Mac mini 2011/2012 5TB storage + SSD idea

[ahendarman]

I successfully installed a 7mm Samsung 840pro and a 15mm 5TB Seagate drive a couple months ago. Recently, I started to get a high count on the SMART attribute 199 UltraDMA CRC Error Count. Looks like the upper SATA cable to the 5TB Seagate is stressed because it doesn't line up exactly. The 15mm drive height requires different bents of the cable. I ended up breaking the cable trying to fit it better. So a warning .. be careful with the SATA cable alignment, they are easily broken.

 

[Hede]

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I successfully installed a 7mm Samsung 840pro and a 15mm 5TB Seagate drive a couple months ago. Recently, I started to get a high count on the SMART attribute 199 UltraDMA CRC Error Count. Looks like the upper SATA cable to the 5TB Seagate is stressed because it doesn't line up exactly. The 15mm drive height requires different bents of the cable. I ended up breaking the cable trying to fit it better. So a warning .. be careful with the SATA cable alignment, they are easily broken.

I have not had any problems with having a 7mm and a 15mm drive in the two mini`s. Where did You get the cable from?

 

[ahendarman]

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I have not had any problems with having a 7mm and a 15mm drive in the two mini`s. Where did You get the cable from?

I have a 2010 Mac Mini server so both cables are original from Apple. I can now see a small tear on the corner of the Upper SATA cable (because I forced it to bend differently). I have a new cable ordered, hopefully I have better success installing it.

 

[savoirfaire]

I have a 2010 Mac Mini server so both cables are original from Apple. I can now see a small tear on the corner of the Upper SATA cable (because I forced it to bend differently). I have a new cable ordered, hopefully I have better success installing it.

Wow, I just successfully upgraded my 2012 Mac Mini server with a 5tb drive, but I agree with ahendarman. The hard drive cables do NOT want to line up properly, and even after contorting them so that the connectors snap into place, they seem to want to pop off at any moment. At one point, I almost gave up and considered ordering a 4TB Samsung 860 QVO SSD instead. Fortunately, after reassembling everything, the Airport antenna grate and the plastic "cowling" piece seem to be helping to keep the connectors in place. Everything is running fine now, but I'm a little nervous that the hard drive cables might dislodge at some point.

 

[savoirfaire]

Thought I'd come back with an update that nobody asked for in case anybody finds this thread, thinking they might upgrade their minis. About 5 months after I did the 5TB drive upgrade, my Mac Mini froze up, and then after that it started throwing read errors from both drives like crazy and then said my boot drive (the SSD) was unreadable. I ended up just getting a 4TB Samsung SSD and a new set of cables, so with the two-SSD set-up (and new cables) it's now working fine. Here's what the old drive cables look like. They don't look awful, but either the cables were damaged or, what I think is more likely, the connectors were coming slightly unseated.