Mac Mini -- a lemon?

I bought a Mini G4 2 years ago through my educational institution (employer). Didn't get AppleCare because it added 50 pct to the price of the machine, and my old silver Powerbook was tough as nails so I thought "Apple makes good hardware" -- silly me!
The mini was cute as a button and I was thrilled. But it became flaky (intermittent kernel panics) w/in a year; I was busy with other stuff and thought I'd just install a new OS or a new DIMM when I could find the time. When I finally found the time, I was unable to install any OS patches because checksums were incorrect for anything I downloaded from Apple. The machine limped along, just crashed every now and then, and I put it back on the To Do list.
I sent Apple crash reports regularly, but of course there is no response to these. Finally the mini got so flaky that I backed up all the disk content and tried booting from cdrom to wipe the disk and start over. It would no longer boot from cdrom. Then w/in an hour or so, it would no longer boot from the hard drive either -- kernel panic during boot. End of story.
I did some googling around and found many references online to bad logic boards and kernel panics in Minis. I sent the dead mini to iResQ, the online mini repair folks, and they confirmed "bad logic board, not worth repairing." And that cost me another $70. So now I own a cute white doorstop.
Have to admit I am feeling rather like an Angry Customer. This machine cost over $600, it is only 2 years old, and a new logic board costs over $300 -- and there are enough online references to LB failure for these minis that it looks like a manufacturing/QA problem. Yet there is no recall or exchange program as there is for the defective iBook LB, so it appears I've just "rented" a computer for $300 per year dead loss, plus the cost of many hours of my time to struggle with it and save my files as it finally rolled over and died. I've lost some licensed s'ware so there is more fallout to deal with, the drama is not over yet.
To the person who said (other thread) they were scared to buy a Mini, I have to say I would never buy another one. It appears to be disposable, like a cheap inkjet printer but at many times the price. Meanwhile my x86 based linux boxes 8 years old and more, and my 5 or 6 year old powerbook, keep ticking along without a hiccup.
Is there any move afoot to get Apple to admit that they made a bad batch of these minis, and to get a LB swap program going? Or should I take the optical drive out of the corpse for a spare, and throw the carcass in the nearest recycle bin while cursing Apple's name? What a disappointment.

I have a mac mini connected to 2 monitors
Intel HD Graphics 4000:
Modello Chipset:          Intel HD Graphics 4000
Tipo:          GPU
Bus:          Integrato
VRAM (totale):          768 MB
Fornitore:          Intel (0x8086)
ID dispositivo:          0x0166
ID revisione:          0x0009
Monitor:
S22B150:
Risoluzione:          1920 x 1080 @ 60 Hz
Profondità pixel:          Colore 32 bit (ARGB8888)
Numero di serie del monitor:          H4MCB02955
Mirror:          Spento
Online:          Sì
Rotazione:          Supportata
Tipo adattatore:          VGA analogico o analogico su DVI-I
Versione adattatore firmware:          0,00
CG19:
Risoluzione:          1280 x 1024
Profondità pixel:          Colore 32 bit (ARGB8888)
Numero di serie del monitor:          21744015
Monitor principale:          Sì
Mirror:          Spento
Online:          Sì
Rotazione:          Supportata
not have the quality of the Retina but are decidedly satisfactory
ciao

Similar Messages

Mac mini mid-2011 display issues 1920x1200 on a HDMI monitor?

