Thinking about switching to Intel Mac Mini... questions for the cognoscenti
Greetings:
I've been checking out the new Intel Mac Minis and I was thinking of purchasing one to replace my AV computer (PC) in the living room, which the GF currently uses. She's a typical user: watches video files/DVDs, uses iTunes excessively , sends web email and surfs the Net.
I've fairly decided on an Intel Core Duo Mini. Since I know the basics about Mac, I had a few questions:
1. What's an appropriate amount of RAM for a non-power user? Would 1 GB be more than enough or overkill? I'm used to running 1GB in a Windows machine. Plus, I'm also used to popping in memory when I needed to upgrade, and I see that's not really an option on the Mini.
2. How would I integrate it into a Windows network? Would the Mini be able to share files with a Windows machine and vice versa?
3. Regarding network integration: how easily would the Mini integrate into an existing Linksys 802.11g home network?
Lastly, this isn't really an (easily) answerable question, but how easy do you think it would be for an average computer user to get up and running on a Mac after having used Windows machines all their life?
Thanks, I look forward to your responses.
-Craig
Homebuilt Windows XP Pro 2GB PC 3500 RAM, 500GB SATA RAID (2x250), ATI AIW 9700 Pro, Athlon XP3200
Hello, I can only really answer Q's 1 & 3 as I've only owned a mini for the past 24 hours.
I purchased the Single Core after taking advice of the Apple Store staff in Manchester, they were quite helpful. I only really produce music (have used Ableton, Acid Pro etc on PC for quite a while), surf the web, do my banking etc so was advised that the Single Core with 512mb would be sufficent. I work for an ISP and have 10 years plus knowledge of Windows but I was prepared to listen and learn having never used a mac before. From my own experience, I'm used to having to use a pc with minimum spec ie min 1.2GHz processor, 1gb ram in order to produce music without any pops or clicks (latency), though sound cards also play a part. I've also had to keep internet activity well away from any PC that I produce music on in that respect. Anyhow, I'm going off on a tangent here but I was playing around with garageband last night and I've never known music production to run so smoothy on 512mb RAM, never known it before so was extremely impressed and certain I made the right purchase opting for Solo Core. You may not actually NEED the full 1gb though this depends what you're doing. To answer your other question, my mac slotted straight into my home nertwork without making any additional configuration.
i.e how long does it take to get used to a mac, I've found there is a learning curve but it's not THAT difficult, it's just the odd thing such as no right click of the mouse that takes some getting used to.
Similar Messages
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Hello all:
I am sure this has been asked before. In replacing the hard drive and RAM in my intel mac mini, one of the battery wires at the point where it goes into the coupler broke off. I had seen elsewhere that warned if this breaks, you may as well toss the device. Is this the case? Can this be replaced by buying a new battery line?
Any help would be very much appreciated since I have my daughter's computer now out of commission.Hi Chris
Sorry to hear about the accident with the wire. Don't despair - you don't have to toss the Mini!
If it was mine, I would first take a close look at the connector to see if it be dismantled so that I could re-solder/attach the wire. If not, and assuming the connector is unique to Apple, I would source another connector from an electronics shop (you don't need anything fancy - all you are doing is connecting two wires that run a fan).
I'm reasonably competent with a soldering iron, so I would unsolder the old connector and then fit the new one. If you don't have a soldering iron or aren't confident using one, you need to find a hobbyist or repair shop that will make the changeover for you.
This isn't high-tech stuff, so no worries about screwing up the Mini (although you do need to be careful to avoid static discharges while handling the opened Mini - but then you probably already knew that before opening the case). -
Need Advice: New Intel Mac Mini Still In The Box
Hi!
Okay.. I know... I have several posts going here as I have several issues I am trying to solve rather simultaneously. Thanks for being patient with me.
