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geekhack Community => Other Geeky Stuff => Topic started by: iMav on Fri, 13 January 2017, 21:43:14

Title: Mac mini back from the dead!!
Post by: iMav on Fri, 13 January 2017, 21:43:14
So, I have a mid-2011 Mac mini (2.5 GHz Core i5, dual-core) that has been sitting on a shelf for a while. A couple of years ago, it went belly up. I sent it into a place that repairs logic boards, and received it back, fully functional. After about a month, it went belly up again. Sent it back in, and they fixed it again (warranty repair). Then, 3 months later it died again...and so I threw it on the shelf.

Fast forward to today. Read a random thread where someone referenced heating up a logic board in the oven. Considering the fact that the repair company simply did some re-soldering, I figured why not give the oven and try and let all that solder re-flow a bit.

7 minutes in a 350 degree oven. The Mac mini is now ALIVE!! (I'm currently installing Sierra on it)

Hilarious!
 
Title: Re: Mac mini back from the dead!!
Post by: dante on Fri, 13 January 2017, 21:53:49
^_^;
Title: Re: Mac mini back from the dead!!
Post by: Altis on Fri, 13 January 2017, 22:55:23
Hmm that is interesting.

The 2011 17" MacBook Pro is plagued with logic board issues. There was a lawsuit so Apple would "fix" them until this month, but the fixes would fail too.

I wonder if it's the same thing.

I've been wanting to get a 2011 i7 quad 17" (the last 17" model made) but the logic board failures make it such a risky buy. I'm not sure the screen would do well in the oven, though, so it'd have to be removed.
Title: Re: Mac mini back from the dead!!
Post by: reaper on Fri, 13 January 2017, 23:18:18
That is hilarious!  I guess we should count our blessings since my wife's 2009 Mac Mini is still going strong with none of that logic board issue.  **knock on wood**


(http://i.imgur.com/593n7Tn.jpg)
Title: Re: Mac mini back from the dead!!
Post by: davkol on Sat, 14 January 2017, 06:11:33
I had to reflow my thinkpad T40's mobo (http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=57021) many times to fix bad soldering on the GPU.
Title: Re: Mac mini back from the dead!!
Post by: vivalarevolución on Sat, 14 January 2017, 08:52:59
Check back with us in a couple months.
Title: Re: Mac mini back from the dead!!
Post by: rowdy on Wed, 18 January 2017, 02:11:27
I wonder how long it will last this time ...

Typed on my late 2009 Mac mini which has been opened twice, once to upgrade the RAM and once to replace the HDD (for more space, not 'cause the other one failed, which it didn't).

And it just keeps on going :)
Title: Re: Mac mini back from the dead!!
Post by: iLLucionist on Wed, 18 January 2017, 16:35:13
The death of my mother's beloved mac mini was the minute I switched to PC building again. After diagnosing the issue, it was another melted / badly soldered on-board Radeon. Opened the bad boy up, not only is everything soldered (which I already knew), everything has proprietary connectors as well ffs!!!

Build a PC. Dead memory, SSD, gfx, whatever? Change it. Simple as that.

But good to hear it's working fine for you! Just remembered my of my recent crossing.
Title: Re: Mac mini back from the dead!!
Post by: romevi on Wed, 18 January 2017, 17:12:50
My 2010 MBP still is running really well.
Title: Re: Mac mini back from the dead!!
Post by: Sifo on Wed, 18 January 2017, 17:40:06
but how's the smoke detector
Title: Re: Mac mini back from the dead!!
Post by: PollandAkuma on Wed, 18 January 2017, 18:03:35
I just want my laptop to be faster, and not wait for 5 minutes to do work worth 1 minute
Title: Re: Mac mini back from the dead!!
Post by: iLLucionist on Thu, 19 January 2017, 07:53:27
My 2010 MBP still is running really well.

I also have a 2010 MBP that is running well. All other Mac devices in the house have issuues, unfortunately.
Title: Re: Mac mini back from the dead!!
Post by: PollandAkuma on Thu, 19 January 2017, 14:33:41
My 2010 MBP still is running really well.

I also have a 2010 MBP that is running well. All other Mac devices in the house have issuues, unfortunately.

My Macbook Pro 2011 is still going strong, but man I'd really like something with a higher resolution. And also not freezing and lagging and fanning loudly.... Goddamnit
Title: Re: Mac mini back from the dead!!
Post by: tp4tissue on Thu, 19 January 2017, 14:56:21
My 2010 MBP still is running really well.

I also have a 2010 MBP that is running well. All other Mac devices in the house have issuues, unfortunately.

My Macbook Pro 2011 is still going strong, but man I'd really like something with a higher resolution. And also not freezing and lagging and fanning loudly.... Goddamnit

just gotta clean them fans.
Title: Re: Mac mini back from the dead!!
Post by: iLLucionist on Fri, 20 January 2017, 11:23:23
My 2010 MBP still is running really well.

I also have a 2010 MBP that is running well. All other Mac devices in the house have issuues, unfortunately.

My Macbook Pro 2011 is still going strong, but man I'd really like something with a higher resolution. And also not freezing and lagging and fanning loudly.... Goddamnit

just gotta clean them fans.

Mac's thermal design is not made to be put under load. There is no single mac that remains silent when doing more intensive CPU load. They are only silent when you browse kittens.
Title: Re: Mac mini back from the dead!!
Post by: romevi on Fri, 20 January 2017, 12:01:12
My 2010 MBP still is running really well.

I also have a 2010 MBP that is running well. All other Mac devices in the house have issuues, unfortunately.

My Macbook Pro 2011 is still going strong, but man I'd really like something with a higher resolution. And also not freezing and lagging and fanning loudly.... Goddamnit

just gotta clean them fans.

Mac's thermal design is not made to be put under load. There is no single mac that remains silent when doing more intensive CPU load. They are only silent when you browse kittens.

Or when you're browsing with kittens.
Title: Re: Mac mini back from the dead!!
Post by: mousouchop on Fri, 20 January 2017, 20:26:58
My 2010 MBP still is running really well.

I also have a 2010 MBP that is running well. All other Mac devices in the house have issuues, unfortunately.

My Macbook Pro 2011 is still going strong, but man I'd really like something with a higher resolution. And also not freezing and lagging and fanning loudly.... Goddamnit

just gotta clean them fans.

Mac's thermal design is not made to be put under load. There is no single mac that remains silent when doing more intensive CPU load. They are only silent when you browse kittens.

Or when you're browsing with kittens.

I literally read this comment, while browsing (these forums) with my cat in my lap. On my MBA. hah