Comments on: The [2005] Mac mini is a Lemon

By: kirk

kirk — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:37:24 +0000

Good point.

Has it been that long? The Mac mini is now my favorite Mac. Go figure…

By: Joel Norvell

Joel Norvell — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:29:02 +0000

Hi Kirk,

You might consider updating the title of this post to say something like “The 2005 Mac Mini…” so the scope of the issue would be clearer.

Sincerely,
Joel

By: VGA issues continue

VGA issues continue — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 21:48:39 +0000

Correction, actually. The problem doesn’t seem LAN related at all. Instead, it seems to be SATA related. Foil wrapping the VGA adapter didn’t cure it, either, so that isn’t picking up RFI. It has to be an internal design flaw at this point. Since a software install had just finished, from a local dmg source, when the problem showed up, I’m guessing it’s either a power consumption issue (drive activity using a little too much) or a crosstalk issue (SATA noise disrupting the horizontal sync). Without the full schematics and appropriate test equipment, I can’t say which option it is. I can only assume that it’s not a problem on DVI/HDMI link displays.

By: VGA issues continue

VGA issues continue — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 21:12:26 +0000

I was recently giving a new Mac mini to replace my rather old Quicksilver (G4 867MHz). Still running CRTs as I have far too many to afford the LCD switch-over (plus other financial obligations preventing even just 1 LCD purchase), I purchased the Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapter. The image looks great on my HP 19″ monitor, with no color or brightness issues; however, I do seem to have an issue that nobody seems to have mentioned online. Every now and then, numerous times during a single movie playback (streamed via LAN), the display acts like the horizontal sweep is going bad. At first, I thought it was the spare monitor I used on the Mac mini having that problem, since I saw the same problem while transferring my user data and apps from the old Mac. I even tried wrapping the VGA adapter with aluminum foil, thinking that was getting RFI from the LAN traffic.

I guess I’ll be purchasing an LCD, as soon as possible. From the sound of things, even the older problems were fixed by simply using a non-CRT display. A real shame that the VGA issues were never truly fixed after all this time, though.

By: No Luck

No Luck — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 17:16:20 +0000

Your lucky you had no problems. But I had the kernel panic in two of the mac mini, they also gave me a new one only to have the same reply. So I gave up. I would like a mac mini. But I don’t see what the point. Kernel panic that keeps happening and no one knows, or they do know and not saying.

By: kirk

kirk — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 00:13:51 +0000

Well, I wrote that article 5 years ago. I had problems then, but have been happily using a Mac mini for a year and a half.

By: what to do

what to do — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 23:38:49 +0000

I bought a mac mini and boy talk about kernel panic, the store couldn’t even figure what caused the problem. It is really sad that you buy a mac mini and no matter how many times it was checked, nothing was found. What good is buying a mac mini and the people who sell the product can’t even figure out what the problem is. Apple is not going to look good for the future if this keeps up.

By: Kirk

Kirk — Tue, 17 May 2005 10:08:22 +0000

I tried a variety of "tightnesses" for the adapter – in fact, on my second monitor,
it was green all the time, no matter how tight it was, though on my first monitor
(the one I had planned to use with the mini) it seemed to get greenish when the
adapter was very tight.

As for posters on the Apple boards, maybe they gave up, returned their minis, or
maybe they simply ended up buying DVI screens? I was not planning to do this; I
actually bought the mini as a second Mac to replace an aging iMac which I use
for testing and writing books (with a virgin installation for screen shots).

By: vertigo25

vertigo25 — Tue, 17 May 2005 05:19:05 +0000

I’ve seen the green screen on two different minis with two different displays. One was a 17" Sony, and the other some off brand flat screen. In both cases the problem was resolved by tightening the vga adapter. In both cases, the adapter wasn’t tightened equally on both screws.

I do think that there is some kind of design flaw with either the port or the adapter (or both), but I’ve also noticed that most of the people who reported display problems on the apple boards only posted once, which leads me to believe that they resolved their problem. It’s unfortunate, but on boards like that, that is usually the case.

By: engpjp

engpjp — Tue, 17 May 2005 01:09:54 +0000

Kirk,

I have a borrowed 15" Sony monitor with exactly the same problem. My room
mate has a newer 21" CRT which looks brilliant. As you point out, it seems to
be a badly constructed VGA port. What’s interesting, though, is that if I try do
watch a movie, it’s well nigh impossible when using Apple’s QT or VLC (like
trying to read in a coal mine); however, switching to Mplayer OSX made things
much better. Compared to the aforementioned 21" it still isn’t up to par, but
except for really dark night scenes, watching movies is actually enjoyable.
That said, I expect to get a new TFT screen before long – and I WILL check
that it is compatible before handing out the cash…

Peter J. Pedersen