I have my old 1.25 Ghz PowerPC Mac Mini running 10.4.11 and all was well and happy. Then Security Update 2007-009 happened and all went to ....well... you know and, yes, it was bad! Went to Apple, got it running of sorts as they re-installed the OS, but they used an old version of OS X. (10.4.7. Can you believe that?) This caused other problems. It continues to have all sorts of difficulties, as I have had to get applications to re-recognize that the computer is back up to 10.4.11. Currently, I am struggling with trying to get iTunes to access it's music folders on the external hard drives. Realized that I hadn't even gotten around to figuring out whether or not some of my other applications work, like some of the games and third party, etc.
The thing is I got a new Intel Mac Mini for Christmas and it's still in the box because as I suspected I need to get my old mac perfect again before I can even think about migrating stuff over to the new Mac. But.. here's the thing... it's starting to look pretty much like 2008 will come and go before I can get the old Mac ready enough to take the new Mac out of the box. This really is rather silly!
Now... I can't get the old Mac to see the music and it made me think. I have all of my iTunes music and iPhoto backed up on an external hard drive (I used Apple's "Back-up" software to do it) and in addition to this two complete copies of the iTunes music and iPhoto photos albums on two separate external hard drives. Should I just forget using migration assistant? Can I get my music and my photo albums into the new mac directly from the external hard drives?
Or...can I use "back up" to restore the music and photos into the new Mac?
I am starting to think that the best way to get my new Mac running is not risk it by attaching it to my old Mac. What do you think?
Thank you so much for any advice or experiences you can give. -CharlotteI know that I am vacillating back and forth as to what to do. Thanks so much for being patient with me. All of your advice is really appreciated and I am at least closing in on deciding on my strategy. Probably will follow your first response advice, especially considering that some of the third party apps may not have updates to handle Leopard quite yet. Anyway... it's a good strategy since everything is on the externals anyway.
You can say that fine.
Ha ha ha.... yes, I've been messing around with computers since my parents bought our first Apple computer back in 1979. Just like you, I've never had a serious problem with any of the computers and we've had them all, running all sorts of things from the Original Apple and Apple IIc (which my parents still have and it still runs!) to the Commodore and all the Windows permeations and then on to the Macs running Jaguar, Panther and Tiger, probably because we've always been careful with the machines and what we install in them and how we update them. I have always kept my computers on UPS' and un-plug them when storms brew outside. As it is I am still using my eight year old Windows 98 computer, (for games mostly) and it still runs quicker than most peoples windows pcs and it's only a 740 Megahertz.
I haven't had to re-install anything, especially on this lovely little Mac Mini until now and wouldn't have in this situation, had I known more. I had taken the little Mac Mini in for a Procare "Tune-Up," only four days before the big up-date disaster. Not sure what they did to my mac in the tune-up but the guy gave me back the machine assuring me that the computer was perfect with no problems in answer to my asking "were they sure?" Even after the Genius Bar techs at the Apple Store re-installed the OS to fix the big problems it seems that no one ever thought to run verify disk. Had the Genius Bar techs at the time of the tune-up done this, or at least told me to do this, the last security update would not have wrecked so much havoc. It was only after I got the machine back from Apple that second time that I found that the directory had been corrupted when I ran disk verify. Actually it is amazing that I have had this little Mac Mini for so long and so not have had any problems on it that I would be able to go so long without having to know this really pretty important aspect of keeping one's mac in good running shape. I had been running maintenance scripts and permissions verify and repair and thought that was all there was to it. Silly! You know... that really is a testimony of how nice these little machines are.
Anyway... experience is a good teacher and I have learned so much it's actually been great! This stuff is pretty interesting.
Now... on to Leopard!
Thanks so much and you have a great New Year! -Charlotte -
I have a mac mini with an i7 dual core processor. It is perceptably slower than my macbook pro with a quad core i7. Does the mac mini server have the same hardware configuation as the regular mac mini with server software or is the hardware different (aside from the i7 quad core and dual hard drives)? I want a mini with a quad core i7...
