I'll try to summarise this issue best I can.
Had Mac Pro running my recording studio smoothly since 2011 on Snow Leopard (had one power PSU issue).
About 2 years ago, it died. I systematically began replacing parts, with the help of these such forums and lots of research. Eventually, I reached a point where I had to cut my loses.
So, in January 2023 I bought a new (used - refurb) Mac Pro [Mac Pro 5,1 | 12 Core (24 Thread) 3.46GHz | 96GB RAM | USB 3 | High Sierra].
I spent a lot of time installing new versions of all my studio software on to this new machine - Logic X and all plugins it used etc.
Then, in the second Drive bay, I put in the old Mac Pro's Snow Leopard drive. This way, I had all my old studio projects already accessable.
Due to life stuff (birth of 1st child, divorce, mental breakdown, hospital) etc etc, I only ran a few recording sessions on it. It has not had many hours use.
I finally cleared out my whole studio and got everything ready again to re-open business. Booted it up for the first time in a few months, and to my dismay, it didn't even see the newer hard drive it shipped with. It booted up with the old Snow Leopard one, with all my old files and old software versions.
As to not waste anyone's time here - I have tried to trawl all forums available, all related help videos and guides, and tried anything I could find. Disc Utility see's the new hard drive this Mac Pro shipped with, but the partition icon shows as semi transparent and can't be opened. Of course, I tried clicking Repair several times.
The error message gave me the 'Invalid Node' log. I found a useful solution that worked for most people on another forum. Which read as so:
"First, get the name of the partition of the failing volume. You can get it most easily by finding your disk in Disk Utility, selecting your partition (not the drive) and type cmd-i. Look for "Disk Identifier" right at the top.
Then, open up Terminal, and type this:
sudo /sbin/fsck_hfs -yprd /dev/disk5s2
substituting your disk identifier for the one already here. Keep the "/dev/" part. Enter your password, and wait. It may take a while. I have had this fail several times before finally working so its important to keep trying. It's faster than a reformat!!"
This ran a lengthy process, which I waited out to complete. As the user suggested, I tried this SEVERAL times. It became apparent it was not going to work.
NEXT - I decided to take the Mac Pro home, to set up in my living room where I can work comfortably and spend more time working on it.
Frustratingly, the first time I booted it up at home, all fans fired up full throttle. It sounds like a jet engine now. I worried it was my power outlet, so I tried several rooms in the house. Nope, all fans are always stuck on full now.
Did all the usual resets (SMC, PRAM, NVRAM, Safety Mode, Recovery Mode).
I wondered was it because I am now back in outdated Snow Leopard. I updated to High Seirra. I ran Disc Utility repair AGAIN. Nothing.
I then downloaded Macs Fan Control. This did not work. No matter how I set the fan control, nothing.
Realising I am now on an updated OS, I ran sudo /sbin/fsck_hfs -yprd /dev/disk5s2 yet again. Nothing. Except this time, it didn't even do the lengthy log process it once ran. It just did a much shorter process to no avail. I tried several times, and its always doing this now.
So now the fans are all stuck on full, the hard drive seems to be unrecoverable, and I can't seem to fix either issue at all.
Now Disc Utility shows the partition as having something like 999GB free, so I presume all data from the NEWER drive is lost, and that drive is irrepairable.
Someone also said about certain internal hardware modules perhaps not being correctly seated. I have removed everything several times and securely reseated them - all the drive bays, the RAM slots, the PCI's, the bottom tray, the PSU, I have made sure the processor chip is seated, the graphics card. Everything.
The Mac Pro itself seems to be running fine with the old Hard Drive, but with the fans all stuck on full power. I am honestly sick to death of this. I have not had a reliable set up now since the old machine back in early 2023. I have cancelled studio bookings and I feel like throwing it out the window.
Ironically, my MacBook Pro is a much newer 2020 model and runs with way less issues, but I have PCI cards I rely on for dedicated studio plugins, and I do use a bunch of USB, Firewire etc connections in the studio. (PS during all of this troubleshooting I was using no external peripherals).
Thats as short as I could make this. Sorry. Tried to give all info possible. Don't want to waste anyones time. But please. HELP. I am so sick of these persistent issues.
