⟐ Commented octubre 25, 2024 at 8:14 GMT-7

Mi intención sería sustituir el disco actual por un disco SSD de 250 Gb.

⟐ Answer accepted diciembre 21, 2014 at 10:48 GMT-7

I've removed the power supply and I'm measuring the voltage. With no load, they all read 11.88V (any of the right pins with any of the left pins). Then I press the switch on button, all pins go down a little (like 11.82V) but the rightmost left pin + any of the right pins read ~9.22 for one second, they go up to 11.88V, then down again, then up and down, etc.

In a picture I've found on the internet, this "rightmost left pin" is marked as ground.

The point is: is this behavior right? Should the ground pin have 12V, 0V, or what?

Ps.: I'm from Brazil and English is not my first language.

Red: negative pins
yellow: neutral (? maybe not) pin
blue: positive

PSU details

Model details

Voltage reading between any one positive and one negative pin

Voltage between neutral and any positive pin when computer is trying to boot up. The reading fluctuates between 11.8V and 9.2V consistently - i.e., when trying to boot up voltage goes down, fan spins briefly, stop, voltage goes up, rinse and repeat

Reading between any negative pin and neutral pin when the process described above is happening. Voltage goes from zero to 2.5V at the same time the above process is going from 11.8V to 9.2V

Demonstration of how I'm measuring things. In this example, one negative pin (black probe, left), one positive pin (red probe, right)

mobo for reference (side 1)

mobo for reference (side 2)

Extra information: all tests were done with RAM installed and with no RAM installed, same results. Also, sometimes, for no clear reason (at least to me), after probing the mobo randomly with my multimeter (hoping some fairy could tell me what's wrong :-D ), the mini boots up - I hear the chime. But after turning it off and then on again, the miracle stops working.

⟐ Commented julio 04, 2026 at 16:37 GMT-7

⟐ Commented julio 03, 2026 at 13:07 GMT-7

⟐ Commented junio 28, 2026 at 15:18 GMT-7

I would be happy to post a 'technique' article showing people how to access and test the power supply in this model if someone can help me determine their proper output values and connector pins.

⟐ Commented junio 21, 2026 at 14:07 GMT-7

⟐ Commented junio 15, 2026 at 6:26 GMT-7

⟐ Answer edited mayo 26, 2026 at 9:16 GMT-7

One end clips to the underside of the “power button assembly”, and another clips to the “antenna housing”.

PICOEZMATE is what the wire and connector are called.

edit: This seems to be the way

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhEsgx8O...

⟐ Answer edited mayo 30, 2026 at 5:59 GMT-7

As a disclaimer, I know this may be a hardware issue and that is why I am here. I have already taken it to Apple and they had no luck, telling me it needs a logic board replacement. It wasn't worth the money so this has turned into just a slow learning project that I've been chipping away at as a hobby.

I have tried to restore it with Apple Configurator and another MacBook, but after putting it into DFU mode and waiting for it to restore, it fails with this error (4014)

Unexpected device state 'DFU' expected 'RestoreOS' (Probably forced into DFU mode externally)

AC recognizes the Mac Mini, and the restore works up until Step 4/4, "Installing System", where it pauses halfway and then gives that error.

At that point I can see via the status light on the Mac Mini that it goes from a normal boot (white) to DFU mode again (solid amber) randomly, and AC sort of flickers at this point as well and then complains about the Mac Mini being in DFU (instead of RestoreOS).

I guess this could be something fried on the board, but I wouldn't know where to start because the only apparent issue being that it just randomly dips out of RestoreOS and back to DFU is very odd.

I've heard this error (4014) can be a faulty cable, but I've tried a lot of different ones, including a genuine Apple USB-C cable. I may buy a brand new one and try again.

Do you know of any software or hardware issues this could be? It seems like a simple issue but with no real rhyme or reason to it. Even if you just have a hunch, any tips on where I should look next would be greatly appreciated.

