Hard Drive Cable For Mac Mini

Macs aren’t immune from hard disk corruption and failures. They’re just as common on Macs as they are PCs. Although most Macs have solid-state drives, even these systems can have problems. Apple’s built-in utilities and some third-party programs will get you up and running.

Rinbers Top Hard Disc Drive Flex Cable for Apple Mac Mini A1347 Server 2nd SSD HDD Upgrade Kit 821-1501-A 821-1347-A (2011-2014) with Tools. Willhom 821-1501-A Second Hard Drive Upgrade Kit SSD Replacement for Mac Mini A1347 (Mid 2011 - Late 2012). Willhom 821-00010-A PCIe SSD Second Dual Hard Drive Flex Cable Connector Adapter Replacement for Mac Mini Unibody A1347 (Late 2014) MGEM2 MGEN2 MGEQ2 3.9 out of 5 stars 5 $21.99. It can be difficult to get the hard drive seated correctly such that the antenna plate fits in place correctly. If the screw holes don't line up with those on the hard drive, make sure that the two pins that are in the back of the hard drive are properly seated in the holes at the back of the case, above the housing for the second hard drive.

Symptoms of a Hard Disk Problem

The worst noise you’ll hear from a mechanical hard disk is a clicking or grinding noise. That means the drive is failing. At that point, the drive isn’t repairable. It’s time to back up your data and then replace the drive. You already have a backup though, right?

Not all drives exhibit symptoms in this way. Sometimes you’ll get the prohibitory no symbol at startup or a flashing folder with a question mark. After turning off your Mac and turning it back on, the system boots just fine. Other times you’ll get the spinning rainbow wheel, letting you know your Mac is waiting on something. That could be because your Mac is waiting on the hard drive.no symbol at startup or a flashing folder with a question mark. After turning off your Mac and turning it back on, the system boots just fine. Other times you’ll get the spinning rainbow wheel, letting you know your Mac is waiting on something. That could be because your Mac is waiting on the hard drive.

Diagnosing the Problem

If you suspect your hard disk is failing, it is time to make a backup. Now. Again, you should already have a backup of your Mac. Don’t proceed before you try to make a backup. Apple’s

Don’t have recovery mode? You’ll need an offline Mac installer to run Disk Utility off a USB drive.

When you reboot, you’ll see the

Some Macs have a built-in hardware diagnostic. Reboot your Mac holding down the D key. That runs a full hardware test on your Mac. The diagnostic will report any problems, including the hard drive.

Does your Mac Support Apple Diagnostics? Apple explains which models support this here.

Your Might Have a Confused Hard Drive

The Mac’s journaled file system usually keeps things in order. Glitches and improper shutdowns might leave things scrambled. If

You’ll need to boot your Mac off a Disk Warrior flash drive to do testing and repair. The program creates a Recovery flash drive. During its diagnostic process it will repair and optimize the drive. If it detects a hard drive error, the program warns you.

Sometimes it isn’t the Hard Disk

If you’ve tried all this and are still having problems, there could be something wrong with your Mac other than the hard drive. If you have a MacBook Pro, the ribbon cable that connects the hard drive to the rest of the computer can go bad. The Mac exhibits all the same symptoms as a failed hard drive. The best way to figure this out is to remove your hard drive and try it in another Mac. If the hard drive works on another computer, then it isn’t your hard drive.

Check to see if the repair is free: Check your serial number with Apple. Your Mac may still be under warranty.

The other typical problem is operating system errors. A system update or upgrade was interrupted leaving your Mac in a confused state. You can reinstall your operating system from the recovery mode. That won’t erase any data on your Mac.

Rarely the problem is in the Mac’s System Management Controller (SMC) . Before you give up hope, try Apple’s procedure for resetting the SMC.

What if You Have a Solid State Drive?

Solid State Drives (SSDs) don’t make the typical noises of a mechanical hard drive. After all,they have no moving parts. The testing procedures are the same. You won’t be able to easily remove the hard drive to test it in another machine. Programs like Disk Warrior are smart enough to change the optimization procedure for an SSD drive.

Some Macs have easy hard drives to replace. Some Mac models hard drives aren’t replaceable by end users. Most Mac-savvy retailers know the difference and can guide you towards the right repair. Replacing your hard drive with an SSD will give you the best performance, but may limit your storage space. We cover the differences here.

ALSO READ:DaisyDisk: The Best, Most Intuitive App to Find Large Files on Your Mac’s Hard Drive

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Mac Mini Replace Hard Drive

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External Drive For Mac Mini

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The mini can be used as an external hard drive by connecting it via a firewire cable and starting it up in Firewire Target Disk Mode. You do this by holding down the T key during the mini's startup, until it appears on the desktop of the host system as any other FW drive, and files can be moved or copied on or off it as with any other drive. Note that it can't be used this way as a means to drive another system, such as an older iMac, where the intention might be to use the old system's screen and keyboard.
It has to be said that this isn't really a good way of using a mini for prolonged periods - while it works, it's only really intended for file transfer. The mini is clearly a rather expensive way to add an external drive to another system!
Apple have a knowledgebase article explaining firewire target disk mode at http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58583