Chosen Solution
2011 Dual-core Mac Mini 2.5GHz i5 (Bought a “for parts” Mac Mini to work on) After installing a borrowed Mac Mini drive… and installing the missing parts (fan, cables, etc) — when I boot the machine up, there is a lot of graphic distortion. All kinds, in fact. I ran the simple AHT… even though the screen was totally screwing up, it said “no trouble.” Running extended now. Will update. To confirm, this is NOT an issue with the connectors, the cables, or the actual display I’m using. All KG items. Memory is also KG from another MM 2011. What I did do: replace all the thermal paste sites (under large heatsink, and on reverse side for the separate 2 chips that I believe control the Firewire, etc but are NOT the graphics chip. Thanks
Not sure I understand your question here… Your system likely has it’s video logic as built-in into the CPU (HD Graphics 3000). Here’s the specs Apple Mac mini “Core i5” 2.3 (Mid-2011) Specs If you have the 2.5GHz version it has a Radeon HD 6630M chip (different logic board layout). Given what you have written, it’s likely the reason the system was sold as parts was because the graphics services is bad. Here’s a good image and layout of the logic board Mac Mini Mid 2011 Teardown - Steps 13 & 14 Update Not sure I follow you on the “factory installed EFI generation” All of the Intel generation of the Mac use EFI firmware. If you mean you needed to update the EFI to resolve “hangs, graphic distortion” problems I would recommend reviewing this Apple TN on EFI firmware and the issues the updates have resolved EFI and SMC firmware updates for Intel-based Macs. As to fixing this system if you have the right gear to reflow the chip you could give that a try. But, given what you’ve stated I suspect the chip is just bad (either the CPU or the GPU depending on what model you have).
I experienced the same issue as the the poster here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/750… I had the same vertical bands across the screen. I could boot to internet recovery or diagnostic mode and the lines stayed. I did a PRAM reset and it would boot up with the lines and then go blank. I could SSH into the mac like it was working normally but I could not VNC into it. I took it to the Apple store and quoted me about $300 to fix it by replacing the logic board. Considering a new one is $499, I decided against it. I figured there wasn’t much to lose and decided to try and reflow the GPU. I disassembled the mac, covered everything but he GPU in tin foil and used a heat gun on low for about 30 seconds, waving slightly. I used an infrared thermometer to check that the temperature was up to ~320F for at least 5 seconds. FYI, the GPU is the chip under the heat sink closest to to the back panel. I think the teardown only shows the intel GPU version. Since I had it apart, I replaced the PRAM battery as well (I doubt that was the culprit though). After re-assembly it booted up just like normal without any bars/lines. I watched Netflix on it for a couple of hours without issue. The heat gun cost me $23. That plus some aluminum foil and thermal paste and I have my Mac back. I’ll keep you guys posted on progress. Even if this only lasts a couple of years it’s worth it.
