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Welcome to Techsurvivors => Tech => Topic started by: sluggo on August 19, 2013, 08:15:03 PM

Title: Mac Mini - incomplete startup
Post by: sluggo on August 19, 2013, 08:15:03 PM

I've got a Mac Mini that's been in use for a couple of years now. It's always been used with a Samsung display. Tonight, it begins to start up, but remains in the white screen showing the Apple logo and the spinning gear under it. I've never seen this issue before. Of course I can't look at the computer to get the information, but I seem to remember it being OS 10.6.8 if that helps.
I'm writing here from my old Vista laptop that I used to use for business. Now the Mac has my business info and I need to have it working again.

Title: Mac Mini - incomplete startup
Post by: jchuzi on August 20, 2013, 05:57:11 AM

Three things come to mind immediately:

1. Try resetting PRAM.
2. Reset SMC.
3. The internal backup battery may be weak or dead. I don't know if it's user-replaceable in the Mini (I would guess not). I had a similar symptom in my old G4 and replacing the battery cured it.

Can you start up from the 10.6 DVD? If so, go to the Utilities menu and run Repair Disk from Disk Utility.

Title: Mac Mini - incomplete startup
Post by: rgray on August 20, 2013, 07:11:13 AM

Does the Mini work with another monitor?

Does the monitor work on another computer?

Hard to tell what the issue is without more troubleshooting data. Could be hard drive and could be video sub-system on the mainboard.

Title: Mac Mini - incomplete startup
Post by: sandbox on August 20, 2013, 07:41:05 AM

Sluggo, I have the same setup on at one of my stations. Mini-Samsung-OS10.6.8 and if it were me I would try starting in Safe-Mode.
Shut it down....start it up....hold down the shift key. Since your viewing the Logo and Spinner I wouldn't suspect the monitor.

Title: Mac Mini - incomplete startup
Post by: jchuzi on August 20, 2013, 07:52:35 AM

Another suggestion:

Start up in Single User Mode. At the prompt (assuming you can successfully do this), type fsck -fy (leave a space between fsck and -fy) and press Return. The computer will run the equivalent of Disk Utility's Repair Disk. If anything is repaired, run it again until you get no errors. To get back to normal (hopefully), type reboot and press Return.

Title: Mac Mini - incomplete startup
Post by: Paddy on August 20, 2013, 07:53:08 AM

Just found this very helpful description of the boot process and what happens at each stage:
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57345.../?tag=txt;title - I would agree that it's not the monitor or anything to do with the video system, since you can see the Apple logo.

This seems to be a distressingly common issue with the mini. There are quite a few potential solutions if you Google "Mac mini with white screen with apple logo" and variations of this.

Some more suggestions:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/454134

Replacing PRAM batteries is possible, but on the most recent models looks very difficult and requires special tools, according to ifixit.com.

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing+Mac...+Battery/3162/1

Title: Mac Mini - incomplete startup
Post by: sluggo on August 20, 2013, 10:28:10 AM

Thank you all for the helpful tips and suggestions. Before anyone had a chance to post a reply, I took the thing to a local authorized Mac repair place. Nice to finally have one, as in the past I had to ship it 70 miles or drive there myself with it.
I was pleasantly surprised when they ran my serial number and I found that I had 6 days left on Applecare that I was sure had expired.
Will give a post when they've repaired the machine and let you all know what the problem was.

Title: Mac Mini - incomplete startup
Post by: Paddy on August 20, 2013, 10:58:19 AM

That was close!!! It will be interesting to know what the problem was - and the solution (make sure you ask - enquiring minds want to know!).

Title: Mac Mini - incomplete startup
Post by: sluggo on August 20, 2013, 11:04:31 AM

I've been using a MS ergo keyboard with this machine for quite some time now. I'm ready to return to a Mac keyboard. Maybe wireless if possible.

Title: Mac Mini - incomplete startup
Post by: sandbox on August 20, 2013, 11:55:06 AM

Sluggo, I also use a Logitech Wave Keyboard on that station with never an issue. I'm looking forward to the diagnosis and prescription of the problem when it comes in. °¿°

QUOTE(sluggo @ Aug 20 2013, 12:04 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I've been using a MS ergo keyboard with this machine for quite some time now. I'm ready to return to a Mac keyboard. Maybe wireless if possible.

Title: Mac Mini - incomplete startup
Post by: sandbox on August 20, 2013, 12:14:45 PM

Yes Paddy the CNet article was well written and very informative. Thanks

QUOTE(Paddy @ Aug 20 2013, 08:53 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Title: Mac Mini - incomplete startup
Post by: sluggo on August 20, 2013, 05:26:34 PM

I received the call tonight that the machine is all better. I wish that I had more specifics for you all, but I don't at this time. I took their call when I was on site performing a job estimate so couldn't really talk to them in any detail.
I do know that he said it was a software issue, some things corrupted, etc. My wife will be picking it up tomorrow, I'll have her ask him for some specifics so that I can pass them on.

