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Thermal sensor on late 09 Mini

Jessica08

Jessica08

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 2, 2015
362
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Roll Tide
I purchased a Crucial BX100 SSD, and I planned on installing it this weekend or attempt to anyway. I just talked with the guys at Crucial about the thermal sensor because I didn't know where it needed to be attached to the new drive. I was told that that thermal sensor cannot be used on a Crucial SSD. Is this true? And if so, what am I supposed to do with the sensor? The video I watched at OWC attaches it to the new drive.
 
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Jessica08 said:
The video I watched at OWC attaches it to the new drive.
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That is fine Jessica08. Just attach the sensor to your new drive like they did in the video. An SSD uses much less power than an HDD does. Therefore, the SSD produces much less heat. During operation the sensor will show that your SSD is running very close to the "under hood" temperature inside of your computer. This is normal and everything will function properly in this configuration.

You could leave the sensor loose as well. However, attaching the sensor to the new drive will show you how cool your new SSD really is! :)

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/253029-32-heat
 
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It was 6 years ago that I installed an Intel SSD into my then new 2009 mini. I no longer have this mini, although I believe it is still working fine in its new home.
Best I can remember is I just used the existing sticky pad on the sensor and stuck it to the SSD in roughly the same location it was removed from off the HDD, this is really just to stop it flopping around loose.
I think what Crucial means, same as Intel told me is the sensors will not work correctly with SSDs, I know mine never showed a correct temperature but the SSD and the min iperformed flawlessly.
 
Jessica08 said:
Is something just taped on there or is it actually plugged into the hard drive somewhere?
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Yes, I just stuck it on the SSD in the same corner as it was on the HDD. It doesn't plug into the HDD or the SSD, just the old adhesive binds it to the surface of the drive.
 
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Years ago I was working with a Mac Mini and the temp sensor was not connected - fan at full speed.

When I swapped to ssd I attached in same spot, all good.
 
It's just a contact sensor that's taped on. Just attach it to the casing to a similar place to where it was on the old drive. I've changed the drive at least 4 times and the sticky is still good.
 
So I got everything installed. The hard drive was a pain for some reason.

Anyway, I went to plug my monitor in and it says no signal. It worked fine before I started messing with anything. The computer fan comes on and beeps at me cause I put the installation cd in, but monitor won't turn on. I've tried the whole unplugging and holding power button down but no go. Thought the RAM might be bad, but I put original back in and still nothing.

Please help!
 
Jessica08 said:
So I got everything installed. The hard drive was a pain for some reason.

Anyway, I went to plug my monitor in and it says no signal. It worked fine before I started messing with anything. The computer fan comes on and beeps at me cause I put the installation cd in, but monitor won't turn on. I've tried the whole unplugging and holding power button down but no go. Thought the RAM might be bad, but I put original back in and still nothing.

Please help!
Click to expand...

Long shot: look for bent pins on monitor connector. Does the monitor work on anything else?

If your mini is like this one, you may have a problem. (I blew the video on my IIcx, decades ago. Sad I was. Needed new motherboard)

What I'd do is take it all apart, which you may have done, and put it back together, being careful of the connectors. I had a system that failed after power-on, and come to find out, I had a daughter board connector off by one row. Frantic, after I discovered that error, I put it back together correctly, and everything worked. I had to do brain surgery on a newer mini, and I was amazed at how intricate and precise the reinstall ended up being. It was freaking me out as I tried to get it all back together. But it worked. It took me four or five times to get the hard drive to mount with the screws and shock mounts.

BTW, I didn't plug in the HDD fan in one of my mini's, and almost left it that way because it ran so hot...
 
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PinkyMacGodess said:
Long shot: look for bent pins on monitor connector. Does the monitor work on anything else?