Your assumption is correct. The server does however only
have the Intel HD3000 graphics like the base model with
no option, at this time, for the discrete graphics chip. So,
depending on what you are using it for, that could be a deal
breaker. Remember that your MBP does have a discrete
graphics chip.
I have a 2011 Mini Server connected to a Thunderbolt display
that gets used as an engineering workstation and general
personal use (some photo editing, LP restoraton, general
internet browsing). You simply just not enable any of the
server services. I find the combination to work quite well
for my purposes. I also have a 13" 2.7 GHz i7 Macbook Pro
which is pretty much strictly for work. As far as CPU
power it is pretty much equivelent to your Mini. For the most
part I find the Mini does outperfom my MBP. I heavily use
Parallels and Windows7 virtual machines, so the more cores
the better.
So, If you do a lot of CPU intensive stuff that is multithreaded,
the Server may help. If it is graphics intensive and your software
heavily leaverages the GPU, you may actually take a hit on
performance. -
Best app for QT on Intel Mac Mini kiosk?
Hi all:
I've sent variations of this message off to various folks and fora pertaining to Flash, Director, Livestage, etc., so I thought I'd ask here as well.
I'm working on a very high profile exhibit here in NYC, which is opening to the public on Sept. 11th (draw your own conclusions). It involves a number of standard definition (not HD) video-based kiosks.
These are running on bottom of the line off-the-shelf single-core Intel Mac Minis w/ 512MB RAM. No, we cannot change the platform. We have to make it work with what we have.
We built our prototype in Director. Unfortunately, using QT in Director projects on Intel-based Macs is a non-starter, because Director executables are not Universal Binary yet.
The app is very simple -- a black background that just waits to trigger the video on a mouse click and returns to the black background when the movie is done playing.
The key thing is we need to display the highest possible image quality. We had hoped to use H.264. We've also tried 3IVX and Motion JPEG B, all of which play beautifully in the QT Player but stutter noticeably once in Director. This turns out to be a known problem, and a Universal Binary version of Director isn't due until next year.
I've also tried making a QuickTime Media Link (QTL) file that allows us to "quit when done" so that we can use BuddyAPI to open the program with the QT Player and then drop back to the Director app when done.
That works great, except for the fact that as of OSX 10.3, you can't hide the menu of an app when switching to another app, which looks terrible. Arrgh.
Flash's Player v9 (which is Universal Binary) only runs in a Browser, not as a standalone. So unless there's a browser that will run fullscreen with no chrome, that's out for the foreseeable future as well.
So now I'm thinking about building the whole thing as a self-contained QT movie in Livestage.
Livestage only runs in Rosetta, so I don't know if the QT file I build run natively in the QT player, so that I can use h.264 or 3IVX or whatever without it stuttering. I'd be perfectly happy w/ 3IVX, by the way...
Any help or direction appreciated. We have to have this up and running on site by next Monday, the 14th.
best,
FBCRight -- well, I'm not concerned with editing the video (I use FCP, too).
I completely understand the role of bitrate in making videos look good, and for the record, I've gotten decent looking videos from Motion JPEG B at the Medium (default) quality settings...
But that's not my question here. The problem is playing back any QT codec as an asset in a larger application (eg, Flash, Director, Livestage) running specifically on the Intel Mac Minis. At the root of the problem is lack of universal binary projectors.
At the moment, the best option I have so far is using SAFT to put Safari into Kiosk mode (no title bar, etc.) and using that to play back a Flash SWF file (which give me the needed interactivity) as the default home page.
We're also going to try to roll our own Cocoa app as a wrapper for a 3ivx file. That will almost certainly look better than even a very high bandwidth FLV/SWF.
Any other ideas appreciated... -
Can't find Laserwriter 4/600 on network from Intel Mac mini
Problem: Cannot find/print to networked LaserWriter using Airport network.
