Mac Pro (Late 2013) GPU (Driver) Issues

[twomartoe]

******
We certainly live in crazy times.
While my own nMP thanks God behaves in almost 2 years reasonably OK, people depending on their computer to make a living should seriously consider having a second computer able to perform more or less OK their usual work for sad situations like this one, in which the most expensive mac surprisingly shows a serious problem.
Unfortunately not everyone can afford such an alternative.

I do not share your view that Apple does not know what is going on with the nMP since every human product is always far from perfect.
Therefore sooner or later some fault can -unfortunately- be found out.

However I believe they should supply another computer during the repair time precisely for all those who cannot wait idle until their nMP is repaired.
Since the nMP is supposed to be the right tool for professional work, such a replacement program until repair finished should be taken seriously by Apple.
If I would be in such a situation I would certainly put pressure on Apple to obtain a replacement until my mac is back.
Ed

Sure, human product is always far from perfect. I dont need it perfect, I need it working and not crash unpredictably. That just show poor quality, which is disappointing for apple which pride themselves for reliable machines. Also this makes working so much more frustrating.

I dont think apple knows whats going on because they would already issue a public recall/repair. That would make life easier for those affected. Also there was a thread in the official apple forum that suggested sudo nvram boot-args dart=0x0. Apparently its something to do with intel's vt-d ram. With that setting crashing wasnt as intense, however I still need to reset pram to reset the nvram. This shows that it could be pointing to a firmware and hardware issue.

Also logged my case and had a call from apple engineer to do a quick diagnose. But that was a year ago.

But you dont seem to have a problem at all. Lucky u, I guess.

I just hope by more people talking about this issue, apple would concentrate on finding this unpredictable crash issue and give a full repair soon.

 

[koyoot]

There are not only problems with graphical drivers. All of Thunderbolt crashed in the past in case of a crash. I do have an Elgato Thunderbolt Dock V1. Everything on it was dead after a crash until reboot. Graphics itself could be recovered by unplugging and plugging the TB monitor again (stuttering picture, but ok for a proper shutdown). But devices connected to the Dock did never recover.

And: No I am not really mad - just making the best of it

That is exactly what I was referring to...

The problem is much deeper than GPUs. In my opinion it with PCIe management which causes crashes on everything that is connected to it. Which is: Thunderbolt, HDMI, Display Port, etc.

 

[axantas]

That is exactly what I was referring to...

The problem is much deeper than GPUs. In my opinion it with PCIe management which causes crashes on everything that is connected to it. Which is: Thunderbolt, HDMI, Display Port, etc.

ok - makes sense, but do exclude USB, nework, wireless and Bluetooth - they are not crashing - weird.

 

[MacVidCards]

The GPUs are linked through multiple layers of PCIE switch ports, as are the TB ports.

Apple didn't have near enough PCIE lanes with the single CPU so they over booked them. Like an airline selling 110 tickets on an airplane with 100 seats. A problem when they all show up.

I have found that adding a single eGPU to a TB2 port leaves almost nothing for the other 5 ports. Not surprising that these issues are coming up, a very complex way to offer so many "potential" outputs.

 

[mauro16]

so, if the problem is with PCIe management, this means that all nMP are affected?

 

[Flint Ironstag]

The GPUs are linked through multiple layers of PCIE switch ports, as are the TB ports.

Apple didn't have near enough PCIE lanes with the single CPU so they over booked them. Like an airline selling 110 tickets on an airplane with 100 seats. A problem when they all show up.

I have found that adding a single eGPU to a TB2 port leaves almost nothing for the other 5 ports. Not surprising that these issues are coming up, a very complex way to offer so many "potential" outputs.

Damn - seriously? So you're saying if I have a nMP with an external chassis loaded up with say 4 x GTX970 running OCL Hashcat (cryptanalysis), my TB connected drive speeds will suffer?

I need both running at full speed... or it's back to separate boxes.

 

[chama98]

Well I called Apple on friday last week and they have said that they are aware and contacting customers. My mac pro went wrong again (the replacement machine from Apple) and they booked an appointment to a reseller to have the new graphics cards as well as the motherboard. They said to me that it would be available to pick up the end of the week.

I am really, really hoping that this will be the end of it now.

