Installing Mac Mini Model A1176 Dual Hard Drive

Geschrieben von: Brittany McCrigler
  • Kommentare: 58
Installing Mac Mini Model A1176 Dual Hard Drive

Schwierigkeitsgrad

Moderate

Schritte

27

Zeitaufwand

1 Stunde

Einleitung

Use this guide to trade your optical drive for a second hard drive.

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    • Power down your Mac mini, disconnect all of the cables, and flip it over.

    • Insert the Jimmy into the crack between the aluminum top housing and the plastic lower housing.

    • The Jimmy should reach a stop about 3/8" down.

    A spackle knife makes these steps go much faster.

    jouniseppanen -

    A double sided letter opener or a thin non-serrated butter knife will suffice.

    To prenent cosmetic blemishes, place a matchbook cover or similar thin cardboard on the outer perimeter under the “jimmy”.

    Mike -

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    • Gently bend the Jimmy outwards to pry the crack open a little larger and lift the lower housing up a small amount.

    • There are several plastic clips on the lower housing that fit into a channel in the aluminum top housing. Your goal is to use the Jimmy to push these clips inward enough to free them from the channel, while gently pulling up on the lower housing.

    Patience is your best friend.

    Do not insert “jimmy in too far. Marking a line from tip upwards on the tool will prevent too far insertion, possibly breaking tabs or damaging internal components.

    To prevent the cover closing back up, small strips of matchbook cover (os equivalent) can be inserted about half inch hold prevent closure.

    Mike -

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    • Once you have the first side free, rotate the Mac mini and start prying up on the front edge.

    • Use the same prying motion to both bend the clips inward and lift the lower housing up out of the top housing.

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    • You may need to move the Jimmy along the edge to pry up all of the clips. Be patient and do a little bit at a time.

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    • Keep working around the perimeter, freeing the clips along the final edge.

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    • Flip the Mac mini back over and lift the top housing off of the lower housing.

    Before reassembly, make sure no wires are sticking out.

    Line up top cover carefully. Gently press down on top cover until top and bottom fully seated.

    CAUTION! DO NOT PRESS TOO HARD ON THE COVER TO PREVENT CRACKING THE PLASTIC TOP.

    GO EASY.

    Mike -

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    • Later in this guide you will remove several recessed Phillips screws. Bit drivers are generally too large to fit in the recesses, so be sure to have a thin shafted Phillips screwdriver on hand.

    • First remove the AirPort antenna (the larger of the two), located near the power button.

    • Slightly squeeze the two retaining arms toward each other and lift the AirPort antenna off its post.

    • Squeezing the two posts excessively will surely break them off the internal frame. Work delicately.

    • During reinstallation, you will have to slightly squeeze the two posts together so they fit into the openings on the AirPort antenna board.

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    • Use the tip of a spudger to slightly lift the left side of the ZIF cable lock up from its socket.

    • The ZIF cable lock will lift about 1 mm and stop. Do not try to completely remove the ZIF cable lock.

    Now also lift the right side of the ZIF cable lock up from its socket.

    chriZ -

    Good catch of the incomplete unlocking instructions. ;P

    lamarhavard -

    Hmmm... what if I didn't read this before and I removed the cable and the lock sort of broke?... what would happen... would I experience problems? I can still put the cable back in place and push the lock back down with the spudger.

    Dan O -

    Same. I totally removed the lock , the edges are busted and won't stay in place, How can I get the cable to stay? what's the fix?

    Suzanne -

    Dan O & Suzanne, hold the cable in the socket and put a dab of hot glue on both sides, It's non-conductive and should hold...worked for me.

    lamarhavard -

    does any one know, where to get the connector from zhe ZIF Cable?

    someone, that preowned my mac broke the holder!

    julian gmeiner -

    Julian, did you ever find where to get a replacement lock for the Zip Cable. Mine is also broken..

    Suzanne -

    This is not my first memory replacement in a Mini and I got over-confident and stupidly fully removed the audio cable ZIF lock and assumed I had broken something. But, now that I have read this guide more carefully, I am not sure. I sure would love to hear some detailed instructions for putting a ZIF lock back on.

    Is it possible that I have removed it without having broken it? If I have broken it, do I have to buy a new cable? Just a new ZIF lock? A new audio board? This is a 2.0 GHz A1176.

    Thanks!

    GalvanicMacPro -

    Michael, Mine seems to be broken. I bought & tried the Kapton Tape that was suggested & still no sound.

