My MacDaddy has gone blind.

So, i'm not getting any picture out of my mac.

I was using it on thursday night, and all of a sudden the picture went dead. Although the mac still sounds fine, and when i stop and start it, it sounds like it is starting up fine.

Any idea what could be wrong?

and does anyone know of a good place i can bring it to get fixed? I only know of Magnum Mac.. so was going to bring it there if no one has any better suggestions.

Thanks

Could be graphics card, monitor or cable.

Checking with another monitor or cable would rule them out ...or plugging the monitor into another computer.

Yep did this, tried two different monitors with two different types of cables.

So the graphics card you reckon? what's the story with these.. do they just die sometimes? Are they very expensive to replace?

I don't know what the deal is with Macs and graphics cards.

I've had a fan on a graphics card stop working before and it the card overheated and died. Could be something like that.

Hopefully it's not too expensive!

Haha!

Mac Pro yes? In which case thank your lucky stars you can replace just the video card, not an entire motherboard.

However, it's a pain in the are to find one that works under OSX. Best bet is still to hit up Magnum or whoever else for replacement.

For comparison, middle of the road PC video card would be around $150-200.

Yeah Mac Pro, or Powermac... whatever it's called.

Ok cool, i will just bring it into Magnum Mac and leave it with him.. see what they say. I think it had a blackmagic Video Card in it, but i wouldn't need that again.

Thanks!

Maybe it got a blackmagic woman?

racist imo.

word of advice:

Don't use Magnum Mac. They told me that i would get an email in 3 to 4 days letting me know what was wrong with it, then it would be turned around within 7 days max.

2 weeks later, still no word. It's just a video card ffs!

Lol, so i ring up the service department just now to find out what the fucks happening... and the technician has gone home for the day. So i ask why it's taken almost 3 weeks.. and the lady says he is still trying to figure out if it's the video card or the logic board (or something like that). Surely it shouldn't take this long to figure that out!?

A Mac's flux-capacitor needs to be tested for three weeks first before any other diagnostic checks can be done. You don't have this problem with PC's as they aren't equipped with flux-capacitors.

Flux-capacitors are nice to have, but an absolute cunt to service. Something Apple don't tell you.

Seriously, it takes like 2 mins to check if it is the video card or not, and most of that time is opening the damn case up.

1: Open machine
2: Current card out
3: New card in
4: Turn on machine.

At that point, if it works, it was the video card, if it doesn't, it's the board.

but shouldnt a mac's flux capacitors "just work"?

What I don't understand is, with all these spare flux's lying around why an Apple technician can't just ask himself three weeks in the future whether or not it was the flux-capacitor or not

Oh shit brain fart.

Sounds like incompetence. Or they haven't actually bothered to get round to looking to see what the problem it. As kris_b said, it should be straightforward to determine the problem.

Thanks all.

OK, so just got quote in:




Does all this seem correct? pricing etc?

i'm not going to pay it anyway, not worth it.

Im no expert when it comes to Apple hardware but that is a mighty high price for a 9600XT card dude.

cheers dude, just waiting to hear back from one of our suppliers @ DVT on how much i can get them for.

Around $200 if you check out pricespy. I suspect that the board itself might be a little different cause its going into a mac but surely cant triple the price.

Sweet, we get all our mac stuff for work from them.. so he should have a good idea. Poor service all round from Magnum Mac... won't be using them ever again.

Plus, when i brought the mac in, i paid $60 assessment charge. I was then told that i might have to pay an additional $60 on top of this, if the assessment takes a considerable amount of time. And i see on the quote they are trying to charge me the additional 60, even though it has taken them 2.5 weeks longer than they told me it would take, for a 30 minute job! idiots, definitely won't pay that extra 60.

Ask for a breakdown of what they have done and the time each task took.

Should be good for a laugh.

Card firmware has to be different iirc, and these AGP cards are thin on the ground these days.

As you would have guessed, since you can only find a single one listed on PS.

AND it's not in stock anyway.

Having a hard time trying to find one...

I wonder what alternates i can use.

alternatives.

What sort of a MAC is it? I would think there is a fair few cards you can replace it with.

There were a handful to start with, but finding them these days is a hassle.

As I recall, has has one of the early dual G5 Power Macs? The fact that they are quoting him a 9600 XT AGP confims this.

Compatible cards:
GeForce: FX 5200 Ultra, 6800 GT and 6800 Ultra.

Radeon: 9600, 9600 XT, 9650, X800 XT, X850 XT, 9800 Pro 128MB, 9800 Pro 256MB, 9800 XT


And they MUST be the Mac versions. There are limited ways to reflash SOME of the cards with the Mac firmware, if you can find it.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Computers/Components/Video-cards/AGP/auction-253095472.htm

$1 reserve one if you wanna try reflashing it.

Would I be right in thinking you wouldn't have this problem with the new Intel Powermacs?

Sorry, Intel Mac Pros

Thanks for the info & link Kris

Not sure?

Still the same OSX with the same limited driver selections and the same requirement for Mac firmware on the card.

You'd have slightly less of a problem because the current Intel Pros use the current PCI-E interface rather than old n busted AGP, meaning cards are much more plentiful.

As technology ages, the production levels drop, so stock becomes sparse and the price goes up.

This is the problem with getting an AGP video card (plus added Mac tax, plus added Magnum Mac tax), and is also witnessed when trying to get RAM for an old machine.

DDR memory for example is hideously expensive compared to DDR2 or even DDR3, because all the production is based around 2 and 3.

I've just been offered from one of our wholesalers a near new, ex demo, iMac 24' 2.66Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo for $1,890.

Na that's a dumb idea.

Well, you're getting a bigger screen (same resolution) and a slightly slower CPU and slightly smaller hard drive.

I'd be tempted tbh. Slightly used isn't an issue, since for $309 you can add AppleCare to it (as long as it's under 12 months) and have 3 years warranty out of it.

Or, you can find it for US$76 on ebay - know a few guys who've just bought it, fully legit and registered happily.

Yeah i am tempted... but at the end of the day i think faster CPU and slightly smaller screen + brand new = win for me.

I can plug another monitor into the Mini Display Port can't i?

Yerp.

Sweet, so even if i got a 21.5 inch, i could buy and plug a bigger one in at a later time. That's a bonus.

I got the 21.5inch one... which is big enough. The mouse is awesome!

And yes, i literally took it out of the box, plugged it in, and started using it straight away

After i had bought it, i was walking out of the shop... and saw sitting on the 2nd hand shelf, a ATI Radeon 9600 XT card for $50.

So i grabbed it and am going to try and replace it myself.. so then i can hopefully sell the old mac.

Yeah, should be easy as pie to replace.

Did you buy from Magnum Mac?

Yeah i bought it from their new market store.

They were pretty good about the issues i had with my old computer while it was being fixed, they go through another company "renaissance" for repairs.

Renaissance is their parent company, all their service is done there.

Great, i am now considering returning it.. for the 27inch.

I mean, it's only a couple of hundred dollars more..

Ahhhhhhahahahaha.

they won't let me, oh well.. that makes that decision easier anyways!