my mac mini stuck in lockscreen with apple logo and circling loading but the top part of the menu and wallpaper is visible
i tried restarting it and boot to safe mode, but it still happening. also i tried to “first aid” my disk with disk utility and it didnt fix it. please help!
Try running First Aid again, but by following the instructions in the following Apple article to run it on the hidden Container:
How to repair a Mac storage device with Disk Utility - Apple Support
Also, even if the First Aid summary says everything is "Ok", click "Show Details" and scroll through the report to see if any errors or warnings are shown. If there are any, then run First Aid again until they are gone. If after several scans the errors/warnings remain, then they cannot be repaired. Where the errors/warnings are located determine whether they are a cause of concern, or exactly how the disk needs to be erased.
You don't mention whether you need to try & save the data, or if you have good backups. That greatly affects how you proceed, although with a 2018+ Mac it may not matter since options will be limited to attempt to rescue the data on the internal SSD without an existing backup.
How much Free storage space does Disk Utility report for the hidden Container? Ignore the very misleading "Available" storage value since it is not synonymous with Free.
Knowing how much actual Free storage space exists can determine some of our options and to know whether that could be the problem itself.
If there is sufficient Free storage space, then you can try reinstalling macOS over top of itself. Most times this won't help, but if you need to rescue the data then it may be worth a try.
Otherwise you may need to resort to a DFU Firmware Revive to reset the security enclave chip & system firmware since I'm assuming it is a 2018+ Mac Mini as it is running Sequoia. If the Revive doesn't help, then a DFU Firmware Restore may be required which does what a Revive does, but also resets the internal SSD destroying all data on it.
What is the exact model of this Mini? You can get that information by using the Apple check coverage page here:
Try running First Aid again, but by following the instructions in the following Apple article to run it on the hidden Container:
How to repair a Mac storage device with Disk Utility - Apple Support
Also, even if the First Aid summary says everything is "Ok", click "Show Details" and scroll through the report to see if any errors or warnings are shown. If there are any, then run First Aid again until they are gone. If after several scans the errors/warnings remain, then they cannot be repaired. Where the errors/warnings are located determine whether they are a cause of concern, or exactly how the disk needs to be erased.
You don't mention whether you need to try & save the data, or if you have good backups. That greatly affects how you proceed, although with a 2018+ Mac it may not matter since options will be limited to attempt to rescue the data on the internal SSD without an existing backup.
How much Free storage space does Disk Utility report for the hidden Container? Ignore the very misleading "Available" storage value since it is not synonymous with Free.
Knowing how much actual Free storage space exists can determine some of our options and to know whether that could be the problem itself.
If there is sufficient Free storage space, then you can try reinstalling macOS over top of itself. Most times this won't help, but if you need to rescue the data then it may be worth a try.
Otherwise you may need to resort to a DFU Firmware Revive to reset the security enclave chip & system firmware since I'm assuming it is a 2018+ Mac Mini as it is running Sequoia. If the Revive doesn't help, then a DFU Firmware Restore may be required which does what a Revive does, but also resets the internal SSD destroying all data on it.
What is the exact model of this Mini? You can get that information by using the Apple check coverage page here:
Mac mini stucks with Apple logo and circling loading, but the top part of the Lockscreen is visible
