Start up Problems with my new (to me) toy.

[Bud23]

I recently received a Mac Mini. It has OS x , but I have no idea which one. I could not get passed the Log in screen. It was asking for a password. - No go.
I typed in the following

/sbin/fsck -fy
/sbin/mount -uw /
launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.DirectoryServices.plist
dscl . -passwd /Users/

Now the machine shuts itself off after 1 minute of booting.

OOPs I forgot. It is a Mac Mini Intel machine. 1 GB (of RAM, I think) 80GB Hard Drive.
That is all that I know.

where did I go wrong ????

Thanks for the help in advanced.

Bud

 

[MacUser2525]

I recently received a Mac Mini. It has OS x , but I have no idea which one. I could not get passed the Log in screen. It was asking for a password. - No go.
I typed in the following

/sbin/fsck -fy
/sbin/mount -uw /
launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.DirectoryServices.plist
dscl . -passwd /Users/

Now the machine shuts itself off after 1 minute of booting.

where did I go wrong ????

Thanks for the help in advanced.

Bud

When the machine starts press the command and the v key at the same time. This will put you in verbose mode so you can see where the errors are happening. If you happen to see the Darwin kernel line as it goes by the number there will tell you what version of the operating system you're running.

 

[Bud23]

Still Trying

Ok.
I start the machine in Verbose.
The first screen is so fast that I am unable to read it.
I hope that is not the one with the info I need.
The next screen has

Darwin Kernel 9.8.0 Jul 15 (time) Jul 15 2009

the some more stuff

root xnu - 1228.15.4~1 / release_I386


Near the bottom of the screen it is saying something about 'Yukon2'

I looked on the internet, but was unable to find anything I thought was important (just did not understand) Maybe it was.

I hope this will be able to help in solving the problem.

I did not know about Command V

Thanks for the help so far.

Bud23

 

[Bud23]

Ok.
I start the machine in Verbose.
The first screen is so fast that I am unable to read it.
I hope that is not the one with the info I need.
The next screen has

Darwin Kernel 9.8.0 Jul 15 (time) Jul 15 2009

the some more stuff

root xnu - 1228.15.4~1 / release_I386


It does not seem to hang anywhere, but then after about one minute, it just shuts off

The last thing it seems to do is

Syncing disks.....Killing processes
Done
CPU Halted
Done

Then shuts off

Near the bottom of the screen it is saying something about 'AppleYukon2'

I looked on the internet, but was unable to find anything I thought was important (just did not understand) Maybe it was.

I hope this will be able to help in solving the problem.

I did not know about Command V

Thanks for the help so far.

Bud23

 

[MacUser2525]

Ok.
I start the machine in Verbose.
The first screen is so fast that I am unable to read it.
I hope that is not the one with the info I need.
The next screen has

Darwin Kernel 9.8.0 Jul 15 (time) Jul 15 2009

the some more stuff

root xnu - 1228.15.4~1 / release_I386


It does not seem to hang anywhere, but then after about one minute, it just shuts off

The last thing it seems to do is

Syncing disks.....Killing processes
Done
CPU Halted
Done

Then shuts off

Near the bottom of the screen it is saying something about 'AppleYukon2'

I looked on the internet, but was unable to find anything I thought was important (just did not understand) Maybe it was.

I hope this will be able to help in solving the problem.

I did not know about Command V

Thanks for the help so far.

Bud23

Well your running Leopard on it and the Yukon2 is the network card being recognized/activated depending on the stage of the boot process it gets to before it shuts down. Not sure where to go from here do you have access to another Mac?

 

[blueroom]

Never ever use a used computer without reinstalling the operating system from scratch first. If your Mac Mini has a DVD drive in it you can get a OSX install disk for it (approx $20) or find someone with a Mac and get a Mavericks disk made.

 

[Bud23]

Start up problems With my new toy

OK. Do not ever startup a computer with out re -installing of the OS
However, how do I do that.
When I found the web page, it says it will start the upgrade.
The computer I was borrowing all ready is to the level the owner likes it.
I do not want to upgrade their computer.
I want to get the install to my computer.
Will it put in info to a thumb drive, where I can start it on my computer.
Since I my computer will not even start, how do I get the info and software to it??

Sorry I am a PC guy, and sometimes not a very good one at that.

Bud

 

[MacUser2525]

OK. Do not ever startup a computer with out re -installing of the OS
However, how do I do that.
When I found the web page, it says it will start the upgrade.
The computer I was borrowing all ready is to the level the owner likes it.
I do not want to upgrade their computer.
I want to get the install to my computer.
Will it put in info to a thumb drive, where I can start it on my computer.
Since I my computer will not even start, how do I get the info and software to it??

