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What do you think is the source of the graphics issues on Mac Pro (Late 2013) ?

  • Hardware

    Votes: 69 53.1%
  • Software

    Votes: 28 21.5%
  • Hardware & Software

    Votes: 32 24.6%
  • Other

    Votes: 1 0.8%

  • Total voters
    130

Xde

macrumors regular
Jul 11, 2016
150
35
...same issues as you with a used quad core d300 mac pro i had bought a couple of weeks ago and they just replaced it with a brand new 6 core d500 mac pro.
Congratulations!
Another interesting thing about older MacBook Pro replacements, because spare parts seemed to be out of stock.
Is Apple out of MP6.1 GPU's?
 

bax2003

Cancelled
Original poster
Dec 25, 2011
947
203
Congratulations!
Another interesting thing about older MacBook Pro replacements, because spare parts seemed to be out of stock.
Is Apple out of MP6.1 GPU's?

D300 is one generation older, Pitcairn vs Tahiti in D500/D700. This could be one of the reasons for withdrawal of those machines.
 

adonis3k

macrumors 6502a
Apr 15, 2012
544
107
is it still worth buying a nMP 2013?

Mac Pro late 2013
3.5GHz 6core
64GB ram
2xD700 GPUs
1tb SSD

Upgrade from my Mac Mini in sig?
 

bax2003

Cancelled
Original poster
Dec 25, 2011
947
203
is it still worth buying a nMP 2013?

Mac Pro late 2013
3.5GHz 6core
64GB ram
2xD700 GPUs
1tb SSD

Upgrade from my Mac Mini in sig?

Wrong thread for this question. You´ll find quite a few threads regarding this subject by using search.

You can always do some benchmarks relevant to your needs and then compere them to nMP results.
 

pianodemon109

macrumors newbie
Jul 26, 2017
3
2
Los Angeles
is it still worth buying a nMP 2013?

Mac Pro late 2013
3.5GHz 6core
64GB ram
2xD700 GPUs
1tb SSD

Upgrade from my Mac Mini in sig?
It depends what you need it for.... for audio production, it's amazing! For video production, it appears the graphics chips might have run their course. Having said that, I've been playing some games on a 1080p tv with no problem on high settings...
 

bax2003

Cancelled
Original poster
Dec 25, 2011
947
203
Bravely :rolleyes: upgraded to 10.12.6, which upgraded Boot ROM from MP61.0116.B25 to MP61.0116.B46.
Machine is still fine :)
 
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pianodemon109

macrumors newbie
Jul 26, 2017
3
2
Los Angeles
Bravely :rolleyes: upgraded to 10.12.6, which upgraded Boot ROM from MP61.0116.B25 to MP61.0116.B46.
Machine is still fine :)
I upgraded my replacement as soon as i got it (figured it's new and either works or not) and have had no problem whosoever.....i have had to restart my mac twice due to some Steam game bugs but nothing in relation to the gpu or windowserver. I'm loving this machine.
 

Idolum

macrumors member
Jun 10, 2016
91
43
Bravely :rolleyes: upgraded to 10.12.6, which upgraded Boot ROM from MP61.0116.B25 to MP61.0116.B46.
Machine is still fine :)

Good to know. Thanks for the update. Does macOS 10.12.6 still have the problematic hi-res launch screen or did Apple revert to the old tried and true low-res launch screen?
 

bax2003

Cancelled
Original poster
Dec 25, 2011
947
203
Good to know. Thanks for the update. Does macOS 10.12.6 still have the problematic hi-res launch screen or did Apple revert to the old tried and true low-res launch screen?

You mean bootscreen ? It seems fine to me on both (2560x1440) ACD and ATB.
 

axantas

macrumors 65816
Jun 29, 2015
1,000
1,407
Home
Good to know. Thanks for the update. Does macOS 10.12.6 still have the problematic hi-res launch screen or did Apple revert to the old tried and true low-res launch screen?

