Mac mini is dead

I don´t know why, but yesterday my mac mini freeze, and everytime i tried to save a word document it shows me a message unable to save, and so many other functions in leopard. I figure that maybe if i erase all, and begin from scratch it would solve the problem, but guess what, it came a message about input / output error in the disk partition. I dont know what to do, i just bought it two months ago. I was thinking that maybe the HD was damage. Help would be grateful.

Well a friend of mine has had a hd break and the problems were not the same as yours. However if you haven't tried reinstalling your operating system that may work. I hope you have an external that is running time machine because it sounds like you may have to send in your computer and who knows if you'll get your files back. Try calling tech support too.

Similar Messages

Mac mini probably dead

Could it be possible that for an human error my mac Mini went dead?
Let me explain: I needed to connect a Firewire printer to my Mac so I tryed to connect a 4-pin Firewire cable on the back of the mac (against what you should do) with the Mac powered on. Since I see that the connector did not fit, I return to screen and noticed that no image where any more. I try to startup and the switch does not function any more. I cannot power up my mac any more.
Is there a possibility that when I tryed to insert the cable, a short circuit made on the firewire connector of my Mac let it unfunctional?
Is there another way to test if it is burned? What can I do?
Thanks for your replies.

If you tried to force a 4-pin Firewire connector into the 6-pin Firewire socket on your Mac mini, it's quite possible that you could have caused a short-circuit that damaged the Mac's logic board. Here are some troubleshooting steps you can try:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2622
If none of those help, then you will probably need to take your Mac in for service.
Good luck.

Mac mini (intel) Dead :(

Ok this has being going on for months. The only programs I use are iTunes and Eyetv. They crash several times a day, regardless of the versions used.
If I put the Mini to sleep over night for example, I wake it up and about 15 sec later It hangs, the coloured ball appears and spins for ever. I force quit the Mini and it can't fine the HD. I get the folder with a question mark. I unplug everything including power, wait 30sec plug in the power start up the mini and it's fine until the next day when I do it all again.
This method no longer works. It will not start up. Tried the utilities from the system disc but no HD shows up.
Any ideas ??? Any one.
Mac Mini Intel Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Here is wat to do:
1. copy all your important data via fire wire
2. use the disk utility on the osx disk to write zeros to your HD
3. resart
4. reinsal mac osx
This was cause most likely by eyetv because the hardrive is very active while using it so if u had a power surge or pushed the computer 2 far and started to use the hd as Vram you corupted your harddisk.. i did the same thing running linux in paralles

Mac Mini Ethernet dead.

The title is pretty self-explanatory--I have tried installing the restore discs and it didn't help any. I can't go to the Apple Store or any authorized Apple repair people because they're in Utah, or because they're insanely far away from my town. I tried creating a new "port", but that also never helped any. Help is greatly appreciated.

