2010 Mini hard drive upgrade level of difficulty

did you ever do an older mac mini? the older mac mini open the case was hard until you learned. but the hdd sat in a solid spot and the hdd connected directly to a board. in the 2010 mini the cable is weak it can break. you need good eyes. good hands ,good light good tools.


if you are nervous here is a link for a replacement cable. 19 bucks. you could order it ahead of time just in case.


http://www.applecomponents.com/item...nsor-and/0000004780?pn=1&cmp=0167&per_page=30

Changed mine out yesterday

Wasn't too hard. I watched this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZy0wPniqqo&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Part that made me most nervous was pulling thermal sensor off the hard drive. But it came off easy enough and attached to the new hard drive simply.

The cable does break often (may 1 of 10 or 1 of 15),

but if you take your time it can be done. I always give the replacement link for 19 bucks it is a good security blanket.

Good luck !

I am looking for a video of the 10 mini server guts.

Apple should just make the drives hotswappable !!
That would kick all arse in it's form factor.

babby said:

Wasn't too hard. I watched this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZy0wPniqqo&feature=youtube_gdata_player Part that made me most nervous was pulling thermal sensor off the hard drive. But it came off easy enough and attached to the new hard drive simply.

Click to expand...

Is that the video where the guy says something like "...and if you can't do that then uninstall Life."? LOL

If it is the same video...perhaps I missed it but when sliding the board out of the case I don't recall him saying anything about disconnecting the hdd and optical drive cables before sliding everything out. I tried to slide everything out before noticing those two cables were taught! So I removed the cables and proceeded with the rest of the surgery. Apparently there was no (immediate?) damage as it booted the cloned Momentus XT without a hiccup. Whew!

For me, the hdd sensor was the easy part. However, I did sweat removing the small cable connectors. I read a post where connector got buggered up on the logic board so try to remove the little connectors very, very carefully. Take your time.

Like I said, I may have missed it in the video, but in case not, for Mini's sake please make sure the hdd and superdrive cable are disconnected when sliding the board out of the case. They are the two largest connectors I believe. You don't have to slide the board out very far to get the hdd out; as in the video, 1/2" (12mm) is plenty enough room.

Noticed on slashdot a new article about toshiba releasing new ultra slim SSDs that are in the new MacBook AIRs.

Link: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9195486/Toshiba_rolls_out_slimmer_form_factor_for_SSDs

Wonder how they will fit in a mini

uchosen said:

Wow, just did the install. I can't believe I was considering paying someone to do it for me. That was waaay easier than I thought it would be

Click to expand...

So did you remove the hdd and superdrive cable are disconnected when sliding the logic board out of the case?

Is it easy popping out that logic board that 1/2 inch to get access?

I'm going to be doing this later this week and was wondering if you found any gotchas.

thanks.