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Post by themanwithnoname on Dec 2, 2014 10:28:12 GMT -5
Hi, last night my Mac Mini suddenly shut itself down and wouldn't restart again.
The screen stayed black, the light on the front wouldn't come on but the fan was whirring really fast.
Anyone have any ideas? Just hope my hard drive hasn't died and I've lost all my photos, songs, videos etc.
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Post by Sternumman on Dec 4, 2014 7:45:41 GMT -5
How old is it? Are you still under warranty?. I'm dreading the day my Mac dies.
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Post by Rain on Dec 6, 2014 0:31:59 GMT -5
Hi, last night my Mac Mini suddenly shut itself down and wouldn't restart again. The screen stayed black, the light on the front wouldn't come on but the fan was whirring really fast. Anyone have any ideas? Just hope my hard drive hasn't died and I've lost all my photos, songs, videos etc. It's possible your hard drive, because it wouldn't boot up to your OSX if your hard drive is out. Macs has no Bios like PC to see further testing. you can try startup disk with Startup Manager: Turn on or restart your Mac. Immediately press and hold the Option key. After a few seconds, the Startup Manager appears. If you don't see the volume you want to use, wait a few moments for Startup Manager to finish scanning connected drives. Use your mouse or trackpad, or left and right arrow keys to select the volume you want to use. Double-click or press the Return key to start up your Mac from the volume you selected. If you have an optical drive connected to your computer, you can insert an installation disc to see it in Startup Manager. You can also attach FireWire or USB external hard drives that contain an operating system to add to the list of startup volumes. Startup Manager automatically adds bootable volumes as you connect them. Start from OS X Recovery You can also start your Mac from OS X Recovery or Internet Recovery if your Mac was manufactured after 2011. To start your Mac from the Recovery System, use these steps: Start up or restart your computer. Hold down the Command and R keys on your keyboard until you see the Apple logo appear onscreen. If you don't see a volume listed If you don't see the volume you want to start your computer from, check the following: If you're using an external drive, make sure it's connected and turned on. Make sure you've installed an operating system, like OS X or Windows on the drive you're trying to start from. Volumes that don't contain a valid operating system aren't listed in Startup Disk or Startup Manager. If you've installed an operating system on a drive but it isn't listed, the volume you're trying to start from might need repair. If the volume contains OS X, start your computer from OS X Recovery and use Disk Utility to repair the volume, or reinstall OS X on the volume using the Recovery System. Depending on the Mac you are using and the version of OS X that is installed, the Recovery System volume (Recovery HD) might not show up in Startup Manager. Press Command-R during startup to start your Mac from the Recovery System. This also can be a possible motherboard or power supply issue as well.
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Post by Jessica on Dec 6, 2014 9:14:38 GMT -5
My MacBook Pro stopped working late this summer. It was just dead for like a whole month. It wasn't until I gave it another go a few weeks later that it booted up again.
I have no idea what could have happened. But I'm here typing on it now again just fine.
I'd go to an Apple Store and get them to help you. Your only choice at this point is pulling the hard drive out, putting it in a hard drive enclosure, and then booting it on another Mac either by directly booting the drive or by using it as an external. And that's because your home folder will be locked and Windows doesn't have the ability to unlock it like OS X can.
Better for the tech guys to do it for you if you're under warranty, otherwise they're going to shoot BS about how you opened the thing.
