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The Mac Pro First Generation is an Intel Xeon-based workstation computer manufactured by Apple Inc. The first generation model includes the machines from 2006 through 2008.

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Power cutting out while in sleep and sometimes while in use

Mac Pro mid-2012

This machine has been cutting out periodically for about a year.

There are two problem areas. Firstly it cuts out when put to sleep. Secondly it cuts out randomly, perhaps after several weeks untroubled usage. It's very unpredictable in this respect. To get round the first problem I changed the energy save settings to let the screen sleep but not the computer [moving the pointer to 'never']. Obviously this doesn't solve the random cut-outs.

Apple had it for two weeks. They found nothing and suggested a software problem. I think that's wrong. It's baffling and resetting the PRAM/SMC hasn't worked [I did this myself and am certain Apple techs did the same as the first order of business] but since reading the advice dispensed to iMac owners with similar problems I now suspect something more serious.

Apple STUMPED - iMac shuts off randomly, daily to multiple times/hour

iMacs are not Mac Pros but is the weakness likely to be the same [logic board/power supply]? I'm guessing things will get worse over time so naturally I'm quite anxious to solve the problem. It's unfortunate I'm very much a non 'techie' type, and that these things are often too complicated to simplify for people like me, but with things as they are I'd just be terribly grateful for some advice. Thank you.

Jack

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Please explain what you mean by "cuts out".

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Hello Mayer,

By 'cutting out' I mean switches off unexpectedly, randomly, with no warning.

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This happened to me a couple years back- turns out my mac pro shipped with a graphics card that was later recalled. Took it to a repair place that swapped it out for free and the random crashes totally stopped! It still can’t sleep without crashing, but I don’t have to worry about losing my work in the middle of a project anymore.

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My experience with the 2009-2012 Mac Pros has show a problem with the power supply. I've had several that will restart on their own. As time goes by the frequency of these restarts accelerates. On every one of them, replacing the power supply solved the problem. The other main issue with these has been failing video cards, (my 2009 is on it's third).

There also appears to be a sleep issue with Sierra. I have noticed that in the last couple of months I now have to press the power button to wake up after my machine has slept. I believe this to be an issue with a Sierra update. It is not happening with El Capitan.

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I appreciate your replying Mayer. I'm not convinced it's a software problem that's for sure. Since I'm housebound now and another visit to Apple is out of the question I've decided to contact a local IT specialist about the problem [the only one I've found in a sea of Windows technicians willing to deal with Macs]. I'll see what he says about the likely bill for replacements and take it from there. My thanks once again for steering me in the right direction. I feel certain you're correct about 'probable cause'.

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Gee, @mayer you're only on your third GPU card! ;-} Our last original Mac Pro (2012) has eaten seven! And is on its third power supply.

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@danj I think the cards are object to restarts, like a light bulb, so I rarely shut down. Besides, this thing make a nice room heater in the winter. I have never seen the iMacs do this restart thing when the PSU fails. But it has happened on every MacPro with a PSU failure going back to the 2008 machines.

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@mayer - I'm running El Capitan so maybe I'll stick with it in view of what you say. You're right about these things making %#*@ good room heaters though. I'll update the page once I've found the solution.

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@mayer - We're on the same page here. Yes, the iMac issue is very different beast.

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Jack crwdns2934231:0crwdne2934231:0
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