Mac Pro - Monitor won't connect

[Dr Mick Mach]

Hi, the basic problem I'm having:

When I turn on my mac pro, the light comes on and it seems to boot up, but the monitor has no connection with it. The monitor is working (I've tested it with my laptop). It literally gives me the 'No connection' message on screen.

Details:

I recently moved to the US from Australia and just had my MacPro shipped over. It's been in a box for 7 months (original box, properly packaged). I bought a cheap arse $10 LCD monitor from Goodwill to get me through till Friday when my new monitor arrives - it's a vga connection which I've got plugged into one of the DP's through an adaptor - as I said, it seems to be working fine.

I fired the box up on Monday no problems. Updated to El Capitan from Yosemite, did all the set up, updated whatever else I needed to. So far so good.

Tuesday night, the box randomly turned itself off while I was working on Photoshop. Weird, but I restarted it fine.

Wednesday morning - Box would not power on at all. I unplugged it, swore at it a lot, left it for 30 mins, came back, tried again - the box turned on BUT no monitor connection. Checked monitor with laptop, monitor fine. Unplugged, turned off etc etc, restarted box by holding down power button, tried to blindly reset the NVRAM (cmd/option/p/r), tried other monitor port, left it for 30 mins, came back, swore at it some more, turned it on and it all fired up fine. (monitor included)

Tried to some diagnostics to see if there was an error - nothing came back. Wednesday night, box abruptly powered off again. Tried restarting, powered on but no monitor connection. Left it, unplugged it. Came back. Tried it. No good. Went to bed.

Thursday morning - same as last night: box powers on but no monitor.

So is this a graphics card issue? Power issue? El Capitan issue? Bad Karma issue? Any help greatly appreciated.

Box Details:

Mac Pro mid-2012 (5.1) - Quad Core 3.2 Ghz.
20 GB ram
ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB
Can't remember all the HDD's but I have 4 installed - all minimum 1 terrabyte. OS on dedicated HDD (Not SSD tho)
El Capitan (just updated on Monday 13th June 2016 so it should be the latest)

I do not have anything like MacCleaner or any of those programs running. Neither am I running any anti-virus software All the software (Adobe CC, MS Office etc) is legit.

It's not partitioned or using anything like boot camp etc - completely Mac dedicated.

Quick note re: box power - I originally fired up the box with the original apple powercable - Australian connection with US adapter. However, I went out that afternoon and grabbed a US jug plug power cable and have been using that since.

I have an ACER monitor with DVI connection arriving on Friday (tomorrow), so I can test it with that then, but I'm thinking the monitor is not the issue.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

It could simply be that the graphics card isn't fully seated properly. Since you had it shipped to you, it could have become slightly dislodged. You could try opening the case, removing the card fully and reseating it.

This may help: Mac Pro Video Card Upgrade (ATI Radeon HD 5770)

AS always, use proper anti-static precautions and be careful not to force it out of/back into its slot.

C

 

[Dr Mick Mach]

Hi thanks Cory, good idea, will do. I might get some compressed air as well and just blow out any dust.
I have downloaded a fan control app as well, to check the temperature as the times the box shut down it was doing some graphics intensive work. For 24 hours (after I posted this help request) it wouldn't even turn on.

Much appreciated

 

[Cory Cooper]

No worries.

If you aren't even getting a chime, it could also be a failing power supply.

Keep us in the loop,

C

 

[Dr Mick Mach]

Ah, yes I'm not getting a chime - tho I have no speakers right now, does that matter? (As in should I hear a chime from the box anway, whether I've got external speakers or not?).

Is there any way to run diagnostics on the power supply or is that a 'take it in to the shop' kind of issue?

NB - I tried running Apple Hardware test (holding down the D key on start up - once holding it down before I pressed the power button, and then once pressing it after I saw the first white screen appear on the monitor). Did this twice, but each time it just booted normally. (As mentioned, I have no chime to guide me right now)

 

[Cory Cooper]

Yes, you should hear the chime through the built-in speaker. Maybe try these:

How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac
Reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac

That may enable you to hear the chime again, and possibly help the issue.

Let us know,

C

 

[Dr Mick Mach]

Well, sadly despite your great advice I'm going to have to bite the bullet and take it to the shop.
After reseating everything (ram, gpu etc) cleaning the dust with compressed air, resetting the NVRAM and SMC, placing it in a chilled AC room with plenty of ventilation, checking the heat sink etc, the box is still playing up.
It either:
a) doesn't start up at all
b) starts but with no monitor connection
c) seems to boot up all good then the power goes off abruptly, (currently before it makes it to the desktop screen)

The unfortunate thing is, I can't tie any of this behaviour to specific trouble shooting processes that I am applying to it, it seems to be a fairly random pick of a, b or c no matter what I do.

I was unable to get AHT to fire up to be able to do any of my own diagnostics (tho I was pressing 'D' - didn't realise I might need cmd+D. Will try this if I can get the box fired properly up again at least once)

***UPDATE*** As I'm writing this, I just discovered a d) - Box randomly powers itself up without me touching it (still no monitor connection tho). Ah the joys of technology.

Thanks all for your help, and in the interests of closure I will report back on the condition of the patient, who will hopefully make a full (and not too expensive) recovery.

Last question (and this is subjective I know) - Do I go Apple Store or take it to a service place about the same distance away as the nearest Genius Bar http://newworldmac.com/ ? This place has a lot of positive reviews on Yelp. I'm new in town so don't have personal recommendations or experiences.

The new world mac place charges $90 for diagnosing a Mac Pro (creditable against the inevitable repair cost I will be facing)

I presume the Apple Store will have a similar set up.

Cheers

Mick

 

[Cory Cooper]

Sorry to hear that didn't help the situation. It really does sound like a hardware issue - possibly a power supply, video card, or logic board issue. Since that model is still supported by Apple and parts should be available, I would recommend taking it to an Apple Store. They shouldn't charge you a diagnostic fee for checking it out. You could always have them diagnose the issue, and and see what the repair would cost, then decide what to do.

Good luck and definitely keep us posted.

C

 

[Dr Mick Mach]

Totally forgot to update this, much apologies. As it turned out it was the logic board. A full replacement cost $440 all up through the apple store. They even installed a new power supply for free which was pretty awesome. My baby has been working sweet ever since.

 

[Cory Cooper]

No worries...thanks for updating us.

I guess we were on the right track with the probable hardware/logic board issue. That's not too high of a cost to have it back to working order, as it is still a great machine.

Enjoy,

C