overkill unless you really need all that space!
Personally I like Western Digital 1TB and 2TB blacks.
You might also want to consider using an SSD as your boot drive.
Update: I took a look at that site you linked. That 4TB limit is the max any one drive bay can support, not the total capacity across all 4 bays.

Mac Pro 2008 and ATI Radeon HD 5770

According to many other threads in this forum the ATI Radeon HD 5770 graphics card is said to work fine with the Mac Pro 2008 (model no. 3,1) though the Apple Store lists the Mac Pro (Mid 2010) under system requirements. Well, before I’m going to upgrade my Mac against Apple’s will, I’m just curious to know if anyone has found out why Apple restricts the compatibility to Macs from mid 2010 on. Is there an issue that affects only a small number of machines? Or is there a software incompatibility popping up under rare circumstances? What is the reason for this? Why does Apple not grant downward compatibility?

Apple does marketing and doesn't do a bang-up job on writiing technical requirements on hardware upgrades and testing. It doesn't make sense, there is no reason for not just "works with 10.6.5 or later on ALL Mac Pro models."
something nice and clear and so avoids all the questions and discussion.
Radeon HD 5870 versus 5770
2008 has PCIe 2.0 so no lose of bandwidth.
And I guess you ignored the numerous comment section on the product page? where people said it works.
ATI Radeon HD 5770 MC742ZM A

My Mac pro 2008, not running after the Apple logo, i rebooting and i rebooting

My Mac Pro 2008 no boot afther the Logo Apple, reboot, reboot and reboot only, and in XP, the graphic is pertubed with bad graphics ... the mémory it's good, and i thinks my card graphic is out. SRY for my english, it's not my language. Help my please, my apple care is finished 10/2011, and i will repared itself. Many thanks. Alain Muno

Not saying this IS your problem, but … I just went through avery similar problem with Mac Pro3,1. Here is my story.
On boot of any Mac OP system drive, internal or externalHDD, (Lion or Snow Leopard), original Mac Pro install CD, Snow Leopard CD,nothing. (Would only go to gray screen,apple logo, spinning gear that would stop spinning after about a minute.) But, it would boot on XP drive. However, in XP, on Windows black startupscreen, had alternating columns of two different patters of blue dots and XPgraphics were not as they should be (larger icons on desk top, slow response,different size of desk top (maybe 600x400 when it should have been1024x768). Supplied hardware test showedno failures. Took it to shop. Their better diagnostics showed nofailures. All peripherals (my drives, myCDs, etc, disconnected. (NOTE: they didnot try a new video card since they did not have one.) Still would not start even using their drives(external or internal). Shop tried a newlogic board. That did not work and theyput the original one back in. Shop saidall they could come up with was new processors. This was not a cost effective option and they had none to try.
After thinking about it more, I figured it could be thevideo card: the original 8800 GT that came with the Mac: that it was so bad itwould not start in Mac OS but would limp along in XP. I was all set to buy another vid card one-bay just to try. While doing thatresearch, came across several articles on the Internet that discussed vid cardfailure due to micro-cracks in some solder joints. These develop due to age/heat cycles. The proposed fix was to ‘reflow’ the solder. Figured it was worth a try before spendingthe money on a new vid card. Found thesedetailed instructions on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7um_hZYom4 I followed the procedure, put the vid cardback in, and now it works just fine.
I did not and would not do this until I had ruled outeverything else. But, it has worked forothers and it did work for me.

Reviews for ATI Radeon HD 4870 Graphics Upgrade Kit for Mac Pro?

There's no review at the Apple Store on this [ATI Radeon HD 4870 Graphics Upgrade Kit for Mac Pro (Early 2009 or Early 2008)|http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB999ZM/A?fnode=MTY1NDA5OQ&mco=NDE4NDMx OA]. Googled and found nothing related to the Mac kit. Mostly PC based.
Should I consider this card? I need a spare/replacement graphics card for my Mac Pro (early 2008). The NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT card has failed me twice.

Just came out on barefeats:
http://www.barefeats.com/nehal14.html
Shows new drivers with 285, also compares 4870.
If you play a lot of games on the windows side, you might also want to consider the 4890. I has recently became flashable (if you're into that kinda thing). It has a lot more leeway to be overclocked. Close to (or if your lucky) hitting the 1 Ghz core clock speed, gives very close comp to the 285, and at fraction of the price. You can get an XFX 4890 on newegg for $195.

Mac Pro 2008 startup failure

I've replaced failed logic board in my Mac Pro 2008, but it's still not working.
When I press power button, all fans spins, GPU fan spins, but there is no chime and display.
DIAG LED shows only yellow STBY and green PWRG.
Please help !

FBDIMMs
They age, stress, heat fatigue.
You just need to use RMA and warranty once you know which pairs.
And you should be seeing errors or wrong amount or something in Memory tab in System Profile.
Apple Hardware Test will spot parity error DIMMs and some hardware issues with RAM or Risers
Rember can try to look for errors but harder with ECC.
Don't. You can end up with corrujpt files, corrupt system, corrupt directory.
All of which takes more time to find and correct.
And you may need to do a clean install and go from there.
FBDIMMs should have lifetime warranty and buy from a reputable Mac source (Crucial, OWC, Kingston etc) that says "Mac Pro certified"

Upgrading Operating System Mac Pro 2008

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