Dead Mac mini with no obvious damage

You could start by checking some of the fundamentals that the mini might not start without, like the Interconnect board, or something really straightforward like the power button. I have a mini that had been quite unstable until i took it to an apple store. I wrote down some numbers for parts, and took a few pictures before i sent it out and when i got it back it showed evidence that the logic board was removed but not changed. I am not aware of any way to test the logic boards, but your best bet would be to make sure that there are no types of obstructions to the interconnect board slot and no scratches/obstructions on the motherboard. you could try and run it "barebones" on a table laid out so that if some kind of case metal is shorting out, it won't do so. But other than that you would need some way of diagnosing the problem.

"is clean inside? I have some experience with a 1 dead powerbook and 1 dead macbook pro, both with similar symptom and both pretty dirty inside...dirt stuck inside the fan's and vents...the overheat kill the graphic card. Some post on youtube recommend to bake or use a heating gun. I replace the mother board and both are working again. (before the surgery I didn't get any kind of

response when I push the power button)."

"I know this is a very old thread. I like the old mac minis. People are finding ways to add value or life to them even 3 or 4 years out of most support by hack loading 10.8 and adding SSDs and extra caddies. According to a thread on MacRumors the 2006 and 2007's mac mini boards had some issues with capacitors in the area around the power board. The 2007 had two or three that tended to go bad after a few years.

Here's the thread

http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2006..."