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Testing used Mac Pro machines before buying.

sarthak

sarthak

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 19, 2012
467
6
Someone is selling their Mac Pro 2009 machine for only $600 in my area. Do you think, I should snap it up quick or is it at market value?

Excellent condition Mac Pro 2009
Quad Core 2.66GHz
6GB RAM
1TB Drive
GT120 card

Seems to me that it's pretty much stock. I am using a 2009 machine myself (see sig), I would probably just use the second machine as a HTPC. If the mac community thinks it's a great price, I might just grab it. What do you think?
 
Last edited:
Sounds like a bargain to me!!! Buy, if you know for sure if and ONLY IF there are no known problems with the hardware.. I assume you have your own mac os x install disc, yes?
 
PowerPCMacMan said:
Sounds like a bargain to me!!! Buy, if you know for sure if and ONLY IF there are no known problems with the hardware.. I assume you have your own mac os x install disc, yes?
Click to expand...

I don't think I have Snow Leopard recovery disc anymore. The machine comes pre-loaded with OS X Lion. I do have Mountain Lion in the purchases section of the App Store.

DRII said:
This. You could easily get $1k+ for it. Or keep it and max it out.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a plan to me! I like the idea of popping in a W3680, a 256GB SSD and more ram (to 16GB total) and using it as a secondary system in a different room. That calls to buy more monitors... :D

wonderspark said:
I'd buy it if it's not damaged.
Click to expand...

How would I be able to tell if there is anything fishy going on with the machine? Is there some diagnostics tool I can run, stress testing benchmarks or anything to make sure it's all good?

Apparently the seller dropped the price from $850 to $600.
 
The 2009 Mac Pro comes shipped with Snow Leopard 10.6.2 or later and with the discs you also get Apple Hardware Test, but the problem with AHT is that the results or problems it finds usually leaves a CRYPTIC hexadecimal code which is hard to decipher.

If you really want to diagnose the machine before you buy it, I can provide you with Apple Service Diagnostic. This powerful diagnostic mostly used by Apple technicians will diagnose the Mac Pro and report any errors or problems in SIMPLE ENGLISH where all you need to do is research the error or problem for a solution(Google is your friend here).

Let me know if you need this.. this is not bundled with any Apple machine as these diagnostic tests are only reserved for Apple Service Techs.. I am an A+ Certified PC Tech, but not Apple.. but I have been around enough Macs to diagnose problems when I see them.

mseth said:
I don't think I have Snow Leopard recovery disc anymore. The machine comes pre-loaded with OS X Lion. I do have Mountain Lion in the purchases section of the App Store.



How would I be able to tell if there is anything fishy going on with the machine? Is there some diagnostics tool I can run, stress testing benchmarks or anything to make sure it's all good?

Apparently the seller dropped the price from $850 to $600.
Click to expand...
 
mseth said:
Someone is selling their Mac Pro 2009 machine for only $600 in my area. Do you think, I should snap it up quick or is it at market value?

Excellent condition Mac Pro 2009
Quad Core 2.66GHz
6GB RAM
1TB Drive
GT120 card

Seems to me that it's pretty much stock. I am using a 2009 machine myself (see sig), I would probably just use the second machine as a HTPC. If the mac community thinks it's a great price, I might just grab it. What do you think?
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good deal. Though try to ask the seller, if he agrees, a 3 day warranty. Within those 3 days if you encounter issues, you may return the Mac Pro for a refund. I sometimes ask the seller if he used a surge protector or UPS in plugging the Mac Pro. If the seller plugged this directly to the outlet and his area had unstable electricity, I would be concerned about the life span of the power supply. But this is just me. I am not suggesting or generalizing you do the same. Maybe to most people this does not matter.
 
PowerPCMacMan said:
The 2009 Mac Pro comes shipped with Snow Leopard 10.6.2 or later and with the discs you also get Apple Hardware Test, but the problem with AHT is that the results or problems it finds usually leaves a CRYPTIC hexadecimal code which is hard to decipher.

If you really want to diagnose the machine before you buy it, I can provide you with Apple Service Diagnostic. This powerful diagnostic mostly used by Apple technicians will diagnose the Mac Pro and report any errors or problems in SIMPLE ENGLISH where all you need to do is research the error or problem for a solution(Google is your friend here).

Let me know if you need this.. this is not bundled with any Apple machine as these diagnostic tests are only reserved for Apple Service Techs.. I am an A+ Certified PC Tech, but not Apple.. but I have been around enough Macs to diagnose problems when I see them.
Click to expand...

Mine came with 10.5.8. Still have the discs.
 
Then your Mac Pro must have been an early release in 2009.. Mine came with 10.6.2 Snow Leopard.. Now, when I owned it, my 2008 came with 10.5.8 - Ok, this is good news.. if you can.. put the disc in and hit the D key.. This will boot up Apple Hardware Test.. but you will get better results if you have ASD which I have, should you need it..

Its a must for all Mac Pro or Apple Mac owners.. No wonder why techs did not want end consumers to have these remarkable diagnostic tools.

ClassObject said:
Mine came with 10.5.8. Still have the discs.
Click to expand...
 
PowerPCMacMan said:
Then your Mac Pro must have been an early release in 2009.. Mine came with 10.6.2 Snow Leopard.. Now, when I owned it, my 2008 came with 10.5.8 - Ok, this is good news.. if you can.. put the disc in and hit the D key.. This will boot up Apple Hardware Test.. but you will get better results if you have ASD which I have, should you need it..

