Full Feed2008 Mac Pro video card issues
As always, early adopters will find issues that Apple needs to fix - especially with new hardware. The 2008 Mac Pros were an unexpected release, as they came before the Macworld keynote. The new Mac Pros didn’t have a new casing - in fact, they look exactly the same as 2007 Mac Pros from the outside. The difference is on the inside: All the models are 8-core, and new upgrades were introduced. Everyone was pleased to see higher-end video cards like the NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT. This was a necessary move by Apple, and is the only way they are going to be able to push gaming on their platform.
The entry level card of the new Mac Pro is the ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT, the same card that higher model iMacs use. A MacUser reader states: “I called Apple and they claimed to have no reports on this, even though people already have had their machines replaced over this. This is also affecting me with a brand new 2.8 model. Users are also widely reporting problems with waking from sleep mode.” On the Apple support forums, people are complaining about this issue too. Hopefully Apple will come out with a fix for this soon. Let us know if you have a 2008 Mac Pro and are experiencing these problems by commenting.
Via [MacUser]
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I have a the same problem. I use dual Apple 23” Cinema Displays. Both of them were inconsistently not waking up from sleep. I would also experience the monitors flashing blue from time to time. The time between instances began to increase, and now, I have 2 monitors that will not wake up at all. I hooked up one of the monitors to another Mac G5 and the monitor is functioning perfectly. Now what? Obviously Apple has a problem that they won’t admit.
on March 18, 2009 at 10:03 AM - LINKi have just experienced same problem…..started off with machine not waking from sleep,,,,,now a week later i am getting no display output at all
on May 21, 2009 at 11:18 AM - LINKchecked monitor and its working perfectly!
I have just sent my mac pro 2008 8 core model off to apple for repair, same symptoms, no video after walking up from sleep, after reinstalling numerous clean system installs, doing the pram, and power management, i was unable to find a fix or cause, in the end got no video from it at all,tried two different monitor known to work , lucky i took the out the extended warranty, is this a Graphics card or motherboard issue?
on June 28, 2009 at 04:10 AM - LINKwill give an update when it returns from apple.
Update, just got my mac pro back from apple, they replaced the graphics card, it works fine now and wakes up from sleep ever time, but i will keep an eye on it, and post here if i have any further problems
on July 2, 2009 at 04:25 PM - LINKI have the same issue on my 2008 MacPro. I am considering swapping out my stock video card (ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT) for a GeForce GTX 285 but at $450 I’d like to be sure it’s going to solve the problem. I would love to hear how your new card is working…
Thanks.
on July 7, 2009 at 12:13 PM - LINKUpdate again, Mac pro 2008 still waking up from sleep after the ATI Radeon HD 2600 graphic card was replaced by apple, no problems seen and the card does me ok for my graphic work , i don’t do gaming though.
on July 24, 2009 at 01:27 PM - LINKI’m having the same problem. I don’t have apple care, but its still under warranty. Do you think they will make me send it in?!...
btw. if they make me send it in, what do I do about the “unsavory” software I might have on the hard drive? Should I be cautious?
on August 1, 2009 at 01:57 AM - LINKWell, it seems I have the same problem…
on September 13, 2009 at 10:47 PM - LINKOnly mine is the second time.
I have apple care so it’s covered but I sure wish I could get a different more reliable video card.
same issue - monitor just stopped waking from sleep. tried monitor on other computers they worked fine. ran software checks on computer they were fine - hard drives too. the issue seemed to be the graphics card, especially since the symptoms listed above by others are identical to mine - almost a gradual decline over time to complete failure to come on, even after multiple reboots.
wonder if its because of a recent software update? kinda ironic that it all happens exactly a year after many factory warranties begin to expire.
on September 27, 2009 at 09:25 PM - LINKI’m just now paying to replace the old card with another just like it for the same reason. I wish I’d have read this before telling the folks at the apple store to go ahead.
on October 16, 2009 at 01:07 PM - LINKI’m on the phone with Apple tech support right now, and they are telling me they have had no known problems with this card. I find it highly disingenuous of apple when I can find numerous forums, including Apple’s own support forum on this issue. I’m going to contact ATI now and see if they will step up.
Terrible.
on November 10, 2009 at 01:39 PM - LINK