Is my logic board shot?

[storkpkp]

So, my Mac Mini would not start back up today. I mean nothing at all. So I opened it up and everything was seated and looked ok. So I decided to check the PRAM battery. It tested fine on the meter, and when i put everything back together and plugged it in, it came on without me pressing the power button.

The long and short of it is, the power button does nothing even though the computer is running fine. I shut it down and tried to power it back on and it was dead again. Pulled the battery and put it back in.....boots back up.

It's very weird.

 

[Altis]

So it did boot up again eventually? Doesn't sound like it's shot, if that's the case.

My girlfriend's late '13 MacBook Air did the same thing a few weeks ago. She put it to sleep for a few minutes, then it would not come back to life no matter what. Tried all kinds of tricks to no avail. Started up okay after letting it sit a few hours. No idea!

 

[Micky Do]

So, my Mac Mini would not start back up today. I mean nothing at all. So I opened it up and everything was seated and looked ok. So I decided to check the PRAM battery. It tested fine on the meter, and when i put everything back together and plugged it in, it came on without me pressing the power button.

The long and short of it is, the power button does nothing even though the computer is running fine. I shut it down and tried to power it back on and it was dead again. Pulled the battery and put it back in.....boots back up.

It's very weird.

Could be the power supply in the computer..

On my first (2005 original) Mac Mini it started to fail after about three years. Initially it took several minutes before it would boot after shut down. That got worse until it was several hours. Eventually when the HDD failed I asked the shop to test the power supply as well, suspecting a problem. They confirmed what I suspected.

Perhaps unsurprising the power supply failed given the poor quality mains supply we had in the neighbourhood…. Not helped by me using a UPS that did not have AVR (Auto Voltage Regulation), and my apartment's electric power system was not earthed. It would have been worked hard!

Replacement was going to be more cost effective than repair of a computer that was already near obsolete, so I bought a new early 2009 Mini.

By then I had also replaced the UPS with a better one, with AVR, I had installed an earth system for the power points in my apartment, and mains supply to the neighbourhood had been upgraded.

Six years on, with the Mini powered almost 24/7, everything seems sweet.

 

[storkpkp]

If it was the power supply, I would expect to see restarts and such. The problem is, the power button does nothing and the only way to get it to boot up if it goes down is to pull the pram battery and put it back in. If I plug it in, the machine starts up immediately without touching the power button.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

Try the following suggestions:

1. Power down the Mini (assuming it is running). UNPLUG the power cord from whatever it's plugged into, let it sit five minutes or so. Then plug it back in and try to power up. Any difference?

2. If this works, I would suggest the following as a "workaround solution" (something that doesn't actually "solve" the problem, but keeps things going in spite of it):
Get a power strip or surge protector with an on/off button.
When you shut down the Mini, reach down and turn the power strip OFF.
When it's time to reboot the Mini, reach down and turn the power strip ON.
If this works, well.... it works....

 

[Celerondon]

The Logic Board Said "I'm Not Dead"

So, my Mac Mini would not start back up today. I mean nothing at all. So I opened it up and everything was seated and looked ok. So I decided to check the PRAM battery. It tested fine on the meter, and when i put everything back together and plugged it in, it came on without me pressing the power button.

The long and short of it is, the power button does nothing even though the computer is running fine. I shut it down and tried to power it back on and it was dead again. Pulled the battery and put it back in.....boots back up.

It's very weird.

Hmm...
What is the symptom set for a shorted power switch on a Mac mini?

 

[storkpkp]

Hmm...
What is the symptom set for a shorted power switch on a Mac mini?

I don't know, but this is what it seems like. I have been running with no issues since I got it restarted by pulling the PRAM battery, but even in OS X, the power button does nothing. It doesn't put the mac to sleep or bring up the shut down menu.

It is under warranty, so I guess I will be taking it in for service when I can get some time where I don't need it up and running.

 

[Edan2017]

Hi, did you ever find out what The issue was ? I'm having the same problem.
[doublepost=1498519270][/doublepost]Hi, did you ever find out what The issue was ? I'm having the same problem.

 

[for this]

I would like to suggest you to try what Fishrrman suggested. Because if it turns out that it needs to unplug and replug to turn on, it's probably the power supply problem, probably capacitor failure and other things.

This might happen to the OP (just a guess):

1. The power relay might switch to the on position from his (failed) attempt to turn it on and somehow stuck to that position.

2. So he unplugged the mini and removed/reinserted the battery.

3. When he plugged it in again, it turned on right away because the relay was already on the on position.

My mini doesn't show any OS X's menu when I press the power button either. So I assume this is the normal behavior.

 

[Edan2017]

I would like to suggest you to try what Fishrrman suggested. Because if it turns out that it needs to unplug and replug to turn on, it's probably the power supply problem, probably capacitor failure and other things.

This might happen to the OP (just a guess):

1. The power relay might switch to the on position from his (failed) attempt to turn it on and somehow stuck to that position.

2. So he unplugged the mini and removed/reinserted the battery.

3. When he plugged it in again, it turned on right away because the relay was already on the on position.

My mini doesn't show any OS X's menu when I press the power button either. So I assume this is the normal behavior.

Hi I've tried to
[doublepost=1498680843][/doublepost]Two different power supply's still no luck.
[doublepost=1498681065][/doublepost]It's definitely getting power as I've tested it with a multimeter.