Installed SSD in Late 2012 Mid level mini, upper tray?

[vadimr]

All the videos and stuff point that when you only have 1 drive in your mac mini it will be in the lower tray (when the mini is upright), held by the 2 pins and 2 screws from the antenna tray. However my brand new late 2012 mid level mini had it in the upper tray attached with 4 screws, through 4 grommets. Has anyone else seen this? I want to add a second drive but all the standard kits include the grommets and the screws and the cable for the upper tray, however I need the alignment screws/pins and the cable for the lower tray. Any ideas?

 

[philipma1957]

All the videos and stuff point that when you only have 1 drive in your mac mini it will be in the upper tray, held by the 2 pins and 2 screws from the antenna tray. However my brand new late 2012 mid level mini had it in the lower tray attached with 4 screws. Has anyone else seen this? I want to add a second drive but all the standard kits include the grommets and the screws and the cable for the lower tray, however I need the pins and the cable for the upper tray. Any ideas?

yeah here is a link for the cables

I think you need this one;

http://www.powerbookmedic.com/Mac-Mini-Top-Hard-Drive-Flex-Cable-with-Sensor-p-22345.html

I think you have this one

http://www.powerbookmedic.com/Mac-Mini-Server-Bottom-Hard-Drive-Flex-Cable-p-20708.html

 

[vadimr]

thanks for that link, any idea where I can find those 2 pins that are used on upper tray?

 

[philipma1957]

thanks for that link, any idea where I can find those 2 pins that are used on upper tray?

I have been googling some sources so far a no go. Look back later today.

 

[opinio]

thanks for that link, any idea where I can find those 2 pins that are used on upper tray?

I bought some very similar headless screws a year back for a MacBook or MacBook Pro. From memory they were very close the the two Mac mini ones but stainless steel.

See for example

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-MacBook...Drive-Screw-HDD-Screws-4pcs-Set-/290691184348

I have a feeling they could be just a hint smaller?

They are readily available.

Some one might be able to confirm if they are similar size.

If you did not have a HDD in the lower bay under the wifi grill, did they have the screws that screw the HDD to the wifi grill? If so what did they screw into? Sounds a bit strange as the screws create a nice flat seal across the grill for the black base (on the inside)

You may need these screws depending on how they set your mini up.

http://www.thebookyard.com/product.php?products_id=7399

If you use conventional HDD screws to screw it to the wifi grill, you will either need the above screws or some what are very flat because the black base seals across the grill and screws. The black base is also likely to catch on conventional screws as well.

Final edit:

Found this. It seems they are called "mac mini lower bay alignment screws" in a search

http://www.impactcomputers.com/922-9584.html

 

[vadimr]

I bought some very similar headless screws a year back for a MacBook or MacBook Pro. From memory they were very close the the two Mac mini ones but stainless steel.

See for example

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-MacBook...Drive-Screw-HDD-Screws-4pcs-Set-/290691184348

I have a feeling they could be just a hint smaller?

They are readily available.

Some one might be able to confirm if they are similar size.

If you did not have a HDD in the lower bay under the wifi grill, did they have the screws that screw the HDD to the wifi grill? If so what did they screw into? Sounds a bit strange as the screws create a nice flat seal across the grill for the black base (on the inside)

You may need these screws depending on how they set your mini up.

http://www.thebookyard.com/product.php?products_id=7399

If you use conventional HDD screws to screw it to the wifi grill, you will either need the above screws or some what are very flat because the black base seals across the grill and screws. The black base is also likely to catch on conventional screws as well.

Final edit:

Found this. It seems they are called "mac mini lower bay alignment screws" in a search

http://www.impactcomputers.com/922-9584.html

Thanks for the write up, I think I got confused with the terminology, it's actually the upper tray that my mac mini had the hard drive in. I called it lower tray because when the mini is upside down to access it, it becomes the upper tray. The screws in the wifi grill are there, they just have these small black nuts on the other side holding them in, otherwise they don't do anything. I did not need to take them out to remove the grill. I ordered the wrong cable and good thing i read your post and I've contacted the seller to switch to the other cable. The first set of screws you show would seem like the ones I need, they would just slide into the grommets and stay there, because the screws that came with my mini have "hats" so they need to be screwed out.

 

[opinio]

Thanks for the write up, I think I got confused with the terminology, it's actually the upper tray that my mac mini had the hard drive in. I called it lower tray because when the mini is upside down to access it, it becomes the upper tray. The screws in the wifi grill are there, they just have these small black nuts on the other side holding them in, otherwise they don't do anything. I did not need to take them out to remove the grill. I ordered the wrong cable and good thing i read your post and I've contacted the seller to switch to the other cable. The first set of screws you show would seem like the ones I need, they would just slide into the grommets and stay there, because the screws that came with my mini have "hats" so they need to be screwed out.

