Need Help (1st Gen Mac Mini)

[peacenfunk]

Hey Guys,

My brother has a 1st Gen Mac Mini. Once booted up it gets to here:

This is the problem. It doesn't go any further than that. All that happens at this point is it reboots and goes back to this. This is all that happens.

Do you guys think it has ran it's lifespan?

Thanks for the help. Much Appreciated
Mark (peacenfunk)

 

[simsaladimbamba]

The Mac mini has not run its lifespan, it just doesn't boot:

Have you tried any of these steps?

Mac doesn't boot

Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck

Troubleshooting: My computer won't turn on

A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac​

 

[MechaSpanky]

peacenfunk,

I don't know if it helps but I have and still use a 1st generation Mac mini (Power PC) and before, the same thing would occasionally happen to me. I would guess that it is either one of two things.

I have seen some cases where the RAM becomes unseated and you simply have to pop open the case and reseat the RAM. That usually fixes it.

Or secondly, I don't know if this will help you but whenever this happened to me, I would simply unplug everything and then flip the mini over on a clean towel (as not to scratch it) and then pop open the case (not for the faint of heart, opening it up is a pain and getting the case to fit perfectly back together can be tricky, there are many sites that explain the best way to do this) and then using canned air, I would carefully blow out all the vents and clean out all the dust. After making sure that all the dust had been removed, I would put everything carefully back together and then plug it back in and it would always work. My Mac mini is still working, even today.

I wasn't sure why this kept happening to me but I was guessing that the vents would get blocked with dust and cause the mini to overheat. In addition to cleaning it, to help vent it, I also placed my mini on a small homemade stand that would raise it off my desk a little (but not block the small vents on the bottom of the mini). It seemed to help but I still have to take my mini apart and clean it about once every two years or so.

Best of luck,
Mecha

 

[aarond12]

Given the age of the computer and the symptoms you describe, I'd have to say your hard drive may be dying. I saw this in another first-gen MacMini (G4). I pulled the drive out of a dead iBook G4 and put it into the Mini and all was well again.

That being said, your Mini uses a 2.5" PATA (not SATA) drive. If you can find a replacement one and you have your restore discs, you can rebuild your Mini.

 

[ricardoflamingo]

Ditto what MechaSpanky said. Did it once a year. It is still running.

 

[MechaSpanky]

ricardoflamingo,

I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one who cleans his mini! I'm guessing with the new minis this isn't a problem?

Mecha