Anyone using his Mac Mini headless?

[Mannaerts]

Hi there,

I'm currently equiped with a Mac Mini 2018 i use for Plex server, Lightroom and everyday use which is connected to a Acer Predator 34". I also have a 2016 Macbook pro 13" which i use for portability.
Now i'm thinking about to remove my 34" screen and work from the Macbook Pro but keep the Mini for server purposes.

Anyone using the Mac Mini headless and accessing it from his Macbook/iPad? And how are the expiriences with it?

 

[G5isAlive]

I use an old Mac Pro headless for rendering, I imagine the process is the same. It's okay if you are patient. The whole connect and disconnect takes a bit of time, there can be some lag, but otherwise it hums along fine.

 

[BaggieBoy]

I had a 2011 mini that I used headless for a number of years without too many issues. It's been been replaced with a 2012 MacBook used in clamshell mode.

 

[saulinpa]

I used to do this and ended up buying a dummy adapter that speeded up screen sharing. https://eshop.macsales.com/search/?q=headless Don't know if it is still needed for new MacOS.

 

[Boyd01]

There have been several threads about problems with headless Mini's, and others have also suggested using those adapters. Funny, a few days ago we had a power outage and I shutdown my 2014 Mini that I use as an iTunes server. The monitor was off when I restarted it, and I when I turned it on it didn't recognize the mini at all.

To troubleshoot, I connected via screen sharing from another Mac, and the display was in some strange format - something like 800 x 1200 maybe? Rebooted the Mini with the monitor on and all was fine.

 

[drsox]

Yes, I have a 2012 Mini that I run headless with the FitPc adaptor (https://www.fit-pc.com/web/products/fit-headless/fit-headless-for-mac-mini/) to fool the display hardware. Works fine. I run it with RealVNC (free) and use it for all compute intensive tasks (Handbrake, Win7 running in Parallels etc). It's an i7. Because it works I haven't upgraded it from the config in 2016 and don't see the need.

I also have the NewerTech version (https://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/CBLMDPHEAD/), but it's not as reliable in booting up in the right display settings. Haven't tried the other version (https://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/ADP4KHEAD/).

IMO an adaptor is vital for running headless otherwise the dreaded BlackScreen will make random appearances.

 

[sublunar]

Yes, I have a 2012 Mini that I run headless with the FitPc adaptor (https://www.fit-pc.com/web/products/fit-headless/fit-headless-for-mac-mini/) to fool the display hardware. Works fine. I run it with RealVNC (free) and use it for all compute intensive tasks (Handbrake, Win7 running in Parallels etc). It's an i7. Because it works I haven't upgraded it from the config in 2016 and don't see the need.

I also have the NewerTech version (https://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/CBLMDPHEAD/), but it's not as reliable in booting up in the right display settings. Haven't tried the other version (https://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/ADP4KHEAD/).

IMO an adaptor is vital for running headless otherwise the dreaded BlackScreen will make random appearances.

I have plugged my mini into a TV with the HDMI port at the moment, but the TV remains off most of the time - the Mac is mostly idling but with power saving turned off and I haven't noticed the screen dying for a while - touch wood.

Does this offer the same effect as the adapter you mention?

 

[saulinpa]

Some TVs have their HDMI ports active when "off" but others don't. Remote into the mini and check system report - Displays or system preferences - Displays to see if your TV shows up.

 

[chabig]

My 2014 Mini runs headless in the TV cabinet. I operate it using macOS' built in VNC server. Screens Connect on the Mini makes it reachable from anywhere on the internet, while the Screens app on my MacBook Pro and iPad make good VNC clients.

 

[Infinite Vortex]

Well yeah, I do…

Here would 3 x mid-2100s (2 x 5,3 and 1 x 5,2) and a 2009. The 2 in the Rackmac (the 5,3) are 16GB RAM with 2 x Samsung 2TB 860 EVOs and 2 x Samsung 4TB 860 EVO. The smaller one is my outward facing server handling my mail, calendars, notes, reminders and file sharing etc. The other is more for internal storage and iTunes home sharing. Both are TM backed up to 2 x 2TB 2.5" HDDs in the BlackMagic Multidocks. The spare bays make it easy to do my offline backups and/or more data around a little quicker if I want to say toss in an SSD rather than go over gigabit ethernet.

The 5,2 on the top is currently running Folding@Home and is supposed to be a spare for either of my 2 primary servers. Due to COVID-19 lockdowns though I've retasked it to backup copy and serve data (as an alternate) for a client of mine as their own Mac mini servers are are in theory potentially more vulnerable (no-one can get to it due to the heavy lockdown in Lombardy, Italy). This has 2 x Samsung 500GB 860 EVO in it and the data is on 4 x 2TB Seagate Barracuda 2.5" HDDs that I had laying around in a RAID 10 configuration (FWIW I have everything else in RAID 1 other than the TM backups). This is what I usually do "stupid stuff" on in case I mess up be is really there to be a spare… bought it real cheap 2nd hand and it was used for like 10 mins by the original owner.

