Stuck on gray screen at startup

Lonewolfe25 · Feb 24, 2012

Hi everyone I'm new to the forum but I'm having a issue with my Mac mini. Purchased it used off of eBay and it did not come with anything. It has worked ok for almost two weeks and today I turned it on and it will not go past the gray screen, no status bar or wheel just a gray screen. Any help would be great.

chscag · Feb 24, 2012

Do you know what version of OS X was on the machine before it stopped working? And tell us the year and model of the Mini if you can.

It sounds like the hard drive may have died or another hardware problem may have occurred. And, you're going to need a disk in order to do any kind of testing on the machine. Or contact the eBay seller and ask for a refund.

Lonewolfe25 · Feb 24, 2012

chscag said:
Do you know what version of OS X was on the machine before it stopped working? And tell us the year and model of the Mini if you can.

It sounds like the hard drive may have died or another hardware problem may have occurred. And, you're going to need a disk in order to do any kind of testing on the machine. Or contact the eBay seller and ask for a refund.

I believe I was using 10.5 and the Mac mini was from 2005 or 2006 . It only has two USB ports on the back and a 80 gb HD. How do I get a disk? Can I download a copy?

chscag · Feb 25, 2012

OS X 10.5 is Leopard and can not be downloaded. You may be able to buy a copy on eBay but make sure it's the retail version and not a model specific version. Retail versions are black, model specific versions are gray - silver.

Lonewolfe25 · Feb 25, 2012

chscag said:
OS X 10.5 is Leopard and can not be downloaded. You may be able to buy a copy on eBay but make sure it's the retail version and not a model specific version. Retail versions are black, model specific versions are gray - silver.

So what would I need to know off of my Mac mini to get a specific version?

chscag · Feb 25, 2012

Lonewolfe25 said:
So what would I need to know off of my Mac mini to get a specific version?

Year and model number. But from experience, it may be very difficult to find a model specific version of Leopard for your Mini. It will likely be much easier to find a retail version of Leopard. Also, it's possible your Mini may be able to run Snow Leopard if it's an Intel model and not PPC. Snow Leopard retail can be purchased from Apple on line for $29.99.

Lonewolfe25 · Feb 26, 2012

chscag said:
Year and model number. But from experience, it may be very difficult to find a model specific version of Leopard for your Mini. It will likely be much easier to find a retail version of Leopard. Also, it's possible your Mini may be able to run Snow Leopard if it's an Intel model and not PPC. Snow Leopard retail can be purchased from Apple on line for $29.99.

On my Mac mini the year on the bottom says model number: a1103 and the year is 2005. Will this run snow leopard? If not what model specific version should I look for?

chscag · Feb 26, 2012

Your Mini (according to that model number and year) is a PPC G4 which means that it can not run Snow Leopard as it's for Intel only. That machine probably shipped from the factory with Tiger (10.4) installed and was later upgraded to Leopard. I'm afraid you will need to find a Leopard disk, preferably retail.

Lonewolfe25 · Feb 27, 2012

chscag said:
Your Mini (according to that model number and year) is a PPC G4 which means that it can not run Snow Leopard as it's for Intel only. That machine probably shipped from the factory with Tiger (10.4) installed and was later upgraded to Leopard. I'm afraid you will need to find a Leopard disk, preferably retail.

Thanks so much for the help. I contacted the seller and he is sending me his copy lo leopard because he is no longer using it. Thanks again.

Stuck on gray screen at startup

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