Wrong DVD drive opens on 2009 Mac Pro

Hello,
I have a 2009 Mac Pro with two DVD drives.  Since upgrading to Mavericks, I've noticed some unusual behavior:
1.  Ocassionally, the incorrect DVD drive ejects/opens. For example, when I attempt to open the top drive, the bottom one opens, and vice-versa. 
2.  Ocassionally, when I simultaneously burn 2 DVDs of the same items, I find that one of the DVD drives burns all of the items without problems, while the other one only burns a small number of the items.
3.  After inserting a blank DVD, and selecting the "Burn (item name) to disc" from the right-click menu, a long time passes before the "Are you sure you want to burn..." dialogue box appears.
Has anyone else experienced this constellation of symptoms?  Are they connected?  And what sorts of remedies have worked?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Berwynman

Hi-
A PRAM reset should clear that up.
Did it for me in the past.

Similar Messages

  • With no DVD drive on my new Mac Pro what is the alternative

    I'm not really sure if I will ever need a DVD drive but if I did?
    What is the best solution on a Mac Pro Retina notebook?

    What is the best solution on a Mac Pro Retina notebook?
    1) Exchange it for a MacBook Pro with a built-in DVD drive.
    2)  Buy Apple's external SuperDrive.
    I have seen pepole duct-tape an external SuperDrive to a Retina notebook on airlines.

  • Can Apple supply replacement DVD drives (IDE) for 2008 Mac Pros?

    I have tried to find replacements for two faulty internal Superdrives on-line, with no luck.
    Today I went into my local Apple Store and was advised to call with my serial number.
    After calling & waiting I was told I needed to be put through to the technical department.
    That turned out to be the Applcare line.
    My Applecare expired a while ago & the office was closed anyway.
    I haven't been able to find out directly from Apple if they can still supply replacement drives, does anyone here know (anyone actually got some)?
    Please help me clear the junk of my desk and rid me of tatty plastic Samsung drives....

    yeah, I think you nailed it there. technically Apple does still provide service for the 2008 Mac pro's but you'd have to take it in and wait.  Your mileage may vary-As you (and I) have found out, it'd be cheaper and easier just to go out, buy a new drive, and install the darn thing yourself. Besides, Optiarc (the original drive makers) aren't in business anymore, and....yeah....you'll probably find E sata  DVD drives 97% of the time, so probably go with that. I bought from MCE tech... an Atapi Blu Ray drive, which I had to buy because my superdrive bit the dust,  and a new DVD burner would have cost at least 50, so, I figured why not. In a pinch, you can use an ATAPI/IDE dvd burner from a PC  with no problem. Just plug 'er right in, and make sure the jumper is set to 'cable select' .. as for Pioneer, I know that OWC has the Pioneer blu-ray drive, but I haven't been able to find any plain Pioneer DVD burners, at least not around here.
    So, i guess in answer to your question: technically, yes, but you'd have to bring in your mac pro and pay their prices.

  • How do I properly zero out or erase the hard drives in my early 2009 Mac Pro 4,1 tower?

    How do I properly zero out or erase the hard drives in my early 2009 Mac Pro 4,1 tower?
    I assume there are already instructions on Apple.com someplace but haven't seen them yet… I have to one terabyte drives one the operating system the other is blank I want to start fresh I want to zero out both drives but I didn't want to make any mistakes
    I know I can use disk utility to 0 Out Dr., #2 that means I will have to take out the operating system hard drive out of my 2008 Mac Pro and put it into my 2009 Mac Pro to use the disk utility to zero out drive one the OS drive in my 2009 Mac Pro am my correct
    I just need a little bit a help I want to go slow so I don't make any mistakes with the sleds or with the erasing process which journaled to choose encrypted or not etc. etc.
    Furthermore is there instructions on the site on how to change the hard drive into a different sled because the sleds and my 2009 are different than my 2008 any advice
    Thank you

