Mac mini no longer booting from external HD

[jettilton]

Need help.

Mac mini 2011, internal HD failed, have been running it with external hd with Mac OSX loaded on it, has been running great but last 2 days I've tried to start up with no success. Stays on gray apple page, and what used to be a fast progression bar is now very slow to progress, and when it reaches the end it turns off now, with nothing. Numerous tries yield same outcome...turns off with nothing!

Any advice appreciated.

jet

 

[HDFan]

What version of the OS are you running?

Have you tried the various boot/diagnostic options, such as

D - run Apple Diagnostic
Command R - recovery tools
command period - select startup disk
reset parameter ram - option command p r

 

[Fishrrman]

Could the external drive have a problem?

Can you get to internet recovery?
(press power on button and hold down command-option-R continuously until internet icon appears)

Could it be as simple as the connecting cable between the external drive and the Mini?

 

[jeboles]

It could be possible that the internal drive is so bad that it could possibly be hanging/slowing down the external, especially while maybe trying to mount/fsck the internal repeatly. I'd remove the internal drive, which isn't very difficult. See iFixit for details.

 

[Zxxv]

That is a clear sign the new Mac mini is definetly coming...

 

[opeter]

nah, it's a sign, that OP should:
- change/swap the internal drive for a new one
- try testing the computer internals
- slowly think about replacing the aging computer (if there are problems with the internals/logic board)

 

[ActionableMango]

External hard drive? Geez, I hope it's not USB 2.0.

Short term: Boot to recovery partition or install media and do a repair/reinstall.
Long term: Replace the internal disk with an SSD.

Alternative: Buy a newer Mac Mini.

 

[danieldavis3924]

Sounds like a corrupt partition, especially as you are booting from a External USB. This happens quite a lot when I use my external hard drive on machines. I find myself having to reinstall macOS on it every month or so.

External drives aren’t built for that kind of thing. Try reinstalling macOS, and see how you get on.

 

[RyanXM]

If the internal HDD is failing and has been for some time, it can cause a freeze because diskutil and Finder are unable to mount it. I would unplug the internal HDD and see if it will boot to the external. If it does, then leave the internal unplugged or replace it. It will be faster and more reliable than an external...I've expressed my opinion on this multiple times in this forum.