Apple mac pro early 2009 User Manual

							Mac Pro (Early 2009) Symptom Charts — Optical Drive Not Recognized/Not Mounting 81 2010-09-27
2. Reseat all connections 
between backplane board, 
SATA/Power cables, and optical 
drive are secure. Visually 
inspect cables and connectors 
for any debris, damage, or bent 
pins.  Verify the media is now 
recognized in System Profiler 
and reads/writes reliably.
YesIssue resolved. Optical drive 
recognized.
NoReplace any damaged cables 
and retest. If connections 
are good and with no visible 
cable damage, go to step 3
X03 for 
cable  
damage
3. Disconnect SATA/Power cable 
at backplane board. Use 
spare SATA/Power cable as 
alternate. Connect the spare 
cable to the port. Connect the 
alternate cable to the optical 
drive.  Verify the media is now 
recognized in System Profiler 
and reads/writes reliably.
YesSATA/Power cable defective.  
Replace SATA/Power cable. 
Issue resolved.
X03
NoGo to step 4
4.  Use alternate backplane board 
SATA port and retest. Test read/
write data to compatible CD 
and DVD media. Verify burned 
media is recognized and reads 
reliably.
YesBackplane board defective 
due to connector issue. 
Replace backplane board
M19
NoReplace the optical drive.  J03   
						

							Mac Pro (Early 2009) Symptom Charts — Optical Drive Noisy 82 2010-09-27
Optical Drive Noisy
Unlikely cause: speaker, fans, backplane board, processor board, processors, memory, power 
supply, hard drives
Quick Check
SymptomQuick Check
Optical Drive Noisy
• Noise during boot
• Noise during operation
• Noise when drive is copying or 
writing data
1. Check with known good optical media. ie the 
Install media that came with the computer. Verify 
the media in another same model computer.
2.  It is important to use known good factory pressed 
media such as Install media for baseline testing 
rather than consumer recorded media.
3. Most mechanism seeking sounds of various 
media are normal
4.  Verify if noise occurs without media in the drive. If 
so, check if other drives and fans maybe causing 
the noises.
5. Verify Audio CD’s without Copy Control are used 
during testing as computer optical drives may 
have difficulty reading the content.
Common causes of excessive drive noise and 
vibrations 
• Non uniform screen-printing on discs (including 
stickers and labels) may cause misbalance
• Scratches, chips, warping, delaminating disc 
surfaces
• Low quality and consumer recorded media where 
the recording has not been optimized may cause 
excessive seeking and read/write retries.   
						

							Mac Pro (Early 2009) Symptom Charts — Optical Drive Noisy 83 2010-09-27
Deep Dive
CheckResultActionCode
1. Insert known good media.  
Verify media free to spin 
without optical drive 
scraping edge or surface of 
media. Ensure there are no 
contaminants, obstructions, 
or debris in the tray. For 
media compatibility, refer to 
the following article: http://
support.apple.com/kb/
HT2446
YesInitial disc/tray ingest noise 
is normal. Disc spinning and 
head seek indicate computer 
is attempting to mount the 
media on the Desktop.  Seek 
noise should settle down 
once mounted. Go to step 2
NoMechanical interference 
internal to optical drive is 
affecting rotational spin of 
media. Replace optical drive.
J04
2.  Verify if the seek activity noise 
is excessive compared to 
another same vendor/model 
optical drive when using 
known good and compatible 
media.
YesReplace excessively noisy 
optical drive.
J04
NoGo to step 3
3. Disc spin should cease 
approximately 30 seconds after 
mounting the media on the 
Desktop if the volume is not 
being accessed by applications.  
Verify the excessive noise is 
related to disc spin
YesNoise related to disc spin or 
disc surface contact, go to 
step 4
NoNoise related to possible disc 
load/eject issue, go to step 5
4.  Remove the optical drive. Verify 
the optical drive is correctly 
aligned with the carrier and 
securely fastened to minimise 
any vibrations. Ensure spare 
optical drive screws are not 
loose in the carrier. Reinstall 
the optical drive. Verify the 
carrier slides into the enclosure 
smoothly to ensure correct 
positioning and locking on 
the posts of the computer 
enclosure. Verify if optical drive 
is still noisy.
YesVerify tray eject mechanism.   
Go to step 5 
NoNoise issue resolved. Optical 
drive was not properly 
mounted in the computer 
enclosure. (Possible 
mechanical damage to optical 
drive.)  
(J05)  
						

