I thought this subforum might be the most likely to find folks who would be knowledgeable with this, but feel free to move if it belongs elsewhere.
I've been having a bizarre issue with my Mac mini A1176 (2006), after I installed Ubuntu and then attempted to get it to boot directly into GRUB by altering the EFI system partition. While I did get Ubuntu to work, the attempt to get it to boot directly into GRUB failed dramatically. The short version is that I after I attempted the changes to boot directly into GRUB, the machine would no longer complete the boot process. The power light would turn on, and I could hear the optical drive checking for media, but there was no startup chime, no video, and no power apparently running to my USB devices. None of the typical startup key commands have any effect (cmd-opt-p-r, etc). I disassembled the machine and removed the drive, and hooked it up to a MacBook via USB. I was able to read files on the drive and in fact boot up from the drive. In fact, when I reinstalled it in the Mac mini, as soon as I connected the power cord, the machine booted up and I was able to use Mac OS X as normal. However, after I restarted, I was no longer able to boot up, and I got the same symptoms I had been seeing before I pulled the drive. Since then, I have verified that each time I disassemble and reassemble the mini, the first boot after reassembly works fine, but none of the following boots do.
For full details, including the articles I used as reference, check here:
https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/319439
If you have any ideas, feel free to respond here or on iFixit - I'll be sure that any pertinent findings are carried over as needed.
I've been having a bizarre issue with my Mac mini A1176 (2006), after I installed Ubuntu and then attempted to get it to boot directly into GRUB by altering the EFI system partition. While I did get Ubuntu to work, the attempt to get it to boot directly into GRUB failed dramatically. The short version is that I after I attempted the changes to boot directly into GRUB, the machine would no longer complete the boot process. The power light would turn on, and I could hear the optical drive checking for media, but there was no startup chime, no video, and no power apparently running to my USB devices. None of the typical startup key commands have any effect (cmd-opt-p-r, etc). I disassembled the machine and removed the drive, and hooked it up to a MacBook via USB. I was able to read files on the drive and in fact boot up from the drive. In fact, when I reinstalled it in the Mac mini, as soon as I connected the power cord, the machine booted up and I was able to use Mac OS X as normal. However, after I restarted, I was no longer able to boot up, and I got the same symptoms I had been seeing before I pulled the drive. Since then, I have verified that each time I disassemble and reassemble the mini, the first boot after reassembly works fine, but none of the following boots do.
For full details, including the articles I used as reference, check here:
https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/319439
If you have any ideas, feel free to respond here or on iFixit - I'll be sure that any pertinent findings are carried over as needed.