DEAD Mac mini 1.83GHz C2D!

[pastrychef]

It's just luck and you happened have a bit of bad luck. I picked up a used Mac mini 1.83GHz about a year and a half ago and it's been running 24/7 without problems. I even ripped it apart and upgraded it with a 2.33GHz CPU.

On the other hand,I've also had equipment that died after very little use (a particular HP printer resounds in my mind)... It's just luck...

 

[MacHamster68]

i just happen to have bought a 5 year old G4 mini 1.42 ghz yesterday and it works perfect really perfect
so if you only want basic computing rip the odd film or do the odd picture in photoshop then get a mini g4 they are build to last ,and if not cheap to replace parts
i am a converted mini G4 fan now ...

 

[panzer06]

Apple hardware is junk....

2 years with a newer mac and you're doing well.

I never really thought about this too much since I like to upgrade, however that MBP nvidia 8600 debacle really made me cautious. I've been buying and selling in under 12 months ever since never really thinking about the reasons.

For the $200-$300 hit I take each time I get a new Mac. Now that I stop and think about it, it really shouldn't be that way.

We have 2 ancient Dell D600 computers and they are still running XP just fine. I do wonder why Macs have gotten less reliable. Perhaps it's the obsession with thin or very small devices; component failure is just more likely.

At this point, I'd just buy a refurb mini and move on. Even used logicboards aalmost as expensive as the refurb 2.0 @ $499.

Cheers,

 

[OrangeSVTguy]

i just happen to have bought a 5 year old G4 mini 1.42 ghz yesterday and it works perfect really perfect
so if you only want basic computing rip the odd film or do the odd picture in photoshop then get a mini g4 they are build to last ,and if not cheap to replace parts
i am a converted mini G4 fan now ...

You can even overclock that Mini too for a little bit of a speed boost

 

[MacHamster68]

You can even overclock that Mini too for a little bit of a speed boost

yes thats true here is one benchmarked overclocked to 1.75 ghz
http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/view/115142


but mine with original 1.42 ghz does well too
http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/view/247223

 

[Max(IT)]

Par for the course with Intel Macs in my experience.

No, sorry, none of mine lasted more than 2 years. You've done well.!

buy or even better build a PC and dual boot Win7 and Ubuntu. Both are better than Slow leopard.

will save much money too!

well said .... except you are just a troll here, trolling around with the same whining all the time.

 

[Max(IT)]

My faithful and trusted Intel Mac mini 1.83 C2D that I bought new in December 2007 suddenly died during a major 10.6.3 update install. It almost completed the update and the screen went black and the light went off instantly. The power button doesn't respond at all. I had major work projects going on Sunday night when I took a break, quit all applications and did the software update and it died. I took it to the Apple Store Monday morning thinking it was the power supply. I was informed that the logic board is dead and my HD has to be wiped and OS X reinstalled. The repair would cost well over $300 and have a 90 day warranty with the same logic board installed that could fail again. Ironically enough, I had been thinking about buying another new Mac mini and a new Mac mini Server for work. That's not going to happen now. I left the Apple store with my new $600 paper weight for my desk. What would you do? This was a sad day in my faith in Apple products. Apple Mac mini lemon? Thanks Apple...

While my 500Mhz Cube serves me very well day to day at work, I do need my 10.6 Mac mini to run iMovie '09 to put together my videos for http://youtube.com/deals4twowheels

Lost faith in Apple products ?!?
What is the problem in understanding that a single computer could fail, after 2 years and half ???
There are millions of Mac Mini out there, still working after years: G4s, Core Solo, Core Duos, Core 2 Duos ....

You were unlucky, I'm very sorry. Maybe it's just time to buy another one, with AppleCare this time

I never really thought about this too much since I like to upgrade, however that MBP nvidia 8600 debacle really made me cautious.

It is a totally different issue: the "8600 debacle" was Nvidia's fault, and hit a lot of manufacturers, not only Apple.

 

[panzer06]

snip


It is a totally different issue: the "8600 debacle" was Nvidia's fault, and hit a lot of manufacturers, not only Apple.

True, but Apple and Sony took their time acknowledging the problem. To its credit Apple has been very good at resolving the issue since.

Cheers,

 

[js81]

OK, so your OS is most likely dead, since the problem happened mid software update. However, your data should be OK. Regardless of the logic board repair, why don't you pull the hard drive, put it in a cheap external enclosure (I just bought a 2.5" SATA enclosure on eBay the other day for $5), and salvage your data. It should be OK...

