Brand new Mac mini ONLY displays when waking from sleep

Have an unusual problem.
Brand new 2011 Mac mini. Turn it on, and I do not get the grey Apple logo screen or normal spinning cog. Light comes on as normal, and chime chimes as normal. I've tried three different monitors now and I never get a display, unless I put the mini to sleep with the power button in back, then wake it with a keyboard key stroke, the display turns on and works as normal.
As of 20 Sep 2011, I've got all the software and EFI updates installed. I've also reset the PMU, SMC, PRAM, and NVRAM to no avail.
Thanks.
DJ Horton
Message was edited by: DJ Horton

Yes, sure did. Tried different cables and Thunderbolt to video adapters. Don't know if it makes a difference, but I'm using VGA. Originally tried it about a week ago with DVI and it worked ok. The problem is the monitor we're using in our classroom doesn't support DVI or HDMI.

Similar Messages

Brand new Mac mini only boots into recovery mode...

I just picked up a brand new mac mini a couple of hours ago and right from the start, it asked only for a language perference and then after that having been selected, promply went straight to the OS X Utilities screen.
I cant seem to get it out of this mode. And because I do not have an internet conncetion set up on it, I can't, for example, re-install anything or restore or...
It's basically a boat anchor right now.

Startup holing the Option key and see if the Startup Manager will allow you to select the Macintosh HD.
see > Startup Manager: How to select a startup volume
If not, then return it for either a full refund, a replacement system or help.

Detect display when waking from sleep?

Is there any way to force the display detection when waking from sleep? I find that if the mini wakes before the monitor is on, i get a blank screen. When the monitor is on before waking, everything is normal.
I have the DVI-Detective, and the problem is actually worse when using it -- nothing is detected when waking up, no matter if the display is on or not.
My specs:
OS 10.5
C2D, 2Ghz - 2GB RAM
Sharp Aquos 52inch
All standard HD resolutions work fine - it's just now a matter if figuring out how to force the mini to detect the display...
Surely there must be a way to do this?

Great that you got it working. It seems what is happening when the TV is switched off is that the Mac can no longer see the EDID data. Basically, it's the same as if a hot-unplug event had occurred from OS X's perspective. The mini thinks the TV's video cable has been unplugged, so it thinks it is running headless, which of course it is not. And for some reason not completely clear to me, when the TV's power is restored, a hot-replug event is not triggered and the mini still thinks it's running headless. Maybe you are right that it is removed from the list of connected devices for good. But it isn't supposed to work like that.
The DVI Detective is the right tool for the job in cases like this, so it's good you have one and it's good you got it working. I agree it would be nice if there was more override control within OS X for times like this when things go wrong. But if more TV and 2nd/3rd tier monitor makers paid more attention to computer plug-and-play, then these things would work right in the first place. Your TV is in violation of the plug-and-play standard because the standard calls for the host (Mac mini in this case) to be able to power the ROM and I2C bus within the TV even if the TV is in a powered down state. Clearly your TV isn't doing this.

Missing sound + missing USB power (sometimes) from Thunderbolt Display when waking from sleep

Hi
Two problems - one of which is driving med crazy!!
Have the latest updates, and the display is connected to a MBA (mid 2011).
The two are almost alwayes connected, and every time I wake the MBA from sleep, the Thunderbold Display does not "support usb sound" - the sound options are only MBA and headphones. Only a restart will give me the option to use Thunderbolt as sound output: WHAT TO DO!?!?!!
Sometimes when waking from sleep the USB in the Display seems to be "off" - the will not charge my devices (iPhone, iPad etc.). Only reboot seems to fix this... I have seen this in other discussions but not found a permanent solution - any thoughts?

Same here but reinstalling OSX is a bit drastic. I solved the problem by deleting a preference.
Go to Macintosh HD then System then Library then Preference panes then Sound.prefPane
Delete Sound.prefPane (you need to type your password).
Logout or restart.
This has happend twice this week so WHY is this suddenly occurring?
Hi,
I found this solution in the forum, but I can't find it again. I had cut and pasted it into a text file, because it solved my problem. I just don't want to take any credit for it. It did work for me. I had no problems for 3-4 weeks with the monitor, I have had the sound problem since last Friday. Very frustrating.
BSGINC

A brand new Mac Pro doesn't wake up from sleep

I got a new Mac Pro.
It has an external SATA controller and a video card with NVIDIA Quadro 4000 chipset on it.
It has a Snow Leopard installed.
The problem it has is that it doesn't wake up once it goes to sleep, either by choosing "Sleep" menu item or by using "Energy Saving" setting.
I notice some people mention a keyboard doesn't respond while his trackpad does. In my case, nothing works.
I don't know if it is due to keyboard or a magic mouse. I tried to connect another wired mouse to the enclosure of the Mac Pro directly, but it did't cause Mac Pro wake up.
By searching on Google, many people seem to have this problem, whether they have Mac Pro, MacBook Pro, and so on.
Personally, I have a 17" PPC iMac, 13" MacBook with Core Duo 2, and have used MacBook Pro 17", but they didn't have this problem.
I tried to reset the SMC, but it didn't help.
Do anyone know what cause this problem and how to solve it?
Is there any patch for this?
Thank you.

