I have just inherited a Mac pro workstation dual quad need help!

[jackofalltrades]

2[H]4U

Messages:3,400Joined:Feb 7, 2006





I have inherited a mac pro workstation dual quad setup, what do I need to reinstall the osx without dvd's? can it be done over the internet? This is a 2012 model not the newer trashcan design. I think the hdd is bad and I do not have recovery dvd's. BTW I have worked on pc's for 15+ years but I'm a real newbie to mac.

 

[wilds]

Holding Command+R on boot should bring up Internet Recovery. I strongly recommend putting in an SSD for the OS. Any SSD should work, as long as it is formatted in the correct partition table.
This software enable's TRIM on 3rd party SSD's: https://s3.amazonaws.com/cindori/TrimEnabler.dmg

Basically you want to boot into Recovery mode, and open Disk Utility. Format the drive in a GUID partition table and create as many partitions as you need. Make sure the partition you are installing OS X to is in OS X Extended (Journaled).

This will let you select that partition for OS X installation. Creating a bootable USB drive of El Capitan is also quite easy if you have access to a Mac.

Internet Recovery: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314
El Capitan Bootable USB: http://www.macworld.com/article/298...le-os-x-10-11-el-capitan-installer-drive.html

Another startup keyboard shortcut to remember is holding alt at startup. This lets you select which device to boot from. Also remember that NTFS is not writable on OS X. I strongly recommend adopting exFAT for storage compatibility with Windows and OS X or using 3rd party software.

 

[jackofalltrades]

Well good news! apple has stated they have my system working from a external boot drive and the problem appears to be a hard drive issue so I am going to throw in a spare I have at home and if all is well maybe toss in a SSD and start enjoying my new to me MAC!

 

[TheStu]

Mac. Short for Macintosh.

MAC is Media Access Control (address), used in networking. Or Money Access Card, once upon a time.

Glad it's working for you now. But, did you for real take it to an Apple Store??

 

[jackofalltrades]

Mac. Short for Macintosh.

MAC is Media Access Control (address), used in networking. Or Money Access Card, once upon a time.

Glad it's working for you now. But, did you for real take it to an Apple Store??

Yes I couldn't get the options commands to work at all it took apple a few days to get it to work, I am going to load osx on it I wasn't able to get enough information to troubleshoot the issue. It also didn't cost anything either.

 

[TheStu]

Yes I couldn't get the options commands to work at all it took apple a few days to get it to work, I am going to load osx on it I wasn't able to get enough information to troubleshoot the issue. It also didn't cost anything either.

Nice. What're the specs of the machine?

 

[KeithP]

This software enable's TRIM on 3rd party SSD's: https://s3.amazonaws.com/cindori/TrimEnabler.dmg

That shouldn't be needed if he installs El Cap. In fact, It doesn't look like Trim Enabler is even supported in El Cap or latest versions Yosemite:

https://www.cindori.org/documentation/

Here is some info about enabling trim in El Cap:
http://osxdaily.com/2015/10/29/use-trimforce-trim-ssd-mac-os-x/
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2015/0...lows-you-to-enable-trim-for-third-party-ssds/

There is an app available to enable OS X's trim without using the terminal, haven't used it myself though.
https://www.cindori.org/software/disksensei/

-KeithP

 

[jackofalltrades]

Dual quad xeon 3.2 ghz cpus with ATi graphics card dual dvi( other specs will be gathered later) 8 gig of ram 4 on each cpu may upgrade later if needed. really great shape for the age system. I am excited to try it out. Apple tech said they tested it on lion with an external drive and it performed great!

 

[Raduque]

Not an Apple guy really, but would totally love to have a dual-quad Xeon Mac Pro, just to say I have one

 

[vailr]

Not an Apple guy really, but would totally love to have a dual-quad Xeon Mac Pro, just to say I have one

$918 (shipped):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mac-Pro-201...-32GB-RAM-2TB-HD-1-Year-Warranty/182005879947

If there's a spare PCIe slot, Amazon has some FrescoLogic USB 3.0 cards that should be natively supported by OSX.

 

[TheStu]

$918 (shipped):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mac-Pro-201...-32GB-RAM-2TB-HD-1-Year-Warranty/182005879947

If there's a spare PCIe slot, Amazon has some FrescoLogic USB 3.0 cards that should be natively supported by OSX.

That's not a terrible price, but it's the single socket model (in the 4,1 and 5,1 Pros, the CPU/RAM tray was replaceable, so one could track down a dual CPU tray to drop into it).