    I'm doing this because my friend told me that zeroing out the drive can nap bad sectors and also later for some kind of diagnostics usage of the drive or something like that he wasn't really clear
    My friend was really specific he said choose the option that writes zero's once over the drive that is plenty good enough I was inclined to use the maximum seven write ...I just want to make sure the drive has no bad sectors and that's it's it's zeroed out for possible future diagnostics usage or something that he said was usable later
    he also advised me to run a test on it but I don't have the software you mentioned or the software that he has… So I may have to take the drives over to his house unless you have some kind of free software that's easy to use that you could suggest that will not only zero out the drive but test the drive completely
    I am completely new to Mac I'm no dummy but at the same time I'm not super technically capable I mean I can surprise myself I'm pretty good but I need a good teacher… How expensive is this lifeguard software?
    Thank you

  • Can I install SATA6 drive in my early 2009 Mac Pro

    I want to add an internal hard drive to my Mac Pro. Most of what I'm finding with the speed I want are now SATA6. My manual says to use SATA III. Can I use a SATA6 drive in my early 2009 Mac Pro?

    Can I use a [6Gbits/sec SATA-3] drive in a 2009 Mac-Pro
    Executive summary: Most regular commercially-available drives you buy new today will install and work fine. It IS worthwhile to pay extra for a drive with a bigger buffer, but do not pay EXTRA for SATA-3 alone, it is all specsmanship.
    If you buy a weird older drive, or you have a really old Mac, it may not work properly. [WD Raptors and VelociRaptors work fine.]
    RE: SATA Bus speed:
    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.
    Even most common SSD drives are not bottlenecked by SATA 2.
    If you put the drives on a PCIe card, they are not bottlenecked by the SATA on the card either, as it will typically be SATA 3.
    But unless you have the very fastest SATA drives available, you are in no danger of having the existing main SATA 2 Bus in your Mac Pro slow you down. The card is only needed for the fastest SSD drives available today, and will not provide much current speed improvement even in that case.

  • 2009 mac pro can't install any new os's - tried multiple drives

    Ok guys here's where i'm at.
    I was running a 2009 mac pro with 10.6.8
    I downloaded and ran mavericks but after it restarted it just hung on the no entry sign over night.
    So i did a restore and that worked.
    I repaired permissions, and tried via a usb thumb drive no luck.
    I restarted using my partners osx 10.6 mbp dvd and erased my mac pro drive and reformatted making sure it was guid partitioned and journaled etc.
    Still no luck.
    Even stranger when i try to install from external usb drive the installer doesnt see the hdd but if i use the dvd it says it cannot install but does see the hdd and lets me do a restore.
    So at this point im sure some of you will be saying the hdd is dead.
    But on each restore it was fine.
    AND
    so then i bought a samsung evo 840 and stuck that in using an icey box and just thought i'd install mavericks then copy over some files etc from my back up.
    BUT i get the same issue. The usb installer cannot see the new ssd, but if boot from the dvd i can see it and restore the time machine backup to it.
    Any suggestions at all?
    Thanks

    I know there have been some similar reports or stories about installing OS X.
    At one time 2009 4,1 had trouble with Mountain Lion also.
    Some models had trouble due to a user installed Apple wifi / bluetooth module.
    Sometimes NVRAM is to blame and an SMC Reset AND zap PRAM/NVRAM (from cold boots).
    This is a good tutorial, updated, while there are various other How To's around since Lion that are all basic same steps.
    How to make your own bootable OS X 10.9 Mavericks USB install drive
    http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/10/how-to-make-your-own-bootable-os-x-10-9-mav ericks-usb-install-drive/
    it’s possible to create a local USB installer for Mavericks. The bad news is that it wasn’t as simple as it was before—Apple has changed the way the installer works, and making an install disk manually is more difficult than it used to be. Before we get started, here’s what you’ll need:
    An 8GB or larger USB flash drive, or an 8GB or larger partition on some other kind of external drive
    The OS X 10.9 Mavericks installer from the Mac App Store in your Applications folder. The installer will delete itself when you install the operating system, but it can be re-downloaded if necessary.
    The latest beta of the Lion Diskmaker app, available here (as of this writing, version 3 beta 3 is the most recent). This app is free to download, but the creator accepts donations if you want to support his efforts.
    An administrator account on the Mac you're using to create the disk.
    The easy way
    Lion Diskmaker remains the easiest, most user-friendly way to get this done.

