Mac Mini Won’t Boot Past White Screen OR Enter Any Recovery Mode

Another potential for non-startup aside from other things you've tried

could be the clock battery, as when those go dead or low power, the

Mac Mini will not start correctly if at all.

If the unit were working OK with old weak dead PRAM battery (button cell)

and mains or line-in AC power to Mac were disrupted, recently, that may

be a reason why (if this may be cause of symptom) the issue would have

been evident. Some users with battery backup (UPS) don't notice as much.

Usually up to 5 years the small battery on logic board may sustain its function.

After the battery no longer holds sufficient power, the settings held in PRAM

(NVRAM) wouldn't be stable or available. Then, new battery would be needed.

Upgrades to SSD from various makers had seen some issue (OWC has info)

that may reflect problematic occurrence with some hardware; that can affect

the ability to boot as well. Also the power supply may be weak, as it supplies

power on more than one output voltage. The iFixit takeapart/repair guide show

the tedious process to remove/replace the battery and the power supply in this.

Not sure what to suggest for a simple cure; except whatever may not have been

done may now need attention. IF you have a rotational HDD with bootable system

on hand to swap back & have new clock battery to install, see if that works to test.

Always have on hand and use USB wired keyboard/mouse to troubleshoot mac.

Also an externally enclosed HDD with independent power supply w/ Mac OS install

may be useful to troubleshoot. (USB 'bare hard drive' wire kit to use works w/o HD

enclosure. ~ OWC has good example of that idea, no enclosure is needed.)

Was the hard drive attempted as startup with powered USB drive wire kit?

An example of useful product with link to one source:

• NewerTech Universal Drive Adapter ~ USB Bare Drive Adapter

If not, was old HDD with original Mac OS X reinstalled in Mac?

How was USB cable used? If you have boot capable clone on

powered external enclosed hard drive, that may suffice as well.

OWC Install Videos and other info on lower/bottom page.

The keyboard can be interpreted by two methods, if working correctly.

• Use your Apple Keyboard in Windows with Boot Camp - Apple Support

• Keyboard Mappings using a PC keyboard on a Macintosh - Microsoft

[Microsoft provides a keyboard mapping article that describes using a Windows keyboard with macOS.]

Option (⌥): Start up to Startup Manager, which allows you to choose other startup disks or volumes, if available.

• How to select a different startup disk - Apple Support

• Mac startup key combinations - Apple Support

There may be hardware and software issues behind these symptoms.

Troubleshooting is within your means to narrow the cause(s). Could be

a bad Sensor, or maybe some code stuck in memory(?) ~ or other.

• How to reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support

• Reset NVRAM or PRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

SMC doesn't reset or otherwise change the contents of NVRAM or PRAM on Intel-based Mac models.

1. Safe boot: Go through all list in SMC 'Before you reset SMC' all first before using reset. (restart to exit)

2. Try the NVRAM reset - let the chime sound three times - then release keys you held.

One of the proposed end-user cures for failed graphics chip in 'any models with dual

graphics' would be to re-flow the solder & re-place GPU as suggested in this web site.

{Because the Mac mini has no 'dual graphics' the answer could be to consider to reseat

the GPU (resolder/reflow) and hope for the best. The previous workaround dealt with

certain MacBook Pro models that users could try alternative methods to make it work.}

To manually switch to 'integrated GPU' was a suggested temporary fix.. where unit had dual

graphics. Short of replacing the logic board or re-flowing solder that retains/connects GPU.

"Heat-flex" had been cited for this kind of failure in certain models, where solder breaks.

..Answers for MacBook Pro had been home-baked such as iMac 'done in an oven' cards..

Using 'gfxCardStatus by cody krieger' is less involved; is temp workaround to hardware issue:

https://gfx.io/ shows which of two GPU is in use, and allows user to change to the other one.

{But this isn't a workable solution even short-term, due to only one GPU in 2012 Mac mini.}

..Good luck in any event..! 🙂

Glad you didn't have one of the iMac intel-based or late G5 PPC where they'd

been removing the graphic cards and put them on cookie sheet in oven, awhile.

{Since 2003 I'd been seen fair bit of DIY appear in these threads. For 'closed hard-

ware' its amazing how people had been somewhat successful, keeping Macs alive.}

With my two Mac mini models, from different ends of the spectrum, I've yet to

perform hardware repair; only minor upgrades, and some software. G4 Late 2005

Mac Mini (1.5GHz last build prior to Intel-based Mac mini) ~ & Late 2012 Mac Mini

2.3GHz quad-core (server model, dual hard drive; four partitions, two OS X.)

Then there are two portable Macs, last build PPC iBook G4 1.33GHz 12-inch (2005)

& first intel-based MacBook1.1, 1.83GHz coreduo 13-in. (2006) Have both still. Plus

various model Apple Mac going back to 1984. About 400 altogether; 200 all at once.

There are shops you can send your ailing portable Mac off to, for inspection & repair.

I'd done that with my first edition G3 iBook white (May 2001) sent to North Carolina

for graphic issue - including parts, less costly than anywhere in western US or AK.

I'm hoping for that, myself. The Late 2014 mini I bought the other day has to be considered a stopgap solution - it's a major step backward in most ways from my greatly lamented mid-2011. Oh, well; it boots up.

--

srb

I'm just recovering from a similar situation (mid-2011 mini, 16 GB Crucial Ram). A repair shop determined the GPU had failed and didn't recommend trying to replace it. Good luck, though.

srb