Mac Mini cd stuck in drive

I've had aMac Mini for less than a week and I've got an audio cd stuck in the superdrive. When I first inserted it, the mac spat it out, and I had to re-inserted it. It's now well and truly stuck. I've checked out the excellent forums here, and elsewhere, and tried all of the methods I could find, including terminal commands.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.4/en/mh1750.html
None of these work. It sounds like the drive is continually trying to search for the disc. On re-boot the (audio) CD is briefly identified, but disappears when I try to eject. In the disk utility program the eject button is 'greyed-out'. It seems that the computer doesn't think there is a disc present, I know there is (Snow Patrol - Final Straw).
thanks,
Chris

Stuck discs, along with loading and unloading problems are an inevitable risk when using the sort of slot-loading drives found on the mini, iMacs and Mac laptops, but given the sheer number of these systems out there, it's not really a greatly common problem.
The business card twisted to stop the disc spinning is a good trick for those situations where the Mac doesn't recognise the disc because it forces the system into an eject, but in a situation where the disc is stuck in the drive due to fouling the casing, it doesn't help of course - hence the advice to try and guide the disc out. It must be said that sometimes the only solution is to remove the casing!
In the past, this issue has most commonly been caused by discs which are slightly thicker than standard, or a casing that has not been correctly refitted after opening the system up for something like a RAM upgrade.

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Re: Mac Mini cd stuck in drive (Con't.)

Hello All,
I've got quite the same pb with my mini (Intel 1.66, superdrive).
CD desapears from desktop, in the System Profile, the superdrive is non-existent : "no burning device avalaible etc...".
It's the fourth time that happens to my mini, and the only thing to do is to open the cover and remove the blocked CD manually. All tricks (mouse left click during start up etc...) are totally unefficient.
Then when i take off the drive, clean it, replug it and close the mini, the drive is there again, untill it stucks again...
=> hardware problem? => motherboard or the superdrive?
Any advice, idea of the origin of the problem?
Thx!
mugen
<Post Relocated by Moderator - Edited Title>

Welcome to Apple Discussions, Mugen!
This is a curious problem, and perhaps there's one piece of information missing that might be useful to know: when the CD disappears from the desktop, is it when you are trying to eject it?
If so, then to me, it sounds like what's happening is that the CD is fouling the inside of the mini's casing instead of sliding out into the slot in the case designed for it. In that situation, the system might sometimes recognize the problem and draw the disk back in, but often it doesn't, leaving a fault condition which it has no way to understand since there's no method by which it can recognize the jam.
In that situation, it's entirely possible for the drive itself to vanish from the system profile, and certainly the system would not recognize the CD such that you'd have a means to eject it by holding the mouse button or using the eject key (or F12 if not using a dedicated Apple keyboard), or even with the eject button in iTunes or Disk Utility etc. As far as the system is concerned at that point, there isn't a drive connected, let alone a disk in it to eject!
When you open the system and remove the drive, remove the disk, then reconnect, the system then sees the drive correctly again and all is well.
In other words, you may not actually have a hardware fault at all. Try operating the system without the top cover on (and thus nothing for the CD to foul against. If in the same circumstances that the problem had occurred previously the system behaves correctly and does not fail, then all you need to do is ensure the drive and the slot are correctly aligned when everything is reassembled. Even a tiny disparity in the alignment of the drive and the slot in the casing could be enough to cause this issue, and if the top has been removed before and the drive removed and reinstalled, that can often leave the two components slightly off-line with each other.

Installing Win7 on a macbook pro using a mac mini as external optical drive

hi everyone,
My 2 year old son watches movies on my macbook pro. He stuck something in the optical drive making it unusable. Repairing it is 200 to 300 euros (ouch).
I want to install win7 via bootcamp and I'm using my mac mini (october 2009) as an external optical drive. These are my steps:
1.hold the "t" on the mac mini
2.connect it to the macbook with a firewire 800 to firewire 400 cable
3.Power up and hold the "alt" on the macbook
4.I see the optical drive on the boot screen and I choose it
5.Then I get a blank screen and a few seconds later the "missing operating system" message appears.
Am I missing something? Is it possible to install win7 using a mac mini as an external drive?
PS1:I already have partitioned the HD with bootcamp.
PS2:I've upgraded the hard disk drive of the macbook with a seagate momentus 500GB hard disk. Don't think this is the problem, thought I should mentioned it.

