Mac mini turns off unexpectedly

[davowolf]

My new machine turns itself off after an hour or so out of the office. Here's the Sys Pref box as its currently set up.



Any ideas ?

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Please define "turns off", does the display go to sleep and hitting any key brings you back to the login screen? Does hitting a key doesn't do anything and you have to hit the power button to get the Apple logo and then the login screen?

What happens if you set the slider there to 1 HR or 3 HRS or NEVER?

 

[davowolf]

Thanks 'R'. Answer to 1st Qu. ... the latter; machine powers off. I assume 'display off after....' means the former scenario, as it always has been with my previous machines, so slider will only control that.

 

[IWT]

@davowolf

Give this a shot:

System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General > Click on Padlock (bottom left) and input your Admin Password to open it > Click on Advanced (bottom right)

Make sure that "Log out after x minutes of inactivity" is not checked.

Worth a look.

Ian

 

[davowolf]

Thanks Ian, it wasn't ticked.....

While there I also unchecked p/w requirement as it's been asking me to jump x2 p/w hurdles on start-up, but curiously only sometimes.

I've only had it on my desk for a few days (at home by the way), so these are teething troubles I guess.

 

[IWT]

I also unchecked p/w requirement

Good move.

Ian

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Thanks 'R'. Answer to 1st Qu. ... the latter; machine powers off. I assume 'display off after....' means the former scenario, as it always has been with my previous machines, so slider will only control that.

I had the same problem with my wife's 2014 Mac mini. Do you by chance have a 3rd party SSD in it?

EDIT: I see you said it was new, but is it literally a new one or "new to you" used one?

 

[davowolf]

Its brand new, updated to 1TB by Apple through their Watford store to replace my 2014 mac mini 1TB whose logic board went AWOL.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Gotcha. I've faced this problem repeatedly across multiple Macs in recent months with different solutions for each. Yesterday, I replaced the OWC SSD that I had in my wife's 2014 iMac with a new WD Blue SSD. So far, it's not unexpectedly powering down, but I'll know better if my problem is solved in a couple days. I also had the same issue on a 2012 MacBook Air with an OWC SSD in it, and resolved by putting the Apple SSD back in.

More relevant here for you.... when I bought a 2019 MacBook Air to replace the 2012, I was having this same problem with it not waking up. SMC and PRAM resets didn't fix it nor did troubleshooting with Apple help, so I returned it to Best Buy and swapped it for another new one. This one was fine out the door, though twice since I've had to do an SMC reset because it started to develop that same issue of not waking up. Right now it's fine. I have the same Energy Saver prefs set as you do in your first screen cap.

I would try doing an SMC reset. Linked below is Apple's support page for how to do this. You'll need to follow the instructions for T2-equipped desktops.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295

Here's the specifics of what to do. In my case, what the article says to "try first" didn't work.

Try this first:

1. Choose Apple menu > Shut Down and wait for your Mac to shut down.
2. Press and hold its power button for 10 seconds.
3. Release the power button, then wait a few seconds.
4. Press the power button again to turn on your Mac.

If that doesn't resolve the issue, follow these steps:

1. Choose Apple menu > Shut Down and wait for your Mac to shut down.
2. Unplug the power cord.
3. Wait 15 seconds.
4. Plug the power cord back in.
5. Wait 5 seconds, then press the power button again to turn on your Mac.

 

[davowolf]

Ahh thanks L for such a detailed solution - pushed for time right now but will try; and report back. (Another issue has arisen - another thread...)