Kit: Mac mini 1.66 GHz Intel Core Duo, 512 MB running Mac OS 10.4.5; Silver Apple Airport Base Station unExtreme; Netgear 814 combined switch/router/DSL modem; Asanté LocalTalk-to-Ethernet Adaptor; Apple LaserWriter 4/600PS.
Method: Airport bridges from wireless (Mac mini) side of network to wired (LaserWriter) side via hub/router.
This setup worked perfectly for many years but did not survive the encounter with Intel Mac mini.
Resolution attempted: Carried out detailed instructions involving switching devices off and on in strict order, using Printer Setup Utility etc.
These instructions are posted on Asanté website:
http://www.asante.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3164
Getting this to work requires that the Ethernet connection be switched from AirPort to Built-in Ethernet and that the computer be physically connected to the hub by an ethernet cable. The unwanted effect of this is that it denies wireless access to network/internet services formerly enjoyed by Mac & PC computers.
Running the identical Asanté routine with AirPort rather than Built-in Ethernet as the connection method results in the loss of the LaserWriter to the network.
Any ideas?You can rest assured that printing to a AppleTalk
printer through wireless network is way down on the
list of things that is ever going to be tested in the
labs.
Point taken. I'm just curious about what might be going on.
Since I can't test here - the only thing I can do is
think of possible differences between your two
networks (wired and wireless)
I'm not an expert but as I understand it the Intel Mac mini should "see" the network as a single contiguous entity. In other words the AirPort Base Station that bridges between the wireless and the wired parts of the network should be entirely transparent, so I think the answer to your next question is yes.
Is your network flat (sameIP address range and routes
wireless as wired)? I could see issues if there were
a firewall or you had separate networks set up (you
can have different networks that talk to each other
through gateways and routing - but things like
Bonjour/Rendezvous and if my rusty memory is to be
trusted - Appletalk too - depends on things being in
the same "network" for broadcast packets to get to
everyone.)
Again, I don't know if it proves anything but when I had another computer on network here, the IP address assigned to it by the router was within the specified range. This machine is getting on for three whole years old, has begun to self-destruct and so it's gone for repair under the last gasp of its AppleCare warranty extension.
The Intel Mac mini can also "see"/print to a Bonjour wireless printer. This may also answer your question about the possibility there being two networks here rather than one. On the other hand, I guess that the ability to print to the Bonjour device does not involve any bridging between the wireless and wired parts of the network, so this may not be relevant.
If the concept of different networks does not make
sense - open up the Network Utility application and
post the results of your "Display routing table
information" from the netstat section...
Finally, here's what Network Utility, Netstat comes up with:
Routing tables
Internet:
Destination Gateway Flags Refs Use Netif Expire
default 192.168.0.1 UGSc 20 55 en1
127 localhost UCS 0 0 lo0
localhost localhost UH 17 199665 lo0
169.254 link#5 UCS 0 0 en1
192.168.0 link#5 UCS 2 0 en1
192.168.0.1 0:9:5b:46:64:3 UHLW 19 17 en1 1177
192.168.0.3 localhost UHS 0 0 lo0
192.168.0.255 link#5 UHLWb 1 12 en1
Internet6:
Destination Gateway Flags Netif Expire
localhost link#1 UHL lo0
localhost Uc lo0
localhost link#1 UHL lo0
link#5 UC en1
ray-thomsons-compu 0:14:51:ef:99:b1 UHL lo0
ff01:: localhost U lo0
ff02::%lo0 localhost UC lo0
I hope it makes more sense to you than it does to me!
Kind regards,
Ray
PowerBook G4•1GHz•512MB•15•AirPort unExtreme Mac OS 9.2.x -
Intel mac mini support jumbo frames
Can anyone confirm if jumbo frames are supported on the Intel mac mini? In the networking control panel under Ethernet if the jumbo frames radio button is not greyed out then the hardware has support.
fabulous thanks for testing that - sounds like the intel mini is about to become a file server here!
