[SOLVED] Mac Pro Power light contiually flashes

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kep55

kep55

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I have an older Mac Pro Tower running OS X 10.7.0. It had been running fine but only showing 8GB of RAM even tho' both memory boards were fully populated with a total of 16GB RAM. I pulled the one memory board and reseated it and About this Mac now said I had a full 16GB RAM.

Later I ran the check for updates and there were updates for iPhoto , Air Port, and something else. I don't use Air Port (or whatever it was called) so I just selected the other two. Since the two downloads were close to 300MB, I to another room. A bit later I came back and the Mac sounded like a jet reving up, the fans were running so loudly. There was a message to restart the computer. When I restarted it, after connecting a new monitor with DVI port, the monitor wouldn't display and the power light flashed continually. I turned off the box, unplugged it for about 30, plugged it back in and restarted it. Same thing. What now?
 
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McHenryB
That often indicates a RAM problem. I would try it with just one stick; if the problem persists try the other stick (also try all slots). I presume that you have already done the normal PRAM/SMC resets - that's always the first step to try when a Mac misbehaves. If all this fails you may need to have a qualified engineer look at it.
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kep55

kep55

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The update didn't complete. The old monitor was connected to the DVI port via a DVI to VGA adapter to the VGA port on the monitor. Anyway, swapping back is no problem.
 
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S

Sedivy

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But...I thought you had a message that said to restart computer? To my mind this was a successful update? Why do you think it was interrupted?

If indeed it was interrupted it's likely your installation is borked. You can try one of these options:
http://www.graphicpilot.com/recent-jobs/repair-mac-hard-drive-andor-file-system-disk-utility/
or a load from time machine backup if you have any.
 
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kep55

kep55

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I hadn't tried the system. With the fans running at hyperspeed, I shut the box down.

 
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McHenryB

McHenryB

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That often indicates a RAM problem. I would try it with just one stick; if the problem persists try the other stick (also try all slots). I presume that you have already done the normal PRAM/SMC resets - that's always the first step to try when a Mac misbehaves. If all this fails you may need to have a qualified engineer look at it.
 
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kep55

kep55

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Thanks. I'll try that when I get home.
I found this article - https://thenextweb.com/lifehacks/2017/06/14/how-when-why-to-reset-the-pram-smc-on-your-mac/#.tnw_7N5zQMAt - and the very first sympton under "Resetting the SMC - Fans" is exactly what happened to the unit. Who knows. Maybe if I use Macs for as long as I've used Windows (31+ years) I may know enuff to be dangerous.
 
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