Steve.
Had Mac Pro running my recording studio smoothly since 2011 on Snow Leopard (had one power PSU issue).
About 2 years ago, it died. I systematically began replacing parts, with the help of these such forums and lots of research. Eventually, I reached a point where I had to cut my loses.
So, in January 2023 I bought a new (used - refurb) Mac Pro [Mac Pro 5,1 | 12 Core (24 Thread) 3.46GHz | 96GB RAM | USB 3 | High Sierra].
I spent a lot of time installing new versions of all my studio software on to this new machine - Logic X and all plugins it used etc.
Then, in the second Drive bay, I put in the old Mac Pro's Snow Leopard drive. This way, I had all my old studio projects already accessable.
Due to life stuff (birth of 1st child, divorce, mental breakdown, hospital) etc etc, I only ran a few recording sessions on it. It has not had many hours use.
I finally cleared out my whole studio and got everything ready again to re-open business. Booted it up for the first time in a few months, and to my dismay, it didn't even see the newer hard drive it shipped with. It booted up with the old Snow Leopard one, with all my old files and old software versions.
As to not waste anyone's time here - I have tried to trawl all forums available, all related help videos and guides, and tried anything I could find. Disc Utility see's the new hard drive this Mac Pro shipped with, but the partition icon shows as semi transparent and can't be opened. Of course, I tried clicking Repair several times.
The error message gave me the 'Invalid Node' log. I found a useful solution that worked for most people on another forum. Which read as so:
"First, get the name of the partition of the failing volume. You can get it most easily by finding your disk in Disk Utility, selecting your partition (not the drive) and type cmd-i. Look for "Disk Identifier" right at the top.
Then, open up Terminal, and type this:
sudo /sbin/fsck_hfs -yprd /dev/disk5s2
substituting your disk identifier for the one already here. Keep the "/dev/" part. Enter your password, and wait. It may take a while. I have had this fail several times before finally working so its important to keep trying. It's faster than a reformat!!"
This ran a lengthy process, which I waited out to complete. As the user suggested, I tried this SEVERAL times. It became apparent it was not going to work.
NEXT - I decided to take the Mac Pro home, to set up in my living room where I can work comfortably and spend more time working on it.
Frustratingly, the first time I booted it up at home, all fans fired up full throttle. It sounds like a jet engine now. I worried it was my power outlet, so I tried several rooms in the house. Nope, all fans are always stuck on full now.
Did all the usual resets (SMC, PRAM, NVRAM, Safety Mode, Recovery Mode).
I wondered was it because I am now back in outdated Snow Leopard. I updated to High Seirra. I ran Disc Utility repair AGAIN. Nothing.
I then downloaded Macs Fan Control. This did not work. No matter how I set the fan control, nothing.
Realising I am now on an updated OS, I ran sudo /sbin/fsck_hfs -yprd /dev/disk5s2 yet again. Nothing. Except this time, it didn't even do the lengthy log process it once ran. It just did a much shorter process to no avail. I tried several times, and its always doing this now.
So now the fans are all stuck on full, the hard drive seems to be unrecoverable, and I can't seem to fix either issue at all.
Now Disc Utility shows the partition as having something like 999GB free, so I presume all data from the NEWER drive is lost, and that drive is irrepairable.
Someone also said about certain internal hardware modules perhaps not being correctly seated. I have removed everything several times and securely reseated them - all the drive bays, the RAM slots, the PCI's, the bottom tray, the PSU, I have made sure the processor chip is seated, the graphics card. Everything.
The Mac Pro itself seems to be running fine with the old Hard Drive, but with the fans all stuck on full power. I am honestly sick to death of this. I have not had a reliable set up now since the old machine back in early 2023. I have cancelled studio bookings and I feel like throwing it out the window.
Ironically, my MacBook Pro is a much newer 2020 model and runs with way less issues, but I have PCI cards I rely on for dedicated studio plugins, and I do use a bunch of USB, Firewire etc connections in the studio. (PS during all of this troubleshooting I was using no external peripherals).
Thats as short as I could make this. Sorry. Tried to give all info possible. Don't want to waste anyones time. But please. HELP. I am so sick of these persistent issues.
Steve.
