My Mac mini has a flashing folder how to fix?
My Mac mini has a flashing folder how to fix?
This is the iPad forum. You'll get better advice if you post this question in the Mac Mini forum.
Similar Messages
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Mac Mini boots to flashing folder
I experience a hdd failure of my mac mini, about a week ago. Ordered a new SSD and replaced it. I then went to a buddies house and put OSX Lion on a thumb drive. Tested it, and it booted on his machine. Now, my mac mini boots to a flashing folder, and I hold the option button upon boot (same sequence I used to test the thumb drive and successfully booted to it) and nothing happens. I just get the same flashing folder and no ability to reference to it. After so long, the system times out and shuts down.
So to conclude,
Mac mini hdd crash. New BLANK ssd installed. Mac mini does not give the option to boot to usb, only flashes gray folder with question mark. Holding option to get boot menu does not work.
Suggestions? I was originally going to burn the OS to a disc, but his machine spit out my blanks.ownerizer wrote:
I experience a hdd failure of my mac mini, about a week ago. Ordered a new SSD and replaced it. I then went to a buddies house and put OSX Lion on a thumb drive.
If you are refering to something created using Recovery Disk Assistant,
it will only work on the machine it was created on. If not, how was it
created? In most cases, it may not work on machines or show up
on a machine that did not have Lion installed natively. -
Mac Mini - has anyone figured out how to increase video RAM?
More and more websites are offering live feeds, particularly Indycars and CART, but the Mac Mini is functionally useless for this application offering only "Stop motion", which is great for Laurel and Hardy or Buster Keaton, but not quite the thing for a rapidly moving sport.
Has a hyper-intelligent mega being out there in Apple-land worked out a software patch to expand the memory capacity of the Graphics Card into normal RAM? After all the standard 64k is listed as "shared" memory, so could it be coaxed to grab a larger slice of the RAM cake?I belive this would be in the same vein of folks who want to manually control the use of Virtual Memory in Mac OS X. In six years, no one's been able to engineer that feat.
My suggestion would be to buy a Mac that already meets your minimum requirements for your software.
-Doug -
I want to do a data recovery of my 15" MBP that has the flashing folder w/ ? mark in it, to an iMac 21.4"; how can i go about that?
DJSMACC wrote:
How do I go about removing the internal drive and mount it to an external enclosure @Linc Davis??? Sorry that I'm not too hip with all the technology lingo & etc?
You'll have to watch the video and buy a few tools to extract the driive.
http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/
Then use something like this to connect to the other Mac or PC with MacDrive installed.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer%20Technology/U3NVSPATA/
You also can get the same adapter elsewhere online for as low as $12 I've seen.
Likely it's a USB 2,1 which your Mac's can only accept USB 2,1 anyway, no need to pay more for a USB 3 unless you want too.
No compensation for site or product mention
You likely should be having a professional or Apple tech attempt to bypass the firmware password if you forgot it, it's the best way to go about things.
Just because the Mac has a spinning wheel gray screen at boot doesn't mean it's ruined, you just need to bypass the firmware password and then from there fix the machine's cause for not booting, which is likely a software issue from a third party kernel extension file.
Step by Step to fix your Mac
You should know that opening the iMac could likely ruin it and will ruin any warranty or AppleCare, and if it's a Early 2011 model or later you can't replace the hard drive yourself as Apple has proprietary software installed on the drive that needs to "talk" to OS X to control the fans speeds.
Good Luck. -
How can I connect my 2009 Mac Mini to a TV that only has the Component inputs available? My Mac Mini has a Mini DisplayPort and Mini-DVI port. Thanks.
Composite is analogue with one connector. That is why it is called composite
Component is analogue with three connections. I think one for each color
Here is the one for component. I misread composite for component
http://www.amazon.com/DVI-I-Component-DisplayPort-Female-Adapter/dp/B003OBOJC2 -
I don't understand how much memory a mac mini has please help!
I feel really stupid asking this, but I can't understand how much memory a Mac Mini has...
