Mac Pro video stutters when playing

Ever since I upgraded to Sierra I have had an issue playing video. Every 5 seconds there is a jerk in the video - like dropped frames. This occurs with any video played from any player - premiere pro, quicktime player, vlc media player, streamed from youtube etc. And there is no connection to type of video - mp4, mov, mpg, avi etc.

I can still edit and export videos in Premiere pro and it will play on another computer flawlessly. I have even played videos from two of the Mac Pro's drive on another computer and they will play just fine.

Sierra is up to date, my CUDA drivers are up to date. All apps are up to date. I am not totally positive it is Sierra as it took me awhile to see the issue - it is very subtle. And just an FYI - I did upgrade from Mavericks to Yosemite to El Capitan to Sierra.

I am debating what should be my next step. I am thinking of wiping and doing a clean install of either El Capitan or Sierra. I am not sure if a clean install will solve the problem but I thought it would be a good next step - painful but potentially good.

My other thought is the video card. And I hope that is not true. I really don't think that is the issue as everything else moves smoothly. It just is video playback.

Any ideas before I nuclear?

Lisa

Lisa is the gtraphics card a genuine Mac Pro version or a flashed PC card please?

lclev said:

Any ideas before I nuclear?

Click to expand...

Are we talking a video stored 100% on the hard drive...or videos streamed via the internet? If the internet...any chance it's the internet connection (temporary slow speeds)...or any chance it's the website the video is dtreaming from?

- Nick

Video card is a PC card - Gigabyte Nvidia GeForce GTX 780. It is not a flashed version. BUT you gave me an idea. I do have an Apple Nvidia GeForce 120 in it also. I don't use it but keep it in for those moments I need to see the boot screen.

AND..... it is working perfectly... drats...

So now what? I might start looking for a new card. I need the nvidia family as Premiere Pro uses the CUDA drivers for GPU processing. Any ideas? Or I could wait on updates or roll it back to El Capitan. Decision decisions...

Lisa

pigoo3 said:

Are we talking a video stored 100% on the hard drive...or videos streamed via the internet? If the internet...any chance it's the internet connection (temporary slow speeds)...or any chance it's the website the video is dtreaming from?

- Nick

Click to expand...

Video on the computer, a dvd, the internet ... any video. But I think if you see my post #4 you will see it is the video card. And at work we have a very fast connection so it is not a streaming problem.

Lisa

lclev said:

Video card is a PC card - Gigabyte Nvidia GeForce GTX 780. It is not a flashed version. BUT you gave me an idea. I do have an Apple Nvidia GeForce 120 in it also. I don't use it but keep it in for those moments I need to see the boot screen.

Click to expand...

Maybe you saw the thread last week where someone with a 2009 Mac Pro was having some issues. This person had a flashed video card...and I suggested switching to their GT-120 for troubleshooting purposes. Person didn't feel they had the time to do the additional troubleshooting. Glad to hear you tried your GT-120...things are well...and narrowed things down to the other video card.

I guess if you REALLY wanted to confirm that the issue is hardware (the video card) before shopping for a replacement video card. Maybe you could boot from a different HD with a fresh OS on it. This may help confirm if the issue is really hardware (video card)...or a software conflict or driver issue.

HTH,

- Nick

I am considering a fresh install. It would be a big hassle especially getting all the apps reinstalled - yuck. If that doesn't fix the issues with the video card I guess it's a shoppin' I will go.... It's a tough job but someone has to do it.

Thanks for the advice. I did miss the post on the 2009 MP video card. I leave the GT120 in the MP just not hooked to any monitors. But in this case it proved to be great for testing.

Lisa

lclev said:

It would be a big hassle especially getting all the apps reinstalled - yuck.

Click to expand...

I agree. That is a lot of work. That's why I think trying a different HD with a fresh install of the OS on it is a more cautious approach (before nuking the original drive).

There's also the possibility of running Onyx (if you haven't already)...to see if it can straighten things out in case the problem is software based (not hardware). Give Malwarebytes a run as well.

- Nick

I like your idea Nick. I do have another SSD in it that I use for holding the adobe cache files and raw videos. Right now it is mostly empty because I cleared off a large project. I think I will do as you suggest and install on it and see what happens.

I will post back when I get it up and running and let you know. Thanks!

Lisa

lclev said:

I like your idea Nick. I do have another SSD in it that I use for holding the adobe cache files and raw videos. Right now it is mostly empty because I cleared off a large project. I think I will do as you suggest and install on it and see what happens.

Click to expand...

This is always my "go to" initial troubleshooting step that helps to confirm the first BIG question. Is the issue software/OS based...or is the issue hardware based?

I know you know...nuking a storage device, reinstalling the OS, repopulating with apps, and repopulating with user files...is a LOT of work.

In this situation when you tested with the GT-120 (and everything was fine)...this does seem to indicate that the other video card has a hardware problem. But we haven't conclusively eliminated a software or OS problem as the issue.

That's why I like trying the booting from a 2nd storage device with a fresh install of the OS troubleshootoing step....just to be sure we don't have a software issue. If it is a software/OS issue...then we don't need a new video card!

I guess in all honesty. Purchasing & installing a replacement video card is probably a LOT EASIER...than nuking the storage device. Unless the cost of the video card is not prohibitive or is a business expense.

I guess I'm always trying to save folks money (big or small).

- Nick

Well while I would love a new video card I would not mind avoiding the cost. Since I am an independent contractor at my job, my equipment is mine - which I prefer.

