Aescleal

Q: 2011 mac mini video issue

Hi, my Mac mini 2011 has the identical video issue as the 2011-2012 MacBook Pro see here:  http://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/

 

Does Apple have any similar program for the mini?  Identical graphic fail.  Last fall I talked to support about it and was told since I was out of warranty... sorry.

 

But since then they've acknowledged the 2011 MBP has this issue and are doing something about it.  But what about the rest of us with this same issue?

 

Can anybody tell me if they've opened a similar program for their other computers?

 

Thanks,

Pete

Mac mini, Mac OS X (10.7.3)

Posted on May 27, 2015 9:53 AM

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Q: 2011 mac mini video issue

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  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass May 27, 2015 10:01 AM in response to Aescleal
    Level 10 (187,759 points)
    Desktops
    May 27, 2015 10:01 AM in response to Aescleal

    Apple dose not have such a program for the 2011 Mac Mini.

    The MacBook Pros also had a dedicated graphics chip that was the problem.

    The Mac Mini only has the Intel HD 3000 graphics built into the CPU.

  • by Aescleal,

    Aescleal Aescleal May 27, 2015 10:08 AM in response to lllaass
    Level 1 (1 points)
    May 27, 2015 10:08 AM in response to lllaass

    I should have been more giving of my hardware.

     

    I have the Mid-2011 Mac mini i5 2.5GHz.  This model has an AMD Radeon HD 6630M graphics processor with 256 MB of dedicated GDDR5 memory.

     

    That said, it's really very sad that Apple has left us behind.

  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass May 27, 2015 10:13 AM in response to Aescleal
    Level 10 (187,759 points)
    Desktops
    May 27, 2015 10:13 AM in response to Aescleal

    This

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBook_Pro

    indicates that hte MacBook Pros have

    AMD Radeon HD 6490M with 256 MB GDDR5 memory (15" models)

    or AMD Radeon HD 6750M with 1 GB GDDR5 memory

    or later ones

    AMD Radeon HD 6750M with 512 MB GDDR5 memory (15" models)

    or AMD Radeon HD 6770M with 1 GB GDDR5 memory(15" and 17" models)


    No 6630M

  • by woodmeister50,

    woodmeister50 woodmeister50 May 27, 2015 10:23 AM in response to Aescleal
    Level 5 (5,500 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 27, 2015 10:23 AM in response to Aescleal

    Before jumping to conclusions, what are you using for a display and how is

    it connected?   Are you connected HDMI or via and adapter to the Thunderbolt

    port?  Have you tried different connection schemes and/or a different display

    and get the same result?  Have you tried changing cables?  Have you switched

    display connection from HDMI to Thunderbolt on the Mini or visa versa?

    Have you checked with a different display?

  • by Aescleal,

    Aescleal Aescleal May 27, 2015 10:40 AM in response to woodmeister50
    Level 1 (1 points)
    May 27, 2015 10:40 AM in response to woodmeister50

    Hi Woodmeister50,

     

    Ya, my default has always been HDMI.  However, I have also used mini-display adapter.  I've used 3 different cables of each.  I now use my original hdmi cable on another computer just fine.  A lengthy chat with Apple support last October'ish I went through a process with them to narrow down the issue.  Even then, they believed it was caused by my video.  Presently I'm just using my Mini as a paper weight.

     

    Also Illaass, I appreciate your help and insight.

    However, from this article (found on many Mac sites now) http://9to5mac.com/2015/02/19/macbook-pro-repair/ it says the following.

    "The lawsuit claimed a defective AMD GPU that did not function correctly because of lead-free soldering causing short circuiting and other problems."

    That would indicate it may have nothing to do with the GPU, and likely to do with the solder used.


    Thanks to both of you.  Maybe they will still open a program for other 2011+ mac models with the same symptoms.

  • by ncastrog,

    ncastrog ncastrog Aug 10, 2015 6:40 PM in response to Aescleal
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 10, 2015 6:40 PM in response to Aescleal

    Our minis have a defective radeon chip or soldering.

     

    The only solution to rebirt the mini is install Linux without gui and use as a server like I did.

     

    Or sue Apple to repair the defective chip or soldering.

  • by Aescleal,

    Aescleal Aescleal Aug 14, 2015 8:58 AM in response to ncastrog
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Aug 14, 2015 8:58 AM in response to ncastrog

    Actually, what I did was reflow my 2011 mini logic board, at home, in my oven.  I completely disassembled my Mini, put the logicboard in the oven on tinfoil on a cookie sheet, heated the oven up, baked the board, shut off oven, let cool slowly, then repeat two more times (three in all).  It's been three months now I've been using my 2011 Mac mini again.  And I haven't been gentle on it.  My kids use it for some gaming, and it's our HTPC and iTunes server.  I'm under no illusion that this will last forever, but it's been 3 months or so now and it has new life.  If symptoms return I'll reflow again.

  • by triarii0,

    triarii0 triarii0 Oct 13, 2015 1:00 AM in response to Aescleal
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 13, 2015 1:00 AM in response to Aescleal

    Hello

    I have exactly the same problem. I think Apple must solve this issue. I'm very disappointed with Apple, and I will not buy any products of the brand.

