Mac Pro 2012 would turn on by it self, now it wont turn on at all.

[jan.millan]

Cheers!

I have a 2012 Mac Pro [3.2GHz Quad-core Intel Xeon Processor, 6GB Memory, 1TB hard drive, 18x super drive ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1 GB GDDR5] Sometimes I would leave in the morning and left the computer off and find it turned on when I came back home in the afternoon. One day I came home tried to turn it on and it would not turn on while it was connected to the Surge/battery side of my [cyberpower 625VA] (the battery backup stopped working) but it would turn on normally on the wall outlet, so I went to Costco and got a cyber power 1350 AVR battery backup and it worked fine for a while. But then my computer started turning itself on in the middle of the night and the screen glare would wake me up. Then one day I tried turning it on and nothing happened, it did not turn on for about a year or so, and I didn’t really have the money or time to get it fixed.
A few days ago I tried turning It on and it booted, I got to the login screen but I did not have a keyboard connected to it, so as I reached around to plug in my USB mac keyboard it turned off and has not turned on again.

I have been told I need a new power supply but can anyone explain the turning itself on problem, and how could the power supply fail if it was connected to a battery back up, maybe it wasn’t strong enough for the energy that its needed for a mac pro?

thanks in advance

-Jan M

P.D.
I mostly used it for AutoCAD and photoshop, but I spent a few weeks working daily on a few final cut pro X projects for an exhibition. I don’t normally run multiple programs at once

 

[lclev]

Wow, the turning on and off is a bit strange. The only thing I can think of is it is responding to a wake on lan command. If you go to System Preferences -> Energy Saver -> see if "Wake for WiFi network" is checked. Although I am not sure why that would cause the monitor to light up.

As for your computer power supply, an UPS will not keep a computer power supply from dying. It just helps keep it healthier longer. If the power supply is weak or dying that could be the reason for sporadic powering on and then off. It is possible the power supply is under powering the computer. It may be weak due to a wide variety of possible power spikes or surges - which is hard to guess at this point.

There are diagnostic llights on the logic board that could provide more information. I borrowed this information from an old post pigoo3 - Nick made. Maybe these links will help:

https://mediawiki.middlebury.edu/wik...gnostic_Lights

http://s168.photobucket.com/user/pipkato/media/MacProDiagnosticLEDslo-res.jpg.html

http://www.scribd.com/doc/17539946/Mac-Pro-Early-2008

In the 3rd link go to page 154-159...it has a REALLY in depth explanation of the diagnostic LED's & codes.

Lisa

 

[jan.millan]

thanks Lisa, i opened up the lid and was able to turn it on for about 1 minute and it turned off. it booted up normally, i got to my login info but it turned off while i was entering my password.

By clicking on the button i got the following result :
while it was on led light 1, 4 & 5 where green, there was also a yellow light further up.

the third link you posted is for mac pro 2008 there fore the logic board indication leds are different, i looked up the 2012 manual and searched through it but there is no information on Logic Board Diagnostic LEDs

i did find another post on mac rumors [ 2012 MAC PRO help with LED diagnostic - 3.4GHz quad core (base model) - MacRumors Forums ] the 6th post show the same results that i got

 

[lclev]

Let me start by saying I just purchased my first Mac Pro and I have the 2009 model which would be very similar to yours. I am finding it requires a lot of digging to find information on these guys.

From what I am reading on the link you provided it seems the GPU was the problem. What would be nice would be to swap out the GPU and see if that was the problem. The link does talk of removing the GPU and using a second Mac to "try safe boot from drive with OS installed. If you don't have another graphics card to try, but you own another Mac with firewire, remove the graphics card and try to boot this other one from MP HDD in target disk mode. If it would work, set screen sharing up and try to access your MP remotely (booted without graphics card)."

I do a lot of PC repair as the IT at work. I have also worked on several Macbooks but my Mac Pro experience is lacking. That said, from what I am reading and what you are saying the PS Led is indicating it is okay. I am not sure if it will also detect a weak power supply. They can get damaged and work just enough to drive you crazy.

So it looks like it is either the power supply or GPU (video card). If you can swap one of them out and test it that would be great to try. That is basically what they will do at any repair shop.

Maybe someone else with more experience working on Mac Pro's will chime in.

Lisa

 

[jan.millan]

cheers, i tried swapping the gpu and it turned on for a few seconds but it quickly turned off, so i went ahead and bought a brand new power supply from ebay and i installed it but it still wont turn on, any recommendations

 

[jan.millan]

when i press the logic board diagnostic only 5v stby turns on yellow

 

[chscag]

So, what have you been doing with that machine in the last 17 months since your last post on the subject? Not very good forum etiquette leaving a 17 month gap between posts. ??

 

[jan.millan]

I am a college student and did not have the money to fix it, so it was sitting in a corner all this time.

I am in need of a computer so i can finish my Architecture tesis and was able to scrap some funds to try and fix it but now spent 335$ on a new power supply that did not really fix my problem.

So im thinking i should try to check the power output with an electrician of both new and old power supply to confirm the new one isn't damaged, other than this do you have any recommendation?

p.d. when I connect the power cable a red light turns on.