Apple OEM 5770 Mac Pro 1,1 = no video during boot?

[halfcamerageek]

Hi to all. I'm a long time lurker, first time poster on this forum.

After reading the reports from other users, I've just upgraded my Mac Pro 2006 to a new Apple OEM Radeon 5770 graphics card. To be more precise, my original nVidia 7600 GT died and the only replacement card available on my local market was the 5770.

As reported by other users, it works fine on Snow Leopard 10.6.7. My problem is that I though this card would display the EFI boot screen (gray Apple logo), but it doesn't, at least on my setup. I'm running a single Dell 3008WFP on the dual link DVI port. When I boot my computer, video comes up only after the OS is fully loaded. This behavior would be expected on a flashed PC card, but not on the Apple original one, according to my research.

Anyone else with this problem? Any ideas?

Detailed configuration below:
Mac Pro 2006 1,1 - 4 x 2.66ghz Xeon.
Boot ROM: MP11.005C.B08
Apple OEM Radeon 5770 1gb
Snow Leopard 10.6.7

Thank you for your help,

 

[ashman70]

How many DVI ports does your card have? Where did you buy the card from?

 

[halfcamerageek]

Apple OEM card

The card is an original OEM Apple branded 5770 card, bought online from the Apple Store. It has 1 dual link DVI port and 2 mini DisplayPorts. My 30" Dell 3008WFP is hooked to the DVI port. Unfortunately I don't have any mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort adapter to test the other ports.

 

[ashman70]

I would call Apple support. I have the same card, I have two Samsung 22" monitors, one connected to the DVI port the other to a display port, works just fine for me on my Mac Pro 1,1.

 

[halfcamerageek]

Boot screen

Can you see the gray boot screen on both displays?

I'm afraid Apple support would reply that this card is not supported on the Mac Pro 1,1 and there's nothing they could do. I could have flashed a card for half the price of the OEM one, if I knew the result would be this.

Thank you for your help.

 

[dtechlogic]

Hi,
What about the 5870 are they fixable for that screen to come up. I have a xfx 5870. Also i have an apple oem 5770 that i might sale. THat one works with no problem that's what got replace from my mac with the xfx 5870. same thing no efi boot screen with the apple logo. I have to guess when switching from mac to windows.
[
QUOTE=halfcamerageek;12660448]Can you see the gray boot screen on both displays?

I'm afraid Apple support would reply that this card is not supported on the Mac Pro 1,1 and there's nothing they could do. I could have flashed a card for half the price of the OEM one, if I knew the result would be this.

Thank you for your help.[/QUOTE]

 

[gpzjock]

If you bought that card from Apple I would take it back to a store and tell them it is faulty.
Take no **** from the Genius(sic) ask them to test it in a 2010 Mac Pro, if it works you know it isn't faulty and you need to sort out something else.
Don't tell them you are coming, catch them by surprise and demand a replacement if they won't test it in front of you. Be Ralph Nader for the day.
If you know anyone with a 2010 MP get them to take the card in for you, or even test it in their one yourself with their screen and your screen too.
Bare in mind that if the issue of the grey boot screen doesn't affect your use of the MP most folks would just say "Why bovver?".

 

[halfcamerageek]

Why

I bought it online, so it's a little more tricky to return it. And I can't return it, actually, because my old card is broken.

Why bother with the lack of boot screen? It makes drive selection during boot a little more tricky and also drives down the resale value for the computer. I bought the OEM card to have my machine fully functional, or else I'd have opted for a flashed PC card and spared some change.

Than you for your suggestions.

 

[gpzjock]

I use a flashed 5870 in mine, switching with no boot screen either means booting in you current selected OS and using Start up disk to choose another one before restarting (slow).
OR use the Force (Luke!) and hold down the alt key, then tap the side arrow key and hit return about 30 seconds after start up.
Apple don't support any of the newer cards on older MPs I presume this issue may be one of the reasons why. Uncle Steve wants you to buy a new machine see?

Flashed Sapphire 4870 cards show the boot screen in my experience and the 1 GB ones are 20% more powerful than 5770s in most functions. I have a '08 octo so it might be different for you.

 

[ActionableMango]

I'm afraid Apple support would reply that this card is not supported on the Mac Pro 1,1 and there's nothing they could do.

Maybe they will, but you should try anyway.

I could have flashed a card for half the price of the OEM one, if I knew the result would be this.

Many many people have reported the official 5770 works fine in MP1,1.

Your card is acting exactly like a non-Apple 5770. Are you 100% certain you have an Apple card? Where exactly did you buy it from?

Assuming you definitely have an Apple card, I would call support first. If that doesn't work out, I'd try to exchange the card at an Apple store.

 

[saulinpa]

Works fine with 1,1. Double check the card version in About This Mac... More Info... Graphics/Displays. You should see the following:

ATI Radeon HD 5770:

Chipset Model: ATI Radeon HD 5770
Type: GPU
Bus: PCIe
Slot: Slot-1
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 1024 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x68b8
Revision ID: 0x0000
ROM Revision: 113-C0160C-155
EFI Driver Version: 01.00.436
Displays:

 

[gullySn0wCat]

I bought it online, so it's a little more tricky to return it. And I can't return it, actually, because my old card is broken.

Why bother with the lack of boot screen? It makes drive selection during boot a little more tricky and also drives down the resale value for the computer. I bought the OEM card to have my machine fully functional, or else I'd have opted for a flashed PC card and spared some change.

Than you for your suggestions.

I agree with the resale value, but just select your Startup Disk from System Preferences to change the boot drive ;-)

...anyway you should order another one and return the current one. If it is an Apple 5770 it should have a boot screen.