Just puchased a mac mini and am challenged by the display settings. When I first powered it on using either a display port to HDMI or supplied hdmi to DVI (then the monitor's DVI to HDMI cable), the display is severly off center with issues seeing the system bar on top and icons on bottom. So, once I was able to get to the System Panel, I found that it configured itself to 1920x1200. I cannot get 1080p to center and 1080i has grainy text. Does this mean I need another apple accessory, ie display port to vga? Or is this an indicator that monitor and mac mini are incompatible? Or is this an indicator that the mac mini has a lemon card?
(NOTE: I am downloading system updates to see if there is a firmware update. Thanks
Proc - 2.5 i5
Mem - 4 GB
Graphics - Radeon 6630M
OS - OX Lion 10.7.3
Monitor- LG L246WP (3 hook ups: componet, vga, hdmi)

Your monitor has a native pixel resolution of 1920x1200. There is no point in trying for 1080-p or -i.
I run two 1920x1200 monitors via HDMI (with passive cable adapters where necessary) and I use these choices:
...and they are both pixel-sharp, filling the screen, and yet menu bars totally visible!

Mac Mini Server Doesn't Support Duel Thunderbolt Displays!

I purchased a mac mini server with the intent of ultimately running two thunderbolt displays off of it. I pre-ordered in August, waited six weeks for it to arrive and realized that the mac mini server that I had been sent was a lemon. I applied for a replacement, which was built in China and it arrived two weeks later. Everything was going great - I had my mac mini server running a thunderbolt and I was thrilled! Yesterday however, I purchased my second thunderbolt display, connected it and nothing happened. Trouble shooting didn't help. Finally, I called apple and was told that the server version doesn't support duel thunderbolt displays! I had read all of the technical specifications and there was no mention (at that time) that the server couldn't support duel displays. I am now in the process of returning my mac mini server in exchange for a custom build mac mini with upgraded 2.7 GHz i7 processors and 8GB RAM. I'm really disappointed to have to be going through all of these extra steps just to realize the system that I imagined early on. I checked the Apple Thunderbolt display options page at apple and they have now posted that the server doesn't support duel displays (but that informaiton definitely was not there when I first read it!). Why would the server version not support duel displays? To me, it doesn't make any sense. What are your thoughts?

It doesn't support dual TB displays because it uses the integrated
Intel graphics HD 3000. Only discrete graphics cards can handle
dual TB displays. The integrated graphics chip just cant handle
the load.
As for the logic of it, as servers, they are usually single display
and even more often are run headless and managed remotely.
It is marketed as a server and thus the logic.

Mac Mini acting like Windows?

I am a new Mac user; switched about two weeks ago. 1.8Ghz with 1GB of RAM. I really like the GUI and functionality of my Mac Mini; however, something keeps poping up that annoys me and makes me think twice about OS X stability. Please correct me if I am wrong.
On several occasions (about 4 times wihtin the last 2 weeks) when I tried to open iTunes, it OS X freezes. The spinning rainbow wheel keeps going and going and going. Nothing happens. I had to hold down the power button on the Mini to shut it down. Just like a hard reboot in Windows. I even tried reinstalling iTunes but the same problem occurs.
On other occassions (about 3 times now) when I click on my external USB 2.0 hard drive (Buffalo), the spinning rainbow wheels would come on and keeps going and going and going. Again, I would have to reboot the Mini to get it to work. I have used a software called "Rember" to see if my RAM is bad or something but it checks out fine.
When I bought the Mini, I figure that I will be experiencing a very stable OS X; I guess no OS is stable nowadays. OS X seems like it is as buggy as XP or Vista. I am a bit disappointed at the buggyness of OS X; otherwise, the whole experience has been pretty good.
Can someone clue me into why OS X is so buggy or what is going on here? Did I buy a lemon in my Mac Mini?
Thanks,
Tony.

Once the Finder is responsive again, a logout or a restart might be a good idea. Or just keep using the current session if things work.
BTW Finder freezes because remote resources are not responding are a major sore point with Mac users. Here's hoping it's better in Leopard. In terms of waiting ... a finder freeze might be 1 minute, or up to 12 minutes, according to a piece I read recently. Always give it the 1 minute. Whether or not you are willing to wait 12 is up to you. But if you choose a forced power off, I'd recommend verifying all attached hard drives immediately upon restarting. That also takes time, so waiting 12 minutes might be worth it after all.

