Solid state drive mac mini 2011 install#
Solid state drive mac mini 2011 pro#

Solid state drive mac mini 2011 install#

I have the server edition of the Mac mini, so the 2nd proprietary SATA cable that is needed to install an SSD or hard drive is already there. To do this, I will have to take the Mini apart almost completely, so as to swap the 2nd hard drive out for the 2nd SSD. My plan is to RAID them, so as to achieve a 240GB speed monstrosity that will allow for data transfers of 900MB/s - 1GB/s.

Solid state drive mac mini 2011 pro#

I just purchased the second of two 120GB OWC Mercury EXTREME Pro 6G SSD's, both with the new 32nm Toggle NAND flash. I second Daniel's post as to how there are not only no proprietary thermal sensor to be dealt with, as you can see in the OWC video, but there are none at all to contend with. Note that OWC suggests removing the motherboard to exchange the hd, but as iFixit points out, this is not necessary to get the HD out or the new one in. PS: I used both the iFixit guide and the OWC video when I did my upgrade, and I needed both to do it right. Ps: mac mini exhaust fan speed of ~1800 rpm is normal under light load. Go with most basic/compatible settings, and as Crunch suggested below, use an Ethernet cable if at all possible.ДЄfter Lion downloaded (4 hours), it installed in 4.2 minutes flat. Installing Lion over the Internet with Int Recovery worked, but I had to change my wireless network from WPA2 security to WPA and disable uPNP not sure why. The OWC video guide is great, but you don't need to pull out the motherboard there is just enough room to slide the old HD out and the new one in.Д¤. make sure to remove black plastic cover off of old hard drive before pulling SATA cable out of old HD otherwise you won't be able to.ДЈ. My SSD never changes in temp by more than a few degrees C.Дў. It's uncertain if the mini's one main exhaust fan factors this temp into its rotation speed. Fan speed the same after there is no sensor to worry about.ДЄccording to the temp readouts from iStatPro, the hard drive temperature is still being read in this year's model, likely via the S.M.A.R.T. I replaced the HD in my mac mini with a OWC Electra SSD 6G.ДЎ. SUCESS: Notes on Installing SSD in 2011 Mac Mini

If the drive were to fail after the warranty expires, I would want to install a non-Apple supplied вЂњoff the shelfвЂќ hard drive myself rather than pay apple to do the work to install their proprietary hard drive. Was this change also made to the 2011 Mac mini? I thought that it might have since there is no longer a thermal sensor taped to the drive in the iFixit teardown.Д«ut some of the commentators hint that basically there are no thermal sensors for the hard drives at all! I would like to have a clear answer, if possible. In order to accomplish this task, Apple must use a special 7-pin SATA cable with the additional two pins being used for thermal monitoring. The issue is that if a non-Apple hard drive is placed into the 2011 iMac, the fans will eventually spin at their maximum speed and the iMac will fail the Apple Hardware Test.ДЄpple is using custom firmware on their supplied hard drives to monitor the thermal properties of the hard drive while it is operating. Other World Computing (OWC), supplier of many parts for new and old Macs, has gone in-depth into the reported restriction of AppleвЂ™s mid-2011 iMacs. But the 2011 iMac switched to proprietary sensors internal to the hard drive itself, as noted the following article: On the 2010 Mac mini, a thermal sensor was taped to the hard drive. Some background information may help some readers understand why I am asking this question. My question is specifically this: Can the hard drive(s) in the 2011 Mac mini be replaced with non-Apple supplied вЂњoff the shelfвЂќ hard drive(s) (or an SSD) without causing the cooling fan to ramp up to maximum speed due to lack of thermal data from the hard drive(s)? This would make the computer too loud, in my opinion. My question concerns the thermal sensor(s) on the internal hard drive(s) used to control fan speed in the 2011 Mac mini. I am considering purchasing the 2011 Mac mini since I want a computer that is both cool and quiet, if possible.