# Mac Pro Conundrum.....



## RRBE Sound (Mar 2, 2022)

Hey All...

Hope you are doing well? :D


Over the past 6-8 months or so, I have been experiencing crashes from my trusty Mac Pro 2013 (Trash Can)...
- However, the crashes variate from being only Logic shutting down, to the Mac freezing and then either crashes or I force shut it...

I have been working on a large scale project. But, the template only contains 15-25 ish loaded Kontakt and non-Kontakt instruments, as well as NO REVERB and other processing.

I believe I run Catalina.

The Specs:
3,7 GHz Quad-Core - Intel Xeon E5
32 GB RAM (x2 16 GB)
256 GB SSD*
x2 AMD FirePro D500, 3 GB GDDR5 VRAM 

*I have lots of USB-C SSDs.
**So nothing special.

Therefore, I have been spinning my thoughts towards what I should do... Buy a new one..? Upgrade this one? - Make my PC into a slave? 

I think the new Mac Pro is out of the picture for me - Out of budget for now... And I wouldn't be looking for a Mac Book Pro.

I then was wondering if you would share what you did when in need of an upgrade? The best case would be if you transitioned from a Mac Pro 2013. But all other input is warmly welcomed. 

Than you!

Best
Rune


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## tmhuud (Mar 2, 2022)

What did you do or what did you instal when this began happening? 

You say you ‘believe’ your on Catalina. That’s a little odd. Either you are or your not. 🙃

If you were on something prior to Catalina and everything ran fine then that can be an issue. 

What does the crash report say?

Try starting Logic without sone of the drives attached and see if that improves anything.

Try starting in ‘safe mode’

What audio card are you you running? 

There are many variables. Make sure all software is up to date, make disk images if you update your OS in case you need to roll back.

That’s just a few thoughts of dozens more I can think of. It’s worth trouble shooting before you trash the can imho.


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## Paulogic (Mar 2, 2022)

Have you already tried to reset PVram ? this can solve some weird issues...


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## Zedcars (Mar 2, 2022)

To rule out a failing drive do this:

1. Back up Boot Drive.
2. Restart into macOS Recovery mode.
3. Open Disk Utility.
4. Run Disk First Aid on the macOS Boot Drive.
5. Restart.

Also test your other drives (no need to restart into Recovery mode to do that).

Detailed instructions




__





How to repair a Mac disk with Disk Utility


Use the First Aid feature of Disk Utility to find and repair disk errors.



support.apple.com





Good luck.


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## Zedcars (Mar 2, 2022)

The other thing that’s just occurred to me is dust. Have you tried blowing through the innards with compressed air? It could be that accumulated dust deposits are preventing the Mac from being able to cool itself enough and as a consequence it just shuts down.

It’s best to do this outside for obvious reasons. 

And try not to breath it in — those are your dead skin cells after all!


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## RRBE Sound (Mar 2, 2022)

tmhuud said:


> What did you do or what did you instal when this began happening?
> 
> You say you ‘believe’ your on Catalina. That’s a little odd. Either you are or your not. 🙃
> 
> ...


I did not remember which OS it was, but it is Catalina. Since I first updated, there seemed to be no issues.

I have added some Kontakt instruments, that I did not have before like ''Swing More'' by Project Sam.
I will remember o save the crash report. 

Using Focusrite Safire 6. never had an issue.

I often backup, and backup the backup..  

Hehe Yea, of course 



Paulogic said:


> Have you already tried to reset PVram ? this can solve some weird issues...


No, I did not try this - I will attempt.



Zedcars said:


> To rule out a failing drive do this:
> 
> 1. Back up Boot Drive.
> 2. Restart into macOS Recovery mode.
> ...


Uff! Great! Thanks!  I will look into this! 



Zedcars said:


> The other thing that’s just occurred to me is dust. Have you tried blowing through the innards with compressed air? It could be that accumulated dust deposits are preventing the Mac from being able to cool itself enough and as a consequence it just shuts down.
> 
> It’s best to do this outside for obvious reasons.
> 
> And try not to breath it in — those are your dead skin cells after all!


I use a temp monitor system to make sure the temp is not too high. Typically around 40-55 degreese when working hard. I dust it off 2-4 times a year. :D

Great inputs from you ll..

One of the reasons I have not been trying these troubleshootings' is that I simply have not had the time to delve into it. But I will try to look into your guidelines.


However, would any of you advise on upgrading to a better (12-core) CPU? - I have seen the procedure online, and have friends with the tech skills to possibly do it.


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## aeliron (Mar 2, 2022)

Zedcars said:


> The other thing that’s just occurred to me is dust. Have you tried blowing through the innards with compressed air? It could be that accumulated dust deposits are preventing the Mac from being able to cool itself enough and as a consequence it just shuts down.
> 
> It’s best to do this outside for obvious reasons.
> 
> And try not to breath it in — those are your dead skin cells after all!


1. It's probably OK if it's your own skin cells
2. The dust may be some aleoteric samples


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## alcorey (Mar 2, 2022)

DriveDX is another great way to check drive integrity - simple to use and you can download a free 2 week trial





DriveDx - the most advanced drive health diagnostics and monitoring utility


DriveDx - the most advanced drive health (S.M.A.R.T.) diagnostics and monitoring utility. Save yourself the data loss and downtime that is associated with unexpected SSD and HDD failures. Don't worry about losing your important data, music, and photographs.




binaryfruit.com


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## RRBE Sound (Mar 6, 2022)

alcorey said:


> DriveDX is another great way to check drive integrity - simple to use and you can download a free 2 week trial
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks!  I will give it a go! :D


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## resonate (Mar 6, 2022)

Hey, i would bet on a power supply failing on you. 
What i would suggest is get istat menus (https://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/), install it, and check if the power supply voltages are in the correct range. For example, if you get only 11.5V where you should be getting 12V, and under no load, above 12V, you have your culprit. Also, run Apple Diagnostics so you can confirm it, it will show you when your power supply values are out of whack: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202731









Mac Pro Late 2013 Power Supply Replacement


Use this guide to replace the power supply in...




www.ifixit.com





Good luck!


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## Be_Sharp (Mar 6, 2022)

My 2013 trash can was recently grinding to a halt but I found that cleaning the dust out of the fan using compressed air pretty much restored performance. Regardless, I ordered the current Mac Pro and am expecting delivery within the next fortnight.


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## RRBE Sound (Mar 7, 2022)

Be_Sharp said:


> My 2013 trash can was recently grinding to a halt but I found that cleaning the dust out of the fan using compressed air pretty much restored performance. Regardless, I ordered the current Mac Pro and am expecting delivery within the next fortnight.


Interesting! And nice that it worked! :D

Hehe, I would love to do that... But for now, I will have to wait and see what Apple come up with.... 


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And just as a side note, since I started this thread, I have had no crashes or issues............. Fingers crossed and knock on wood..  :D


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## synergy543 (Mar 7, 2022)

Could it be the load size? I have a 2013 MacPro 64G of RAM and when I push it to the limits it will crash. When I move samples to a second computer with VE Pro to lighten the load, everything runs so much smoother (knock on wood).

One consideration would be to get a second trash can and distribute the load. In the worst case, the second machine would be a backup.

In anycase, keep an eye on your RAM useage and the CPU load. This can help you decide when you need more power (ie - more computers).


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