I have a Mid 2011 Mac Mini (2.5Ghz i5 model A1347) which I bought from the refurb store in 2013.

From mid 2013 to late 2016 it served as a media server, running XBMC/Kodi. Towards the end of that time it started to randomly shut down. I then stopped using it and since then it's been sat in a cupboard.

I was going to wipe it and set it up for my daughter, but I can't get it started. When I try to start it, the power light comes on and I can hear something (I think it's the HDD) and then about one second later it switches off.

Any guidance on troubleshooting this would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Barry

⟐ Commented março 27, 2025 at 10:57 GMT-7

⟐ Commented março 22, 2025 at 1:54 GMT-7

⟐ Answer edited março 20, 2025 at 5:16 GMT-7

1.) 1394 9pin male to 1394 6pin female adapter cable +

2.) 1394 6pin male to USB 2.0 male adapter cable +

3.) USB 2.0 female to female adapter connector

1.) https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10050082...

2.) https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10050077...

3.) https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10050055...

Could I safely connect to this cable chain an external HDD or anything else for that matter? Keyboard, mouse, etc.

⟐ Commented março 18, 2025 at 6:09 GMT-7

If I connect my external display to my Mac with a Mini Displayport - HDMI (1080p) cable, immediately after I put my Mac to sleep it wakes back up (only the Mac wakes up, the external display remains in stand-by until I click the mouse or press a key).

IF I power off my external display (with the Mini Displayport - HDMI cable still plugged in both Mac and external display), THEN put my Mac to sleep, it stays asleep as it should.

• with the Mini DP - HDMI cable connected, "About This Mac" -> "System Report" -> "Thunderbolt" -> "Status" indicates "No device connected"

Do I have a faulty cable, maybe faulty thunderbolt port? Is my external display not fully compatible?

My external display is a Philips 227E7QDSB.

⟐ Answer accepted março 05, 2025 at 10:38 GMT-7

⟐ Answered março 04, 2025 at 17:58 GMT-7

⟐ Commented março 02, 2025 at 13:49 GMT-7

⟐ Answer edited março 01, 2025 at 13:36 GMT-7

Or is the only way to do this is with another Mac?

⟐ Commented fevereiro 24, 2025 at 15:07 GMT-7

 performed an NVRAM, performed an SMC reset, booted on Safe mode, changed memory module, without success

  I would really appreciate some ideas to start looking for the cause.

Found on this site:

"I disagree with the power supply diagnosis. Unless you have set your power save options to restart after power fail, the machine will stay off. Mine does not stay off. None of the others reporting this issue claim it stays off.

I was having the random restart problem several times per day after updating to High Sierra. The suggestions above caused me to start thinking about what functionality might change across releases. I decided to look at Power Save options.

I disabled power save for both system and display (set it to Never). The problem has disappeared. I have been running for a week now without recurrence.

It appears that Apple has introduced misadventure into the Power Save behaviour of (at least) High Sierra on Mid-2011 Mac Minis."

⟐ Edited by author fevereiro 15, 2025 at 19:28 GMT-7

I recently cleaned it all out, repasted the CPU and added an SSD. Just worried about the old thermal pad for graphics.

Would be worth replacing it with a Gelid thermal pad? It looks really thin, would a 0.5mm fit?

I still use it for retro gaming, snd my iPod classic, and just want to stay alive for longer.

⟐ Commented fevereiro 14, 2025 at 11:07 GMT-7

⟐ Commented fevereiro 10, 2025 at 10:46 GMT-7

⟐ Commented janeiro 26, 2025 at 6:47 GMT-7

⟐ Commented janeiro 19, 2025 at 19:35 GMT-7

for example My Idea is is to buy a computer case and put the Mac mini board in where PCI cards go?

⟐ Commented janeiro 10, 2025 at 5:37 GMT-7

My trusty Mac mini might not be so trustworthy as I thought. My machine’s specs are 2.3 ghz i7, with 16Gb RAM and an upgraded 1 TB SSD. It never had the Fusion Drive. I bought it new from an Apple Authorised Dealer and they did the memory upgrade before I purchased the Mac. Maybe they also changed the Fusion Drive to a different drive type, but that is not something that I had asked for. Not that it matters now because I have upgraded the drive to the SSD as above and I did that about two years ago. The Mac has been running well since.

A few weeks ago, the Mac started running a little bit slower, or that’s what it seemed like. I monitored it for a couple of days and then one day it started getting really slow. As I hadn’t rebooted it for a while, I decided to shut it down and reboot.

Except that when I rebooted, the screen was completely blank. I tried to reboot again, but I got the same result. I rebooted it a few more times and I continued to get the same blank screen.

I found an old Dell monitor with only a VGA connection on it and I scrounged around and found the adapter to get the VGA monitor connected to my Mac mini. Another reboot. Same result as before - blank screen.

I’m wondering if it is possible to use the HDMI port to connect to a monitor, and would that bypass the ‘display card’? My assumption is probably the worst case scenario where the ‘display card’ has had it, and I think that I’ve read somewhere that the display function is inbuilt on the motherboard.

I don’t want to lose my Mac mini!

Thanks for sharing your expertise and knowledge.

⟐ Commented dezembro 18, 2024 at 20:57 GMT-7

⟐ Answered novembro 23, 2024 at 15:52 GMT-7

⟐ Commented novembro 18, 2024 at 15:00 GMT-7

⟐ Answered novembro 13, 2024 at 15:56 GMT-7

⟐ Commented novembro 13, 2024 at 13:06 GMT-7