Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

dje735 · Dec 14, 2009, 06:27 AM

I have attempted to upgrade my fully operational Mac Mini Intel Solo from its original 512Mb using 2x Nanya 1Gb 2Rx8 PC2 5300S 12F1 667. Followed an excellent hardware guide, seemingly no problems until the subsequent power on.

Power light came on but nothing else. Tried PRAM reset and NVRAM reset, no joy, so re-installed original RAM.

Same results! Have tried all the boot options I can find on the forum, can induce the fan to come on full speed with some and my screen shows some activity in that the standby led goes from red to blue for a short time and the no signal message disappears for that period. Unfortunately I also have a CD in the drive I don't seem to have any means of ejecting - at least not by the Macally keyboard I have connected. The Mini is out of warranty and I am a very long way from any Apple stores.

Help please! !

P · Dec 14, 2009, 07:25 AM

Most likely you haven't managed to get the RAM secured into the socket.

dje735 · 12:36 PM

Thanks for the swift response and oh were it so simple. I've re-seated the RAM a few times, re-trying both the 256Kb and 1Mb sticks. Slotting them in at an angle they cover the gold contact strip which then shows slightly when the stick is clipped down. re-connecting the power lead causes the screen LED to go from red to blue for about 5 seconds but no other evidence of life. Pressing the power switch on the back of the mini brings the white LED on and once again the screen LED goes to blue for a few seconds.

If I plug in the power lead with the on/off button pressed and then again press the on/off button the fan comes on full speed but without the white Mac LED. The Mac then remains in this state until I hold the on/off depressed for about 5 seconds to force a switch off. Have also tried the SMC procedure, no change switch on sees the white Mac LED illuminate and nothing else...

dje735 · Dec 15, 2009, 05:01 AM

Fixed it myself!!!!
Measured button battery voltage at just over 3v, presumed that was OK so decided to disconnect it.

Slid a piece of paper between the frontal spring contact and the battery for about 10 seconds then reassembled (with the upgrade memory in place) and applied power.

This time some whirrings then that beautiful doing! Screen came back to life and the Mini booted up as though yesterday had not happened - except now I have 2Gb RAM showing and can start to install Snow Leopard - I hope!

hardlywisdom · Dec 27, 2009, 05:40 PM

Hey dje735!

Can you shed some more light on what you fixed your issue? What do you mean by "disconnect it"? Did you leave the paper in? Was the power plugged in during the 10 seconds?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Smart thinking on the battery!

dje735 · Dec 28, 2009, 03:01 AM

Power was disconnected, paper just to temporarily isolate the button battery - easier than removing it, just left it in for the 10 seconds.

Then re-assembled everything but the outer case, powered up and bingo! - donged and came back to life as normal, showing the increased memory!

imitchellg5 · Jan 7, 2010, 09:07 PM

Actually, Media Access Control is not impervious to problems. I've never seen an ad for MAC though.

P · Jan 8, 2010, 02:11 AM

For those that missed it - the banned poster above was a signature spammer, with links in his signature and posts seemingly picked at random from a file. In this case, the post actually seems to make a limited amount of sense in the context of the thread, something none of the other posts did.

Simon · Jan 8, 2010, 04:12 AM

No wonder there were replies, his spam was left up for quite a while. I reported his sig spamming right after he posted, but several hours later his posts and his sig were still here. I'm glad to see he's now been banned.