Mac Mini (2018) won't boot into safe mode

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Level 1

5 points

Mac Mini (2018) won't boot into safe mode

Hey all:

I've had my Mac Mini for awhile, but for the first time needed to boot into safe mode. For the life of me, I cannot persuade it to do so.

Specs

Mac Mini (2018)

Monterey v12.0.1

3GHz 6-Core Intel Core i5 (T2 chip, I'm pretty sure)

16 GB 2667 MHz DDR4

Macintosh HD startup disk

USB keyboard

I am not using FireVault

Firmware password is off

I've tried a different USB keyboard, in addition to using a wired mouse

I've tried

Pressing Shift...

after clicking "restart"
before clicking "restart"
after starting up from a complete power down
before starting up from a complete power down

Resetting SMC...

Shutdown Mac, unplug, wait 15 seconds, plug in, wait 5 seconds, power up
Press & hold power button for 10 seconds, push power button again after Mac shut down

Resetting NVRAM...

Shut down, restart, hold Option + Cmd + P + R. The Mac startup sound played twice, then the Apple logo appeared, then disappeared, then the login screen appeared (I'm told this is what's supposed to happen).

After starting Recovery System (Cmd + R at startup)...

Went to disk utility, ran First Aid, which took about 5 seconds to return "everything normal."
Also confirmed that Firmware Password is off.

Speaking...

Nicely
Firmly
Gruffly
*!!$%ing P0$
Etc

Surely there is something else to try before the nuclear option of reformatting?

Thanks in advance for any advice/info.

Jon

Mac mini, macOS 12.0

Posted on Nov 20, 2021 12:38 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

D.I. Johnson

Level 7

32,159 points

Nov 21, 2021 9:10 AM in response to jjbco

You're welcome.

It's good to know that you've got a handle on the printer issue. And I agree with the analogy of the knocking engine. 🙂

As for the safe boot, you might consider reinstalling the OS to see if that will fix the problem. This can be done without need to erase, format, partition or otherwise change your current drive configuration or alter your user data and files.

To do this you would boot into recovery using the ⌘R keys option, then select Reinstall macOS Monterey. This will apply a fresh copy of the OS on top of the current Monterey. It's fairly risk free.

Use macOS Recovery on an Intel-based Mac - Apple Support

How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support

If you do this, please let us know the result.

🍀

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Answer 2

Nov 20, 2021 1:03 PM in response to jjbco

Looks like you've pretty much covered the options. All I can suggest (and you've probably tried this)…

Shut down the Mac.

Connect the wired USB keyboard and mouse.

Press the power button.

When you hear the startup chime, press and hold the Shift key until you see the Apple logo and progress bar.

What prompts you to try a safe boot or contemplate an OS reinstall?

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Answer 3

jjbco Author

Level 1

5 points

Nov 21, 2021 8:46 AM in response to D.I. Johnson

I tried the sequence you suggested, with fingers crossed, and got the same thing. Humph.

In trying to use a new Canon printer, I could never, ever get it to print anything. Under Printers & Scanners -> Canon -> Options & Supplies -> Supply Levels, there was always a "Spool Area Full" message. Canon immediately blamed Apple, and Apple wanted me to try booting into safe mode. Well. Here I am. The good news (sort of), is that the printer didn't work on a friend's PC, and I can print to a recently shared network printer, so I'm 99.9% certain it is NOT Mac's fault.

Not being able to boot into safe mode isn't a big deal...right now. But much like heading out on a road trip with a funny knocking noise coming from the engine, there may come a time when everything comes to a halt until I can boot into Safe Mode. It's also a burr under the saddle, a scab I can't stop picking at until I know what in the heck is going on. It seems like a strange problem for a Mac. It's been absolutely trouble free and rock solid since purchase.

Thanks for your input,

Jon

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Answer 4

jjbco Author

Level 1

5 points

Nov 22, 2021 11:16 AM in response to Matti Haveri

External boot was disallowed, so I allowed that. Same result.

While I was in Recovery Mode, I reran First Aid on:

Disk Images: MacOS Base System

and

Internal: Macintosh HD volumes.

It took a little longer for the disk image, but only about 15 seconds. Everything came back ok.

As for your question, "Does Option-boot show the startup disks?", I didn't see anything explicitly called "startup disk." I'll poke around a little more to see what I can find.

Thanks for your input,

Jon

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Answer 5

jjbco Author

Level 1

5 points

Nov 22, 2021 11:21 AM in response to D.I. Johnson

This looks to be the next logical step. I have a few projects to finish up before getting started, but will let you know what happens.

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Answer 6

Nov 21, 2021 3:04 AM in response to jjbco

A good troubleshooting post!

Even with a Bluetooth keyboard I can safe-boot by doing a cold start by holding Shift and then pressing the power button (I can stop pressing Shift when the progress bar is shown or at least when the login-screen with the red Safe-boot text at upper right is shown). Or just by rebooting and pressing Shift when the startup sound is played (I very much like that the startup sound is now back!).

So at least cmd-R boot into Recovery mode works (is external boot enabled there? Did you let Disk First Aid examine all devices, containers and volumes -- in my setup most of them take more than 5 seconds?). Does Option-boot show the startup disks?

Maybe a backup (I'd do a bootable clone with Carbon Copy Cloner to an external disk, and verify it boots), erase the whole internal device as APFS, and a clean install could be tried.

Maybe you could try to revive or restore the firmware (do a backup before trying):

https://support.apple.com/en-us/guide/apple-configurator-2/apdebea5be51/mac

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Mac Mini (2018) won't boot into safe mode

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