Mac Mini 3,1 fan 0 rpm after I install SSD
Dear all,
I encountered a very odd problem recently while trying to upgrade my mothers Mac Mini. I wanted to install a SSD drive and first purchased a Crucial M4 128 GB. Following the excellent manual provided on this website it took me just 15min to do so. Mac OS installed perfectly but the Mini would always shut down while installing Windows 7 via Boot Camp. Thinking this was an issue with the Crucial SSD, I exchanged it for a Samsung 840. The installation of Windows 7 worked, but once I wanted to install drivers, the Mini shut down again.
I discovered that when the SSD is in the Mini, the fan won't work and the sensor correctly reads 0 rpm. Bootcamp seems to have a higher cpu load so that it shuts down quicker. When I did a quick stress test in Mac OS, the mini would shut down after a few minutes too. (Apple Hardware Test (AHT) also tells me that the Fan Motor does not work)
Now comes the strange part. First I assumed I broke a cable or the temp sensor (although I used extreme caution and would describe myself as experienced with these kind of tasks).
However, when I reinstall the old 160GB HDD, the Fan will work perfectly, without any errors in AHT.
Does anyone have a clue why the fan spins normally with the original HDD installed and won't even start with 2 different SSDs? I want my mom to profit from the superior SSD speed, but when the fan simply won't work, this is not an option.
Kind regards from Germany,
Daniel
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When you installed the new SSD did you transfer the temp sensor/cable from the old hard drive? Visible in Step19 of the install guide. It seems like the fan would pull temperatures from other temp sensors in the mini but maybe it requires a reading from the HDD temp sensor as well.
Please respond if that fixes the issue, I'll be installing an SSD in my mini in the next few weeks and I'd like to know if moving that sensor is required.
- de LikeARabbit
I did transfer the cable. The temp sensor reads out just fine, just the fan won't spin and thus the fan sensor reads 0 rpm. I did everything as stated in the manual and attached everything on the SSD just like it was with the HDD before. I don't know whats wrong with this Mini in particular, it just won't work. But as many other guys can use their SSDs without any issues, I think yours will not show that. But I would move the sensor to the new drive as well! I read somewhere that when it is broken (or nonpresent) the fan will always spin at max rpm
- de schmani