  • Blu-Ray drive for 2009 Mac Pro ?

    I am looking to replace one of my CD/DVD drives in my 2009 4.1 Mac Pro for a drive that will will read write CD/DVD and Blu-Ray.
    Any recommendations would be good.
    Thanks

    And
    <http://store.mcetech.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=BD12XMP E2009-10&Category_Code=STORBD&Product_Count=0>http://store.mcetech.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=BD12XMP E2009-10&Category_Code=STORBD&Product_Count=0

  • My macbook pro dvd drive opens all disks as blank, can I fix it?

    My macbook pro dvd drive opens all disks as blank. I have no access to a near by apple store as I live in remote NSW. I purchased the macbook when I lived in Sydney and the old owner had just had a fresh copy of the OS loaded. I've read a discussion of a similar nature and the only comment was take it back, that is easier said than done. Is there a fix I can do from home?

    Nifa86 wrote:
    the old owner
    If you didn't buy this from the store, the first thing you need to do is boot from the install DVD, erase the disk drive (perhaps even zeroing it) and install a fresh copy of the OS. You do not want to inherit any changes the previous owner may have made to the system software (or worse).
    had just had a fresh copy of the OS loaded
    …and the cheque is in the mail.
    I am talking about putting in any CD that is known to have content and it loads the CD and says its blank with nothing on it
    Who says?
    Anyway, try
    Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
    <http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964>

  • I converted from a PC to a Mac Mini.  I have my PC documents backed up on a DVD disk.  I have an external DVD drive connected to the Mac Mini.  I want to open them up and save them to the Mac, BUT....when I put the DVD disk in the Mac is NOT reading it!

    I converted from a PC to a Mac Mini.  I have my PC documents backed up on a DVD disk.  I have an external DVD drive connected to the Mac Mini.  I want to open these documents up from the DVD storage and save them to the Mac, BUT....when I put the DVD disk in the Mac is NOT reading it!

    Hi Joe,
    Thanks for your quick response.  I should add....it worked before.  When I previously inserted the two DVDs into this remote drive, and I went into finder, I could click on the "remote device" line and see all my saved documents (excel, word, etc) on the DVD and open them on the Mac.  Now I cannot see them, when I try to open them on the Mac, nothing happens, nothing is displayed.  I just re-tested the remote DVD drive with a CD and, no problem, it opened up the CD via iTunes and I cold play the CD.  SO......I know the remote DVD drive (it's an LG by the way) is fine, it's something to do with some settings on my mini mac,especially where I could open it previously.  I do not remember changing any settings since then. 
    When I go into system preferences and click on CD/DVD it gives me options of how to open up a music CD (default is iTunes), a DVD (default is iMovie), etc.  The problem is my DVD is all miscellaneious files/documents.  I just want to be able to see them in the finder.  I also tried to open them via microsoft word, from the remote disk and again, it could not open the drive, even though some of the documents were microsoft word documents.  Again, I was able to open them previously and the DVD is not corrupted in any way.  
    Any additional advice? 
    Thank you!

  • Early 2009 Mac Pro FireWirenot working with Hitachi/SimpleTech DuoPro drive

    So I've got an early 2009 Mac Pro that is loaded with Bootcamp and Vista64. I am looking for an external raid option that works for Windows and didn't have any luck with any eSata PCIe card so I thought I would just use a firewire device. So I picked up a 2TB Duo Pro drive by SimpleTech.
    My firewire ports work fine with other devices, but not with this drive and not with either operating system. It works fine though USB, but just doesn't do anything with either firewire 400 or 800.
    Any thoughts?

