Mac Mini (Intel Core Duo, model A1176) does not accept keyboard input on boot

I have an Intel Mac mini (purchased in 2005 or 2006) with a fresh install of OS X Leopard on it. I recently changed the Startup Disk in the OS X system preferences to be the CD/DVD drive, and everything has gone downhill since there.

I inserted a CD and attempted to boot from it right after changing this setting. I noticed the CD drive spun up the disk, but after waiting several seconds a black screen appeared, saying "No bootable device — insert boot disk and press any key". There were two problems here: first, the CD never ejected from the computer, and second, there was no response to any key press.

After restarting and shutting down a few times I got the Mac to spit out the CD somehow. I restarted, inserted the same OS X Leopard disk used to install the operating system earlier that day, and got the same "No bootable device" error.

So, there seem to be two (possibly-related?) problems here: the Mac is not taking any keyboard input, and will not boot from even valid, definitely working CDs or DVDs.

For the keyboard input: I've tried holding down, tapping, and intermittently holding the C, X, D, T, and Option keys (suggested in ##mac last night) during the initial boot, with both an Apple aluminum keyboard (which is working fine as I type this) and an older wireless USB keyboard. I have plugged each keyboard (on separate occasions) into each of the 3 USB slots, without any effect.

For the boot: Booting headless made no difference, nor did the insertion of a Debian CD, Ubuntu CD, OS X Leopard DVD, or Tiger DVD.

Has anyone experienced either of these problems before? Could they be linked, since both appeared after messing with the Mac's startup disk? I have made no hardware modifications—I haven't opened the case at all, in fact—since I got the Mini. I'm thinking about taking out the Mac's hard drive, wiping it, and then trying to boot… any ideas?

ADent said:

What keyboard are you using? If an Apple one it may be the problem - early wired keyboards dont' work until later in the boot process.

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That may be it.. I've tried with a wireless USB keyboard made for PCs as well, but not a wired one.

The Apple Remote solution would be great, but I don't think I have the one that came with this Mac. Could I use the one that came with my iMac, or are these remotes paired to a specific machine only?

Yep, the Apple aluminium keyboard was the problem. I had the exact model ADent mentioned (A1243), so I tried holding Option during boot with a wired USB keyboard and it worked fine.

I still have a boot issue, though — I can boot into OS X fine, but whenever I try to boot from a CD, my Mac ejects it. I tried reinserting the CD while on the boot selection screen, but nothing showed up.

balamw said:

SuperDrives can be finicky. Have you tried multiple different discs?

Just for kicks reset your PRAM/NVRAM and SMC before you give up.

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Yeah, I've used the OS X Leopard DVD and two Linux (burned for i386 architecture) install CDs. I reset the PRAM and heard the Apple boot sound for the first time in a while, but it didn't have any effect on the CD boot problem.

balamw said:

Since this is a Core Duo box, do you know if it has the upgraded firmware?

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I downloaded the update again (EFI update, which is related to the bootloader IIRC) but it said on launch that my machine did not need the upgrade. I'm assuming that means it has already been installed.

balamw said:

You could always try rEFIt http://refit.sf.net

B

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Just tried it — the Mac still ejects every CD during boot, and if I re-insert the disc while at the rEFIt menu it isn't displayed.

Other attempts from today:
- Reset SMC
- Plugged in an external CD drive. I get the same problem as with the Mac's internal one — the CD spins up for some seconds — except it doesn't eject the disk.