Cheers -
Intel Mac Mini: possible to remove Airport card?
Is it possible to remove temporarly the airport extreme card from an Intel Mac Mini to use the card in another Mac having a free Airport Extreme slot?
That is, Intel Mac Minis have a "standard" airport card already mounted inside, or the built-in airport connectivity is supplied by a specific el.circuit with no Airport card at all?!
Mac mini + iBook Mac OS X (10.4.7)The AirPort Extreme card in the Mac mini is a "standard" card, not special circuitry on the Logic board...so, yes, it would be possible to remove & replace it.
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Intel Mac mini memory question
Hi,
I got an Intel Core Solo Mac Mini.
4 questions :
1- My mac has 512 mo. Is it ddr2-SODIMM memory (I think intel is different vs G5) ?
2- Is it 2x256 mo or 1x512 ?
3- I want to upgrade to 1 gig, do I have to buy 2x512 ou 1x1000 ?
4- Does this ram is compatible ? http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=221705 6&CatId=2268
It said "PC5400" but all the specs seems to be "PC5300"
thank you !
Intel Mac Mini Core Solo Mac OS X (10.4.6)
Intel Mac Mini Core Solo Mac OS X (10.4.6)
Intel Mac Mini Core Solo Mac OS X (10.4.6)i recenetly purchases 2 gigs of memory off of ebay from approvedmemory
i called the apple store to get it installed, they do not intall 3rd party memory. so I called fry's and asked if they could do it. One store said no, but the Burbank, CA store has a guy who could do it. It took him 20 minutes to do it and it cost me $29.00
The 2 gigs of memory cost me $180 off of ebay.
The macstore/appleas store charges about $680.00 or so.... u do the math.
http://www.super-natural-films.com
http://www.naturalprinting.com
http://www.midimark.com
mac mini duo intel 1.66/2gb ram/80 HD Mac OS X (10.4.6) also own Mac, Mac Classic, Power PC, quadra 650, & G4 silver bullet... yay! -
Intel Mac mini: upgrading questions...
Hi, I'm going to buy the new intel mac mini but I'm a little afraid for the graphic card inside the tiny machine...
What about music recording? (GarageBand, Logic Express...)
What about games? (Doom3, The Sims...) It's better than the nVidia 5200 that was inside the first gen of iMacG5?
What about video editing? It's the Mac mini fast enaugh to perform simple video operations or I need a more powerful computer? Maybe the new iMac?... Please help me!I can't tell you about games, though if you scan through these Discussion threads in the next week or so I'd bet you'll find plenty of references to game playing on the new mini as people buy them and try them out. At the present moment, having only been announced a couple of days ago, there aren't many of the systems in actual use yet, so there's not much information to go on.
But it has to be said that it has always been a mistake to assume the physical size of the system reflects anything of it's capabilities. The PPC mini that has just been discontinued and which was slower and more limited than the new system appears to be was perfectly capable of running such things as Garageband, and doing complex video editing projects, so there's absolutely no reason to assume the new mini won't be more capable. The fact that it has an integrated graphics processor that shares RAM with the CPU has got a whole lot of people in a tizzy, but despite the comments some are making about it, they don't have any first-hand knowledge (as yet) and thus have no clue how well or badly it performs.
I'd urge you to find one of these systems in a local Apple store or retailer and play with it for a bit - I would expect you to be pleasantly surprised, even shocked, at how well it behaves. If you can't get access to one, watch these Discussions and read what actual owners and users begin to report, not what 'experts' are thinking. -
Intel Mac Mini Core Solo - Kernel Panic on Boot
I was wondering if anyone who has purchased the Intel Mac Mini is having issues with Kernel Panics during the booting sequence?
