Can I install Snow Leopard on a Mac Mini 1.5 Solo?

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Level 1

8 points

Can I install Snow Leopard on a Mac Mini 1.5 Solo?

I bought a used Mac Mini. It is a 2006 I believe. It is a 1.5 Solo Core Intel. 2GB RAM. 60GB HDD.

I bought this for my kids, and wanted to wipe the drive and do a fresh install to ensure there would be no unexpected material to arise from a previous owner. I was given a Snow Leopard MAC OS X V10.6.3 Retail disk with the Mini. By starting from the install disk, I was able to wipe the drive. I did a simple zero data erase. Went smooth. I then started the install of SL. Chose language. Agreed to terms. Chose drive to install on. Told me it had 42 minutes to install. It then went to an error screen telling me the installation failed. Restart and try again. I have been through multiple attenpts at this.

I then decide to try my Leopard MAC OS X v10.5.4 Family Pack install disk that I have. I go through the same process to get an error telling me it could not install "essentials" and that I need to contact the manufacturer of the software.

Just out of morbid curiousity, I decided to put my SL disk in and give it one more try. Now when I get to the selct a disk to install on, it tells me there is a recoverable OS from a previous install that can be restored. Click customize to change install or click continue to recover the previous install. I got to 35 minutes and received the error screen. I have been thoughtful enough to include a picture of the error message I received.

It seems I have hit a wall. I am a mac guy. iPhone 4 / iPhone 5 / Mac G4 PPC Dual 1Ghz 2GB RAM / MacBook Pro 13" 2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo 4GB RAM / now this Mac Mini 1.5Ghz Solo Core 2GB RAM and a few others I have sold off over the years. I love them. Always have. But I cannot lie. I am ready to throw this Mini through a wall.

Am I missing something here?

Mac mini, 1.5Ghz Solo Core/2GB RAM/60GB HDD

Posted on Jan 17, 2013 7:49 PM

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Answer 1

varjak paw

Level 10

182,668 points

Jan 18, 2013 7:41 AM in response to motoman419

A long shot, but check the partition map scheme for the hard drive and make sure it's GPT, and that you're formatting the drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). If you are, and you're sure that the disks aren't scratched, then my guess would be a hardware problem with the mini, perpaps an erratic DVD drive, the hard drive (unlikely since it successfully did a zero-all-data formatting), or the logic board.

Regards.

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Answer 2

motoman419 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 18, 2013 4:29 PM in response to varjak paw

Went to the Apple Genius Bar today with my Mini. He tried a few start up things and told me he would try replacing the hard drive. Luckily I had one I could use so I replaced it this evening, partitioned the drive for Intel, then did a clean erase again just to be safe. Put in the Snow Leopard disk to have the same error as shown in the picture above. I then tried it from a firewire optical drive I have just in case the drive in the Mini was bad. Same issue.

If this is the logic board, am I correct in seeing the cost at $300 and up basically? I am wondering how this Mini was working prior to me deciding to do a wipe and now I cannot install the very same OS that was running it when I got it.

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Answer 3

varjak paw

Level 10

182,668 points

Jan 22, 2013 8:17 AM in response to motoman419

CPU and RAM failures can have subtle consequences. I recall once when I was working in a computer store, I had a customer bring back a chess program I sold him claiming that it was junk as it kept making bad moves. Having played the game I knew that it worked fine, so I asked him to bring in the computer. The problem turned out to be defective RAM, in just the spot where it would affect that particular program but not the computer in general. It may be something similar with your system; the fault is such that the computer ran but would not run the installer, or the fault may have occurred coincidentally with your attempt to reinstall.

Anyway, since you've tried two different installation disks, replaced the hard drive, and tried a different optical drive and the problem persists, a problem with the logic board appears to be the only possibility remaining; at least I can think of none.

Regards.

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Answer 4

motoman419 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 31, 2013 4:33 AM in response to varjak paw

Do you know a way to test and validate if either the RAM or Logic Board is bad? If I install Snow Leopard on the drive when the drive is not in the machine, then it is no problem. I installed, ran all updates and everything I needed to while the HDD was in an external case. I then took that drive and installed it back in the Mini. It worked and was running fine. Then I put some software (CS5) on that said it was for multi core systems (mine is solo core) and it crashed the drive eventually. Had to rebuild again.

Wondering if it has bad RAM as the previous owner upgraded the machine to 2GB RAM? Otherwise, what is the tell tale sign of a logic board? The machine was working but I could not run any software updates through the machine, I had to do them all while the drive was external.

Not wanting to spend money on a logic board. They are not cheap. Would rather buy a different Mini if thats what it comes down to.

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Answer 5

varjak paw

Level 10

182,668 points

Jan 31, 2013 6:51 AM in response to motoman419

There is no reliable way to test RAM short of a dedicated tester. There are software RAM testers that you can try - TechToolPro can do RAM tests:

http://www.micromat.com/techtoolpro

or you can try Rember/memtest:

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/15837/rember

but they can often find only the most obvious problems, and if there is such a problem it usually prevents the RAM test from running at all. It's worth trying, though, as it may turn up useful information.

As to the logic board, TechToolPro can do some testing there as well, and authorized Apple service centers have additional tools. There is no single "tell tale sign" of a logic board problem since, given the many different functions the logic board performs, there can be many different symptoms.

If things work properly with an external drive but not with an internal drive, I'd guess a problem with the SATA controller chain on the logic board, but that's just a guess. But if that is the case, then a logic board replacement will be necessary, and as you say that's probably not worth it for a Core Solo mini.

Regards.

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