Mac mini Mitte 2010 Festplatten-Austausch

On my mid-2010 mac mini, also removed the 26 mm T6 Torx standoff during this step instead of step 12. Having completed the steps, it appears my hard drive is from mid 2011, so maybe the production line for mine had changed.

As others have noted, the hardest part of the whole process is getting the holes lined up in reassembly. I ended up stripping one of the short screws, but it fits well enough to engage the slots in the circular plastic cover. If you leave a short screw out, I don't know how the bottom cover would fit securely. I would carefully note how the antenna cover fits while you remove it. The longer screws go into the actual hard drive, so I think alignment of the hard drive is part of the problem.

I had same problem..! U tried EVERTHING, and what worked PERFECT for me, and with very little effort is what "x10target" described here (scroll about half way down): Difficulty in re-installing Antenna Plate

To replace the antenna plate, you need to patiently align the sides of the antenna and slide it in. I had similar problems as described above but, instead of using force, I resorted to patience. The plate's fit is very snug, just a little bit off the straight line and it won't sit properly. And when it sits, it really sits tight, you don't even need to hold it in place while screwing the screws back in.

In the “arch” of the plate is sort of a tongue & groove that fits over & under the lip of the body. I used Kelly Forceps to coax everything back together.

After replacing the HDD with an SSD, I found that one of the front locating screws didn’t fit back in (no corresponding screw hole on the new drive caddy). I also found it hard to fit the antenna plate back in the slot, but found that removing one of the rubber “feet” (where there was no longer a corresponding screw hole on the disk) helped a lot, as did gently folding back the edge of the antenna plate. Refitting this was definitely the hardest part of the process - excellent instructions!

After completing the whole operation, impossible to screw the two T8 5mm (orange ones) screws back in place. The plate sit properly, but the screws just wobble, even with full force when trying. I can’t close the backplate. Anybody had the same issue?

BEFORE putting any screws in, you have to get the antenna place to “snap” intot he Aluminum chassis first. Once that is snapped in, the screw holes all line up nicely.

I installed an SSD, which is thinner than the original HDD, so the two recessed screws don’t reach it… Going to just leave them taped into their holes. I’m hoping that will not affect antenna function too much (It will remove some potential grounding to the HDD).

it’s so painful ! almost all the time is spend to try to put this ridiculous connector. my last mini mac is a server, and use ethernet not the wifi so i gave up after 1 hour .

2nd time I did this step (due to breaking the HD heat sensor board the 1st time - see all the comments below!) I didn’t disconnect the airport antenna, since it was so difficult for me to re-plug back in (took ~5 minutes of trying); very hard to line up properly. Instead, I carefully flipped the cover over and to the side, pushing down on the connector to keep it from unplugging. (Since I already had put in a 7mm SSD the 1st time around, the antenna wire also wasn’t in the way when pulling it out.) I recommend trying this due to 3 comments above who broke theirs.

I left it plugged in and flipped it over to tape it to the chassis.

Reconnecting the antenna connector to the Airport/Bluetooth board was the second most difficult step for me. It was not just the reverse step of using the spudger to disconnect the connector.

WARNING! Remove superdrive thermal sensor as well from the connector, or it will break in step 16.

These connectors are fairly easy to unplug. You can pull up on the wires GENTLY to remove them. I used a wooden spudger to pry gently and the connectors popped right out. Putting them back in is easy just make sure they are right side up and they snap right back in.

This is where I got in trouble too. No problems on the first of my Minis, but this time one of these sockets had poor soldering and just came off the board. Basically no solder connection to the posts that are there to hold the socket in place. I ended up using a pin to pry the rest of them off, in case the others were also poorly connected. The outside of the socket is U shaped, with 2 small tabs at the lower end of the U. I inserted a pin next to these tabs and it let me lever the connectors out easily. Now I get to practice my soldering!

I used a pick (like a fine ice pick - available at Harbor Freight) to pry up the plastic clips while gently pulling at the wires with tweezers. They pull straight up. There are tiny tabs on the sides that kind of lock them in. I would not try just pulling on the wires. Everything is tiny and yrying to fix wires pulled out of the connectors would be very difficult.

The pin method is definitely better. I used the pin to slightly spread the "wings" of the connector on the board. Then I levered out the part that is attached to the wires. All done with the aid of a magnifying loop.

I broke mine as well, did not replace the thermal sensor for the HDD, fan runs at full speed and is noisy. Went ahead and downloaded software fan control to reduce fan speed.

With all the good comments above, I was extra cautious, my two connectors have solid black covers and I couldn’t find the tabs for the needles. So I read ahead a few steps. I was able to skip this step 13 and steps 15 and 16 and take out the drive without force. Step 14 worked as described. I have a mid-2010 without an optical drive so there was only a hard drive connector.

I broke the connector too, but was able to make a secure connection despite this. You will need a good magnifier glass/visor and fine tweezers. I added a drop of Crazy glue to secure it. Photo: https://ibb.co/ZcsnvNC

After the plastic of the connector of the thermal sensor falls in tiny little parts after manipulating with pludger, tweezers and all I can find in my home I just let the connector in place on the logic board. Like written down in step 15 and 16 I pulled the whole logic board just a little bit out of the housing, so there’s just enough room for pulling the old HDD out of the housing. Put away the different adhesive tapes HDD (main connector and thermal sensor). Put away main connector and the thermal sensor from the HDD. Then I put everything in place to the new SSD and stick the thermal connector with the the old adhesive stribe at the SSD. I never would try to disconnect the thermal sensor again from the logic board!!!

