Does my M1 Mac Mini have a problem?

[Wingsley]

A few months ago, I bought a refurbished M1 Mac Mini from Apple direct, with AppleCare.

A couple of weeks ago, something bizarre happened in my home. The dog went on a rampage and crashed into the furniture. Before we could get the dog under control, the dog ran through the power cords, swiftly knocking the Mac Mini and monitor to the floor. Later that day, I picked everything up, unplugged everything, re-plugged it in, and booted-up the Mini. I started up just fine.

Something strange has been happening the last couple of weeks, though. Whenever I wake the Mini from sleep in the morning, I am greeted by a log-in screen. I don't understand what's happening. Is the Mini rebooting overnight, every night? Why? Is there anything I can do to correct this, or is there something wrong with the Mini?

 

[rm5]

That's so weird. I used to have those types of issues when I first bought my MBA back in 2020. Try reinstalling macOS, and see if that helps. What version of macOS are you running?

If it's <12.0 Monterey, use Recovery to wipe the drive, but if it's on ≥12.0 Monterey or later, use Erase All Content and Settings, NOT recovery!

 

[now i see it]

Check energy saver settings and some other setting I can’t think of right now. I recently was mucking around in settings to change log in prompt behavior- and there are settings you can tweak to change wake from sleep behavior.
I don’t know why a fall to the floor would change them - but worth exploring

 

[Wingsley]

Check energy saver settings and some other setting I can’t think of right now. I recently was mucking around in settings to change log in prompt behavior- and there are settings you can tweak to change wake from sleep behavior.
I don’t know why a fall to the floor would change them - but worth exploring

Here is what I found:

My M1 Mac Mini is still running MacOS Monterey 12.3.1. Disk Utility First Aid didn't find any problems.

I tried updating the MacOS to Ventura 13.01 a few nights ago before bed, and the update started to download, but when I got back to the Mini the next morning I was greeted with the startup/log-in screen as if the machine had involuntarily rebooted again. So the machine is rebooting and it is still on Monterey.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

I don't think your dog had anything to do with it. It is probably a software glitch. It can happen.

Open settings --> Type Screen Lock in the search bar. There you will find if you need to enter a password when the screen or the Mini goes to sleep.

 

[Wingsley]

I don't think your dog had anything to do with it. It is probably a software glitch. It can happen.

Open settings --> Type Screen Lock in the search bar. There you will find if you need to enter a password when the screen or the Mini goes to sleep.

The System Preferences panel "Security & Privacy" window for "General" indicates that the "Require password..." box is not checked.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

Here's what I would try. I would check the box for "require password" after sleep or screen saver begins. Reboot, go back and uncheck the option reboot a second time and try and see if you no longer get the Login box.

 

[Wingsley]

I am going to attempt to install MacOS Ventura to see if that clears up the problem...

 

[Wingsley]

I installed Ventura early this evening. I could not boot from my bootable thumb drive. So I just installed Ventura directly without booting from the thumb drive. The Ventura install happened without any problems. When I went back to the Mac Mini to wake it from sleep, it had already involuntarily rebooted.

Sigh...

So, I still have the problem.

 

[chrfr]

I installed Ventura early this evening. I could not boot from my bootable thumb drive. So I just installed Ventura directly without booting from the thumb drive. The Ventura install happened without any problems. When I went back to the Mac Mini to wake it from sleep, it had already involuntarily rebooted.

Sigh...

So, I still have the problem.

It seems quite safe to assume that the computer being dropped on the floor has damaged it.

 

[allonym]

Just a thought, you're sure 'Log out automatically after inactivity' isn't turned on?

 

[carylee2002]

Try safe mode and use disc utility first. You don't need to use a third party program but I have fixed my programing using it this way.

 

[Wingsley]

Just a thought, you're sure 'Log out automatically after inactivity' isn't turned on?
View attachment 2131790

A day or two before you posted this, I talked to a friend who lives in another state. This friend is a retired I.T. admin. He asked me, pointedly, about this same issue. I checked my Mac Mini et voila! Problem solved!

I changed the Mini's settings. The Mini has not involuntarily rebooted since. So, it looks like it wasn't crashing all along.

My assumption is that this change in settings accidentally occurred when the dog went on her rampage.

 

[allonym]

A day or two before you posted this, I talked to a friend who lives in another state. This friend is a retired I.T. admin. He asked me, pointedly, about this same issue. I checked my Mac Mini et voila! Problem solved!

I changed the Mini's settings. The Mini has not involuntarily rebooted since. So, it looks like it wasn't crashing all along.

My assumption is that this change in settings accidentally occurred when the dog went on her rampage.

Great! Glad it’s sorted.