How reliable is the Mac Mini or iMac (2009) models?

Greetings to you all. I have a question directed at anyone who owns the 2009 Mac Mini or has recently bought a Mac Mini either last year 2009 or this year, 2010. My Acer Aspire L-100 finally died on 29th Dec 2009 as a result of USB failure caused by a windows auto update. Fed up with Microsoft, I am thinking about switching over to Mac and thought the Mac Mini or iMac would be a good start. I am however troubled by the numerous complaints I am reading on the Apple website posts regarding the 2009 model Mac Mini loosing sound after a month or two of use and some posts claim that the sound on their Mac Mini is distorted, crackling and some had broken systems out of the box. How many of you have had similar sound issues with the Mac Mini? Also, is it better to get the iMac 21.5 inch instead? Has anyone had hardware issues with the Mac Mini and or the 21.5 inch iMac in less than 2-6 months of use? If so please let me know so that I can make up my mind, whether to purchase Mac computer platform or just build my own customized machine. What I need to know is, how reliable or durable is the mac mini computer, especially the 2009 model and how does the mac mini, especially with its small size, handle temperatures? Does the mac mini overheat? Please help. All information will be highly appreciated.

Remember, Apple offers a 1 year hardware warranty and 90 days free software support, both of which can be extended to three years from date of computer's purchase. This means if you appear to have what is a technical issue with your machine off the bat, Apple will cover the lemon issue, if it is obvious it is not an issue you the user could have caused. Mind you, if issues appear much later during the ownership, it gets harder to justify that it is a manufacturer issue. As long as you don't upgrade the internal hardware, the hardware test CD that comes with the machine will be able to tell if there is a manufacturer issue with the machine. All bets are off, if you change the RAM, or hard drive beyond the specs of the machine. Apple publishes the specs of the machine on http://support.apple.com/
Your machine shouldn't overheat unless you excede the published specs.
The advantage of the Mac is that malware and viruses are practically a nonissue, and everything you usually could desire is already built-in to the machine. So while you could build your own machine, you can't really get the integrated hardware and software as you do with the Mac.
Yes, the 27" iMac has been hit hard with issues, more around the display than anything else. I for one, if were forced to get an iMac, would get the 21.5".
I've not seen any specific Mac Mini issues really come to the fore.
If sound is lost on a Mac Mini, it usually is due to the fact that minijack connectors themselves are fragile to begin with, and endusers tend to jiggle them a lot in the connector, causing the connectivity to get lost. If you are careful to follow these directions about cables*:
http://www.macmaps.com/frayguide.html
You should avoid most of those issues. Thankfully there are 5 USB ports on Mac Minis, and USB audio is frequently better than the built-in audio, except when adding your own 5.1 speaker system with mini-Toslink connector speakers.
Don't forget the number of posters to this board, don't even amount to 1 tenth of a percent of all purchasers of iMacs, Mac Minis, or MacBooks any one quarter. Thus the remark you said was "rude" is not. It is factual. You are basing your information on what amounts to less odds of happening than a space program disaster with NASA. Mostly people who have problems are posting, and those who don't rarely do post.
I recently had a hard drive die after the three year warranty was spent, but hard drives I've seen die on Acers and Dells on the first day of ownership too, so that's nothing new. Backing up your data is the best way to deal with data loss*:
http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html
- * Links to my pages may give me compensation.

Mac Mini blank white screen. Did Cmd+R reprograms but doesn't leave the white screen!!

Mac Mini blank white screen. Did Cmd+R but doesn't leave the white screen! I tried Cmd+Option+R, this allows reprogramming but after 34 or so minutes it remains in the white screen! Any ideas?