While not helpful in a direct sense, I would urge you to post as much detail as possible in terms of what you have done and what the result was, because you are the only eyes we have in trying to deal with the problem, and small details matter a great deal with networking problems.
Thus, have you tried a new cable? Have you tried connecting to a different port on the router? These are important troubleshooting tests because this will help identify where the problem lies, and then what the likely cause(s) might be.
In a broad sense, your mini does not need to be running MacOS 10.5 to have a functioning ethernet. Indeed, for the purposes of troubleshooting the system it is probably better to have a clean install of the original MacOS (10.4.7 in your case I suspect) from the install disk that came with the system. With no additional software and no updates applied, your mini's ethernet port should be active. It doesn't really help to add more complications to the troubleshooting, such as installing later versions of MacOS etc - indeed, doing this can actually hinder troubleshooting because it means we also have to figure out if there are any issues with the updated installations which could be affecting discernible symptoms.
Could you explain what you mean by: +I'm getting barely any activity on the port+ because it isn't clear (to me at least).
Additionally, you mention you have upgraded the RAM and ask whether the memory could be part of the problem. The answer is no, in itself it can't. The ethernet port is a hardware device for which MacOS has an inherent driver loading up at startup. As long as the system boots at all, RAM doesn't play a role in the failure of hardware devices such as this. However, did the ethernet port issue arise directly after the RAM upgrade, or was that done some time ago and the system has run correctly since?
Has there been any other work done recently on the system, prior to this fault arising?
and so far, I had a self-assigned IP, but for some odd reason, it disconnected, and reverted to the same thing.
When you get a self-assigned IP, it means that either the port is not working, the cable is damaged, the router is not set to hand out IP addresses, the router is faulty, a firewall is blocking all connections or the Network preference pane is not set to get IPs via DHCP. If the router shows a light for the port into which the mini is connected, it means that it can 'see' the mini, though it does not mean it can correctly communicate with it.
However, it is not clear what you mean by +but for some odd reason, it disconnected, and reverted to the same thing+ .... what disconnected? From what? How do you know? and what same thing did it revert to that was different to what it had briefly done?
Right now, I'm using it via Target Disk and getting updates for it. Hopefully, things can get working.
Assuming you have the mini in FW target disk mode while connected to one of your other systems (the MacBook perhaps?) then unless you have the mini set as the startup drive in the host system you aren't updating anything on the mini's setup in terms of MacOS, because the mini is only acting as an external drive for the (presumed) MacBook.
If this were my mini, I would first perform a PRAM reset on it (a wired USB keyboard which is not an Apple aluminium model is needed for this):
-Shut down the computer.
-Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in the next step but one.
-Turn on the computer.
-Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
-Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
-Release the keys.
After that, reboot the system as normal, and open the system profiler (Apple menu>About This Mac), then click on the More info button. Click the 'Network' heading in the contents list on the left and on the right, look at the list of devices. It should contain Airport, Bluetooth, Built-in Ethernet, Built-in Firewire and perhaps Internal Modem. If you click on the Built-in Ethernet entry, below you should see the device configuration - if so that will tell you that the system sees the hardware correctly. If the built-in ethernet entry is missing from the list, it means the system no longer sees the hardware port.

Mac Mini (2007 model) Ethernet and 802.11N dead

Wow, talk about frustrating...my 13 month old 2007-model Mac Mini just crapped out with a couple of issues. The Ethernet networking reports the cable is unplugged, even though it's not, and the 802.11 wireless networking won't connect at N speeds. Of my four Macs, this was the only one without AppleCare, so no warranty help to be had.
Anyways, to troubleshoot the system, I've verified that the Ethernet cable I am using provides connectivity on another machine, and that other machines in the same workspace can connect to the 802.11n router via "n" speeds. So it's not anything external to the Mac Mini.
I also booted from a different OS X version via external USB drive, and the Ethernet and Wireless "n" still display the same symptoms. So it sounds like hardware, since a software glitch shouldn't appear with a different boot drive, right?
Verify disk and repair permissions also performed, with no anomalies noted.
System Profiler shows the Ethernet port is there, but in following troubleshooting "cable unplugged" errors tips in another thread I tried removing it from the networking pref pane, and re-adding it, but Ethernet doesn't show as an addable option anymore.
I am able to connect via 802.11g, so the machine's not totally dead connectivity-wise, but as home theater media server, I am sure going to miss the rapid file transfer rates of Ethernet or "n" wireless.
So, before I write this machine off as crippled, can anyone think of anything else I might try to get Ethernet working again? I suppose a USB-to-ethernet dongle would be better than Wireless-"g", but it's still less than ideal.
On another note, oddly, several of my programs started complaining about not being registered, which is what lead me to try permissions and disk verifications. Pretty strange.
Any ideas appreciated.

Ah, you're right about the N not being supported. Color me stupid on that one...silly me assumed that since I'd only had it a year, and N was around on my other Macs purchased around then, that it was there, but of course the design was a year old already. I'll update the thread post to drop that part.
As for the cable, I sort of tried two other cables already. My actual setup is to run the Mini to a gigabit switch, then the switch runs a CAT6 cable 50' to the router. I used two different cables out of the switch, and then plugged the long run directly into the Mini. No go. I guess not a big issue to unplug the Mini and move it to another room. I'll give it a go, but take note that it's been working fine on this same cable/switch/router set-up for a year. Odd that it would suddenly change.
Thanks for the tips, I'll post back with results when I get home and can check it out.

