Mac mini won't boot

Discussion in 'Mac Basics and Help' started by elliot, Jan 14, 2007.

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  1. elliot, Jan 14, 2007

    elliot macrumors member

    Joined:
    Mar 13, 2004
    #1
    I have a Mac Mini (18 months old OS 10.3.7) which when turned on produces the gray screen with spinning wheel only. Nothing else happens. It started when I woke it up from sleep and clicked on my browser which wouldn't open. I restarted only to get this gray screen. I tried the option, X, command and command/option/o/f keys. Nothing.

    I repaired the Permissions and disk. I didn't see a "startup drive" drive to repair. The message I got was:

    1 HFS volume repaired
    1 volume could not be repaired

    There was a comment that some minor repair was needed. Anyway, didn't work.

    Any ideas?

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  2. mklos, Jan 14, 2007

    mklos macrumors 68000

    mklos

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    My house!
    #2
    Do you have any disk utilities like TechTool Pro or DiskWarrior? If not, then I would invest in either or. It sounds like you need the filesystem to be repaired. If that still doesn't work then back your stuff up, and do a repair installation of Mac OS X. If that still doesn't work, erase the HD and do a fresh install. If that doesn't work, replace the HD. I dont think it will go as far as replacing the HD. Its most likely the file system is screwed up. Either TechTool Pro and/or DiskWarrior can tell you that and 99% of the time, fix whatever is wrong.
     
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  3. elliot, Jan 14, 2007

    elliot thread starter macrumors member

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    #3
    I'll look into that thanks, but how can I back up my stuff if I can't boot up my Mini?
     
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  4. mad jew, Jan 15, 2007

    mad jew Moderator emeritus

    mad jew

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    #4
    If you have access to another Mac you could try Target Disk Mode to recover your data. :)
     
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  5. elliot, Jan 15, 2007

    elliot thread starter macrumors member

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    #5
    I do have another Mac. This sounds promising. I just need the 6 to 6. Thanks.
    I'll do a erase/install after I recover my data. That should do it.
     
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  6. elliot, Jan 17, 2007

    elliot thread starter macrumors member

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    #6
    Target didn't work but I did an archival install, retrieved all my data then a clean install. Working now. Thank! :)
     
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  7. mad jew, Jan 17, 2007

    mad jew Moderator emeritus

    mad jew

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    #7
    Excellent. It's strange that Target Disk Mode didn't work though.
     
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  8. harixvirex, Jul 15, 2008

    harixvirex macrumors newbie

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    Jul 15, 2008
    #8
    Mac Mini Gray Screen - A solution which works at last

    I have submitted a solution for this....

    Check and revert...
     
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