The 2009 sits around doing not a lot even though I've maxed the RAM and put 2 x 500GB Samsung 860 EVOs in it. It's my original Mac mini server, and it would bought to be a server, and has done its job. I basically keep it around as a long shot "maybe" given it can happily run OS X Server under El Capitan.

 

[drsox]

I have plugged my mini into a TV with the HDMI port at the moment, but the TV remains off most of the time - the Mac is mostly idling but with power saving turned off and I haven't noticed the screen dying for a while - touch wood.

Does this offer the same effect as the adapter you mention?

With the adaptor I have attached there's never yet been a problem with the screen etc at start up. I've been running it for 4-5 years now in the same config. It's always off until needed. I did have BlackScreen problems with this when left on idle before I added the adaptor.

I have another 2012 Mini that's always attached to a TV through HDMI (3 years) and that's also never had a problem on start up. This is also turned off until needed. This one is running 10.14.6 while the other one is at least a 2 years older MacOS (so I don't have to buy a newer version of VMWare).
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I have plugged my mini into a TV with the HDMI port at the moment, but the TV remains off most of the time - the Mac is mostly idling but with power saving turned off and I haven't noticed the screen dying for a while - touch wood.

Does this offer the same effect as the adapter you mention?

If your HDMI port isn't powered on all the time and might give BlackScreen, then FitPc also does a MDP version (https://www.fit-pc.com/web/products/fit-headless-dp/). Using the Mini's TB port with one of these might fix the problem permanently while still allowing the HDMI/TV connection.

 

[sublunar]

Some TVs have their HDMI ports active when "off" but others don't. Remote into the mini and check system report - Displays or system preferences - Displays to see if your TV shows up.

Interesting to know that. I have the Mini plugged into 2 displays, MDP to a Dell which is completely powered off most of the time. The HDMI port is connected to an LG TV which is also 'off' but connected to power. Neither showed up in the Display preferences when I access it by Screen Sharing.

I have an iTunes library connected via external HD which sometimes disconnects - that's a pain - but I haven't had the black screen issue since I used to connect to a Dell 30" display using MDP to Dual Link DVI. It would occur on start up and I'd sometimes come back to the Mac remotely since I got into the habit it leaving it on. I've always thought that the 2012 had issues with MDP displays since those days but obviously it's now a moot point with the age of these machines.

 

[drsox]

Just for info - those folks looking for these on Amazon UK, they're there under the seller : EVanLak. They seem to be the same.

 

[rambo47]

My 2014 Mac Mini is running headless and doing Foding@home 24/7.

I manage it with simple Screen Sharing from my MacBook Air or my iPhone and VNC Viewer.

 

[rehkram]

I use the NewerTech headless hdmi dummy plug to access a mini 2018 from an rMBP 2012 using screen sharing. Much to my astonishment it absolutely makes the mini session windows scroll more smoothly. Running screen sharing without the hdmi dummy plug was migraine-inducing. For $15 you can't go wrong.

Playback of HD videos will still be less than smooth in the screen sharing window. So you might want to plan to run intensive video graphics apps on the macbook.

Screen sharing also has the huge benefit of not needing another magic mouse and keyboard, yay.

 

[Infinite Vortex]

I use the NewerTech headless hdmi dummy plug to access a mini 2018 from an rMBP 2012 using screen sharing. Much to my astonishment it absolutely makes the mini session windows scroll more smoothly. Running screen sharing without the hdmi dummy plug was migraine-inducing. For $15 you can't go wrong.

Playback of HD videos will still be less than smooth in the screen sharing window. So you might want to plan to run intensive video graphics apps on the macbook.

Screen sharing also has the huge benefit of not needing another magic mouse and keyboard, yay.

I use these too and they're fab! Basically the Mac mini, from a long time ago (I can't quite remember - I think even as early as OS X 10 .7 Lion), stopped doing any type of graphics acceleration unless it was connected to a physical display. Even if you connected a display, but had it off, the acceleration would rarely work.

Additionally, by using these plugs you also get access to significantly more resolutions. When you're controlling headless servers, and those server may well be across the internet somewhere, plus the fact that one may be controlling it from a 13" laptop with a cellular connection, the smaller the display resolution you're operating the better. Plus it uses the HDMI port which frees up the TB port for actually something useful.

 

[rehkram]

Absolutely, I forgot to mention the increased number of resolutions available. There's no downside to using an hdmi dummy plug, and the price is right.

I'm wondering what happens if you do a calibration on the headless and set it to a custom color profile. I want to set the white point to a slightly bluer setting, it appears to be a smidge on the red side to me but hardly noticeable until you mess with video editing.