Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

I bought the i7 base model tonight!

Cape Dave said:
I actually looked at them both. I was good until they said, pull out the hard drive. There was no way to get a grip and I ripped that damn paper.

Plus I really need much stronger glasses for that type of work. I was wearing my readers, the strongest I had. Or get a magnifying lamp. I lack a proper workbench as well.

In my defense, it did look like the inside of mine was a bit different than what was in the vids.

Good thing I am not a brain surgeon :)
Click to expand...

I believe you have the HDD in the unorthodox bay, being the upper bay (which is the bay closest to the alloy top - not wifi grill). Most of the videos on the web and instructions are for the old config. You most likely have the new config apple is using.

See the following post:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1579134/

You need to watch the "addendum" video on the following website:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DIYIMM11D2/
 
opinio said:
I believe you have the HDD in the unorthodox bay, being the upper bay (which is the bay closest to the alloy top - not wifi grill). Most of the videos on the web and instructions are for the old config. You most likely have the new config apple is using.

See the following post:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1579134/

You need to watch the "addendum" video on the following website:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DIYIMM11D2/
Click to expand...

Thanks! That is precisely the case! It was such a surprise I was dumbfounded and confounded :) Makes it so much harder I would have rethought my purchase.

Am reading links now. The video shows how to add a second drive but does not show how to get the first drive out. Weird. Maybe it is self evident once the logic board is pulled out. I may have at it again, I may not.

Question: Will I be screwed without that black plastic piece to cover the drive with? In the video, it does not show that being placed on top of the SSD.

Thanks for all you help Opinio!
 
Last edited:
OK, dropped it off at the Apple store. $30 to put the drive in. Super deal.

Maybe sometime I will buy a cheap non working unit on eBay to practice on :)

I am also thinking Apple Care may be a good thing for me.
 
Cape Dave said:
Thanks! That is precisely the case! It was such a surprise I was dumbfounded and confounded :) Makes it so much harder I would have rethought my purchase.

Am reading links now. The video shows how to add a second drive but does not show how to get the first drive out. Weird. Maybe it is self evident once the logic board is pulled out. I may have at it again, I may not.

Question: Will I be screwed without that black plastic piece to cover the drive with? In the video, it does not show that being placed on top of the SSD.

Thanks for all you help Opinio!
Click to expand...

You don't need the black plastic cover. Especially for SSDs as their case is only for aesthetics, and not sealed like a normal HDD. The black plastic that comes on the OEM HDD is a dust cover and protector. It was more useful when the HDD was directly under the wifi grill. In that bay it use to collect dust as that is also where the inlet is for the fan. So after 6 months or so there would be a dust patch on the black plastic cover so it was easier to clean instead of wiping the dust of the circuit board side of the HDD. I have my SSD in the bottom bay (just under the wifi grill) with no plastic cover on it anyway.

Also it is likely your SSD is 7mm thick and the black plastic is for a 9.5mm HDD so it will be loose.

Good deal with the apple store. That is quite reasonable.
 
Yes, and the case for the SSD has no exposed circuit boards either like a spinner. I will most likely pick it up Monday. Then I will do Internet recovery as per your key combos mentioned previously. Then I will Boot Camp Windows 8.

Then I will reload all my software. First time in over 5 years so that is OK :)

I am so impressed with this little computer. Nice work Apple! I already knew I will be the refresh as soon as it comes out, at least especially if it has the PCIe SSD which I am praying it does :)

No more clunkers here! Only small, fast, quiet computers from now on!

And again, thanks for your support Opinio. This is a great forum and I intend to be a member for a long time.
 
Last edited:
OK, I got the machine back with SSD installed. 512GB Vector by OCZ with 2.0 firmware.

Did Command option R and that did the trick for Internet recovery. Am installing Mountain Lion now. Takes about an hour so it says.

I figure once I get that up I will research Boot Camp particulars and load Windows 8 from a nice new USB drive I just bought.

