# Mac Pro (2013) restarting



## rap_ferr (Sep 20, 2019)

Hello, 

I have a six-core 2013 Mac Pro. 

Everything is stock from Apple but the RAM (which I updated with 64gb from OWC).

I can use it for like half an hour then it restarts. After the first restart, I can use it for a little while, then it starts an infinite loop of trying to boot (I just listen the apple sound a lot of times).

I didn't have the time run extensive tests but so far I found:

1) It's not any of my peripherals (tested only with monitor, mouse and keyboard and the problem persisted).

2) It's not the RAM. I tested with the stock one from Apple and the problem persisted.


The only thing that I think solved the problem was turning the air conditioner directly to the mac pro.


Thoughts?


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## hawpri (Sep 20, 2019)

I have the same model, except with 128GB of OWC RAM. How long has the a/c been straight on it? Is it possible that dust accumulated somewhere inside the computer and is making one or more components overheat?

Are there any error messages you can share?


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## Greg (Sep 20, 2019)

Graphics cards have been known to have issues, worth looking into. Did you have any freezes with sound / screen artifacts or weirdness?

More info: https://9to5mac.com/2016/02/06/apple-mac-pro-repair-program-graphics-video/


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## rap_ferr (Sep 20, 2019)

hawpri said:


> I have the same model, except with 128GB of OWC RAM. How long has the a/c been straight on it? Is it possible that dust accumulated somewhere inside the computer and is making one or more components overheat?
> 
> Are there any error messages you can share?


No error messages, just a restart. Hm... I always turn it off by the end of the day. But I don't unplug the a/c chord.


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## rap_ferr (Sep 20, 2019)

Greg said:


> Graphics cards have been known to have issues, worth looking into. Did you have any freezes with sound / screen artifacts or weirdness?
> 
> More info: https://9to5mac.com/2016/02/06/apple-mac-pro-repair-program-graphics-video/


Thanks! No freezes nor screen artifacts. But there's one specific thunderbolt port that never worked with my monitor.

How do I identify a faulty video card? I just ran apple diagnosis (turned the mac on and held d) and the system is ok. Before that I did the SMC reset (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295) and it didn't help also.


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## rap_ferr (Sep 20, 2019)

It's not clear for me that's something over heating also. I just got home 2 hours ago (after 6 hours out - the mac was turned off all this time) and turned it on. There was a single restart after the usual 20/30 minutes, but it's been more than one hour now and it's working (I'm typing from it). This time I didn't turn on the air conditioner of the room at all.

Are the temperatures from the attached file normal?

I'd like to avoid formatting and installing Mojave from scratch, but do you guys think that this will help?


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## hawpri (Sep 20, 2019)

Mine seems to be running a little hotter than yours in some areas, but the room here was not-so-balmy 85 degrees Fahrenheit when I walked in and took the attached screenshot. No trouble here as far as I can tell. What app or widget are you using for those stats? It may help to have a direct comparison using the same app.

Are you manually controlling the fan speed by any chance?


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## rap_ferr (Sep 20, 2019)

hawpri said:


> Mine seems to be running a little hotter than yours in some areas, but the room here was not-so-balmy 85 degrees Fahrenheit when I walked in and took the attached screenshot. No trouble here as far as I can tell. What app or widget are you using for those stats? It may help to have a direct comparison using the same app.
> 
> Are you manually controlling the fan speed by any chance?


Thanks for your help! I'm using this one: https://www.bresink.com/osx/216202/download.php (using the free version, not the paid one). Installed after the first restart, never had a measuring app on my mac.

How about you?

No, I'm not controlling the fan speed. Don't know how to do that actually! 

It didn't restart for the past 3 hours! Now I'm afraid to turn it off...


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## hawpri (Sep 20, 2019)

Thanks, your stats looked more comprehensive than the stats from the one I tried. I'll check that one out later tomorrow since it's late here now.

I think Greg may be correct to suspect that you're experiencing some type of hardware failure issue. I don't know without researching where to look on a 2013 Mac Pro, but if the video card is ok I wonder if your motherboard has bad capacitors, or if you have a failing power supply. That could explain the restarting issues you're having... or I could be totally wrong since this isn't my area of expertise. You may wind up needing to get someone to inspect it to properly diagnose it, it may get worse as times goes on.

We have almost the exact hardware (mine is refurbished, though that shouldn't matter) so I'm especially interested in the issues you're having in case they happen to me, too. I'll follow up when I have a chance tomorrow.


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## rap_ferr (Sep 20, 2019)

I have a call with apple scheduled to Sunday and if necessary I'll take the mac pro to an apple repair center here in my city. I'll post the results here if it's interesting to the community.

I'm postponing an upgrade an i9 iMac or the i7 mac mini.

Maybe now is the time...


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## jtnyc (Sep 20, 2019)

Sorry to hear it. I’ve had this exact problem on and off with a 2008 Mac Pro. It is a nightmare.

The first time I did a clean install of the os and it was gone. When it came back many months later I moved the video card to another slot and also cleaned the incredible amount of dust inside. It worked fine. Now I wish I only moved the card or only cleaned it so I would be sure which act solved the issue, so I’m not really sure. I suspect it was the dust. There was a lot. Plenty on the motherboard which certainly could cause issues and the fans were chocked with clumps of dust. That’s where I would start, then consider the video card, power supply, os....

Ive heard of this random restart behavior quite a bit over the years, yet I’ve never read anything from Apple confirming it as a known issue.

Good luck with it


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## ridgero (Sep 21, 2019)

I would suggest you to post your problem on the MacRumors forum too, its such a huge forum.


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## José Herring (Sep 21, 2019)

Random restarts are usually a PSU problem. It is going. Ram problems usually result in a crash. Video card issues result in mostly losing graphics as the computer will default to the basic setting or crash. CPU Overheating the compiter will just shut down but won't try and restart


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## hawpri (Sep 21, 2019)

rap_ferr said:


> Thanks for your help! I'm using this one: https://www.bresink.com/osx/216202/download.php (using the free version, not the paid one). Installed after the first restart, never had a measuring app on my mac.
> 
> How about you?
> 
> ...


The first screenshot I posted was Macs Fan Control, which doesn't display as much information as the Hardware Monitor app you had. I've attached a screenshot of that app showing my computer's stats. I don't get the impression yours is running too hot, so the A/C may have been a bit of a red herring. I think @josejherring is correct that it's the power supply, but whatever it is I hope you can get someone to inspect it and provide answers soon.


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## GdT (Sep 22, 2019)

I had some repeated mysterious errors on my Mac Pro.
I opened it up and pressed all the cards and memory cards firmly in place. Slid out all the disk drive trays and pushed them back in firmly. Checked the connectors to the CD/DVD drive.
Put it back and ..
No more problems.
I assume vibrations had loosed something and pushing stuff in place firmly had fixed it.


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## theriff (Jan 26, 2021)

Glad I found this thread. Having the exact same problem here. random restarts throughout the day. Sometimes while programs are open (ableton) and then sometimes when nothing is open and computer is just idle.... Did anyone get a final answer on what the issue was?


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