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M1 Mac Mini ghost restarting and no signal

I

isca72

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 13, 2024
10
5
Hello,

I've got 2 problems:

1. My Mac Mini restarts itself. It's been doing that for a while now. It wasn't a huge problem, but is annoying. And may or may not be unrelated to:
2. My Mac HDMI display has stopped working. I've tried a different display. I've tried simultaneous starting of my MM and my display. I've changed HDMI ports. Nothing. I've tried Command+CTL+P+R. I've tried the long-hold restart. Nothing.

When I look for solutions, it often (infuriatingly) tells me to go to this or that menu or start up in this or that mode. The screen is black. I'm unable to do anything until I can actually see something.

Any wisdom massively appreciated.
 
FreakinEurekan

FreakinEurekan

macrumors 603
Sep 8, 2011
5,597
2,668
So you have no display? That sounds like problem #1 to me.

Multiple HDMI displays tried, nothing from any of them - tried a different HDMI cable? Try USB-C?
 
I

isca72

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 13, 2024
10
5
I've ordered a USB c to hdmi, so still waiting to try that.

I've read about both these problems quite a lot, but can't seem to find if the m2 chip solved them or not.

Unfortunately, my life revolves around Final Cut and Logic, so I am very much tied to macs. And mac minis are so economical.
 
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Fishrrman

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
28,383
12,498
If you get into a "black screen at startup" situation, I'll offer something to try.
No promises.

- power down, all the way off
- press AND HOLD IN the startup button -- don't let go.
- do you now see "continue holding for startup options" on the display?
(if you do, then we know the connection between the Mini and display is good, AND the Mini can see it)
- keep holding until "loading startup options" appears (you can let go when you see that)
- you should get to the screen that offers (what we used to call) the startup manager
- select your internal SSD and click "continue".

Does this boot you to your login screen?

WHY I suggested this:
I have a 2018 Mini (yes, Intel and not m-series).
But since I changed displays from a Viewsonic 1080p to a Dell 4k, now and then I get into a "black screen at startup" where the Mini and the display don't "sync up" as they should.
I discovered that holding down the option key at boot (to invoke the startup manager) seems to "avert this", somehow. Not sure why.
But wondering if it could work on the m-series Mini, as well.
 
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I

isca72

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 13, 2024
10
5
Fishrrman said:
If you get into a "black screen at startup" situation, I'll offer something to try.
No promises.

- power down, all the way off
- press AND HOLD IN the startup button -- don't let go.
- do you now see "continue holding for startup options" on the display?
(if you do, then we know the connection between the Mini and display is good, AND the Mini can see it)
- keep holding until "loading startup options" appears (you can let go when you see that)
- you should get to the screen that offers (what we used to call) the startup manager
- select your internal SSD and click "continue".

Does this boot you to your login screen?

WHY I suggested this:
I have a 2018 Mini (yes, Intel and not m-series).
But since I changed displays from a Viewsonic 1080p to a Dell 4k, now and then I get into a "black screen at startup" where the Mini and the display don't "sync up" as they should.
I discovered that holding down the option key at boot (to invoke the startup manager) seems to "avert this", somehow. Not sure why.
But wondering if it could work on the m-series Mini, as well.
Click to expand...
Tried this before. But not with option key. Will try that now.

...

Nope. Tried CTL, Option and Command. None of them worked.
 
Last edited:
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Fishrrman

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
28,383
12,498
What inputs does your display have?
Have you tried something OTHER THAN HDMI (at least "at the Mac end")?
 
I

isca72

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 13, 2024
10
5
I've got the USB-C to HDMIU cable and it's working.

I am STILL having the ghost restarting issue. It also starts itself randomly while powered down.

And when I just restarted, it didn't recognise the display until I unplugged and plugged it back in.

Better than a black screen, but it feels like where it was before it all went wrong before.
 
I

isca72

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 13, 2024
10
5
K. I have a display, but the restarting is as awful as ever. I can get a few minutes and then it powers down. Sometimes it can be turned back on quickly. Sometimes I have to wait for it to do it on its own.

Tra la la....
 
I

isca72

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 13, 2024
10
5
Nguyen Duc Hieu said:
The sad news is the HDMI port on the Mac Mini might be broken, thus no image, or the display via HDMI is not detected. Keep on using the USB-C to HDMI might be the only option you have.
Click to expand...
Losing the USB-C is a pain, but not the end of the world.

My current issue is the restarting which doesn't seem to relate to any peripherals. I've only got an audio interface, and when I disconnect it, the restarting still happens. It also powers up when off. So I keep it off at the wall most of the time. Sometimes, the restarts are so frequent, I basically can't get anything done.

EDIT: I've read on other threads that there are error messages. I don't seem to get any error messages.
 
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