    I have an early 2008 iMac and I have the exact same drive by Simpletech, 2TB Duo Pro. It does work on FW800 but connects at 400 UNLESS you power the drive on and plug it in while OS X is up and running, then the connection will be 800. Anyhow, I would make sure you have a good FW cable and also try the FW400 cable that came with it. I bought a FW800 cable and it worked fine so unless the Mac Pro and iMac use different FW hardware, I think it IS compatible.

  • How to install Snow Leopard on a 2009 Mac Pro which has Mountain Lion?

    The 2009 Mac Pro that I just bought has Mountain Lion. For many reasons, I do not want to have Mountain Lion on my machine. I have been using Snow Leopard for years and I like it fine. I have my Snow Leopard install DVDs. I cannot get this machine to accept Snow Leopard, which must be just another undesirable aspect of Mountain Lion, bacause this machine must have shipped with some variant of Leopard/ Snow Leopard to begin with. Here's what happens when I put the Snow Leopard Install DVD in the Superdrive:
    1) First, I held down the "C" key at startup to start from a disc. It showed me a window which said "Mac OS X can't be installed on this computer".
    2) Then I started it with Mountain Lion and then put in the Snow Leopard DVD. Got a window which said "The disc you inserted was not readable by this computer". It also had 3 buttons to choose from: "Initialize", "Ignore" and "Eject". So I clicked on "Initialize" and Disc Utility opened on the First Aid page. I assume I'm supposed to erase the startup disc, but I thought maybe I should ask the experts here before I do that.
    This machine has two 2TB HDDs that the previous owner has configured as a level 1 RAID. If I am to erase the startup disc do I erase both drives of the RAID set? If I'm not supposed to erase the startup drive, what do I need to do to get back to Snow Leopard? Thanks and thanks again!

    The built-in checks will keep you from clobbering 10.8 Mountain Lion by Installing Snow Leopard over it (literally, 10.6 Snow Leopard Installer will see a later version in place, and knows it cannot install over a later version). So it says "Mac OS X cannot be installed on this computer..." and leaves off "... "in its current state."
    You will need to Install on a 10.6 Snow Leopard-erased drive. Mac OS X Erase function proceeds to install a Partition scheme and a default Volume after erasing, because a truly blank drive is useless for most Users.
    When you boot to the Installer DVD, you are running off the DVD, so all Hard Drives are available to be erased if that is your choice. All data on them will be discarded. If you erase one drive in a mirrored RAID set, normally the other drive would survive and the set would be degraded. But a new version of RAID was introduced right AFTER 10.6, and it is likely that 10.6 cannot read that RAID at all under any circumstances.