Can I use imac 2007 which have dead hard drive as a Mac mini display

Can I use imac 2007 which have dead hard drive as a Mac mini display

If just the hard drive is defective you could mke a bootable USB thumb drive or bootable Firewire HD. Not sure of the connecting cables for the monitor functions. This could provide the functions though.
http://www.screenrecycler.com/ScreenRecycler.html

Extracting DVD from seemingly dead mac mini

Hi all,
I have a PPC mac mini, which now seems to have gone dead (if that is the correct word). From what I can see of how the mini 'doesn't' work, and comparing with posts in this forum and on the net, it is a case of a damaged HDD. Thus the mini won't boot from the HDD; to circumvent that i used the OS DVD to boot from, but now even that too is not working and the mini won't start at all. (have also tried everything else-reset PRAM, etc). I have come to the stage where I just want to chuck the mini in the trash, but don't want to lose the OS DVD (i think it is the Tiger upgrade DVD that is in the drive). Since the mini won't start, can anyone advise how i can extract the DVD in this situation. On the other hand, if someone has an idea of how to get the mini working again, that would be excellent.
(frankly, I don't really want to lose the mini, but don't seem to have any other option). I'm currently using a MacBook

One thing you can try: plug in a USB mouse (a Bluetooth mouse won't work), hold down the left mouse button, and start up the system. Keep holding down the mouse button and with luck, after a minute or so, it will eject the disk.
If that doesn't work, try this: restart the system and hold down the Command, Option, O and F keys and keep them down until you get the ">" prompt. If you can get to that prompt, type "eject CD" (without the quotation marks). If that will won't eject the disk, you'll have to get a technician to assist further.
As to getting the mini working, I don't know. If it's a damaged hard drive, that may be suppressing the boot as the mini keeps trying to mount the drive. Pulling the drive out would be the next step; if that is indeed the problem, the mini should then be able to boot from a CD. If so, you could then replace the hard drive. You can find a 2.5" PATA drive for under $50.00 US (and probably cheaper) if you shop around.
Hope this helps.

Is Mac Mini able to run Left 4 Dead well?

I'm considering getting a Mac Mini, which will be my first Mac computer, besides that one that's black and white and had the really fun painting application, beside the point though, looking to get a Mac Mini
I was going to get the less expensive of the two "basic" models and upgrade the RAM to 2 or 4 gigs, but a major concern for me is if it will be able to run a game like Left 4 Dead, or other games with similar requirements, I don't know why, but it seems to me the name just sounds like it's not very powerful... I went over the specs, but I don't know what's good anymore, especially not with video cards, last video card I had was a ATI 500 something or other, since then I've had the misfortune of working with laptops, and have never used a NVIDIA card before so don't know much about thier numbering scheme..
Anyway, sorry for the long winded post, I have a horrible tendency to do such things
edit just occured to me, this is in the wrong place, *wanders off to figure out where it needs to go*
Ok, new question, where the heck are the regular just... forum-y forums?
Message was edited by: Valalvax

