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Squiggly green lines on display - Mac Pro crashing

olemed

olemed

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 27, 2007
59
1
Providence, RI
I have a Mac Pro 1,1 (bought in 2007) with original NVIDIA stock card. Last weekend I noticed that my screen suddenly started to display squiggly green horizontal lines and then my computer was unresponsive. Shutting it down and starting it back a few minutes later resolved the issue but it kept coming back. I checked for overheating and dust overload - cleaned it out with canned air and that helped for 3 days then yesterday the problem continued and persisted. Now I cannot do anything. It boots up - Apple logo displays but not much else happens. Checked for issues with TechTool Pro and original apple hardware diagnostic tool and it proved useless.

Even reseated video card to another PCI port - no resolution. Zapped PRAM, reset SMC, removed hard drives and ram and no resolution. I definitely feel it is the graphics card that is fried. Do you all agree?

So... though I know this system is old, it suffices for me at the moment. I cannot drop 3k on a new Mac Pro! Please advise - where can I get a video card for this machine? Is it worth it? Can I use a PC card and flash it (no idea how to do that but willing to learn). I'd love to get another year or two out of this system!
 
mikeboss said:
this clearly looks as if the NVIDIA is dying. I suggest that you're getting a Radeon 5770 or GeForce GT 120.
Click to expand...

Thanks Mike, that's what I'm thinking. Though, could it be VRAM instead? The image below is a close up image taken with my iphone. I'd love to isolate the issue so I can correct it. I'd hate to shell out $$$ on a video card and it not be the problem. The card looks fine, I have no idea what video card failure (physically on the card) is supposed to look like.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ty9p8kfaqm0xlvs/lines.JPG?dl=0

I was thinking the NVIDIA Quadro FX4500 512 MB might suffice, I don't need 3 monitors and all that much GPU power. I do a decent amount of Photoshop and some basic video editing now and then.
 
If you're looking to possibly have a workaround and buy a few more days of time, I had a similar issue with the 7300 in my 1,1. I did a card bake and the card came back to life for about a week or so, plenty of time for me to swap the Radeon 2600 XT from my 3,1 into the system.

Not recommending the card bake at all, it can be quite dangerous to your health if you breathe in the fumes and to the card, but it's fried anyway, so might as well overcook it! ;)
 
NOTNlCE said:
If you're looking to possibly have a workaround and buy a few more days of time, I had a similar issue with the 7300 in my 1,1. I did a card bake and the card came back to life for about a week or so, plenty of time for me to swap the Radeon 2600 XT from my 3,1 into the system.

Not recommending the card bake at all, it can be quite dangerous to your health if you breathe in the fumes and to the card, but it's fried anyway, so might as well overcook it! ;)
Click to expand...

That's an interesting idea, I'll think about it. BTW, I see you built a Hackintosh. I was thinking of doing just that recently (before my issues, ironically). A good friend of mine swayed me to think twice due to issues with updating the OS. I'd love to talk to you offline about your experience if you have time.
 
mikeboss said:
you're right! the Apple OEM GT 120 won't work. but a flashed one from MVC will though...
Click to expand...

I'm thinking of getting the ATI Radeon HD 5700 as I have indeed read in numerous places that will work.

Regarding the flashed PC cards for Mac - I understand that one pro to this is the cost is lower compared to an original Mac but a con is I won't see my Mac boot up screen. Will this ever be an issue and if so under what circumstances?

My options to purchase are either ebay via reputable sellers, old-macs.com, or http://www.dvwarehouse.com/. Can someone recommend a reputable US seller?
 
olemed said:
Regarding the flashed PC cards for Mac - I understand that one pro to this is the cost is lower compared to an original Mac but a con is I won't see my Mac boot up screen.
Click to expand...

the only purpose of flashing a PC card with an EFI ROM is to make the card 100% mac-compatible so it'll show the bootscreens. only unmodified PC cards won't show bootscreens.
 
mikeboss said:
the only purpose of flashing a PC card with an EFI ROM is to make the card 100% mac-compatible so it'll show the bootscreens. only unmodified PC cards won't show bootscreens.
Click to expand...

Oh, okay. That's great. I wasn't sure. For example this card is flashed but implies you have to have an adapter to see the boot screen (I don't have a VGA monitor, only DVI):

Apple Boot Screen with VGA monitor:
This video card will show the boot screen trough the bottom DVI port connected to analog VGA monitor.
DVI to VGA Adapter is included.

Apple Boot Screen with DVI monitor:

If you have only one monitor without a VGA port,
or two monitors and you don't want to use VGA port (understandable)
then you are going to need a "Boot Screen Enforcer" adapter to see the boot screen on DVI monitor.

The boot screen enforcer adapter will allow you to see the boot screen on most DVI monitor.


So this implies I need a special 'boot screen enforcer' adapter to see the boot screen. That's why I'm confused.
 
yeah, I also saw these cards. IMHO if a card needs special treatment to show the bootscreens, it's a half-baked solution... personally, I would not buy such a card.
 
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