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Resolved History of 2018 mac mini problems ?

E

endoftheroad

macrumors member
Original poster
ive done my searching, but looking for anybody's help in links to some more info
on known issues with the 2018 mac mini
as im bringing in mine to a local apple store and want as much ammo in my pocket as i can get
of known issues that WILL get them to fix or replace my Mini

thank you
John
 
Bought new in Box from OWC aug-9th
too late for there refund/replace
factory specs yes its the cheaper model of the 2018 all i could afford

Continuous Boot-Loop
worked fine and barely warm since ive had it, set up under the monitor fan output facing me ,used it 8-10hrs a day continuisly but two days ago noticed it got hot when i smelt something and touched it it was hot
shut down, ate lunch, turned it back on and it wont let me in.

I did have it set up on a KVM switch and BOTH my 2012 and 2018 was working fine
I was "screenshot" some videos on the 2018 when it got hot

unhooked from KVM switch and proceeded to test/fix

I Did do a SMC-reset before each of these
iethernet still works

on all of the below
it flips on for 2 secs, then shuts down,monitor goes into standby
then starts all over again

ive tried
Option/command/R--fail
shift/option/command/R--fail
Boot up with external HD with Mojave OS---fail
"D"---Fail
re-installing OS with thumbdrive--Fail
Safe Mode--Fail

My 2012 is working perfectly
and yes i had another topic started, but only Fisherrman replied
and taking his advice set up an appt, with my local apple store
I go in this next week

The Nice gentleman at OWC told me after going through all I had done
told me 99% probability its a hardware issue

so hence me "LOOKING" to make a list/reports/sites/links
MY googling come up lacking 🙁
of 2018 problems i can write down or thumbrive to bring in with me
sadly
my past experience with apple is like talking to a car dealer or a lawyer
in getting things done

and ill be just as happy if they can just fix it
BUT--can it be fixed?

cheers
John
 
Last edited:
"and ill be just as happy if they can just fix it
BUT--can it be fixed?"

It can probably be fixed.
But it might cost almost as much as you paid for it.

If the Apple Store quotes more than $300... might be best to politely decline... and start shopping for a replacement.
My advice would be to buy from the Apple online refurbished store (where I got mine).

If you get this working again, I'd advise you to NOT put it on a "KVM switch".
 
Fishrrman said:
"and ill be just as happy if they can just fix it
BUT--can it be fixed?"

It can probably be fixed.
But it might cost almost as much as you paid for it.

If the Apple Store quotes more than $300... might be best to politely decline... and start shopping for a replacement.
My advice would be to buy from the Apple online refurbished store (where I got mine).

If you get this working again, I'd advise you to NOT put it on a "KVM switch".
Click to expand...
OMG thats my fear, dabnabbit an expensive mistake 🙁 as im perdy much cashless
took me a year to save up for this one, if they quote me more than 50.00 ill have to decline
as thats all the "Play" money i get a month and start saving up
 
OWC are that awful, that a failed computer can’t be replaced less than 2 months down the line? Horrific service fron them if they try and fleece on repair costs.
Highly doubt the KVM caused it, or there would be a sea of trashed Mac Minis.
Could be any number of things causing the boot issue though. I take it with the things you’ve tried, you never see any graphics on screen at all?
 
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EmlynDewar said:
OWC are that awful, that a failed computer can’t be replaced less than 2 months down the line? Horrific service fron them if they try and fleece on repair costs.
Highly doubt the KVM caused it, or there would be a sea of trashed Mac Minis.
Could be any number of things causing the boot issue though. I take it with the things you’ve tried, you never see any graphics on screen at all?
Click to expand...
i see the earth spinning, or the apple, for only seconds, then it starts the re-boot and i see the screen telling me its going into standby mode

OWC, IS NOT awful, they have a 14 day return, i missed that return, my fault,
they have an added insurance i did NOT buy, MY fault
 
endoftheroad said:
i see the earth spinning, or the apple, for only seconds, then it starts the re-boot and i see the screen telling me its going into standby mode

OWC, IS NOT awful, they have a 14 day return, i missed that return, my fault,
they have an added insurance i did NOT buy, MY fault
Click to expand...
OWC had some new ones with the 128gb that have full Apple one year warranty for sale in August. Just call Apple.

P.S. Did you upgrade the memory on it yourself?
 
California said:
OWC had some new ones with the 128gb that have full Apple one year warranty for sale in August. Just call Apple.

P.S. Did you upgrade the memory on it yourself?
Click to expand...
yes, that would be what I bought-- 128gb with the 1yr warranty with apple
called apple, she set me up with an appointment after having me try again some of the above
and I explained what was going on

No I havent gone inside "YET" -- original memory inside

I have one more Try to "TRY" after watching utube
need to buy the USB cable today
Ive done the "T" at startup and get the usb/what ever it is on the screen and it just sits there and sits there,
so im getting the cable and ill hook it into my 2012 Mini --IF it holds solid--Ill see if i cant re-install Mojave
off the net, or from my install drive

say prayers 🙂

cheers john
 
Before bringing it in to challenge the warranty I would do a strip test. Remove all non essential peripherals and do a clean OS install. Then get good at reproducing the symptoms as if you just walked in a placed it on their counter. When that happens reliably, you know it will misbehave for them too.
 