Does it sound like it's waking up but the monitor just doesn't display anything?
I ask because if so, I'm experiencing the same problem. I have a Quad-Core Mac Pro (no external devices) and if it goes to sleep I have difficulty getting it to display anything on the monitor after waking it up. Now, I just recently hooked up an additional monitor (VGA) for dual display, and the funny thing is, that monitor will wake, but my main monitor won't.
Sometimes I get this error after boot-up too, where the computer will get to the login screen, but my main monitor is receiving no signal ("at least according to my monitor").
If that's the same issue, then I'll post any success I find for you!
Best,
J

Mac Pro Clicks Off When Waking from Sleep

This is a recurring problem, that is all the more annoying for its lack of consistency. Occasionally when my Mac is sleeping it'll just "click" (it actually makes a clicking sound) and shut off immediately when I try to wake it. Pressing the power button does nothing.
After a lot of trial and error I've found that the best solution is to unplug the power cord and wait for maybe 15+ seconds. Then I plug it back in, press the power button and she starts up like nothing happened--as if we don't both know what happened.
I'm on a good streak now, and it hasn't happened for a while, but given my experiences with it, I can't really relax.
Any ideas? Thanks for your time.
Mac Pro Mac OS X (10.4.8)

I bet it's draw!
Yep, power draw. How about this for a knee slapper:
I had my MacPro plugged in to the same socket as a moderatly
stuffed PeeCee and every time I woke up the MacPro the PeeCee
would click off. The PeeCee PSU wasn't getting enough juice
and just turned off.
Now I have a poor electrical system in the current house that
I'm in. I think the Main breaker is 15 amps and the two that
split off are 10 each. So I can't toast toast and nuke some
cold coffee at the same time that the 3 PCs and the 22" CRT
are on in a lit room without the main breaker tripping. But
without the toaster and nukrowave running the MacPro when
waking up harshly dims all the lights in the house for about
0.5 seconds.
If your Mac is asking for more than it's getting there might
be some smart circutry in the PSU (like there is in most nice
PeeCee PSUs) that turn it off before it causes any trouble.
Make sure it's that only thing plugged into the socket that
you're using for it and see if that doesn't solve it.

Power Mac G5 Shuts Down When Waking From Sleep

I picked up a Power Mac G5 for a song at work. It had OS X Tiger 10.4.11, 1 GB RAM and 160 GB HDD, I've since upgraded the RAM to 2 GB, the HDD to 1 TB, and installed OS X Leopard 10.5 from an install disk I had bought when it first came out, and then upgraded to 10.5.8. It works and does what I want it to do.
It refuses to wake up from sleep since I first brought it home.
When it goes to sleep, the power light pulses like it should. However, when I move the mouse or press a key, it does a hard shutdown imediately. I've explored the suggestions here and searched on the internet for a solution.
Here is what I have done:
1.     Unplugged everything but the keyboard and monitor
2.     Replaced the keyboard with another white one that had never been used
3.     Replaced the battery on the Logic Board
4.     Pressed the SMC button on the Logic Board
5.     Did a PRAM reset
6.     Erased, partitioned the disk, and reinstalled Leopard from scratch
There are no extra programs loaded, only Leopard and the programs that came with it.
I've changed the Energy Saver Preference Pane to never sleep:
This is not going to kill me if the best option is to never sleep.
Everyone have a nice day.
Boyd

Boyd Porter wrote:
It is on an APC ups, so it could be a flaky power supply. At least it doesn't do any spontaneous shutdowns, yet, so I can live with it. If it dies, I will buy a new MacMini.
I had a similar sporadic problem with my G5 on a UPS which was failing. The surge on wake was enough to sag the power causing the PSU to kill the power supply. The UPS finally tanked and getting a new one cured the problem. You might see how it reacts on normal mains power as an experiment.
Also, never underestimate the capacity of a G5 power supply to accumulate dust, which reminds me that it is time I blew out my power supply dust, since it's been about a year since the last cleaning.

