Chosen Solution
Hello! My Mac Pro starts up the chime goes off but the monitor stays black and nothing comes back at all. It used to happen once a week or so and restarting it a few times or leaving it for an hour or two and then turning it on would solve the issue but this time I have been trying for the past three days. Things I’ve tried so far…
- Taking off the memory sticks, cleaning the connectors with an eraser and putting back in.
- Reconnecting the graphics card “ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB of GDDR5 memory, PCI Express 2.0, two Mini DisplayPort outputs, and one dual-link DVI port”.
- Trying another monitor with the DVI port.
- Resting the NVRAM by holding down the Command, Option, P, and R keys at startup.
- Reconnecting all the cables. Any help is highly appreciated, thanks guys!!
@iammadfay start with this: No Video Unlikely cause: Power supply, fans, speaker, AirPort card, Bluetooth card Symptoms: No VideoNo power perceivedNo videoDim video Quick Check
- To prevent replacing graphics cards unnecessarily, refer to http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4279. Note that graphics cards have three ports. However, if using more than one Mini Display-Port to Single-Link DVI adapter, only two displays are supported across the three ports. (Three displays are supported if using Mini Display-Port to Dual-Link DVI adapters or Mini Display-Port to VGA adapters.)
- Reseat all DIMMs. Refer to Memory Diagnostic LEDs.
- Attach a known good and compatible DVI or Mini-DP monitor to computer’s video card. Verify video cables and connectors are free from defects (including bent pins). Verify power booster cable(s) are secured to the video card.
- Power OFF/ON the display.
- Verify the video card is supported in this computer. Previous model Mac Pro video cards may not be compatible. Cross reference the EEE Code and GSX part number.
- Reset RTC.
- Confirm at least one known good and compatible memory DIMM is installed in the computer.
- After power ON, verify front panel power/sleep LED illuminated and is not flashing any error sequences indicating a memory failure. Caps Lock LED illuminates when CapsLock key is pressed.
- Verify the computer is alive by listening for the drive booting sounds. If not detected go to Power, but No Boot Quick Check.
- Remove non essential peripheral cards
- Reseat video card (and power boost cable(s) if required) in the correct PCIe slot
- Remove onboard backup battery. Deep Dive
- Disconnect all internal drives. Attach a known good display to the video card. Power ON the computer and verify video is observed on the display. Yes - Video observed. Go to step 2. No - No video observed. Go to step 3.
- Verify the video quality observed is OK Yes - Video quality OK. Go to step 5. No - Video has poor quality, e.g. dim, distorted, etc. Go to step
- Reset SMC and PRAM. Reseat memory, processor tray, video card. Verify video is observed. Yes - Video observed. Go to step 2. No - Move the video card into PCIe slot #2 to determine if backplane board PCIe slot #1 is defective. Retest. If video observed in PCIe slot #2, replace backplane board. If no video observed in PCIe slot#2, replace video card. Alternate: Go to step 7.
- Reset SMC and PRAM. Reseat memory, processor tray, video card. Verify video quality observed is OK. Yes - Go to step 5. No - Replace video card. Alternate: Go to step 7.
- Reconnect an internal boot drive. Allow the computer to boot (video software drivers will load). Verify video quality is OK Yes - Video quality observed is OK. Problem maybe with the customer display, or the customer display may not be compatible. No - Video quality problem evident after booting. Verify video card fan operating, and is not clogged with dust preventing adequate cooling. Go to step 6.
- Boot from known good and compatible Mac OS X. Verify video quality observed is OK. Yes - Video quality observed is OK. Problem isolated to software. Clean install the customer hard drive with known good compatible Mac OS X or use the media supplied with the computer. No - Move the video card into PCIe slot #2 to determine if backplane board PCIe slot #1 is defective. Retest. If video quality OK in PCIe slot #2, replace backplane board. If still poor quality in PCIe slot #2, replace video card.
- For testing, dual-processor computers require only one processor installed in socket A. For dual- and single- processor computers, reseat processor in socket A. Verify video observed. Yes - Go to step 2. No - Go to step 8.
- If dual-processor computer, swap out processor in socket A and retest. Verify video is observed. Yes - Replace defective processor. No - Replace processor board. Let us know what you find on the individual steps.