MAC mini 2010 OS install w/wireless keyb

[bennybom]

Hi everyone - being a newbie the following:
Just installed a bigger and faster new HD in the mini - is there any way to start the OS installation without a wired keybd? (i.e pressing 'c' ) all I get now is some DVD churning sounds and a grey screen telling me to restart the machine.

If there is no way - how would I go about ejecting the darned DVD out of the mini without taking everything apart?

hoping for some good answers.

 

[mdgm]

Couldn't you just borrow a wired keyboard off a friend or perhaps borrow an old one from your work?

Do you have the Apple Wireless Keyboard or a 3rd party one?

 

[Norouzi]

Hi everyone - being a newbie the following:
Just installed a bigger and faster new HD in the mini - is there any way to start the OS installation without a wired keybd? (i.e pressing 'c' ) all I get now is some DVD churning sounds and a grey screen telling me to restart the machine.

If there is no way - how would I go about ejecting the darned DVD out of the mini without taking everything apart?

hoping for some good answers.

If you have an unformated hard drive in there then the Mini should automatically boot from the DVD, no key press required. The Mini should look for any available bootable OS's on startup and lacking it's default, choose one.

Are you getting a Kernel Panic screen on boot? A gray screen telling you to restart your computer by pressing the power button in multiple languages? If so then something is amiss, because unless something has changed in the last few years, without a bootable OS the mini should just flash a circle with a line through it (no idea what the symbol is called, but like a No Smoking sign without a cigarette in it).

Are you trying to start up from the Restore DVD that came with the Mini or a retail Snow Leopard DVD?

 

[bennybom]

If you have an unformated hard drive in there then the Mini should automatically boot from the DVD, no key press required. The Mini should look for any available bootable OS's on startup and lacking it's default, choose one.

Are you getting a Kernel Panic screen on boot? A gray screen telling you to restart your computer by pressing the power button in multiple languages? If so then something is amiss, because unless something has changed in the last few years, without a bootable OS the mini should just flash a circle with a line through it (no idea what the symbol is called, but like a No Smoking sign without a cigarette in it).

Are you trying to start up from the Restore DVD that came with the Mini or a retail Snow Leopard DVD?

Thank you, Norouzi - your description fits what I see on my screen, ie. it must be the Kernel Panic screen, meaning that my new Mini didn't like the unformatted bigger and speedier HD that I put in there.
I was trying to start by installing the Snow Leopard with an authentic installation DVD.
I just borrowed an Apple USB keyboard from my banker over the week end - so I'll just give it try, hopefully at least I can eject the DVD with it.