If your mini is like this one, you may have a problem. (I blew the video on my IIcx, decades ago. Sad I was. Needed new motherboard)

What I'd do is take it all apart, which you may have done, and put it back together, being careful of the connectors. I had a system that failed after power-on, and come to find out, I had a daughter board connector off by one row. Frantic, after I discovered that error, I put it back together correctly, and everything worked. I had to do brain surgery on a newer mini, and I was amazed at how intricate and precise the reinstall ended up being. It was freaking me out as I tried to get it all back together. But it worked. It took me four or five times to get the hard drive to mount with the screws and shock mounts.

BTW, I didn't plug in the HDD fan in one of my mini's, and almost left it that way because it ran so hot...
Click to expand...

Yes, monitor does work. It will beep at me when I turn the Mini on, but no monitor signal.
 
Now one of the antennas came unconnected from its connector, but it seemed to clip back in fine. It does come off easy though. I didn't rip it or anything, but it's loose. Could that be the problem?
 
Jessica08 said:
Now one of the antennas came unconnected from its connector, but it seemed to clip back in fine. It does come off easy though. I didn't rip it or anything, but it's loose. Could that be the problem?
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Unlikely... If the antenna isn't attached, it's more likely that there would be no wifi. The Mini seems to be pretty resilient, as in no HDD temp sensor you get fast fan, not dead unit. Plus an antenna isn't related with video. Unlikely...

Crap... I know as I was gutting my mini to swap the drives, at one point, I totally expected it to not start up. Those things are really a lot harder to get into than they need to be. I called it 'user abusive'...

Are you sure that the drives are plugged in correctly? Where they SATA, or PATA? Crap, SATA... Did any of those cables come loose? Look at 'everything'...
 
I took it apart again and looked I don't see anything wrong. I even put my old hard drive in and monitor has no signal still... Looks like I'll be taking it into a shop after all.
 
Jessica08 said:
I took it apart again and looked I don't see anything wrong. I even put my old hard drive in and monitor has no signal still... Looks like I'll be taking it into a shop after all.
Click to expand...

Crap... Having had that happen, I kinda know what you are feeling...

I did see logic boards on ebay, and there are probably other sources for them.

I fault Apple for making things so damn difficult to service. It shouldn't be like that...
 
Jessica08 said:
The install OS X disk is still in the mini. I can't get that out either.
Click to expand...

Here's a test...

Hook everything up, and power it on and hold the mouse button to get it to eject the disk.

It will be interesting to see if it will eject...

There should be a catch on the drive behind a hole that corresponds to the eject hole for notebook drives. I'm looking for any docs on doing that right now.
 
Ok, this is probably a dumb question, but let me ask it anyway: Are you using a monitor with multiple inputs (such as both VGA and DVI)? On some (particularly older) monitors, I've had to manually switch them to the proper input port; they won't automatically search all inputs for a valid signal. So, if you're (say) plugged into the DVI port, and the monitor is currently set to the VGA port, it may just report no input signal...
 
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Just had a thought... How long are you waiting for video? Have you tried the assorted PRAM and such resets for the Mini? Can the battery be pulled to dump the config? Long shots...
 
jpietrzak8 said:
Ok, this is probably a dumb question, but let me ask it anyway: Are you using a monitor with multiple inputs (such as both VGA and DVI)? On some (particularly older) monitors, I've had to manually switch them to the proper input port; they won't automatically search all inputs for a valid signal. So, if you're (say) plugged into the DVI port, and the monitor is currently set to the VGA port, it may just report no input signal...
Click to expand...

That's a good point. I have two monitors, both Samsung, and one pops on to the right input ever time, and the other, well, it misses more than hits it. Seems to just take a wild guess...
 
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Whooo hooo I got it working! Don't know what I did but it's working. I'm trying to clean install OS X now using my cd. Thanks for the fast help!
 
I realized I didn't have my RAM all the way connected. Then I tried it again. Still no luck so I just installed all my new stuff and closed it up for the day. I decided to try one more time. Hooked everything up and still no signal. I restarted the Mac hitting F12 while I did. The disk ejected and the screened turned white. Then I put cd in and it booted fine. No idea what I did but software is downloading. :)
 
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How to do I update from version 10.6, which is what my Mini came with, to the new El Capitian? Can't seem to get it updated.
 
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