I recently upgraded my Mac Pro with 24 GB RAM and have filled each bay with 1TB drives. Everything was working great and then all of a sudden it won't boot, had never heard the fan at all prior to this and now it's very loud. There were no warning signs, poor performance or error messages. I tried a different graphics card and discovered I had the latest and had to put the original back in. A tiny piece of plastic that held the prongs in place broke off. I was surprised it still worked in spite of that missing piece of plastic.
Would anyone know if it's a software or hardware problem? Is the problem on my computer or Apple Display? There is no Mac repair near me and I will have to mail it to the nearest one in Makati I suppose. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
The heat sensor to the Processor tend to go out on the earlier mac pros that will prevent it from booting and that is why your fan will speed up and get louder. Also the heat sensor to the ram will do the same thing, you may have broken one off with the plastic piece you are talking about pull all your ram out and try adding two gig at a time to see if one is bad and don't use the one that is broken. it's worth looking at.
You obviously know more about the hardware than I do. What you say makes sense and I will try your recommendations. Is the heat sensor to the Processor a replaceable item? Or is it part of the motherboard? The piece of plastic that broke off is connected to the graphics card on the motherboard and is nowhere near the RAM storage area.
I came across an application that regulates the Fan called SMC FanControl. app I put it on my iMac and hoped it might help the MacPro too should I ever get it operational again.
I've always found tons of stuff online relating to booting issues on a Mac. One thing you can try is to remove the most recent drive you installed. You didn't say, but the machine will default to another drive if it has another hard drive with an OS on it suitable for booting. You can also try starting up holding down the option key, and choices might appear if the board and ROM is good and it spots a boot alternative. I wouldn't worry about the tiny piece of plastic. As long as the card stays in place to maintain the electrical connections, you will be OK.
Seeking inspiration for a event party menu
DH and I along with SIL and her BF will be hosting an anniversary party for my MIL and FIL (wow, that was a lot of abbreviating!). It's their 40th anniversary and we'll be serving appetizers, dinner and dessert to approximately 40-50 guests. I'm looking for some inspiration for a dinner that is not terribly complicated but will look impressive for the guests. For some reason, when I think of feeding a crowd, I can only think of lasagna and while I make great lasagna, I don't feel excited about serving it for this occasion.
So, we had considered recreating the meal that was served at their wedding reception. My FIL's father catered their reception and after talking with them last night, apparently neither of them looked back fondly on that meal and I don't think a re-do would be well received. They did love their cake and I plan to make a copy of the wedding cake for dessert.
So, I'm looking for your best ideas. We can work with: 5 burner stove with oven, 2 propane grills, charcoal grill, smoker, electric roaster oven, 2 propane burners (the type used for turkey frying) crockpots and two neighbors kitchens. We have plenty of people to help with preparation. We'd like something not-too-casual since it will be an evening event and while it will be in our backyard, we are planning to rent the big round tables with real linens and lots of elegant lighting, etc.
It sounded like the back in the day meal was a mishmash of stuff set up as a buffet. I know there was roast beef, some kind of meatballs, potato salad, mashed potatoes and, "some other stuff". I wouldn't rule out something like roast beef and I don't think they'd mind that either. I just don't think going for a total re-do of that meal would wow them.
Not too casual to me means the kind of meal one might get in a nicer restaurant. I'm not looking to do cold cut trays or a spaghetti feed or a huge pot of chili kind of dinner.
We haven't made a decision yet about plating or buffet. We're still looking for ideas to throw around.
We really don't have any kind of food restrictions for this event (whew!!!). No need to avoid any kind of meat, wheat, etc. I guess the only real exception would be that DH and I are not big fans of fish (we eat shrimp, crab, lobster but not stuff with fins) so while the guests would probably love that, we wouldn't get much pleasure from preparing it.
So, we had considered recreating the meal that was served at their wedding reception. My FIL's father catered their reception and after talking with them last night, apparently neither of them looked back fondly on that meal and I don't think a re-do would be well received. They did love their cake and I plan to make a copy of the wedding cake for dessert.
So, I'm looking for your best ideas. We can work with: 5 burner stove with oven, 2 propane grills, charcoal grill, smoker, electric roaster oven, 2 propane burners (the type used for turkey frying) crockpots and two neighbors kitchens. We have plenty of people to help with preparation. We'd like something not-too-casual since it will be an evening event and while it will be in our backyard, we are planning to rent the big round tables with real linens and lots of elegant lighting, etc.
It sounded like the back in the day meal was a mishmash of stuff set up as a buffet. I know there was roast beef, some kind of meatballs, potato salad, mashed potatoes and, "some other stuff". I wouldn't rule out something like roast beef and I don't think they'd mind that either. I just don't think going for a total re-do of that meal would wow them.
Not too casual to me means the kind of meal one might get in a nicer restaurant. I'm not looking to do cold cut trays or a spaghetti feed or a huge pot of chili kind of dinner.
We haven't made a decision yet about plating or buffet. We're still looking for ideas to throw around.
