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Natalia22

macrumors member
Nov 12, 2022
42
83
Good Day Natalia,

Can you advise on where to obtain v 12.6 as I also am having this issue on my 12 Core D700 MacPro after updating to 12.6.1

Thank you,
Will
Good Day Will,

No problem, I'll send you a private message with a link to the file.
After reinstalling the macOS to 12.6, the problem did not disappear on my mac pro. A week later, a crash in sleep - 1 time per day.
 
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ahonciano

macrumors newbie
Jan 27, 2015
10
5
Good Day Will,

No problem, I'll send you a private message with a link to the file.
After reinstalling the macOS to 12.6, the problem did not disappear on my mac pro. A week later, a crash in sleep - 1 time per day.
I found this site that is pretty reliable. I downloaded 12.5.1 from here and it works fine.

 
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Natalia22

macrumors member
Nov 12, 2022
42
83
I found this site that is pretty reliable. I downloaded 12.5.1 from here and it works fine.

Surprisingly, my computer on version 12.6 has stabilized and has been running non-stop all week.
Thanks for the link to the installers, I'll probably download 12.5.1
 
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BlueMacawBird

macrumors regular
Jun 28, 2019
106
23
Washington, D.C. USA
All this is interesting to me; I got a 'can only a few weeks ago. It's a 3.5 /6 core D500 machine built in June of '18 so it is a late production example. The computer is running Mojave and seems to run and sleep OK except the RTC battery is flat (.37v) and the clock will not keep time if the machine is shut down. I've ordered the battery but will put off installing it unless I have to do so; we have all seen that the install process is stupidly awful.

I was surprised to read the comments that the failed RTC battery could cause the machine to not start, or could cause other problems. My past experience with dead RTC batteries was that they were an inconvenience but nothing more.

I assume the earlier reference to 470.0.0.0.0 is the boot rom version; mine is 428.140.7.0.0 and I wonder if the updated boot rom is part of the problems described above. Which makes me wonder if I'm better off sticking with my old version. What is the purpose of the update, and is it important?

While the design is novel and I always wanted one for my collection, it really makes my CMP machines shine by comparison.

Thanks,

John
 

ahonciano

macrumors newbie
Jan 27, 2015
10
5
Surprisingly, my computer on version 12.6 has stabilized and has been running non-stop all week.
Thanks for the link to the installers, I'll probably download 12.5.1
Ya, I'm glad it can help! Unfortunately for me, my sleep-crash woes continue. I've tried 12.5.1, 12.5 and 12.6, PRAM reset, dusted, reseated components. I can't figure out the issue as it's still crashing after about 15min to 30min after sleep. However, I do have an acceptable work around.

So I discovered that OS X handles sleep differently for MacBooks vs Desktops, and there are different ones too (in case you're not aware).

- Sleep Mode: Keep RAM and CPU powered on, but in low operation mode (currently for desktops)
- Hibernation (for Macbooks): Stores RAM in your SSD/HD and shuts down completely when lid is shut. This helps MacBooks have longer battery charge.
- Safe Sleep: Pretty much the combination of the two. Stores RAM into SSD/HD, but continues to work in powered low operation mode. So in the event of loss in power, it can still boot up as if it's wake from sleep.

Unlike Windows where you can choose either sleep or hibernate, OS X is automatically set and you can't choose the option to hibernate as easily as Windows.

I chose the straight hibernation mode as the performance to wake is fairly quick, but going to sleep does take a little more time as its transferring RAM to SSD. This was the command I used for straight power off hibernation:

Code:
sudo pmset -c hibernatemode 25

My experience so far is almost identical to the default sleep, and I save more energy this way too. Win-win.

Here's a link with more details.

I hate leaving the computer at full power all day and night, especially shutting down and waiting for apps to load on boot. After Effects takes a while to load and it's annoying.

So hopefully this will help those in the same boat as I am, and help your Mac Pro live a longer life without the crashes; as it will also preserve your OS status without the harmful crashes.
 
Last edited:

ahonciano

macrumors newbie
Jan 27, 2015
10
5
All this is interesting to me; I got a 'can only a few weeks ago. It's a 3.5 /6 core D500 machine built in June of '18 so it is a late production example. The computer is running Mojave and seems to run and sleep OK except the RTC battery is flat (.37v) and the clock will not keep time if the machine is shut down. I've ordered the battery but will put off installing it unless I have to do so; we have all seen that the install process is stupidly awful.