I got a Core Solo from the local Apple store (couldn't wait to play, I'm waiting on the Core Duo I ordered online to come still ). The first thing I did was fire it up check it out for a few minutes, then I put the install disc in and reinstalled a clean OS, with less options because I'm planning on hooking it up to my TV so I don't need space hogs like Garageband etc on my TV computer. I got the updates that popped up, then shutdown the computer. I took it out to the living room and hooked it up to the tv and I got a black message about needing to restart (a kernel panic) right when the blue progress loading bar comes up on boot. I spent a while with it trying to figure out what was wrong, ran the Apple Hardware Test, booted it fine in Safe Boot. Finally I got tired of it and reinstalled the OS again.
It was fine for a day, working fine out on the tv. I brought it back in my room to play with a few things like Darwine, etc. Shut it down, came back an hour or so later booted it up and got the kernel panic on boot. Safe boot still worked fine. I spent some time trying to look for panic logs but didn't see any. I ran the disk utility and did a Full erase and it worked fine. I reinstalled the OS again. Ran MemTestOSX and it worked fine. I left it running the Apple Hardware Test for about 6 hours or more, and it performed perfectly.
This morning it still seemed ok, except sometimes on a cold boot when the blue progress bar screen should come on... my monitor just shows black and the light on the monitor goes inactive. So, I press the button on the back to sleep it, then bring it out of sleep with the keyboard and the OS is sitting there booted.
It seems like a weird combination of software and hardware problems, but maybe it's all hardware problems. I can't get past Safe Boot working when the OS stops loading. Right now the computer is working fine.
I'm waiting for my Core Duo to come in the mail and verify that it works flawlessly, then I'll take the Solo to the store and ask them to look at it.
Anyone have any similar experiences so far?It seems like the mini is doing alright so far. I think maybe the full erase solved whatever issue it was having. I also got my Core Duo Mini yesterday in the mail and it's performing like a champ. Definitely a nice machine.
I'll close my question for now, since the Core Solo Mini seems alright. But, as a warning don't get on Front Row's bad side. I tried force quitting it because it was taking too long to load the videos folder and then tried shutting down from a terminal and ended up having to turn the machine off. -
Someone tell me why is it so difficult to print from my Intel Mac Mini
I'm so frusrated at this Intel Mac Mini of mine. I wish honest to God that I never bought this evil little machine.
I have the following printers:
HP Photosmart 7550
HP Laserjet 1012
Canon MP830
I can't get anything to print! It so **** frustrating. I switched my wife from her WinXP to a Intel Mac Mini (10.4.6). She hates the Mac Mini because she can't print anything.
Why is it so difficult? Please someone enlighten me.
After months (not kidding) of searching on the web I was able to get the Photosmart 7550 to print using one of the gimp drivers, but I couldn't get it to change the paper type or quality. So that tells me I can't print any photos from my Mac. Need to use the WinXP box.
Then I was able to get the 1012 printing by selecting "open using rosetta" for the Printer Setup Utility, and selecting the "HP LaserJet 4 series - Gimp-Print v5.0.0-beta2". So now I could at least print BW docs. Great the Mac Mini is not a total waste. Then I updated software, which include the Mac mini SMC Firmware Update. I don't know what did it, but now I can't print to the 1012 anymore. ARGHH!
I tried deleting the Library/Printer/HP directory, Reseting the Printing System, Restarting the CUPs, Installing PDDs, Installing the gimp drivers. What the ****! Why do I need to do any of this? I thought the Mac was suppose to be so easy. With all those **** commercials talking about how the Mac can do anything a PC can do, you would think one of those things is being able to print.
Those people making those commericals should try using the "Printer Setup Utility" program. That will change their tune. First you have to search for your printer, then pick the Printer Model, and then pick the specific model. And God forbid you click to fast, oops you've now picked a generic printer, needs to start all over again. There's no back button. You've already committed to the generic printer type. Now you have to open the Printer Setup Utility again and delete the generic printer and go search for your printer again. Lame.
