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Mac mini 2012 won’t boot

IowaLynn said:
I use T7 and it runs smooth quiet 400MB/sec using 2015 MacBook + USB-C hub.

Even fast 10K drive from 2013 us painfully slow. Sounds like time to setup fresh with new system on an SSD
Click to expand...
Yeah I will buy the T7 as advised can I use an off the shelf one or does it have to be an internal and by the enclosure for it ?.
Once I got one how do I install a fresh copy and not use time machine like I’ve just done?. Can I then recover stuff off the cloud or time machine never had to do anything like this before.
 
IowaLynn said:
I use T7 and it runs smooth quiet 400MB/sec using 2015 MacBook + USB-C hub.
Click to expand...
That seems pretty slow for a T7 on USB-C, but maybe the interface is slower on the older laptops? This is what I get on my 2018 Mini with a 2TB T7 directly connected with USB-C

samsung-t7-2tb.png



Your speed is like my old T3 connected to my 2012 Mini with USB-A. This is what the OP should expect.

samsung-t3-1tb.jpg



The internal 256gb SSD on my 2012 Mini is definitely faster, but for most purposes you might not notice the difference unless you only have 4gb of memory and it is swapping a lot (my 2012 Mini has 16gb of memory). IMO, the difference is not enough to make it worth the trouble of opening up the Mini to replace the SSD.

mini_sm256e.jpg
 
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adamcarvell said:
Yeah I will buy the T7 as advised can I use an off the shelf one or does it have to be an internal and by the enclosure for it ?.
Click to expand...

The T7 will have everything you need. It is just a very small box (similar to the size of a credit card, but thicker) and it will include two cables, one for USB-C and the other for USB-A, which is what you need. There is nothing to assemble, it's really simple.

Just plug it in and erase it with Disk Utility. If you are running Catalina or Mojave you can use either APFS or MacOS Extended as the format. If running something older, use MacOS extended.

I have never restored from Time Machine, but AFAIK it can do everything you need. See this

eshop.macsales.com

How to Restore Data From Time Machine Backups

Time Machine is an easy to use backup app. But backing up is only half the issue. Find out the many ways to restore data to your Mac using Time Machine.
eshop.macsales.com eshop.macsales.com
 
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Thanks for the help everyone just one question how to do a fresh install on it I can get all the apps again and back up the other stuff?.
I want to install Catolina from scratch not Mavericks then upgrade if possible?,
 
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What is the highest system that you have installed on your mini?
If you have already been using Catalina, then it's pretty simple, and easy to check.
Boot to Internet Recovery (Restart, holding Option-Command-r)
You will see a spinning globe, not the usual Apple icon. You will be booting to Apple's remote servers, which might take several minutes to finish booting.
At the menu screen, choose Reinstall macOS.
The installer will launch, and you will see by the launch window what system version will be installed.
If Catalina appears there, then you might be ready. Quit the installer to return to the main menu.
If you have anything on your drive that you need to back up, do that now. If you have nothing to back up, and you are ready to erase the drive, then open Disk Utility, and erase your drive.
Quit Disk Utility.
Choose Reinstall macOS.
Choose your newly-erased drive for the destination, and begin the Catalina install.
Internet Recovery will download the Catalina install then, continuing with the install. So, the download will depend on the speed of your internet connection. Get a cuppa coffee, this will take some time, but you will then have your fresh install of Catalina.
(If you have NEVER installed or upgraded to Catalina, then you will need the Catalina installer on a bootable drive to get there, but that's just a minor challenge.)
 
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DeltaMac said:
What is the highest system that you have installed on your mini?
If you have already been using Catalina, then it's pretty simple, and easy to check.
Boot to Internet Recovery (Restart, holding Option-Command-r)
You will see a spinning globe, not the usual Apple icon. You will be booting to Apple's remote servers, which might take several minutes to finish booting.
At the menu screen, choose Reinstall macOS.
The installer will launch, and you will see by the launch window what system version will be installed.
If Catalina appears there, then you might be ready. Quit the installer to return to the main menu.
If you have anything on your drive that you need to back up, do that now. If you have nothing to back up, and you are ready to erase the drive, then open Disk Utility, and erase your drive.
Quit Disk Utility.
Choose Reinstall macOS.
Choose your newly-erased drive for the destination, and begin the Catalina install.
Internet Recovery will download the Catalina install then, continuing with the install. So, the download will depend on the speed of your internet connection. Get a cuppa coffee, this will take some time, but you will then have your fresh install of Catalina.
(If you have NEVER installed or upgraded to Catalina, then you will need the Catalina installer on a bootable drive to get there, but that's just a minor challenge.)
Click to expand...
I had updated to Catalonia before the hard drive died but I’m sure when I loaded the old seagate it was Mavericks I will check when back home after work thanks btw.
 
OP:

If you're trying to boot the Mini with an external drive using Mavericks, the internal drive might not show up on the desktop because it's in APFS format and Mavericks may not understand or recognize APFS.

In disk utility, the DRIVE ITSELF will show, but it may not be readable or "check-able" using an older version of DU on an APFS volume. The drive will be "invisible" to the old disk utility. But it's still there, and quite possibly "still alive".

You have told us that you CAN boot and get to the finder using Mavericks on an external HDD, right?