Sorry I am a PC guy, and sometimes not a very good one at that.

Bud

Use the link below to create an install media on USB drive once the Mavericks installer has downloaded. At the end of the process once it has downloaded and asked you to start an install do not quit the installer until you have made the USB stick. Once you have stick put it in USB port on your mac when it starts up hold down the Option key, this will bring up the boot options screen when it starts select the Install OS X Mavericks option to start an installation on your machine.

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/17716412/

 

[Dark Dragoon]

May want to find out which exact Mac you have, you should be able to go onto http://www.everymac.com/ultimate-mac-lookup/ and enter either the last 3 or 4 characters of the serial number, which is located on the underside of the Mac mini. You should then check the Maximum MacOS version thats listed on the site for the model found.

I say this because from the few specs posted it sounds like it's one of the older Mac mini's which only run Lion (10.7) or older, and not Mountain lion (10.8) or Mavericks (10.9).

 

[Bud23]

start up problems

OK
So I go to the link and download.
But I do not remove the USB until the download to the USB is complete.
How do I tell that it is done?
Doesn't it download to the USB to begin with?
Can I use a PC to do the download or must it be on a Mac.

Bud23

 

[Dark Dragoon]

OK
So I go to the link and download.
But I do not remove the USB until the download to the USB is complete.
How do I tell that it is done?
Doesn't it download to the USB to begin with?
Can I use a PC to do the download or must it be on a Mac.

Bud23

If you are following the instructions MacUser2525 linked to, then you will:
1) Need to have 'purchased' (it's free) Mavericks from the Mac App Store, Mavericks will then automatically be downloaded into the Applications folder. You can see the download progress in the Mac App Store.
2) Your usb memory stick would need a partition on it called "Untitled" and it should be connected. I believe it will need to have a GUID partition table and the partition formatted as HFS+.
3) From the Terminal you run the command, it tells you when it's done.

So, you need to do this on a machine running OSX, and to be able to get a copy of Mavericks the machine needs to be running Snow Leopard (10.6) so you can access the Mac App Store.


However I would strongly recommend that you check what Mac you actually have and whether it is capable of running Mavericks before going through all this. From the sounds of it I don't think it will be able to.

Mavericks requires 2GB RAM and for a Mac mini it needs to be an Early 2009 model or later.

 

[Bud23]

Start up problems

This is the info that I got from the link you gave me.

Mac mini "Core Solo" 1.5 1.5 GHz Core Solo (T1200)

Intro Date: February 28, 2006 Disc Date: September 6, 2006
Order No: MA205LL/A Model No: A1176 (EMC 2108)
Subfamily: Early 2006 Model ID: Macmini1,1
Std RAM: 512 MB Std VRAM: 64 MB
Std Storage: 60 GB (5400 RPM) Std Optical: 8X "Combo Drive"
Complete Mac mini "Core Solo" 1.5 Specs

However the base of mine says :
1GB 80 GB

Is this one of the upgraded systems?

Does this mean I will be unable to re-install an OS X
onto it?
Is there any way to install Loin 10.7 and is it worth the effort?

I would like to get it up and running, but the little that I have read here,
there is no download available and a bit of a shaky OS.

??????

 

[Dark Dragoon]

This is the info that I got from the link you gave me.

Mac mini "Core Solo" 1.5 1.5 GHz Core Solo (T1200)

Intro Date: February 28, 2006 Disc Date: September 6, 2006
Order No: MA205LL/A Model No: A1176 (EMC 2108)
Subfamily: Early 2006 Model ID: Macmini1,1
Std RAM: 512 MB Std VRAM: 64 MB
Std Storage: 60 GB (5400 RPM) Std Optical: 8X "Combo Drive"
Complete Mac mini "Core Solo" 1.5 Specs

However the base of mine says :
1GB 80 GB

Is this one of the upgraded systems?

Does this mean I will be unable to re-install an OS X
onto it?
Is there any way to install Loin 10.7 and is it worth the effort?

I would like to get it up and running, but the little that I have read here,
there is no download available and a bit of a shaky OS.

??????

Hmm bit ambiguous there as to what model you have, whether it's one of the older Core Solo/Duo models that can only run up to 10.6 (Snow Leopard) or whether it's one of the slightly newer ones that can run 10.7 (Lion).

Could well be the older Macmini1,1 though just with a couple of customisations when it was purchased.

You can still buy both Lion and Snow Leopard, where you can purchase a code (by phoning up Apple) to redeem Lion from the Mac App Store, and Snow Leopard is available on disk.

Personally I don't find Lion to be that bad, it's what I run on my old Mac Pro.

Edit: If it is capable of running Lion you may want to think about upgrading the RAM as it requires 2GB. Snow Leopard will run on 1GB but more would be better.