    Suzanne -

    C’est la première que je doit déverrouiller un câble ZIF. Je précise qu’il faut lever à gauche et à droite, ça force un peu, prendre appui sur le boitier du Mac, comme e montre la photo.

    La partie noire reste dans la partie blanche (+1 mm), et la nappe flexible sort par le haut.

    Ludovic -

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    • Lift the audio board ribbon cable up out of its socket.

    • If it refuses to lift from its socket, the ZIF cable lock is not fully released. Make sure it is evenly lifted about 1 mm from the socket on the interconnect board.

    As an option to avoid potential damage when disconnecting the cable from the ZIF socket and clip, it is possible to unscrew the audio board and remove it along with the internal frame.

    Nick Baldwin -

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    • Rotate the mini so that the SuperDrive slot loading mechanism is facing you.

    • Use a pair of tweezers to lift the hard drive thermal sensor cable connector up off its socket on the logic board.

    • Use tweezers to grab the connector (as seen in the picture), not the wires.

    • The connector is located under the optical drive opening, next to the PRAM battery.

    Managed to leave this connected by flopping back the drive rather than totally removing

    pglock -

    WATCH OUT!!

    separated one of the wires from the connector very easily. i would have preferred to use a spudger at this step. the tweezers in effect snipped the wire!!

    mklsvg -

    As my experience you should definitely use angeled tweezers as shown in several pictures. To avoid stripped cable deflash sharp edges of the tweezers a little bit. I never experienced problems when using that kind of tool carefully.

    Timpetou -

    I've had to remove a few of these connectors on iBooks and other small Apple devices ... I've found that, with careful and gentle pressure (working first one side and then the other) using a small flat-headed jeweller's screwdriver is best.

    Mike Haines -

    I agree Mike.

    dixieskettlecorn -

    Note where the airport antennae connecting wire comes out from the interior along the top. When reassembling, it has to be routed the same way, or it won't reach its install position.

    robert -

    If your fan runs at high speed after you complete this project, you have forgotten to reconnect the thermal sensor.

    Curt -

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    • In the next few steps, you will remove the four Phillips screws securing the internal frame to the bottom case. Included in each step is an overview picture showing the general location and a closeup showing the actual screw.

    • Remove the recessed Phillips screw near the power button securing the internal frame to the bottom housing.

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    • Remove the recessed Phillips screw near the sleep light securing the internal frame to the bottom housing.

    • This screw is the longest of the four screws securing the internal frame to the bottom case.

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    • Remove the Phillips screw from the internal frame near the Bluetooth antenna.

    Before removing any of these screws, there is another step needed which is not here:

    On the front of the optical drive, right side as you look at the slot-load, is a small blue board attached by a single black screw. This needs to be removed before the optical drive can be taken out.

    Mike Haines -

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    • Remove the Phillips screw near the audio ports securing the internal frame to the bottom case.

    On reassembly, if you don't have a magnetic screwdriver, a tiny dab of grease at the tip of your screwdriver will help hold the screw on the driver so you can lower it into the recessed slot.

    pfbloom -

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    • Gently lift the internal frame up from the bottom housing, minding the AirPort antenna and any other cables that may get caught.

    • It may be necessary to pull up near the interconnect board to separate it from the logic board.

    At this point be careful that you don't pull out the Airport antenna ... but if you do, just check that it is back before re-assembling.

    Mike Haines -

    During re-assembly, the internal frame has to go in at an angle ... the back of the optical drive goes in first.

    This means that you can seat the fan cover correctly, but more importantly, there is an interconnect board on the back of the optical drive that must be firmly pushed back into its housing on the logic board.

    Mike Haines -

    Reassembly: Before slipping the main frame back into its place, refer to earlier photos, ensuring proper routing of the WiFi cable.

    Steve -

    If, like me, you pull the wire on the airport antenna free, it snaps back into place easily. The connector is on the extra card screwed to the motherboard that looks like it has a phone battery embedded in it. The connector is at the top of the 'battery'. This accessory card is the wifi card, so it makes sense that the antenna plugs onto this.

    Dan -

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    • The Bluetooth antenna is removed by simply lifting it up off the internal frame.

    • Remove the Bluetooth antenna from the internal frame by pushing up on both sides of the board as close to the center post as possible.

    • This may require a bit of force.

    I tried using quite a bit of force and still this board would not come free. In the end I didn't remove it and found I could do the repair without removing it!

