Mac Mini Rebuilt / Upgrade - New Hard Drive (Folder ?)

[Sean_McIntosh]

Hi everyone,

Normally I can sift though Youtube video's, forums and message boards to fix my Apple issues. This one has me stumped. I recently picked up an old 2006 Mac Mini 1.5 Core Solo with 512k ram and 60GB HD.

I have increased ram to 2GB, processor to Core 2 Duo 2.0 and new 750GB internal HD. I tested this new HD in an internal had case/ cover and successfully installed OS X Mavericks to it. I then installed the new HD in the Mac Mini and all I get is the folder with the question mark ?

I have tried starting with the option key pressed nothing seems to work. I even tried option command R to force a web download. Nothing works!!

If anyone has come across this and knows how to fix, id be forever thankful.

Cheers
Sean

 

[pigoo3]

Easy answer. OS 10.9 Mavericks is not compatible with this setup.

- Nick

 

[dtravis7]

He should be getting the No Entry sign and not the flashing question mark.

Even with that C2D you installed, the ROM/Firmware still will tell OSX it's the old Mini. Also the GMA950 Video chip will not run on anything after 10.7 Lion.

BUT with that firmware that is in the mini Lion will refuse to install as it thinks it's still a Core Duo. Lion and up need a 64-Bit CPU.

I hope this all makes sense to you. I own a 1st Gen Core Duo Mini which I upgraded to a C2D 2.16 and have tried it all!

There is a way to get Lion on that system but it's not easy. Nothing else though will ever install or run past that.