[MacMelo OS X]

Hi everyone,

My Mac Pro has developed a very weird problem... Since it's impossible to describe it in words, I ask you guys to check the following snapshot of my desktop, so that I can be sure we're all speaking the same "language":

http://homepage.mac.com/macmelo/filechute/Finder.jpg

This snapshot was taken after a system reboot and there are no apps running in the background, except for those that are standard in OS X...

I'm pretty sure it's a hardware problem, since I already tried to boot the computer from 2 fresh installs of Mac OS X and the exact same condition occurred after a few moments of normal use... I'm also pretty sure it's not a RAM issue, since I already tested the machine with different brands and nothing changes (see configuration notes below)...

Has anyone ever seen anything like this and if so, what should I look for??? How can I further test it???

I know that most of you will probably tell me to take my Mac Pro to the official Apple Service, and I'll sure do that in time... The problem is that living in Brazil, I don't have access to any great Apple Service... Although there are two authorized Apple repair shops in Florianopolis (where I live), they are both sort of amateurish and I'll probably have to send the machine to Sao Paulo or even to the US (belive it or not!!!)...

My Mac Pro configuration:
2.66 GHz
1Gb RAM Apple original (BEFORE) >>> 8Gb (4 x 2Gb) OWC RAM (CURRENTLY)
ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512Mb

I believe the above details are the important ones, but feel free to ask for more...


Well... I hope some of you take interest in this and help me find out what's going on...

Thanks in advance to all of you,

MacMelo

[MacMelo OS X]

Just an update:

Something I forgot to mention...
Although the picture illustrates how the problem presents itself in the Finder, it really occurs in most of the apps I keep open for enough time: Transmission, Adium, OmniWeb, iTunes... you name it...

[Cadaver]

My first thought is a bad video card.
Can you get a hold of a spare to test?

[brokenjago]

This has happened to me before It's a video card overheating issue, and known to Apple. Call Applecare and they'll send you a replacement.

[Leonard]

I didn't see any mention of running Apple Hardware Test, you might want to try running that and see if it picks up anything.

Like the others, first thing this looks and sounds like is a video card problem.

[MacMelo OS X]

Hi guys,

Thanks for your input and sorry for taking me so long to post any news...
For the last 10 days I'm not able to boot the Mac Pro... A few seconds after login I get an endless beachball of death...
I also believe it's the video card... I hope changing it solves the issue... I'll post in the next days...
Regarding the Apple Hardware Test, although I forgot to mention I ran it and it didn't detect any abnormalities... And to be honest, every time I tried using the Apple Hardware Test (in other machines with different problems) it failed to detect anything... Does it really work at all???

One more thing:
brokenjago said that this is a videocard overheating issue... If indeed the problem was caused by overheating should I be worried with other components or with my desk setup???

Thanks everyone and feel free to keep posting...

MacMelo

[Leonard]

Actually, reading this again, if it is an overheating card problem, you could try one thing. Install the utility SMCFanControl. It will allow you to increase the speed of your fans. But first, what's your room temperature? I assume you have air conditioning there in Brazil? Because cooling a machine with hot air isn't going to help. But I'd try increasing your fan speed on CPU/memory, exhaust and the PCI slots by a few hundred revolutions. Try 300 or 400, maybe. Not sure if it will help as the card has it's own fan which SMCFanControl won't control. But it can't hurt to give it a try first.

I've had problems with my Apple memory that were solved just by increasing the fan speed in my Mac Pro by a few hundred revolutions. (Running BOINC seems to heat up things a bit)

Also, if you're going to do this, get a utility like Hardware Monitor to monitor the fan speed and temperature. I can't remember what it monitors for free as I paid for the utility.

[cherry su]

Clean out the dust in the video card fan if any. That should help.

[ginoledesma]

I've seen this before on my old PowerMac G4/400 with an ATI Radeon 8500 AGP Card. The problem turned out to be failing video RAM (confirmed by TechTool Pro). Overheating may be a factor, but if it's happening more frequently, it's probably affected the components already enough to cause permanent damage.