Then, look for a new logic board on eBay - its not THAT hard to replace, if you're comfortable working on computers. I upgraded the processor in my former Mini, and to upgrade the CPU, you have to remove the logic board. Its not that bad... just be careful to reconnect everything the way you found it.

 

[panzer06]

snip
Then, look for a new logic board on eBay - its not THAT hard to replace, if you're comfortable working on computers. I upgraded the processor in my former Mini, and to upgrade the CPU, you have to remove the logic board. Its not that bad... just be careful to reconnect everything the way you found it.

Have you tried finding an Intel Mac Mini logic board on ebay. They are almost as much as a refurb Mini. Perhaps you have another source but from what I see he's still better off waiting for a refurb to come up @ the Apple Store.

Cheers,

 

[California]

OP

I will lay odds your mini is NOT dead.

This exact same thing happened to me during the update back in the day of my Titanium Powerbook on a Tiger update.

Exact same thing.

It was the internal battery.

You need to charge the battery. My advice is to shove the OEM OS DVD in there, keep it plugged in for a few hours, then re try start up.

I no longer trust anyone especially Apple Certified techs with my macs.

Just brought my own mac mini back to life when Apple declared it dead and the techs wanted me to "donate" my mini to them as spare parts while I bought a new one -- not the Apple store -- ACTs but still!

PLay around with it. It has to be a simple power issue of some sort. Updates DO NOT kill your mac, sorry.

 

[KeriJane]

California's advice is golden.

Take out the battery and replace it. Maybe leave it out for several minutes before putting the new one in.
Many computers will not start or do ANYTHING without that little watch battery.

Electronics is a hobby of mine. A big problem nowdays with ALL manufacturers is the "ROHS compliant lead-free" solder. It often does one of two bad things:
1- It can crack like in the infamous X-Box CPU or nVidia 8800 video cards. Thermal cycling from turning it on/off will aggravate this tendency. Sometimes it can be repaired by "reflowing" the solder in an oven.

2- Lead Free solder can grow "Tin Whiskers" and short to adjacent conductors. Oops. This can lead to all sorts of bad stuff.

A Mac Mini is unlikely to have bad caps on the motherboard as they're mostly Solid Polymer, high temperature caps from a reputable supplier.

It does seem odd that your poor little Mini died during an update.
I second replacing that little battery.

Good Luck,
Keri

 

[Max(IT)]

True, but Apple and Sony took their time acknowledging the problem. To its credit Apple has been very good at resolving the issue since.

Cheers,

you may be right, but big companies are always slow on acknowledging that kind of issue. There are a lot of money involved

 

[pastrychef]

I suggested he look at the internal battery way back on the first page of this thread. If he hasn't done so already, he may never.

 

[-SD-]

My Mini has been running 24/7 as a media server since the '09 Mac Pro was released. Even before that when I was using it as my main computer it only got powered down a couple of times a week. Never had any problems whatsoever after 3 1/2 years.

 

[danmccollum]

Same thing happened to me! <:-(



To everyone out there, this is NOT an isolated case.

I had a mini that worked fine for over a year. I decided to update to 10.6.3 the other day after putting it off for about a month. I was using the computer for a few hours afterwards, and in the middle of viewing a YouTube video, it just went black and restarted itself. I would say the computer lasted about 3 hours after installing the update.

I called Apple and they told me it was just out of warranty and that no recalls have been issued about this. The representative on the telephone told me that I could try searching for the SMC reset or PMU reset method. I tried both; neither worked. Then I was told it would cost $49.99 for him to talk to me more since the machine was out of warranty. I decided not to do that. I politely thanked the gentleman, he did the same and the call was ended.

I did some more research. More people are experiencing this problem. One person here http://forums.macosxhints.com/showthread.php?t=97737 writes of a similar but unrelated problem.

I had another strange issue with a 1.83 Ghz mini that was identical to the one that isn't working now. When Apple released the 10.5.7 update, I had all kinds of screen resolution problems. Updating to 10.5.8 didn't help. I was forced to ERASE EEEEEEEEVERYTHING and reinstall OSX 10.5. I updated to 10.5.6; no further.

I wonder if this particular chipset is corrupt by nature. Again, I have TWO of these things and they both behave strangely. My advice to everyone out there: DO NOT UPDATE TO 10.6.3 until Apple has identified the problem.

 

[pastrychef]

To everyone out there, this is NOT an isolated case.

I had a mini that worked fine for over a year. I decided to update to 10.6.3 the other day after putting it off for about a month. I was using the computer for a few hours afterwards, and in the middle of viewing a YouTube video, it just went black and restarted itself. I would say the computer lasted about 3 hours after installing the update.

