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Mac Mini CD/DVD Drive

I dug up an old Mac Mini. It had snow leopard installed on it, and i set it up, but when i rebooted it, there was a kernel panic and it crashed. Now, the hard drive shows a folder with a ? so that means that the system is gone. then i tried reinstalling mac os x lion on it, but it won't read the dvd. every 10-15 seconds it ejects the disk. but it sounds like its trying to read it. how do i fix this?


Mac Mini Mid-2007

Mac mini 2018 or later

Posted on Apr 26, 2021 12:18 AM

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Posted on Apr 26, 2021 7:35 AM

You need to be running Snow Leopard 10.6.8 and then buy a copy Lion from Apple.

see > https://www.apple.com/shop/product/D6106Z/A/os-x-lion


To make a Lion installer on a FlashDrive, you need purchase or have previously purchased Lion from the App Store.

see > https://www.lifewire.com/create-bootable-flash-drive-os-x-lion-installer-2260350

5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Apr 26, 2021 7:35 AM in response to The_Train_Enthusiast

You need to be running Snow Leopard 10.6.8 and then buy a copy Lion from Apple.

see > https://www.apple.com/shop/product/D6106Z/A/os-x-lion


To make a Lion installer on a FlashDrive, you need purchase or have previously purchased Lion from the App Store.

see > https://www.lifewire.com/create-bootable-flash-drive-os-x-lion-installer-2260350

Apr 26, 2021 6:43 AM in response to The_Train_Enthusiast

The 2007 Mac Mini originally came with a 10.4 Tiger Install Disc set.


To upgrade to Snow Leopard or Lion, you must use the Retail Upgrade DVD version(s).

(a disk set from a different or later Mac will not work)


If you have the Retail Upgrade DVD version(s), then the DVD/CD drive could be dirty or busted.

(first try cleaning the Mac Mini's DVD/CD drive with a dry cleaning disc)

(if that doesn't help, try an aftermarket external USB DVD/CD drive)

Mac Mini CD/DVD Drive

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