Title: Mac Mini - incomplete startup
Post by: sluggo on August 20, 2013, 05:32:52 PM

QUOTE(sandbox @ Aug 20 2013, 12:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sluggo, I also use a Logitech Wave Keyboard on that station with never an issue. I'm looking forward to the diagnosis and prescription of the problem when it comes in. °¿°

I don't really have any issues with the MS keyboard. It's just that I have to click through the message about my keyboard not being recognized every time I start up and the fact that I used to be more familiar with Mac shortcuts and how to do special characters (like the degree sign, etc).
Still not really used to the Alt and MS flag key after all this time. It's time to come back home.

Title: Mac Mini - incomplete startup
Post by: sluggo on August 23, 2013, 04:20:49 AM

The Mini has returned home and all appears to be well. I picked up a new Apple wireless keyboard while it was away and that now seems to be functioning well. Now I have a USB port free.
The description written on the invoice simply says "disk needed to be repaired and permissions verified. Under AppleCare, no charge."

Title: Mac Mini - incomplete startup
Post by: sluggo on August 25, 2013, 06:39:46 AM

The machine has been working fine since its return from the shop until this morning. Turned it on and it booted into Safe Mode by itself. I'd never seen this happen before. I switched startup disks to my Super Duper backup drive and rebooted and ran Disk Utility. A permissions repair turned up the following:

Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Classes/jconsole.jar", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Classes/jconsole.jar".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Home/lib/security/cacerts", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Home/lib/security/cacerts".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/deploy.jar", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/deploy.jar".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/libdeploy.jnilib", should be -rwxr-xr-x , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/libdeploy.jnilib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Resources/JavaPluginCocoa.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/deploy.jar", should be lrwxr-xr-x , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Resources/JavaPluginCocoa.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/deploy.jar".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Resources/JavaPluginCocoa.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/deploy.jar", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Resources/JavaPluginCocoa.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/deploy.jar".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Resources/JavaPluginCocoa.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/libdeploy.jnilib", should be -rwxr-xr-x , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Resources/JavaPluginCocoa.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/libdeploy.jnilib".
ACL found but not expected on "private/etc/apache2/users".
Repaired "private/etc/apache2/users".
ACL found but not expected on "private/etc/postfix/main.cf".
Repaired "private/etc/postfix/main.cf".
ACL found but not expected on "private/etc/postfix/main.cf.default".
Repaired "private/etc/postfix/main.cf.default".
ACL found but not expected on "System/Library/Keychains/X509Anchors".
Repaired "System/Library/Keychains/X509Anchors".
ACL found but not expected on "private/etc/hostconfig".
Repaired "private/etc/hostconfig".
ACL found but not expected on "private/etc/hosts".
Repaired "private/etc/hosts".

Permissions repair complete

Not being a technician, I have no idea if any of the above issues would cause a Safe Mode startup. Went back to disk utility to repair disk. All appears OK and here's the summary:
The volume Macintosh HD appears to be OK.
Volume repair complete.Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required.

A restart with the usual Macintosh HD startup disk after the repairs went normally. Maybe I should run the permissions repair on more of a routine basis?

Title: Mac Mini - incomplete startup
Post by: jchuzi on August 25, 2013, 07:05:36 AM

I get those messages every time that I repair permissions (which I don't do very often) so I don't think that they mean anything. Just starting up in Safe Mode (and I don't know why that happened) may have cured the problem because several diagnostics take place during that process, including Repair Disk.

If you want to do something, it doesn't hurt to reset PRAM.

Let us know if anything untoward happens again.

Title: Mac Mini - incomplete startup
Post by: Xairbusdriver on August 25, 2013, 02:41:55 PM

Running Permissions Verify/Repair seems to be a waste of time as the OS matures.

Disk Repair does help if you run it until it finds no errors. But If it starts telling you that it can't make any repairs, it's time for something more powerful, namely Disk Warrior.

You may have simply accidentally had the shift key down (at the appropriate time) on the startup. Doesn't hurt anything, anyway. Here is a list of things that happen when starting up that way: <Starting up into Safe Mode does several things:>

Title: Mac Mini - incomplete startup
Post by: sluggo on August 26, 2013, 06:16:46 AM

This morning it's back to starting up in Safe Mode. Still scratching my head over this thing.
Ran Tech Tool Deluxe that came with Applecare because it's all I have on hand. It found no problems. Restarted and it went normally.

Title: Mac Mini - incomplete startup
Post by: jchuzi on August 26, 2013, 07:52:05 AM

Try another keyboard if you can. It's possible that the Shift key is making contact, unbeknownst to you. Or, it may be stuck. Did you reset PRAM?

Another thought: Do you have OnyX installed? One of its options is to start up in Safe Mode. If you have OnyX, launch it, select Parameters and then select Login. Look at the bottom of the window.

Title: Mac Mini - incomplete startup
Post by: sluggo on August 26, 2013, 08:34:34 AM

QUOTE(jchuzi @ Aug 26 2013, 08:52 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No OnyX. I think that was causing me problems on the iMac I had previous to this Mini so I never installed it on this computer. The shift keys appear to be free. This is a brand new, out of the box Apple wireless keyboard. Have not zapped PRAM yet. May do so next time I start the machine.