Hi Mike,
For reference it is called "IP over Firewire".
Connect the two computers with a fire wire cable. System Preferences > Network > Configure IPv4: > Manually > IP address: 192.168.3.1 (and .2 on other) > Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0. Leave the other fields blank. Do this on both computers on the computer you want to allow access to or both for two way access go to System Preference > Sharing > Select a service to change its settings. Turn remote Login on.
On the MBP go to the Finder Menu > Go > Connect to Server > Type in the IP address of the Mini 192.168.3.2 (Whatever you gave it)
With this configuration you still have full use of the Mini and certain apps can use Xgrid and use the processor of the mini when it is not doing anything. I would keep the Mini as 10.4 unless you really need both machines running Leopard. As noted before you cannot boot the MBP from a HDD that is Apple Partition Scheme and vice versa you cannot boot the PPC from a Guide Partition Table.
Sweet Polly

Slow boot up on 2012 Mac mini with DIY fusion drive

Hello everyone, I bought a Mac mini (2012) 2 months ago with a stock 500GB HDD.
I added another SSD to make a DIY fusion drive, and everything is working fine, except that I'm experiencing a very slow boot up.
I have confirmed both by information from the OS and some tests with command line tools, that the fusion drive itself is a success and absolutely working fine.
The slow boot up happens on cold boot only (a reboot does not have such problem).
Symptom: the Mac mini is stuck on the gray blank screen for about 40 seconds, and then finally shows up the apple logo.
Everything after this is pretty fast and fine.
I have tried the following methods and none of them seems to help:
1. Go Preferences -> Startup Disk, select the Machintosh HD. (Suggested by Apple in the Fusion Drive FAQ)
2. Verify the whole disk along with the partition with Disk Utility.
3. Reset NVRAM by holding Command+Option+P+R during boot up.
4. Reset SCM/PMU.
Does anyone have an idea on the cause of my problem?
Best regards and thank you.

If you have more than one user account, these instructions must be carried out as an administrator.
Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.
Step 1
Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left. If you don't see that menu, select
View ▹ Show Log List
from the menu bar.
Enter "BOOT_TIME" (without the quotes) in the search box. Note the timestamps of those log messages, which refer to the times when the system was booted. Now clear the search box and scroll back in the log to the last boot time when you had the problem. Select the messages logged after the boot, during the time something abnormal was happening. Copy them to the Clipboard (command-C). Paste into a reply to this message (command-V).
For example, if the problem is a slow startup taking three minutes, post the messages timestamped within three minutes after the boot time, not before. Please include the BOOT_TIME message at the beginning of the log extract.
If there are runs of repeated messages, post only one example of each. Don’t post many repetitions of the same message.
When posting a log extract, be selective. In most cases, a few dozen lines are more than enough.
Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
Important: Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.
Step 2
Still in Console, look under System Diagnostic Reports for crash or panic logs, and post the entire contents of the most recent one, if any. In the interest of privacy, I suggest you edit out the “Anonymous UUID,” a long string of letters, numbers, and dashes in the header of the report, if present (it may not be.) Please don’t post shutdownStall, spin, or hang logs — they're very long and not helpful.

My Mac mini is stuck in a reboot screen that is all white with a grey folder with a question mark in it

My Mac mini is stuck in reboot screen that's
white with a grey folder in the middle that blinks
and there is a white ? mark on it. What do I do ?

There are four general causes of this issue:
1. The computer's PRAM no longer contains a valid startup disk setting when there aren't any problems with the disk itself. This can be checked for by pressing the Option key and seeing if the drive appears.
2. The internal drive's directory structure has become damaged. This requires usage of an alternate bootable system to perform the repair.
3. Critical system files have been deleted. This requires usage of an alternate bootable system to reinstall them.
4. The internal drive has died or become unplugged. This is the most likely case if the computer took a sharp impact or there are unusual sounds coming from the hard drive's location.
(70837)

My new 2011 mac mini is stuck at strat up screen and stays like that! How to fix

My new 2011 mac mini is stuck at the start up screen ( apple logo ) and it stays there I can't reinstall lion because there is no drive in this gen how do I fix it????