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Post by themanwithnoname on Dec 10, 2014 4:48:36 GMT -5
Hi, last night my Mac Mini suddenly shut itself down and wouldn't restart again. The screen stayed black, the light on the front wouldn't come on but the fan was whirring really fast. Anyone have any ideas? Just hope my hard drive hasn't died and I've lost all my photos, songs, videos etc. It's possible your hard drive, because it wouldn't boot up to your OSX if your hard drive is out. Macs has no Bios like PC to see further testing. you can try startup disk with Startup Manager: Turn on or restart your Mac. Immediately press and hold the Option key. After a few seconds, the Startup Manager appears. If you don't see the volume you want to use, wait a few moments for Startup Manager to finish scanning connected drives. Use your mouse or trackpad, or left and right arrow keys to select the volume you want to use. Double-click or press the Return key to start up your Mac from the volume you selected. If you have an optical drive connected to your computer, you can insert an installation disc to see it in Startup Manager. You can also attach FireWire or USB external hard drives that contain an operating system to add to the list of startup volumes. Startup Manager automatically adds bootable volumes as you connect them. Start from OS X Recovery You can also start your Mac from OS X Recovery or Internet Recovery if your Mac was manufactured after 2011. To start your Mac from the Recovery System, use these steps: Start up or restart your computer. Hold down the Command and R keys on your keyboard until you see the Apple logo appear onscreen. If you don't see a volume listed If you don't see the volume you want to start your computer from, check the following: If you're using an external drive, make sure it's connected and turned on. Make sure you've installed an operating system, like OS X or Windows on the drive you're trying to start from. Volumes that don't contain a valid operating system aren't listed in Startup Disk or Startup Manager. If you've installed an operating system on a drive but it isn't listed, the volume you're trying to start from might need repair. If the volume contains OS X, start your computer from OS X Recovery and use Disk Utility to repair the volume, or reinstall OS X on the volume using the Recovery System. Depending on the Mac you are using and the version of OS X that is installed, the Recovery System volume (Recovery HD) might not show up in Startup Manager. Press Command-R during startup to start your Mac from the Recovery System. This also can be a possible motherboard or power supply issue as well. Thanks to both of you for your responses. I phoned Apple Care and they got me to try to reset the PRAM and SMC. Neither of them worked and it still won't power up at all. I've booked in to the Apple Store today for someone to have a look at it so fingers crossed it's something fairly straightforward, especially as it's no longer under warranty. The more research I do, the more it looks like it's the motherboard (or logic board as Apple call it) that's failed. Just hoping my hard drive hasn't died with it.
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Post by themanwithnoname on Dec 10, 2014 11:18:50 GMT -5
Just a little update. Bloke at Apple Store says it's so old (nine years?) they can't get parts for it so I should just get a new Mac.
They took out my hard drive and I've bought a case to convert that into an external hard drive I can plug into whatever new Mac I get.
My biggest concern is the iMovie projects I've got on there which were Oasis-related things that have taken me years (literally) to put together and which I ultimately wanted to share with fellow fans.
They seemed to think I'd be able to transfer them on to the new machine (even though they were done on a very old version of iMovie) so here's hoping.
If I've lost them I will weep.
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Post by jaq515 on Dec 10, 2014 15:01:41 GMT -5
Just a little update. Bloke at Apple Store says it's so old (nine years?) they can't get parts for it so I should just get a new Mac. They took out my hard drive and I've bought a case to convert that into an external hard drive I can plug into whatever new Mac I get. My biggest concern is the iMovie projects I've got on there which were Oasis-related things that have taken me years (literally) to put together and which I ultimately wanted to share with fellow fans. They seemed to think I'd be able to transfer them on to the new machine (even though they were done on a very old version of iMovie) so here's hoping. If I've lost them I will weep. you should still be able to import them in. iMovie / mac software changed over to intel chips in the last 9 years but the native formats *should* work. I know this is a kick in teeth but testament to mac pc's don't last 9 years
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Post by Rain on Dec 10, 2014 21:34:38 GMT -5
Just a little update. Bloke at Apple Store says it's so old (nine years?) they can't get parts for it so I should just get a new Mac. They took out my hard drive and I've bought a case to convert that into an external hard drive I can plug into whatever new Mac I get. My biggest concern is the iMovie projects I've got on there which were Oasis-related things that have taken me years (literally) to put together and which I ultimately wanted to share with fellow fans. They seemed to think I'd be able to transfer them on to the new machine (even though they were done on a very old version of iMovie) so here's hoping. If I've lost them I will weep. you should still be able to import them in. iMovie / mac software changed over to intel chips in the last 9 years but the native formats *should* work. I know this is a kick in teeth but testament to mac pc's don't last 9 years just pulled the white iMac out of the classroom today. Dead and replacing with an older Dell755 with 5GB of RAM that installed today.
