Crucial M4 SSD too thick for Mac Mini?

[Bunyak]

I followed the advice on this forum and successfully installed a Crucial M4 SSD in a mid 2010 Mac Mini. I couldn't replace the antenna screen properly, though. It sits directly above (or below) the SSD. The holes for the screws of the screen refused to line up, as if the SSD is too thick to allow the screen to sit properly. I believe that the screws on the side of the SSD are sitting in the grommets, but I could be wrong.

Has anyone else with an M4 encountered this problem? Thanks!

 

[T4R06]

You are not latching it properly. SSD has the same size and thickness. I have mine installed together with the HD that came with it which is 12.5mm thick

I did not even remove the board

 

[serendipidy]

According to macexpert at the store where I purchased my New 2.5Ghz Mac-mini, my recent problems........ could not start the machine up, when it eventually did it would freeze after awhile, were down to the 'Crucial' memory I put into the machine when I bought it, this is before I had set it up and started it.
He does not recommend 'Crucial' at all, The only memory he says he would put in a Mac would be 'Kingston', He advised me to take out the' Cheap' Crucial and put back the original Apple memory , result after doing this ...............it now starts up perfectly, dual screens and all.

I know this is not to be everyones case, but interesting all the same.

 

[rw3]

Just so you know, Crucial and Kingston are the tier of manufacturer. You probably just have a bad stick of RAM from Crucial.

Also T4R06 is wrong when he said that the hard drive that comes in the Mini is a 12.5mm...it is not. It is a standard 2.5", 9.5mm thick laptop hard drive.

The Crucial M4 should fit fine. Just make sure that you have the alignment pins lined up with the holes in the chassis. It sounds like you don't....

 

[Bunyak]

The Crucial M4 should fit fine. Just make sure that you have the alignment pins lined up with the holes in the chassis. It sounds like you don't....

Thanks! I suspected that the problem is mine but I wanted a confirmation.

 

[Tsuchiya]

You are not latching it properly. SSD has the same size and thickness. I have mine installed together with the HD that came with it which is 12.5mm thick

I did not even remove the board

Really? How? I was following a OWC guide yesterday to install a SSD as the primary drive (with the original drive as a spare), but I had to practically disassemble my Mini.

 

[philipma1957]

Really? How? I was following a OWC guide yesterday to install a SSD as the primary drive (with the original drive as a spare), but I had to practically disassemble my Mini.

you wanted 2 drives far more labor and more to disassemle. 1 drive swap you do not have to move the mobo. it does involve twist turning and holding the mini upside down. Or you can do what i do move the mobo 1/8 of an inch. all of my advice is on swap in a one drive mini.

A 2 drive mini the mobo needs to move more then 1/8 of an inch if you are accessing both drives. Maybe 1/4 or 3/8 of an inch will do the trick

 

[Supra Mac]

I followed the advice on this forum and successfully installed a Crucial M4 SSD in a mid 2010 Mac Mini. I couldn't replace the antenna screen properly, though. It sits directly above (or below) the SSD. The holes for the screws of the screen refused to line up, as if the SSD is too thick to allow the screen to sit properly. I believe that the screws on the side of the SSD are sitting in the grommets, but I could be wrong.

Has anyone else with an M4 encountered this problem? Thanks!

I had a little issue where one hole would line up but not the other. The wifi screen was not seating correctly where the radius is, (very top 12 o'clock position farthest from screws) if you look there is a slit cut in the screen where it pops in to position and overlaps. I had to bend that cut for it to seat. Clear as mud?

 

[philipma1957]

I had a little issue where one hole would line up but not the other. The wifi screen was not seating correctly where the radius is, (very top 12 o'clock position farthest from screws) if you look there is a slit cut in the screen where it pops in to position and overlaps. I had to bend that cut for it to seat. Clear as mud?

yes the screen flexes . I did a lot of these most of the time you need a tiny bit of flex unless you do a skinny ssd like a samsung 830 series = 7mm

 

[T4R06]

Really? How? I was following a OWC guide yesterday to install a SSD as the primary drive (with the original drive as a spare), but I had to practically disassemble my Mini.

here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymGnXdwvabg

i may be wrong with the original HD size that came with but i installed them both. regular HD + Sandisk SSD.

i just followed this video. the only difference is i just used the regular HD.

 

[CausticPuppy]

No problems getting the Crucial installed in my Mini... fits perfectly. Maybe 2010 is slightly different than 2011?

 

[Bunyak]

I had a little issue where one hole would line up but not the other. The wifi screen was not seating correctly where the radius is, (very top 12 o'clock position farthest from screws) if you look there is a slit cut in the screen where it pops in to position and overlaps. I had to bend that cut for it to seat. Clear as mud?

Clear enough to help! I put a metal spudger in the slit and pried the two sides apart a bit. The screen then seated itself properly. You guys are a great resource!

 

[Supra Mac]

Clear enough to help! I put a metal spudger in the slit and pried the two sides apart a bit. The screen then seated itself properly. You guys are a great resource!

Glad everything worked out. I have the M4 in my mini and in a PC, great SSD, no issues with them since purchased about 6-7 months ago.

 

[Pheo]

I had this issue also. For me it was because I'd not followed the ifixit step to turn the mini upside down to make the hdd fall into place properly.

Just for future reference/searches.