Temp is 93 outside and no AC so it will be a great test of the thermals of the mini. I have a good USB 120mm Fan standing by :)

I am expecting the SSD to be WAY WAY WAY faster than the 5400 spinner! I hope I am right!
 
Cape Dave said:
OK, I got the machine back with SSD installed. 512GB Vector by OCZ with 2.0 firmware.

Did Command option R and that did the trick for Internet recovery. Am installing Mountain Lion now. Takes about an hour so it says.

I figure once I get that up I will research Boot Camp particulars and load Windows 8 from a nice new USB drive I just bought.

Temp is 93 outside and no AC so it will be a great test of the thermals of the mini. I have a good USB 120mm Fan standing by :)

I am expecting the SSD to be WAY WAY WAY faster than the 5400 spinner! I hope I am right!
Click to expand...

The Vector is faster than the 840 Pro so you need a few more WAY WAYs in there.

See the links in this thread.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1585825/
 
It boots as fast as I have ever seen a computer boot. I hope it is the same once I get Windows into Boot Camp :)

Wicked fast so far. I never could go back to a regular drive. My current desktop has one but tonight I begin the entire migration of all my stuff to the mini.

Had this SSD in my current desktop for awhile now and sure did get used to it.

I have an external fan on the mini and that really helped it. A nice low say 7-900 RPM just pointed at the mini which is raised an inch off the desk. SO it creates very good airflow around the mini. The mini was quite hot before that. The shell was very warm to the touch.

I want to check that the guy put the fan connector back (I am sure he did, but I like to check) any recommended software to tell me the fan speed?

Thanks. So far this is going to be easily faster than my desktop, which has a nice i7 in it. BUt the OS was cloned like 4 times and then on to the SSD because I was too lazy for a fresh install. Which believe me, Windows needs the way I use a computer :)

OK, got smc FanControl. Fan is working well at 1795 rpm. Cannot hear it!

here is a link to my down and dirty custom cooling setup. Fan is unplugged for the photo:

http://share.eye.fi/s/40YZV0yRA7GogPdz3QbgWqcZOY
 
Last edited:
Getting Win 8 on this machine is like dancing with the devil. It is just not happening. Damn, If I type in the win reg number one mroe time I will jump out a window. Lucky I have a one floor house.

So, I mam installing OSX AGAIN from the net. Boot Camp is no help at all. I have the latest ver for Win8. I believe that Win8 has the absolute WORST crappiest install routine of any version of Windows.

Gonna give it up for the night and watch TV.
 
Win 8 will not go on Boot Camp. Period. I suspect that the SSD is in the "wrong" position. This is where the issues began. After I had the mini apart, the stock drive was in the wrong slot. Impossible to replace without special tools.

OK, I had a pro put the SSD drive in. OSX installed and all is good. But I think win8 needs SATA 0 for the drive to install, and I think the SSD was placed in the same position as the stock drive, which must be SATA 1. That does not bother OSX, but Win8 will not and I mean WILL NOT install on the drive in that position.

I say this so that others may save themselves three days of pure hell. This is only my suspicion, but I think it is the last remaining possibility as I have tried all else.

I do not have the dexterity, patience, or proper tools to again open the mini to buy a new SATA cable and try my theory out :(

I have another thread here : https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=17496895#post17496895

That's a wrap folks, I got nothing more to give this beast :)
 
Cape Dave said:
Win 8 will not go on Boot Camp. Period. I suspect that the SSD is in the "wrong" position. This is where the issues began. After I had the mini apart, the stock drive was in the wrong slot. Impossible to replace without special tools.

OK, I had a pro put the SSD drive in. OSX installed and all is good. But I think win8 needs SATA 0 for the drive to install, and I think the SSD was placed in the same position as the stock drive, which must be SATA 1. That does not bother OSX, but Win8 will not and I mean WILL NOT install on the drive in that position.

I say this so that others may save themselves three days of pure hell. This is only my suspicion, but I think it is the last remaining possibility as I have tried all else.

