MP 1,1-5,1 MacPro mid 2010 5.1

[JacquiL]

The graphics card failed on the MacPro 5.1. I bought another graphics card which worked until I tried to upgrade to Mojave. Now I have no signal to the monitor. I had someone look at it who said there was an amber light warning on a diagnostic test. Unfortunately that was all I was told. Should I buy another graphics card or could the amber light mean something else has gone wrong? I still get the opening chord when I switch the machine on.

please bear in mind I have no tech knowledge and I’m trying to figure this out.

advise would be appreciated.

jac

 

[iAssimilated]

Mojave needed a Metal compatible graphics card, so make sure your video card is on this list (or newer):

Apple Outlines Metal-Capable Cards Compatible With macOS Mojave on 2010 and 2012 Mac Pro Models

Apple's new macOS Mojave update is not compatible with mid-2010 and mid-2012 Mac Pros with stock GPUs, but it is supported on 2010 and 2012 Mac...

www.macrumors.com

 

[JacquiL]

Mojave needed a Metal compatible graphics card, so make sure your video card is on this list (or newer):

Apple Outlines Metal-Capable Cards Compatible With macOS Mojave on 2010 and 2012 Mac Pro Models

Apple's new macOS Mojave update is not compatible with mid-2010 and mid-2012 Mac Pros with stock GPUs, but it is supported on 2010 and 2012 Mac...

www.macrumors.com

Thank you for your reply. The card I bought was a AMD Radeon HD 5770 which is why I tried to upgrade the software. I e tried three different monitors but I’m not getting a signal. I have no way of knowing what’s going on.

Mojave needed a Metal compatible graphics card, so make sure your video card is on this list (or newer):

Apple Outlines Metal-Capable Cards Compatible With macOS Mojave on 2010 and 2012 Mac Pro Models

Apple's new macOS Mojave update is not compatible with mid-2010 and mid-2012 Mac Pros with stock GPUs, but it is supported on 2010 and 2012 Mac...

www.macrumors.com

 

[JacquiL]

Mojave needed a Metal compatible graphics card, so make sure your video card is on this list (or newer):

Apple Outlines Metal-Capable Cards Compatible With macOS Mojave on 2010 and 2012 Mac Pro Models

Apple's new macOS Mojave update is not compatible with mid-2010 and mid-2012 Mac Pros with stock GPUs, but it is supported on 2010 and 2012 Mac...

www.macrumors.com

What I don’t want to do is keeping buying graphics cards if the problem is something else.

 

[iAssimilated]

What video card do you have?

 

[JacquiL]

What video card do you have?

I have an ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB (apple).

 

[tsialex]

I have an ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB (apple).

This card is limited to High Sierra. It's not a METAL supported GPU and won't work for Mojave (besides showing a screen when you need to diagnose it, it's totally unaccelerated with Mojave and the Mojave installer will reject it).

 

[JacquiL]

This card is limited to High Sierra. It's not a METAL supported GPU and won't work for Mojave (besides showing a screen when you need to diagnose it, it's totally unaccelerated with Mojave and the Mojave installer will reject it).

Are there any keys I can press to take it back a step?

 

[tsialex]

If the GPU is still working, you will see a gray screen with the black Apple logo on your display, at power on.

If you don't see it, you have a problem and something is defective.

 

[Freeangel1]

the RX560 is the cheapest METAL card on the list. Make sure the cards you are buying are BRAND NEW and not pre owned.

AMD Radeon RX 560 2GB Video Graphics Card Dell OEM New Overstock JR3PR 0JR3PR | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for AMD Radeon RX 560 2GB Video Graphics Card Dell OEM New Overstock JR3PR 0JR3PR at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[JacquiL]

If the GPU is still working, you will see a gray screen with the black Apple logo on your display, at power on.

If you don't see it, you have a problem and something is defective.

The screen says there is no out put, it’s not detecting anything at all.

 

[MarkC426]

Please give us a bit more info.....

1.what macos version are you currently on.
2.which gpu is in the mac.
3.which firmware is your mac on (go to Apple at top bar/about this mac/system report/hardware...boot rom version).

 

[tsialex]

If you still have the chime and nothing on the display, seems your GPU is defective - or at least incorrectly installed, double check it. Also check all the GPU outputs.

If you enabled screen sharing/network sharing previously, you can check if you still have access to screen sharing, or the folders you shared. Mac Pros can work without the GPU, for network access.

 

[jowaju]

the RX560 is the cheapest METAL card on the list. Make sure the cards you are buying are BRAND NEW and not pre owned.