I was surprised to read the comments that the failed RTC battery could cause the machine to not start, or could cause other problems. My past experience with dead RTC batteries was that they were an inconvenience but nothing more.

I assume the earlier reference to 470.0.0.0.0 is the boot rom version; mine is 428.140.7.0.0 and I wonder if the updated boot rom is part of the problems described above. Which makes me wonder if I'm better off sticking with my old version. What is the purpose of the update, and is it important?

While the design is novel and I always wanted one for my collection, it really makes my CMP machines shine by comparison.

Thanks,

John
Ya, that seems odd. When I used to build and use PC-Windows, the dead MB battery was just a nuisance, and had to manually bypass on POST. If the RTC battery is the issue here, I"ll look into getting a replacement myself and give this a try. For now, my hibernation mode (instead of using sleep) is an acceptable alternative in my situation.
 

BlueMacawBird

macrumors regular
Jun 28, 2019
106
23
Washington, D.C. USA
I'm also surprised that the battery in my 2013 Mac Pro is dead when the machine is only four and a half years old. It must be using the battery for more than just the RTC and that would explain the system malfunctions being reported when the battery goes kaput. Oddly mine does not seem to care, but I only run it occasionally.

By comparison, back in '07 I bought a 24" iMac 7,1 and used it for a number of years before getting a new 27" iMac. I sold the 7,1 to a friend who then used it for years before upgrading to a CMP 5,1 and then a 24" M1 iMac. Since he wanted the old 7,1 to go away he gave it back to me, which is nice to have back a machine that I had bought so long ago. I replaced the original HD with an SSD, and while I was in the machine thought I would replace the original battery as well. But it was OK so I did not replace it, plus it is not that big a deal to get to it. So that machine was fifteen years old, had been running most of it's life, and the original battery was still good.

And I have heard plenty of comments that the batteries we get these days are not as good as the old ones.
 
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Natalia22

macrumors member
Nov 12, 2022
42
83
Ya, I'm glad it can help! Unfortunately for me, my sleep-crash woes continue. I've tried 12.5.1, 12.5 and 12.6, PRAM reset, dusted, reseated components. I can't figure out the issue as it's still crashing after about 15min to 30min after sleep. However, I do have an acceptable work around.

So I discovered that OS X handles sleep differently for MacBooks vs Desktops, and there are different ones too (in case you're not aware).

- Sleep Mode: Keep RAM and CPU powered on, but in low operation mode (currently for desktops)
- Hibernation (for Macbooks): Stores RAM in your SSD/HD and shuts down completely when lid is shut. This helps MacBooks have longer battery charge.
- Safe Sleep: Pretty much the combination of the two. Stores RAM into SSD/HD, but continues to work in powered low operation mode. So in the event of loss in power, it can still boot up as if it's wake from sleep.

Unlike Windows where you can choose either sleep or hibernate, OS X is automatically set and you can't choose the option to hibernate as easily as Windows.

I chose the straight hibernation mode as the performance to wake is fairly quick, but going to sleep does take a little more time as its transferring RAM to SSD. This was the command I used for straight power off hibernation:

Code:
sudo pmset -c hibernatemode 25

My experience so far is almost identical to the default sleep, and I save more energy this way too. Win-win.

Here's a link with more details.

I hate leaving the computer at full power all day and night, especially shutting down and waiting for apps to load on boot. After Effects takes a while to load and it's annoying.

So hopefully this will help those in the same boat as I am, and help your Mac Pro live a longer life without the crashes; as it will also preserve your OS status without the harmful crashes.
Wow, thanks for the detailed description of all sleep modes, hibernation settings. Very useful information on extending the life of the computer.
 

ahonciano

macrumors newbie
Jan 27, 2015
10
5
Wow, thanks for the detailed description of all sleep modes, hibernation settings. Very useful information on extending the life of the computer.
Ya, absolutely! I'm going to try to change out the coin battery too, as it seems to cause big issues apparently (from what I'm reading).
 

kazyu

macrumors newbie
Dec 15, 2022
1
0
Still got the issue on 12.6.1 :(
(on mac book pro late 2019)
 
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wmosx

macrumors newbie
Dec 26, 2020
8
2
Good Day Will,

No problem, I'll send you a private message with a link to the file.
After reinstalling the macOS to 12.6, the problem did not disappear on my mac pro. A week later, a crash in sleep - 1 time per day.
Thank you, damn that sucks!

I found this site that is pretty reliable. I downloaded 12.5.1 from here and it works fine.

