Common Mac Mini Problems

[tpivette89]

On the face of it, it isn't obvious to me that this is a machine-specific "defect", especially when it has happened twice in a row with computers that were made at least three weeks apart, and after there had been a fair bit of discussion, presumably known to Apple, about the issue. I'm looking for a more plausible reason, preferably one that I can fix. Will update if I figure it out.
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You just made me realise something. I was planning to change out the RAM in the next couple of days, but I won't be doing it now until I've resolved this, either by finding a fix or returning the computer.

Thanks, hadn't thought that through.

No issues with mine. I have the i5/8GB/256GB model. Have had my iPhone 8+ charging damn close to my Mini with no problems. Also have a AKiTiO NT2 dual storage box within 18 inches from the computer with no interference.
The lightning cable in the photo is where I usually charge my iPhone.

 

[F-Train]

No issues with mine. I have the i5/8GB/256GB model. Have had my iPhone 8+ charging right next to my Mini with no problems. Also have a AKiTiO NT2 dual storage box within 12 inches from the computer with no interference.
View attachment 808532 The lightning cable is where I usually charge my iPhone.

Thanks, good to know.

I think that I know how to approach this now. Tomorrow I'm going to turn off every electronic device that is close to the mini and my monitor. If there's no problem, I'll know where to look. If there's a problem, I'll try two different monitors. If the problem persists, it would appear to be an issue with my computer that may or may not be rooted in a broader design or firmware issue.

I'm also going to do this with fully charged batteries in the Trackpad and Apple keyboard. I have had a couple of odd "low battery" notifications, with both computers, that don't make sense given how full I know the batteries to be. That may be related to this, and it has occurred to me that the battery warnings might well be a firmware issue.

 

[gusping]

USB-C to didplayport does not work properly. The screen remains blank on startup and only dhows once you’ve logged in. Sent my mini back unfortunately.

 

[Apple fanboy]

USB-C to didplayport does not work properly. The screen remains blank on startup and only dhows once you’ve logged in. Sent my mini back unfortunately.

Isn’t that more likely a fault with your cable/monitor? What one were you using?

 

[jined]

mm18, i7, 16gb, 512ssd.

Installing bootcamp with w10, after reboot the power led turns off.

Installing an external Samsung dvd drive to the usb port, causes the machine to restart.

Apparently, no other issues with other usb devices or other Bootcamp issues, than power light turning off after a restart.

 

[inmnbob]

I've now had a Bluetooth/Trackpad/Keyboard issue with two minis in a row. It is highly intermittent. I can go an entire day with no, or very little, interruption, and then have a recurring problem that might last an hour or three. I'm beginning to think that it may be environmental, in the sense of being related to other electrics in the immediate area. Tomorrow, I want to try to figure out whether running my external GPU has something to do with it. Yesterday, I had the eGPU off for most of the day and had no problem. Today it was on and I've had intermittent interruptions.

I think that it is unlikely that this is machine specific, if only because it has happened with two minis in succession. My approach at this point is to see whether I can resolve this via physical placement of the computer in relation to other devices.

It would be helpful to know whether Apple recognises this as an issue and whether a firmware change could solve the problem. If not, and if I can't resolve this, the mini will go back and I'll look for an alternative. But my gut feeling at the moment is that this is about electrical interference and that I may be able to resolve the issue by removing sources of interference.

I'm not convinced that discussing this on the forum is useful. To date, there's been a lot of whingeing, but no constructive analysis, at least that I've seen.

I think your experience with the eGPU is worth spending time on. I had an eGPU attached to my first Mac Mini from the moment I purchased the Mac Mini and I had a lot of device issues which included system kernal crashes and bluetooth connectivity problems and system freezes. As soon as I disconnected the eGPU i noticed an improvement with some of the bluetooth audio devices (but still had mouse problems). I returned the unit as well as the eGPU and the new Mac Mini is much better. No Kernel crashed, better Bluetooth (albeit the mouse is still sometime problematic) and the system seems to be running better now after being up and installed for a week. I installed from a backup and recently decided to reinstall the OS from recovery which may have helped fix a few small issues too. Getting back to the eGPU I also had a 2018 MacBook pro that was briefly connected to the eGPU which also had a Kernel crash (I returned that device too) so I wonder how much of these problems are made worse by an eGPU?

If you are willing to keep testing your experiences with eGPUs and system issues that would be helpful. I currently am not using an eGPU until some of this is figured out and I have completely tested my second Mac Mini before the return date ends.

 

[iMacFarlane]

I have the i5 CPU / 16GB RAM / 256GB SSD model, dual monitor setup (one HDMI, the other USB-C). It frequently refused to wake from sleep, requiring hard power down with a long press on the power button. Googling showed this has been evident on some Macs for a while, and that disabling FileVault fixes the problem. I did that, and the problem hasn't returned.

No other issues yet, I'm very happy with the machine (and entire rig!)

 

[F-Train]

I think your experience with the eGPU is worth spending time on. I had an eGPU attached to my first Mac Mini from the moment I purchased the Mac Mini and I had a lot of device issues which included system kernal crashes and bluetooth connectivity problems and system freezes. As soon as I disconnected the eGPU i noticed an improvement with some of the bluetooth audio devices (but still had mouse problems). I returned the unit as well as the eGPU and the new Mac Mini is much better. No Kernel crashed, better Bluetooth (albeit the mouse is still sometime problematic) and the system seems to be running better now after being up and installed for a week. I installed from a backup and recently decided to reinstall the OS from recovery which may have helped fix a few small issues too. Getting back to the eGPU I also had a 2018 MacBook pro that was briefly connected to the eGPU which also had a Kernel crash (I returned that device too) so I wonder how much of these problems are made worse by an eGPU?

