Mid 2011 MacMini: Stuck on Gray Screen after partial boot?????

[chevychase]

I just got a mid 2011 Mac Mini i5/2.5GHz with AMD 6630m 256MB video graphics. I am trying to install an OS, but no matter what I do:

It boots as usual with gray screen with the Apple logo and progress bar BUT about 1/2 way through the screen goes black for a split second and then the same gray screen appears with nothing else and seems to be stuck there.

I used a new Sierra USB and even tried NetBoot but (like I said above) it always boots as normal but aprox. 1/2 through the the screens goes black for a split second and then it's stuck at a blank gray screen.

Any Ideas???????

 

[adam9c1]

Do you have a USB HD with a known good operating system installed?

Erase nvram?

 

[chevychase]

Do you have a USB HD with a known good operating system installed?

Erase nvram?

Thanks adam9c1 for the response. Yes, I did erase the nvram (command, option, p&r) several times in a row to make sure. I pulled out my working SSD from my 2011 MacBook Pro and same thing.... gray blank after partial boot. Tried working SSD from 2011 Macbook, USB Sierra, Netboot.... no luck for me!

 

[adam9c1]

Try running with only one memory chip?

Is it the 2.3 or 2.5?

 

[chevychase]

It's the i5 2.5

Yes on the ram and then I also put another stick I had

 

[adam9c1]

There are known issues with graphics chipset on the 2.5 ...

 

[chevychase]

There are known issues with graphics chipset on the 2.5 ...

That's what I was afraid of. Ran diagnostics and came back OK but I know that doesn't mean much.

 

[twalk]

That's what I was afraid of. Ran diagnostics and came back OK but I know that doesn't mean much.

Since you got a screen to display, there's a good chance it's not the graphics chipset. That said, if you've got a displayport monitor, you can test the other port connection.

However this sounds more like it's either 1) Memory (run a memory tester), or 2) Storage (either your HD or USB drive), or 3) the motherboard

 

[chevychase]

Since you got a screen to display, there's a good chance it's not the graphics chipset. That said, if you've got a displayport monitor, you can test the other port connection.

However this sounds more like it's either 1) Memory (run a memory tester), or 2) Storage (either your HD or USB drive), or 3) the motherboard

• Unfortunately I don't have a DisplayPort monitor.
• I ran the extended Apple Hardware Test and memory and all else checked out.
• I tried the SSD from my 2011 Macbook Pro and same issue as well as 3 different USB OS Installers
• Really hoping it's not the motherboard!

 

[robotica]

Try unplugging any USB accessories while it's installing

 

[chevychase]

Try unplugging any USB accessories while it's installing

Thanks robotica, I'll give that a try. The only USB accessory I had plugged in was a wireless keyboard but I'll unplug it and see if it helps.

 

[oc_jcs_fan]

Thanks robotica, I'll give that a try. The only USB accessory I had plugged in was a wireless keyboard but I'll unplug it and see if it helps.

Something similar happened with my Dad's Mid 2011 Mac Mini (5,2 model), which has the Radeon graphics card that is prone to failure. On boot the Apple logo and progress bar started appearing in a weird purple color, and it would get halfway done loading and then the screen would go white or black, leaving me to have to do a hard reset. But sometimes I was able to do things...

Whether I was able to do anything after we first noticed things were acting strange was random. I was able to get into repair mode once and did a disk check, and it passed. Once I was able to boot and do the hardware test, and it passed. And thankfully once I was able to boot in target disk mode and make a back up of personal files when connected to another computer. But then nothing worked, not even safe mode.

We've had to resort to using our good ol' Power Mac G4 MDD, but it's painful (mainly surfing the net is painful, as TenFourFox and Leopard Webkit, though great, suck up tons of RAM, and we are maxed out at 2 GB in this machine).

If you find any solutions, I'm all ears!

 

[robotica]

Did you get it sorted in the end?