[geeks] The Woes of Mac Pro

[Mark Benson]

On 19 Aug 2008, at 03:27, Shannon Hendrix wrote:

> Yeah, I saw quite a few that mentioned a font library too.

Apparently mistyping the font size to a huge number is pretty much a  
banker.

>> Re-install?? Oh lord.

> Well, I can't boot my boot DVD, and Apple refuses to give me a new  
> one, so I did a live install from my running 10.5.4 OS.
>
> Basically you just navigate on the install DVD to /system where the  
> installer packages live, and run osinstall.mpkg.
>
> That let's you install to another hard drive, full install.
>
> I ran that, then ran Combo 10.5.4 and picked the new drive as target.
>
> I then booted the new drive and let it run data migration.

Wow, that is a REALLY useful tip. Filed under 'useful MAc stuff',  
Thanks :o)

Only problem is I now need another SATA hard drive to re-install too,  
I have 1x OS X (160GB and it's pretty full with all my non-essential  
crap), 1x Vista and 2x Data. Kinda awkward...

> [stuff and]... Otherwise, it seems to work well.

All good stuff to know, I'll bear that in mind. Now if only I knew how  
to clone Vista to another hard drive without upsetting OS X. Maybe I  
need to test MS's migration tools too :P

> Before I did the OS upgrade, I updated my Time Machine and CCC  
> backups though.

But of course.

>> It doesn't help that the *whole UI* is OpenGL powered though, you  
>> have to admit :P
>
> True, but I figured maybe pushing it made the problem worse.

Aye, it usually crops up on mine with lots of windows and apps open.  
More stress on the OpenGL subsystem does seem to set it off. I have  
taken to the old fashioned approach of quitting apps not in use.

> Running EVE triggered the weirdness several times before I did the  
> OS reinstall.

Running EVE triggers a lot of weirdness, not least in the people that  
play it (they include me, for the record :oP)...

> Well, you can try running Combo Updates, as that will sometimes fix  
> broken files.
>
> Of course, it does you little good for corrupt files that were  
> unchanged from the original.

Since it sprung up since 10.5.4 I suspect it is something that's  
changed, so it might be worth a shot.

> That's why it is so important to be able to update your install  
> media to what you run.

Yes, yes. You (re)made your point ;o)

> The airflow from CPU->memory boards is kinda bad too.  I don't quite  
> understand the point in the artificial obstructions they put in  
> there.  It causes dust to settle, restricts airflow, and doesn't  
> sufficiently cool the Northbridge.


> It's better than a lot of other machines, but it is a very common  
> source of Mac Pro overheating.  My solution to that was to speed SMC  
> base speed to 1000rpm.  It's still very quiet.

Yeh, that's something that's struck me looking at the temperature too.  
Alas it never get hot enough in the UK for it to bother my machine!

>> A slot lock would have been great but I don't see how you could  
>> make it work at that length of board, unless it was some insane  
>> contraption like SGI used to hold boards in... or maybe just a  
>> couple of tabs with those cute 'Erm, Mr Jobs, I can't actually do  
>> those up with my fingers' captive thumb screws they used to such  
>> total non-effect on the PCI-e slots :P
>
> I've seen a lot of systems that deep with good board locks.  It's  
> not that hard.

Yeh, Ultra 60 CPU boards spring to mind... good point :)

-- 
Mark Benson

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"Never send a human to do a machine's job..."