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Mac Mini 2,1 very slow boot

R

raftr

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 18, 2007
130
0
Ireland
I have a 2007 Mini (A1176) which has developed a strange delay when booting. The OS it runs is 1.6.8 but it seems to be a hardware issue to me.

It takes a few minutes from pressing Power until the OSX chime, display-on and Apple logo screen, it works normally from there.

I tried all the usual remedies: reset PRAM, SMC, etc. Booted from DVD, replaced RAM, battery — nothing.

One observation though: restarts from OS are instant and if I turn the computer off and turn it on again within about half a minute, it boots up normally. If it is within a minute, the delay shortens to only maybe 15 seconds. Keep it off for a few minutes and it needs a few minutes to start again.

Could this be for instance a failed capacitor in the power board that takes long to charge but then keeps on for some time after the computer is switched off?
 
philipma1957

philipma1957

macrumors 603
Apr 13, 2010
6,365
251
Howell, New Jersey
raftr said:
I have a 2007 Mini (A1176) which has developed a strange delay when booting. The OS it runs is 1.6.8 but it seems to be a hardware issue to me.

It takes a few minutes from pressing Power until the OSX chime, display-on and Apple logo screen, it works normally from there.

I tried all the usual remedies: reset PRAM, SMC, etc. Booted from DVD, replaced RAM, battery — nothing.

One observation though: restarts from OS are instant and if I turn the computer off and turn it on again within about half a minute, it boots up normally. If it is within a minute, the delay shortens to only maybe 15 seconds. Keep it off for a few minutes and it needs a few minutes to start again.

Could this be for instance a failed capacitor in the power board that takes long to charge but then keeps on for some time after the computer is switched off?
Click to expand...

it is old and tired stop turning it on and off. you don't save that much by turning it off. but there may be a simple fix the internal battery should be very close to dead replace it. I will look for a photo


http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing+Mac+mini+Model+A1176+PRAM+Battery/1114/1

i think this is the correct set of photos
 
P

Perkla

macrumors member
Jan 13, 2013
41
6
raftr said:
I have a 2007 Mini (A1176) which has developed a strange delay when booting. The OS it runs is 1.6.8 but it seems to be a hardware issue to me.

It takes a few minutes from pressing Power until the OSX chime, display-on and Apple logo screen, it works normally from there.

I tried all the usual remedies: reset PRAM, SMC, etc. Booted from DVD, replaced RAM, battery — nothing.

One observation though: restarts from OS are instant and if I turn the computer off and turn it on again within about half a minute, it boots up normally. If it is within a minute, the delay shortens to only maybe 15 seconds. Keep it off for a few minutes and it needs a few minutes to start again.

Could this be for instance a failed capacitor in the power board that takes long to charge but then keeps on for some time after the computer is switched off?
Click to expand...

So it works ok from where the apple logo is showing up ?.. its before that it takes some time to load ?
 
R

raftr

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 18, 2007
130
0
Ireland
Thanks, I will try and test it with a friend's PS before buying a new one.


Perkla said:
So it works ok from where the apple logo is showing up ?.. its before that it takes some time to load ?
Click to expand...

Yes. Yesterday evening I couldn't wake it up from sleep mode, could be a separate incident, could be that it's getting worse.
 
P

Perkla

macrumors member
Jan 13, 2013
41
6
raftr said:
Thanks, I will try and test it with a friend's PS before buying a new one.




Yes. Yesterday evening I couldn't wake it up from sleep mode, could be a separate incident, could be that it's getting worse.
Click to expand...

Try to format your harddrive and reinstall mac OS ? Take a full backup of all your files first..
 
R

raftr

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 18, 2007
130
0
Ireland
Perkla said:
Try to format your harddrive and reinstall mac OS ? Take a full backup of all your files first..
Click to expand...

It's an old computer I am not using, want to pass down in the family as it is still more than most people need. I just would rather not give them a computer that's going to fail soon and cause more hassle than it's worth.

I just woke it up after about half an our of sleep, that took over 15 seconds. This never happens when I wake it up after just a few minutes of sleep.
 
P

Perkla

macrumors member
Jan 13, 2013
41
6
raftr said:
It's an old computer I am not using, want to pass down in the family as it is still more than most people need. I just would rather not give them a computer that's going to fail soon and cause more hassle than it's worth.

I just woke it up after about half an our of sleep, that took over 15 seconds. This never happens when I wake it up after just a few minutes of sleep.
Click to expand...

It could be worth a try to format and reinstall, and if that works it could even be worth upgrading the CPU (depending on whats in there now?) and put in 4gb of ram in it.. and maybe a larger harddrive.. and u will have a decent computer for surfing the web and edit some movies in iMovie and maybe some other stuff for a few more years.. :D

I am doing the same with my mac mini 1.1.. :D
 
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