2011 Mac Mini Won't Boot

[lxg68921]

Hello everone, 

 

I have a 2011 Mac Mini, and a few months ago it suddenly stopped working, when I try to boot it it doesn't start, no video output, I hear the HDD boot and the fans just blows on the highest speed. I have restarted the PRAM and SMC and replaced the small battery on the motherboard. I really don't know what is wrong with it, can anyone help?

Thanks in advance

[Sauron]

If it has no video output whatsoever, the gpu or the motherboard might be dead.

[lxg68921]

It does when I remove the RAM, it shows the no RAM icon.

[Sauron]

4 minutes ago, lxg68921 said:

It does when I remove the RAM, it shows the no RAM icon.

Then maybe there is hope. Can you boot from an external drive?

 

By the way, please quote me when you answer or I won't get a notification.

[lxg68921]

Just now, Sauron said:

Then maybe there is hope. Can you boot from an external drive?

 

By the way, please quote me when you answer or I won't get a notification.

No dice, still doesn't boot. I have 2 RAM sticks, tried both of them in both slots, still nothing. The only hope is to bake it in the oven, in hope that reflowing might do something to help.

[Sauron]

3 minutes ago, lxg68921 said:

No dice, still doesn't boot. I have 2 RAM sticks, tried both of them in both slots, still nothing. The only hope is to bake it in the oven, in hope that reflowing might do something to help.

NO! Don't bake it! If you get an image on screen, your cpu and gpu are perfectly fine. Baking it will only cause harm.

 

It's much more likely your ram is dead.

[lxg68921]

1 minute ago, Sauron said:

NO! Don't bake it! If you get an image on screen, your cpu and gpu are perfectly fine. Baking it will only cause harm.

 

It's much more likely your ram is dead.

RAM is brand new, tested in another laptop. Also tested it with old RAM sticks.

[Sauron]

2 minutes ago, lxg68921 said:

RAM is brand new, tested in another laptop. Also tested it with old RAM sticks.

I see... well, if you can't boot from an external drive, the ram is known good and the cpu and gpu are fine it's probably a dead motherboard. Baking it wouldn't fix a dead motherboard anyway so you can save your oven (by the way, you are aware of the fact that once you used it to bake electronics, that oven can't be used to make food any more, right?). Your best bet is to take it to a board repair shop, if it's a minor issue they might be able to fix it at a low price.

[lxg68921]

1 minute ago, Sauron said:

I see... well, if you can't boot from an external drive, the ram is known good and the cpu and gpu are fine it's probably a dead motherboard. Baking it wouldn't fix a dead motherboard anyway so you can save your oven (by the way, you are aware of the fact that once you used it to bake electronics, that oven can't be used to make food any more, right?). Your best bet is to take it to a board repair shop, if it's a minor issue they might be able to fix it at a low price.

Could be, read online somewhere someone had the same issue and baked it and it worked. Did not know that about the oven, why is that? I'll try contacting some repair shops to try and get a quote, thanks for the help.

[Sauron]

Just now, lxg68921 said:

Did not know that about the oven, why is that?

Turns out baking lead and other materials on a PCB tends to release toxic substances. The oven will still work but it would be likely to poison your food.