We really don't have any kind of food restrictions for this event (whew!!!). No need to avoid any kind of meat, wheat, etc. I guess the only real exception would be that DH and I are not big fans of fish (we eat shrimp, crab, lobster but not stuff with fins) so while the guests would probably love that, we wouldn't get much pleasure from preparing it.
Newbie Advice on a DSLR camera
So I'm trying to jump into the photography/DSLR world and was hoping you guys would have some suggestions or advice on what camera to start with. I've had a regular canon point and shoot for years now. I'm now debating between the Nikon D3200 and Nikon D7100. Is it better to start off with the D3200 and upgrade in the future if necessary?
I'm most likely gonna be photographing more landscapes, scenery, outdoors, travel photography etc. Of course, I'll also be using the camera for everyday photography as well.
Any recommendations for lenses? I was thinking to just start off with 18-55mm and 55-200mm which I'm assuming are the kit lenses you mentioned?
Be sure to budget for lenses
The kit lenses can produce passable images, but you will get far more mileage with quality lenses, which cost quite a bit more. I often recommend to new photographers this: buy a used body, and upgrade later as your skills start to surpass what the camera can offer. Or when the body starts to fail, which it will eventually. Use as much of your budget as you can for a good lens or two. Exactly what lens? That depends on what you'd like to shoot.
The body, if functioning properly, could easily be used. It will, however, be well served by a good lens that fits your needs. I bought a D3200 a year ago and love the simplicity, versatility and the price. But I don't love the Kit lens. Actually, the D3200 is now upgraded to a D3300 retail. It have a few more bells and whistles, more focus points, etc. But I am working towards some better glass.
I'm most likely gonna be photographing more landscapes, scenery, outdoors, travel photography etc. Of course, I'll also be using the camera for everyday photography as well.
Any recommendations for lenses? I was thinking to just start off with 18-55mm and 55-200mm which I'm assuming are the kit lenses you mentioned?
Be sure to budget for lenses
The kit lenses can produce passable images, but you will get far more mileage with quality lenses, which cost quite a bit more. I often recommend to new photographers this: buy a used body, and upgrade later as your skills start to surpass what the camera can offer. Or when the body starts to fail, which it will eventually. Use as much of your budget as you can for a good lens or two. Exactly what lens? That depends on what you'd like to shoot.
The body, if functioning properly, could easily be used. It will, however, be well served by a good lens that fits your needs. I bought a D3200 a year ago and love the simplicity, versatility and the price. But I don't love the Kit lens. Actually, the D3200 is now upgraded to a D3300 retail. It have a few more bells and whistles, more focus points, etc. But I am working towards some better glass.
Wedding Photography: Overpowering the Sun
One situation where this has come up in the past while I was doing a wedding is when the bride and groom come out of the Church and are just stepping into the sun light. There is no controlling where the sun will fall on their face and if it is a harsh sun it can blow out (be really bright almost to the point of white) an area of the subjects face while keeping the other areas properly exposed. The camera is limited in its metering ability and struggles with very light/dark area contrasts. If you try to properly exposed the blown out area the other areas will become too dark and lose detail. Either way you lose detail in either the blown out area or the too dark areas.
One thing you can do is properly expose the blown out part (making the other areas dark) and use a speedlight to expose the dark area and bring back out the details. On camera flashes will not be powerful enough to do this especially considering you might not be able to get right up close to the subject. Additionally, I believe the D3200 is menu driven and this can be slow to work with when shooting in rapidly changing environments. While your outside waiting for the couple to exit set your camera on center weighted metering (as opposed to matrix metering) and use a small focus area. When the couple comes out you can focus/meter on the blown out area and the camera will adjust for that area only. Then you can quickly re-frame the shot and snap away.
With a little bit of practice this is very easy and will allow you to work with varying blown out areas (dress, hair, skin, etc.) very quickly. When using this technique you will usually be outside with strong sun light and already be using a high F-stop but make sure not to go to low on the F-stop as you want a large depth of field area. Sometimes when you focus/meter on an area it might not be their face. You want to make sure that the face is in proper focus and a shallow depth of field will make this very difficult. Everyone wants soft backgrounds but proper exposure is way more important.
One thing you can do is properly expose the blown out part (making the other areas dark) and use a speedlight to expose the dark area and bring back out the details. On camera flashes will not be powerful enough to do this especially considering you might not be able to get right up close to the subject. Additionally, I believe the D3200 is menu driven and this can be slow to work with when shooting in rapidly changing environments. While your outside waiting for the couple to exit set your camera on center weighted metering (as opposed to matrix metering) and use a small focus area. When the couple comes out you can focus/meter on the blown out area and the camera will adjust for that area only. Then you can quickly re-frame the shot and snap away.
With a little bit of practice this is very easy and will allow you to work with varying blown out areas (dress, hair, skin, etc.) very quickly. When using this technique you will usually be outside with strong sun light and already be using a high F-stop but make sure not to go to low on the F-stop as you want a large depth of field area. Sometimes when you focus/meter on an area it might not be their face. You want to make sure that the face is in proper focus and a shallow depth of field will make this very difficult. Everyone wants soft backgrounds but proper exposure is way more important.
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