Mac mini shuts down after 10 seconds..

Question

At first today, the CDs and discs kept automatically ejecting and wouldn't read (obviously). So I keep putting them back in hoping it would read or hold something. Then I restarted and the Mac Mini shuts down after 10 seconds of the seeing the desktop. Did I fry it? I did hear a weird sizzling when I put my hand on top of the mini. And is this under any warranty - I bought it Feb. 07? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Any thoughts on that?
One or two come to mind, not least that if the unit is under warranty now (as it clearly is) and they aren't taking this fault seriously, then buying AppleCare so it remains under warranty longer isn't the right solution - having them examine it and resolve the problem is.
There's no doubt at all that in the event there is a system with a suspected fault, extending the warranty long enough that the system ceases to function and can be repaired is a good thing, but it shouldn't be necessary to go to that extreme in order to get a problem resolved now!
I would simply take this elsewhere and have it looked at. While odd noises are sometimes hard to hear in an environment where there are people and other activities going on, and thus it is reasonable to expect diagnosis of them to prove difficult, a system that shuts down of its own accord after a few seconds is clearly not working correctly. To be sure, if it is overheating, then testing it when it's cold is likely to miss the problem, but the description of the fault from the user ought to give enough clues to put the system on test long enough to see what happens when it warms up. If the fault can't then be replicated with a system that is at normal running temperature and under load, then giving it a clean bill of health is reasonable.
Thus, in your place I would ask them if they did, in fact, test it in that way. Alternatively, write a description of the fault, specifically identifying the premature shutdowns and the circumstances in which they happen (if they still do) and the noises and the circumstances in which they occur (if they still do) and take the system and description to an approved service provider and let them look at it.
If the shutdowns are no longer occurring, and the noise is absent, then whether you buy AppleCare or not is really a matter of how confident you are that the problem has gone. If you have doubts that the system is running correctly, AppleCare is expensive but at least extends the warranty sufficiently that you can stop worrying too much. Alternatively, if the problem(s) still persist, rather than AppleCare, have the system examined and repaired right now.