M1 Mac mini won't start, flashing amber light

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Level 1

36 points

M1 Mac mini won't start, flashing amber light

My wife's M1 Mac mini won't start up, and is stuck on a screen with symbols indicating I need to power on the keyboard and mouse. It has a USB Apple Keyboard attached, but I also tried an Apple Magic Keyboard via USB-C to lightning cable, with no change.

https://youtu.be/G9SPWeo3hRY

I've been trying to "revive" it, per instructions on Revive or restore a Mac with Apple silicon using Apple Configurator - Apple Support

I've connected the Mac mini to my M1 MBP using a good USB-C cable and tried the start up sequence a few times as mentioned in the support article, but I never see the DFU icon appear in Apple Configurator app on the working M1 MBP.

Any thing I can do to help troubleshoot this? Unfortunately, it is a little over a month outside of warranty, and we recently moved to a country without any Apple Stores :( I am hoping I can fix this is my wife's iPad died last week, so things are looking pretty grim right now.

thanks!

Posted on Nov 1, 2022 10:25 AM

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Answer 1

Omar_A1

Community Specialist

Nov 3, 2022 8:28 AM in response to griz_fan

Hello Griz_fan,

Thank you for reaching out to Apple Support Communities.

You were reviewing a helpful article.

Note: You won’t see any initial screen activity from the Mac Studio or Mac mini you want to revive or restore. After the revive or restore begins, you’ll see an Apple logo and progress bar if a monitor is connected.

It states you will not see any initial activity but you will see an Apple Logo and progress bar. Are you seeing any of these options?

Also, have you tried to restore your Mac?

Cheers!

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Answer 2

Todd0213

Community Specialist

Nov 3, 2022 11:22 AM in response to griz_fan

We appreciate you confirming those details, griz_fan.

If you haven't already, you'll want to continue through the steps to restore your Mac as outlined in the resource you previously referenced. This is a great next step that can help with resolving this issue and getting the Mac booted up and recognizing the mouse and keyboard.

Let us know how that goes!

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Answer 3

griz_fan Author

Level 1

36 points

Nov 3, 2022 8:42 AM in response to Omar_A1

Unfortunately no progress bar or Apple logo - just the symbols indicating I need to connect a keyboard and mouse even though I have a keyboard attached

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M1 Mac mini won't start, flashing amber light

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