  • Speeding up an early 2009 Mac Pro

    This is not a question - it is an answer.
    Starting configuration: Dual quad core 2.26GHz early 2009 Mac Pro (4,1) already expanded to 12 GB RAM; 175GB SSD, 1TB RAID 0 internal HD configuration, 2 1TB external d2 Quadra HDs (1 for cloned backup, the other for Time machine) connected via FW 800.  A Superdrive, and an LG Blu-Ray burner, both internal.
    My uses:  Frequent business use of Microsoft Office and Acrobat Pro; occasional use of Adobe Photoshop Elements, frequent internet access via Safari and Mail; much use of iTunes and iPhoto, some Aperture, and occasional creation and burning of movies and slide shows to DVD and Blu-Ray with iDVD, Final Cut Express, Toast Titanium.
    Problem:  Extremely slow from power on to the first open program with a usable menu (usually 2-1/2 minutes).  Extremely slow changing from one menu item to the next and very slow opening files.  Glacial at performing those operations if a backup was ongoing.
    Earlier efforts: Followed conventional wisdom for speed by adding 6 GB of RAM, bringing it to 12 GB (though my RAM usage rarely exceeded 3 GB). Added a small SSD containing only the OS and all applications; mapped the home folder to the internal 1 TB RAID 0 comprising 2 540GB 7200 rpm SATA 2 drives (but - having to access the internal RAID for all data files made the addition of the small SSD a futile exercise).  The external drives are also 7200 rpm.
    Here is what worked!! I replaced the 175GB SSD with a 1 TB Samsung EVO 840 SSD ($565) and re-mapped the home folder back to the SSD; added a Newer Tech MaxPower eSATA PCIe card ($87); connected the two external 1TB drives via eSATA rather than FW 800, which tripled their speed. My OS, applications and data files are around 600 GB, so the 1 TB SSD was large enough to handle everything, while the 175 GB drive wasn’t.
    While the EVO 840 SSD and the eSATA card are SATA 3 rated (6Gb/s), the internal bus of the early Mac Pro is SATA 2 (3Gb/s), which is the maximum at which the system will operate.  In addition, the internal and external hard drives drives themselves are also SATA 2 (the Superdrive and Blu-Ray burner are SATA 1, but slow nothing down when not being used; and SATA 1 is plenty fast for burners limited to 16X anyway).
    The result:  It now takes 60 to 61 seconds from power on until Safari opens with a useable menu (including the 5 seconds or so to select the user and log in), a speedup of 90 seconds.  In more stark terms, from power on to the log-in screen appears under the old setup was 46 seconds, and with the new, 41 seconds (system and RAM checks take roughly the same amount of time regardless of the drive used); but once the user is selected and the access code is entered, the new setup takes 14 to 15 seconds vice 1 minute 45 seconds!  Even better, moving from one menu item to the next in an open application is immediate. Files open quickly.  And, there is NO detectable slowdown while any of the frequent backups are ongoing.  Performance is now very fast, again.
    My Mac Pro cost $3400 when new, and has of course been improved.  A used 2012 Mac Pro 6 core with 3.33 GHz chipset would have run $2800 or more, and provided slightly higher GeekBench scores operating single-core, but slower multi-core speeds than I already have. A 3.33GHz 12 core machine refurbished by Apple would have run $5400, and provided 1/3 faster single core speeds, and the multi-core speeds would have been twice as fast, according to GeekBench.  The new late 2013 4-core Mac Pro, while beautiful, would have run $4200 delivered (my upper limit), and would have required more investment to put the Superdrive and Blu-Ray burner into enclosures.  Here is what amazed me:  While its single-core speed would have been 78% faster, its multi-core GeekBench score was slower than my current machine!  I guess those extra 4 cores make a difference.
    The GeekBench scores heavily weigh processor-intensive functions, such as video compositing and editing, or working with large photo and graphic files.  Those are not my primary uses, and spending money for significant performance gains in those areas made no sense for my use.  But the $650 I spent for the 1TB SSD and eSATA PCIe card completely solved the slowdown I was experiencing.  For my uses, that $650 was a much wiser investment than any of the other options.  It gave me speed where I needed it, and not where it would have done little for me.

    True but I catch all the Mail, Cache, /SyncServices and /Application Support - and for some reason the /Preferences folder is getting hit a lot. 
    The reason I use CCleaner is just to wipe clean all the brower type caches in one fell swoop. They get large and unwildly and harder to manage. Easy and faster to just download. Use to use a RAMDisk for the "web.cache" file or folders at one time to speed up system and surfing.
    The entire ~/Library is 3GB for me
    So even if it was 10GB it would still be fine and make sense to include the "home user account" ~/Library (you can of course include more)
    Only saying to locate my 700GB of documents, media files and libraries "elsewhere" - pefect for a 2TB hdd. Or a pair of 10K WD VR 1TB drives though even they are limited if using SATA2 AND you have the system on same bus you start to hit the 700MB/sec that Mac Pro controller can handle.
    So the ideal would have high access and to allow concurrent searches and IO in memory first, in cache memory buffers to drive controller and drives, and then use  an SSD, before getting to the actual slower hdd. The choise of hdd also matters. Some 500GB drives are more like 85MB/sec at  best vs 145MB for a single 2TB Seagate Constellation ($200) or WD Black. And no need to take up two drive bays.
    Back to case in point, if you want to put the entire user account on its own SSD, fine but its cost for what performance is not what I would do. Even a small 128GB or spend another $70 for 250GB SSD instead, and leave all the user home account's media files on a slow 7.2K drive.    Some 7.2k drives can do much much better on SATA3 / 6G.  The 1TB 10K WD VR gets writes as well as reads in the 180-200MB/sec. which is about as good as it gets outside of SSD on a SATA2 bus and is only $200 (4-8X the storage of the SSDs I was talking about).

