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

Sapphire AMD Radeon HD 7950 Mac Edition 3GB Video Card Not Booting

C

caliguy1965

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 7, 2008
34
3
Hi all,
I sold my working Sapphire AMD Radeon HD 7950 Mac Edition 3GB Video Card and the buyer says "boot screen on the monitor is black and blank. The boot sound chimes repeatedly and does not stop".

We both have 2009 Mac Pro flashed to 2010. 5,1 on OSX MOJAVE and the card is just plug and play on my Mac. When he switches back to his RX580 the Mac boots up normally.
He is using the correct power cables.

Any suggestions?
Thank you in advance for your help.
 
caliguy1965 said:
Hi all,
I sold my working Sapphire AMD Radeon HD 7950 Mac Edition 3GB Video Card and the buyer says "boot screen on the monitor is black and blank. The boot sound chimes repeatedly and does not stop".

We both have 2009 Mac Pro flashed to 2010. 5,1 on OSX MOJAVE and the card is just plug and play on my Mac. When he switches back to his RX580 the Mac boots up normally.
He is using the correct power cables.

Any suggestions?
Thank you in advance for your help.
Click to expand...
Long shot but did you asked if he has a DP1.2/DP1.4 monitor? HD 7950 Mac EFI have problems with monitors newer than DP1.1, not exactly the boot chime, but it's a start to troubleshoot.
 
tsialex said:
Long shot but did you asked if he has a DP1.2/DP1.4 monitor? HD 7950 Mac EFI have problems with monitors newer than DP1.1, not exactly the boot chime, but it's a start to troubleshoot.
Click to expand...
Thank you, will ask him.
[doublepost=1544901836][/doublepost]
Macschrauber said:
You can also ask him to try the GPU with no display connected, if it boot loops it is bricked.
Click to expand...
How would it be bricked by him just installing it in his Mac.....it worked perfectly on my set up and all I did was pack and ship, he got it next day.
 
Have you packed it esd save in antistatic foil ?

If not that might be the cause. Or the mechanical stress by posting, temperature, etc.
 
Also, using a pencil eraser on the PCI-E contacts on the card itself, and blowing any dust bunnies out of the slot.

If you could ask what PCI cards are installed when he is trying to use it, that may tell us something.
 
Macschrauber said:
Have you packed it esd save in antistatic foil ?

If not that might be the cause. Or the mechanical stress by posting, temperature, etc.
Click to expand...
Hi,
I am the buyer. The Video card was NOT packed in antistatic foil. The seller used a white plastic bag with a Ziploc mechanism and bubble wrapped only.

I suspect this might be why this card is a DOA and bricked.
 
Onath said:
Hi,
I am the buyer. The Video card was NOT packed in antistatic foil. The seller used a white plastic bag with a Ziploc mechanism and bubble wrapped only.

I suspect this might be why this card is a DOA and bricked.
Click to expand...

Which monitor you are using?

How you connect it?

There should be a ROM switch on the card. Did you try another ROM? Just in case someone accidentally flip that switch (may be the selling during packing the card, or when you installing the card, etc).

Also, give a good look of the resistors that close to the PCIe connectors. Those resistors are easy to break during card's installation / uninstallation if not handle carefully.
 
h9826790 said:
Which monitor you are using?

How you connect it?

There should be a ROM switch on the card. Did you try another ROM? Just in case someone accidentally flip that switch (may be the selling during packing the card, or when you installing the card, etc).

Also, give a good look of the resistors that close to the PCIe connectors. Those resistors are easy to break during card's installation / uninstallation if not handle carefully.
Click to expand...

I have the 38" Ultrawide Lg monitor using the displayport to mini-display port.
I'm aware about the switch on the card, however the switch handle is missing when I got the card. There is no way I could check if this card is switched to Mac EFI or windows.

The PCIe connectors are visually ok.
 
Onath said:
I have the 38" Ultrawide Lg monitor using the displayport to mini-display port.
I'm aware about the switch on the card, however the switch handle is missing when I got the card. There is no way I could check if this card is switched to Mac EFI or windows.

The PCIe connectors are visually ok.
Click to expand...

Can you take a picture of the switch and post it here?

Also, did you check if your monitor is now running at DP1.1? With the Mac EFI ROM, you can NOT boot with DP1.2 or DP1.4 connection (and your monitor may be shipped with this as the original setting).
 
h9826790 said:
Can you take a picture of the switch and post it here?

Also, did you check if your monitor is now running at DP1.1? With the Mac EFI ROM, you can NOT boot with DP1.2 or DP1.4 connection (and your monitor may be shipped with this as the original setting).
Click to expand...

