Over the last 3 months, after I bought my first Mac Mini, which came installed with mountain Lion, I've had to reinstall the OS over 10 times now.
Here's a list of steps of what happens:
- I turn it on, the Mac sound comes up.
- It opens up the white screen with the Apple symbol in the middle.
- A little progress bar comes up, loads up around a centimeter.
- Mac turns off.
And this process can be repeated over and over again if I wish, just have to turn the Mac on again.
I've tried everything every time this happens, here's a quick list:
- Resetting PRAM and NVRAM.
- Resetting the System Management Controller.
- Safe boot.
- Using Disk Utility to repart the drive. It just ends with an error and tells me to backup my data and re-install (or something like that).
I've basically tried every solution Apple offers in their KBs. Every one. Also every solution that I've found on Apple discussions.
But nobody seems to have this problem so there isn't any real solution!
Now, honestly, while it is bothersome to do re-install, I can do it no problem, the problem is that now I don't have a Bootable USB Drive Installer, so I've finally come to ask this.
Do I need to get a new hard drive? It's the only solution that I can come up with now. I also thought of installing Snow Leopard instead of Mountain Lion, but I would need a second Mac to do that (which I don't have), and a Thunderbolt cable (which I don't have).
Any help you could provide on this I would love it, it's driving me NUTS!
Extra details you might need:
I have a late 2011 Mac Mini. Using a 2 generations old iMac keyboard.
The hard drive I have is a "500.11 GB ST500 LM012 HN-M500MBB Media".
Best Answer
Well - if Disk Utility tells you you need to back up your files and erase the drive, that would be my first step at fixing the problem.
It's not possible to tell if you have a hardware or software problem, but once you have backed everything up (or gotten help doing that), then
Apple usually provides phone support for free within 90 days of purchase, so you might call AppleCare or visit an Apple Store for free service should one be close.
Most people can follow the two articles below to reinstall the OS:
Feel free to ask another question if you have a problem within these steps. You could still have a hardware error underlying the issues, but until you try a software fix, it's hard to know that your filesystem isn't just in a bad state where OS X declines to try to fix it.
Your keyboard will be fine for the reinstall, and you don't need bootable media since Internet Recovery will know that Mac shipped with Mountain Lion and offer to re-download the installer when you need it.