⟐ Answer accepted mayo 18, 2026 at 15:16 GMT-7

⟐ Answer accepted mayo 02, 2026 at 17:40 GMT-7

Somehow I completely forgot that Apple ever made a discrete GPU Mac mini. Having realized that, I looked up GPU benchmarks and found that the 6630m GPU is kind of decent. Many times mower powerful than the 320m that came before it, or the Intel HD 4000 that came after it. Based on benchmarking the 6630m vs the minimum GPU system requirements for GTA4, I should be able to play that game on it too!

Those are the specs. Now here's the reality. The mini's GPU runs really good for half a minute or so? Then the fan in the mini maxes out, and the GPU throttles so bad, the framerate tanks. IN FACT, its so bad, that I had to dial back the graphics settings in GTA San Andreas to MATCH what I play on the nVidia 320m!!! So on a Mac with over 3x the GPU performance, I'm effectively getting the exact same amount of real-world performance.

My first thought was, Windows 10 must be broken, I should revert to Windows 7!
But after continued use, I'm not sure that's the issue. The second most obvious problem might be bad thermal paste? I know that replacing thermal paste on Macs is all the rage these days, but its not usually as effective as "reddit" would make it seem. But that said, I am in a case where I'm trying to max this machine out. So maybe its worth while to pop off the heat sink, clean it all down, and put some fresh paste on it? If I do go this route, is it worth buying some fancy kind of paste, or will any new, unopened paste be fine?

Any other thoughts on what might be going on? I would be very happy if I could use this mini to play GTA:SA at full native 1080p, and if I could play GTA4 at any decent, playable graphics level.

⟐ Commented abril 28, 2026 at 5:04 GMT-7

⟐ Answer edited abril 08, 2026 at 11:16 GMT-7

I have just replaced the internal HDD of my Mac Mini with a Crucial MX500 SSD, in the process of moving the logic board I pulled it out too far which disconnected the wires from inside the logic board connector of what I believe is the optical drive sensor. I have inserted the wires back into the connector but even so I’m having an issue with the fans on full speed.

As others have recommended, I am using the app SSD Fan Control but became perplexed as to why it wasn’t doing anything when I set it to Auto or S.M.A.R.T.

Only when I set the optical drive setting to manual did it stop the fans from spinning on max.

I’m guessing this means the optical drive thermal sensor is broken.

I taped the HDD thermal sensor to the new SSD, similar to how it was on the original.

The app is set to SMART on the left half (hard disk) and manual (2500 RPM) on the right side (optical drive). Does this mean the fans are still working automatically based off of the data from the thermal sensor on the HDD, just not on the sensors on the optical drive? The optical drive on this Mac is never used, so could I feasibly continue to use the Mac as normal and won’t have to worry about overheating so as long as the optical drive isn’t used? The reason I believe the HDD thermal sensor is working is because the measured data on the app fluctuates a little (RPM and degrees) so I think it’s reading some sort of data.

Separate to this, does this app work in the background? When I close it, it doesn’t show anything in Activity Monitor that I can see, so will it still read the sensor data and adjust the fans accordingly? I’ve set it to open upon logging in via System Preferences, Users, Login Items.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

⟐ Commented febrero 20, 2026 at 5:33 GMT-7

⟐ Commented febrero 18, 2026 at 21:53 GMT-7

⟐ Edited enero 27, 2026 at 17:42 GMT-7

However, I encountered difficulty in re-installing the Antenna Plate, particularly the two 5.0mm T8 Torx on both sides. While it was originally perfectly fit (when I tried to remove the antenna plate), it is now re-installed with only one side of the T8 torx on either one side and the two 6.6mm T8 screws in the bottom part, leaving one 5.0mm screw uninstalled. Though my mac mini worked perfectly fine without that screw.

I don't think I have damaged or transformed the antenna plate and I believe that the antenna plate was not perfectly fit out of the box. Do anyone of you encounter this problem? Any solution?

⟐ Commented enero 20, 2026 at 17:10 GMT-7