Adding SSD as boot disk

[strat58]

Ive check my mac mini "about" and it says the 1tb hdd is in the "lower" location. So where is that if i turned it upsidedown? Near the lid? If so what cable do i need if i will get the one from owc?

Tnx...

You have the common lower location. It's the drive located closest to the top if turned upsidedown.

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can you please show where it says that the cables are different in length? lets say show the owc or ifixit kits that say that the cables are different in length?

EDIT: the different orientation is easily resolved by bending the cable the other way....

The don't say anything about cable lengths. Just make sure you order the correct cable kit for the "lower" or "upper" drive location.

You can't bend the cable the other way around, it would end up being over the back end of the connector. The two cables are reversed from the connector side.

 

[mvmanolov]

The don't say anything about cable lengths. Just make sure you order the correct cable kit for the "lower" or "upper" drive location.

You can't bend the cable the other way around, it would end up being over the back end of the connector. The two cables are reversed from the connector side.

ok here is what OWC site says about the upper kit: "If you see "Upper" then you have a special configuration which will need these additional components, and you will need to also refer to the Addendum video."

Key point being additional components...! if you watch the actual addendum video it says (at 31 seconds): "The OWC Data Doubler Kit is pretty universal, the only thing we are adding to it will be the a (sic) wrench and two 2 pegs ...." (the pegs already come with the cheaper basic kit btw...)
and then again at 5:13: "... but don't worry because we can just bend the cable around to make it fit ..."

so again please tell me what is the difference that makes it worth spending another $10 for a wrench...? which btw you don't need, you can just hold the nut between you thumb and forefinger (and if you don't want that just use a set of pliers...) in a tight grip and use a regular screwdriver to undo the screws....

The fact that OWC has decided to sell another kit for more $$$ to unwitting customers and you are falling for it... is a completely different story, but hey that's just me... you, you go right ahead and spend the extra cash - not that it matters, but me, i'll have me-self 2 pints of gorgeous, rich and nourishing Guinness with that tenner

Cheers,
mate

ps.
darn you for making me go through all this trouble

 

[kiresp]

Won't boot after mavericks install to SSD

Thought it would be a simple process with the Mac Mini 2010 and swap of 320Gb Drive with a Intel 530 240Gb SSD Drive.
I swapped out the drive by following directions from ifixit.com, only problem encountered was the thermal sensor connector, it wouldn't disconnect from the board, the wires just came out, otherwise everything else went without a hitch. I left the thermal sensor attached to the ssd, but not connected to the logic board, by this stage the molex connector had come off the board completely.
I proceeded to hold Option to boot from a bootable mavericks USB I had prepared earlier and had used to clean install on my macbook air without any dramas.
Disk utility to partition the drive and format to Mac OS Extended Journaled, then proceed to install looked OK, except the fan was running at full throttle.
On reboot after the install completed I get the crossed out circle, tried reboot several times. When I reset prom, it boots up and I can proceed, reboot again and I get the crossed out circle. I suspect it's to do with the thermal sensor, but I'm not sure, the console logs don't shed any light either.
I'm worried that it may be a dud SSD drive or compatibility issue.
Any ideas ? I didn't really feel like swapping the drives back again, but will have to as a last resort.
Can I just use a USB-to-SATA cable to attach the original drive and boot off that just to check how it behaves ?

 

[mvmanolov]

Thought it would be a simple process with the Mac Mini 2010 and swap of 320Gb Drive with a Intel 530 240Gb SSD Drive.
I swapped out the drive by following directions from ifixit.com, only problem encountered was the thermal sensor connector, it wouldn't disconnect from the board, the wires just came out, otherwise everything else went without a hitch. I left the thermal sensor attached to the ssd, but not connected to the logic board, by this stage the molex connector had come off the board completely.
I proceeded to hold Option to boot from a bootable mavericks USB I had prepared earlier and had used to clean install on my macbook air without any dramas.
Disk utility to partition the drive and format to Mac OS Extended Journaled, then proceed to install looked OK, except the fan was running at full throttle.
On reboot after the install completed I get the crossed out circle, tried reboot several times. When I reset prom, it boots up and I can proceed, reboot again and I get the crossed out circle. I suspect it's to do with the thermal sensor, but I'm not sure, the console logs don't shed any light either.
I'm worried that it may be a dud SSD drive or compatibility issue.
Any ideas ? I didn't really feel like swapping the drives back again, but will have to as a last resort.
Can I just use a USB-to-SATA cable to attach the original drive and boot off that just to check how it behaves ?

not compatibility could very well be a dud. similar thing happened to me with a corsair SSD. put the old drive in a external enclosure and try to boot from it if it works then no issue, return and buy another SSD.

 

[wwohl]

Google

 

[strat58]

ok here is what OWC site says about the upper kit: "If you see "Upper" then you have a special configuration which will need these additional components, and you will need to also refer to the Addendum video."

Key point being additional components...! if you watch the actual addendum video it says (at 31 seconds): "The OWC Data Doubler Kit is pretty universal, the only thing we are adding to it will be the a (sic) wrench and two 2 pegs ...." (the pegs already come with the cheaper basic kit btw...)
and then again at 5:13: "... but don't worry because we can just bend the cable around to make it fit ..."

so again please tell me what is the difference that makes it worth spending another $10 for a wrench...? which btw you don't need, you can just hold the nut between you thumb and forefinger (and if you don't want that just use a set of pliers...) in a tight grip and use a regular screwdriver to undo the screws....

The fact that OWC has decided to sell another kit for more $$$ to unwitting customers and you are falling for it... is a completely different story, but hey that's just me... you, you go right ahead and spend the extra cash - not that it matters, but me, i'll have me-self 2 pints of gorgeous, rich and nourishing Guinness with that tenner

Cheers,
mate

ps.
darn you for making me go through all this trouble

You don't need the tools, unless you don't have a Torx T6 & T8. What you do need is the correct cable. The rubber grommets are nice as well as the hex screws to hold the drive into place. You can order kit with or without the tools.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DIDIMM11D2/

I guess a pint or 2 of Guinness is what I need also..

On a side note, I started this thread asking about how to build an SSD as a boot drive. It turns out, it was much easier than I thought. Command-R and re-install OS X Mountain Lion on my SSD. I used CCC and Time Machine backup, but I wanted a fresh install on my SSD. So I ended up with the re-install from command-r.

Thanks for all the help.