Mac Pro, 10.11
When I suggested above that you NOT replace like-for-like I wanted to be sure you did not simply replace that old 2600 card with a fixed up version of the same old card, because graphics technology has moved along briskly since the 2600 was a good card.
You can still buy a good Apple-firmware 5770 card for not a lot of money, and it will work better and run much cooler than the original card, because the chips on it are newer technology that runs cooler.
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Aux câbles sometimes come with the new card, but are always re-usable from the old card. they are about 6 inches long and plug into some sockets on the backplane nearby, because the PCIe slots can't provide all the power needed to run most graphics cards.
I have only managed to get it beyond a continous chime twice (by holding down the option key). Once I got a grey screen which flickered and was not stable, but I could make out two icons; the hard disk and another labelled "recovery...". Once I got a stable grey screen with no icons; but mostly now I can't get beyond the repeated chime. Sounds like something else apart from the graphics card might be the culprit?
The graphics card - ATI Radon that I purchased is faulty. The computer just chimed repeatedly and there was nothing on the screen. The seller agreed to refund. I put the old (Nivida) card back in; and powered on...the machine chimed and I got the stable grey screen with two icons pretty immeadiately: one labelled HD and the other recovery. I clicked the hard disk icon and got the apple logo and the bar. As usual progress stopped and I got the interference pattern on the grey screen. I guess I try again with another card? Do you have any further advice? Thank you for sticking with this!
<<. I have been given some advice that I should keep this machine 'away' from the internet - that is not allow it to access my WiFi. >>
There are two kinds of vulnerabilities that have no way to be resolved with that setup.
The first is an obscure attack vector that could expose prefetched cached data to break into other processes running on your computer. Its use requires an attacker with state-level sophistication, but it is a vulnerability nonetheless. Intel declined to provide adequate firmware revisions to cut it off, saying these processors were too old. Apple revised Safari to blunt most of its use without crippling multi-processing performance.
The second is more mundane software updates that cut off newly-discovered vulnerabilities in macOS. Once 10.14 Mojave was released, any new security updates were not sent out for 10.11 El Capitan. So your older MacOS may not be able to defend itself against current attacks.
The overall threat limit may not be that high, but it is definitely not as low as many users would like. If you are a political activist or official of any kind, or have any comparable visibility, you should NOT connect this Mac to the Internet.
(The reverse is deliberately left hanging. It is up to you.)
Neg scanning is more in my line than political activism! Thank you for the informed and considered reply! I really am delighted to be able to get into my computer once more. Couldn’t have done it without your help - and I’ve learned a lot in the process…sending thanks and best wishes.
exactly which model Mac Pro?
menu > About this Mac
(please don't post your serial number, it attracts vermin.)
Yes! Looked down there and there it was...cryptic is right but excellent way to check what's in the tin!
Believe in yourself. You are on the right track.
Readers here are all glad you got it sorted out.
YOU did the heavy lifting, and you gained some increased confidence in your ability to "Make it go!"
Mac Pro running OS El Capitan refuses to complete startup