I am currently installing Sierra on a different SSD. I plan to migrate my data and apps from my Time Machine backup. A new first for me! If it does not go well I can wipe the SSD and just do another install. If the video still stutters after a clean install then I plan to try a different driver and if that fails - on to a new video card search.

Will let you know how it goes. This is also why I keep two video editors. I can still work while I am busy screwing one of them up! ;D

Lisa

lclev said:

Well while I would love a new video card I would not mind avoiding the cost. Since I am an independent contractor at my job, my equipment is mine - which I prefer.

Click to expand...

I hear ya! A penny saved is a penny earned!

- Nick

Well the clean install of Sierra followed by a migration of my apps and data from my Time Machine backup seems to have fixed the problem. Which means it wasn't the video card. Which is a relief.

I have developed another issue. Right after I got everything up and running here comes Adobe with an update to Premiere Pro! Yippy! So it updated from CC 2015 to CC 2017 - I was not given a choice. And for some reason the new version will not open the old version projects. It crashes - and if it asks me one more time if I want to send a report to apple....grrrrrr. I can start a new project though - great. The pain in the rear part is I have template projects I use to create stuff like our TV show, weekly announcements etc. and I can't open them in CC 2017. My choice is to go back to CS6 where I still have template files and only use CC 2017 when I have an HD project that exceeds CS6 codex abilities or rebuild all my templates.

Isn't technology grand!

Lisa

Great to hear Lisa! There must have been some sort of "junk" or damaged files on the old setup that apps like Onyx, Disk Utility, etc. can't handle...and a clean install was the only fix.

Regarding the new issue. I would think that CC 2017 would be able to import CC 2015 files no problem. You sound like a "core" Adobe app user...and they should definitely get you up & running. Yell at Adobe!

- Nick

I plan to post to Adobe. Unfortunately over the years I have found if I can't figure it out they can't either. I have also seen where a new update or version results in problems they fixed down the road. It would not surprise me if that happens with this. Until then I will rebuild my template for one of my ongoing projects - for now.

Thanks for the advice! That was my first clean install AND using Migration. It went much smoother than I thought it would. Of course it took about 4 or 5 hours to do it but there was a lot of stuff to move.

Lisa

lclev said:

I plan to post to Adobe. Unfortunately over the years I have found if I can't figure it out they can't either. I have also seen where a new update or version results in problems they fixed down the road. It would not surprise me if that happens with this. Until then I will rebuild my template for one of my ongoing projects - for now.

Click to expand...

I wonder if other Abobe CC 2015 to CC 2017 users are having the same issue.

lclev said:

That was my first clean install AND using Migration. It went much smoother than I thought it would. Of course it took about 4 or 5 hours to do it but there was a lot of stuff to move.

Click to expand...

Great to hear Migration Assistant still works well. Migration Assistant is a pretty old Apple app (of course been updated over the years). I haven't used it in a while...so good to know it still works well.

- Nick

I did figure out a work around. I opened an older copy of one of my templates in Premiere Pro CS6 and deleted anything that would be unavailable and made sure everything else was linked. What seemed to be the problem was if there was a missing/unlinked file it would crash before giving me a chance to find it for the program. I just made sure everything was linked by my CS6 version so the CC 2017 version could find it.

Granted the crashing should not have happened because what normally happens is the program does a brief search attempting to fix broken links. Then if it can't find a file it should let you link it or choose to ignore it. Something is not working right in CC 2017 but I am sure they will eventually get around to issuing a patch.

Lisa

Just an update. I noticed a couple of days ago the jerky video was back. Drats!! So I got frustrated and powered her off. When I powered her back on - no jerky video. Much experimenting later, I finally figured out the jerkiness occurs when I wake her up from sleep. I was able to reproduce it with 100% accuracy by putting her to sleep then testing it by running a video. Wake from sleep - jerky. Start from a complete shutdown or restart - no jerking.

It figures. I had just noticed sleep was working and she was staying in sleep mode over night - for all the good that does if I have to restart her to get rid of the jerkiness. I have had more issues with sleep than any other feature on my MP. I never have issues on my laptops.

And yes, I have done a reset of the PRAM and SMC.

Lisa

Lisa. Are you saying that the jerkiness after sleeping is not just a momentary thing...but continue's long after waking up? And is only solved by rebooting?

As you know...a great place to begin with is to figure out if the issue is hardware or software. I know that you did a fresh install of Sierra. I reread the thread & running Onyx was mentioned. Did you ever run Onyx?

Not sure how determined you are to find an answer. One way to REALLY determine if it's a hardware or software issue would be to install the OS on a completely virgin HD/SSD (freshly formatted...no apps, no 3rd party utilities, etc.). Also assuming an install of an OS version that you never had any issues with on this computer.

If this is done...and there are no issues. Then there must be an app, utility, damaged file, etc. on the current HD/SSD causing the issue

Since you mentioned rebooting seems to solve the problem...this would seem to indicate that the issue is software or OS related. Since Sierra is pretty new...maybe the video card has wierd issues with Sierra that you didn't experience with El Capitan or Yosemite. If so...then maybe it is what it is.

Hopefully something here helps.

- Nick

The jerking video is immediate and continues after waking from sleep. It does not make any difference what program I use to play the video either. I did run Onyx and it made no difference. The only apps that start at startup is Google Drive and Carbon Copy Cloner which have been the only two for several versions of OS X now. This issue does not happen if I switch to the Apple card which makes me wonder if the Geforce 780 is not waking up right or a driver is not loading??

When I get a spare moment I might try a fresh install of Sierra only but for now I plan to just reboot.

Lisa