512MB of 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-5300), supports up to 2GB
I hope that doesn't mean it only holds 2GB...but I don't know.
PLEASE HELP ME! I need to get a Mac soon before my PC dies again.
Mac MiniHi opera_rocker
I think that you may have found yourself in a little bit of a pickle regarding technical hardware terms, so I'll try and clear things up for you.
The Mac Mini comes as standard with 512MB of RAM (Read Only Memory). RAM is a little stick that is built into the computer that supplies the software with all the virtual memory that it needs to accomplish tasks. The more RAM that you have in your computer, the faster software will run, and the more things you can have going on at the same time. You never actualy use RAM for personal files and folders. The Mac Mini will accept a total of 2GB of RAM, which comes as an optional upgrade from Apple, however, 1GB is more than adequate.
All of your files and folders are kept on your hard drive, like that in your 30GB iPod. Everything that you use on your computer, whether it be Word Processing software, or Games for example, are stored on the hard drive. The Mac Mini can come with either a 60GB, or 80GB Hard Drive depending on which model you decide to buy. That's plenty more space than you have on your actual iPod and you will most probably never seem to run out of room!
Hope that I may have been of help!
-Pos
Message was edited by: Pos -
when i starst my mac i get a flashing folder with a question mark. i tried rebooting and holding the option button then i get 2 boxes, one with a refresh arrow and one with a forward arrow neither of them seem to do anything. now what
Here is an article that describes what it is supposed to do:
Startup Manager: How to select a startup volume
If no Volumes are shown, it is telling you there are no potentailly bootable Volumes attached. That means your boot drive has died or the bootable image on it is unrecognizable.
What Mac Pro ? by year, GHz, number of processors, screen size?
What Mac OS X ? -
My mac Mini has problem rendering images and video
THE PROBLEM:
My mac mini has problem rendering JPEG image. There are strips on the images. Other images such as GIF, PNG, TIFF, and BMP are displayed nicely.
The images shown in the links below illustrate the problem:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/terencewong/71481156/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/terencewong/73360989/
(Please note that this image is grabbed from my faulty Mac Mini and saved into TIFF. For uploading purpose, I converted it into JPEG on ANOTHER computer.)
For movies, AVI can be playback without problem. But when it is converted to MPEG, it looks like an untunned TV channel.
FIXES TRIED:
I did erase and install 3 to 4 times using both the install disc and my Tiger Family Pack. All ended up with strips on the JPEG images and the generated MPEG movies.
I've also tried to flash the firmware to 113-xxxxx-124 using ATI's october 2005 universal ROM update, however, the ROM Revision shown in System Profiler is still 113-xxxxx-116 no matter how many time I reboot the system.
INVESTIGATION:
Yesterday, I did some research and got to know that JPEG and MPEG are using DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform) for decompression. And the ATI Radeon 9200 chip provide such a transform on hardware basis, which free the CPU from doing something else. Feel free to point out my inaccuracy.
HARDWARE SPECIFICATION:
I bought the Mac Mini in the last Februray.
The system Boot ROM version is: 4.8.9f1
Display card is ATI Radeon 9200
Chipset Model: ATY,RV280
Revision ID: 0x0001
ROM Revision: 113-xxxxx-116
A POSSIBLE CONCLUSION:
I suspect that it is this part of the chip (the DCT) that is faulty.
Anyone know how to fix this problem?
Many thanks!Assuming that your display is tightly connected, thus the problem is not caused by something as simple as that, the fact that a full erase and install has not removed the problem would, I think, point to this being a hardware issue, and given that everyone's mini (with the possible exception of some of the latest ones) has the same video chipset as yours, and do not suffer the problem that you appear to, it seems very likely that your mini has a fault which is in need of repair.
If you have an Apple Store nearby, I would take it there to have it checked out - at the very least they should be able to replicate your problem using an in-store display, and if not, thusly suggest it's something external to the mini and concerning your display or something very unusual in the immediate environment of the mini. If you don't have an Apple Store in reach, I'd take the system to an Apple authorized service provider since at the present time it is under warranty. -
HT201541 Our Mac-Mini has gotten slower and slower. Is there a utility that would help speed it up?
