Mac mini (2009), Apple logo, no progress bar, doesn't respond to keyboard, no sounds.

Dervxerox

Dervxerox

Dervxerox

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10 Sep 2022
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UK
Hi, I'm completely new to Macs.
I acquired a Mac mini (2009)
When I switch it on I get the Apple logo, no progress bar, no response to keyboard, no sounds.
I've left it running for an hour with no change.
Holding the power button for a while turns it off.
Could someone please tell me what the problem might be and some tests I could perform?
 
Try the below, rebooting the system and seeing if you can access the existing MacOS/OSX installation after each step -

NVRAM reset - https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204063
SMC reset - https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295
"First Aid" using Disk Utility in Recovery - https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT210898

If the above doesn't get the Mac Mini going then i would recommend a complete install. Only issue here is that i don't believe Apple's Internet Recovery will now work on that hardware, as it's EOL, so you'll either need the original 10.6 OSX Snow Leopard installation CD which i believe came with the Mac or, use another Mac to create installation media (either on CD or USB drive).
Worth mentioning the latest version of OSX/MacOS that can be installed is 10.11 El Capitan, so you could create a bootable CD/USB installation of 10.11 rather than an older version and doing upgrades.
 
II tried the reset NVRAM. The mac rebooted but I still only have the apple logo. I managed to get some kind of boot menu by holding the option key just after the boot sound. There were 2 options. MinimacHD and windows. MinimacHD only gives me the apple logo and windows tries to boot Windows XP but freezes. I also worked out the mac is a 2006 not 2009 as sold.
 
Feek said:
Oh that's a pain, that also means you're limited to Snow Leopard as the latest OS you can run (10.6.8) and that was a retail DVD pack.
Click to expand...
I'm wondering if they tried to upgrade the operating system thinking it was a 2009. Would I be able to download a disk image to burn to dvd and use this to completely overwrite the contents of the hard drive?
 
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