I called Apple and they told me it was just out of warranty and that no recalls have been issued about this. The representative on the telephone told me that I could try searching for the SMC reset or PMU reset method. I tried both; neither worked. Then I was told it would cost $49.99 for him to talk to me more since the machine was out of warranty. I decided not to do that. I politely thanked the gentleman, he did the same and the call was ended.

I did some more research. More people are experiencing this problem. One person here http://forums.macosxhints.com/showthread.php?t=97737 writes of a similar but unrelated problem.

I had another strange issue with a 1.83 Ghz mini that was identical to the one that isn't working now. When Apple released the 10.5.7 update, I had all kinds of screen resolution problems. Updating to 10.5.8 didn't help. I was forced to ERASE EEEEEEEEVERYTHING and reinstall OSX 10.5. I updated to 10.5.6; no further.

I wonder if this particular chipset is corrupt by nature. Again, I have TWO of these things and they both behave strangely. My advice to everyone out there: DO NOT UPDATE TO 10.6.3 until Apple has identified the problem.

Try checking the internal battery.

 

[KeriJane]

To everyone out there, this is NOT an isolated case.

I had a mini that worked fine for over a year. I decided to update to 10.6.3 the other day after putting it off for about a month. I was using the computer for a few hours afterwards, and in the middle of viewing a YouTube video, it just went black and restarted itself. I would say the computer lasted about 3 hours after installing the update.

I called Apple and they told me it was just out of warranty and that no recalls have been issued about this. The representative on the telephone told me that I could try searching for the SMC reset or PMU reset method. I tried both; neither worked. Then I was told it would cost $49.99 for him to talk to me more since the machine was out of warranty. I decided not to do that. I politely thanked the gentleman, he did the same and the call was ended.

I did some more research. More people are experiencing this problem. One person here http://forums.macosxhints.com/showthread.php?t=97737 writes of a similar but unrelated problem.

I had another strange issue with a 1.83 Ghz mini that was identical to the one that isn't working now. When Apple released the 10.5.7 update, I had all kinds of screen resolution problems. Updating to 10.5.8 didn't help. I was forced to ERASE EEEEEEEEVERYTHING and reinstall OSX 10.5. I updated to 10.5.6; no further.

I wonder if this particular chipset is corrupt by nature. Again, I have TWO of these things and they both behave strangely. My advice to everyone out there: DO NOT UPDATE TO 10.6.3 until Apple has identified the problem.

I'm sorry to hear of your troubles.

I have a 1.83 Mini that's doing just fine on 10.6.3.
Actually, it was fine on 10.4.8? and on 10.5.8
Then it was fine on 10.6.1,.2 and now .3

I suspect that there's something unique to both of yours. The Forum would be full of "dead mini" threads if it were that common and Apple would be doing the G5 iMac dance all over again..

What might both of your Minis have in common? Maybe memory upgrades?

My advice is to try the battery and re-installing the original memory SODIMMS. (if you've done any memory upgrades)

There's a good chance one or the other is your culprit.

Good Luck,
Keri

 

[danmccollum]

Took out battery; same behavior.

Keri,

Thank you for your response. I have pulled out the clock battery but unfortunately the unit still doesn't start. I have not tried pulling out the RAM. I will definitely try that and get back to you. I

It would turn out that, yes I did change the SODIMM RAM in the unit. I actually did this in both of the identical 1.83 Ghz minis I own. But what's weird is the timing of it dying. I must have changed the RAM 7 months ago in both of them.

Okay, so just to set the story straight about both the minis I own: One was purchased in June of 2008 and the other in April of 2009. Both units seemed to behave decently until I changed the RAM in ONE of them. The units came shipped with two 512-MB modules (for a total of 1 GB). I looked online that the minis could be upgraded to a max 2 GB by using two 1-GB modules. The cheapest I came across was offered by the memoryamerica.com website. I purchased them and installed four modules between both the minis.

The June 2008 mini died within 3 days after doing that. Now here's the very very very very WEIRD part: I took it to Best Buy since it was out of warranty. I waited two weeks. They told me it would be a price tag of $833.64 to fix the motherboard. I declined the service and took the unit back. I got it back home and... for some reason decided to plug it back in. It turned on and worked! I wonder if maybe it had a chance to clear out whatever was disagreeing in its head in two weeks of (presumably) being unplugged.

The April 2009 mini died 7 months later after the June 2008 one. I found it really suspicious that this happened right after the 10.6.3 update, though. In any event, I will try your suggestion, Keri. Thank you again.

 

[ljonesj]

to me that would seem like bad memory modules

 

[danmccollum]

It Worked!!!