  • 2009 Mac Pro upgrading graphics card to GTX 680 mac. What is the best version of AE and PP and OSX to have?

    Hello,
    I have a 2009 Mac Pro 4.1
    Mac OSX version 10.6.8
    Processor - 2 x 2.26 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
    Memory - 24GB
    Graphics Card - ATI Radeon HD 4870
    I use After Effects and Premiere Pro daily for my work. I am not too technically minded. I want to update and improve my machine as much as possible and am thinking of buying an SSD drive to replace my current start up disk. I also am thinking about getting the GTX 680 mac version graphics card. I have read many online discussions regarding OpenCL and CUDA, many discussions with mixed feelings about the improvements the 680 gives an older Mac Pro - some people say it is amazing others say the improvements seem minimal or worse.
    What I want to know is if I purchase the SSD and 680 graphics card what is the optimal OSX - 10.8 or 10.9? and what is the optimal versions of AE and PP to have - CS6 or CC? Also what settings and what additional drivers would I need to consider?
    I contacted an independent authorised mac reseller and he thought it was a bad idea to put a new graphics card and get the latest OSX in an old machine and tried to sell me a used 2010 Mac Pro, but I think it would be more cost effective to get the SSD and 680 instead, it's just I read the occasional horror story on a forum and I worry about making the wrong choice, I rely on my Mac Pro to make a living!
    Thanks in advance

    Thank you for the valuable information Eric, I think I will go with the 680 but I understand that it wont be fully utilised on my old Mac Pro.
    Perhaps I will replace my startup/applications hard drive with a 480GB SSD. My other 3 bays are full with 3 x 2TB Hard drives that have media on them so I have no spare room for a dedicated SSD drive for AE cache. But could I put a 250GB SSD into one of the PCI-E slots using something like - SSD SuperSpeed Upgrade Kit for Apple Mac Pro 2008 2009 2010 2012 | eBay
    Would this be my best solution? Is it a relatively simple installation, does anyone have any experience of a similar setup?
    cc_merchant, thank you for the reply, I am aware you have to pay monthly payments for CC, that is no problem.

  • 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.
    I did try installing Mavericks when it first came out and I had this problem so I just abandoned and reinstalled Mountain Lion from my Time Machine backup. However I thought that with Mavericks now at 9.1, maybe it would work okay this time but no change. However this time I do want to get it working because the lastest Final Cut Pro X requires Mavericks and I do a lot of video editing.
    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.
    I started it up in Recovery mode and it will start in Recovery mode. While in Recovery mode I checked the startup hard drive with Disk Utility, the drive is fine, as and I repaired disk permisions which made no difference.
    I zapped the PRAM.
    I connected it to my MacBook Pro in Target Disk mode and used ProSoft's Drive Genius 3 to check over the startup hard drive again and check disk permissions and all is well.
    It still will not startup
    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.   
    There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to boot. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.
         a. Boot into the Recovery partition, or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) When the OS X Utilities screen appears, launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in this support article, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.”
    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.
    If you've booted from an external storage device, make sure that your internal boot volume is selected in the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences.
    Step 6
    Boot in safe mode. Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Post for further instructions.
    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.
    If you can boot and log in now, empty the Trash, and then open the Finder Info window on your boot volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name.) Check that you have at least 9 GB of available space, as shown in the window. If you don't, copy as many files as necessary to another volume (not another folder on the same volume) and delete the originals. Deletion isn't complete until you empty the Trash again. Do this until the available space is more than 9 GB. Then reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode.)
    If the boot process hangs again, the problem is likely caused by a third-party system modification that you installed. Post for further instructions.
    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.
    This is one of the rare situations in which you should also run Repair Permissions, ignoring the false warnings it may produce. Look for the line "Permissions repair complete" at the end of the output. Then reboot as usual.
    Step 8
    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.
    Step 11
    If you get this far, you're probably dealing with a hardware fault. Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store, or go to another authorized service provider.