No change with the invisible boot screen on UHD 3840x2160 monitors with MST-off setting. I guess the MacPro is not delivering a (correct) MST-signal at boot time. Switching to SST - or secondary MST resolves the problem. So: If you need the boot screen switch the monitor to SST before rebooting. Unfortunately many monitors do not show a setup-menu, if there is no signal present - no chance to change the MST behavior while booting. (DELL p2415q in my case)

Annoying, as well as the still present crashes, which have a very interesting pattern: It is often kind of "I do want to crash once a day, afterwards I will be fine"
 
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Pardo83

macrumors member
Oct 6, 2015
44
5
So apparently the first mac pros had the freezing issues with D300, D500 and D700.

Then Apple said that there were faulty graphic cards and accepted to replace D500 and D700 only, ignoring the fact that D300 were having the same issues.

As a result of this, the new mac pros with the updated D500 and D700 are working fine now and Apple removed from the market the machines with D300.

Is this correct?

So what should users with D300 mac pros do in order to have a freezes-free machine?

I was clearly told at the Apple Store that they cannot do crossgrades (Eg. replacing a D300 with a D500/700, even if I told them that I was going to pay for the upgrade. They said this is impossible to do). So bax2003 how did you manage to make this magic happen? :D


Regarding my situation (6cores, 64 GB ram, D300) I decided not to go back to Mavericks and I'm still on Sierra, experiencing around 2 crashes a week and saving my projects like crazy just to avoid the disaster.
 

bax2003

Cancelled
Original poster
Dec 25, 2011
947
203
So apparently the first mac pros had the freezing issues with D300, D500 and D700.

Then Apple said that there were faulty graphic cards and accepted to replace D500 and D700 only, ignoring the fact that D300 were having the same issues.

As a result of this, the new mac pros with the updated D500 and D700 are working fine now and Apple removed from the market the machines with D300.

Is this correct?

So what should users with D300 mac pros do in order to have a freezes-free machine?

I was clearly told at the Apple Store that they cannot do crossgrades (Eg. replacing a D300 with a D500/700, even if I told them that I was going to pay for the upgrade. They said this is impossible to do). So bax2003 how did you manage to make this magic happen? :D


Regarding my situation (6cores, 64 GB ram, D300) I decided not to go back to Mavericks and I'm still on Sierra, experiencing around 2 crashes a week and saving my projects like crazy just to avoid the disaster.

Magic was result of these four:

1 - I have very good problem history, video and picture documentation of problem manifestation, tons of logs on multiple OSes even few live recorder hangs;
2 - Local Apple Authorised Service Provider already replaced both GPUs my second nMP (QC) for wich i got 6c replacement. I took machine again for inspection, Apple agents analyzed all logs and media I´ve sent and asked me to test machine once again with external media as boot drive and gave me a LOG collector tool for LOGs gathering. I tested it on USB 3.0 SSD external media and got exaclty the same problems and gave them LOG archived with Tool they gave me. Few weeks passed and they approved replacement.
3 - Around that time Quad Core model is withdrawn from online and all other stores and I got a call from Authorised Service Provider that replacement machine will be 6c with upgraded GPUs.
4 - After some time - 6c nMP arrived and once again I am a happy MP user.

My conclusion is that you have to have a good arguments and evidence that machine is faulty. Have a lot of patience and perseverance. Regarding the Service Provider / Apple Store Genius or advisor you have to have some luck but their job is to listen to your problem.
 

Pardo83

macrumors member
Oct 6, 2015
44
5
Yes that's a lot of work to prove the truth. Kudos to you ;)

I don't think I have the time and the guts to go through all this; I still prefer having to deal with freezes rather than talk to silly people at the store who don't have a clue of what's wrong in my machine.

Hopefully the 2019 Mac Pro will be better
 

bax2003

Cancelled
Original poster
Dec 25, 2011
947
203
I still prefer having to deal with freezes rather than talk to silly people at the store who don't have a clue of what's wrong in my machine.

Well that rather depends on who are you talking to. In my case stuff from Authorised Service Provider has well trained stuff with Apple certificates, otherwise then would not have the license. Problem in Serbia at the moment are very complex customs procedures, for example it takes 2-3 weeks for spare parts to arrive (eg. nMP GPU).
 

