mac mini 2012 folder ? icon

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Hi all
Really need some help here as i have messed up my new mac mini somehow i must have deleted everything of it including recoveryincluding internet recovery there is just nothing there just flashing folder & ? can not do command r or internet recovery at all, would welcome your advise please, yes you are right i didnt know what i was doing
Many Thanks
 

chscag

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Since the recovery partition is hidden, I don't see how you could have wiped it out unless you booted the machine with a Windows disk and overwrote everything? Can you tell us exactly what you did?
 
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I tried to delete my email account but couldnt so i decided to put back to factory settings i dont really know what happened then all i know is nothing that i try now works
 

chscag

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I tried to delete my email account but couldnt so i decided to put back to factory settings

We need to know how you put it back to factory settings? If you want help to get things up and running again, you're going to have to tell us step by step what you did.

Also, how did you try booting to recovery? Are you sure you held down the Command and R keys at the same time as soon as you heard the boot sound (Bong!)? Again, I don't see how you could have wiped out the Recovery partition since it's hidden.
 
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Hi to be honest i dont know what i did its hard to explain all i remember was pictures of harddrives coming up & i deleted them it is a october 2012 mac mini without dvd drive also i do not get the start up chime just goes to folder & ?icon thats it i have tried everything to get it back i was pissed when i deleted everything
 

chscag

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OK, I guess we have to assume you have a dead in the water 2012 Mac Mini. The first thing I'm going to suggest is that you take it to the nearest Apple store and have the genius bar there help you to get it going again. Is there an Apple store nearby your home you can take it to?

What concerns me about your machine is that you're not getting the POST (power on self test) Bong sound when you start it up. That's not good.

I'm going to be away for the remainder of the afternoon but one of our other forum members should be able to help you out if you have any more questions.
 
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No only as suggested by chscag. The Mini needs Mountain Lion installed and as you have wiped Recovery apparently, Apple will need to do this at a store/genius bar. Being a 2012 model Mountain Lion is the only operating system that will install drivers etc.
 
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Hi would i be able to install mountain lion if i used a usb dvd drive & mountain lion disk or put mountain lion on usb stick or wouldnt the mac mini find them
Thanks
 

Slydude

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Mountain Lion was never released on disc so that is a no go. Lion was released on a USB stick drive but I don't think Mountain Lion was ever released that way.

Other than going to an Apple store, here's the only thing I can think suggest that should work. You will need a thumb drive (usb stick).

1. Find a friend or neighbor that has a Mac with OS X 10.6.8 or higher.
2. Launch the App store and log into your account.
3. Download Mountain Lion but do not complete the installation. You are going to transfer the file to the stick drive following these directions. The directions and software work for Mountain Lion as well.

Once the usb drive is created you can use it to complete the re-install on your Mac. Be ware that this process erases the contents of the stick drive if you go that route. Just noticed the directions mentioned burning a DVD so that should work as well if you have an external burner.
 

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Let us know how it goes.
 
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fixed

Hi all i have managed to sort it out what i did was download a file to my windows pc called RecoveryDiskAssistant.dmg file then i formatted a usb stick put file on it & put it in mac mini then booted to usb & walla it asked for internet settings put them in & now it is downloading mountain lion should be all sorted in couple of hours
Thanks
 

Slydude

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Glad you got that sorted out. Much less of a PITA than sending it somewhere.
 

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