Disassemble mac mini late 2009
This frees the black frame completely and avoids damage to the ribbon cable in manipulating the two parts of the chassis. Reinsertion is simply a reversal of that.
Mac Mini Core 2 Duo / (Late ) | iGotOffer
Trying to reseat without unclipping seems a bit hazardous to the cable which could get kinked trying to do that. On the memory question - barefeats. Have just put an extra 1GB in the mini, now at 1. Some things the mini does significantly faster Quartz graphics despite the shared video memory. That was brilliant, and I would never have been able to do this RAM install without it. I think it needs mentioning upfront that you will need a tweezers to remove and replace the cable shown in picture 5, and that it must be grasped by the very upper quadrant of the rectangular nub it is attached to.
This is not quite easy to see for those of us nearing 50! Also the airport antenna in the Core Duo 1. Thanks for the excellent informational post - this is my 20th year with Macs and the people are still the best part of it!
Puzzle solved: A faster Mac mini server
One thing I found is the Airport antenna will just pop off if you squeeze the 2 black supports together a bit, no need to pry it at all. Also it's easier to replace the hard drive if you disconnect the flat copper coloured FoxConn Cable from the drive assembly. It comes off just like the keyboard cable in some Powerbook G4s.
Just make sure you put the plastic cable wedge lock back in the cable plug on the outside. It is easier to do this with the drive assembly upside down before you put it back in. All the screws in my Mini were aluminum so go buy a glue stick before you start working. I used a very small bit of silicone caulk worked fine too. Not a "Techie" in the slightest, great guide, installed 2 Gig, everything worked perfectly and didn't break anything. This was supposed to be quite simple by removing 4 screws at each corner of the assembly.
I cannot for the life of me find all 4 screws. I am going to try again using the instructions in this thread, assuming that there have been no changes to the hardware since this thread was started. I have 3 gigs of Samsung ram from OWC which are guaranteed to work with this model mini. I just used this article as a guide while replacing the RAM in my 2. One thing I would add is that if you power up your Mini with the cover off and the fan is much louder than you've ever heard it before, that's not because the cover is off.
It's because you forgot to reconnect the small black cable shown in picture 5. Don't ask me how I know. I've worked on a Mac Pro before, and it's much easier than a Mini. You don't need detailed instructions to work on a Mac Pro. I was upgrading a Mac Mini core 2 duo 1. When I rebooted the Mini, the screen is overly purple, after some checking I can see that the computer is not putting out any yellow.
I am not sure I want to take it apart again, but if anyone has any suggestions, they will be appreciated. I was going to give this as a gift in 10 days.
Sorry Code18 18" from the keyboard , I was being so careful with the cover off, that I did not push the DVI connector all the way in. Case closed the upgrade was a success. Followed your pic-torial and all seems to have gone without a hitch. Prying the lid off was the most nerve wracking part of the whole operation. Sliding the unit back into the casing was also a bit tense, but completed without issue.
I notice the fan seems to run just a tad louder than before. I'll watch that and see if it appears to be an issue. I made the fan comment a bit early I think, it ran silent for a bit, then seemed to 'rev up' for a few minutes then settled back down to its normal quietly running self. I can definitely tell the difference between running 1GB -vs- 3GB. Nice unit! Reading through i noticed a few comments about the TUT and it's accuracy,or if people could follow it! Only pointer i would make is when inserting the putty knife s dont try to push any further than about 7mm..
RAM is cheapest it's ever been and Hdd's are so cheap you may aswell while your in there Ok I have a Silly question. I am about to upgrade my Mac mini Core Duo to 2Gb ram and replace the 80 gb drive with rpm gb drive. My question is how did you move the data from your old disk to the new one after you installed it? Did the disk come with some software to help?
Did you have to install the old disk in another machine in order to have them both running at once to move the data? I only have 1 mac mini so I'm scratching my head trying to figure out how I'm going to get the new drive to look just like my old one only with more space. Get an external drive enclosure ad clone the original drive over to the new one. Cheap and simple. It all comes down to your own preference, and others may have good suggestions too.
Followed all the great instructions thanks. Worked nicely. Everything works, bluetooth, wireless, USBs, but I get no sound in the headphone outlet. When I plug the mini-RCA contact in the little speaker jack on the back, the built in speaker shuts off, but there is no sound in the headset. The computer recognizes that something is going on.
The sound in the little built in speaker works fine.
