Powering up after disconnecting from the mains

[Jimmydalt]

Sadly I think my Macmini i7 has reached the end of its life mainly down to power up problems when its been disconnected from the mains or as has happened several times and again today power cuts,without going into detail its been a nightmare to get it to power back up and although i absolutly love the machine i need to move on and i am looking at buying a new Mac probably an imac,my question is:Is there anyway i could use the drive in the Macmini bearing in mind i cant power it up, even if it means removing the drive.

If anyone has had similar powering up problems as above and found a solution i would love to hear from you.

Any advice would bevery much appreciated

 

[Micky Do]

Probably a problem with the power supply, which is internal on your Mini. On the original form it came in the form of a brick between the mains and the computer.

Sounds like the same problem that developed over time with my first Mac Mini, the 2005 original. It had a hard time, with my apartment being at the end of a power line which was subject to big voltage/current variation, and frequent power cuts. Often the mains could not supply enough power to kick fluorescent tubes into action. I don't know if it was a factor that I turned that Mini off most nights, and booted anew each morning.

When the HDD failed I looked into replacing the power supply and the HDD, but decided getting a new 2009 Mini was more cost effective.

Since then the mains power supply has been upgraded (though power cuts are still frequent), I have installed an earth, and I now use a better grade of UPS, which has AVR (automatic voltage regulation). I have not had a problem with the 2009 Mini, which I am still using….. which has been powered up 24/7 since I got it, except the odd time I take it to work, or if I am away for more than a few days.

I suggest getting the power supply checked out before chucking the whole i7.

 

[Jimmydalt]

Probably a problem with the power supply, which is internal on your Mini. On the original form it came in the form of a brick between the mains and the computer.

Sounds like the same problem that developed over time with my first Mac Mini, the 2005 original. It had a hard time, with my apartment being at the end of a power line which was subject to big voltage/current variation, and frequent power cuts. Often the mains could not supply enough power to kick fluorescent tubes into action. I don't know if it was a factor that I turned that Mini off most nights, and booted anew each morning.

When the HDD failed I looked into replacing the power supply and the HDD, but decided getting a new 2009 Mini was more cost effective.

Since then the mains power supply has been upgraded (though power cuts are still frequent), I have installed an earth, and I now use a better grade of UPS, which has AVR (automatic voltage regulation). I have not had a problem with the 2009 Mini, which I am still using….. which has been powered up 24/7 since I got it, except the odd time I take it to work, or if I am away for more than a few days.

I suggest getting the power supply checked out before chucking the whole i7.

Probably a problem with the power supply, which is internal on your Mini. On the original form it came in the form of a brick between the mains and the computer.

Sounds like the same problem that developed over time with my first Mac Mini, the 2005 original. It had a hard time, with my apartment being at the end of a power line which was subject to big voltage/current variation, and frequent power cuts. Often the mains could not supply enough power to kick fluorescent tubes into action. I don't know if it was a factor that I turned that Mini off most nights, and booted anew each morning.

When the HDD failed I looked into replacing the power supply and the HDD, but decided getting a new 2009 Mini was more cost effective.

Since then the mains power supply has been upgraded (though power cuts are still frequent), I have installed an earth, and I now use a better grade of UPS, which has AVR (automatic voltage regulation). I have not had a problem with the 2009 Mini, which I am still using….. which has been powered up 24/7 since I got it, except the odd time I take it to work, or if I am away for more than a few days.

I suggest getting the power supply checked out before chucking the whole i7.

Thanks for reply Mcky Do,its had the power supply changed twice by the company i bought it from even though it was out of warrenty which was very good of them,even when it came back and i connected it to the mains i wouldnt power up Apple told me to disconnect everything from the Mac hold down the power button for 5 seconds,connect the mains cable and then press the power button,i tried this many times and then for some reason it would power up.Do you think it could be the PRAM battery? long shot really as ive only had the machine for about 4 yrs.

Thanks for your help Micky

 

[Micky Do]

PRAM battery? Dunno. Obviously something's not right, and a computer should be good for more than four years.

Where I am at I would just pop the computer into the dealer's workshop, and cough up the $50 for a technician to look at it, then weigh up the pros and cons of repair or replace, based on cost effectiveness and other factors.

In 2009, replacing the 2005 original was the obvious choice. 3 years ago an extra 4 GB of RAM, a clean out and an upgrade to Mountain Lion gave the the daly 2009 Mini a new lease of life. Last year, when the fan began spinning up a storm, a clean out was all that was required. On the advice of the shop I stuck with the original 120 GB HDD and got an external 500 GB HDD for extra storage. The tech advances of a new Mini are of no significant benefit to my situation. Hopefully I'll get another couple of years, then I'll likely replace it with another Mac Mini

 

[Jimmydalt]

PRAM battery? Dunno. Obviously something's not right, and a computer should be good for more than four years.

Where I am at I would just pop the computer into the dealer's workshop, and cough up the $50 for a technician to look at it, then weigh up the pros and cons of repair or replace, based on cost effectiveness and other factors.

In 2009, replacing the 2005 original was the obvious choice. 3 years ago an extra 4 GB of RAM, a clean out and an upgrade to Mountain Lion gave the the daly 2009 Mini a new lease of life. Last year, when the fan began spinning up a storm, a clean out was all that was required. On the advice of the shop I stuck with the original 120 GB HDD and got an external 500 GB HDD for extra storage. The tech advances of a new Mini are of no significant benefit to my situation. Hopefully I'll get another couple of years, then I'll likely replace it with another Mac Mini

Yeah i think you are right,although the retailer i bought it from repaired it twice even though it was out of warrenty but each time it came back it was a nightmare to boot,i had to keep holding down the power button down for 5 seconds while everything was disconnected and then insert the mains cable and try to boot,i had to do this lots of times and then suddenly it would boot,once it booted it would work perfectly as long as it wasnt disconnected from the mains,i came home the other day and there had been a power cut for 2hrs which according to Apple it can send the mini into safe mode and they told me the 5 sec thing above,thats what made me think it may be the battery.If i knew i could get it fixed once and for all i would have no problem paying as i love the Mini .Thank you for taking the time and interest.

 

[Jimmydalt]

Hello Micky Do,just thought i would give you an update on my Mac,i finally persuaded one of the tecs at work to change the PRAM battery and amazingly it booted straight away , I'm absolutely thrilled,thought it might be worth letting you know if you come across anyone else having a similar problem and also there's a very good step by step guide on ifixit on how to change the PRAM battery.

Cheers

Jimmydalt