Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Mac Pro Tower A1289 Boots to the Apple Loading screen then turns off

C

ClanStrachan

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 4, 2018
11
0
Mac Pro Tower A1289
It boots to the Apple Loading screen then turns off
Sometimes it goes a tiny bit, sometimes half way, but always turns off.
When I remove the hard drive bay, it boots to the question mark and doesn't turn off.
Booted hard drive externally and it booted once but never again.
Reset PRam, NVRam, and SMC
Removed all Ram sticks and tried different ones to see if that was the issue. Same issue.
Can boot into Single Sign On mode and did repair the disk once.
Can boot into the disk selection mode but still turns off when I choose the main drive or the recovery partition.
Will not boot into recovery mode
Tried a SSD and a regular HDD.
Will not go to hardware test connected to ether or not with option d or just d
Pics of lights included. Lights that light up on the backplane logic board are PSU PWR ON, 5V Standby, Sys PG, EFI Done, and GPU ok.
Can't decide if it's corrupt OS (No recovery or install disk to try to reinstall OS), GPU, PSU, or Backplane logicboard.
Any help is appreciated, thank you in advance!
https://imgur.com/a/2Z6RFmM
 
It sounds like a hard drive issue/corrupt OS install at first glance, but you said you tried an SSD too and get the same issue?

Did both have known-working macOS already installed on them? If so, what version? If not, then I don't understand why you say you don't have an install disk. How did the HDD and SSD get macOS installed on them in the first place?

I think an install disk is something you should have. Do you not have a spare USB flash drive and another Mac you can use to download and create the install disk?

Also, what video card is installed?
 
  • Like
Reactions: crjackson2134
I actually do have a disk now, but I'm having a problem opening the drive. Only have a windows keyboard and f12 does not work in any of the screens I AM able to get to.

I believe it was on 10.12.6.

Yes, known good configurations of Mac OS on both drives before the failures.

It would stay on for hours at a time then just shut down and sometimes it would fail at start. Now, it won't boot to past the loading screen at all.

GPU is ATI Radeon, don't have the model number though
[doublepost=1533442656][/doublepost]HDD is on 10.11.6
SSD is on 10.12.6
[doublepost=1533442690][/doublepost]Got the drive to open in disk selection mode.
[doublepost=1533442856][/doublepost]Loading up CD now. The Apple logo did turn to a circle with a cross through it though. See how this goes.
 
f12? Is your install disk a USB drive? If so, plug it into a USB port, turn on the Mac Pro, and as soon as you hear the boot chime hold down the Alt key on your PC keyboard. If you did it fast enough you'll get the boot manager screen and your install disk should show up there. Choose it and hit enter and it should boot from it. Does it boot successfully?
 
  • Like
Reactions: crjackson2134
Still on the circle with a line through it screen with the spinning circle. So no clue if it's going to work.
 
Circle with a cross (Prohibitory sign) is I believe a hard stop. I don't think it will proceed past that. What disk did you boot from to get that screen?
 
Surely do. I have a macbook air 2015 but it's locked down with admin passwords because it's for work. Will that help?
[doublepost=1533444132][/doublepost]So I removed the drives, it boots to the cd automatically and boom, circle with line. I don't understand
 
Last edited:
Odd too but I said OLD. Snow Leopard came out in 2009!

On your MBA, use this link to get to the El Capitan download page: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206886

Download it, and then try using this app to create an install disk (you'll need a blank 8GB+ USB Flash Drive or a blank external USB hard drive): https://macdaddy.io/install-disk-creator/

I don't know if it requires the root password or not. If it does then I don't know if there's a way around that.
 
Yeah, I tried doing that the other day before I found the disk. It asks for admin password :(
 
Well you could try testing the HDD and SSD on your Air if you have a USB enclosure (which it sounds like you do). Put the HDD into the USB adapter, plug it into your MBA. Turn on the MBA and hold the option key down right away. See if the HDD shows up in the list (it should, with a USB icon). Select it and see if it boots successfully. If it does then there is likely a hardware issue with the Mac Pro. If it shows the same behavior on the MBA then you know it's the drive/OS install that is the problem and you'll need to replace the disk or wipe it off and reinstall macOS on it. Maybe you have a friend or relative with a Mac you can use for 30 minutes to make an installer disk?
 
It booted first time! Gonna try it again
[doublepost=1533445223][/doublepost]Second time, booted fine
[doublepost=1533445300][/doublepost]So question is, what kind of hardware problem? haha
 
Could be the video card, could be the PSU, could be other things. There are people here far more knowledgeable than I am about low-level cMP troubleshooting, so hopefully you'll get some responses from them. But at least you know that it's not your drive(s).
 
I was not able to remove ALL the items. I removed the GPU and it still had the same issue. Reset the RTC too.
 
In order to get to the bare bones you need to remove everything it tells you. I know there is a step to remove the processor tray and look for certain lights to light up on power up. It's a way to rule out the backplane board. Your issue could be as simple as a memory stick or as bad a the Northbridge or Southbridge processors being bad. Typically the prohibited sign means that the system doesn't know where to look for the start up drive. However your issues seems to be both a software and hardware power issue. With something as complex as this I always found it useful to keep a log of exactly what steps and actions taken in troubleshooting a problem like this. It's easy to get confused.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back