Pardo83

macrumors member
Oct 6, 2015
44
5
Well that rather depends on who are you talking to. In my case stuff from Authorised Service Provider has well trained stuff with Apple certificates, otherwise then would not have the license. Problem in Serbia at the moment are very complex customs procedures, for example it takes 2-3 weeks for spare parts to arrive (eg. nMP GPU).

I see, I had to point them to this thread since they didn't even know about known graphics issues and that Apple was replacing the d500 and d700 lol. Their answer was "just install the latest OS". I have another Apple Store 200 km away, maybe I could give it a try one day.

Not to mention that I need it to work every day; it would be great if they could provide me a temporary replacement machine for the time they keep it there. Anyway, I'm happy that you finally have a working mac pro!
 

bax2003

Cancelled
Original poster
Dec 25, 2011
947
203
I see, I had to point them to this thread since they didn't even know about known graphics issues and that Apple was replacing the d500 and d700 lol. Their answer was "just install the latest OS". I have another Apple Store 200 km away, maybe I could give it a try one day.

Not to mention that I need it to work every day; it would be great if they could provide me a temporary replacement machine for the time they keep it there. Anyway, I'm happy that you finally have a working mac pro!

That answer is just plain rude, ignorant and non-professional. Tell him to reinstall his brain :D or install some cells upgrade and call someone with whom you can talk at least on the same level and who knows history of the nMP problem. Bring him screenshots of your mac having the latest os and some crash logs on that "latest" OS.
 
Last edited:
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Justinoes

macrumors newbie
Jan 26, 2016
7
0
Hi all,

I've been skimming through these threads a lot because I just purchased a used Mac Pro (2013) with the D300 GPUs and it's been exhibiting the symptoms described in these threads. (Screen locks, but the computer is still running - videos continue to play, etc)

I purchased this second hand on eBay and have just received the item a few days ago. My intention was to upgrade the CPU and add a bunch of RAM to hold me over until the new MP arrives next year - and then use this as a headless server. However, given that I'm already experiencing freezing (three times in about three hours) I want to solicit some advice. As I see it I have a few options...

1 - Attempt to return the MP via eBay - I consider intermittent freezing, which was not mention in the ad, something that's worthy of arguing for a refund / return. [I got a good, but not great, deal... so I would like to avoid this option unless it's really the best course.]

2 - Attempt to work with Apple to have the GPUs replaced. I noticed that Apple has a replacement program, but it doesn't cover the D300 GPUs, but I could attempt to make the case that this seems to be a systemic problem for all models and warrants fixing. Has anyone else tried to do this?

3 - Since, based on my reading, there's some reason to suspect that it's a driver issue I could try to run the High Sierra Public Beta and see if it resolves the issue. Has anyone tried to do this?

I suppose my question is, knowing what you all know now, what would you do if you had just acquired this machine?

Thanks for the input!
Justin
 

Idolum

macrumors member
Jun 10, 2016
91
43
I have followed bax2003 lead and installed macOS 10.12.6 and had no issues in the last 5 days. Looks like I don't have to go back to Mavericks again. I would try to do a clean install of macOS 10.12.6. This particular version seems to do the trick while all other previous incarnations since Mavericks failed. Apple put in a lot of effort into getting this fixed with the last few macOS updates. Thank you all...
 
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Justinoes

macrumors newbie
Jan 26, 2016
7
0
I have followed bax2003 lead and installed macOS 10.12.6 and had no issues in the last 5 days. Looks like I don't have to go back to Mavericks again. I would try to do a clean install of macOS 10.12.6. This particular version seems to do the trick while all other previous incarnations since Mavericks failed. Apple put in a lot of effort into getting this fixed with the last few macOS updates. Thank you all...

Good idea. I did a fresh install of 10.12.6, but then immediately restored from a time machine backup of my old machine - which might have something in it that could cause issues. I'm going to give the public beta a shot first, if that doesn't work I'll try a clean install of 10.12.6 without my time machine, and I'll use the time (if I continue to have issues) to document the problem (videos, logs, etc.)

I figure there's no harm in going to Apple with that information and (in the most charming way I can manage) make my case that they should replace my GPUs under the same warranty program that would apply to the D500/D700.

