Faulty logic board??

[pluandboo]

Dear Community, your help please.
A month ago, my trusty 2011 Mac Mini i7 produced a white screen on start up following the chimes and Apple logo. I took my steed to an Apple certified repair shop and they let me stay whilst they tried to diagnose what was wrong. The technician tested the hard drive and memory separately, booted the machine up using borrowed components and ran a diagnostic. All the separate components and diagnostic came back totally fine, in good health and no problem. Confused, we put him back together and he started up just fine, no problems...I took him home.
Two weeks later, Mac Mini had been on sleep overnight which is unusual as I'm an avid believer of a full shut down daily. He woke no problem and I was browsing the web when all of a sudden the screen seemed to split and partially swipe across. It didn't look good. I turned I'm on and off a few times but the problem kept return until low and behold, the white screen of death returned. I took it back in to the shop and I assume they ran another diagnostic. They reported it must be the logic board but I suspect it's because they can't fully blame one component. I've nose run the hardware test at home and it passes every time, including testing the logic board.

Should I go ahead and replace the very expensive logic board at the risk it's something else? Has anyone had this problem before? Guidance anyone?

 

[pigoo3]

They reported it must be the logic board but I suspect it's because they can't fully blame one component.

Should I go ahead and replace the very expensive logic board at the risk it's something else? Has anyone had this problem before? Guidance anyone?

There's really not that many components inside of just about any Apple computer. You got the RAM, the hard drive, the logic board, a speaker, and some other small stuff. The logic board contains the "stuff" that effects the video. Unless the Mac-mini's video port is messed up (bent)...a bad monitor cable or a bad monitor...then it is most likely the logic board.

As far as replacing the logic board. This is up to you. The cost of replacement needs to be compared to the current value of a similar used 2011 Mac Mini (in 100% working order). Many many times with Apple computers the cost of logic board replacement does not make financial sense.

One other thing you can try. Do a complete hard drive wipe/format...and a fresh install of the OS. This should help verify that the problem is hardware or software. Sounds like the person who worked on the Mini may have done something like this...but wasn't 100% sure.

- Nick

 

[pluandboo]

Do a complete hard drive wipe/format...and a fresh install of the OS. This should help verify that the problem is hardware or software. Sounds like the person who worked on the Mini may have done something like this...but wasn't 100% sure.

Thanks for replying Nick, I may as well try the hard drive wipe and see if that makes a difference. How do i do a hard dive wipe without getting through to disk utility and only having a startup menu?

Thanks

 

[pigoo3]

...I may as well try the hard drive wipe and see if that makes a difference. How do i do a hard dive wipe without getting through to disk utility and only having a startup menu?

I'm assuming you have OS 10.7 or newer installed. If so...you:

- Boot into the Recovery Partition (two keys: command + r).
- Launch Disk Utility.
- Wipe & reformat the drive.
- Quit Disk Utility.
- Then select reinstall OS from the main menu.
- Reboot

This should do it.

- Nick

p.s. Of course back up everything that is important. Even better...use an app like Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) or Super Duper...to "clone" your HD on a separate HD.

 

[pluandboo]

It won't boot up in the recovery partition, it goes to the white screen just like the normal startup drive...

 

[pigoo3]

It won't boot up in the recovery partition, it goes to the white screen just like the normal startup drive...

What OS version is installed?

- Nick

 

[pluandboo]

OS X Mavericks

 

[pluandboo]

There has been a breakthrough!! I had a thought to try and boot up to my external drive which I use as my time machine back up, that way I might be able to get to the disk utility....well it WORKED! I am currently erasing the main drive in the hope that I can delete whatever is corrupting it. I am more than happy to buy another hard drive anyway. Does this mean that it is even less likely to be the logic board?

 

[IWT]

@pluandboo

boot up to my external drive which I use as my time machine back up

Pardon my ignorance (and I'm not being sarcastic), but if you've the time, can you just take me through how you managed to boot up your Mac via an External Hard Drive (EHD) with Time Machine (TM) on it. TM is not bootable. So what exactly did you do?

Ian

 

[ferrarr]

Ian, see this Apple Support Article, https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201250, the last line says anything after Lion 10.7.3 and Time Machine is bootable.

It fails to mention that it works with the Recovery partition, that's what I think anyway.

 

[IWT]

Well, Bob, this is yet another thing I've learnt.

How many times on these forums have you (perhaps ), I and many others (certainly) pointed out that Time Machine (TM) is not bootable and advised cloning backups - they have other advantages too, of course.

Apparently TM is bootable, albeit in a different way from Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) or SuperDuper! (SD!). I'm guessing that quite a few members will be as surprised as I.

Ian

 

[ferrarr]

I know, right.

I don't know if booting from Time Machine is/will be possible if the drive has failed or become corrupted. Bootable USB's are needed now more than ever.