  • Boot Camp, Vista Ultimate x64 SP1, 2009 Mac Pro Quad 2.93, ATI 4870 HD

    Hello All,
    I’ve run into a problem installing Boot Camp with Vista Ultimate x64 SP1 on my early 2009 Mac Pro Quad 2.93 with Apple’s ATI Radeon 4870 HD (the one with one DVI and one mini-display). I followed the instructions from the Boot Camp Installation and Setup Guide, and everything was going great until I hit page 12 of the Guide (Step 3). The Boot Camp drivers installed without error, and prompted me to reboot. Upon rebooting onto the newly installed Vista x64 partition, the screen went black after the chkdsk screen appeared. I can boot into Vista safe mode, but booting into Vista normally results in the black screen. On a hunch, while in safe mode, I uninstalled the ATI video drivers installed by Boot Camp. I was then able to boot Vista normally, but only with the standard VGA adapter. Then I tried installing the latest 9.4 ATI drivers from the chipset vendor, AMD, http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspx. Booting normally after the ATI chipset drivers were installed left me with a mostly black screen, and a few swizzles of horizontal color, but not enough to make out any sort of image. Once again, I was able to boot normally by first booting into safe mode and then uninstalling the ATI driver, leaving me with the standard VGA driver.
    The displays I have tried so far are 1) Apple Cinema HD 23”, and 2) Apple Cinema 20”. Also, I have tried all 6 permutations with the ports on the Apple version of the ATI Radeon 4870 HD with both displays (using the mini-display to DVI adapter), 2 permutations with both displays, and 4 permutations with single displays. All permutations result in the same black screen after installing Boot Camp drivers.
    Am I missing something? It seems to me that there is a display driver that needs to come from Apple that will work with the Apple version of the ATI Radeon 4870 HD in Vista Ultimate x64 SP1 attached to an Apple display. I’ve installed Vista Ultimate x64 SP1 and many other operating systems in the past 27 years of working with computers, and typically with video cards I’ve had to get the drivers from the vendor that shipped the card, not the chipset vendor. Sure, occasionally the opposite is true, and I don’t mind spending a few days to figure out what works best for me as long as I believe I am making progress.
    Has anyone else run into this problem with his or her early 2009 Mac Pro Quad 2.93 with Apple’s ATI Radeon 4870 HD? I’m posting this in the Boot Camp forum as I think this problem is rooted in the Boot Camp drivers, specifically for the Apple ATI Radeon 4870 HD. Please let me know if I should post elsewhere.

    You are the second person I think I've seen with trouble using Mac Pro and ATI drivers (other was on Mac Pro forum).
    When updating graphics, there are extra steps that insure you get the best working drivers.
    I've always found Apple to be behind the curve on Windows support. Drivers that come with a card from the vendor ususally means ATI or Nvidia, and even then, you go to the web and download and install the latest tested / beta / qualified drivers. Some people try a variety of driver versions to find the one that works best.
    Apple has not been updating Boot Camp drivers for Late 2008 and on Macs. Boot Camp 2.1 is now over a year old. What is on your OEM Leopard DVD is the only drivers I would use - if at all! try without is what some do, and then see if you can selectively install. Under Windows 7, I don't need or install, and now with the RC/7077 version of 7, Microsoft 'blocks' installing Apple Boot Camp drivers as known to cause problems.
    If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Unistall the various Apple services, drivers, startup items that you can live without or until you narrow it down. iTunes 8.1+ in Windows can break and prevent ability to even use optical drives and devices for instance.
    Some tips for upgrading drivers, one from eVGA forum but should translate.
    http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=396474
    http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspx
    http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1655

Maybe you are looking for