These are the exact mac mini screws I believe. I think the stainless steel MacBook ones are slightly smaller (from sight).

http://www.impactcomputers.com/922-9584.html

It is confusing as many sites refer to them as 'top' hard drive screws. This site refers to them as the lower bay which is correct. If you go to System Information in OSX Utilities and click on Serial-ata and then click on the hard drive you will see "Bay Name: Lower/Upper". In your interesting case, it should say your OEM HDD is in the Upper Bay.

Do a search on "922-9584 Apple" with 922-9584 being the part number.

Someone might kindly confirm their view on these screws as the two needed to align the drive under the grill (i.e what I refer to as the Lower Bay Drive)?

Not sure why they sell 5?

 

[Fishrrman]

"Not sure why they sell 5?"

So you have a spare if you lose one!

 

[vadimr]

"Not sure why they sell 5?"

So you have a spare if you lose one!

All you need is 2 for the lower bay.

----------

These are the exact mac mini screws I believe. I think the stainless steel MacBook ones are slightly smaller (from sight).

http://www.impactcomputers.com/922-9584.html

It is confusing as many sites refer to them as 'top' hard drive screws. This site refers to them as the lower bay which is correct. If you go to System Information in OSX Utilities and click on Serial-ata and then click on the hard drive you will see "Bay Name: Lower/Upper". In your interesting case, it should say your OEM HDD is in the Upper Bay.

Do a search on "922-9584 Apple" with 922-9584 being the part number.

Someone might kindly confirm their view on these screws as the two needed to align the drive under the grill (i.e what I refer to as the Lower Bay Drive)?

Not sure why they sell 5?

You are right, the ones from MBP are smaller, I just opened mine up and compared, they are tiny. I guess I need these alignment screws. Thanks.

 

[OWC Larry]

mac mini standard bay flip

We have confirmed that the cable we include in our Data Doubler Kits <http://eshop.macsales.com/Search/Search.cfm?Ntk=Primary&Ns=P_Popularity%7c1&Ne=5000&N=6922&Ntt=data+doubler+mac+mini> for the 2011, 2012, and later models is compatible for use with both lower and upper bay installations. We have purchased several units over the last few days and so far, all have had the 1TB drive in the 'normal' default bay. If someone here could email me owc at macsales.com or private message me here who has received one of these Mac minis with the drive location flipped - I'd really appreciate a couple details on a couple minor parts Apple may or may not be still leaving present in the other bay. namely the gromets.

Further - the first person who reaches out to me who hasn't yet upgraded their Mac mini that we confirm has the bay flip, we'll install the drive of your choice in the Mac mini (you send us a drive you already have or can buy one from us) free of charge including the needed cable, labor, and freight both ways.

Really want to see one of these factory units with single drive location flipped as so far units we've purchased and otherwise seen all have the same single drive location as always.

Once we know exactly if grommets need to be installed (or already there) - we can do a proper installation support video for everyone as well.

Thanks!

- OWC Larry

 

[gtstricky]

Larry I would love to take advantage of that offer. I just received my mini and indeed the drives were flipped. I got threw the install (yes the cable worked) but had another issue and had to do an exchange. I expect my new mini tomorrow.

 

[SketchyClown]

Larry,

Just emailed you some photos of mine. Just bought this i7 Mini and it has the bay-flip.

The holes where the drive mounting pins go have rubber rings inside of them.

Not looking for any freebies or to ship mine away, just want to be able to buy a kit with the right cable and mounting pins for my new SSD. I was so looking forward to installing it. :/

There is a bright side to this anomaly though as Apple has done me a favour by installing the "difficult" drive for me.

 

[donlab]

There is a bright side to this anomaly though as Apple has done me a favour by installing the "difficult" drive for me.

IMO, its a good idea if building a fusion drive or ssd/HDD combo to put the SSD in the upper "difficult" bay and the mechanical HDD in the lower. The chances of HDD failing are greater.

 

[SketchyClown]

I'm not really sure that I buy into that scenario donlab, but thanks for the words of warning. I put a SSD into my old iMac 27", utilizing the 2nd SATA port in addition to the factory 7200rpm drive and tried it both as a Fusion drive and separate drives and never had any issues. However, this time around I don't plan on making this into a Fusion drive. My reason for this is because the factory 1TB drive is only running at SATA 3Gbps (per the System Profiler) and is only 5400rpm. Pairing this up with a fast SATA3 6Gbps SSD seems to me like a bad match and more the reason why people are running into problems or failures, not which bay they are installed in. Both SATA ports on the Mini are SATA 6Gbps so the factory drive is a dog, and unlikely what Apple uses in their own Fusion drives.