I do not have the dexterity, patience, or proper tools to again open the mini to buy a new SATA cable and try my theory out :(

I have another thread here : https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=17496895#post17496895

That's a wrap folks, I got nothing more to give this beast :)
Click to expand...

Well that is interesting.

It looks like you will have to go back to parallels.

I still think after learning to use it you will like it.

You might want to also look at the parallels app if you have an ios device. You can operate windows and osx remotely through it. Works well in emergencies.

Good luck.
 
Thanks opinio! Yeah, I am loading VMware Fusion now just to try that out. I have an external booter with parallel's on that and will make a decision.

Ironically, the next mini, which I already know I will buy, will hopefully have the super speed PCIe SSD on it, making this entire endeavor moot :)

Dave
 
Thank you for the links. I am so burnt out from this experience I can hardly think straight :)

I have Fusion up and running but Parallels seems to be fine for many.

Ah well, I will mess around and figure out something. As an aside I am using OSX really for the first time and I am not hating it :)
 
Cape Dave said:
Thank you for the links. I am so burnt out from this experience I can hardly think straight :)

I have Fusion up and running but Parallels seems to be fine for many.

Ah well, I will mess around and figure out something. As an aside I am using OSX really for the first time and I am not hating it :)
Click to expand...

Actually virtulization has come a long way in recent years. Support for virtual machines is built right into most of the x86-64 based CPUs now. Intel uses what they call Hyper-V technology that enables virtual machines to be allocated hardware resources such as RAM, Video RAM, drive storage space, dedicated number of CPU cores, etc.. There is less degradation of speed because of the direct allocated hardware of the system allowed by Hyper-V capable multi-core CPUs. In fact modern virtual machine technology offers big advantages for flexibility and redundancy which is why many large corporations, businesses and the government now relies heavily on virtual machine technology.

I haven't tried Boot Camp but I have read that some of the Apple driver support isn't nearly as good as what some of the virtualization software like Parallels for Mac and VMWare Fusion for Mac provides. I haven't tried VMWare Fusion but I have friends running it on their Macs and many of them really like it. From my recent experience I find that Parallels 8 is simply a phenomenal solution for running Windows 8. As a matter of fact I prefer using Windows 8 in Parallels 8 instead of using dedicated Windows 8 machines.
 
SoCalReviews said:
Actually virtulization has come a long way in recent years. Support for virtual machines is built right into most of the x86-64 based CPUs now. Intel uses what they call Hyper-V technology that enables virtual machines to be allocated hardware resources such as RAM, Video RAM, drive storage space, dedicated number of CPU cores, etc...
Click to expand...
Microsoft has developed the virtualization software Hyper-V, and it has nothing to do with the hardware implementation Intel VT-x (VT = Vanderpool Technology). Hyper-V runs also on AMD-processors. If you use VT-x based software on 64-Bit platforms, make sure you enable the Extended Page Table (EPT) in the virtualization software (VMware Fusion for example), because this increases the speed of the virtual memory management (hardware accelerated Memory Management Unit (MMU)).
 
I will be giving Parallel's a try today. I have a fair amount of software to install to get it up to my current Windows 8 machine that I am moving over to the mini from. I do not want to do a migration because my current install is a bit flaky due to the number of years that have passed since a fresh install.

So after I get it setup will my data be secure and available (assuming I do not delete the VM, I am thinking it will. But it is just the idea of having my business depend on a "virtual" rather than a "real :)" machine that makes me a bit nervous.

I know many are doing this and they are fine, it is just a big change for me.

And maybe I will TRY a migration so I have all my current stuff running in parallel's. If it can actually do that and have it work well, I would be impressed. I have about 185 GB on my current Windows machine that would need to be "migrated".

If I decide to grow a pair, I will open the bad boy up and swap SATA connections and see if WIn8 will go on THE WAY IT IS SUPPOSED TO!
 
