Mac Pro Internal SATA Bluray Drive Replacement (Early 2008)

Before beginning make sure all power and external cables are removed from the Mac Pro.

Begin by removing the side door on the Mac Pro.

Make sure that the locking latch on the back-right side of the Mac Pro is in the unlocked "Up" position

Then, remove all 4 of the drive bays and set them aside.

Using a Phillips P0 screwdriver, loosen the PCI Express cover retaining plate and remove it.

There is a tab at the top that the metal plate latches into. You'll need to unscrew the 2 screws and slide the plate down out of the tab.

1) Release the small locking clip at the front of the card’s logic board connector by pushing the clip up toward the media shelf.

2) Holding the card by the top corners, pull up the card and remove it from its expansion slot.

Using a long-handled, magnetized #1 Phillips screwdriver, remove the screw at the top rear of the front fan assembly that mounts the assembly to the logic board.

Remove the second Phillips screw at the bottom front of the assembly.

Place the fingers of one hand under the lip of the heatsink cover nearest the logic board. Lift the lip slightly toward the media shelf to release the tabs and magnets under the top face of the cover

With your fingers still under the cover’s bottom lip, lift the cover straight up to release the remaining tabs and magnets under the front face of the cover

Remove the cover from the enclosure.

Remove the screws holding the fan enclosure in place. Mine had one at the top which screwed directly into the logic board, and another at the bottom (underneath the left yellow arrow on image 1). Place one hand on each end of the fan, lift straight up, and remove the fan from the enclosure.

Make sure the latch on the back panel is up, so that the drives and carriers are unlocked.

Pull the optical drive carrier part way out of the computer.

Disconnect the power and ribbon cables from the optical drive(s) and remove the carrier.

Now that you have fully exposed the logic board, look for the 2 SATA ports, circled here.

Insert the L shaped SATA cable into the top SATA port on the logic board.

Start routing the SATA cable that you have already attached to the logic board up through the corner of the optical bay, following the existing wires.

Make sure you have the cable all the way tucked in behind the connector before proceeding. See the first graphic as an example.

Insert your new SATA optical drive into the carrier in the empty lower bay.

Using a paper clip, insert the paper clip into the emergency eject hole, which will release the drive door 1/2''.

Using your finger tips, pull the tray out about 2''

Then in accordance with the optical drive design remove the drive plate door.

Connect the power converter cable to the already provided secondary power connector.

Insert the SATA cable and the power cable in the new drive.

Set the optical drive assembly into the optical drive bay. There are two screws that line up onto a track in the bottom of the bay.

Fully insert so the drive assembly is flush with the bay.

New optical drive is installed. Reassemble Mac Pro.