Don't get me started with the Canon MP 830. I thought, ok maybe its because the 1012 and 7550 are older printers. I'll go buy a new printer - they must have current drivers for that. Canon tells me that the MP 830 is only a single OS machine, meaning you can only connect it to a windows machine and only other windows machines can print from it, or connect it to a Mac, and only other Macs can use it - Again, Lame.
Really I wanted to love the Mac OS. When I first got it, I was loving it. But what good is it if I can't print. I searched the web and it seems I'm not the only person having issues with printing.
I hate this Intel Mac Mini with every fiber of my being. Ok, maybe my printing woes are only because it's a Intel chip, and the PPC macs are golden. But come on, if you can't print from a computer, what good is it?
Please, someone help me. Otherwise, anybody want to buy a Intel dual core Mac Mini?
mac mini duo core Mac OS X (10.4.6)You have two different issues: HP and Canon.
I don't know if I believe the Canon people. Windows XP has lots of different print options. Try installing Bonjour on Windows and then setting up a networked, Color Apple Laserwriter PS printer using "http://macmini.local:631" (assuming macmini is the name of your Mac). I have done this before (though not on a Canon). I am sure Canon will only support a standard configuration and this is not quite standard. Give it a try. It doesn't sound like it can hurt anything in your current setup.
For the HP, you might have to just wait for an updated driver from HP. HP has always had this problem. They are a huge printer company and I'm sure they get Apple hardware and OS versions before anybody else in the world. And yet, it seems as if they don't even begin working on their drivers until Apple officially releases a new OS. HP drivers are always the last to show up for a new OS and the first to break. If you get it working under MacOS 10.4.6, and then upgrade to 10.4.7, it is very likely that the HP drivers will stop working.
Unlike some of the other big companies, HP seems to have made the transition from Classic MacOS to MacOS X seamlessly. Their printer driver software works just as well on MacOS X as it did under MacOS. -
Intel Mac Mini stuck in reboot loop
I just upgraded the hard drive in my 2007 intel mac mini core duo. Drive formatted successfully, contains GUID Partition Table.
OSX 10.5 installed successfully.
Machine rebooted, I ran software update to 10.5.7 successfully.
Upon installing Adobe Flash Player, Adobe Acrobat Reader, machine began to react slowly to commands.
Rebooted machine, went to Grey Apple Screen with spinning dash wheen icon.
Machine rebooted itself, once again going to the grey apply screen with the spinning wheel.
After about 15 minutes of letting the continual reboot cycle happen, I inserted the installation DVD for 10.5, held the power button in to power off the machine, and booted from the disk.
I ran disk utility. Disk Utility shows the hard drive, shows the partition (GUID Partition) correctly.
I Verified Disk, which verified as "OK"
Repaired permissions.
Restarted machine.
Once again, it loaded to the grey apple screen, stayed there with the spinning dash wheel for about 3 minutes then continued to reboot over and over (everytime it reboots it sticks on the grey apple screen for 3 minutes before rebooting.
I once again powered off the machine and reset the PRAM.
Machine stuck again on reboot cycle.
I powered off the machine and reset the mini's SMC.
Machine is still stuck in reboot cycle.
I have also taken the mini back apart and verified that all RAM and connections are seated properly.
Any advice on what to do at this point will be very helpful.+And I promise I will not download and install a hundred different programs this time.+
Good idea.
Any time you install software in OSX, there is a small, but finite, chance that the installation process won't be able to access a needed file because it is in use. This can mess up pre-binding, or even prevent files from being updated.
So the best advice is not to run any other programs while doing software installs or updates. And when in doubt, run DiskUtility afterwards and fix permissions one more time.
I cringe whenever I think of a post I read a while back about a Mac user who boasted about what music he likes to run in iTunes while doing system software updates. Not a good idea. It's "Russian roulette" with maybe 99 blanks in the "gun", but one real bullet that can kill your Mac's installation. -
The Intel Mac Mini uses on-board graphics... how good are they?
