Borked Mac Mini, setting up as a headless unit

joey1211 · 7 Jul 2008 at 10:05

Problem.

My mac mini's graphics went bye-bye at xmas. What I would like is to set up the mini to run as a headless unit. I have access to a macbook so what I want to do is to use the macbook's keyboard and screen as an interface for the mini.

Holding T on the a keyboard plugged into the mini boots it as an external hard disk when connected to the macbook, is there an option to boot the macbook from an external hard disk, which is what the mini would be.

joey1211 · 7 Jul 2008 at 10:26

Is it possible to copy the system folder from one mac to another? (i'm sure i read it somewhere)

or

Installing the minis hd into the macbook, setting it up with the relevant settings/software (does osx natively support remote login?) and then reinstalling the hd into the mini.

joey1211 · 7 Jul 2008 at 13:53

Ok. On the mini hold down T, on the macbook hold Alt, this will allow me to use the macmini as the first boot disk. Correct? And then configure it's ip address and remote software via the macbooks screen and keyboard.

joey1211 · 8 Jul 2008 at 09:35

Mini not appearing as a drive in the macbook when alt is pressed. The minis a powerpc and the macbook is an intel, I think (bought on the 31.07.2007). Would this matter?

joey1211 · 7 Oct 2008 at 18:02

Resurrection!!

Got hold of a powerpc mac and activated remote desktop on the mac mini. I now have it here beside me. I can ping it, but how on earth do you log into the damn thing on the macbook. Is there no such equivalent of XPs Remote Desktop in OSX?

joey1211 · 8 Oct 2008 at 09:47

Beepcake said:
If you're using Leopard you should just be able to press "share screen" in finder if you've enabled remote desktop.

I take that's on the mini, which I can't access.

joey1211 · 19 Dec 2008 at 13:19

Another Resurrection!

Managed to install vnc onto the mac mini. But out of the box I need to manually start this service, which of course I can't do. How do I get the VNC server to autostart when the mini is powered on. This does NOT mean when a user logs on, but powered on.

Thanks

joey1211 · 19 Dec 2008 at 13:55

Root Account?

The only account in System Prefrences > Accounts is my account. Is there a hidden root account?

Edit

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1528

joey1211 · 19 Dec 2008 at 14:25

Assuming that this works, what's the best option of ensuring that any tinkering in the future that breaks my vnc link can be easily rectified?

Is it possible to create an 'autorun bootable image cd' that resets the mini back to a working config?

joey1211 · 19 Dec 2008 at 20:33

Activated the root account and added the vnc server to the startup items. Works a treat.