OS X Lion: About Lion Recovery

Mac Mini 2013 stuck on apple logo

My Mac Mini is stuck on the apple logo with the spinner underneath it. I was running a program and put the computer to sleep. When I started it back up, the program was stuck. I couldn't get to the command options and shut it down. When it started back up, I typed in my password, but it continuously got stuck on all my account logins. I tried to safe boot it, but it just loads the progress bar and goes back to the logo and spinner, even if I leave it alone for half an hour. I tried to use the option button, but none of the options work. I tried unplugging everything but the monitor and turned off my Apple Bluetooth mouse. Still didn't work. It is a 2013 model, so it has no CD drive. PLEASE HELP! I need this working soon. If it is possible to migrate another Mac to fix it or migrate one onto the disk after I erase it, please let me know. If not, give me some advise. I need help ASAP. Thanks for your help!

Take each of these steps that you haven't already tried. Stop when the problem is resolved.
Step 1
The first step in dealing with a startup failure is to secure the data. If you want to preserve the contents of the startup drive, and you don't already have at least one current backup, you must try to back up now, before you do anything else. It may or may not be possible. If you don't care about the data that has changed since the last backup, you can skip this step.
There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to start. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.
     a. Start up from the Recovery partition, or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) When the OS X Utilities screen appears, launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in this support article, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.” The article refers to starting up from a DVD, but the procedure in Recovery mode is the same. You don't need a DVD if you're running OS X 10.7 or later.
b. If Step 1a fails because of disk errors, and no other Mac is available, then you may be able to salvage some of your files by copying them in the Finder. If you already have an external drive with OS X installed, start up from it. Otherwise, if you have Internet access, follow the instructions on this page to prepare the external drive and install OS X on it. You'll use the Recovery installer, rather than downloading it from the App Store.
c. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, start the non-working Mac in target disk mode. Use the working Mac to copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
d. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.
Step 2
If the startup process stops at a blank gray screen with no Apple logo or spinning "daisy wheel," then the startup volume may be full. If you had previously seen warnings of low disk space, this is almost certainly the case. You might be able to start up in safe mode even though you can't start up normally. Otherwise, start up from an external drive, or else use the technique in Step 1b, 1c, or 1d to mount the internal drive and delete some files. According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of available space on the startup volume (as shown in the Finder Info window) for normal operation.
Step 3
Sometimes a startup failure can be resolved by resetting the NVRAM.
Step 4
If you use a wireless keyboard, trackpad, or mouse, replace or recharge the batteries. The battery level shown in the Bluetooth menu item may not be accurate.
Step 5
If there's a built-in optical drive, a disc may be stuck in it. Follow these instructions to eject it.
Step 6
Press and hold the power button until the power shuts off. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed to start up, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Use a different keyboard and/or mouse, if those devices are wired. If you can start up now, one of the devices you disconnected, or a combination of them, is causing the problem. Finding out which one is a process of elimination.
Step 7
If you've started from an external storage device, make sure that the internal startup volume is selected in the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences.
Start up in safe mode. Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a Fusion Drive or a software RAID, you can’t do this. Post for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to start and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know the login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
When you start up in safe mode, it's normal to see a dark gray progress bar on a light gray background. If the progress bar gets stuck for more than a few minutes, or if the system shuts down automatically while the progress bar is displayed, the startup volume is corrupt and the drive is probably malfunctioning. In that case, go to Step 10. If you ever have another problem with the drive, replace it immediately.
If you can start and log in in safe mode, empty the Trash, and then open the Finder Info window on the startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name.) Check that you have at least 9 GB of available space, as shown in the window. If you don't, copy as many files as necessary to another volume (not another folder on the same volume) and delete the originals. Deletion isn't complete until you empty the Trash again. Do this until the available space is more than 9 GB. Then restart as usual (i.e., not in safe mode.)
If the startup process hangs again, the problem is likely caused by a third-party system modification that you installed. Post for further instructions.
Step 8
Launch Disk Utility in Recovery mode (see Step 1.) Select the startup volume, then run Repair Disk. If any problems are found, repeat until clear. If Disk Utility reports that the volume can't be repaired, the drive has malfunctioned and should be replaced. You might choose to tolerate one such malfunction in the life of the drive. In that case, erase the volume and restore from a backup. If the same thing ever happens again, replace the drive immediately.
This is one of the rare situations in which you should also run Repair Permissions, ignoring the false warnings it may produce. Look for the line "Permissions repair complete" at the end of the output. Then restart as usual.
Step 9
If the startup device is an aftermarket SSD, it may need a firmware update and/or a forced "garbage collection." Instructions for doing this with a Crucial-branded SSD were posted here. Some of those instructions may apply to other brands of SSD, but you should check with the vendor's tech support.
Step 10
Reinstall the OS. If the Mac was upgraded from an older version of OS X, you’ll need the Apple ID and password you used to upgrade.
Step 11
Do as in Step 9, but this time erase the startup volume in Disk Utility before installing. The system should automatically restart into the Setup Assistant. Follow the prompts to transfer the data from a Time Machine or other backup.
Step 12
This step applies only to models that have a logic-board ("PRAM") battery: all Mac Pro's and some others (not current models.) Both desktop and portable Macs used to have such a battery. The logic-board battery, if there is one, is separate from the main battery of a portable. A dead logic-board battery can cause a startup failure. Typically the failure will be preceded by loss of the settings for the startup disk and system clock. See the user manual for replacement instructions. You may have to take the machine to a service provider to have the battery replaced.
Step 13
If you get this far, you're probably dealing with a hardware fault. Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store, or go to another authorized service provider.

