Mini Boost CD / Radio not working

Hi All, and thanks for any advice in advance.

Just bought a 2010 Mini Graphite (my first mini). I knew before buying that there was an issue with the radio not working and that was taken into account when doing the deal.
So have a couple of questions about addressing the issue.

What are the possible common issues that cause the radio to stop working?
Obviously I could look at buying a replacement unit, but it looks like stripping the dash to get at the workings of the radio unit is quite a job (especially for a newbie). Is this best left to a pro?
If I buy a replacement 2nd hand unit - is tis likely to need decoded?

Basically asking what are my options?
Regards
Allan

There's a good video of an older guy removing stock radio out of r56 MINI on YouTube. I didn't think it looked too hard a task to take on.
Is your radio still lighting up and just no sound, or is it dead completely? Are you still hearing ding dong alarm chimes if you leave headlights on and open drivers door with engine off?
If completely dead, first thing I would look at would be the fuse.
If it's just no sound and you can still see display, check behind the panel in passengers footwell, someone might have attempted the speaker channel mod and botched it or harness has came apart. (speaker mod video on YouTube also)

The radio is dead. the buttons on it are illuminated when lights are on, but no display etc. And no - no ding dong when I open door with headlights on. In fact I was quite surprised to find that headlights remained on when the engine was off and key removed - so that might explain why.
So as far I can tell from looking around online, there is a fuse behind the head unit? So would need to strip the dash to get into it?