Thank you

Upgraded to 12.6.2 hoping this issue would go away but no go...
 

krakman

macrumors 6502
Dec 3, 2009
450
511
Upgraded to 12.6.2 hoping this issue would go away but no go...
Have you tried formatting the SSD completely and then reinstalling a fresh copy of Monterey? M

Make sure you have a backup before you format the drive.
 

orionbbs

macrumors newbie
Jan 23, 2023
2
0
Glad I found this thread, thought I was going crazy.

Background: I purchased a refurbished MacPro6,1 12-core, 128gb, 4tb-ssd (crucial), D700, Monterey 12.6.2 firmware 430.x.x off Ebay and it immediately started crashing every day when it went to sleep. After two returns back to the vendor, replacement of the logic board, RAM, SSD, Battery, 5 weeks later it was still happening and I asked for a full refund. I thought it was the vendor. Lets call that MacPro #1.

Two weeks later I purchased another MacPro 6,1 (MacPro #2) from a different vendor, same specs however this one had been updated to firmware 470.x.x.x.x Monterey 12.6.2 and it crashed the first night running (sleep, wake, crash). Reloaded OS fresh on a factory Apple 250gb SSD and it crashed after 2 days (eliminated the Crucial SSD as the culprit).

Net Net, this is obviously still an issue as of Jan 23, 2023, its not solved in the latest firmware nor OS release (which can run on a MacPro6,1. It clearly has nothing to do with the SSD or video card, or the battery and it doesn't seem to be a priority for Apple, curious if its even being tracked as a known issue with no ETA to fix. Wish I had a contact in Apple engineering to confirm whether its even in bugzilla/jira....

To the others who've contacted Apple and Mr. Cook, and progress escalating this?

shaun
 

orionbbs

macrumors newbie
Jan 23, 2023
2
0
...quick followup. I am updating to 12.6.3 as we speak, both on the factory SSD (hoping it will pull down new firmware which might address this issue) as well as on my 4tb crucial SSD [btw what bs is it that you have to have a magical Apple SSD to receive some but not all updates]. Will test for a few days and report back.

**EDIT
12.6.3 does not update the firmware, Apple SSD or otherwise. Its still 470.0.0.0.0.0

shaun
 
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wmosx

macrumors newbie
Dec 26, 2020
8
2
Updated to 12.6.3 last night and so far so good, Mac Pro was a sleep all night with no reboots. Will continue to monitor the next day or two.
 

TheBigHunt

macrumors member
May 5, 2013
45
16
Denmark
Hye, I was jsut wondering how can you detect if there is a Sleep issue? Yesterday night, i was not far from my desk and i saw my screen turning on every couple of minutes. Si I went to check and if i'm not wrong, my can can was still hot / warm and i think i was hearing the fan turning every time my screen was turning on. However, nothing was displayed on the screen, it was just like if a signal was sent through the DP to wake it up...

Is it the sleep issue you are talking about?

I had a Macbook Pro M1 Pro connected to it as well until last month and if i remeber well, i was seeing the screen waking up sometimes at night like that too...
 

smittysauce

macrumors newbie
Nov 12, 2013
5
3
My Mac Pro 2013 crashes during sleep (or darkwake) every few days (MacOS 12.6.3). I did a bunch of troubleshooting myself with the hardware (checked the LED lights on the motherboard, booted it with the cover off etc.) but could not find a cause.

I finally took it to the "geniuses" at the Apple store and they told me its my 4x32GB memory sticks I'm using to get the machine to 128GB total RAM. I called BS on this conclusion BUT I purchased another Mac Pro 2013 with OEM 64GB (4x16GB) and swapped those into the machine that crashes and low and behold the machine has been stable for over a week. For once Apple support technicians got it right!

The funny thing is using Passmark's MemTest86, the 128GB (4x32GB) modules all PASS - no issues after 14 hours (2 passes) of testing. This RAM I got on eBay simply is not compatible with this Mac, despite the seller saying it was.
 
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smittysauce

macrumors newbie
Nov 12, 2013
5
3
My Mac Pro 2013 crashes during sleep (or darkwake) every few days (MacOS 12.6.3). I did a bunch of troubleshooting myself with the hardware (checked the LED lights on the motherboard, booted it with the cover off etc.) but could not find a cause.

I finally took it to the "geniuses" at the Apple store and they told me its my 4x32GB memory sticks I'm using to get the machine to 128GB total RAM. I called BS on this conclusion BUT I purchased another Mac Pro 2013 with OEM 64GB (4x16GB) and swapped those into the machine that crashes and low and behold the machine has been stable for over a week. For once Apple support technicians got it right!

