[Tamish]

Hi - I'm new to the forum. I've come a lot for help, especially when my mini first "died". I've finally given in to my limitations as a hardware person and bought a new mini.

History: My system got a virus - I believe - because in the two years I've had it, I've never had an issue at all. I downloaded a system update and the next thing I know, it blue screened and when I rebooted, it couldn't find the os. ("Missing operating system" to be exact). I replaced the hd - that didn't work. I downloaded a system rescue cd, did MANY things on there and did find out that it's a partition issue. I can see both partitions but I can't format or touch them in any way. When I try to reload the OS, it only goes so far and stops. (Function or drive not permitted or something). I found steps to fix the partition, maybe...but, I've already spent a lot of time and I'm a developer - hardware is not my thing.

Having said all of that, I'm wondering if it's worth selling at all...getting it fixed and then selling? Kiss it goodbye altogether? It's in mint condition on the outside (for all the good that does ). This forum knows minis so I'm hoping to get some good input.

Thanks for your time.

[lswartz]

Try it one more time using this Download | Ubuntu to reformat your SSD. You can also save any critical files before doing anything as well.

[holmes4]

I doubt it is a virus. I would have said a failed SSD, but you say you replaced it, though I am confused about your also saying you found partition issues. So did you in fact replace the SSD? What exactly did you use as the replacement and where did you get it?

[Tamish]

I should have mentioned that in my first post. I also tried to install Ubuntu and also got the missing operating system.

---------- Post added at 04:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:18 PM ----------

Originally Posted by holmes4

I doubt it is a virus. I would have said a failed SSD, but you say you replaced it, though I am confused about your also saying you found partition issues. So did you in fact replace the SSD? What exactly did you use as the replacement and where did you get it?

I replace it with Super Talent - the Half Mini 2 PCIe SSD - specifically designed to be a drop in replacement for the Dell Inspiron Mini. I got it online at crucial.com. It made no difference so my take on that was it's not the SSD. I say that though not knowing much about this stuff.

[Tamish]

So - I'm still curious if there's any value at all in a broken Mini 9.

[holmes4]

Some people might be interested in it for parts. Offer it on the For Sale section and see who bites.

[Tamish]

Originally Posted by holmes4

Some people might be interested in it for parts. Offer it on the For Sale section and see who bites.

Given what I've shared, would you look into it further in terms of fixing it? I just got a 1012 but I REALLY like the Mini 9 so much better. Just curious what you would do.

Thanks!

[holmes4]

What *I* would do is not invest further in a broken Mini 9. But then my Mini 9 is no longer in active use. Even if it was, I'd probably put any money towards something else, such as an Ultrabook. Your priorities and budget may be different.

Then again, I have more experience with analyzing such problems and would at least try to figure out where the problem was. That you replaced the SSD and still saw a problem is more than a bit strange, unless you got a defective replacement. I can't think of other components that would present these symptoms.

[Tamish]

Thanks - I appreciate your input. I think I broke the partition by reformatting it incorrectly or something.

[flipper33]

i`ve been thinking about what has been posted here and i would like to offer my advice based on experience with my mini which was a bitch to fix, you say your mini blue screened after a system update and died, you replaced the hard drive and it still won`t work right, have you tried replacing the ram and reformatting the old drive which i believe may still work, my thinking is the update somehow stressed your machine and the memory failed causing the bsod and maybe even damaged your hard drive, do you have access to another mini or pc that can take a pci-e drive to test it, if not send it to me and i`ll try it in my mini, i found changing the memory help fixed my machine it might help with yours.