IF you have a backup, you could try erasing the internal SSD, and then:
- do a full restore from your backup
or
- put a fresh copy of the OS onto it, then restore your data
or
- get CarbonCopyCloner and do a "selective clone" of the booting HDD to the SSD.

I don't recommend Catalina for a 2012 Mini (Low Sierra or Mojave would be better), but it looks like you're "there already".

I'm NOT a Samsung drive fan, but other folks seem to like them.

Realize that sometimes an SSD will just "go dark" on you, never to be "seen again". That's how they can fail.
Other times, they might go "read only", and not be recoverable beyond that point.

But if it's just a software corruption, you can probably erase it, and use it again.

Final thought:
Have you booted to INTERNET recovery (NOT "to the recovery partition") ???
Command-OPTION-R
You'll need your wifi password (if you're on wifi) and it will take some time to load.

When you get to the utilities, open disk utility.
IMPORTANT: go to the view menu and choose "show all devices".
Can you see the internal drive now?

Also realize that a t5 or t7 is an external USB3 drive, and cannot be fitted inside.
 
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Hi yeah I’m happy with it being external it will come in handy when I upgrade my Mac mini or go iMac sometime next year I have already ordered the Samsung it’s arriving on Friday. The old seagate just got me a desk top something to work with as for the old ssd internal?. Well it’s not visible at all but before I connected the usb drive in recovery mode I was able to run disc utility errors it found nothing but when I tried to do a time machine back up on it disappear.
 
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Certainly missing. BEST choice would be to swap the dead SSD for a live (working) SSD. It's not a particularly difficult task, but you do need proper tools, and enough time to be careful.
But, you will continue to get adequate performance with an external USB 3 SSD.
You might test what I said by booting up to Internet Recovery, just to see what macOS version is offered with a macOS install. When I bought my mini 6(?) years ago, Internet Recovery offered Mavericks. I think there was a firmware change in (maybe) High Sierra that changed how the Internet Recovery worked. It used to go with the system that the Mac originally shipped with, but now offers the most up-to-date system that is supported by the Mac. I just checked on my mini again, Internet Recovery offers Catalina for my mini. If you want Catalina anyway, that will make the install process simple. If you want some other, older system, then you will need a copy of that system installer to get there.
 
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going to try the external Tomorrow what do i do after I've got it running on th new ssd with the seagate raze it with disc utilities and use it as storage again ? so every time i boot it will automatically do it from the new ssd?.
 
I have the same Mac Mini. I had originally purchased it with a 1TB HDD and then replaced it with an SSD like 4 years ago. OWC sells a tool to easily install the drive into the Mac Mini and you can use that to replace your drive. It just seems your SSD is probably dead. Since in the 2012 Mac Mini, the SSD is SATA, its easy to replace. No need to use an external drive
 
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bradbomb said:
I have the same Mac Mini. I had originally purchased it with a 1TB HDD and then replaced it with an SSD like 4 years ago. OWC sells a tool to easily install the drive into the Mac Mini and you can use that to replace your drive. It just seems your SSD is probably dead. Since in the 2012 Mac Mini, the SSD is SATA, its easy to replace. No need to use an external drive
Click to expand...
I’ve already purchased the external drive arriving today I’m not confident of opening it up my eyes are too old to see what I’m doing hopefully I can get the new one up and running with fresh OS X and use migration assistant to copy my stuff over fingers crossed.
 
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Update it let me install a back up onto the t7 through time machine so it’s back up and running much better than the old seagate one in disc utility it shows up as Mackintosh HD and Macintosh Data HD like there’s two drives is this normal?.
 
Glad to hear that you are back up and running! That is just the way Catalina works, it's a new security feature that separates your files from the operating system. The only time you will see the two volumes are in programs like Disk Utility. See this

About the read-only system volume in macOS Catalina or later - Apple Support

macOS Catalina or later runs in a read-only system volume, separate from other files on your Mac. When you upgrade to macOS Catalina or later, a second volume is created, and some files may move to a Relocated Items folder.
support.apple.com support.apple.com
 
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im curious why it wouldn't let me install a fresh copy said firmware on the samsung then let me do a time machine back up instead? anyway thank you to everyone who helped. when i upgrade my mac mini or even get an iMac next year the t7 drive will be a good addition to the new set up,

the fan has stopped whirring all the time too so must have been doing it to cool the failing hard drive.
 
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OP wrote:
"Hi ok I did the time machine back up ok to my old drive it worked ok"

Something "that works" is better than trying something that may not.
I STRONGLY suggest that you just "leave that drive as it is" for now.

"It won’t let me install it on the Samsung t7 because of a firmware partition"

I don't have a t7, but there may be some factory-installed software on there that you need to remove.
Samsung may have a utility that is capable of doing this.

Forgive me for being old and asking, but could you give us "an inventory" of what you have now?
Is it:
- Mini (with drive that won't boot)
- External (old) drive -- with OS that DOES boot -- what version of the OS?
- External Samsung t7
??
 
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adamcarvell said:
It won’t let me install it on the Samsung t7 because of a firmware partition
Click to expand...
There are some posts about not wanting to install Samsung software/firmware as it doesn't get along with Mac.

Internet Recovery will download the latest OS.
 
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