I have 3 2012's in the closet.Not sure if they're I7's... going from memory i think they are I5's. All have 8gigs of RAM ans SSD's.
I'm in in the States.
I'm in in the States.
Hi, I might make a mistake but isn't the 2012 Mac mini the one with Marvell ethernet chipset? Those are notorious for LAN errors. The 2014 version does not have that. Please check if what I state is right but till now I had all versions and those were replaced as fast as I could.
The M1 is marvelous BTW.
The M1 is marvelous BTW.
I have been running a 2012 i7 mini for a year now as a music server with DSP duties and haven't noticed any problem really...
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The issue is known (but which year was it? I only recall the chipset to be Marvell) and I had 2 new ones that both had it. The issue only happens when copying large amounts of data. Copy a large amount of data to a NAS via ethernet and the device will say the copying is ready after the right amount of time. Then check the data. You will notice all folders and files are there but the data is all 0 bytes.
Apple replaced the logic boards but the problem still was there. When it appeared they could not solve it they told me (user friendly as they are) that the device is supposed to be used wirelessly 😀
Again, this was a nasty item which I chose to forget. It was a Unibody version for sure which leaves the Mid 2010, Mid 2011 and Late 2012. It is just a tip from memory as I was very disappointed in having Macs with such a severe hardware error. As a serious audio person I dislike wireless and only use gigabit ethernet so they were essentially useless to me.
Apple replaced the logic boards but the problem still was there. When it appeared they could not solve it they told me (user friendly as they are) that the device is supposed to be used wirelessly 😀
Again, this was a nasty item which I chose to forget. It was a Unibody version for sure which leaves the Mid 2010, Mid 2011 and Late 2012. It is just a tip from memory as I was very disappointed in having Macs with such a severe hardware error. As a serious audio person I dislike wireless and only use gigabit ethernet so they were essentially useless to me.
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I struggled along with a Mac mini for many years. Finally sold it and bought a nuc and it is so much better.
When I thought I was being too general 🙂 Mac Mini are simply very good computers with many benefits but there was a less good model in the past. I tried every model till today.
There are also many NUC types with very good ones and also less good ones. It is therefor handy to speak of model or type names/numbers. Also the OS being used is of importance.
There are also many NUC types with very good ones and also less good ones. It is therefor handy to speak of model or type names/numbers. Also the OS being used is of importance.
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It is the Aggregate Device facility (multiple sync’d DACs) that draws me to the Mac Mini. It’s not possible to do something similar with Windows AFAIK.
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Wow. Didn’t even know that was possible.
I’m happy with a single dac and media server.
Keepin it simple. 😀
Also a big fan of the 2012 quad core Minis, sorry not ready to part with mine. Regarding Ethernet issues a workaround can sometimes be to use a thunderbolt to gigabit ethernet adapter (apple original), or do i like i do, get a used Thunderbolt display, and use the Ethernet of the display. One of the epic features of that display is if the captive TB cable dies for any reason, you can use a regular TB cable between the "output" of the display and your Mac. Undocumented, but confirmed to work.
The Late 2014 does not need any workaround. I sold my 2 examples with reluctance but the M1 is the best I ever had.
Would this Ethernet issue affect audio streaming, or is it only bigger data transfers that are glitchy?
AFAIK only large data transfers but I never streamed so it is a guess. Got rid of these unreliable devices as soon as I could. When one pays premium prices one should get premium quality. Accepting workarounds or simply severe hardware errors is a choice.
These are now 9 year old computers, maybe take a broader look at the horizon 😉
These are now 9 year old computers, maybe take a broader look at the horizon 😉