Can someone please help me find a replacement hard drive that will work with the late 2009 iMac thermal sensor cable? I have tried the Seagate ST500DM002 and this causes the fan to spin constantly. Any ideas? Looking for a 500GB drive if possible.
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Help me find a compatible hard drive for an iMac late 2009 model
- Thread starter PacificRimJob
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I don't quite get what you mean. There's some special procedure to re-install the hard drive? I know the thermal cable can fit in two ways and I made sure and tried both ways and it still spins 100% of the time.
Short the cable. That's what I did when I replaced the hard drive. Problem solved.
For a few years ,Apple used software embedded in the HDD to control fan speed IIRC starting in 2009 .Don't know if the 2013's still use it . Using a non Apple HDD results in runaway fan speed as the control software isn't there .Shorting the cable might only disable the HDD fan . Download a copy of SSD FAN CONTROL
( from here :http://exirion.net/ssdfanctrl/ )
this is a software patch designed to monitor HDD temperature via a non-Appple HDD's SMART circuitry , install it and run it in SMART mode . Worked like a charm on my 2010 21.5" . Doesn't cost anything , though they take donations .
( from here :http://exirion.net/ssdfanctrl/ )
this is a software patch designed to monitor HDD temperature via a non-Appple HDD's SMART circuitry , install it and run it in SMART mode . Worked like a charm on my 2010 21.5" . Doesn't cost anything , though they take donations .
First of all, you don't want a 500GB hard drive, because the 1TB Western Digital Caviar Black costs $10 more than the 500GB model.
The problem with the fans is fixed by installing SSD Fan Control.
The problem with the fans is fixed by installing SSD Fan Control.
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There are no retail drives that will work with the HDD Temp Cable. It's a custom firmware from Apple.
3 Solutions I know of:
BTW- the optical temp cable also works with Boot Camp. If you use ANY software HDD control, you must set a static fan speed before you boot into Windows.
Good luck!
3 Solutions I know of:
- Install HDD Fan Control http://www.hddfancontrol.com/ (I used this before I found the Optical Cable)
- Short the HDD Temp Cable
- Swap out the HDD Temp Cable with an Optical Temp Cable (this is what I did with my 2TB WD Black FASS drive)
macpartsonline.com 922-9229 Optical Temp Sensor Cable - 27 inch Core2Duo - Intel i5 - i7 iMac Late 2009 A1312
BTW- the optical temp cable also works with Boot Camp. If you use ANY software HDD control, you must set a static fan speed before you boot into Windows.
Good luck!
Thanks for the reminder re: booting into Windows . Forgot to mention it as I'm running Windows via VMWare which negates the necessity for a static fan speed