I highly recommend TG Pro to solve this absurd hard disk temperature problem. After replacing my HDD with an SSD, the fan ran nutso just like everyone else’s. Sensors are in place on the drive, but they don’t seem to work. I even tried thermal paste, but no luck. While I could try replacing the temperature sensors, what’s the point? Having a quality SSD should remain far cooler than any HDD, regardless of the conditions.

My Samsung EVO SSD has its own internal SMART temperature sensor built into it. TG Pro detects it fine. The reason I recommend TG Pro is that I tried others. TG Pro is top-of-the-line quality, imo. It even allows total override of system fan control, solving the runaway fan problem once and for all. While this is hypothetically a safety issue, since I began using the software 3 years ago, I’ve come to trust it more than whatever is built into my Macs. (I own three MacBooks in addition to my Mac Mini.)

My 2010 is considered out of date, but with an SSD, it’s still a great little music server.

Two 3/32" drill bits work great at replacing the tool. Place the shaft of the bits into the holes.

I had to watch a youtube video to see how this works. Then I realized you are just using the tools to pull the main board out toward the back of the mini.

A couple of small screw drivers will do. Just make sure they go far enough into the hole to be able to lever against the bottom as you pull them towards you. Without this I started to damage the logic board slightly.

How much pressure is necessary? Is it hard? Mine seams stuck.

Sliding the motherboard forward is not really needed to remove the hard drive, but it sure makes it a bit smoother. Just need to persuade it to go over the memory bracket.

NO NEED to slide the board out if there is already a 7mm thick SSD installed, as it comes out easily. Also don’t need to unplug the DVD SATA connector if not sliding the board out (Rt most SATA), or unplug the DVD heat thermal sensor, since you’re not moving the board. The less you unplug, the less chances of breaking a connector. However, with original or any 9mm HD, lifting it over the memory bracket would be very difficult IMO, w/o moving the board out ~5mm.

I did NOT move the logic board. The original hard disk could be taken out with a little(!) force. The new replacement SSD was much thinner and was not problem to slide in.

I used two thin screwdrivers. As they said, put them stright down the holes, and they seem to fit into something on the back side that holds the ends in place (eg. a shallow hole) in the top case or something).

Then lean them both towards the back of the Mac (towards the ports etc.), and you’ll push the logic board AND the black part of the case, finally popping the black ports/rear free from the aluminum. Only needs to slide ~5mm as they said to get the needed clearance.

I tried so hard to just pry it out a short way, but so much force was needed that I ended up bring it out almost 1cm (ie the clips of the black rear ports fascia popped out of their recesses). This yanked the wires out of the optical drive thermal sensor. I was able to reinsert them with tweezers and hopefully the contact will be good enough to carry the signal. Wish I’d spudged that thermal sensor off the board when I was doing the other two (Step 10). After reading the warnings in step 10, I thought I didn’t need to worry about that until step 16.

Do not peel. I think that peeling will lead to breakage.

I was able to remove the sensor intact by twisting it back and forth rather than peeling it. The sensor is held on by something like rubber cement; you can just rotate the sensor, gently, keeping it flat against the drive, until it becomes free.

Note: I did try removing the bar code sticker, but it just tore at the sensor as I peeled the bar code sticker away, so no help there.

Agree with dhein. Grab the sensor at its base by its wires (carefully) and rotate the sensor right/left or clockwise/counterclockwise several times until the glue is loosened and the sensor lifts off the hard drive. Works like a charm.

When it's time to attach the sensor to the new HD, press it in place fairly firmly and hold it there for 20 seconds or so. Then reapply the tape.

So, once I peeled the heat sensors, what should I use to stick them back to the new drive? Rubber cement is not available in Europe and I’d rather avoid product that would be hard to remove, would prevent proper reading by the sensors or contain inappropriate solvants for the machine and user.

To make removing the sensor easier apply some alcohol to a cotton ball and wipe around the sensor. It should remove some of the adhesive to make it easier to gently slide off. Save the thermal tape from the hard drive and use a strip to secure the sensor back in place.

I would recommend taking a sharp edge, e.g. the tip of a small flat screwdriver, and get underneath the sensor pad itself, and GENTLY prying it. grabbing the wires and twisting/rotating can cause the wires to pop off, these are thin wires, easy to break off!

I broke the sensor as well. I found a replacement on ebay and also I found them at OWC, but their shipping to Australia was expensive.

note to iFixit I think the guide should be updated to emphasise how delicate this part is. Just saying “Carefully peel the thermal sensor…” is not good enough for people like me. An indication of the consequences of not being extremely careful with this fragile component would be helpful.

Iam installing the SSD drive noted below. It replaces the traditional electro—mechanical HDD that came with my Mac mini 2010 that I bought from OWC a few weeks ago.

I noticed the temperature sensor was put in place over a gap in the HHD that the new SSD does not have. Where to I attach the temperature sensor on my new SSD?

250GB Mercury Electra 6G 2.5-inch 7mm SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid-State Drive