Unfortunately, the white screen will not go away! Therefore, I do not have the option to the Disk Utility!! I wish I could! I would have already erased the disk and reinstalled the OS. Side note here is that an Apple Fan told me that she and her husband had a similar scenario with a new iMac!! Turned out (after 3 attempts by Apple Techs to fix) to have to replace it! They related to me that there was an issue with the connections between the Logic Board and the Hard Drive! The hard drive got burnt out and so did the Logic board on different occasions. I have been a PC user for years until I got tired of all the maintenance and wanted to try Mac. So many thrilled fans claiming they never get issues as often as a PC. Well, here I am six weeks after buying the Mac Mini having issues...I guess a machine is a machine, is a machine! I was thrilled with the Lion OS and all the interaction I was having with it! I truly thought that this was a highly superior computer. I expected quality control to have equally a superiority that one would expect from an Apple product. It could be that this unit is a lemon! It happens! Because I also have iPad and iPhone that have given me the best performance ever!! So I hope that I will someday see the same from this Mac Mini that is just over 40 days old!
If you know another way to get thru the white screen to get to the Disk Utility...I would love to try it. In any case, I am waiting for a call back to confirm an appointment date and time to visit a Mac store for repair.

Apple Mini-DVI to Video Adapter and Mac mini (2009)

Can anyone tell me whether the Apple Mini-DVI to Video Adapter listed here:
http://store.apple.com/ca/product/M9319G/A
works with the latest Mac mini (early 2009)?
If it does not what other solutions are there to connect to composite, component or s-video?

KC from Ann Arbor, MI had this to say as a review on the page to which you have linked;
10-May-2009
I bought a Mac Mini (May 2009) and this Mini-DVI to Video adapter with plans to use it to send an S-video signal to an analog TV. Though the sales staff at the Apple store said it should work, it does not. The graphics card apparently should support it, and it may be addressed with a future driver update, but as of now this does not work. I have used a mini-DVI to VGA adapter and monitor to verify that the port is working, and also verified that the S-video cable and TV input work. There are third party VGA to S-video/RCA adapters available so I plan to use one of those for my purposes. This is probably a 5-star product when used with the right Mac; however, Apple should have made it clear that having a mini-DVI port on your Mac is necessary but not sufficient for this to work - hence the 3 stars.

Install Windows 8.1 Pro on Mac Mini Late 2014

I'm trying to install Bootcamp on my Mac Mini. Windows reports that it cannot install or create a partition on the drive after formatting the BOOTCAMP partition as NTFS.
This is my setup:
1. Mac Mini Late 2014 with 2TB Fusion Drive.
2. Windows 8.1 Pro x64 full version ISO downloaded from Microsoft Store.
3. Sandisk Extreme Flash Drive (I have tried both 16GB and 64GB).
4. Bootcamp partition = 500GB.
5. Other USB devices plugged in: Corded USB Mouse and Apple Extended Keyboard (both of which are required to enter the serial number and navigate the installer window).
6. No additional storage devices of any kind are connected aside from the internal Fusion drive and the installer drive.
7. Booting from the EFI portion of the Bootcamp created Windows installer.
I have read that I should try using a USB 2 flash drive rather than a USB 3 flash drive, so I will try that next. I fail to understand how this could make any difference.
If you have any other tips, please let me know.
I have installed or helped other people install bootcamp many times over the course of the past 2 years. Every single time it has caused endless headaches and literally weeks of wasted time.
I have read endless posts on what is causing these problems. I will consider summarising these for anyone else having the same problems. Everyone has their theory so far about this Bootcamp nightmare, but so far there doesn't appear to be any one magic solution.
Apple's inability to address the issue suggests that the problem may be with the Windows installer. Perhaps Microsoft is deliberately causing this?
I suspect the two most likely causes of these issues are the downloaded ISO or the Thumb Drive.
If you have any better idea, please let me know.
On another topic, how to I rename the NTFS partition back to BOOTCAMP? All options to rename this partition are greyed out in Disk Utility...
Cheers,
Paul

