Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Would a bad optical drive cause a Mac Mini not to boot?

Mazda 3s

Mazda 3s

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 29, 2006
588
966
I'm new to the Apple fold, I have had many iPods, but never a Mac computer -- I'm a PC guy at heart :)

Anyway, I buy used electronics in large lots and put them up on eBay individually. Yesterday, I came into possession of what looks to be a pristine Mac Mini, however it won't boot. I hooked up a generic USB keyboard and a USB mouse, plugged in the DVI to VGA connector and hooked it up to my 32" TV.

The machine will turn on, and the little white LED in the bottom right comes on, but the DVD drive keeps making this loud thunking sound. It goes "rrrr-rruu" pauses for a second, "rrrr-rruu". The fan is running, but the machine never boots. I tried to stick a disc in the drive, but it just spits it back out.

So being that I'm not a Mac guy, and that I don't know anything about the history of this machine or its problems -- could a faulty optical drive cause the machine not to boot?

I simply ask b/c I want to know if it's worth me trying to get a new/used optical drive to fix this machine and join the Apple computer fray with a system of my own, or just sell it as a broken item.

The machine has a 1.66GHz Core Duo/512/80GB
 
Are you sure it's the disc drive? It could be the hard drive, or a number of other things. I've never heard of that before. Do you live near an Apple store? Maybe they can tell you what the problem is and the cost of fixing it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back