⟐ 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

⟐ Commented agosto 17, 2026 at 4:48 GMT-7

Regardless of the cost, we still need an answer. As one person commented, some of us may have an existing case or 2010 mini. I noted a similar question posted recently as well.

⟐ Answered agosto 16, 2026 at 23:51 GMT-7

I ended up being successful, however in attempting to loosen the logic board screw to allow room to to seat the hard drive as the instructions indicated, the screw was so tight I stripped the screw. After quite a lot of struggle I seemed to get the drive seated and it is functioning.

Is there a way to loosen the screw for any future issues?

⟐ Answered agosto 13, 2026 at 0:28 GMT-7

I have a Mid 2011 Mac Mini (2.5Ghz i5 model A1347) which I bought from the refurb store in 2013.

From mid 2013 to late 2016 it served as a media server, running XBMC/Kodi. Towards the end of that time it started to randomly shut down. I then stopped using it and since then it's been sat in a cupboard.

I was going to wipe it and set it up for my daughter, but I can't get it started. When I try to start it, the power light comes on and I can hear something (I think it's the HDD) and then about one second later it switches off.

Any guidance on troubleshooting this would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Barry

⟐ Commented agosto 03, 2026 at 14:36 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 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