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Jimb0

macrumors newbie
Nov 20, 2012
4
0
Hi, i've been following this thread for a couple of weeks but have never posted before. I've found it quite informative so thought I'd share my experience.

I bought a 2.6 i7 mac mini just over a week ago and have it rigged up to a Panasonic 42 inch LED TV via HDMI. For reference, the cable I bought to rig it up is this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/AmazonBasic...ZYYM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353427331&sr=8-1

So far i've watched a movie, 3 or 4 TV shows, i've installed a load of software and used it for browsing. As yet I haven't had a black screen or any washed out snow colours. In fact i'm really happy with the picture quality, it looks great playing high def movies.

I'm half expecting I will get a black screen (if I do I'll come back and update it here) but thought i'd add my experience to date to the info pool.
 

Snowcake

macrumors regular
May 18, 2010
187
0
Maybe he had the special 10.8.2 osx version for the 2012 mini on there and when he formated it, he put on 10.8.1. Apple pulled 10.8.2 for the mini from the website, so we know something was wrong with it.

No, because the hdmi problem is not OS related. It happens on Linux Distributions and Windows too. It is a firmware/bios problem.

The reason why the 10.8.2 update was pulled: Keychain issue.
 

PaulKemp

macrumors 6502a
Jun 2, 2009
568
124
Norway
just to make sure, this is the problem I'm having in shared screens as well right? When i remote in it's just showing a black screen? This is due to the same issue? 2011 i7. Thanks!
 

sno1man

macrumors regular
Oct 24, 2011
230
6
No, because the hdmi problem is not OS related. It happens on Linux Distributions and Windows too. It is a firmware/bios problem.

The reason why the 10.8.2 update was pulled: Keychain issue.

No, you are just speculating just like everyone else here. (myself included)

What I know specific to me:

On either 10.8.2 or 10.8.1 you get the black screen issue.

In addition and this seems to be unique to the 2012 mini is the poor display quality over HDMI which requires all kinds of what should be unnecessary tweaks to the color profile in expert mode including setting a gamma level which doesn't make logical sense in any other configuration.

You may be correct that there is an issue with the intel HD4000 firmware, but it's equally likely that there are software issues as well or possibly (likely) it's both.

Lastly, your statement that update was pulled because of keychain issues is based on a couple of user posts in the Apple Support forums, NOTHING had been confirmed by Apple in any kind of statement other than they have pulled the update.

PS: the reason for my rant is that message like yours discourage both people trying things to address the issue and/or the best scenario which is to report their issues to Apple
 

Jig3n

macrumors member
Oct 24, 2012
33
0
I'm on day 4 with my 3rd mac mini replacement (2.3 i7, running 10.8.1 this time).
So far not one video glitch through the hdmi to dvi.

I have a dual monitor set up, I use 3d content creation apps, also run unity and I've been playing 3d games for several hours.
Hopefully I'm not speaking too soon but maybe the first batch of the mac mini's had a problem or maybe it was the 10.8.2 update.

I'm still expecting it to glitch out though. I'll let you all know here when / if it does.
 
Last edited:

adonis3k

macrumors 6502a
Apr 15, 2012
531
101
do they swap for replacement mini if its faulty? since mine is customised guess i'll have to wait?
 

statenine

macrumors newbie
Feb 12, 2008
27
0
I have not had a chance to read through this entire thread, but it seems that most people are having issues when using the HDMI port for video out. Well I just got my first black screen yesterday and I am using the miniDP to dual link DVI to run my 30" ACD. I have had my mini since day one and this is the first black screen I have got. It happened about 4-5 times yesterday, and each time it was within 10 minutes of the display waking up. After about 10 min it did not happen again until the display went to sleep again, and I woke it up. Just wanted to post that the issue is happening to me via the TB port as well...so it isn't only the HDMI port
 

drewe2000

macrumors newbie
Nov 21, 2012
4
0
count me in

*sigh*

I waited, then I crossed my fingers, and ordered.
2.6Ghz with 16GB of Crucial brand RAM, 1TB HD.
Received mini on 11/20, then this morning (11/21) at about 9AM I had my first issue - black, then snow, then normal, over about 3 seconds. No intervention on my part, but I'm worried about it worsening.
Connected by HDMI to HDMI on my Vizio TV.

I can say that the colors are perfectly fine without any adjustment.

I'll give it some more time and then try the MDP to HDMI adapter, but I didn't purchase this to give up the only Thunderbolt port for video out.

Do not expect Apple to admit, officially, there is an issue. Even if support people have hear of it, they likely cannot confirm it either. As a company, they may admit the issue when/if they have a fix, but not before. That's pretty standard for most companies.

On the bright side - Apple's holiday return policy is in effect, so many of us with these minis don't have to return them until January 7, 2013. Confirm this yourself to make sure you are included (based on purchase date) and that I have the return date. I'm willing to give Apple until then to fix it.
 

bluest

macrumors newbie
Nov 21, 2012
1
0
I thought I'd chip in to add to the weight of numbers.