If you are willing to keep testing your experiences with eGPUs and system issues that would be helpful. I currently am not using an eGPU until some of this is figured out and I have completely tested my second Mac Mini before the return date ends.

I've had the mini running today, with the eGPU off, for eleven hours in fairly constant use. I have had no issue with the keyboard. I've seen the trackpad connection icon exactly once, for less than a couple of seconds, so brief that I didn't even notice an issue. I'm inclined to write that off as a random event.

If I also have no problem tomorrow, I think that the issue will be pretty obvious - the eGPU is occasionally interfering with the Bluetooth signal. Yesterday, when I was having connection problems, the eGPU and its power supply were less than two feet from the mini. I have several feet of eGPU power supply cable and 1.5m/5' of Thunderbolt cable. It's maybe time to use some of that cable to put some distance between the mini and those devices.

 

[gusping]

Isn’t that more likely a fault with your cable/monitor? What one were you using?

Tried 5 cables and my LG 4K monitor works fine with my 2014 MBP and a windows PC, so no. My mini also had a similar issue with HDMI cables but only 5-10% of the time. So no, non of it was my fault.

 

[DomKud]

Mine won't recognize any blue tooth. Got my harman/kardon speaker working, but it quit. Won't recognize trackpad, mouse, keyboards from Apple or other manufacturers. There are only two USB inputs, currently using an old wired Apple keyboard and a very old Apple mouse. This blows, as I need to use a windows compatible mouse for when I RDP into work.

I am hearing this is a common thing on this forum. Has your problem resolved or you are still experiencing these issues?

 

[ktcifone]

BTO - i7/32/512 - Stock install new configuration. Didnt migrate from old 2012 mini as it was stuck at Sierra.
2 Workstations 5 bluetooth devices connected. Raid 5 TB2 array and TB2 dock with 2nd monitor + 4k TV
Runs like a champ
Split high bandwidth USBc devices between controllers for performance Had issues with dock and RAID 5 array since they were plugged into ports 1/2 split it between 1/3 and issues went away.

 

[harriska2]

Mine is sitting under a Samsung monitor with a PC running 6 hard drives right behind it along with a powered usb hub a keyboardmouse switcher behind it. About 2 feet away are 2 external usb3 harddrives. Another 2 feet away is an intel nuc and poe box for our security cameras. No problems. I5/8gb/1tb. I’m not running anything wifi or bluetooth.

 

[DomKud]

Mine is sitting under a Samsung monitor with a PC running 6 hard drives right behind it along with a powered usb hub a keyboardmouse switcher behind it. About 2 feet away are 2 external usb3 harddrives. Another 2 feet away is an intel nuc and poe box for our security cameras. No problems. I5/8gb/1tb. I’m not running anything wifi or bluetooth.

WiFi and Bluetooth is a must for me. My setup is wireless. Hope I don't have any problems with mine once I receive it.

 

[hagjohn]

I just got mine on Wednesday and have not noticed any issues with mine so far.

 

[pedregosa]

I had a problem where PDFs would not render. Some pages contained major distortion even though they rendered fine on other Macs running identical software.

 

[oldtime]

I have the i5 8 256 model. BT is an absolute **** show. Other than that it's been pretty great.

 

[DomKud]

Received my mini today and so far I have experienced screen flickering, bluetooth connectivity/sensitivity issues, and freezing. Oh, and not to mention, doesn't recognize my monitor. Literally has a mind of its own and recognizes my monitor 10 mins later.

Thoughts on what to do?
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The only issue I have had is with Bluetooth and the Magic Mouse and Magic Keyboard freezing. Only happened a few times but I am guessing it will be sorted in the next update.

Do you still have this problem?

 

[pedregosa]

Received my mini today and so far I have experienced screen flickering, bluetooth connectivity/sensitivity issues, and freezing. Oh, and not to mention, doesn't recognize my monitor. Literally has a mind of its own and recognizes my monitor 10 mins later.

Thoughts on what to do?
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Do you still have this problem?

I would return without doubt. I have zero tolerance for problems within the return window.

 

[JullsJTRIRE]

I have heard about these problems with Bluetooth but I use it so rarely that I can't even say whether the info's true or not

 

[Apple fanboy]

I have heard about these problems with Bluetooth but I use it so rarely that I can't even say whether the info's true or not

BT works fine in mine. I have the Apple keyboard and Mouse.
My Bose QC35’s also work fine. I wonder if it’s a problem in the US model or something?

 

[opeter]

I found an interesting video:

Look at the difference with changed thermal paste.

 

[gusping]

Received my mini today and so far I have experienced screen flickering, bluetooth connectivity/sensitivity issues, and freezing. Oh, and not to mention, doesn't recognize my monitor. Literally has a mind of its own and recognizes my monitor 10 mins later.

Do you still have this problem?

Are you using a USB-C to DisplayPort cable? I had huge issues with that on my first mini. On my second atm. Still testing it out.

 

[DomKud]

Are you using a USB-C to DisplayPort cable? I had huge issues with that on my first mini. On my second atm. Still testing it out.

I am using HDMI to connect to a display. Same way I have connected to my 2014 mini.

 

[gusping]

I am using HDMI to connect to a display. Same way I have connected to my 2014 mini.

That’s worrying. Try other cables and a different monitor if you can, otherwise I’d definitely return the mini.

 

[harriska2]

HDMI cables are notoriously bad, cheap, the wrong one (v1 v2?), or easily broken. Try a different cable that is higher quality. We got the fast HDMI ones from amazon essentials and haven't had problems.