I'm seriously considering getting an Intel Mac Mini and telling all my friends to get one, too. However, there's one problem - the graphics.
The whole reason I'd want an Intel Mac would be so that I could dual-boot into Windows Vista (when it comes out) in order to play the latest games.
How suitable are the on-board graphics for gaming? Would it be able to play Halo and Command & Conquer Generals well?
Basically, I want to know if it's the equivalent of a 64 MB graphics chip in speed, or if having on-board graphics makes it a bit slower. Does it have hardware acceleration? And is it suitable for smooth casual gaming at an average resolution?I am very uneasy about finding integrated graphics in the new mini too.
When I first saw the new Mini website on Apple's website I was so excited "intel processor", "4 usb ports", "faster drives" but something was missing from the website; the "graphics" sub-category. I instantly wondering what was up with that, thinking right away obviously the graphics weren't good enough to brag about. I was right. On Apple's MacMini website, on the "Intel Core" sub-category page, bottom of the page, right side there's a weee comment on integrated graphics, "oh." was my only thought.
It's really disappointing to see integrated graphics in the new Mini. That AND the increase in price. The price of the Intel iMac dropped by $100 when it got introduced, but the Intel Mini's price goes up $100 upon introduction, further closing the price between the iMac and the Mini and making the iMac looking more and more attractice in terms of features-performance-price-value. I better run out and buy a Intel iMac before Apple removes the miniDVI-out port (which I'm predicting it will be removed in the next iMac revision)
Hopefully some Intel MacMini review tests in the coming weeks will reveal better-than-expected graphics performance.
I'm surprised nobody else has mentioned this but... doesn't anyone here see that Apple has given us a preview of what's to come by putting integrated graphics in the new Intel MacMini? -- Anyone? I'll tell you -- we're going to see the exact same integrated graphics in the upcoming Intel iBooks, that's what.
Mac Mini Mac OS X (10.4.5) -
Hey everyone! For the past couple years, I've been using an Intel Mac mini which I was able to afford before rough times hit for me. It has been a champ for a long time, until recently. In the past week, the clock would lose time ever so often, and last week, whenever I'd try to power it up in the morning (as I shut it down every night), it wouldn't start up most times (meaning, you hit the power, nothing... no LED, no fan, nothing on screen, nada). After a while, I would somehow manage to get it to start. I assumed at this point, the lithium battery (coin type CR2032, not the traditional 1/2 AA purple battery) was shot. Since I'm in the middle of a job transition, I was waiting until I had time to put in a new battery, which I was planning to do this weekend. Then Wednesday happened...
I go to start it, nothing... A week before this, I started losing time and sometimes it would not boot. I figured eventually I would be able to start it since I was able to sometimes get it to start after a half hour or more. That didn't happen. So I decided to go ahead and swap in the new battery. I do that, power it up, nothing. I reset the SMC (same as PMU on the PPC Macs), to no avail. I reseated the RAM, and did everything I could think of, but it's deader than Elvis. I also had took the power supply to a guy who had a voltimeter. He said voltage was getting to all pins.
I went back and read some of the archives on this board. Someone mentioned something about a repair exception. It mentioned that sometimes if you call AppleCare (even if you don't have it) and ask for a repair exception, sometimes they'll agree to have the logic board replaced due to it being a documented problem. How true is this and who should I contact?
Can anyone suggest anything here? If I can't revive the mini, I may have to drag my iMac back out and try to set it up to run OS X. I can't no where near afford another computer at this point. I'm praying the mini can be fixed. I would appreciate any and all suggestions!
Thanks in advance!
TommyIt does sound like the logic board has gone bad. However, there are no current repair extension programs open on the Mac Minis.
This page lists the open extensions:
http://www.apple.com/support/exchange_repair/
So that's not an option. I assume that the Mini doesn't have AppleCare (whoops.), so I would not count on Apple covering it, but it's always worth a shot. You can call AppleCare (1-800-275-2273) or visit your local Apple Store
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