Can I use my old MAC MINI as a hard drive, or do I need to transfer all the data to a new Mini?

I would like to get the new MAC MINI, but I was wondering whether I could somehow just keep my old mac mini as a storage drive and continue to use its DVD drive since the new mini doesn't have one. Has anyone out there done this? If not, what is the best way to transfer data from one mini to another?

See Here for Transferring from Old to New...
http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/Setup.html

What's the easiest way to add storage to a mac mini. (1TB hard drive but only 32G of real storage). External device, internal or partitioning?

What's the easiest way to add storage to a mac mini. (1TB hard drive but only 32G of real storage). External device, internal or is there some way to partition? I tried doing so but received a message that there wasn't enough free space to partition. Seems like a 1TB drive should have more storage than my Ipad

Its worth confirming what free space you have on your drive:
go to: Apple Menu > About this Mac > More Info > Storage
The bar chart shows how much free space there is on the drive:
Please realise that partitioning does not create extra space so this wont help you.
If your free space is less than 20 % you should get extra storage with an external USB or Firewire drive, any make or model will work.

How do I clear the Disk and reinstall the OS on my new Mac Mini without an Optical Drive?

How do I clear the Disk and reinstall the OS on my new Mac Mini without an Optical Drive?

If it's a new mini, should have Mtn Lion on it. In any case, restart into recovery mode, and follow the instructions.

Mac Mini Server w/DVD drive?

I'm considering adding a Mac mini with Snow Leopard server to my home setup, and I have several questions about the mini, since it looks like I might have to do something custom to get the setup I want...
1. Is it possible to change the OS installed by Apple when ordering? They don't offer the Mac Mini with Super Multi drive with an OSX server option, and I'm a little wary of having a server I have to use an external drive for to install from DVD or rip music or movies.
2. How large a single HD will the Mac mini support? If I'd only have one HD, I want to make it a big one...

1. I don't think it's possible to order it that way. You'd have to order the regualar mini and buy OSx Server separately. I recommend getting the server hardware. The faster processor, more memory and an additional 500G disk makes it most cost effective. I have the $99 external superdrive and use it on my MBair as well as the mini. I bought it 2 years ago with the MBair and it works just fine. No failures on either machine. Also, if it did fail, it's $99 to replace and just plug it in.
2. The largest drive Apple supplies is 500G for the mini. There might be something larger by 3rd party vendors but with 1T in my machine, I didn't need to go there.
Hope this helps...