 

[twomartoe]

Well I called Apple on friday last week and they have said that they are aware and contacting customers. My mac pro went wrong again (the replacement machine from Apple) and they booked an appointment to a reseller to have the new graphics cards as well as the motherboard. They said to me that it would be available to pick up the end of the week.

I am really, really hoping that this will be the end of it now.

Is the replacement a new machine? The gpu's crashing?

So are they replacing the motherboard now?

 

[chama98]

Is the replacement a new machine? The gpu's crashing?

So are they replacing the motherboard now?

I went into the apple store here in London and complained that spending a lot of money on a machine you expect for it to work. They ordered me a new machine and when it arrived to exchange it for the new one.

Now the new machine has also gone wrong and speaking to support they organised for it to be repaired under the scheme which apple launched last week I believe.

The are replacing the gpus and/or the motherboard. This all depends on their tests.

 

[chama98]

Had a call from the repair techs and they have said that they have not found nay faults with the motherboard and that they are now testing the graphics cards using 'extensive tests' what ever that is!

 

[armut]

Had a call from the repair techs and they have said that they have not found nay faults with the motherboard and that they are now testing the graphics cards using 'extensive tests' what ever that is!

I had freeze issues with my MBP 2012 and they couldn't find any issue depending to hardware, so they said its depending on a software which is installed on my Mac. But before I had these issues, they replaced my mainboard because of 3,5mm headphone connector. I have been sure that it was depending that replacement of my mainboard. I did several times a clean install and had to prove them, that the freeze issue is not depending to software. After 3 or 4 visits in Apple store, they gave me a new MBP.

 

[chama98]

Spoke to the dealers who are sorting out the repair and apparently they have been speaking to Apple regarding this 'repair programme' according to the Apple authorised dealer there is no mention of a mac pro repair programme.

Would be interesting where Macrumors got its facts from.

 

[Earl Urley]

Spoke to the dealers who are sorting out the repair and apparently they have been speaking to Apple regarding this 'repair programme' according to the Apple authorised dealer there is no mention of a mac pro repair programme.

Would be interesting where Macrumors got its facts from.

It's a real program, it started earlier this month, whomever you spoke to may not be directly involved in day-to-day repair operations or haven't logged into their Apple technician account on GSX for a long time.

 

[chama98]

the engineer. I asked him the same question and he said to me that he looks at it.

 

[chama98]

**update** All the hardware checks have passed. So its not hardware related. This recall programme is only in the UK NOT the UK I have been told by Apple.

 

[MacVidCards]

**update** All the hardware checks have passed. So its not hardware related. This recall programme is only in the UK NOT the UK I have been told by Apple.

I'm going to guess you meant only in US not UK.

But that makes little sense. The unfortunate part of these cards being so built in to the system is that (as seen here) intermittent issues are much harder to track down. If this was a 2012 with a 5870 you would simply yank the card and put in a new one and run some tests. The Dx00s are integral to the machine and much more involved to remove.

Hopefully Apple assigns some people with brains to get to the bottom of these issues.

 

[chama98]

I'm going to guess you meant only in US not UK.

But that makes little sense. The unfortunate part of these cards being so built in to the system is that (as seen here) intermittent issues are much harder to track down. If this was a 2012 with a 5870 you would simply yank the card and put in a new one and run some tests. The Dx00s are integral to the machine and much more involved to remove.

Hopefully Apple assigns some people with brains to get to the bottom of these issues.

Yes that's right I meant the US.

The engineer did offer to do extreme tests during the night but I decided that is pointless. Seeing that the extreme tests where done and it passed is there any point?

I still have apple care for 3 years so if it goes wrong then it will go and get sorted.

 

[Timboum]

**update** All the hardware checks have passed. So its not hardware related. This recall programme is only in the UK NOT the UK I have been told by Apple.

In my case, on 20 same graphic tests, 3 have revealed an error messages. They decided to command a new graphic card.
They have changed my B graphic card.... still freezes...
Nowdays, we don't know the origin of the problem. One of my friend has bought the mac pro early 2014, he has 3 screens, 2 HD thunderbolt, and it's working fine

 

[Earl Urley]

He might have bought it in 2014, but as far as Apple is concerned it's still the Late 2013 model.