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Post by jaq515 on Dec 11, 2014 4:09:11 GMT -5
you should still be able to import them in. iMovie / mac software changed over to intel chips in the last 9 years but the native formats *should* work. I know this is a kick in teeth but testament to mac pc's don't last 9 years just pulled the white iMac out of the classroom today. Dead and replacing with an older Dell755 with 5GB of RAM that installed today. we used to to use dell optiplex 755 at work few years back running a very low level program (was dos based but running in windows) they would only last 18 months or so. Once they were over 2 years out our internal i.t dept would charge us more if we didn't replace them as they would start playing up lot more frequently. (in fact i've probably got at least 5-6 i could get my hands if you want them As we swapped to a new system using HP slim clients few years back and tbh they are much more reliable pc's)
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Post by themanwithnoname on Dec 11, 2014 6:19:42 GMT -5
Just a little update. Bloke at Apple Store says it's so old (nine years?) they can't get parts for it so I should just get a new Mac. They took out my hard drive and I've bought a case to convert that into an external hard drive I can plug into whatever new Mac I get. My biggest concern is the iMovie projects I've got on there which were Oasis-related things that have taken me years (literally) to put together and which I ultimately wanted to share with fellow fans. They seemed to think I'd be able to transfer them on to the new machine (even though they were done on a very old version of iMovie) so here's hoping. If I've lost them I will weep. you should still be able to import them in. iMovie / mac software changed over to intel chips in the last 9 years but the native formats *should* work. I know this is a kick in teeth but testament to mac pc's don't last 9 years I didn't think nine years was all that long but they made me feel like a relic! I'm now thinking of taking the plunge and getting an iMac. Saw the 27" screen one in the Apple store and it looked amazing but once you select all the add-ons it gets very expensive so might go for the 21.5". Any suggestions on a good configuration? Will mainly be doing video and photo stuff.
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Post by jaq515 on Dec 11, 2014 8:29:46 GMT -5
you should still be able to import them in. iMovie / mac software changed over to intel chips in the last 9 years but the native formats *should* work. I know this is a kick in teeth but testament to mac pc's don't last 9 years I didn't think nine years was all that long but they made me feel like a relic! I'm now thinking of taking the plunge and getting an iMac. Saw the 27" screen one in the Apple store and it looked amazing but once you select all the add-ons it gets very expensive so might go for the 21.5". Any suggestions on a good configuration? Will mainly be doing video and photo stuff. The retina iMacs are lovely but the regular are still really nice displays I would personally get the 27" (non retina) if you do a lot of video/photo but if 21" still a big display. It depends on your budget but id say the £1199 21" (tho can't self upgrade ram down the line) Preferbablly any other 27" would be perfect for you powerwise. 8gb ram enough for Mac (tho you can self upgrade this at a later date up to 32gb ram don't do it with apple as really expensive) 1tb hard drive which should be plenty (& it's got USB3 ports so put your old hard drive into a usb3 enclosure / get a external usb3 hard drive and it will be very fast) Fast processors Dedicated graphics cards If you are in eduaction / have know anyone who is order it though them as apple give really good student discounts you can be looking anywhere between 100-200 off which makes them that bit more affordable.
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Post by Rain on Dec 11, 2014 9:26:52 GMT -5
just pulled the white iMac out of the classroom today. Dead and replacing with an older Dell755 with 5GB of RAM that installed today. we used to to use dell optiplex 755 at work few years back running a very low level program (was dos based but running in windows) they would only last 18 months or so. Once they were over 2 years out our internal i.t dept would charge us more if we didn't replace them as they would start playing up lot more frequently. (in fact i've probably got at least 5-6 i could get my hands if you want them As we swapped to a new system using HP slim clients few years back and tbh they are much more reliable pc's) We have the slim clients and they suck. Funky to re-image them and we shipped a lot back due to failed hardware. Lenovo Thinkcentre most the school is going for, especially they come to repair them.