Display ports are backward compatible or compatible with any version. I have an older AMD sapphire card (HD 4870 I think) installed before and it boots up with my current monitor.
[doublepost=1544997272][/doublepost]
9D47895B-774F-4328-90F4-906304847368.jpeg
Onath said:
Display ports are backward compatible or compatible with any version. I have an older AMD sapphire card (HD 5870) installed before and it boots up with my current monitor.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Onath said:
Display ports are backward compatible or compatible with any version. I have an older AMD sapphire card (HD 4870 I think) installed before and it boots up with my current monitor.
[doublepost=1544997272][/doublepost]View attachment 811206
Click to expand...

You don't get the point.

Display port has backward compatibility is correct. But the HD7950's Mac EFI is DP 1.1 standard. It doesn't compatible to your monitor.

With DP 1.2 or above connection, the HD7950 Mac EFI will hand / crash during boot.

You can still boot the Mac with HD7950, but do NOT connect to the DP 1.2 / 1.4 monitor. And only connect them after pass the initial stage.

There are lots of users here (including me) own a HD7950 Mac Edition card, this is a known limitation.

My HD4870 or GT120 can also boot with DP1.2 connection, but HD7950 cannot.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Macschrauber
h9826790 said:
You don't get the point.

Display port has backward compatibility is correct. But the HD7950's Mac EFI is DP 1.1 standard. It doesn't compatible to your monitor.

With DP 1.2 or above connection, the HD7950 Mac EFI will hand / crash during boot.

You can still boot the Mac with HD7950, but do NOT connect to the DP 1.2 / 1.4 monitor. And only connect them after pass the initial stage.

There are lots of users here (including me) own a HD7950 Mac Edition card, this is a known limitation.

My HD4870 or GT120 can also boot with DP1.2 connection, but HD7950 cannot.
Click to expand...

How about connecting via HDMI? Will it boot?
 
Onath said:
I can hear the boot chime but the monitor stayed black, the video card fan is spinning but nothing in the monitor.
Click to expand...

Please try the follow.

1) Shutdown the Mac
2) Switch OFF the monitor
3) disconnect all monitor's connection
4) Boot the Mac (You should hear only one chime)
5) wait for a min
6) connect the monitor to the HD7950 (display port connection)
7) turn ON the monitor

if still no image
8) disconnect the display port cable
9) connect the HDMI cable
 
h9826790 said:
Please try the follow.

1) Shutdown the Mac
2) Switch OFF the monitor
3) disconnect all monitor's connection
4) Boot the Mac (You should hear only one chime)
5) wait for a min
6) connect the monitor to the HD7950 (display port connection)
7) turn ON the monitor

if still no image
8) disconnect the display port cable
9) connect the HDMI cable
Click to expand...
So, with the HD7950 I will have to do these steps everytime I boot the Mac?
 
Onath said:
So, with the HD7950 I will have to do these steps everytime I boot the Mac?
Click to expand...

Not really, this is the "complicated version", mainly for diagnosis.

Some steps are duplicated in different ways as fail safe to isolate human error.

If that can work, then the card is working. We can then decide how to make your life easier for future boot.

If that doesn't work, the card may be damaged during shipping.

The last diagnosis will be setup remote control, and boot the Mac with NO monitor connected, and only use remote control to check if the GPU is recognised in system diagnosis.
 
Onath said:
I can hear the boot chime but the monitor stayed black, the video card fan is spinning but nothing in the monitor.
Click to expand...

Does the fan spins fast and after a few seconds slower after power on ?

Does it still do the boot loop ?

Had some dead GPUs where the boot chime was interrupted audible and rebooting. Cured some for test sake with 380 Grad Celsius "reballing" the GPU BGA chip. No repair of course, just a prove whats defective, this "repair" wont last long.
 
Macschrauber said:
Does the fan spins fast and after a few seconds slower after power on ?

Does it still do the boot loop ?

Had some dead GPUs where the boot chime was interrupted audible and rebooting. Cured some for test sake with 380 Grad Celsius "reballing" the GPU BGA chip. No repair of course, just a prove whats defective, this "repair" wont last long.
Click to expand...
Fan runs normal but the boot chimes one time but some occasions it can be continuously non-stop.
[doublepost=1545005786][/doublepost]
Onath said:
So, with the HD7950 I will have to do these steps everytime I boot the Mac?
Click to expand...
I followed these steps but still not good results. No images either on display port or HDMI
 
h9826790 said:
Not really, this is the "complicated version", mainly for diagnosis.

Some steps are duplicated in different ways as fail safe to isolate human error.

If that can work, then the card is working. We can then decide how to make your life easier for future boot.

If that doesn't work, the card may be damaged during shipping.

The last diagnosis will be setup remote control, and boot the Mac with NO monitor connected, and only use remote control to check if the GPU is recognised in system diagnosis.
Click to expand...
I followed these steps but still not good results. No images either on display port or HDMI
 
Sorry for not replying earlier, I was away for the weekend.
So, the buyer (Onath) might want to try connecting a different monitor, a 1.1 vs the 1.2 he is using and is know to have an issue with this card?
 
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