iMac mid 2010 SSD upgrade advice

[mlcomputers]

Hi I have been asked by one of my customers to upgrade his mid 2010 iMac 21.5 to an SSD drive after successfully upgrading him Mac Book Pro last year.

Looking online it looks reasonably straightforward as it is the magnetic glass cover model.

Is there anything that I should be wary of?

A few videos I have seen say that I also need to purchase a thermal sensor kit - https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DIDIMACHDD09/

I normally use Crucial 2.5 SSD drives and so was looking to purchase a 1TB SSD and the above thermal sensor removing the original drive after taking a Time Machine Backup of it first!!

Many thanks

Jason

 

[Markverhyden]

Easy peasy. You can also use http://www.hddfancontrol.com/ instead of the sensor. And remember that some of the models used the molex connector on the HD PCB, which cannot be reused on an SSD, and some used the stick on sensor which can be.

 

[mlcomputers]

Easy peasy. You can also use http://www.hddfancontrol.com/ instead of the sensor. And remember that some of the models used the molex connector on the HD PCB, which cannot be reused on an SSD, and some used the stick on sensor which can be.

Hello Mark, thanks for the info. I have not taken one of these apart before but being the magnetic glass connector I am happy to have a go. I don't normally like to take on a paid learning job but this looks relatively straight forward to do

 

[Markverhyden]

Hello Mark, thanks for the info. I have not taken one of these apart before but being the magnetic glass connector I am happy to have a go. I don't normally like to take on a paid learning job but this looks relatively straight forward to do

I know what you mean, I'm careful about where I do my "learning" as well. But this really is very easy as long as you pay attention to the cables when separating the lcd from the chassis. The videos cover that very well.

 

[timeshifter]

I'm put the SSD in one of these 2.5 to 3.5 adapters for easy mounting: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F3QFKNS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Be VERY careful with the LCD cable. I've done a handful of these upgrades and they've all been pretty smooth, except for one where the LCD cable must have been pinched or twisted which caused some video issues. A replacement cable solved it, but it was like doing the job all over again.

And, I second the recommendation for a simple, free fan control program instead of a $40 sensor.

 

[mlcomputers]

Well everyone I completed the upgrade yesterday evening and all is well. I was more concerned about getting the glass off and breaking it but that was not a problem. SSD installed together with the fan control software and all is working smoothly!!

Typically I visited another customer yesterday with a dead iMac same model and have had to take that one apart today to recover the hard drive and back up the data. So I could have used that as my learning curve. The customer has let me keep this one for parts so something else to please my wife in my stockroom (Oops meant garage!!)

Thanks for your help everyone

JK

 

[mlcomputers]

One quick extra thing, I was paranoid about getting fingerprints on the LCD panel. Can anyone recommend a pair of gloves for this type of job? (or will ordinary cotton gloves do?) Just something to add to my toolkit for the future. Thanks Jason

 

[Your PCMD]

The SSD would be worth more than the iMac IMO. Anyway...

or will ordinary cotton gloves do?

Dont use cotton gloves because of fuzz. Use Nitrile gloves.

 

[Markverhyden]

One quick extra thing, I was paranoid about getting fingerprints on the LCD panel. Can anyone recommend a pair of gloves for this type of job? (or will ordinary cotton gloves do?) Just something to add to my toolkit for the future. Thanks Jason

Years ago Apple used to ship a pair of cheap cloth gloves, something synthetic, for handling LCD's. Could not confirm if they were microfiber or not. I've seen powder free nitrile in BoH at Apple stores. Personally I just use microfiber cloths. Easy to keep a firm grip on glass, no finger prints and doubles as cleaning material. And they're washable! Apple says to only use water as a fluid to clean the glass. The problem is water is not a good solvent. So Il'll use a water and dishwashing liquid mixture first. Then I'll use water only if I still see something after. The inside of those iMac glass can really get nasty if someone is a smoker.

 

[mlcomputers]

Years ago Apple used to ship a pair of cheap cloth gloves, something synthetic, for handling LCD's. Could not confirm if they were microfiber or not. I've seen powder free nitrile in BoH at Apple stores. Personally I just use microfiber cloths. Easy to keep a firm grip on glass, no finger prints and doubles as cleaning material. And they're washable! Apple says to only use water as a fluid to clean the glass. The problem is water is not a good solvent. So Il'll use a water and dishwashing liquid mixture first. Then I'll use water only if I still see something after. The inside of those iMac glass can really get nasty if someone is a smoker.

Thanks Mark, I have a load of Microfiber cloths so that sounds like the way to go.

It's typical I have not had much Apple work in a long while and then 3 iMacs in one week, and 4 new ipads to setup for customers. I think I have said this before Macs are bad for business for me generally. I set them up for the customers and then never hear from them again

 

[Markverhyden]

It's typical I have not had much Apple work in a long while and then 3 iMacs in one week, and 4 new ipads to setup for customers. I think I have said this before Macs are bad for business for me generally. I set them up for the customers and then never hear from them again

I know what you mean Jason. My M$ customer generate 3-4 times more revenue per seat than my Apple customers.

 

[timeshifter]

Isn't it funny - I've got TWO of these machines in this week, exact machines, both in for SSD and OS upgrades. Run into a glitch.

Installed the SanDisk SSD, everything went smoothly. Booted from my iODD with a macOS High Sierra image to install the OS. It doesn't see the new drive!

Wait, I've run into this before. Can't remember what I did. I may have created a partition on the new SSD and reinstalled it. I just opened the package the SSD came and installed it.

In Disk Utility it only shows the external devices (my iODD partition and optical drive).

Any ideas?

 

[timeshifter]

Any ideas?

Three words all Mac haters should learn: Target Disk Mode

Racking my brain. I'm thinking I have to take it all apart, hook up the drive to a USB adapter and do a quick format on it, then put it all back together, AGAIN. Then I remembered Target Disk Mode.

Hold down T while the machine is booting. Connect a FireWire cable to another Mac and there it is, the main Mac's drive is now an externally connected drive. Open Disk Utility and format it. Shut down, boot from install media, there it is.

 

[Markverhyden]

Three words all Mac haters should learn: Target Disk Mode

Racking my brain. I'm thinking I have to take it all apart, hook up the drive to a USB adapter and do a quick format on it, then put it all back together, AGAIN. Then I remembered Target Disk Mode.

Hold down T while the machine is booting. Connect a FireWire cable to another Mac and there it is, the main Mac's drive is now an externally connected drive. Open Disk Utility and format it. Shut down, boot from install media, there it is.

It's bizarre how that missing new disk thing pops up on occasion. Even used to see it back in the PPC/SCSI days. But yes, that's the nickle solution to the dime problem. TDM has been around from day one with Macs. I really wish the Wintel world would do the same thing. It would make life much simpler.

 

[timeshifter]

Free (actually donationware) fan control program
https://www.crystalidea.com/macs-fan-control