Paul@Sydney wrote:
7. Booting from the EFI portion of the Bootcamp created Windows installer.
The FAT32/NTFS partition is usually not adequate for an EFI install. You can delete the BCA-created partition and create a Disk Utility partition which is formatted as Free Space. This will be split into an MSR and MSD. Fusion drives create problems, especially if the BC partition lies outside the traditional MBR 2TB boundary.
Before you delete the BCA-created partition, please post the output of
diskutil list
diskutil cs list
sudo gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk0
sudo gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk1
I have read that I should try using a USB 2 flash drive rather than a USB 3 flash drive, so I will try that next. I fail to understand how this could make any difference.
Windows installers up to W8.1 do not have USB3 drivers. These are installed after Windows is installed and BC drivers are in place.
Apple's inability to address the issue suggests that the problem may be with the Windows installer. Perhaps Microsoft is deliberately causing this?
The requirements are pretty strict when installing Windows. Any deviations cause headaches and grief.
I suspect the two most likely causes of these issues are the downloaded ISO or the Thumb Drive.
The USB is usually the issue.
On another topic, how to I rename the NTFS partition back to BOOTCAMP? All options to rename this partition are greyed out in Disk Utility...
After Windows is fully installed and BC drivers are in place, log into Windows, right click on it and rename it on the Windows side. It cannot be renamed on the OSX side with diskutil renameVolume. Here is an example sequence. You cannot rename volume during the installation process.

How do I install Windows 8 on Mountain Lion (mac mini) 2010 Server using bootcamp with out Optical Drive?

I have a 2010 Mac Mini server running 10.8.4 (12E55). I just bought a brand new copy of Windows 8 from micrsoft. I have tried using boot camp and it will not recognize a burned DVD in my remote optical drive on my laptop running windows 7 or my macbook running Lion 10.7.5. I have had Microsoft on both of my computers remoted in for about 8 hours and they tried just about everything that I've tried.
Microsofts tech support has made me a bootable DVD and a bootable Flash Drive through remote desktop (awsome good job microsoft tech support). I have even tried formatting my mac mini's second 500GB hard drive to FAT32 using this whole disc as my windows partition. I know that when I go to install windows 8 it is going to reformat the drive to NTFS but all the articles that I've found, say this is what you have to do to get the drive formatted properly to get the ball rolling and get windows will fix it when it goes to install by reformatting to NTFS.
Ok so right now I have my second 500GB hdd on my mac mini formatted to FAT32 and I have tried to reboot holding my option key like I do on my mac book. If I want to boot to a different hdd on my macbook all I do is hold the OPTION key during start up and you get prompted to choose one of the bootable disc that is on your computer. Well if I put my USB drive which is bootable on my macbook into my macbook and do this right now its not showing up.
Now I just put the DVD that they made me in my macbook and it shows up as bootable disc. But the USB doesn't. (1 hour later) I just got microsft to remake the USB drive and am going to try that again so ta ta for now and I'll come back on to post to tell you if it works.

mikkel-kj wrote:
These apps paralells and fusion and virtualbox, are they in Mac App Store? And when I have the app installed what then, now it ain't only bootcamp what shall I do now to install windows 8?
Mikkel
Parallels, Fusion, and VirtualBox are available from their respective sites. Read their installation instructions which explain how to install Windows.

Mac Mini '09 incompatible with older flat panel TV's?

I just bought a Mac Mini '09 and tried to hook it up to an old (2002) Sony Plasma 32" TV. I am using the mini-DVI to S-video/composite video adapter. I get a "no signal" response from the TV, indicating that the Mini and the TV are not communicating. My black '06 MacBook is able to successfully connect to the Sony TV using the exact same adapter and cable combination. The TV only has component video, s-video, and composite video inputs -- no digital inputs.
I spoke with an Apple Care person, and she and I agreed that there is likely a compatibility issue with the new Mac Mini's video card and older TV's. I have also seen it suggested that the new Mini's DVI port will not pass on an analog video signal. Is there any fix for this, either a driver or a cable adapter? Would one of the display manager programs (SwitchResX, etc.) be helpful? Do I need to get a new TV?