Wow, I'm so surprised that this is still on the front page AND has over a thousand views...
I suppose I'll give an update, considering I'm here..
I got the cheaper model, and it ran WoW well enough, 60 FPS in dead areas, 20 in Dalaran, unfortunately after a few addons/if I had ANYTHING running in the background, stuttering was very bad
As for L4D, there are times when I can tell it's having issues, but I was honestly having more problems with my internet connection not being up to snuff than the machine.
Last week I bought 4 gigs of ram, and upgraded it, I can now say that my mac mini is probably the ugliest Mac product ever, the bottom side of it has over a hundred scratches, leftover putty, and I'm pretty sure I messed up some of the pins (though, that could just be my imagination), if you can't handle a single scratch on your mini, I'd def get the pros to upgrade your ram
On the inside, the mini is really fantastic, the way they put all that in there, just amazing, pictures really don't do it justice, will say though, foam is magic for the small formfactor machines apparently, there was quite a bit of foam doing things such as reducing noise, vibration, and directing air flow. And those snap off connectors were awesome, I accidentally got the Airport's wire wrapped around something, and when I pulled the top part off, it actually pulled out, which led to several seconds of "omigawd what did I just do?!" then realizing it just pops back
I'm sorry, I just.... went off on a tangent there, but, haven't gotten a chance to try L4D yet, but now I get 60 FPS in Dalaran full of people, 30 FPS recording, but I that's what I capped it at, and this was in/around Dalaran as well, view distance 50%, Environment detail 100%, and I can listen to iTunes on the Mac Mini's speakers now, working slowly on upgrades for it, unfortunately due to various tech things dying on me it's slow going

Dead Intel Mac Mini - any electronics geniuses?

Hi all,
Shortly after powering on my personal 1.66 GHz Intel Mac Mini last night it went straight off not to turn on again.
It made the startup chime and began booting but that was as far as it got. Now completely dead.
Luckily I am an independent Mac repairer and have access to a known good power supply so that was the first thing I checked but no luck - still dead.
Have obviously reset PMU and SMC as well as every other trick I know but it resolutely remains lifeless.
Have removed all peripherals (HD, SuperDrive, AP and BlueTooth) and shorted across the power button switch (just in case it was a duff button)
I have arrived at the conclusion it is something power related - a dead GPU or CPU would usually still give a glimmer of life but there is absolutely nothing happening - plus the fact that it started to boot then went straight off rather than froze.
I'm handy with a soldering iron and know how to use a multimeter but need a helping hand locating/testing for dead components at board level
Does anybody know what component/components might be causing this? Any help gratefully received as always
Ryan

Not exactly your same problem, but an interesting thread here that might help:
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=9524465#9524465

Mac Mini (Mid 2011) dead / EFI, ... how to unbrick?

Hello!
I have a Mac Mini Server (Mid 2011) which does not boot up anymore.
A benq screen is connected via HDMI and a mac keyboard via USB.
What I did before:
* generate lion recovery stick
* boot up with it an created a raid1 on the two internal 750gb drives
* reinstalled OSX (which took way to long, I want a full USB installer and not a network based one!)
* booted up OSX (worked nicely)
* installed the 5 pending software upgrades (one was the EFI Update)
* the efi update itself looked ok (grey progress bar was 100%) but instead of starting up my screen went blue
(=sign for lost hdmi signal) and the mac mini fan went to full speed.
* there was no interruption, power outage, reboot or whatever during the EFI BIOS update.
After that I called the Apple support, which only mentioned that I have to bring it in.
After waiting >30 min on the first support call they said I shall turn it off and on.
I tried the 10sec power button press method, pram-zapping, target mode towards an
other mac via thunderbolt, recovery mode, ... nothing changed the behavior.
The only thing it does on powering it on is to show a steady led, you feel the virbrations
from the spinning disks and after 25sec the fan turns full speed again.
For me it smells like an EFI issue, I wonder if the update routine got confused by the RAID1
(like trying to store some temporaty file which failed)
If I press the power button while plugging in the power and press power again the led does not
lite and the fan turns on imidiatly, these are the two modes in which I seem to be able to power it up.
I saw for older macs exists an "Firmware Restoration CD" http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2213
But I did not find anything else.
After calling Apple support again and spepding 2h in the phone queue and two disconnects
I got to a "Senior Advisor" who did not even knew about the "Firmware Restoration CD" at all, ...
He said there is no Recovery for this model and that most likely the logic board has to be replaced.
What I would like to hear from all of you out there:
* is there any way to recover a EFI firmware on the most recent Mac models, like my Mid 2011 Mac Mini Server?
(if not this sounds a bit broken by design)
* Any other suggestions what I could do to bring the Mac Mini back to life?
Thx, mek!

