I think my (2017) Fusion Drive is failing. I'll be replacing soon. What else todo while inside the machine?

[MacMike81]

Ive been getting "Restarted due to a problem" errors ever since I upgraded from High Sierra on my mid 2017 iMac. I special ordered it with a 4.2 quad i7, 2TB Fusion Drive and 40GB ram.

I am going to order a OWC kit. I am undetermined wether to get the NVMe or SSD at this point, probably the SSD would be perfectly fine and save me $30. I am trying to watch the budget because this iMac will be unsupported when Sonoma is released.

Is there any other upgrades or maintenance things I should take care of while I have the screen lifted off of my machine or any other tips/ideas? Hoping to keep this machine chugging along until the iMac M2 Pros become available.

 

[PhoenixDown]

I'd probably rip out the guts and do the mod to use it as a screen for a newer M2 mac mini. I have a working 2015 5k iMac I am considering for that

 

[rin67630]

Ive been getting "Restarted due to a problem" errors ever since I upgraded from High Sierra on my mid 2017 iMac. I special ordered it with a 4.2 quad i7, 2TB Fusion Drive and 40GB ram.

I am going to order a OWC kit. I am undetermined wether to get the NVMe or SSD at this point, probably the SSD would be perfectly fine and save me $30. I am trying to watch the budget because this iMac will be unsupported when Sonoma is released.

Is there any other upgrades or maintenance things I should take care of while I have the screen lifted off of my machine or any other tips/ideas? Hoping to keep this machine chugging along until the iMac M2 Pros become available.

I'd save the data and then split the fusion drive.
You will need an external macOS on USB or Thunderbolt.
Booted from USB, you just may format the fusion drive as ExFAT.
That will split the fusion drive in two separate drives.

Then you may reformat the two drives separately, ideally the HDD to HFS+ and the SSD (it's a 128GB drive?) to APFS.

Check the drives after formatting, i'd not be surprised if they were fully OK.

You can install any macOS on the SSD blade. The 128GB of the SSD blade are large enough for any system, if you keep your user data on the HDD.

So you can probably get a new perfectly functional iMac (and even faster) without opening the guts.

 

[MacMike81]

I'd save the data and then split the fusion drive.
You will need an external macOS on USB or Thunderbolt.
Booted from USB, you just may format the fusion drive as ExFAT.
That will split the fusion drive in two separate drives.

Then you may reformat the two drives separately, ideally the HDD to HFS+ and the SSD (it's a 128GB drive?) to APFS.

Check the drives after formatting, i'd not be surprised if they were fully OK.

You can install any macOS on the SSD blade. The 128GB of the SSD blade are large enough for any system, if you keep your user data on the HDD.

So you can probably get a new perfectly functional iMac (and even faster) without opening the guts.

Good advice and saves a ton of scary diy’ing. Lol.

After talking it over with my wife I think we are going to limp it along until the fall and see if the M3, 30”+ screen iMacs come true.

Unfortunately my mid 2017 is at the end of its software support with the release of Sonoma.

In the mean time I am doing regular TM backups to an external drive. 👍🏼

 

[rin67630]

Unfortunately my mid 2017 is at the end of its software support with the release of Sonoma.

In the mean time I am doing regular TM backups to an external drive. 👍🏼

Don't worry: new releases are merley a quantum of cosmetic and else just provides the necessary drivers for Apples new hardware that you don't have. You can perfectly live 5 years longer on Ventura or Monterey.
I am -by choice- still on Mojave.

 

[Rockman_X]

I'd get a Sintec adapter and a WD black 770 Drive to replace the Faulty Blade. Install the OS there and leave the HDD for extra storage.

P.S. get a heatsink for the WD. You have around 3mm space. they have 1mm all copper ones.