I'm sorry to hear of your troubles.

I have a 1.83 Mini that's doing just fine on 10.6.3.
Actually, it was fine on 10.4.8? and on 10.5.8
Then it was fine on 10.6.1,.2 and now .3

I suspect that there's something unique to both of yours. The Forum would be full of "dead mini" threads if it were that common and Apple would be doing the G5 iMac dance all over again..

What might both of your Minis have in common? Maybe memory upgrades?

My advice is to try the battery and re-installing the original memory SODIMMS. (if you've done any memory upgrades)

There's a good chance one or the other is your culprit.

Good Luck,
Keri

Thank you ALL for the suggestion to pull the RAM out. As soon as a took out the 2x 1-GB modules and replaced them with the two 512's that originally came with the unit, the little brat fired right up. But, this begs to ask a few questions:

1. Why did this take 7 months to happen?
2. Was the 10.6.3 update IN FACT the culprit to blame?
3. Does anyone believe that this is just another example of how computer life is just over serendipitous; not to our advantages?
4. Finally, if this is the fault of the new OS 10.6 update; does anyone think Apple will become aware of this and fix it in the future?

I know that in a way, it's sort of overkill to upgrade RAM in a mini; when they're mostly viewed as throw away computers at the end of their 2-3 year usefulness period. (Well, I don't think that, but my friends' biased viewpoints keep saying that to me.) But for anyone who is having a problem with his/her minis in the future, AVOID THIS RAM:

ELPIDA TWN
E5108AGBG
-6E-E
070709658

SD2/1G667MP
SOD DDR2 667MHZ/PC5300 1 GB
*Manufacture date goes here* *Three digit number* *Tech code here*

You're welcome!
Have a great day, today and everyday everyone!
Thanks again for all your help.
I apologize for my ineptness and for any remarks that could have been construed as offensive (though I don't think I did.)

 

[fhall1]

If you want to do some testing you can open the Mini and pull one of the 512K and insert one of the 1GB modules and see if it starts up...if it does, pull it and put the second 1GB module in (still with the 512K in one slot), if it doesn't start, that's the bad one. If it does start up, try pulling the 512K out and putting it in the other slot and repeat with the 1GB modules.

By process of elimination you should be able to isolate either the bad 1GB module, or a slot that won't support it.

 

[KeriJane]

Thank you ALL for the suggestion to pull the RAM out. As soon as a took out the 2x 1-GB modules and replaced them with the two 512's that originally came with the unit, the little brat fired right up. But, this begs to ask a few questions:

1. Why did this take 7 months to happen?
2. Was the 10.6.3 update IN FACT the culprit to blame?
3. Does anyone believe that this is just another example of how computer life is just over serendipitous; not to our advantages?
4. Finally, if this is the fault of the new OS 10.6 update; does anyone think Apple will become aware of this and fix it in the future?

Yay! Another Mini back in business!

You're very welcome.

Why 7 months?
Well it might have been 7 minutes or 7 years. Memory can fail whenever it wants to. My guess is something wasn't right from the start and got worse with thermal cycling.

Could the 10.6.3 update have triggered the failure?
Not with "good", high-quality memory.
It MIGHT, POSSIBLY have heated the memory enough to have pushed a faulty part over the edge.

Apple would probably only be interested in investigating this issue if it occurs with APPLE-SUPPLIED memory. They are not likely to address problems caused by what they consider inferior aftermarket parts.

Genuine Apple memory doesn't seem quite so expensive now, does it?
Guaranteed to work AND TO LAST for a reasonable period of time.
The "Apple Tax" is only part of the apparently high price.
Quality costs more, and Apple (like many other manufacturers) specify quality memory so as to reduce service costs and product returns / customer dissatisfaction.

Have Fun,
Keri

PS. I read somewhere once that "Cheap, Generic" memory companies often use chips that have failed testing at a higher speed. Generics buy up these defective chips and run them slower so that they appear to pass testing. However, the original fault is still there and may return at the lower speed at any time. This could be what happened to you, or maybe it's just urban legend.

 

[iCube]

Mac mini still dead...

I suggested he look at the internal battery way back on the first page of this thread. If he hasn't done so already, he may never.

Why would you say "he may never"? I did replace the battery and the OEM Apple RAM and it is still dead, any other suggestions? I have a dead Mac mini that I'm not ready to spend 50% of the retail price to get it running again. So while my Mac mini paperweight collects dust, I'm on my year 2000 Power Mac G4 Sawtooth Dual 500 (PowerPC) running strong. I did find someone locally that can fix my logicboard, I will let you all know the details and outcome!