    Mike Haines -

    use tweezers at other side to clamp and push the whitestud trough, otherwise you might brake it

    joost -

    I left this piece in place and the optical drive wiggled around it. I applied as much force as I was comfortable with and I did not want to break the Blue Tooth antenna. This was a good work around and did not cause much if any trouble removing the old drive or placing the new drive into the computer.

    sikkingj -

    Comme le dit Mike, l’antenne est un peu dure à enlever. Elle peut être laisée en place, à l’étape 20, lever le lecteur par le coin opposé à la carte d’interconnexion, pour extraire le lecteur par l’avant.

    Ludovic -

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    • Remove the two Phillips screws securing the optical drive to the internal frame.

    A Phillips #0 is definitely required for this!

    Javier Campos Delgado -

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    • Turn the mini 180 degrees and remove the two Phillips screws securing the optical drive to the internal frame on the other side.

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    • Remove the two Phillips screws securing the interconnect board to the optical drive.

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    • Use the flat end of a spudger to separate the interconnect board from the optical drive.

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    • Lift the optical drive out of the internal frame.

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    • Remove the plastic spacer from the optical bay hard drive enclosure by pressing in on one of the clips on either side and lifting it up and out of the enclosure.

    is it 9,5mm or 12,7mm for the caddy? My stuff macbook pro mid 2010, need advice what size is compatible. Thank you

    Adi Purba -

    All Macbooks use 9.5mm Optical Drive Caddy, also, If you’re wondering as well, the Optical Drive runs at SATA II speeds just like with the main hard drive area, so if you’re using a SSD, then it’s going to run at a slightly slower speed.

    - PS5iscool - -

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    • Make sure that the hard drive connectors are facing down before placing it into the enclosure.

    • Gently place the hard drive into the enclosure's hard drive slot.

    • While firmly holding the enclosure in place with one hand, use your other hand to press the hard drive into the enclosure connectors.

    Okay it seems like some models of MacBook Pro have issues with a fast (6Gbit/s) SSD in the optical bay. Even though my Mac says it offers 6Gbit on both bays it simply didn't work in the optical bay. So I switched places between the two drives and everything seems to work. My Mac booted from the old HDD in optical bay automatically and then I cloned it afterwards and changed the startup disk to the new one. As said before, don't put a fast SSD in the optical bay!

    Carl -

    This is an extremely late response to an old comment, but… whatev’s. My 2011 MacBook Pro had that issue: the main (HDD bay) SATA operated at 6Gbit, and while the optical bay said it was 6Gbit, the “Negotiated Link Speed” was like 1.5Gbits regardless of what you put in it (I can understand 1.5Gbits for an optical drive, but not for an SSD). Some of the early 2012 models did the same thing, from what I understand, but that was corrected pretty early on; both my 13” and 15” 2012’s run at 6Gb/s on both SATA busses.

    AJH -

    It’s not wise to swop the optidrive for an HD as there is no physical protection. The caddy is only intended for an SSD.

    Ben Ormerod -

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    • Once the hard drive is snug, reinsert the plastic spacer while holding the hard drive against the bottom of the enclosure.

    Normally with the HD enclosure there come a set of screws. use these to screw down the HD in the enclosure since you need to flip it up side down to reinstall it into the MBP

    Bart -

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    • Use two Phillips #1 screws to secure the drive to its enclosure.

    Where are these screws coming from? Were they part of the original optical drive?

    Bradley DeHerrera -

    The new enclosure should include these two Phillips screws.

    Sam Omiotek -

    Can someone show the step of removal process of hdd/SSD placed in the caddy? I am unable to revert this process. Do we have to apply back greater force to remove back the hard drive/SSD from the caddy?

    Tarun Kumar Verma -

    Gads, I wish they made a caddy where the optical drive was removable without having to remove the entire caddy. That is a major peeve of mine. Like… just mount it the other way! I don’t want to have to go through this entire process every time I upgrade the secondary drive.

    AJH -

    These screws seems to be located in different places on different enclosures. I had serious trouble getting the SSD that the previous owner of this MacBook installed out of the enclosure until I realized the screws holding the SSD in place were on the side and not on the bottom. In case anyone else has the same issue!

    nessie1001 -

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    • Attach the optical drive bracket to the new enclosure with two Phillips #0 screws.

    • Reconnect any cables you have removed from the original optical drive onto the optical bay enclosure.

