Mac Mini stuck on booting

Question

pvg2005 Author

Level 1

8 points

Mac Mini stuck on booting

Hi,

My Mac mini is stuck on booting. I see the apple logo and the progress bar reaches halfway and then it restarts again and it repeats. To fix this I tried online suggestions

I removed all the connections except mouse and keyboard and then,

I tried to start in safe mode by pressing 'shift' key while restarting and it ended up with a grey screen with out the apple logo and progress bar.

I tried to start in disk utility mode by pressing cmd + R, no use ended up with the same blank screen.

I also tried cmd+alt+P+R to reset NVRAM and again the same grey screen.

I had a recent backup so I'm not worried about the data and so wanted to reinstall OS but even then cmd + R is also not working.

Is there any other way I can try before taking it to the service centre? Can I reinstall OS through any other option?

Thanks

PV

Mac mini, macOS 10.12

Posted on Jun 13, 2020 2:03 AM

Reply

Answer 1

PRP_53

Level 10

91,759 points

Jun 14, 2020 2:58 AM in response to pvg2005

Thank you for follow-up. Am not certain from your reply if the computer is booting to normal High Sierra or not.

As for "failed to unmount". If while in Recovery mode you click on Macintosh HD and then on Menu Bar it should change to Unmount. Then go to Hitachi drive and Format to HFS+ and GUID if that would resolve the issue.

All that aside - if you follow this link in SAFARI ONLY it will take you to the Apple Store and and download the FULL Installer of High Sierra https://itunes.apple.com/app/macos-high-sierra/id1246284741?ls=1&mt=12 . All this would need to be done from another Apple computer. Once downloaded, it should be located in Applications folder. Open Terminal and copy and paste this "sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app --nointeraction" without the quotation marks. Very important, need a USB drive with 8 GB empty space and Name it " Untitlied ". It will take some time. Once completed Terminal will say completed. You now have a BOOTABLE INSTALL DISK of High Sierra

Reply

Answer 2

pvg2005 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 14, 2020 12:34 AM in response to PRP_53

Thanks Peter. I followed your suggestions. My OS was High Sierra and followed the steps and decided to give a go. It failed. It gave an error message saying Erase process has failed. and in the details it said "Couldn't unmount disk" and "operation failed".

I didn't know what to do, but it actually worked as blessing in disguise...:)

WIth no hope I restarted the machine from the Recovery mode as a final attempt and this time it booted properly and I could login into my machine...:) hooray!! (not sure if it would effect me in the future)

After failing so many times I gave up and left it untouched for a year. Finally with you help I managed to get this running. Thanks Peter.

Reply

Answer 3

PRP_53

Level 10

91,759 points

Jun 13, 2020 4:29 AM in response to pvg2005

Firstly, have only the monitor, mouse and keyboard attached. Remove any other devices from the Mac mini.

The options offered are not in any order but depends on what you want achieved.

Option 1 - use Disk Utilities to perform Repair Disk. By doing this it may need to be done more than once until any error are fixed

Option 2 - use Reinstall the macOS. This should keep all the existing settings, apps, and any documents, media file on the drive.

Option 3 - is an "Erase and Install". This option erase ALL things on the HD / SSD. ALL settings, app and documents / media file will be lost. This will be equal to starting like a brand new computer It is the most drastic option.

Reply

Answer 4

pvg2005 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 13, 2020 7:24 AM in response to PRP_53

Thank you Phillip for the detailed tips. I followed both option 1 and 2. First I ran Option 1 Repair Disk. I initially got 2 error messages:

incorrect block count for file live.0.indexIds

it should be 1608 instead of 804

incorrect block count for file install.log

it should be 1758 instead of 879

but by the end of the scan it said everything is OK. I tried again and this time I did not see any issues. Everything was Ok. Then I restarted but the problem still persisted. Progress bar half way and then blank screen.

Next I tried option 2 and it started installing the OS and kept restarting for few times and then finally blank screen.

I'm now left with option 3 I guess. Can you please tell me how I have to do this drastic step. (I have my data backed-up recently). I'm Ok with Erase/Install.

Reply

Answer 5

PRP_53

Level 10

91,759 points

Jun 13, 2020 8:00 AM in response to pvg2005

Ok Erase and Install.

Again, have only monitor, keyboard and mouse connected. Use the Command + Option + R keys at bootup - Internet Recovery Mode. It would be best to be connect via Wired connection to Router but Wifi can be used if no choice.

Go to Disk Utilities >> then choose the VIEW top left of Disk Utilities >> choose to view All Devices >> should see Apple xxx, the Upper Most of listed devices. Stop there and answer to yourself "What version of macOS was installed when having this problem? If it is Catalina the HD / SSD must be formatted as APFS with GUID format. If Mojave it can be formatted HFS+ and formatted GUID. High Sierra same as Mojave. For those last two (Mojave & High Sierra) the installer will convert to APFS during the installation if you have SSD. If Rotational HD it will not.

Erase the internal HD / SSD depending on your answer. Close out Disk Utilities >> you are still in Internet Recovery Mode >> choose to Install the macOS. It will take some time to download as it is very large file about 5-6 Gigs or more. Once it is downloaded the actual Installation Process will automatically start. Just leave it to do its' thing. There will be several reboots until, hopefully it will work and it can be setup.

Good luck and post back the results.

Peter

Reply

Answer 6

pvg2005 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 14, 2020 6:16 AM in response to PRP_53

Hey Peter, sorry I wasn't clear in my previous reply. Yes, now the computer is booting to normal High Sierra. My data and apps are all intact. I notice slight lag in performance but rest all looking good. I'll hold on to your suggestions until it fails again. Thanks for your time and helping me out in this lockdown situation.

Reply