I have tried the orange ribbon a few times, but it seems to be well in place. Does the little speaker work independently of the soundboard? When I plug the speakers in the computer switches to the headphone outlet, so card is alive and at least recognized as present. Did I ruin the soundboard or is it still not connected? Suggestions appreciated! My daughter is mad! Great guide! I put in the memory and everything works like a charm mostly This is a great piece to help losers like me with take aparts on some cheap used Macs and boken Macs.
Show notes
I love take aparts with more than 5 pics - really good work. This page, the entire Applefritter site, and all subsites of are copyright by Tom Owad unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Skip to main content. Search form Search. Intel Mac mini: Submitted by Tom Owad on March 1, - The Intel Mac mini's case is just like that on the PPC model and can be opened by prying upward with a sharp putty knife while working your way around the bottom of the case: Once you have the lid off, you'll be presented with a very tightly packed computer: Beneath and around the optical drive is a black plastic frame, with a screw in each corner: To remove the antenna, gently pry inward on the two black tabs that hold it in place and lift upward: Next, there's a small cable on the front of the mini that needs to be disconnected: With this cable unhooked, the black plastic frame is only connected at the back and can be gently lifted out as if it were on a hinge, revealing the motherboard: Two are on the bottom: And two are on the side: With the screws removed, the drive can be easily slid forward and removed: The hard drive is Serial-ATA: When you reinstall the plastic frame, ensure that the interconnect board is properly seated in its slot: It's also likely that the audio board's cable became loose, so ensure that it's correctly seated: Content Type: Computer Type: Power Macintosh.
Attachment Size thumb. Permalink Submitted by Jon on March 2, - 8: Nice takeapart. Permalink Submitted by Tom Owad on March 2, - IR sensor Permalink Submitted by evilrobot on March 3, - 5: Tom posted in the comment pre Permalink Submitted by smilr on March 5, - 6: Mac Mini is daft. Permalink Submitted by calsan on March 6, - 9: Permalink Submitted by Jon on March 6, - Permalink Submitted by calsan on March 7, - 3: Permalink Submitted by moosemanmoo on March 7, - 6: I fear you might be waiting for a very, very long time.
Permalink Submitted by thrint on March 23, - 1: Permalink Submitted by thrint on March 23, - 2: A minor correction to this paragraph thrint wrote: Good idea Nine years later, dramatically faster and smaller SSDs with the same capacities can be had for less than a tenth of those prices, so every current Mac either has an SSD by default or as an option. Running cooler, quieter, and with superior energy efficiency than traditional hard drives, SSDs have fewer failures, and reputable manufacturers tend to warranty them for longer than their predecessors.
Not all SSDs are equivalent in reliability and performance, but ones from top-tier chip companies are pretty incredible. Good news first: Hard drive replacement is generally the best option. Bad news: I strongly recommend updating your Mac to the latest non-beta version of macOS it can run before beginning the backup process. Then restore directly from your Time Machine backup.
- Before you begin.
- how to sign out of skype on mac air?
- Mac Mini Core 2 Duo / 2.26 (Late 2009).
This will give you a completely fresh start, though your emails, app settings, and other files will need to be separately hunted down and brought over from your other hard drive. For users with plans to swap an optical drive for an SSD, keeping the SSD as a non-boot drive, nothing needs to be done to prep software beforehand. However, if you plan to make the SSD your boot drive, follow the instructions above so you can enjoy the speed benefits of running macOS directly from the SSD.
One brief note on TRIM, a topic that was a bigger deal when I originally wrote SSD guides; read about it and third-party software in greater depth here. The guides omit only one step: Thankfully, earlier Mac minis are easier to open, requiring only a putty knife , Phillips 00 Screwdriver , and spudger. If I try using a Lenovo USB keyboard instead, it doesn't appear to do anything - no lights and none of the boot option key combos do anything either ctrl-alt-r, alt-r, c, etc. If I put the old drive back in then the keyboard works, boot option shortcuts work, etc, it'll boot from the install DVD The behavior on the Mini both SSD and old drive has peristed through several disassemble-swap-reassemble passes, so I'm pretty confident that no cables are pinched, disconnected, loose, etc.
Suggestions would be appreciated. I am currently having the exact same problems. Same symptoms. I still need to try a few things, but cloning to external drive then allows the Mac Mini to boot to that drive perfectly. When the drive is then transfered into the Mac Mini Late like yours I get a prohibited sign. Circle with diagonal line through it. Then, white screen with no real keyboard response.
If you hold the option ket down on boot up for a long time, then you might get the the ssd drive as a boot choice, but then the boot fails. The Mini must not see the boot file.