 

[halfcamerageek]

Works fine with 1,1. Double check the card version in About This Mac... More Info... Graphics/Displays. You should see the following:

That's exactly what I'm seeing. The card was bought from the Apple Store online. This is the actual link.

Chipset Model:	ATI Radeon HD 5770
  Type:	GPU
  Bus:	PCIe
  Slot:	Slot-1
  PCIe Lane Width:	x16
  VRAM (Total):	1024 MB
  Vendor:	ATI (0x1002)
  Device ID:	0x68b8
  Revision ID:	0x0000
  ROM Revision:	113-C0160C-155
  EFI Driver Version:	01.00.436
  Displays:
Display:
  Resolution:	2560 x 1600 @ 60 Hz
  Pixel Depth:	32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
  Main Display:	Yes
  Mirror:	Off
  Online:	Yes
  Rotation:	Supported
Display Connector:
  Status:	No Display Connected
Display Connector:
  Status:	No Display Connected

 

[halfcamerageek]

Thank you all for your replies.

I'm thinking that this must be something about the connection I'm using - the DVI port. I've never used a multi display Mac before, but my laptop shows the boot screen only on its main display, while any external screen turns on only after a full boot.

I'll try the mini DisplayPort connection before returning the card. I have ordered a mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort adapter to test this.

 

[Cindori]

Thank you all for your replies.

I'm thinking that this must be something about the connection I'm using - the DVI port. I've never used a multi display Mac before, but my laptop shows the boot screen only on its main display, while any external screen turns on only after a full boot.

I'll try the mini DisplayPort connection before returning the card. I have ordered a mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort adapter to test this.

for a 30" monitor you require dual link (active) DP adapter
those are like $99 as opposed to the single link adapters for $24

 

[halfcamerageek]

for a 30" monitor you require dual link (active) DP adapter those are like $99 as opposed to the single link adapters for $24

I'll try a mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort adapter first, since my display has two DisplayPort inputs. Thanks.

I'll update this thread as soon as I have any test result.

 

[halfcamerageek]

I've never used a multi display Mac before, but my laptop shows the boot screen only on its main display, while any external screen turns on only after a full boot.

I've noticed that System Profiler shows Main Display: Yes for the attached 30" monitor, so this is not the case.

 

[saulinpa]

May be a compatibility issue with the monitor? It would be interesting to see if it worked with a smaller monitor.

 

[halfcamerageek]

A few more tests

Tried a few more things, before calling Apple:

• Moving card to 2nd PCI-X slot. Same results.
• DVI to VGA adapter. Shows boot screen normally.
• Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapter on port 1. Boot screen is corrupted, desktop appears normally.
• Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapter on port 2. No signal.

The 10.6 install DVD doesn't work at all. No image on the display. If I keep the card, this would be a problem and surely would affect resale value, which is still very good in my country. Contacting Apple now.

 

[halfcamerageek]

May be a compatibility issue with the monitor? It would be interesting to see if it worked with a smaller monitor.

That's what I'm thinking. It'd be really strange to have problems only on this machine, since others with the same ROM revision, card and OS said it worked fine.

I'll try to get another LCD to test it. Unfortunately my mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort adapter will take a month to arrive. This would allow me to test the DisplayPort with my current LCD.

 

[gullySn0wCat]

Tried a few more things, before calling Apple:

• Moving card to 2nd PCI-X slot. Same results.
• DVI to VGA adapter. Shows boot screen normally.
• Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapter on port 1. Boot screen is corrupted, desktop appears normally.
• Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapter on port 2. No signal.

The 10.6 install DVD doesn't work at all. No image on the display. If I keep the card, this would be a problem and surely would affect resale value, which is still very good in my country. Contacting Apple now.

The 10.6 DVD shouldn't work. The drivers for 5770 weren't introduced until 10.6.4/5

 

[ActionableMango]

The card is an original OEM Apple branded 5770 card, bought online from the Apple Store. It has 1 dual link DVI port and 2 mini DisplayPorts. My 30" Dell 3008WFP is hooked to the DVI port. Unfortunately I don't have any mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort adapter to test the other ports.

Many people use these Dells, so I'd be surprised if it was an incompatibility with the display. I guess it's possible, but I personally also use an Apple 5770 connected to a Dell 2408WFP via DVI.

 

[halfcamerageek]

Not a software issue

I've now tried a clean 10.6.7 install on a separate hard drive to check if the problem was caused by any software issue on my current install. Still the same result: no boot screen, but works fine otherwise. I'll try another LCD this afternoon and then call Apple to exchange the card.

What puzzles me is how can this issue happen only on my computer, while other users with the same Boot ROM and video card have no problems. I doubt exchanging the card will fix it. Seems more of a system incompatibility than a defect on the card, since it works just fine after booting.

 

[halfcamerageek]

My conclusion

I was able to borrow a 1920x1200 DVI LCD display and also a DVI to HDMI cable. Connecting the smaller display to the DVI port on the 5770 shows the boot screen normally. Using the DVI -> HDMI adapter and connecting it to the HDMI port on my Dell 3008WFP also displays the boot screen, but only at 1920x1200, which is the maximum resolution for regular HDMI adapters.

My conclusion is that the card is working without errors and what I'm seeing is a compatibility issue that manifests itself only with a 30" LCD. I've yet to test it if this happens only on the DVI port or also affects the mini DisplayPorts. I'm waiting for an adapter to try it.

I'd like to receive feedback from other users with the same setup: 30" display connected to the DVI port of a Radeon 5770 on a 2006 1,1 Mac Pro. Anyone?

Thank you all for your suggestions.

 

[ActionableMango]

1920x1200 is the maximum resolution of single-link DVI. Are you using a dual-link DVI cable?