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It's difficult for me to see someone defending a company that gives such little "standard" support. But I'm not from America.
I live in China now and even here what you've described wouldn't fly with a company of OWC's reputation...
Making it extra insurance for support beyond 14 days means the company is awful, or your country is (in this area).

Having some graphics on screen before the sadness does give some extra hope though.
 
ElectronGuru said:
Before bringing it in to challenge the warranty I would do a strip test. Remove all non essential peripherals and do a clean OS install. Then get good at reproducing the symptoms as if you just walked in a placed it on their counter. When that happens reliably, you know it will misbehave for them too.
Click to expand...
thats my whole problem
I CANNOT get the 2018 Mini to accept an install no matter what I do
see my list ive tried above,
and my last post before this one,
it WILL NOT let me install

here is the disk in "disk utility" doing a first aid pictures are posted backwards sorry
,
 

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endoftheroad said:
thats my whole problem
I CANNOT get the 2018 Mini to accept an install no matter what I do
see my list ive tried above,
and my last post before this one,
it WILL NOT let me install

here is the disk in "disk utility" doing a first aid pictures are posted backwards sorry
,
Click to expand...
OWC is not the problem. These were sold with full 1 year Apple warranty as new. It sounds like a problem with the internal SSD. Just get a new one. Or ask Apple if you can upgrade it to at least a 256gb SSD.
 
Last edited:
You are lucky because of one thing: the Intel Macs still allow you, too boot from external HDD/SSD.

So you can try to connect and external SSD (or USB stick) and install macOS there. And than boot from it and than you can try to wipe the internal SSD.

www.crucial.com

How to use an external SSD as boot drive | Crucial.com

Want to know if you can boot from an external SSD? Get an explanation with Crucial’s helpful guide and learn more about external SSDs.
www.crucial.com www.crucial.com

How to reinstall macOS​

How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support

Use macOS Recovery, your computer’s built-in recovery system, to reinstall the Mac operating system.
support.apple.com support.apple.com
 
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opeter said:
You are lucky because of one thing: the Intel Macs still allow you, too boot from external HDD/SSD.

So you can try to connect and external SSD (or USB stick) and install macOS there. And than boot from it and than you can try to wipe the internal SSD.

www.crucial.com

How to use an external SSD as boot drive | Crucial.com

Want to know if you can boot from an external SSD? Get an explanation with Crucial’s helpful guide and learn more about external SSDs.
www.crucial.com www.crucial.com

How to reinstall macOS​

How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support

Use macOS Recovery, your computer’s built-in recovery system, to reinstall the Mac operating system.
support.apple.com support.apple.com
Click to expand...
shut down 2018 mini
plugged in External Drive with Mojave OS installed
started up with finger on "Option"
chose External Drive--hit enter
,
starts to load up--17 seconds
shuts off--8 seconds
,
continues "Boot-Loop" for an hour--no entrance into External Drive
 
Ive read on the "net" googling in the APPLE forum
this could be a "Firmware" problem

can they fix it?
would that be covered in there warrente ?
 
Build quality on the 2018 Mini is crap. Here is a list of my issues that cannot be resolved:

No Sleep with eGPU which I need so "oh well"
HDMI crashes computer
Occasional boot-loop
This may be drive dependent, but some randomly go to sleep and others stay awake even though I have the "keep drives from spinning down" option on

Interestingly I haven't had the notorious bluetooth issue so maybe I dodged the bullet on that one.
 
InuNacho said:
Build quality on the 2018 Mini is crap. Here is a list of my issues that cannot be resolved:

No Sleep with eGPU which I need so "oh well"
HDMI crashes computer
Occasional boot-loop
This may be drive dependent, but some randomly go to sleep and others stay awake even though I have the "keep drives from spinning down" option on

Interestingly I haven't had the notorious bluetooth issue so maybe I dodged the bullet on that one.
Click to expand...
How do You get out of your Boot Loop ?
 
endoftheroad said:
shut down 2018 mini
plugged in External Drive with Mojave OS installed
started up with finger on "Option"
chose External Drive--hit enter
,
starts to load up--17 seconds
shuts off--8 seconds
,
continues "Boot-Loop" for an hour--no entrance into External Drive
Click to expand...
Sorry, than I cant help you.

There is a chance, that they (Apple) will need to swap the logic board for a new one, since there is something wrong with it or with one of the integrated/soldered components (like the SSD or other).
 
im back from the apple store
when THEY plugged it in it showed the file folder on the screen (this DID NOT show up at home)
but it sat overnight boxed up

she left and came back with a small laptop some cords,
plugged it all in and did a systems check (diagnostics), then installed BIG SIR (apple store Tech-Magic)
im home now using it to type this with a nice big grin on my face🙂

1- I DID not know that I only had 3 months left on my 1year warrante
seems OWC when THEY bought the 2018's started the warrante on there buying date, not the buyer from THEM date,
2-now apple knows/recorded that its working, they gave me a rough estimate on what they would give me on an M1 tradein
not to bad, I might get me a M1 around xmass from THEM 🙂
got to read up on the M1
3- I can buy Apple-store /apple care/ before December and have it covered for repairs

cheers all
and thank you all for putting up with me
 
Last edited:
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