Mac Mini 2018 Issues

[mralexandercom]

Hello,

I have about 10 or so fairly standard/heavy programs running on my Mac, simultaneously:
- Vagrant, local server. NGINX, Maria DB, Ubuntu.
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe Ilustrator
- Safari (10 tabs)
- Chrome (10 tabs)
- FileZille
- Adobe Dreamweaver
- Zeplin
- Excel
- Word

Here are my specs:
- 3.2 GHz Intel Core i7
- 32 GB 2667 MHz DDR4
- Intel UHD Graphics 630 1536 MB
- 2 x LG Ultra HD 4K Display (3840 x 2160)

Issue #1 - Monitor not waking up

Both monitors are connected with a usb-c to display port cables. At times, when the computer wakes up from sleep 1 of the monitors is not waking up "no signal". I would then need to disconnect the usb-c cable and connect it to another slot.

Issue #2 - Mac mini Overheating

Sometimes I notice that the Mac Mini is extremely hot. Luckily it is besides a window and it is -20º so I open the window for few minutes to cool it down.

Any advise?

 

[Apple_Robert]

Try this to keep your mini cool.

 

[vAronized]

Regarding Issue #1: I also got problems with my monitor not waking up properly when the Mac mini was in Sleepmode. It's really annoying and it looks like it is a very common problem. Got my Mac mini last Thursday and it struggles with the Waking-Issue since the first day. I guess Apple knows about it and will hopefully fix this soon. Otherwise I would send the mini back.

 

[Yuck9]

Regarding Issue #1: I also got problems with my monitor not waking up properly when the Mac mini was in Sleepmode. It's really annoying and it looks like it is a very common problem. Got my Mac mini last Thursday and it struggles with the Waking-Issue since the first day. I guess Apple knows about it and will hopefully fix this soon. Otherwise I would send the mini back.

Are you sure they know ? Even if they do, that never means they will fix it. Look at the BT And WiFi problems and still no fix from Apple. All the fixes, inc mine is just a band aid. Nothing set in stone.

 

[weaztek]

Are you sure they know ? Even if they do, that never means they will fix it. Look at the BT And WiFi problems and still no fix from Apple. All the fixes, inc mine is just a band aid. Nothing set in stone.

OS 10.14.6 fixed an issue with waking from sleep. Also make sure your monitor isn't set to sleep in the monitor settings so as not to conflict with the Mac OS settings that also have the display go to sleep. Between those two things I no longer have wake issues.

 

[Krevnik]

Sleep from wake issues also seem to depend on the display you are using as well, and if you are on an eGPU or not.

Since I'm replacing an iMac, I've been trying to find a replacement monitor I can use with a PC as well for gaming, but still doesn't feel terrible switching to from the 5K 27". It's been a long road, and I've tried a number of displays so far.

Not all monitors seem to have wake from sleep issues in the same way. For me, the least reliable was HDMI on an eGPU with monitors that are slower to wake. DisplayPort on the eGPU or using USB-C -> DisplayPort some of the most reliable. LG's 27UL850 almost never woke up from sleep over HDMI correctly for me unless hooked directly up to the Mac Mini, and then it was flaky, while I've tried a couple others without such problems. It's... weird.

Which LG 4K displays are you using? Ironically, the 27" LG I tried was one of the least reliable to wake from sleep for me. Especially if an eGPU was involved.

 

[tyche]

My mini has 2 monitors on dp and hdmi. I used to have constant problems getting the hdmi one come up during booting. Sometimes even the dp one. It would take turning it off/on sometimes, sometimes waiting. It was a gamble if both would work at startup. Same with waking from sleep although due to this I have the delay so long I rarely ran into it.

Since the latest macOS supplemental update, both monitors now work perfectly every time I start my mini. I do this 1-2 times a day and it's been long enough now I don't believe it's a fluke things are working. I'm happy this finally appears to be fixed.

 

[sunapple]

The wake-up issue seems to be widespread as I’ve read about this on the forums before and I’m experiencing it myself.

My 2018 Mini which is connected directly over USB-C to my LG 32UD99 doesn’t wake the display properly about 50% of the time. The recent macOS update others are referencing to did not make a difference for me.

Issue is as follows: Mini wakes up from sleep, display shows a “no signal” message. Turning the monitor off and on again resolves the issue, shows the Mini woke up despite the “no signal” message.

 

[frou]

Try this to keep your mini cool.

Seems a bit daft, given that the Mini is mostly made of metal and yet this thing blows air against the rubber foot.

Wouldn't be surprised if it was move effective to put an upside-down Mini onto it: The foot area can breathe freely on top, and the fully metal face gets blown on by the fan like a heatsink.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

Seems a bit daft, given that the Mini is mostly made of metal and yet this thing blows air against the rubber foot.