Mac mini solid state hard drive does that replace the 2 by 1T hard drive

mac mini solid state hard drive does that replace the 2 by 1T hard drive

There wouldn't be enough room in the Mac Mini enclosure for 2 Fusion Drives since they are really just a SSD and a Platter HD working in conjunction. Could really be smoking in a 4 Drive RAID box though. I am speculating here but there is only 1 additional partition allowed in the Fusion Drive. My thought is that the current Management Software would get thoroughly confused with multiple partitions probably due to mount points not being able to register in a normal manner. IMHO the Fusion Drive is another crutch for the normal/average user that doesn't want to be bothered with file management protocols.

HT5446 If I buy a mac mini with a fusion drive and add windows using boot camp, can I make the SSD function be dedicated to the windows partition?

If I buy a mac mini with a fusion drive and add windows using boot camp, can I make the SSD function be dedicated to the windows partition?

Additional information from Linc's post. Basically, only one additional partition can be added to a Fusion Drive and it resides on the HDD.
Do computers that come with a Fusion Drive support Boot Camp?
Yes. Use the Boot Camp Assistant to create a Windows partition and install Boot Camp. The Windows partition will exist on the hard disk drive, not the Flash drive, and is not part of Fusion Drive Logical Volume Group. 3TB Fusion Drive configurations need to update to OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.3 or later to install Windows 8. See iMac (27-inch, Late 2012): Boot Camp alert with 3T hard drive for more information.

Install snow leopard on mac mini with broken DVD Drive

I want to upgrade the OS on my mac mini but the hard drive keeps kicking out the disk - I read that I "might" be able to fix this by using a DVD cleaner but I am not overly optimistic about this fix. I have an external USB drive and a Windows PC to work with so I am wondering if I can use the DVD drive of the PC to copy the install disks to the external drive and then perform the instal from the external drive. I have been reading posts and can find advice on how to copy the Leopard install discs using another Mac or by using the remote disk feature - but since I don't have another Mac, these are not currently options.
Thanks

1. Clean your drive and reset the > PRAM, then try upgrading with the Mac Mini's drive.
2. Try out that external USB DVD drive, some will work if they are not OS X compatible.
3. Your PC might work, see > DVD or CD sharing: Using Remote Disc

PowerPC Mac Mini gets stuck at grey apple logo screen, wont start

I have a bit of a problem and would appreciate some help, im not especially good at this stuff.
My Powerpc Mac Mini froze up recently, having left it on for a few days without shutting down/resetting. I impatiently turned it off with the power button at the back. When I turned it on again, it only got as far as the grey apple logo screen, it now refuses to go past this screen despite numerous power resets, and unplugging at the power.
I have reset the PMU and the PRAM as suggested by the troubleshooting, to no avail - the PRAM did work as it changed the resolution of the apple logo, but still got stuck at the grey startup screen. Its out of warranty so I have to pay for technical support. Can anyone help?
Message was edited by: misternuge

If you have the original install disk that came with your mini, the first thing to do is to insert that, and then boot the system holding the C key down. This should force it to boot from the install disk rather than the internal drive. The reason you want to do this is two-fold: firstly that if it boots OK that way, it shows the basic hardware is OK, and secondly, it's possible that the hard drive has developed errors (likely directory damage) and the tool to check for that and attempt to resolve it is on the install disk.
Once you've got the system booted to the install disk, exit the installer and run the Disk Utility application. That should display the internal drive (and the install disk) on the left. Select the internal drive and then click 'Repair Disk'. If no errors are found, the drive is fine and the problem lies elsewhere. If errors are reported and the disk is fixed, then you should be able to reboot normally afterwards. If errors are found and Disk Utility reports 'error on exit' not having fixed them, then run it again just to be sure, but otherwise it means the drive is damaged sufficiently that Disk Utility can't fix it. A third-party application such as Alsoft's DiskWarrior will then be needed if you want to try and fix the drive and recover data, or you can simply elect to do an erase and install, meaning the drive will be reformatted and a new copy of MacOS installed. Do not do this if you have data you need to get off the drive!!

Mac Mini cd stuck in drive

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