2012 Mac Mini El Capitan Reinstall, Black Screen and Freeze

Aha, that makes sense....in either case, a tear down is needed, I think. I wonder how the data cable could even wiggle loose.......

I have two Time Machine backup disks in place so I can have Apple reinstall the OS if things get dicey......

Thanks so much for the suggestion..........we KNOW that the clean reinstall of the OS was NOT the problem!

Steve

Just got off a "chat" with OWC and they agree with you as to either the ribbon plugin OR the SSD drive itself......so, since I just now suffered another "partial freeze" coming out of sleep, and had to hard restart, I'm going to power down tomorrow, and open the Mini up to check the SSD ribbon plug.....perhaps I'll be lucky.

OWC did offer that, should the drive be the issue, my SSD is warrantied for 5 years which means that they'll replace it for me no charge.

The remaining question is: once I try to reseat the ribbon cable and try the drive out again and the same thing happens, can we be certain that the SSD is the issue? Further, would I do the reinstall from the backup drive(s) OR would this necessitate another trip to Apple to have the El Capitan OS clean reinstalled again?

Thanks, Illaass!!

Steve

My twin backups are on external SSDs using Time Machine......I understand your point and will just reinstall from the backup drive(s).........since El Capitan was just reinstalled cleanly by the Apple Store, I would imagine that the backup OS is in almost "new" shape......

I'm shutting down now and will open the Mini up and see what's up as far as the connector issue....and, again, THANKS!!!

I used to be able to do this stuff with my eyes closed BUT, having gotten "old" (71) and working FT from my home system, I'm afraid that the troubleshooting and repair stuff just doesn't come as easily to me.

Steve

Hi there:

I opened the Mini up and found the following:

1) right on top of the fan enclosure were two thin wispy pieces of cat hair........not enough to cause any obstruction to the fan BUT.....so I lightly blew some air over the fan after removing it.

2) After removing the cowling, I found that the SATA connector to the SSD was NOT flat down but was at a 40° angle upwards.......not disconnected, of course, but not seated flat either as it was when I installed the SSD......I pressed the connector down again and, not wanting to risk applying any tape over the connector and onto the logic board, I made several thickness of masking tape and applied them to the top of the SATA connector that had lifted up. The cowling part that locates just above the SATA connector now actually presses down lightly on the tape pads, hopefully preventing any connector lift up again.

Booted back up again and so far, all is good. I'll check back in after a few days to confirm that the black screen/freeze has been fixed.........and so appreciate your idea....it was dead on, if what I found is any indication.

Thanks, man, you saved me regardless of whether or not the connector was the issue........I suspect it was, however!

Steve

Your theory makes perfect sense, Illaass! The bit of cat fur that I found couldn't have helped the in-case airflow........I mentioned what I found to the OWC folks and they suggested that they MIGHT start providing some diecut self adhesive foam pads to prevent the SATA connector from lifting up.........

I NEVER would have thought that the SATA cable could have caused this intermittent issue..........if it was continuous, perhaps but the on again/off again is what threw me....

I hesitate putting the Mini to sleep tonight, instead will power off and try it again tomorrow..........so far, however, all is good.!

I'll report back in to this thread in several days......and keep my fingers crossed....

Thanks again so much!

Steve

Hello Illaass!

Two days later and put my Mini to sleep all day, then woke it up and opened Calendar up and IT STILL WORKS!

I realize that by writing this apparent good news, I may put a jinx on the fix BUT, as far as I can see, the lifted up SATA wire plug may have been the culprit.

I'll check back in with a status report in several more days BUT, for now, it appears that you were 125% correct with your supposition.

So: many thanks for your advice.........!

Keeping my fingers crossed for sure!

Steve

CRAP!!!!! **** it! Wouldn't you know it? Just after I write the good news, the black screen shows up, coming out of sleep........hard restart from the power button on the Mini and we're back up again and running.

I guess this means that the SSD is failing however slowly. I'll contact OWC to let them know the bad news and set up a replacement SSD.

Although they agreed with your own diagnosis, I hope that the SSD REALLY is the problem and not something else hardware related........being neurotic, I find myself wondering if the SSD is failing or some other hardware-related component. It can't be the OS since Apple already replaced that for me.

I'll report back with progress as the days go by!

Oh well, I still think that you're a genius!

Steve

Hello Illaass!

Things are more clear, I think, than before.

I have been using the Mini all day w/o a single freeze or issue. I wanted to see what would happen IF I never allowed the SSD to sleep........made that choice in system Prefs and now, it runs very nicely. Earlier this AM< I woke it up but then allowed it to sleep, resulting in the familiar freeze upon wakeup. Restarting via the Mini power button got me to a black screen with a very slow to appear Apple logo....and then, nothing.......restarted again and this time got the black screen with the prohibitive white circle/slash symbol. Restarted again and this time, went to the normal desktop........so, no sleep and the system is useable. I have an appt at Apple tomorrow to get the Mini erased, then El Capitan reinstalled and then, hopefully, a full system check to ascertain what is causing the problem.......if the SSD really is crapping out, I'll get a no-cost replacement and have Apple do the install since my fingers are so large that it's becoming hard to maneuver in there...........btw, the SATA tab lifted up a bit again when I opened the Mini yesterday.....so, let Apple deal with it.