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Mac Mini Boot problems

post #1 of 7
7/20/09 at 1:11am
Thread Starter 
Hi Folks,
I have a 2006 Mac Mini 2.0Ghz/2Gb and am having some problems.
Initially it was not booting, the screen was blank although the power light came on.
I then opened it up and pressed the firmware reset which fixed the blank screen problem.
However,

If I power it on now with a short press on the power button I get a chime and the "reset the system" essage in four languaegs

If I power it on with a long press on the power button I get

a rapid set of flashes on the power light (could be about 8)
a slow set of flashes on the power light (around 3-4)
a long tone then a chime and then the "reset the system" message in four languages.

The research I have carried out suggests a RAM error.

I have tried:

Putting a different memory module in (an old one from an intel laptop ) same problem

booting with just one module, (I've tried both separately)

Still the same problem.

Before I rush out and buy two new memory modules I thought that I would seek some guidance for you geniuses!

So, all and any help welcome


Regards

Steve
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post #2 of 7
7/20/09 at 1:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jokeruk View Post

If I power it on now with a short press on the power button I get a chime and the "reset the system" essage in four languaegs

That's a kernel panic message.

Quote:
Originally Posted by jokeruk View Post

If I power it on with a long press on the power button I get

a rapid set of flashes on the power light (could be about 8)
a slow set of flashes on the power light (around 3-4)
a long tone then a chime and then the "reset the system" message in four languages.

That's the procedure to restore your firmware from a disc. Apple have the firmware files on their website. You burn a disc and then hold the power button down to install it but this is a last resort measure.

Have you tried booting from the system disc by holding the c-key at boot? If it boots from this, it's possibly a software issue and you can try an archive install.
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post #3 of 7
7/20/09 at 2:27am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marvin View Post

That's a kernel panic message.



That's the procedure to restore your firmware from a disc. Apple have the firmware files on their website. You burn a disc and then hold the power button down to install it but this is a last resort measure.

Have you tried booting from the system disc by holding the c-key at boot? If it boots from this, it's possibly a software issue and you can try an archive install.


I haven't tried a system disk boot - I assume I can use the Leopard DVD for this, I'll try tonight.

Thanks for the advice.
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post #4 of 7
7/20/09 at 9:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jokeruk View Post

I haven't tried a system disk boot - I assume I can use the Leopard DVD for this, I'll try tonight.

Yes and if you hold the d-key to boot, it will run a hardware check. Do the c-key boot first though and run disk utility from the menu.
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post #5 of 7
7/20/09 at 11:22am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marvin View Post

Yes and if you hold the d-key to boot, it will run a hardware check. Do the c-key boot first though and run disk utility from the menu.

hmmmm,
OK, as it happens someone at work had some spare RAM which I have just fitted and the tone has gone away.

Now I get a chime every time but neither pressing C or D during boot seem to make any difference I still get the "reset" screen

any ideas anyone?
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post #6 of 7
7/21/09 at 10:06am
Do you have the new Apple keyboard?

If so, it won't allow you to use the boot options on that machine. If you can get hold of the Apple remote, hold the menu button down while booting and that might take you to a boot menu if it manages to get that far. Then use the arrows to select the CD to boot from it.

If you still get the reset message, try doing an SMC reset and PRAM reset. PRAM reset is always just holding alt-command-p-r during boot until it chimes twice, SMC is usually removing all display cables and power cables from the machine for 10 seconds.

If you have a separate machine, you can also boot the machine in target mode holding the t-key, hook up a firewire cable and it will mount as a drive. You may the be able to find a kernel panic log telling you what happened.
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post #7 of 7
8/3/09 at 5:52am
Say. I think you've got a kernal panic.
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