Blank screen on 2006 Mac Pro - need advice

[twoodcc]

i have a 2006 mac pro that i use as my personal web server. i had lion installed on it, and every thing was working fine. last week i started getting a blank screen, but the system was still running. i couldn't get the screen to come back on, or screen sharing, so i had to hold the power button down to restart.

the problem got so bad that it would do this while i tried to reinstall lion, and then later snow leopard. somehow even with the blank screen, snow leopard got installed. so far it hasnt crashed while typing this.

now the question is - do i buy a new mac pro? can this one be fixed and still run the latest operating system? or go another route and buy a mac mini or something else?

remember i use this for my personal server - the data i have is priceless to me. i also have a lot of files - 2-3 TB worth, so a mac mini would be difficult, and that number continues to rise.

 

[degl]

i have a 2006 mac pro that i use as my personal web server. i had lion installed on it, and every thing was working fine. last week i started getting a blank screen, but the system was still running. i couldn't get the screen to come back on, or screen sharing, so i had to hold the power button down to restart.

the problem got so bad that it would do this while i tried to reinstall lion, and then later snow leopard. somehow even with the blank screen, snow leopard got installed. so far it hasnt crashed while typing this.

now the question is - do i buy a new mac pro? can this one be fixed and still run the latest operating system? or go another route and buy a mac mini or something else?

remember i use this for my personal server - the data i have is priceless to me. i also have a lot of files - 2-3 TB worth, so a mac mini would be difficult, and that number continues to rise.

I have the exactly same problem when i have the 2006 macpro and the GeForce7300 was dying.

 

[twoodcc]

I have the exactly same problem when i have the 2006 macpro and the GeForce7300 was dying.

well so far snow leopard hasn't crashed. is it a Lion problem?

 

[ashman70]

No, its sounds like the video card in your MP 1,1 is dying, so it needs to be replaced. Since its a server, I would seek out another used Nvidia 7300GT.

It also sounds like you need a backup solution, do you not backup the 2-3TB of data on this 'server'? Are you using any kind of raid or individual drives?

 

[monokakata]

I've had the "won't wake up" problem on my 1,1 for a long time, and I don't have a solution. It's true that when I've killed it with the power switch I haven't lost anything and there generally isn't even an entry in the console system log, except logging the restart.

I have a fairly new 5770 (Apple-branded) in it, so I'm reluctant to blame the video card. It's possible, I guess.

Consider opening your 1,1 up and cleaning it out with compressed air. Reseat all the reseatable cards you have (video, memory). Maybe even get some contact cleaner and clean the PCI slots.

Reset SMC (although that didn't do anything for me -- but it might for you).

In my Mac Pro 1,1 problems thread

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1330777/

people made useful suggestions. Notice the unexplained "magic trick" of reseating the memory boards, which suggests there can be some odd interaction going on.

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well so far snow leopard hasn't crashed. is it a Lion problem?

I had the same situation, but for me it was transient. SL seemed great, but then (after a while) it wouldn't run either. At first it did and I was elated -- software problem, I thought, easily fixed.

But no.

Even so, your situation might be different. I did manage to get through an entire Lion reinstall, but it didn't help.

 

[twoodcc]

No, its sounds like the video card in your MP 1,1 is dying, so it needs to be replaced. Since its a server, I would seek out another used Nvidia 7300GT.

It also sounds like you need a backup solution, do you not backup the 2-3TB of data on this 'server'? Are you using any kind of raid or individual drives?

i'll look into replacing the video card.

yes, i do backup to an external 3 TB drive. eventually i'll need to expand on this when 3 TB isn't enough.

I've had the "won't wake up" problem on my 1,1 for a long time, and I don't have a solution. It's true that when I've killed it with the power switch I haven't lost anything and there generally isn't even an entry in the console system log, except logging the restart.

I have a fairly new 5770 (Apple-branded) in it, so I'm reluctant to blame the video card. It's possible, I guess.

Consider opening your 1,1 up and cleaning it out with compressed air. Reseat all the reseatable cards you have (video, memory). Maybe even get some contact cleaner and clean the PCI slots.

Reset SMC (although that didn't do anything for me -- but it might for you).

In my Mac Pro 1,1 problems thread

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1330777/

people made useful suggestions. Notice the unexplained "magic trick" of reseating the memory boards, which suggests there can be some odd interaction going on.

----------



I had the same situation, but for me it was transient. SL seemed great, but then (after a while) it wouldn't run either. At first it did and I was elated -- software problem, I thought, easily fixed.

But no.

Even so, your situation might be different. I did manage to get through an entire Lion reinstall, but it didn't help.

thanks for the reply. i'll try some of the things you've mentioned. i've already cleaned it out with compressed air, but i didn't take everything apart.

Also, with SL it did crash. this time it just froze. i'm seriously thinking about getting a mac mini for my critical sites to use until either i can fix the mac pro or a new one is released