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Mac Mini dying, keyboard commands not working

M

MJMarcil

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 24, 2008
9
0
I came home today to the kids and wife in a panic. Our Intel Mac-Mini would not start and kept flashing a folder with question mark. No big deal....do some google search and read. Found plenty of articles suggesting some easy solutions using keyboard shortcuts. I have spent the last 2 hours reading articles, trying shortcuts to no avail. I have my install disc in the slot drive, cannot get it to boot from it, cannot get it out either. I thought I was nuts, so I even used two other keyboards (thinking it was the new flat apple keyboard) to try all the startup commands. I did notice that none of the lights on any of the keyboards seem to come on or respond. This makes me think that the USB ports are not working, or have died. Has anyone dealt with this before? Any feedback? Thanks for your input.
 
More Info

I did plug in my mighty mouse and the light comes on in all four usb ports, so now I'm really not sure that the USB ports are a problem. The other keyboards I used were dell, and microsoft (which I used to use on the mini before getting the new apple keyboard 2 months ago)
 
If it's sitting there flashing with a Folder with question mark, it means it can't find a valid system folder or the hdd is having problems.

Can you boot of your OS X cds hold down C. Run disk utility and try and do a repair on the hdd.
 
That is my problem

Thanks for the response. before I posted, I made sure I tried all the usual remedies, including putting in my install cd and holding c to boot from it. That's the weird thing that's got me upside down......it's like none of the keyboard commands work, I've swapped three keyboards and no lights nothing, I cannot get it to do anything other than boot to the flashing folder. I even held the power button while starting, it made a horrible beeping noise, then the startup chime and I couldn't even get it to bring up Open Firmware. I've had this unit for over two years with 0 problems, until today.
 
I'll give it a shot

Saw that article earlier, I'll give it a shot and see if I can get any of the commands to work.
 
Yep...it's an apple mouse and keyboard

I also tried a dell keyboard, then a microsoft keyboard, no luck. All USB, no wireless.
 
Getting ready for the worst

Well, I have the cover off, just in case I need to perform major surgery. Anyone got any ideas?
 
Fun with Batteries

Well I pulled out the CMOS battery and put it back in, same results....if you're reading this thread, I hope me leaving all the things I am trying is helpful.
 
Bluetooth?

Hmm.. haven't thought of that. I do not have one, but I imagine it would have had to been previously paired to work on startup, wouldn't it?
 
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