Its a must for all Mac Pro or Apple Mac owners.. No wonder why techs did not want end consumers to have these remarkable diagnostic tools.
Click to expand...

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I seem to have found the download link to the ASD which supports this model of the Mac Pro.
 
I've just bought a used Mac Pro 4,1. I would love to run the Apple Service Diagnostic.
Where did you find a copy? Are they just floating around on the web?
 
To my knowledge, there is really no difference between the two.. They both do the same thing. I have both also.. but because I don't have the 2009 Mac Pro anymore(Well, its still a 2009 serial number, just gutted it for the 2010 boards), it does not work anymore for my purposes.

3S141 and I think 3S146 - virtually the same.. dunno why Apple changed the versions, but they still do the same stuff.

wonderspark said:
I found a set that has both 3S130 and 3S132, EFI and OS, which both mention support for the 2009 Mac Pro.

Other than 132 simply supporting more models, does the test for the Mac Pro differ between 130 and 132?
Click to expand...


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Yes, in fact it is. It is very huge and I think its 3 files. The best way I can get it to you is either through skype file transfer which works really nice.. I also have dropbox, but have yet to upgrade my storage capacity on it. You can restore the image to either a USB external drive and or a partition on one of your drives.

Let me know if you have any questions about it.. I can arrange a time for when I can get it to you.. I can always mail it to you also if you live in the USA.

Studio K said:
Thank you, PowerPC-Man. I would very much like to use it. Please let me know what I need to do to get a copy from you.

Is it a DMG file? Am I to burn it to DVD or restore to USB? I presume it must be run from an external drive.
Click to expand...
 
Hmm, interesting. I have a 2009 Mac Pro, but updated the firmware to a 2010 5,1 - - no physical hardware changes made all - - so I would guess I'd still use the 3S132 version.
 
PowerPCMacMan said:
Let me know if you have any questions about it.. I can arrange a time for when I can get it to you.. I can always mail it to you also if you live in the USA.
Click to expand...

Dropbox or Skype is fine: whichever is convenient for you. I've not used Skype before so let me know what I need to do.

Thanks for your offer.
 
Get a skype account.. Then let me know what your skype name is. Once we connect then I will send you the files at your convenience.

Studio K said:
Dropbox or Skype is fine: whichever is convenient for you. I've not used Skype before so let me know what I need to do.

Thanks for your offer.
Click to expand...


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You bring up a good point. I never bothered to use the 3S132 after I gutted my 2009's boards and replaced them with 2010 boards.. At the time this was before the firmware update tool came out.. It only cost me 300.00 total for the two boards.

I might try the 3S132 just as an experiment to see if it boots.. The one I am using is 3S141 which is the Mid-2010 ASD. However, I did test my 2009 Mac OS X Install Disc and it failed to boot.. but when I used the 2010 Mac OS X Install Disc, it went right to the installation.

While the machines are virtually similar, the difference is the B1 stepping on the 2010 boards.. But I suppose that even though I now have the firmware utility and I convert to 2009, I can then use the 2009 discs..

I am sure you know this also.. If you convert back to 2009 firmware 4,1 and your processor is a westmere, it won't work as 2009's firmware did not support 5,1's firmware.

wonderspark said:
Hmm, interesting. I have a 2009 Mac Pro, but updated the firmware to a 2010 5,1 - - no physical hardware changes made all - - so I would guess I'd still use the 3S132 version.
Click to expand...
 
PowerPCMacMan said:
I did test my 2009 Mac OS X Install Disc and it failed to boot.. but when I used the 2010 Mac OS X Install Disc, it went right to the installation.

While the machines are virtually similar, the difference is the B1 stepping on the 2010 boards.. But I suppose that even though I now have the firmware utility and I convert to 2009, I can then use the 2009 discs..

I am sure you know this also.. If you convert back to 2009 firmware 4,1 and your processor is a westmere, it won't work as 2009's firmware did not support 5,1's firmware.
Click to expand...
Yup, I'm stuck forever in 2010-land, because I sold my original CPU to offset the $590 for the 6-core. My install discs are beverage coasters. Also, I sold my 4870 for the 5870, so I'm not sure if I can ever do a clean install of Snow Leopard.

Since I don't have those 2010 Mac Pro Snow Leopard install discs to verify, I just keep two clones of my boot disk.
 
Do you want them? Email me privately for details.. Sounds like I can help you, should u need them? I highly recommend it due to having the right build of SL and also AHT.

wonderspark said:
Yup, I'm stuck forever in 2010-land, because I sold my original CPU to offset the $590 for the 6-core. My install discs are beverage coasters. Also, I sold my 4870 for the 5870, so I'm not sure if I can ever do a clean install of Snow Leopard.

Since I don't have those 2010 Mac Pro Snow Leopard install discs to verify, I just keep two clones of my boot disk.
Click to expand...
 
Huge thank you to PowerPCMacMan! I can now do a clean install of Snow Leopard again!

My situation was that my Mac Pro began life as a 2009 4,1 with a 4870, and after updating the firmware to 5,1 and swapping in a W3680 and 5870, my original OS X Install discs were no longer usable, because of both firmware and GPU incompatibilities. (I don't think 5870 will run on 10.6.2, and I sold both the original CPU and GPU to offset cost of upgrades.) I now have the 2010 Mac Pro 10.6.4 install "DVD" on an 8GB thumb drive! :)
 
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