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My Mac mini isn't working properly but Apple Store says it's fine.

S

sananda

macrumors 68030
Original poster
May 24, 2007
2,887
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I'm not sure what my next step should be and could do with some advice.

A few weeks back my Mac mini's fans starting spinning up to 5,400 rpm whilst not under any great load. I took it to an Apple Authorised Service Provider (also mentioning to them that the bluetooth mouse and keyboard disconnect from time to time). They replaced the logic board and bluetooth card.

But the fans were still spinning a lot. I reinstalled the operating system but the fans spun more and more until they were again going up to 5,400 rpm for it seemed no particular reason. Also I was being disconnected from the internet from time to time (which was remedied by running Network Diagnostics which either just said everything was fine or that the network settings had changed) and the computer stopped responding to certain mouse inputs from time to time.

I called Applecare. They had me reset certain things and sent a new mouse. The situation did not improve.

I took it to an Apple Store. They ran diagnostic loops to check sensors and an internet load test. They found nothing wrong and expect me to now pick up the computer.

I'm not sure what to do as before I dropped it off the fans were so loud and fast that I was afraid to use the computer for long. What do you think I should do now?
 
hmm first leaving it there when they say it is alright doesnt help a lot , they will just leave it in a corner until you pick it up , wich does not really solve the problem
a faster spinning fan points normal towards a cooling problem ,one part is overheating inside ,sensor brings fan to spin faster to cool it down again
other possibility would be a defect sensor
nut they have changed the logic board already so as the sensor is on the board its unlikely (but not impossible) that the new board has also a broken sensor , as they changed the board they have taken out the processor and when refitting they applied new heat compound at least that what you could expect which will rules out that as a source of problem , as dried heat compound can cause exact that problem
ok i could guess some more things as cause but from here its only guessing
did you eventually before the spinning happend changed your harddrive as its tight in there and heat wil build up very quickly so a hotter running harddrive could also cause that problem , that for example would explain why they could not find anything wrong with the mini as when you turn it on a check the system it wont tell you that the harddrive is hotter then expected by the sensor , but the sensor who brings the fan to spin might notice that its 5 degree warmer and starts to spin the fan faster as these sensors are set to react ( for example 30 degree spin at 1500rpm 40 at 3000 rpm and 50 at 5000 , but that also is only a guess as in such a tight space ,in the mini is no room at all for tolerance
 
Thanks for your help.

Yes, the Apple Service Provider put a 500GB hard drive in for me in January. But that was 9 months before the fans starting spinning so much.
 
it could even be the fan itself that does not what the sensor is telling him , but surly if i would check every single part inside and rule out one after the other as a source the shop will do the same ,ad for example ruling out a fan is simple by taking the original one out and fitting one that fits in , if problem gone it was the fan if not the fan was alright an can go back in
and i`m not a specialist , i`m only a hobby system builder , so in a apple store /repair center should be people trained on these systems who should find the source very quickly
 
I think they just checked the sensors and then had it load webpages for three days. But they found nothing odd happening.
 
but even if they only turned it on and let it run for a while to check the sensors they must have noticed that the fan is spinning faster then normal
and that should have made them suspicious enough to look a bit closer into it
 
I had the same problem with mine when i changed the HDD. If its the sensor they they have to order a new hard drive from apple and take the sensor of the new apple HDD and put it on your HDD in order to correct the sensor problem. if its not that then it might be interconnect board but i doubt the last one.
 
Well they tested it some more and managed to replicate the internet problem. They found the fans spinning up to 4,000 rpm but not as high as the 5,400 rpm I have been experiencing.

They have decided to replace the whole computer. And I'm very happy about that!
 
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