Mac mini won't reboot from Installer USB

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I have an old 2011 Mac mini that I want to get going again to watch films on. I made an OSX Yosemite usb thumb drive installer but when I plug it in and turn on the power it just makes three beeps repeatedly without doing anything more. What do the three beeps mean? Is it dead? Is there a way of getting into the BIOS setup? Many thanks
Stuart
 

chscag

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Welcome to our forums.

The three beeps over and over indicate a memory problem. Either the RAM is the wrong type or defective. Best test is to substitute known good memory. While the unit is open, you might also want to change out the BIOS battery.
 

IWT


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Didn't know Macs had a BIOS battery - did you mean CMOS battery, Charlie ?;) :)

Ian
 
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chscag

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LOL, you're correct of course Ian. Too early in the AM when I posted that.
 

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