I have the same problem with the Mac mini in mid-2011, the newestmodel. After the EFI firmware update 1.3, the Mac will not start well,and fan speed up to full speed Increasing but the mac does nothing.
I called Apple and they don`t give me another solution to get him tofix. From what I've seen the most likely have to change the logicboard.
My is a brand new Mac Mini 2,3 GHz i5 with 2 GH mem
If anyone has another solution please comment on it.
My mac mini only has 20 days
Sorry for my poor English

Installation of leopard from one mac mini to another with dead CD/DVD drive

Is it possible to install Leopard on to an older mac mini that has a nonfunctioning CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive but otherwise works fine for what it is
Hardware Overview: Machine Model: Mac mini
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (1.1) CPU Speed: 1.25 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB Memory: 256 MB
Bus Speed: 167 MHz Boot ROM Version: 4.8.9f1
Serial Number:
TOSHIBA MK4025GAS:
Capacity: 37.26 GB
Model: TOSHIBA MK4025GAS
Revision: KA100P
Serial Number:
Removable Media: No
Detachable Drive: No
BSD Name: disk0
HARD DISK:
Capacity: 37.13 GB
Available: 9.02 GB
Writable: Yes
File System: Journaled HFS+
BSD Name: disk0s3
Mount Point: /
MATSHITA CD-RW CW-8123:
Manufacturer: MATSHITA
Model: MATSHITA CD-RW CW-8123
Revision: CAD4
Serial Number:
Drive Type: CD-RW/DVD-ROM
Disc Burning: Apple Supported/Shipped
Removable Media: Yes
Detachable Drive: No
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 1
Socket Type: Internal
FROM a mac mini that HAS a functioning CD/DVD drive
Model Name: Mac mini
Model Identifier: PowerMac10,1
Processor Name: PowerPC G4 (1.2)
Processor Speed: 1.42 GHz
Number Of CPUs: 1
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 512 MB
Bus Speed: 167 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.8.9f4
Serial Number:
MATSHITA CD-RW CW-8124:
Firmware Revision: DACD
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipping Drive)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw
Media: Insert media and refresh to show available burn speeds
I thought maybe I could do it with firewire but no luck...
any help would be greatly appreciated
Message was edited by: Moderator

k...
Boot the mini into TD mode
Connect it to the "other" Mac
Insert the install disk in the "other" Mac
Start the installer which will reboot the "other" Mac
Once the "other" Mac has restarted and is running from the install disk, you should be able to select the Mini's drive (the FW disk) as the install destination. If not, go into the Disk Utility (under the "Utilities" menu) and check out the FW disk. You may need to "repair" it, repair permissions or reformat it depending on the condition of the disk and the type of partition it contains.

HELP mac-mini dead, PC cluts has no idea

We purchase a Mac-Mini May 21st, 2006 for our son. He was the one that registered the product. He cannot remember how he registered, so trying to get support the correct way is failing.
The Mac Mini will not boot, and having been stuck on PC for years, I don't have clue what to look for. When the system says NO SIGN OF LIFE for 90 seconds, I'm not sure whether to take it to the ER for a defibrilation or not.
We purchased this machine from Yorkdale, Ontario. Can we take it to the store in Kitchener or London, since it is closer? The TechTool disk would not run, so I have no idea what to tell them when I take it in! The DISK is stuck in the machine, with disk0s2 UNDEFINED as the predominat message.
Any help appreciated.
David Slater

First, how your son registered it shouldn't matter. One of the first thing the AppleCare representative does is ask for the computer's serial number. Who he or she is talking to at the time doesn't matter - my friends and colleagues often drag me into helping with their problems so I've made numerous tech support calls on behalf of people. I had a valid serial number and that's all that mattered to the tech rep.
Second, Apple's warranty must be honored by all certified service centers so where you bought it doesn't matter.
BTW, a stuck CD should be ejected if you hold the mouse button while you turn the computer on. If it doesn't. that's one of the things you can tell the tech when you go to your local store.