Thanks! (Any other suggestions for ways to document the problem or past experiences with Apple on this would be super helpful. I'm mulling printing the entire thread and handing it to them. :))

Justin
 

tomvos

macrumors 6502
Jul 7, 2005
345
119
In the Nexus.
2 - Attempt to work with Apple to have the GPUs replaced. I noticed that Apple has a replacement program, but it doesn't cover the D300 GPUs, but I could attempt to make the case that this seems to be a systemic problem for all models and warrants fixing. Has anyone else tried to do this?

Disclaimer: I don't have a 2013 MP. That said, from previous experience with a crash prone G5, it helps if the system is still under Apple Care. Perhaps it's a good idea to check if the system is covered by Apple Care at the moment. If true, you might want to try to resolve the issue with Apple.

Otherwise, do a quick test with High Sierra and if this does not improve the situation, return the system to the seller.
 

Justinoes

macrumors newbie
Jan 26, 2016
7
0
Disclaimer: I don't have a 2013 MP. That said, from previous experience with a crash prone G5, it helps if the system is still under Apple Care. Perhaps it's a good idea to check if the system is covered by Apple Care at the moment. If true, you might want to try to resolve the issue with Apple.

Otherwise, do a quick test with High Sierra and if this does not improve the situation, return the system to the seller.

I tested with both High Sierra and a clean install - no Time Machine data- of 10.12.6, but both experienced crashes. So, no improvement there for this machine.

I think, given how annoying periodic unpredictable crashes are, I'm going to contact the seller and notify them that if Apple won't fix the machine (No AppleCare, I checked) that I'm going to return it.
 

voyager77

macrumors member
Jun 25, 2012
82
29
Small update on my mac pro.
After numerous contacts with apple care i brought it into an apple service point nearly two weeks ago.
It's vacation time, so i can do without for a few weeks. The fact i need this mac for work is also the reason i have been so reluctant to bring it into a shop.

So far the shop has had it for nearly two week and haven't found a fault yet. The very thing i was afraid of. It won't show any faults if you don't use it.
That they have hardly ever seen a mac pro there doesn't help either. My many crash logs and video's of a frozen screen don't seem to help much either.

They have one week left to fix it, or i'm planning a picket in the store.

So far i'm not feeling much care from apple care :-(
 

bax2003

Cancelled
Original poster
Dec 25, 2011
947
203
Small update on my mac pro.
After numerous contacts with apple care i brought it into an apple service point nearly two weeks ago.
It's vacation time, so i can do without for a few weeks. The fact i need this mac for work is also the reason i have been so reluctant to bring it into a shop.

So far the shop has had it for nearly two week and haven't found a fault yet. The very thing i was afraid of. It won't show any faults if you don't use it.
That they have hardly ever seen a mac pro there doesn't help either. My many crash logs and video's of a frozen screen don't seem to help much either.

They have one week left to fix it, or i'm planning a picket in the store.

So far i'm not feeling much care from apple care :-(

This Mac Pro issue we are analyzing here from Mar 28, 2015 is the worst kind of problem that you can have with your computer - random crashes witch you cannot simulate/produce or find any logical pattern.

One thing is interesting, on the first machine there was quite a few Kernel Console events, and now everybody is reporting only Window Servers crashes....am I wrong ?
 

voyager77

macrumors member
Jun 25, 2012
82
29
This Mac Pro issue we are analyzing here from Mar 28, 2015 is the worst kind of problem that you can have with your computer - random crashes witch you cannot simulate/produce or find any logical pattern.

One thing is interesting, on the first machine there was quite a few Kernel Console events, and now everybody is reporting only Window Servers crashes....am I wrong ?

The way it crashes and what can be seen in logs has changed with the osx versions.

Since the latest update to Sierra, most crashes just return you to the login screen, something that never happend before.
You can log back in but the mac is very slow and doesn't recover from that, so you really need to restart it.
And i can't seem to find any reports in console (which could be due to the change in how console shows things.)

What has always remained is the numerous log reports stating some sort of GPU problem, either having it cause a panic or in a hung state for ages.
 
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