The funny thing is using Passmark's MemTest86, the 128GB (4x32GB) modules all PASS - no issues after 14 hours (2 passes) of testing. This RAM I got on eBay simply is not compatible with this Mac, despite the seller saying it was.
*Update 2023-03-03*
I tried second set of OWC 128GB RAM (4x32GB) and even with the OWC RAM, the machine STILL reboots during sleep.

There may be Mac Pro 2013s that DO support 128GB of RAM (according to everymac.com they do) but mine definitely does not. Again maybe it has something to do with my model that was manufactured in 2017.

Just going to have to stick with 64GB (4x16GB).
 

adam9c1

macrumors 68000
May 2, 2012
1,889
314
Chicagoland
MacPro6,1 8-core 128GB
12.6.3

ran this command
sudo pmset -c hibernatemode 25

and was OK for about a week but last night the system crashed.
 

FilthyMcNasty

macrumors member
Sep 2, 2014
76
5
Hi guys.. I have a base trashcan that's absolutely 100% rock solid on 10.14.6 and I'm trying to figure out if macOS can safely be updated to a version that doesn't randomly freeze. I've been through various threads and I'm completely lost as to which other versions are stable, if any, or if they are all broken.

Before 10.14.6 it would just crash with the graphic display issues, and all I've seemed to read is every macOS since will cause crashes during sleep? I can live without using sleep if absolutely necessary to move on, what about the driver issue? Can anybody enlighten me if there's a version that is good to go for?

I note from a previous post :

Good news for those (few) who haven't updated yet but want to for security reasons:
Using the createinstallmedia method and installing OpenCore to the USB device to fake a higher SMBIOS version lets you update only the OS without firmware.
I don't see the point in switching to Monterey yet, therefore I installed the latest Big Sur 11.6.5 from some days ago which also has the 429 firmware since several versions.

My understanding is the graphics driver issue was rectified in the 10.14.6 firmware and then busted again in future updates. If I retained the 10.14.6 firmware, would it work with whatever is the best latest macOS is...?

The MP6,1 is mostly used as an audio workstation and serves all my needs. Please help me keep it going, I don't want or need to buy another machine...
 

tsialex

Contributor
Jun 13, 2016
13,454
13,601
If I retained the 10.14.6 firmware, would it work with whatever is the best latest macOS is...?

Differently from earlier MacPros where the BootROM/EFI firmware update is manual and needs user intervention, it's not possible to maintain the current Mac Pro EFI firmware, or better yet it's totally impracticable to try to maintain it since the moment that you install a newer macOS release and the Mac Pro check the Software Updates, the EFI firmware will be updated automatically without your intervention.

The current EFI firmware, 474.0.0.0.0, is very stable, same for 12.6.8. Since 474.0.0.0.0 can boot 10.14.6, you can revert back to Mojave if needed.
 

FilthyMcNasty

macrumors member
Sep 2, 2014
76
5
When you say 'very stable'... what does that mean compared to '100% stable' ?? I have nil issues with 10.14.6, so not sure what to expect..

Can you advise where to download this exact version w/ firmware? I take it this is the route you would recommend, at this time, to prevent the machine becoming obsolete...

I could install it onto an external drive to try out. I have the original Apple SSD so I guess that shouldn't be a problem

Thanks..
 

tsialex

Contributor
Jun 13, 2016
13,454
13,601
When you say 'very stable'... what does that mean compared to '100% stable' ?? I have nil issues with 10.14.6, so not sure what to expect..

For my workflow, it's 100% stable, but everyone have different ways to work and I can't say that my experience is also valid for you.

Most people here agree that the late-2013 Mac Pro EFI firmware issues of the past are completely solved and anyone that continue to have crashes with sleep have the BR2032 RTC battery already spent or the hardware itself have issues.

Can you advise where to download this exact version w/ firmware? I take it this is the route you would recommend, at this time, to prevent the machine becoming obsolete...

Current Monterey release is 12.6.8, also, 474.0.0.0.0 is the current BootROM/EFI firmware version.

I could install it onto an external drive to try out. I have the original Apple SSD so I guess that shouldn't be a problem

Thanks..

Install your AppleOEM blade to the Mac Pro, then install Monterey and do all the Software Updates. The firmware will be updated while the Software Updates are being done, without your intervention. After that, you can install the blade with Mojave and proceed to nuke it, if you want.
 
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