AMD Radeon RX 560 2GB Video Graphics Card Dell OEM New Overstock JR3PR 0JR3PR | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for AMD Radeon RX 560 2GB Video Graphics Card Dell OEM New Overstock JR3PR 0JR3PR at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

That is absolutely NOT true. I just installed a Nvidia Quadro K600 1GB video card in my MacPro5,1. Full Metal compatibility and they are under $15 shipped. I have verified both DVI and DisplayPort work in Big Sur, and with OpenCore you get the OCLP Boot Screen.

 

[Larsvonhier]

GT630 (Kepler version) is also very cheap and fully metal capable with 2GB DDR3 memory.

Amber light on the AMD card might mean that one/both of the additional power connectors are not plugged in correctly.
Once you get the boot screen output back, you might consider using the Open core solution (OCLP) for your MP5,1. There you could also patch for the "TeraScale 2" chipset of the AMD card to get acceleration even with Big Sur and Monterey. But first question is if the card or the (power-) connection is faulty...

 

[JacquiL]

GT630 (Kepler version) is also very cheap and fully metal capable with 2GB DDR3 memory.

Amber light on the AMD card might mean that one/both of the additional power connectors are not plugged in correctly.
Once you get the boot screen output back, you might consider using the Open core solution (OCLP) for your MP5,1. There you could also patch for the "TeraScale 2" chipset of the AMD card to get acceleration even with Big Sur and Monterey. But first question is if the card or the (power-) connection is faulty...

Thanks for your reply. I’ve been hesitant about getting another graphics card as it might have been a problem with the main board and not the graphics card at all. but you’ve given me some reassurance on that one.

 

[JacquiL]

Biostar OC Gaming Radeon RX 560 4GB GDDR5 128-Bit DirectX 12 PCI Express 3.0 x16, DVI-D Dual Link, HDMI, DisplayPort and Vortex Dual Cooling Fan​

would this be compatible?

 

[tsialex]

Biostar OC Gaming Radeon RX 560 4GB GDDR5 128-Bit DirectX 12 PCI Express 3.0 x16, DVI-D Dual Link, HDMI, DisplayPort and Vortex Dual Cooling Fan​

would this be compatible?

Yes.

 

[JacquiL]

I’ve now tried four different graphic cards and none of them connect with a monitor. I keep getting the message “scanning no signal”. Is there another way of attaching a screen to the Mac without a graphics card?

 

[sfalatko]

I’ve now tried four different graphic cards and none of them connect with a monitor. I keep getting the message “scanning no signal”. Is there another way of attaching a screen to the Mac without a graphics card?

So thinking of some basics - have you tried another cable between the graphics cards and monitor? have you confirmed that the graphics cards work in another computer? can you describe your boot sequence (do you hear the boot chime?).

 

[Larsvonhier]

I’ve now tried four different graphic cards and none of them connect with a monitor. I keep getting the message “scanning no signal”. Is there another way of attaching a screen to the Mac without a graphics card?

As "exotic" as the question seems, but yes. There is one way (but the obstacle might be that you´ll have to install drivers first to use it): There is a series of Kensington USB Display Adapters called DisplayLink. They work well if your expectations are not too great: No real HW acceleration, somewhat limited resolutions. Normally used as external screen space expansion for dispaying additional stuff like PDFs, finder windows and such. But as said, drivers have to be installed first, not possible without any initial output. (Although FW target mode might help here...)

 

[JacquiL]

Yes.

Is the graphics card the only way of connecting a monitor?

 

[tsialex]

Is the graphics card the only way of connecting a monitor?

No onboard video on a Mac Pro, so, you need a GPU.

Did you checked the diagnostic LEDs? Open the Apple Technician Manual for your Mac Pro (it's around page 34 for a mid-2010) to learn how it works and then check if you have EFI_DONE LED lit.

 

[Larsvonhier]

Is the graphics card the only way of connecting a monitor?

On a Mac Pro, yes.

Did you checked the diagnostic LEDs? Open the Apple Technician Manual for your Mac Pro (it's around page 27) to learn how it works and then check if you have EFI_DONE LED lit.

Not quite. Read my answer again. Works on all Macs with at least a free USB 2.0 port.
Here´s one example on ebay, low budget, VGA only, but works...

Of course, finding the true show stopper why no card works would be favourable.

 

[tsialex]

Not quite. Read my answer again. Works on all Macs with at least a free USB 2.0 port.
Here´s one example on ebay, low budget, VGA only, but works...

This is not helpful to this case. First you have to buy a DisplayLink, find one that still works with USB2.0 and install the drivers for it to work.

Forget that, it's not useful for diagnostics, OP still don't know what is the problem and is assuming that it's the GPU, but it's probably something else since the four GPUs tested already.