Diamond shape momentarily displayed when waking from sleep

Hi
A couple of days ago when I woke my MBP from sleep I was a bit surprised to see a large diamond shape (it may have been a cube rotated through 90 degrees but it was only visible for about a second so I didn't get a great chance to look at it) appear in the middle of the screen before my desktop was displayed. This isn't something I've seen before and it hasn't done it again since. It looked like it was a silvery, grey sort of colour.
Does anyone know what this should be and, if so, is it anything to be concerned about?
Many thanks.

Hi
A couple of days ago when I woke my MBP from sleep I was a bit surprised to see a large diamond shape (it may have been a cube rotated through 90 degrees but it was only visible for about a second so I didn't get a great chance to look at it) appear in the middle of the screen before my desktop was displayed. This isn't something I've seen before and it hasn't done it again since. It looked like it was a silvery, grey sort of colour.
Does anyone know what this should be and, if so, is it anything to be concerned about?
Many thanks.

Computer Name changes when waking from sleep

Hi,
I'm running OS X Lion Server on a Mac Mini 2ghz Core 2 Duo and every time it wakes from sleep I get a message saying "There is already a computer on the network named MacServer, renaming to MacServer (2)".
It only happens when waking from sleep. If I reboot or use the mini for hours without sleeping it's fine, but once it's gone to sleep it renames on wake. When it sleeps overnight it's named MacServer (5) by the morning, as it wakes up every two hours or so to re-register itself on the network and each time it renames itself.
I don't have any other compters on the network with the same name. The only other computer is a MBP and has a completly different name.
Here's my setup;
My Mac Mini is wired via ethernet to a Time Capsule. AirPort is turned off (I've tried on and off).
My Mac Mini has a static IP address (x.x.x.40) with DHCP for everything else (DNS, etc.)
The Time Capsule is wired to an ADSL router via ethernet.
The ADSL router manages DHCP and NAT, with IP pool x.x.x.2 through x.x.x.30.
DHCP and NAT are turned off on the Time Capsule (bridged mode).
Wireless is turned off on the ADSL router.
Time Capsule is handling wireless.
I've tried resetting the ADSL router. I've tried resetting the Time Capsule (to factory defaults).
The problem seems to be with mDNSResponder, as the log seems to suggest that it is this daemon that thinks there's a duplicate computer name. I've even looked at the source code for mDNSResponder and the last mod-log entry suggests that a fix was put in for this issue in 2009. It doesn't look like it's fixed it, though.
I've tried doing a fresh install of OS Server several times now and, after the last install, it started happening before I got a chance to restore from a Time Machine backup. i.e. on a completly fresh install and assigning a completely new computer name.
Can anyone help me on this issue? It's driving me insane!

I switched the server's WI-FI off and connected the ethernet cable to the ADSL router instead of the Time Capsule and, after several reboots, sleeps and wakes, there was no change to the server name. The Time Capsule was still switched on, connected to the ADSL router via ethernet, and available on the network, however the server rename issue went away.
I then took the ethernet cable out of the ADSL router, plugged it back into the Time Capssule, put it to sleep, woke it up, and guess what? That right; 'The name of your computer "safserver" is already...renamed to "safserver (2)"'
So, it looks like it's the Time Capsule. I'm going to downgrade the firmware from 7.6.1 to 7.6.0 to see if the last update is responsible. If this doesn't cure it, I'll try older firmwares and, if none of them work it's time for a Genius appointment.
(I khow another obvious question lurks: "why not leave it plugged into the ADSL router?" Answer: "ADSL router doesn't supply Gigabit ethernet.")

Monitor Blanks in and Out When Waking From Sleep

Since getting my Mac Pro (with Apple installed RAM and NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT), I've noticed that the screen does not immediately turn on when waking from sleep, as my older Macs did. Rather, it turns on for a split second, goes blank for two seconds, turns on again for a split second, goes off again for a second or more, and then comes on permanently.
This behavior only occurs when waking from sleep; it does not occur when the monitor turns on from the active screen saver.
Is this normal for the MAC Pro with an NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT? I have a HP w2408h monitor with a DVI to HDMI cable. Everything else works fine, including all video behavior.
Thank you.

Hm. Bluetooth, interesting. Thanks for the idea.
I just opened the lid to see about the BT setting and the display didn't go off-on. The BT is off, I'm pretty sure I did that when setting it up as I don't use BT for anything.
I wasn't suspecting anything was seriously wrong, it's just that quick-on feature was highlighted as a selling point and I was curious about the glitch, if it was a setting I could change, for instance like you've highlighted. Annoying when things don't work as advertised.
And if I show the machine off to colleagues and friends, that will be a bad first impression they will want explained.