    Replaced the optical with hdd, as well as replaced the hard drive with an ssd. Now I get the circle with a line through it. But, when I hold the option key down, it gives me both hard drives, PLUS, the thumb drive I have in the USB port with a Mountain Lion installer. It even shows the recovery disks, but gives me the circle with the line when I choose one. Any help is appreciated.

    claude -

    Mate,

    My mbp shipped with OS 10.8, and I had upgraded twice to 10.10

    I've a 10.7 USB which upgraded my old MBP.

    My plan today was to boot with my new ssd, my time machine back up and the Lion usb plugged in.

    I would then click on the Lion usb, and tell it to put the OS and time machine back up on the ssd.

    So I help down ALT and when it started it gave me the options of the usual Mac internal or the Lion USB.

    I clicked Lion, but instead of taking me to the install options (Disk utility, restore from time machine etc etc) it gave me that grey circle with a diagonal line through it. The no entry sign - grey on grey - that I think you have.

    Some googling said that it is because I was trying to usb a 10.7 install on a MBP that shipped 10.8

    You can't go back, apparently.

    So if any of the OSs are older than the mac you got, you will get this error. The grey in grey no entry.

    I just cloned my HDD to my ssd (Carbon copy cloner free 30 day trial) using an external stat-usb3 wire and all is good.

    Rory -

    I have a 17" Macbook Pro6,1 unibody with an Intel Core i5, 2.53GHz. I was successful installing a 250GB SSD in the DVD bay, and I'm able to boot from it. I did this by first installing OS X 10.9.4 on the SSD mounted into an external HD case, testing the system to see if it would boot up into the SSD, then installing the SSD and carrier in the DVD drive bay. The system now boots up from the SSD with no problems. If you are having installation problems, I recommend trying this method.

    roger hall -

    I just have finished installing second SSD to my MBP (unibody 15` 2010).

    First one was changed like one year ago. Samsung 500GB SSD. It is in my HDD bay and I'm running system from it.

    Today I put a new Samsung 1TB 850 Evo 1 SSD in to my optic bay.

    I encounter problem with SSD not recognized by Finder.

    But It was recognized by Disk Utility.

    What I did was I erase new SSD by Disk Utility. Then the new partition was created and now It has been seen by Finder.

    So If you see it in Disk Utility just erased it.

    Some extra info in under this link--> https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4...

    Wish you all luck :)

    rybafly -

    My installation went great thanks to the guide. I did notice a small thing that might make a good tip, and that is to inspect all the visible screws. I saw one that was slightly raised, and when I poked around with the spudger, I found 2 more that had worked themselves out a bit. Its probably something super rare but at the age of these things, it wouldn't hurt to check.

    Tineyi Chapisa -

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    • Don't ditch that drive! You can still use your optical drive externally with the help of our SATA Optical Drive USB Cable.

    • Align the cable's SATA connector with the drive's port and plug in securely.

    • Plug the USB connector into your laptop and your optical drive is ready for use.

    There is a small metal button in the front of the drive and you can use that to eject the drive if you were wondering.

    Joseph Landry -

    Maybe that explain the eject button mechanism maybe….

    - PS5iscool - -

    Die neue SSD wurde durch das Laufwerk ersetzt aber leider wird jetzt die alte HDD nicht mehr erkannt. Hatte schon ein anderer das Problem?

    Alexander Richter -

Abschluss

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Tinte & Feder

Brittany McCrigler

Mitglied seit: 05/03/12

88148 Reputation

6 Kommentare

Is there any drivers or anything that needs to be done on the Mac itself to install this hard drive? Can you use this hard drive to install applications onto as well?

Nathan -

Here's something important to be aware of. DVD Player will not function without a physical dvd drive installed. This is even if you use DVD image files, which I do. The explanation I got is that without that optical drive DVD Player can't check regions. If you want to watch DVDs on your mac mini, even DVD image files, don't remove the optical drive.

Bob Church -

Or, if you want to play dvd files just use vlc player... if vlc can't play it, it can't be played.

cort -

Just added a 500 gig HD I had laying around to a 2007 Mac Mini I got on eBay.....worked like a charm. Thanks iFixit!

Alexsander Jevtich -

although my optical bay hard drive enclosure did not use or have the bracket shown above with two Phillips #0 screws. And the hard drive had a different attachment system. The screws did not come in from the bottom. They came in from the side....no matter still a great solution.

Alexsander Jevtich -

I tried to open up the bottom of the mac mini but, I ended up with a bent pry tool

Alden Hughes -