Wouldn't be surprised if it was move effective to put an upside-down Mini onto it: The foot area can breathe freely on top, and the fully metal face gets blown on by the fan like a heatsink.

Yeah I can't see how in the world it would improve the cooling. I would first try the fan speed control app which is free followed by sitting the Mini on it's side. And if I were to consider raising it, I would place flat school erasers on each corner, much cheaper option.

 

[Krevnik]

Seems a bit daft, given that the Mini is mostly made of metal and yet this thing blows air against the rubber foot.

Wouldn't be surprised if it was move effective to put an upside-down Mini onto it: The foot area can breathe freely on top, and the fully metal face gets blown on by the fan like a heatsink.

Yeah, the biggest problem is more that the CPU runs right up against the limits of cooling available when it boosts. Not something this thing can fix.

 

[frou]

I guess the circular ridge on the stand results in metal-on-metal contact even if the fan doesn't do much. Maybe dab a thin layer of thermal paste all the way around

 

[George Dawes]

I thought when they redesigned the mini they’d at least sort out the cooling issues

I had 2 pack up due to overheating

 

[weaztek]

Which LG 4K displays are you using? Ironically, the 27" LG I tried was one of the least reliable to wake from sleep for me. Especially if an eGPU was involved.

I'm running an LG 32UD59-B over the supplied HDMI cable. Once in a while the display doesn't want to wake up but a simple tap of the control button on the monitor seems to wake it right up. Not a big deal at all IMO.

 

[Chiromac81]

I am not sure if this is the right thread but here goes:

I have a 2018 Mac mini that I use for all my Mac needs now. My old Mac upstairs is rarely used except for my wife (she has a separate log in). I would like my stuff upstairs to not sync with my stuff downstairs and vice versa so if I have to delete a whole bunch of stuff on the old Mac it won’t delete it on my mini desktop.

Do I have to uncheck something on both minis for this to happen or just one?

Also, if I eventually delete my account upstairs all together so it’s just my wife’s, will that cause problems since it’s the same account?

Right now my log in is the default upstairs and my wife woukd like hers to open when the computer first turns on so I want to make that happen since I don’t use it anymore...

Any help is much appreciated thanks

 

[yukari]

It's not the mac per se that syncs with other macs. It is your icloud account. If both macs use the same icloud account, all the ones that are checked under icloud will be synced.

To be sure you do not sync one mac to another, have a different icloud account for each mac.

Look under "System Preferences" --> "icloud"

 

[Chiromac81]

It's not the mac per se that syncs with other macs. It is your icloud account. If both macs use the same icloud account, all the ones that are checked under icloud will be synced.

To be sure you do not sync one mac to another, have a different icloud account for each mac.

Look under "System Preferences" --> "icloud"

Gotcha-yes, I cloud sync on the Mac is what I meant. But if I don’t want another different account I just don’t want things to change on either desktop if I delete a file on my main Mac mini or if I decide to change something on the main Mac.

So, having said that, would I turn the iCloud sync off on both macs or just one?

 

[yukari]

Gotcha-yes, I cloud sync on the Mac is what I meant. But if I don’t want another different account I just don’t want things to change on either desktop if I delete a file on my main Mac mini or if I decide to change something on the main Mac.

So, having said that, would I turn the iCloud sync off on both macs or just one?

It depends on what you want. If you don't sync to iCloud, all your stuff will only be stored in your local mac. If you only sync one computer to iCloud, it is only that computer that will backup to iCloud.

 

[Chiromac81]

It depends on what you want. If you don't sync to iCloud, all your stuff will only be stored in your local mac. If you only sync one computer to iCloud, it is only that computer that will backup to iCloud.

Ok thanks. I want the main Mac (mini) to keep syncing to the iCloud just not to the Mac I don’t use anymore. I also, don’t want the Mac I don’t use much to sync to the main Mac mini or to iCloud.

My only concern is that if I uncheck the box for the iCloud on the secondary Mac it will delete ALL the stuff both on the iCloud and/or on the main Mac in the process...will this happen?

 

[yukari]

Ok thanks. I want the main Mac (mini) to keep syncing to the iCloud just not to the Mac I don’t use anymore. I also, don’t want the Mac I don’t use much to sync to the main Mac mini or to iCloud.

My only concern is that if I uncheck the box for the iCloud on the secondary Mac it will delete ALL the stuff both on the iCloud and/or on the main Mac in the process...will this happen?

If you uncheck iCloud sync on the secondary mac, it MAY ask if you want to keep a local copy (mine always does). You can either keep a copy on the secondary mac, if you want, or say "no." Either way, the copy on the iCloud is NOT affected.