Spotlight is not working on brand new Mac mini

Hi,
I got an issue with two brand new Mac minis running 10.7.3 (11D50d):
Spotlight is not working. I'm only getting the Wikipedia-Search.
Here's what I did:
Installation:
- took the stock Minis and set up two users, admin and user (limited account)
- updatet the System
- installed manually: Adobe Reader X, Office 2011, Firefox 12, Flip4Mac, Perian, Cyberduck, Google Earth 6.2 (the installer without the updater), VLC 2
- installed using AppStore: CalendarBar, TextWrangler, Unarchiever
- copied a few documents (Word and Excel files) from a PC to the Desktop
Troubleshooting:
- tried to restart Spotlight by adding the entire harddrive to privacy using »Spotlight« within the System Preferences
- that threw an error "no priviliges"
- started the System from the recovery system (on an USB-thumbdrive) and repaired permissions
- that did not help
- tried to restart Spotlight through the Terminal, running the command: sudo mdutil -E /
- that command returned: No index.
- the tried: sudo mdutil -i on /
- returned: Error: unable to perform operation. (-400) No index.
- went the hard way
- unloaded the daemon: sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist
- erased the Spotlight folder: sudo rm -fr .Spotlight-V100/
- loaded the daemon: sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist
That made everything work fine until I did a restart of the System. After the mini restarted I was back at square one...
Does anyone have an idea how to fix this issue?
Apple support suggested to reinstall the system. Something I can't do right now, as people need to work on those computers and cannot take a tow hour break...

Hi Ray Land,
We can help narrow down the cause. What operating system are you using on your new Mac Mini?
If you are running the Mountain Lion OS, you can download the latest driver here. An important note is that the current print queue must be deleted before installing the new driver. This will ensure proper communication.
If this doesn't work or you need further assistance, please contact us here.
Did this answer your question? Please click the Accept as Solution button so that others may find the answer as well.

Cannot install windows 7 on brand new mac mini with 256 g sdd? Please help.

Cannot install windows 7 on brand new mac mini with 256 g sdd? Please help.
Have tried all tricks found on the net and followed every advice from apple support.
Still black screen with blinking curser when mini is rebooting following partitioning via bootcamp.
Very nice and fast mashine, wouldnt like to return it.
thanks allan

Is that an Apple SSD?
what model is it?
Is there a firmware update if non Apple?
Lion is not server version.
Windows is ? ISO or retail?
Google macmini Windows 7 SSD Apple Boot Camp

No video on brand new mac mini

I am trying to get a brand new mac mini going for the first time, and although it switches on, there is no video on the attached VGA display.
I have connected the same display to my Ibook VGA adapter and it works perfectly, so it is not the display. I have also tried another display which also works on the I book. What else can I do other that take it into a mac store as I am a very long way from one?

Here is an assortment of Apple technical articles dealing with this sort of thing. Good luck.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300583
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300537
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300580

How do I know if my brand new Mac mini (late 2012) really has Mac OS X 10.9 Maverick preinstalled?

How do I know if my brand new Mac mini (late 2012) really has Mac OS X 10.9 Maverick preinstalled, as stated when I bought it, without opening the box and booting the device? It says "Copyright 2012 Apple Inc." on one of the sides of the box, which makes me uncertain.
If it does not have Mac OS X 10.9 Maverick preinstalled I might have bought an old device, in worst case as old as a year or more.
/Birger

The late 2012 does have USB 3 !!
I specifically waited to purchase a Mac Mini
until USB 3 was made available.
Look at the diagram (picture) on the bottom of the box. The diagram that details which ports are available on the unit.
If you see 3 after USB.. then it is a late 2012 Mac Mini.
Looking at my box it clearly says USB 3.
I don't think there has been any changes to the Mac Mini since late 2012.
other than the pre-installed OS being Mavericks now..
You will want USB 3!!!
My box also indicates it is version 2.6 (just above the Airport ID).
(Mine is definitely a late 2012 model).

I just brought a brand new Macbook pro retina display, when i connect it to my apple tv through airplay its too slow and when it try to play a movie apply tv is always a minute or 2 behind. How can i fix this?

I just brought a brand new Macbook pro retina display, when i connect it to my apple tv through airplay its too slow and when it try to play a movie apply tv is always a minute or 2 behind. How can i fix this?

Hello HanaAmer1,
We've an article which provides troubleshooting steps that can help get AirPlay workign correctly.
iTunes: Troubleshooting AirPlay and AirPlay Mirroring
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS5209
Cheers,
Allen

Brand new Mac mini ONLY displays when waking from sleep

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for