Mac Mini Server fails to boot

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Shredder2600 Author

Level 1

5 points

Mac Mini Server fails to boot

Boots with no startup chime to the Apple logo and a spinning wheel. Have tried Cmd+R, but nothing happens. Help!

Mac mini, Mavericks, maybe

Posted on Jan 3, 2016 8:42 PM

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Answer 1

lllaass

Level 10

210,411 points

Jan 4, 2016 5:27 AM in response to Shredder2600

What model Mac Mini?

What happens if you boot with Option key depressed?

Disconnect all peripherals except monitor to see fi yo get the startup chime

Reset the SMC

Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac

I still not chime that indicates a hardware problem

- Make an appointment at the Genius Bar of an Apple store.

Apple Retail Store - Genius Bar

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Answer 2

Shredder2600 Author

Level 1

5 points

Jan 4, 2016 12:35 PM in response to lllaass

It's a 2009 model. The old body style, with no DVD drive. One-of-a-kind.

If I boot with the Option key depressed, I get two options. Mac Mini Server RAID and Mac Mini Server RAID 2. Both have the same issue, Apple logo and spinning wheel forever.

I disconnected all peripherals and still there was no startup chime. I didn't have the monitor plugged in but I can try again.

Resetting the SMC changed nothing.

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Answer 3

lllaass

Level 10

210,411 points

Jan 4, 2016 12:45 PM in response to Shredder2600

Sounds like the startup disks have either hardware or software problem. Sounds like your startup disk is RAID is not realy good.

- If you have another Mac you can download the installer for a previous OSX version you previously purchased from the Purchased section of the Mac App Store and the make a bootable USB install media using

DiskMaker X

and then boot from that and see what you can do. There is Disk Utility in that.

Otherwise you will have to connect an external DVD drive and boot from Leopard or Snow Leopard install DVD.

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Answer 4

Shredder2600 Author

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Jan 23, 2016 11:32 AM in response to lllaass

I tried to connect a USB optical drive with the CD that came with in the box in it, but in the menu that appears when the Option key is held down does not show the drive.

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Answer 5

lllaass

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Jan 23, 2016 12:13 PM in response to Shredder2600

What options appear when booting with Option dey depressed?

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Answer 6

Shredder2600 Author

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Jan 23, 2016 4:05 PM in response to lllaass

Just the two hard drives that are in it.

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Answer 7

Shredder2600 Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 6, 2016 9:47 AM in response to lllaass

Alright dude, more progress. I reset the NVRAM and now I get a startup chime. Prior to this, when trying to start in Safe Mode, the machine would crash. (Which also allowed me to determine what OS this is running - Mountain Lion). Now, when starting up in Safe Mode, I get a circle with a line through it. When I boot with the option key depressed, I still see both RAID volumes. Any ideas?

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Answer 8

lllaass

Level 10

210,411 points

Feb 6, 2016 9:56 AM in response to Shredder2600

Since you said "I still see both RAID volumes". It would seem that your RAID is corrupted.

Was it a striped set or mirrored?

In a previous post you said RAID 2 and per

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_RAID_levels

this says it is really not used

If mirrored if only one drive is corrupt then try disconnecting one and booting and then try with that other.

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Answer 9

Shredder2600 Author

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5 points

Feb 6, 2016 10:01 AM in response to lllaass

I don't remember whether what RAID it was. When I said RAID 2 earlier, I wasn't referring to RAID level 2, I was referring to the name of the drive (Mac Mini Server RAID 2). I tried booting both and neither worked, but disconnecting one? Do you mean taking apart the machine?

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Answer 10

Shredder2600 Author

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Feb 6, 2016 10:13 AM in response to Shredder2600

More info - I booted into Single-User mode and typed /sbin/fsck -fy and I got error code "AppleRAID::completeRAIDRequest - error 0xe00002ca"

Any thoughts?

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Answer 11

lllaass

Level 10

210,411 points

Feb 6, 2016 10:32 AM in response to Shredder2600

Googling

http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/is-this-indication-of-a-failing-hard-drive.7 96563/

http://www.tonymacx86.com/mountain-lion-desktop-support/86306-fixing-i-o-errors- raid0-boot-dual-ssd.html

shows likely bad disk in the RAID set

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Answer 12

Shredder2600 Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 6, 2016 10:43 AM in response to lllaass

It seems so. Any idea why the OS X Recovery over internet isn't working? In fact, none of the situations described here Startup key combinations for Mac - Apple Support occur except for Single-User mode and Reset NVRAM.

I would like to recover the data, or at least look at things in Disk Utility? I don't have a DVD for this machine, nor does it have a DVD drive.

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Answer 13

Shredder2600 Author

Level 1

5 points

Jun 9, 2016 4:13 PM in response to lllaass

I should also mention that I do not hear any HDD activity, just the fan. I find it hard to believe that the HDDs are dead, because it worked only a few months ago and it has been off since then. What can I do to repair this? Is there some sort of bootable program I can load onto a thumb drive and boot of off? I know these kinds of utilities exist for Windows, but for the Mac?

Perhaps the folks at the Apple Store might be able to help. What do you think?

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Answer 14

Shredder2600 Author

Level 1

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Jul 24, 2016 9:32 PM in response to Shredder2600

I used the recovery DVDs and wiped it out. All is well.

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