Mr. Retrofire said:
Microsoft has developed the virtualization software Hyper-V, and it has nothing to do with the hardware implementation Intel VT-x (VT = Vanderpool Technology). Hyper-V runs also on AMD-processors. If you use VT-x based software on 64-Bit platforms, make sure you enable the Extended Page Table (EPT) in the virtualization software (VMware Fusion for example), because this increases the speed of the virtual memory management (hardware accelerated Memory Management Unit (MMU)).
Click to expand...

Good point about it being MS developed technology. I know that not all Intel and AMD CPUs support Hyper-V technology. We don't want to drown out the importance of the main point which is that support for virtual machines is built into many of the newer x86-64 CPUs and that hardware support improves the performance, power and flexibility of virtual machines.
 
Cape Dave said:
But it is just the idea of having my business depend on a "virtual" rather than a "real :)" machine that makes me a bit nervous.
Click to expand...

The reason I posted was to strongly emphasize that virtual machines have many advantages over regular OS installations. This is the technology that many major corporations, businesses and the government has been moving toward. Once you become more familiar with the new VM technologies you will have a better understanding why. VMs and VM clusters can be designed to improve security, redundancy and reliability. The software and drivers for an OS in a VM can be optimized for compatibility and enhanced features for running a particular OS such as Windows 8 and that is exactly what Parallels has done with their version 8 for Macs. Many Mac users who use VMs instead of Boot Camp realize this when they become more familiar with the particular Mac VM software they use. Because there is hardware support for VMs in the newer multi-core x86-64 based CPUs it means that there is very minimal performance degradation compared to software based VM technologies of the past.
 
Last edited:
Cape Dave said:
I will be giving Parallel's a try today. I have a fair amount of software to install to get it up to my current Windows 8 machine that I am moving over to the mini from. I do not want to do a migration because my current install is a bit flaky due to the number of years that have passed since a fresh install.

So after I get it setup will my data be secure and available (assuming I do not delete the VM, I am thinking it will. But it is just the idea of having my business depend on a "virtual" rather than a "real :)" machine that makes me a bit nervous.

I know many are doing this and they are fine, it is just a big change for me.

And maybe I will TRY a migration so I have all my current stuff running in parallel's. If it can actually do that and have it work well, I would be impressed. I have about 185 GB on my current Windows machine that would need to be "migrated".

If I decide to grow a pair, I will open the bad boy up and swap SATA connections and see if WIn8 will go on THE WAY IT IS SUPPOSED TO!
Click to expand...

Just a further point on Parallels, I suggest you include it in your Time Machine backup. Especially during the first few weeks of the build. You can set it not to back up while the VM is running. That is ok. But at least make sure it is included in the general TM backup. Alternately make sure you back up the pvm file itself (which is the win os in its entirety). This is important so you can always back-load the windows OS if you stuff it up. If you have the pvm file backed up then the 'reninstall' of the windows OS (if something goes wrong) is as simple as copy/paste.

There can be some trial and error with some software and hardware on Parallels.

Having said that, it works for 100% of my older windows stuff.

Backup backup backup.
 
opinio said:
Just a further point on Parallels, I suggest you include it in your Time Machine backup. Especially during the first few weeks of the build. You can set it not to back up while the VM is running. That is ok. But at least make sure it is included in the general TM backup. Alternately make sure you back up the pvm file itself (which is the win os in its entirety). This is important so you can always back-load the windows OS if you stuff it up. If you have the pvm file backed up then the 'reninstall' of the windows OS (if something goes wrong) is as simple as copy/paste.

There can be some trial and error with some software and hardware on Parallels.

Having said that, it works for 100% of my older windows stuff.

Backup backup backup.
Click to expand...

All good points! Backup was the first thing I did :) And now I will learn to use Time Machine as well. And I will make sure the pvm (I ended up with parallels as it imported all my stuff perfectly. I guess migrated is the better word.)

Writing this post from parallels now! Finally, the transition is happening :) Old clunky desktop is getting cleaned up for the next user/buyer!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back