Something wrong with my Mac Pro.

[ukuleleman]

For the last couple of days my Mac Pro (1,1) has taken to freezing whilst at the same time making a noise rather like a diesel generator, sometimes I get a message in five or six languages telling me that I need to restart my computer.
Since it is frozen I have to turn it off at the on/off button, after which I restart, sometimes it's ok for hours sometimes only a few minutes.
Any help would be appreciated since I haven't a clue what's wrong with it.
Thanks in advance.

 

[FrankHahn]

There are many possible causes, such as RAM problem, HDD failure, GPU problem, logic board problem, etc. You can probably find out the cause(s) by running the Apple Hardware Test. I once isolated the newly-added RAM problem by using the Apple Hardware Test.

 

[ukuleleman]

There are many possible causes, such as RAM problem, HDD failure, GPU problem, logic board problem, etc. You can probably find out the cause(s) by running the Apple Hardware Test. I once isolated the newly-added RAM problem by using the Apple Hardware Test.

Thanks for that Frank I'll give it a whirl.

 

[inaka]

Yeah, if you have upgraded the RAM, what I usually do is put the factory ram back in, unplug all external devices except the keyboard and display, and then run test. If it's stable in this setup, slowly add devices back in until you can diagnose the problem. Good luck.

 

[ukuleleman]

Yeah, if you have upgraded the RAM, what I usually do is put the factory ram back in, unplug all external devices except the keyboard and display, and then run test. If it's stable in this setup, slowly add devices back in until you can diagnose the problem. Good luck.

Thanks Inaka

I seem to have sorted it out, I found it impossible to download the AHT and despite lots of comments to the contrary I could not find it on my Snow Leopard install disc or the original Leopard discs, however I reset all my permissions in
Utilities and the freeze hasn't happened since then, thanks for your input.