I've just installed Mojave on a refurbished 2014 Mac Mini and it seems to be generally working fine. But occasionally it freezes when I open an app. Just now, I opened the App Store and before I could sign in, everything froze. The mouse stopped working and I couldn't use Force Quit because I couldn't access the window. And I couldn't use Control + Option + Cmd + Power to close down, nor Control + Cmd + Power. They didn't appear to do anything. I had to use once again the long press of the Power button which I hate doing wondering what damage is being caused.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Mojave Freezes
- Thread starter mikethebook
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
There are a number of possibilities…drive issue(s), corrupted file(s) or User Account, internal hardware, external third-party hardware (if you have any connected).
As the problem is occasional it will be harder to pin down. I'd start with creating another "test" administrator User Account. You'll have to put in some time to see if the same freezing happens in the test account.
Question: was this a "clean install" of everything or did you do
As the problem is occasional it will be harder to pin down. I'd start with creating another "test" administrator User Account. You'll have to put in some time to see if the same freezing happens in the test account.
Question: was this a "clean install" of everything or did you do
- an upgrade to Mojave over an existing, older macOS…or…did you
- perform a migration after the install
Thanks for your reply. I'm not sure what the test user account does but I can try it. I have a feeling that freezing took place once before with App Store. I hate trying things and having to use the power button to shut down. What damage could that be doing?
The computer came with Big Sur installed and I did a clean install of Mojave (I don't like Big Sur and its incompatability with my printer) and installed apps individually transferring personal files from a back up disk.
I just tried Cmd R on powering up so I could test the drive with Disk Utility's First Aid but the screen remained blank for half an hour so I gave up on that!!
The computer came with Big Sur installed and I did a clean install of Mojave (I don't like Big Sur and its incompatability with my printer) and installed apps individually transferring personal files from a back up disk.
I just tried Cmd R on powering up so I could test the drive with Disk Utility's First Aid but the screen remained blank for half an hour so I gave up on that!!
many things you can do, and maybe fret over.
I would power up and press the cmd-option p-r at once to reset the pram-
hopefully that clears and resets what ever is troubling the mini.
You might have to go back to Sierra or El Cap the OS that came with the mini, then build up to Mojave.
what i did on my mac mini this week was install Mountain Lion, then everything else worked great as far a time machine installs.
of you still get the black screen, which is not good, can you make sure the connection is working properly?
also make sure the mini is not hot, i need to replace my fan this week.
hoped this helped and good luck!
I would power up and press the cmd-option p-r at once to reset the pram-
hopefully that clears and resets what ever is troubling the mini.
You might have to go back to Sierra or El Cap the OS that came with the mini, then build up to Mojave.
what i did on my mac mini this week was install Mountain Lion, then everything else worked great as far a time machine installs.
of you still get the black screen, which is not good, can you make sure the connection is working properly?
also make sure the mini is not hot, i need to replace my fan this week.
hoped this helped and good luck!
Thanks for your reply. Can you explain your first paragraph please? I've no clue what you're talking about.
My Mini came with Big Sur, but if I can get a bootup disk I wouldn't mind going back to Sierra with the old format if it works with a 2014 Mac Mini.
Meantime I've discovered that the App Store app definitely causes freezing and for a while the screen remained frozen on bootup I until one time I managed to close the app before it froze. So my next question is what is the procedure with an app that is causing problems? Thanks very much.
My Mini came with Big Sur, but if I can get a bootup disk I wouldn't mind going back to Sierra with the old format if it works with a 2014 Mac Mini.
Meantime I've discovered that the App Store app definitely causes freezing and for a while the screen remained frozen on bootup I until one time I managed to close the app before it froze. So my next question is what is the procedure with an app that is causing problems? Thanks very much.
how to reset the PRAM from
there are no bootable disks and Mavericks or Yosemite was installed in your mac mini
is everything else working on your Mac mini?
there are no bootable disks and Mavericks or Yosemite was installed in your mac mini
is everything else working on your Mac mini?
Thanks for your reply. I don't fully understand it. There are no bootable disks (apart from the Carbon Copy Cloner copy I made of the hard drive) and neither Mavericks nor Yosemite were installed in my Mac Mini, not since I bought it as a refurbished machine a few weeks back. Is everything else working on my Mac Mini? The only other problem is that I have difficulty booting from the backup or installer drive. Either starting with Options depressed or CmD R, it is hit and miss whether the start up succeeds and even then it takes a long time, 15 minutes or more.
If you use a low-speed USB stick as an installer it will very slow to startup, lag in function, and take a while to copy the system files to the targeted disk.
Does that Mini have a fusion drive in it?
By the way…if someone offers a suggestion that you don't understand please take a few minutes and look it up on the web. There are many detailed help pages out there that users here don't necessarily want to search for or retype for you.
Does that Mini have a fusion drive in it?
By the way…if someone offers a suggestion that you don't understand please take a few minutes and look it up on the web. There are many detailed help pages out there that users here don't necessarily want to search for or retype for you.
You did a clean install of the system and apps so it seems we can't blame an upgrade installation or a migration for your woes.
Is there any other drive in the Mini? The base model was sold with a Fusion drive.
What are you using for a mouse and keyboard?
Do you have any other peripheral devices attached (printer, USB drives, hubs, etc.)?
Is there any other drive in the Mini? The base model was sold with a Fusion drive.
What are you using for a mouse and keyboard?
Do you have any other peripheral devices attached (printer, USB drives, hubs, etc.)?
No other drive, I use an Apple keyboard, a Logitech M510 wireless mouse and a Brother laser printer, nothing that I can imagine is problematic.
You can't rule out the wireless mouse until you've tried a wired one. I made the switch to wired as a wireless mouse I had was definitely mucking up the works…screen freezes.