I have the basic dual core i5 connected via HDMI. Totally stock. Had the black screen two or three times soon after I got the machine. Off the back of this thread I phoned Applecare, where the tech really didn't have a clue what the problem might be, so he just got me to unplug all the external devices and reboot. Gave me a case number and said to call back if it happened again.

The problem then didn't re-occur for about two weeks, but it struck again this morning, so I'll phone Applecare again tomorrow.

I haven't noticed any problems with colour though.
 

drewe2000

macrumors newbie
Nov 21, 2012
4
0
returns and uptime

My mini was booted up for about 6 hours at the time, but I watched it pretty closely before and after, and that's the only event (so far).


As for the holiday return policy:
http://store.apple.com/us/help/returns_refund
"Items purchased at the Apple Online Store that are received between October 27, 2012 and December 25, 2012, may be returned through January 7, 2013."

So, not as good as a fully functional mini, but good enough that they have some time to make it right.
 

Jig3n

macrumors member
Oct 24, 2012
33
0
Still no blackouts on my 3rd model so far but I did get a call from the head of the cpu engineers a few minutes ago. He apologized about the problem, admitted that the problem is the mac mini and that it was wide spread.
Lots of mac mini 2012 owners are submitting data logs when the blackouts occur and apple is apparently working hard on fixing it.

He didn't say they were going to recall them but he did said it was a possibility.
 

jollino

macrumors 6502
Nov 15, 2006
354
8
Chieti, Italy
Still no blackouts on my 3rd model so far but I did get a call from the head of the cpu engineers a few minutes ago. He apologized about the problem, admitted that the problem is the mac mini and that it was wide spread.
Lots of mac mini 2012 owners are submitting data logs when the blackouts occur and apple is apparently working hard on fixing it.

He didn't say they were going to recall them but he did said it was a possibility.

Where do you get the logs? I had one earlier and rushed to peek at /var/log/system.log, but there was nothing worth of mention there for me.
 

sno1man

macrumors regular
Oct 24, 2011
230
6
Where do you get the logs? I had one earlier and rushed to peek at /var/log/system.log, but there was nothing worth of mention there for me.

The apple rep i was working with asked me to send the user/library/logs directory, I guess on the theory that it might be app triggered in some way.

Either that or they just want to see what I'm running at the time. The only thing I have seen is copious errors being reported by adobe in design. However that is both the application that I use the most and where I'm getting the most black outs
 

Acorn

macrumors 68030
Jan 2, 2009
2,642
349
macrumors
I am in the market for a mini so I really hope they fix this issue soon. Im not going to purchase one until its fixed. I will give it until the first week of January or so then if there is no fix I will just build a windows box myself.
 

Mac... nificent

macrumors 6502a
Nov 20, 2012
943
498
I am also in the market for a new mini, but this issue doesn't concern me. It's easy enough to fix with a $5 cable which I will probably order before I get the mini.
 

SeattleMoose

macrumors 68000
Jul 17, 2009
1,960
1,670
Der Wald
Ratz!!!

Was headed to the Apple Store to pick up the new Mini when I happened to catch sight of this blog. Now I will have to wait until this sorts itself out.

Apple!!!, what happened to "It Just Works"? There is no excuse for shipping out defective products. Where is the testing and QA? :mad:
 

Sir Ruben

macrumors 68000
Jul 3, 2010
1,885
1,200
UK
I have not had a chance to read through this entire thread, but it seems that most people are having issues when using the HDMI port for video out. Well I just got my first black screen yesterday and I am using the miniDP to dual link DVI to run my 30" ACD. I have had my mini since day one and this is the first black screen I have got. It happened about 4-5 times yesterday, and each time it was within 10 minutes of the display waking up. After about 10 min it did not happen again until the display went to sleep again, and I woke it up. Just wanted to post that the issue is happening to me via the TB port as well...so it isn't only the HDMI port

You are the first person I have come across to say that it has happened when using the thunderbolt port. Id bet that your issue is not the same thing.

To everyone else that is living with this problem, why dont you just buy a cheap lead of amazon/ebay that connects to the thunderbolt port instead? If it were me that would be the first thing I would have done.

Im currently using a thunderbolt to displayport cable which cost me around £5, however before that I was using HDMI and I didnt have the screen blanking issue with that either so I dont know whats going on!

EDIT: on a side note I had the same kind of screen blanking issue with my xbox 360 connected via HDMI to my TV and it turned out to be the cable, I tried a couple of other HDMI cables and it didnt happen again. Might be worth a try for some of you?
 

rolsskk

macrumors 6502
Sep 1, 2008
300
297
EDIT: on a side note I had the same kind of screen blanking issue with my xbox 360 connected via HDMI to my TV and it turned out to be the cable, I tried a couple of other HDMI cables and it didnt happen again. Might be worth a try for some of you?
3 Brands, 3 Cables, and still 1 Problematic MacMini.
 
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