Our 4 plus year old Mac-Mini has gotten slower and slower. Is there a utility that would help speed it up or is there another?
Hello! I’ve offered the steps below to similar posts in the past and they helped out getting to the solution (or at least find the cause). I suggest them to you too in this case. It will take you about 30 minutes or less to do these, depending on how bad the problem on your Mac is.
The goal here is to boot your Mac to the so-called Recovery partition where you’ll have a chance to repair the disk and the disk permissions using the Disk Utility and Password Utility. This might solve your issue and even if it doesn’t- it’s still a decent maintenance step to perform. These steps won’t erase your data or reinstall your Mac in any way if you follow instructions carefully.
Here’s how:
1/ Make sure your computer is completely shut down.
2/ You’ll have to be quick next: Press the Mac’s power button. As soon as you either hear the loud chime, or see the display light up - usually after a second or 2 - on your keyboard press [cmd] + [r] Keep these keys on your keyboard pressed until you either see an Apple Logo with a loading bar or a spinning gear.
After a few minutes, you’ll be presented with a Utilities screen. This is the Recovery partition. If this step is already giving you problems, try using a USB-keyboard. It doesn’t have to be an Apple-keyboard. If you have a Windows-tailored keyboard laying around, use the “Windows-flag” key in stead of the [cmd]-key and it should also work.
3/ Choose Disk Utility and click [continue]
Disk Utility will display your computer’s harddrive in the left column. The default name for it is “Macintosh HD” and is usually the second one from the top. Click on it and click on the [verify disk] button. This will check your “Macintosh HD” harddrive partition for errors. If found, click [repair disk] unless you have a Fusion drive in your Mac and it says [fix] instead of [repair disk] please tell us before you continue! For a screenshot of what I mean, check this article from Apple: http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202574
4/ Once done with the verifying or repairing of your “Macintosh HD” click [repair disk permissions]
This will check your partition for permissions errors. A common myth about this feature is that it will fix all permissions issues on your Mac, which is not true, but it will fix most systemwide issues. Also, here is a list of error messages that you can safely ignore if they pop up:
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203172
5/ Lastly we shall do a permissions/Access Control List repair on specifically your user’s home folder with a somewhat hidden tool in the Recovery partition. Close Disk Utility and find the menu called “utilities” in the top left corner of your computer’s display. It’s in between the menus “edit” and “window” Don’t be confused with the menu called “os x utilities”
Choose Terminal. A somewhat old-fashioned looking window will pop up, waiting for a text command from you. This is the Terminal.
After the # type: resetpassword and press return. Note that there is no space between ‘reset’ and ‘password’
What you’ll see next is an rectangular window that gives you the option to reset passwords. We are not going to that, however. Instead, click on “Macintosh HD” at the top. In the pull-down menu below that, choose your user's accountname. Skip all the rest and at the very bottom click the [reset]-button.
A spinning gear will appear and may stay on for a second or several minutes. It’s hard to predict exactly how long.
If you have multiple users on your Mac, I advise you to repeat this step for all your users.
We’re ready to reboot your Mac now. Click on the Apple Menu and choose “startup disk” Choose to boot from “Macintosh HD” Please let us know if this solved your issue, or if the steps above did not work, or could not be performed for some reason.
If they worked I suggest you do these steps everytime your Mac becomes slow. -
Since the MAC Mini has a slot for CD insertion I cannot visually tell if
Since this MAC Mini has a slot for inserting CDs how can I tell if it will accept and read video dics that are routinely 3 1/2 inches in diameter? These are discs used in MINI DVD camcorders.
You cannot use the mini CDs in your Mini. If you try to do so, you can do serious damage to the mechanism -- and they won't work, regardless.
If you need to use odd-shaped or smaller CDs, an external firewire tray-loading drive would be a solution.