Also from what I've seen, Apple says they' have determined that the issue is only with D500 / D700 cards, so in other words if you spent more money on your Pro in that brief period they cover, you got gypped.

One other thing is that Apple has special instructions about dealing with this issue for Japan, so it's either they're not offering this repair in the UK or they have enough sales of trashcans in Japan to warrant the coverage.

 

[Timboum]

He might have bought it in 2014, but as far as Apple is concerned it's still the Late 2013 model.

Also from what I've seen, Apple says they' have determined that the issue is only with D500 / D700 cards, so in other words if you spent more money on your Pro in that brief period they cover, you got gypped.

One other thing is that Apple has special instructions about dealing with this issue for Japan, so it's either they're not offering this repair in the UK or they have enough sales of trashcans in Japan to warrant the coverage.

The problem is about the D300 too. I have this card and have the pb

 

[Scott Johnson]

So I took it in after hearing about the replacement, and they ran tests, confirmed they were the effected cards, and then swapped them out. ZERO issues in 2 weeks since, and before I was having 4 to 5 freezes per day. Hate how long it took, but very happy to have everything running great now.

 

[axantas]

Yes that's right I meant the US.

The engineer did offer to do extreme tests during the night but I decided that is pointless. Seeing that the extreme tests where done and it passed is there any point?

I still have apple care for 3 years so if it goes wrong then it will go and get sorted.

Just read your post today. You are right, it is absolutely pointless to run "extreme tests", as the problems often occur, just when it is doing not really much - but just the "wrong" thing at the wrong time.

 

[byte5]

I'm having this same issue with the MacPro with the D300. Ever since I got it, it's had totally random freezes, sometimes beachball, music will continue playing, but no response from the UI other than the mouse still moves. If I check the logs it says that message about the GPU and "5 continuous seconds of unreadiness." The freezes are very hard to recreate as they seem to occur randomly. Sometimes playing computer games, or sometimes just browsing the internet, or moving folders around in the finder. There's no pattern to it.

Unplugging the monitor does clear up the freeze, but the system is too slow after that and needs a restart each time.

I took it to the Apple store where they replaced both graphics cards, and it worked well for about a month. Then, it started freezing up again, about 2x per day. Took it in again, where they did a "deep restore" to factory default. Took it home, and it's doing it again. Something is seriously wrong with it!

Not sure what to do at this point, if some are reporting that 4 new macs later they are still having the issue. Is it an issue with certain types of monitors? Is there some other type of monitor where people are not having issues? If anyone is not having this problem with your mac, what is your monitor and setup? Has anyone had luck solving this issue yet? My mac has been doing this for a year!

 

[iBuildMacs]

I'm having this same issue with the MacPro with the D300. Ever since I got it, it's had totally random freezes, sometimes beachball, music will continue playing, but no response from the UI other than the mouse still moves. If I check the logs it says that message about the GPU and "5 continuous seconds of unreadiness." The freezes are very hard to recreate as they seem to occur randomly. Sometimes playing computer games, or sometimes just browsing the internet, or moving folders around in the finder. There's no pattern to it.

Unplugging the monitor does clear up the freeze, but the system is too slow after that and needs a restart each time.

I took it to the Apple store where they replaced both graphics cards, and it worked well for about a month. Then, it started freezing up again, about 2x per day. Took it in again, where they did a "deep restore" to factory default. Took it home, and it's doing it again. Something is seriously wrong with it!

Not sure what to do at this point, if some are reporting that 4 new macs later they are still having the issue. Is it an issue with certain types of monitors? Is there some other type of monitor where people are not having issues? If anyone is not having this problem with your mac, what is your monitor and setup? Has anyone had luck solving this issue yet? My mac has been doing this for a year!

We've had this problem before. The only way is to continue taking it back to them. After 2 or 3 times, they will replace the entire unit.

 

[byte5]

We've had this problem before. The only way is to continue taking it back to them. After 2 or 3 times, they will replace the entire unit.

Thanks! So your replacement MacPro is now working fine? I was worried after reading someone said they'd had their Mac replaced 4 times, brand new macs, with the issue still occurring on all of them. So I wonder if it's something relating to the way the mac is interacting with certain displays, or something. But if a new mac is solving most of these issues, then that could be hopeful...