Mac Mini bootup failure question

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Ok, so I accidentally started an Ubuntu installation (from LiveCD), but aborted it before anything was written to the harddrive (I got to the point where I had to start partitioning the HD).

Or so I thought. Now, when I start my Mac Mini up, it shows a white screen, then a black screen with a blinking cursor. That's it. And the really disturbing thing is that none of the alternative startup methods work -- for instance, pressing "c" with the original installation discs doesn't allow me to boot from them; pressing 'x' while starting doesn't boot mac os; pressing 'alt' doesn't show me any harddrives, and so on. In other words, NOTHING works, except for Ubuntu LiveCD, which boots automatically as long as the CD is in.

This is what I did to get myself into this mess: while I was still in OSX, I inserted the Ubuntu LiveCD. Nothing happened, so I made the Startup Disk the Ubuntu CD. I restarted. Aside from the aborted installation attempt, that's all I did.

Could you please help me restore my Mac HD and my beloved OS? I feel so dumb for messing around with any of this; I just want my computer back! Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[For more Ubuntu-specific details, please see this link posted in an Ubuntu forum.]
 

chscag

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Try this procedure first. Then make another attempt at booting the machine with your original installation disk. Let us know.

Regards.
 
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Try this procedure first. Then make another attempt at booting the machine with your original installation disk. Let us know.

Regards.

Thanks for the tip, chscag, but believe it or not nothing works, almost as if the keyboard is not being read at all. The only thing that seems to work is the Ubuntu LiveCD, and holding down the mouse button during startup to eject a disc. The keyboard works fine once we are in Ubuntu.

How could simply initiating the installation procedure of Ubuntu possibly lead to this??? More importantly, what do I have to do to get my system back?
 

chscag

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What I don't understand is why the machine won't boot from your original install disk. Use of the install disk bypasses the hard drive so any left over Ubuntu nastiness on the HDD should not be a problem.

I take it from your reply that you were unable to reset the PRAM and NVRAM because the keyboard was not responding? BTW, I read all the way through your thread in the Ubuntu forum.

I'm kind of at a loss here. The only other thing I can suggest is try to use another keyboard, even one for a PC will be OK provided it's USB. Once you can get the machine to boot from the original install disk, you'll be able to restore OS X.

Regards.
 
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Initiating the Ubuntu install sounds like the drive has been formatted and has no Mac OS on it and somehow you will have to boot from the install disc so keep persevering I guess is the best shot.

Can you borrow say a Leopard install DVD, a black one and not a system restore? No chance your original install DVD has become mixed up with another version?
 

dtravis7


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Have you tried booting with the OPTION key down at startup?

What keyboard are you using with that Mini? If it's the new Apple thin metal one, they are known to do that on the Mini. Can you try another USB Keyboard?
 
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What keyboard are you using with that Mini? If it's the new Apple thin metal one, they are known to do that on the Mini. Can you try another USB Keyboard?

Hey dtravis7,

Thanks for that -- it's the first time I heard this, and, YES, I do have the new Apple thin metal one! I will definitely try with a different USB keyboard as soon as I get my hands on one.

Will report back with results...
 

dtravis7


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Some others here on the forum had that issue with that keyboard. I tried mine on my mini and same issues. Let us know!

Good Luck.
 
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Solved!

Thanks for all your help, everyone, especially dtravis7 -- I'm embarrassed to report that it was all a big to-do over nothing. It was the keyboard after all, and, in the end, the only thing I had done (wrong) was to designate the startup disk as the Ubuntu CD, which was why it was the only thing that was bootable. After logging back into Mac OS by holding down the 'Option' key, I re-designated the Mac HD as the boot disk. And voila.

So for future reference, the new thin metal keyboard does not function on a Mac Mini before OS load-up. I can't believe that's what the problem was all along!
 

chscag

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Thanks for posting back. I too use an aluminum keyboard but I have it attached to my MacBook. So far so good. :D Anyway, I rather suspected it was the keyboard for you. Glad you got it running OK.

Regards.
 

dtravis7


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Thanks for posting back. I too use an aluminum keyboard but I have it attached to my MacBook. So far so good. :D Anyway, I rather suspected it was the keyboard for you. Glad you got it running OK.

Regards.


From what I understand the issue with that Aluminum Apple Keyboard is only with the Mini. I have both a G4 and Intel Mini and it does that on both but not my iMac or iBook G4. It also might be an issue with the older G4 Towers but I have not tried it on mine as yet.

Just a heads up.
 

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