Some examples at OWC:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/optical-drives/ -
HT1338 install linux OS on Mac mini with USB flash
I have Mac Mini (2005) with RAM 1 Gb, HDD ATA 160Gb (Upgrade new hard disk). Now, i want install linux os on Mac mini with USB flash, but can't do it.
I not yet user MAC os, before (i only use iphone and ipad). :d
Help me do it!
ThanksThanks answer,
But not problem.
1. I use Rufus_v1.2.0 create usb boot with file iso. Insert USB to Mac, i startup my Mac mini...screen display gray color with icon folder change 'icon mac os and icon question (?)'.I think Mac mini unknown OS on hard disk (because new hard disk).
2. Don't first boot from USB flash (another devices, i can set up 'boot property' on bios, or press any key to load menu boot). On Mac mini, i don't known(i search internet i try press key 'c', but not run)
:d -
Mac Mini 2011 shows a folder with question mark
Good morning,
I reinstalled last night lion newly via recovery mode (internet) and somehow the internt connection was lost at night. So I tried it again and the installation of lion stucks after all was finally downloaded and the mac mini has booted up again. I see only the text "installing" and a progressbar below, nothing else.
When I try to start the mac mini normally I see only a folder with a question mark.
So, what to do?!
Greetings and thanks for the help!Reinstalling Lion Without the Installer
Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alterhatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion: Select Reinstall Lion and click on the Continue button.
Note: You can also re-download the Lion installer by opening the App Store application. Hold down the OPTION key and click on the Purchases icon in the toolbar. You should now see an active Install button to the right of your Lion purchase entry. There are situations in which this will not work. For example, if you are already booted into the Lion you originally purchased with your Apple ID or if an instance of the Lion installer is located anywhere on your computer. -
some times my internet connection will say it has timed out and I can not connect. but my friends mac never has a problem. How can I fix this?
Just confirming, when you have the trouble, the wifi icon is grayed-out or has all bars showing? I believe you are saying that is is grayed-out - not connected to your wireless router.
I have a Mini that started to lose connection to the Internet after the 10.7.3 update but still showed the wireless as connected. If I pinged the wireless router, I would get a quarter of the packets failing to return. The router was a Netgear that supported 802.11N connections. As a test, I set it to 802.11G (54MBps) maximum and the Mini worked fine for a week - no dropouts. And for the other devices that did support 802.11N, while there was a noticeable delay with downloads and pages loading, they still worked.
As another test, I changed the Netgear router to a Billion 802.11N model and the Mini has not had a problems since. (It is still using 802.11g). So it could be your router that is causing trouble for your Mac.
Have a look at some of the More Like This postings in the right column. There has been a number of Mac owners experiencing wifi connection issues and some very good suggestions as to how to resolve their issue. -
Mac mini has hung while updation of OS to Yosemite. Help!
While updating to new yosemite OS my Mac Mini has blanked out. The start screen shows progress till about half and then stops midway. Please help.
Take each of these steps that you haven't already tried. Stop when the problem is resolved.
To restart an unresponsive computer, press and hold the power button for a few seconds until the power shuts off, then release, wait a few more seconds, and press it again briefly.
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 a desktop Mac hangs at a plain gray screen with a movable cursor, the keyboard may not be recognized. Press and hold the button on the side of an Apple wireless keyboard to make it discoverable. If need be, replace or recharge the batteries. If you're using a USB keyboard connected to a hub, connect it to a built-in port.
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 in OS X 10.9 or earlier, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is 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 11. 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. -
Mac Mini has Distorted audio over HDMI
My brand new mid-2010 Mac Mini has distorted audio over HDMI. Ideas? Tried multiple connections, devices, but the Mini's audio flattens and distorts high pitch sounds. Really distracting, makes movie watching impossible. Thinking about returning it.
Update: After a bunch of playing around, it appears that I do, in fact, have audio output. What is missing are the up and down volume chirps. I can do without that.
Now, anyone know how to fix the Logitec webcam's input volume...?
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