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mitchell_pgh · 10:55 PM

My friend finally decided to pick up an Mac mini. He has never owned a Mac and owns an iPod which he loves.

So he went to the Apple store, purchased the $499 model and took it home. He plugged it in and got this message on his screen.

http://www.bombaybungalow.com/macnn/broken_macmini.jpg
[Inline images must be no wider than 480 pixels. --tooki]

Ugh, Apple said take it back, and that it might have been a test machine.

:-(

Krypton · Jan 23, 2005, 04:29 PM

Would you care to explain why the mini was running OS 9?

osxisfun · Jan 23, 2005, 04:33 PM

i think it was a joke.

ugg... bad one.

mitchell_pgh · Jan 23, 2005, 04:43 PM

I'm not kidding and it's not a joke, the guy doesn't own another computer.

I'm thinking it's the Mac BIOS or something.

When he called the apple store, they said it may have been a test machine and to bring it in and they would give him a new one.

osxisfun · Jan 23, 2005, 04:45 PM

whoah. sorry. ummm do bits of rom still have the os9 interface?

mitchell_pgh · 10:55 PM

I'm not sure, but I'm positive it's a Mac mini... the guy called me because he didn't know what was wrong.

I feel a little like an ass because I went on and on about how simple it is to set up.

another photo
http://www.bombaybungalow.com/macnn/hosed_macmini.jpg
[Inline images must be no wider than 480 pixels. --tooki]

Senjutsu · Jan 23, 2005, 06:06 PM

Apparently Cashmere Rework is some sort of program that they install at the factory to test for defects. After it's run, the drive is supposed to get re-imaged with a normal OS X install.

Over the years a few people have reported recieving hardware that someone forgot to re-image, and apparently your friend is now one of those "lucky" few.

If you know what you're doing, you could easily install OS X off the included disk yourself, though apparently you have to repartition the drive as the testing program only sets up a relatively samll 12 G partition or some such.

Or you could take it back if it makes you feel more comfortable.

mitchell_pgh · Jan 23, 2005, 06:34 PM

I told him to pack it up and get a new one at the store.

Eug Wanker · Jan 23, 2005, 08:49 PM

Copy the files off the drive and keep the diagnostic apps just for fun. Then send the computer back (or else reinstall the OS yourself).

Is there a SuperDrive firmware flasher on that machine? Remember, the region free firmware for the original PowerBook SuperDrives were based off a firmware flasher that Apple forgot to erase before they sent it to the customer.

tooki · Jan 23, 2005, 10:54 PM

They just forgot to load the default system install onto it after testing.

If you reformat the disk and do a default Mac OS X installation plus a default restore from the DVD, you'll be exactly where it should have been out of the box.

I've seen this on a couple of machines before. It's rare, but it does happen, and it does not indicate a problem with the hardware in any way.

tooki

velodev · Jan 24, 2005, 12:19 AM

Originally posted by Krypton:
Would you care to explain why the mini was running OS 9?

Hmm, it resembles the Hardware Diagnostic GUI if you ask me...

Eriamjh · Jan 24, 2005, 08:10 AM

Originally posted by tooki:
If you reformat the disk and do a default Mac OS X installation plus a default restore from the DVD, you'll be exactly where it should have been out of the box.
tooki

I'd take it back. You have no idea if it really does have problems. You wouldn't want to install OSX only to find months later that some port or mode doesn't work because of a hardware failure. Play it safe. Take it back.

tooki · Jan 24, 2005, 12:17 PM

It is no sign of hardware problems. If it made it into a box, it means it passed, they just forgot to reformat and re-image the drive when they were done.

tooki

Jasoco · Jan 24, 2005, 08:06 PM

This is the first I've ever seen this and it's pretty funny. But seriously, I hope it doesn't burn him on the whole Mac experience. Once he gets the computer with the actual OS on it, it'll be fine..

Though, didn't the computer come with discs? Can't he just install the OS himself? Don't waste time taking it back, the computer's fine, it just needs to be restored.

yikes600 · Jan 24, 2005, 10:11 PM

I found someone else's similar experience with a PowerBook
http://www.androidslibrary.com/archives/000054.html

Simon · Jan 25, 2005, 04:29 AM

I find it pretty amazing that Apple's manufacturers don't check to see that the machine boots properly before the box is closed and sealed. Imagine some granny buying a mini and getting that screen.

And btw, it's not OS 9, just the GUI looks similar. The Hardware Test interface looks like that too. Apple just recycled some old code. No biggy, it's proprietary testing software (aka hack), they certainly didn't have to obey GUI guidelines when they wrote it.

elviraverdugo · Jan 26, 2005, 08:51 AM

Wow. That is fascinating. I had no idea that this sort of thing was going on behind the scenes. Kind of funny, really.

Hope that your friend now has a fully functional, OS X Mini!

capuchin · Jan 26, 2005, 07:41 PM

Slightly O/T:

Back in the mid-nineties, I worked for a large UK Apple Authorised Dealer. I sold a customer a powerbook 5300ce, only to have him call up, irate that the system didn't include a floppy drive, and that his CD's were too big to go into it. As this was patently impossible, I had him bring it in, and swapped it out for a new unit. Once he was gone, I took a look at his old one to check it out before sending it to the service department for RMA'ing.

Lo and behold, he was right. Instead of the floppy drive, there was a 3.5" CD-Rom drive, containing a proprietary disk of internal tools. We called Apple up, and they sent a very, very embarassed manager over to pick it up and try and get us to sign some kind of NDA. We copied the disk and played with some of the apps, which were cryptic in the extreme, and therefore utterly useless.

For those of you young 'uns out there - this was a *long* time before Apple started shipping CD-Rom drives in laptops...

Peter753 · Jan 26, 2005, 09:59 PM

Wow, that is just an awsome story.

discotronic · Jan 26, 2005, 10:40 PM

Originally posted by capuchin:
Slightly O/T:

Back in the mid-nineties, I worked for a large UK Apple Authorised Dealer. I sold a customer a powerbook 5300ce, only to have him call up, irate that the system didn't include a floppy drive, and that his CD's were too big to go into it. As this was patently impossible, I had him bring it in, and swapped it out for a new unit. Once he was gone, I took a look at his old one to check it out before sending it to the service department for RMA'ing.

Lo and behold, he was right. Instead of the floppy drive, there was a 3.5" CD-Rom drive, containing a proprietary disk of internal tools. We called Apple up, and they sent a very, very embarassed manager over to pick it up and try and get us to sign some kind of NDA. We copied the disk and played with some of the apps, which were cryptic in the extreme, and therefore utterly useless.

For those of you young 'uns out there - this was a *long* time before Apple started shipping CD-Rom drives in laptops...

That is a cool story. I would be on cloud 9 if something like would have happened to me. Be careful though...with all the law suits going on that NDA may come back to bite you. Giving out Apple secrets and all (just kidding)