							Mac Pro (Early 2009) Symptom Charts — Optical Drive Noisy 84 2010-09-27
5. Disc handling noise is typically 
motor gear sounds driving disc 
tray out of optical drive, with 
the enclosure door opening.  
Verify if the ejection noises are 
excessive compared to another 
same vendor/model optical 
drive using known good 
media.  
YesReplace noisy optical drive 
for load/eject related disc 
handling.
J04
NoNoise is not load/eject related. 
Go to step 6
6.  Disc spin should cease 30 
seconds after mounting on the 
desktop if the volume is not 
being accessed by applications.  
Media may be mounting on a 
defective internal spindle hub.  
Is the noise related to disc 
spin?
YesReplace optical drive due disc 
spin noisy operation.
J04
NoNoise does not appear to be 
optical drive related. Go to 
another noise related flow  
						

							Mac Pro (Early 2009) Symptom Charts — Optical Drive Not Performing to Specs 85 2010-09-27
Optical Drive Not Performing to Specs
Unlikely cause: speaker, fans, backplane board, processor board, processors, memory, power 
supply, enclosure, Bluetooth card, AirPort card
Quick Check
SymptomQuick Check
Optical Drive Not Performing to 
Specs
• Read or write speeds slower 
than expected.
• Unreliable recorded media
• Failure to complete recording 
on high quality media
1. Check with known good optical media. ie the 
Install media that came with the computer. Verify 
the media in another same model computer. Low 
quality, and consumer recorded media where 
the recording has not been optimized may cause 
excessive seek and read/write retries (leads to 
slower performance). For information regarding 
factors affecting writing to or reading from optical 
media, review http://support.apple.com/kb/
HT2882?viewlocale=en_US.
2.  For Write issues, check with Known Good media 
that performs well in another machine and drive 
of the same model.
3. Verify Audio CD’s without Copy Control are used 
during testing as computer optical drives may 
have difficulty reading the content.
4.  Check both CD and DVD media. If only one type 
of media is producing errors, there might be a 
laser related issue. (J99)
Deep Dive
CheckResultActionCode
1. Verify the optical drive is able 
to read both known good CD 
and DVD media?
YesReading is functional. Verify 
write to disc, go to step 5
NoOptical drive reads CD only, or  
optical drive reads DVD only 
indicates optical laser issue. 
Replace optical drive.
J03
Optical drive cannot read any 
media reliably,  Go to step 2  
						

							Mac Pro (Early 2009) Symptom Charts — Uncategorized Symptom 86 2010-09-27
2. Reseat SATA/Power cable 
connections between 
backplane board and optical 
drive (check for any cable and 
connector damage).   Verify the 
media is now recognized and 
reads reliably.
YesReseat cables resolved issue.
NoGo to step 3
3. Disconnect SATA/Power cable 
at backplane board. Use 
spare SATA/Power cable as 
alternate. Connect the spare 
cable to the port. Connect the 
alternate cable to the optical 
drive.  Verify the media is now 
recognized and reads/writes 
reliably.
YesSATA/Power cable defective.  
Replace SATA/Power cable. 
Issue resolved.
X03
NoGo to step 4
4.  Use alternate backplane board 
SATA port and retest. Test write 
data to compatible CD and 
DVD media.  Verify burned 
media is recognized and reads 
reliably.
Yesbackplane board defective. 
Replace backplane board
M19
NoReplace the optical drive.  Go 
to step 5
J03
5. Test write data to compatible 
CD and DVD media.  Verify 
recorded media is recognized 
and reads reliably.
YesIssue resolved. 
NoGo to step 2
Uncategorized Symptom
Quick Check
SymptomQuick Check
Uncategorized Symptom
Unable to locate appropriate 
symptom code
Verify whether existing symptom code applies to the 
issue reported by the user. If not, document reported 
symptom and send feedback to smfeedback@apple.
com stating that a suitable symptom code could not 
be found.  
						

							Mac Pro (Early 2009) Symptom Charts — USB Port Does Not Recognize Known Devices 87 2010-09-27
Input/Output Devices
Follow the steps in the order indicated below. If an action resolves the issue, retest the 
computer to verify. If the issue persists after retesting, return to step 1.
USB Port Does Not Recognize Known Devices
Unlikely cause: Power supply, fans, speaker, hard drives, optical drives, processor board, memory, 
backplane board
Quick Check
SymptomQuick Check
USB Port Does Not Recognize 
Known Devices
USB devices such as wired 
keyboard/mice and third-party 
devices not recognized
1. Check the for latest software updates for Apple 
and especially third party devices.
2.  Use Apple System Profiler to verify the computer 
recognizes each of the USB buses in the USB 
device tree.
3. Test front and rear ports with known good Apple 
keyboard or mouse.
4.  Verify any external USB device with large power 
requirements have their own external power 
supplies.
5. Verify external USB device cables by using known 
good cables.
Deep Dive
CheckResultActionCode
1. Disconnect all peripherals 
except for a known good 
Apple USB device.
YesGo to step 2
NoRepeat step 1  
						

