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Mindgap

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 31, 2019
81
86
California
Hey,

So this weekend I ran into a problem with my 5,1 with AMD RX580. After a reboot triggered by an installation of Air Display by Avatron my screen will not get any signal from the graphics card anymore. This is what happended step by step:

- I installed Air Display (Host App) from Avatron (https://avatron.com/applications/air-display)
- Got the prompt to reboot my system.
- System reboots and I can hear the chime.
- Dislpay stays dark and no signal anymore.

First, I thought its the GC and I ordered a new one from Amazon to make sure its not. Put a Vega 56 in and same result. It starts, the drives are spinning but no signal.

I restarted to Mac another 4 times and walked away frustrated not knowing what to do.

10 minutes later I walked back to my desk and what a surprise, my monitor was on and I could login. Yeah! I checked if the new GC (Vega 56) was recognized by the system and ran a few benchmark tests. Everything was ok.

20 minutes later, I was about to try out the Air Display software and needed to restart the system again. Restart, and again chime and no signal.

I cant even boot into recovery mode right now and I think that Air Display did something to my Mac.


Any hints how to solve the mystery?
 
Last edited:

MIKX

macrumors 68000
Dec 16, 2004
1,815
690
Japan
Do you have BOTH the RX580 AND the Vega 56 installed at the same time ?

if so how are you powering both cards ?

PS : It would help is you made a SIGNATURE = describes your cMP set up.

My SIGNATURE is at the bottom of this post.

A SIGNATURE helps us to help you & saves us having to ask about your system every time you post.

macrumors member SIGNATURE.png
 
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Mindgap

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 31, 2019
81
86
California
Do you have BOTH the RX580 AND the Vega 56 installed at the same time ?

if so how are you powering both cards ?

PS : It would help is you made a SIGNATURE = describes your cMP set up.

My SIGNATURE is at the bottom of this post.

A SIGNATURE helps us to help you & saves us having to ask about your system every time you post.

Of course I had only one card at a time in the PCI slot and I powered them through the right cables.

I was digging deeper tongight and nothing so far could fix it. PRAM reset, SMC reset, etc.
I checked the DIAG LEDs for error and I figured that the green light for GPU OK is not burning when I press the test button. Any ideas what that could be? I assume the cards cant be the problem or is it possible that both new cards are death?
 

fastlanephil

macrumors 65816
Nov 17, 2007
1,289
274
Of course I had only one card at a time in the PCI slot and I powered them through the right cables.

I was digging deeper tongight and nothing so far could fix it. PRAM reset, SMC reset, etc.
I checked the DIAG LEDs for error and I figured that the green light for GPU OK is not burning when I press the test button. Any ideas what that could be? I assume the cards cant be the problem or is it possible that both new cards are death?

Do you have a backup boot drive?
 

Mindgap

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 31, 2019
81
86
California
Do you have a backup boot drive?

No spare here right now.

I was able to enter recovery mode and install Mojave now. When I started the install the system wanted me to do another Firmware update. I remember doing one back in the days when Mojave first came out and wasnt aware there was another one?!
Firmware went through (with black screen) but I was able to tell its happening because the CD slot went out and back in. Now, going through a Mojave reinstall. If this doesnt help I will wipe the HD and make a complete fresh install.
 

tsialex

Contributor
Jun 13, 2016
12,875
13,113
Hey,

So this weekend I ran into a problem with my 5,1 with AMD RX580. After a reboot triggered by an installation of Air Display by Avatron my screen will not get any signal from the graphics card anymore. This is what happended step by step:

- I installed Air Display (Host App) from Avatron (https://avatron.com/applications/air-display)
- Got the prompt to reboot my system.
- System reboots and I can hear the chime.
- Dislpay stays dark and no signal anymore.

First, I thought its the GC and I ordered a new one from Amazon to make sure its not. Put a Vega 56 in and same result. It starts, the drives are spinning but no signal.

I restarted to Mac another 4 times and walked away frustrated not knowing what to do.

10 minutes later I walked back to my desk and what a surprise, my monitor was on and I could login. Yeah! I checked if the new GC (Vega 56) was recognized by the system and ran a few benchmark tests. Everything was ok.

20 minutes later, I was about to try out the Air Display software and needed to restart the system again. Restart, and again chime and no signal.

I cant even boot into recovery mode right now and I think that Air Display did something to my Mac.


Any hints how to solve the mystery?
Air Display is not compatible with Mojave and AMD RX 4xx/5xx/VEGA/VII GPUs, you will get a black screen. Uninstall it or do a clean install.

BTW, the current MP5,1 BootROM version is 144.0.0.0.0 and you can install it downloading and running the full installer for 10.14.6 from the Mac App Store. You can get the download link here if you don't have it:

Apple Support: Upgrade to macOS Mojave.
 
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Mindgap

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 31, 2019
81
86
California
Air Display is not compatible with Mojave and AMD RX 4xx/5xx/VEGA/VII GPUs, you will get a black screen. Uninstall it or do a clean install.
Thanks for verifying this. Drove me nuts yesterday not knowing what really caused the black screen. I ran the backup tonight and later the SSD will get a fresh install of Mojave. Hopefully that solves it. I will report back.
 
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