Boot-up Difficulty (Mac mini)

Question

Level 1

17 points

Boot-up Difficulty (Mac mini)

I have an early 2009 Mac mini with a one TB hard drive and eight GB's RAM running OS X 10.11.6. Over the last three months I have had increasing difficulties booting up. At times the boot up progress bar reaches halfway across and simply freezes, necessitating forced shutdown by holding the power button in. At other times, the progress bar reaches about halfway across and then my computer powers off completely. With persistence at rebooting (up to 14 times on one occasion), the computer then ultimately boots up (at least so far!). The computer itself is running well when it does manage to boot up. For now, until I figure this out, I'm going to stop shutting it down at the end of the day and will simply be putting it to sleep.

Have others had this problem and does anyone have any thoughts or ideas? Thank you.

Mac mini, OS X El Capitan (10.11)

Posted on Aug 27, 2016 10:48 AM

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Answer 1

samtenor

Level 4

2,074 points

Aug 27, 2016 7:47 PM in response to JVIRANT

Have you tried Apple hardware diagnostic??

8G ram would be sufficient in term of RAM -- the only thing I can think of: hard drive might be the problem.

The model is 2009, for over 6 years' HDD, that is quite impressive.

Using Apple Hardware Test - Apple Support

Sam

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Answer 2

lllaass

Level 10

210,519 points

Aug 27, 2016 7:47 PM in response to samtenor

Boot to Recovery

About OS X Recovery - Apple Support

and repair/First Aid the startup disk

ALso when in Disk Utility note the SMART status. If other than verified you disk is failing. However, it still could be failing even if it says verified.,

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Answer 3

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Aug 27, 2016 6:22 PM in response to JVIRANT

Could it be overheating? Os it hot where you are?

What all 3rd party extentions are you running?

EtreCheck is a simple little app to display the important details of your system configuration and allow you to copy that information to the Clipboard. It is meant to be used with Apple Support Communities to help people help you with your Mac.

http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck

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Answer 4

JVIRANT Author

Level 1

17 points

Aug 27, 2016 7:38 PM in response to samtenor

Hello Sam,

I ran the complete full-length Apple Hardware Diagnostic Test which found no problems. I then booted to my Recovery disk and ran a complete disc utility scan and repair and all is reported as normal. BTW, after the boot up problem had been going on for a month, I replaced the hard drive with the one TB hard drive and increased to eight GB's RAM, but unfortunately this did not change the problem. I suspect that my next step would be to pay for a formal Apple Support session. Thanks very much for your suggestion.

Jeff

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Answer 5

JVIRANT Author

Level 1

17 points

Aug 27, 2016 7:41 PM in response to lllaass

Hello Illaass,

I ran the complete full-length Apple Hardware Diagnostic Test which found no problems. I then booted to my Recovery disk as you recommended and ran a complete disc utility scan and repair and all is reported as normal. BTW, after the boot up problem had been going on for a month, I replaced the hard drive with the one TB hard drive and increased to eight GB's RAM, but unfortunately this did not change the problem. I suspect that my next step would be to pay for a formal Apple Support session. Thanks very much for your suggestion.

Jeff

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Answer 6

JVIRANT Author

Level 1

17 points

Aug 27, 2016 7:47 PM in response to BDAqua

Hello BDAqua,

This does not seem to be a problem of overheating since it occurs only immediately upon attempting to boot up when the computer is literally cold. And no, it is not hot here in Wisconsin. Really the only third-party extensions that I'm running are those that I have run for literally many years which include Norton Antivirus and Dragon Dictate. Thanks for your suggestions. As per my other responses, I have already run the Apple Hardware Diagnostic Test and a Disc Utility scan, all of which are normal. I suspect my next step will be to pay for a formal support session with Apple Support.

Jeff

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Answer 7

John Galt

Level 10

156,308 points

Aug 28, 2016 7:19 AM in response to JVIRANT

Really the only third-party extensions that I'm running are those that I have run for literally many years which include Norton Antivirus ...

Then it's about time you get rid of it.

Back up your Mac if you have not done so already. To learn how to use Time Machine read Mac Basics: Time Machine backs up your Mac - Apple Support.

One or more of the following may be applicable:

Uninstall Norton Internet Security for Mac

Removing Symantec programs for Macintosh by using the RemoveSymantecMacFiles removal utility

RemoveSymantecMacFiles

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Answer 8

JVIRANT Author

Level 1

17 points

Aug 28, 2016 9:29 AM in response to John Galt

Are you implying that Norton AntiVirus is the cause of my boot-up problem, even though it has never been a problem for many years?

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Answer 9

John Galt

Level 10

156,308 points

Aug 28, 2016 9:40 AM in response to JVIRANT

There is no way to determine that without examining your Mac.

... it has never been a problem for many years

... until it becomes one.

"Norton" is capable of nothing beneficial. As long as it remains installed, your Mac will not operate properly. Step 1 in fixing a Mac requires uninstalling worthless junk that can do nothing but create problems.

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Answer 10

JVIRANT Author

Level 1

17 points

Sep 20, 2016 8:29 AM in response to JVIRANT

For those with the same problem, I ultimately contacted Apple Support. They were very helpful and recommended that I boot into safe mode (booting up while holding down the "shift" key) which would somehow trigger the machine to untangle software conflicts (or something!). This took some time, as they said it would, and ultimately completely solved the problem. Thanks to all for your suggestions.

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