							Mac Pro (Early 2009) Symptom Charts — FireWire Port Does Not Recognize Known Good Devices 88 2010-09-27
2. Verify the USB ports are free 
from contaminants and debris.
YesGo to step 3
NoRemove contaminants and 
debris. Replace affected 
modules if necessary. Defects 
caused by contaminants or 
debris are not covered by 
Apple warranty. Go to step 3.
3. Reset SMC. Verify each of the 
USB buses are recognized, and 
a known good connected USB 
device is recognized.
YesIssue resolved. Issue maybe 
caused by another peripheral 
device.
NoGo to step 4.
4.  Disconnect the front panel 
board. Verify a known good 
USB device connected to a 
rear port on the computer is 
recognized.
YesFront panel board failure. 
Replace front panel board
M15
NoBackplane board failure. 
Replace backplane board.
M15
FireWire Port Does Not Recognize Known Good 
Devices
Unlikely cause: Power supply, fans, speaker, hard drives, optical drives, processor board, memory
Quick Check
SymptomQuick Check
FireWire Port Does Not 
Recognize Known Good Devices
FireWire devices such as video 
cameras, etc. not recognized
1. Check for latest software updates for Apple and 
especially third party devices.
2.  Use Apple System Profiler to verify the computer 
recognizes each of the FireWire busses in the 
FireWire device tree.
3. Test front and rear ports with known good 
FireWire device and cable.
4.  Verify any external FireWire devices with large 
power requirements have their own external 
power supplies.
5. Verify external FireWire device cables by using 
known good cables.  
						

							Mac Pro (Early 2009) Symptom Charts — FireWire Port Does Not Recognize Known Good Devices 89 2010-09-27
Deep Dive
CheckResultActionCode
1. Disconnect all peripherals 
except for a known good 
FireWire device and cable.
YesGo to step 2
NoRepeat step 1
2.  Verify the FireWire ports are 
free from contaminants and 
debris.
YesGo to step 3
NoRemove contaminants and 
debris. Replace affected 
modules if necessary. Defects 
caused by contaminants or 
debris are not covered by 
Apple warranty. Go to step 3.
3. Reset SMC. Verify each of the 
FireWire buses are recognized, 
and a known good connected 
FireWire device is recognized?
YesIssue resolved. Issue maybe 
caused by another peripheral 
device.
NoGo to step 4.
4.  Disconnect the front panel 
board. Verify a known good 
FireWire device connected to 
a rear port on the computer is 
recognized
YesFront panel board failure. 
Replace front panel board.
M12
NoBackplane board failure. 
Replace backplane board.
M12  
						

							Mac Pro (Early 2009) Symptom Charts — No Audio from Internal Speaker 90 2010-09-27
No Audio from Internal Speaker
Unlikely cause: Power supply, fans, hard drives, optical drives, processors, processor board, front 
panel board, memory
Quick Check
SymptomQuick Check
No Audio from Internal Speaker
Can’t hear any audio from the 
computer’s internal speaker
1. Disconnect all external audio peripherals.
2.  Ensure volume is not at a low/muted setting.
3. Boot from Install media or external compatible 
Mac OS X. Listen for sound from internal speaker 
when adjusting volume setting.
4.  Connect headphones to rear Audio Line Out 
jack. Listen for sound from headphones when 
adjusting volume setting.
5. Connect headphones to front headphone 
jack. Listen for sound from headphones when 
adjusting volume setting.
6.  Reset PRAM
Deep Dive
CheckResultActionCode
1. Check System Profiler for 
audio devices (Audio (Built In) 
Intel High Definition Audio). 
Look for Internal Speaker 
Connection
YesBuilt-in audio devices 
available. Go to step 2
NoNo built in Audio devices 
available. Replace backplane 
board
M09
2.  Check Output in System 
Preferences (Sound pref pane) 
has ‘Internal Speaker’ selected.
YesSet to Internal Speaker. Go to 
step 3
NoThe wrong output device 
shown. ie headphones.  Go to 
step 6
3. Verify sound is heard from 
internal speaker.
YesIssue resolved
NoNo audio heard. Go to step 4