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Post by jaq515 on Dec 11, 2014 15:47:18 GMT -5
we used to to use dell optiplex 755 at work few years back running a very low level program (was dos based but running in windows) they would only last 18 months or so. Once they were over 2 years out our internal i.t dept would charge us more if we didn't replace them as they would start playing up lot more frequently. (in fact i've probably got at least 5-6 i could get my hands if you want them As we swapped to a new system using HP slim clients few years back and tbh they are much more reliable pc's) We have the slim clients and they suck. Funky to re-image them and we shipped a lot back due to failed hardware. Lenovo Thinkcentre most the school is going for, especially they come to repair them. fair enough different horses for different courses i guess
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Post by Sternumman on Dec 17, 2014 21:00:16 GMT -5
you should still be able to import them in. iMovie / mac software changed over to intel chips in the last 9 years but the native formats *should* work. I know this is a kick in teeth but testament to mac pc's don't last 9 years I didn't think nine years was all that long but they made me feel like a relic!
I'm now thinking of taking the plunge and getting an iMac. Saw the 27" screen one in the Apple store and it looked amazing but once you select all the add-ons it gets very expensive so might go for the 21.5". Any suggestions on a good configuration? Will mainly be doing video and photo stuff. I believe the average lifespan of most computers is 3-5 years, so i think you did good on your original investment,
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Post by Rain on Dec 18, 2014 0:07:25 GMT -5
I didn't think nine years was all that long but they made me feel like a relic!
I'm now thinking of taking the plunge and getting an iMac. Saw the 27" screen one in the Apple store and it looked amazing but once you select all the add-ons it gets very expensive so might go for the 21.5". Any suggestions on a good configuration? Will mainly be doing video and photo stuff. I believe the average lifespan of most computers is 3-5 years, so i think you did good on your original investment, thinkpads are longer. My girl had a thinkpad T42 finally died early this year. T42 was released 2004. The white 17" iMacs are dying at my job right now. 2006-2007. Bootcamp is nice on newer iMacs I do admit.
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Post by themanwithnoname on Dec 22, 2014 7:12:55 GMT -5
I didn't think nine years was all that long but they made me feel like a relic!
I'm now thinking of taking the plunge and getting an iMac. Saw the 27" screen one in the Apple store and it looked amazing but once you select all the add-ons it gets very expensive so might go for the 21.5". Any suggestions on a good configuration? Will mainly be doing video and photo stuff. I believe the average lifespan of most computers is 3-5 years, so i think you did good on your original investment, You see, I think that's outrageous. If I spend nearly £2,000 on a computer (which some people do) then I really want it to last longer than that.
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Post by globe on Dec 22, 2014 7:56:29 GMT -5
Don't want to sound really unhelpful after the event, but when you get a new machine, please please please back it up. If you go for a Mac again, Time Machine is very easy to set up and works great. If you go for a Windows computer then it also has it's own backup application which works great. All you need is a USB or NAS drive.
You can also backup files very easily these days using cloud storage - iCloud, Drop Box, One Drive etc - you obviously can't restore a whole computer from these but at least your files are backed up.
Just my tuppence :-)
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Post by Rain on Dec 22, 2014 22:35:08 GMT -5
I believe the average lifespan of most computers is 3-5 years, so i think you did good on your original investment, You see, I think that's outrageous. If I spend nearly £2,000 on a computer (which some people do) then I really want it to last longer than that. To be honest, I wouldn't spend over 700 on a PC,Laptop, desktop or tablet. It's not worth it. Re-furbished ones works well. Use cloud service or external hard drive to keep things back up. Cloud services are great, but you'll never be in full control of your content. Make sure get something that is not flash drive driven.
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Post by themanwithnoname on Dec 23, 2014 8:52:40 GMT -5
Don't want to sound really unhelpful after the event, but when you get a new machine, please please please back it up. If you go for a Mac again, Time Machine is very easy to set up and works great. If you go for a Windows computer then it also has it's own backup application which works great. All you need is a USB or NAS drive. You can also backup files very easily these days using cloud storage - iCloud, Drop Box, One Drive etc - you obviously can't restore a whole computer from these but at least your files are backed up. Just my tuppence :-) Yeah, you're absolutely right. Trouble was that this Mac wasn't connected to the internet which made it a bit trickier but will definitely be doing that next time. The bloke got my hard drive out and I've got an enclosure for it so hoping it will be ok.
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