It sounds like the new Mac Mini has HDCP enabled (as it is on the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros).
This is a kind of copy protection, and will not allow HDCP protected content to be played on an analog source.
A tool like http://www.hdfury.com/ will take the HDCP stream, and convert it to an analog stream. It's perfectly legal.. and will extend the life of older TV's (manufactured before 2002).

Using Mac Mini and a 26" Samsung Tube TV with Apple DVI to Video Adapter

So upon first hooking this adapter up from my Mac Mini to my samsung 27" tube TV, it worked fine–but everything was massive in size. I started changing resolution sizes in the preferences panel and one of them set the screen flickering vertically, like a mismatch in refresh rates.
Anybody else have this issue and resolve it successfully? It obviously works, it was for me for the first couple minutes, but I can't figure out what sent it flickering–and how to resolve it.
The TV is connected VIA composite (RCA) cable from the adapter to the video-in port.

Try starting in Safe mode. That should get your screen back.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1455?viewlocale=en_US
See also this article:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2213?viewlocale=en_US

Mac mini,DVI to ADC adapter.

Looking at picking up the latest Mini to run logic on. I used to have an older Mac mini that I connected to the Apple studio display with a DVI to ADV adapter. Will I be able to get this display to work with a new Mini?

The new minis DON'T have a DVI out. There's an HDMI and there's T-Bolt. You can get adapters for either to VGA, DVI, HDMI and I've even seen RCA adapters. Apple probsably has HDMI-ADV or T-Bolt-ADV adapters too.
However you connect it, if you Google it long enough, you'll find an adapter to suit your needs.

Mac mini - dvi to svideo adapter - no screen on tv

Hello, I really don't know if anyone knows an answer of my problem.
No one did this far.
So I signed up here.
Ok, my question.
I have a mac mini 1.42 ghz. I want to connect it to my sony 100hz trinitron TV with an dvi to s-video adapter. It doesn't work.
I also have a G5 1,6 ghz. At the back it has 2 connections for a screen. I use 1 connection for my studio display, the other one I use for my sony tv to watch movies etc with the dvi to svideo adapter and the svideo cable in the connector an the tv. It works fine with synchronize the screens.
Why doesn't the connector work on my mac mini to my tv??
This is the connector I use:
[img]http://a248.e.akamai.net/7/248/8352/848/store.apple.com/Catalog/nl/Images/M9267_ lm.jpg[/img]
Nookie.

Nevermind. Due this problem I bought a lcd tv a bit earlier then expected.
So my old tv left the building!!
Now I dont have the problem anymore.
No more s-video for me, bought another cable like it's supposed to be. Digital.
Thanks.

How to connect my 60gb IPOD and my Mac Mini

I have my trusty 60GB ipod (no video), with the older wide connector and the funny USB or whatever it is symbol looks like a "Y".
Nice grammer huh.
ANyway the cable I have doesn't plug in to my mac mini or MBP.
What cable do I use to hook 'er up to ITUNES on either system?

Open Quicktime Player
File Menu: New Audio Recording....
However... if the headphone/microphone combination has two 3.5mm jack plugs (pink and green) then the microphone output (pink) is "mic.level" - which is TOO QUIET for the audio input on a Mac, which is expecting the much stronger "line.level" signal strength.
Solutions: get a microphone pre-amplifier between the mic and the Mac (not cheap); or a different microphone with a USB interface.

HT3153 Can the early 2006 MAC mini support a DVI to hdmi adapter for TV monitor support?

Can the early 2006 MAC Mini support a DVI to HDMI adapter for a TV Monitor?

Hi, I can't see why not...
Supports digital resolutions up to 1920x1200 and analog resolutions as high as 1920x1080.
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_mini/specs/mac_mini_cd_1.66.html

Mac Mini -- a lemon?

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