     

    Thanks

  • by v-i-c-,

    v-i-c- v-i-c- Nov 8, 2015 1:44 PM in response to triarii0
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Nov 8, 2015 1:44 PM in response to triarii0

    I had the same issues here (Mac Mini 2011 2.5GHz). Today the screen went pink with vertical stripes and my Mac Mini freezed. I was forced to turn power off. After a short pause and a restart the GPU temperature was still way too high (80°C). Some minutes later the it showed video issues again but I could do a regular shut down.

     

    I've cleaned the Mini from dust with air (if you do that you should block the fan with one finger otherwise it may generate power which can damage the logicboard) and set higher base RPM for the fan with smcFanControl (3300 RPM).

    Since cleaning from dust (8 hours ago) I had no more video issues so far although I had a permanent load on the GPU (Unity 3D) all of the time and even ran GPU benchmarks to provoke the issue.

     

    I hope it really was just overheating and my machine is fine now – but this is scary: I found a german company (smartmod) which offers a special repair service for the Mac Mini 2011 with Radeon HD 6300M video issues. They say "Production faults of the AMD graphics chip in the Mac Mini Mid 2011 have become known" (“Bei Mac mini Modellen aus Mid 2011 wurde ein Fehler in der Produktion von ATI AMD Grafikchips bekannt.“)
    So possibly sooner or later all Mac Minis with a HD 6300M might fail?

  • by Felis,

    Felis Felis Nov 25, 2015 5:01 AM in response to Aescleal
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 25, 2015 5:01 AM in response to Aescleal

    Same thing just happened to me just moment ago. Radeon 6630M on a Mac Mini 2011 … Man, I just installed a SSD as boot device earlier this year and hoped I dont need to buy another mac for couple more years.


    … and I dont even have an oven to bake my mac (is it even a thing?)


    IMG_1900.JPG

  • by v-i-c-,

    v-i-c- v-i-c- Nov 25, 2015 9:07 AM in response to Felis
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Nov 25, 2015 9:07 AM in response to Felis

    If this happened at a fresh restart of a completely cool machine than it is a really bad sign. If it happens just after restarting a hot machine then there is still a good chance to keep the mini alive. Just never let it reach high temperatures again. My mini runs perfectly since I've cleaned it from dusty and raised the fan speed (zero problems since then). I've bought a really good tool to override the control of my temperatures and fan speed which offers a complex way to setup fan speeds for different temperatures. This way I keep my mini always way below 65°C and it usually is still comparable silent. I've already had higher fan speeds before by using a free tool, but this was not enough for this task because it would have required to overall set the speed of the fan way higher than necessary because it offered only one setting.

     

    Take a look at it, the developer offers a demo for it.

    https://www.tunabellysoftware.com/support/tgpro_tutorial/

     

    This is my set up for TG Pro, I usually always have Unity3D or Maya open so the GPU is always under comparable high load but it keeps running. While I type this the CPU is 42°C and the GPU is 43°C.
    Don't forget to clean it with air from dust inside first (block the fan with the finger from rotating while doing this)

     

     

     

    fan_macmini.png

  • by Chaplincap,

    Chaplincap Chaplincap Dec 3, 2015 2:35 PM in response to Aescleal
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 3, 2015 2:35 PM in response to Aescleal

    I have the same problem with my 2011 Mac Mini with the discrete graphics. When it boots up, I hear the opening sound but the screen is black. Would you mind explaining in greater detail how you reflowed your logic board? What components did you have to remove before baking it, at what temperature, and for how long?

  • by Dunebuggy,

    Dunebuggy Dunebuggy Jan 29, 2016 8:32 AM in response to Aescleal
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 29, 2016 8:32 AM in response to Aescleal

    Well just to add my disappointment with my 2011 Mac Mini with the AMD GPU to that of everyone else.  OK I use it under some stress as a Plex server transcoding to 1080p but according to Plex's advice it should be more than capable with a 2.5GHz i5 processor.  The graphics chip failed after about a year of use and it cost me £200 to have the solder replaced with lead-based, but failed again within a month. 

     

    Like others I would like Apple to acknowledge the same fault between the MBP and the Mini, and offer a repair program.  A very unhappy customer with an expensive paperweight.

  • by arturodoyle,

    arturodoyle arturodoyle Feb 2, 2016 3:03 PM in response to Aescleal
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Feb 2, 2016 3:03 PM in response to Aescleal

    I've encountered almost the same problem.

    After a few involuntary restarts the Mini went dead. It's also a Mid 2011 i5 2.5ghz.

    I also had 8gb of ram and I added a 256gb ssd leaving the original 500gb.

    The (not so beautiful) apple logo would come on but after that, a white screen. I tried every letter combination for booting the computer, both disks and also an external pendrive. Nothing happened after the apple logo. Even in verbose mode I couldn't change a thing.

     

    I took it to a local repair shop and they could only boot the Mini when they disabled a few drivers of the video card. They offered to reflow the logicboard but they weren't too confident about it. So I now have a half usable Mac Mini. The problem was the AMD Radeon HD 6630M graphics processor with 256 MB.

    It seems to be a defected batch.


    How many did it take for them to acknowledge the MacBook Pro issue?


    It seems to be really to arrive to the conclusion that the video card is defective.

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