Mac Mini won't boot up, just beeps once every 4 seconds. Is it dead?

Mac Mini died, now it won't boot up. It just sits and beeps at me once every four seconds with the power light flashing once every four seconds also. If i shut it off, can't get it to turn on again without unplugging it. also, no boot sound. Time for a new one?

Sounds like a RAM problem:
1 tone, repeating every 5 seconds: This indicates no RAM is installed.
Try reseat8ng the RAM. Finde you Mac here for how to access the RAM
Or you can
Make an appointment at the Genius Bar of an Apple store. No warranty required
Apple Retail Store - Genius Bar

My mac mini...is...DEAD!!! And I think it was suicide...Maybe murder...

I have a mac mini...I loved my mac mini...but someone thought they'd be "nice" and try to "hook it up" to the big screen t.v. in my bedroom as a "surprise". This gracious person doesn't know a thing about macs, very well versed in pc...I...I know nothing of electronics. This person checks the installation...at that time it had about 25 minutes to go...he comes back and sees that it is "deceased". I tried to do the "whatever it's called" "thing" you only do if you MUST...something with a hard boot??? No...ummmm...yeah...not sure...but something where I held it down for "umpteen" seconds and then plugged it in??? Idunno...Anyway...I DID FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS AT THE TIME, and it does not come back to life. Any ideas?? I am super sad to see this little guy go.

Need more information ...
Since you have Snow Leopard, you have an Intel mini. Are the steps you followed an SMC reset, which would be:
1. Shut down the computer.
2. Unplug the computer's power cord.
3. Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds.
4. Release the power button.
5. Attach the computers power cable.
6. Press the power button to turn on the computer.
Assuming you've hooked it back up to your normal screen, what happens when you try to turn it on? Any sounds, anything display on the screen?
Besides a keyboard, mouse, and screen, are there any other peripherals attached to the mini?

Dead Mac Mini - Startup Problems and more

I have a 1.33 GHz Mac Mini with a bad hard drive that is causing me considerable grief trying to troubleshoot.
When I first received the Mac Mini to look at (it belongs to my wife's Grandmother) the machine would chime and display the flashing folder on the screen indicating a missing system folder. I was not able to boot into single user mode so I booted first from a Tiger install DVD which worked fine. Disk Utility could see the drive but not repair it. Then I tried a Diskwarrior 4 CD which booted fine but again, was unable to repair the drive. Not wanting to give up just yet I took the Mini home and connected it to my intel iMac with Firewire. I did this several times and tried a variety of disk utilities that I have. However, eventually, the Mini would refuse to be recognized on the iMac. I had a monitor hooked up to it and saw that it was definitely going into target disk mode but I could not get the iMac to see it, even with swapping cables and holding my mouth just right.
Eventually I gave up on the thought of recovering data and was reserved to attempt to reinitialize the drive to see if the drive would work. I tried booting off a Leopard install DVD. It would startup with the grey screen and apple logo and spinning icon but after about a minute the CD activity would stop and the apple logo would be replaced by a circle with a line through it. What does this mean? Thinking that maybe the CD was bad I tried a Tiger Install DVD I had and got the same result. I now find that whereas before I could boot off various CD's I now find that it will not boot off ANY of my CD's. After about a minute the CD noise stops and the machine just sits there, not hung but not progressing. I have tried leaving the machine for over 1/2 an hour and nothing.
What could be wrong? Is there some point in the CD boot process where the hard drive is accessed and if the hard drive is toast will it cause the hang? Same with the Firewire Target mode? Should I crack this thing open and remove the hard drive and see if that fixes it or is the logic board toast?

Have you tried the Apple hardware test? Assuming the CD drive will work, find the OS X discs that came with the mini, which in small print on the label says AHT Version x.x (should be the first OS X disc). Insert it and reboot holding the option key down. Choose the Apple hardware test, click the arrow pointing to the right, and follow directions. Choose the extended test. Does that give you any additional information?

Mac mini is dead

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