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Accessing the RAM requires the removal of the internal frame.
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Power down your Mac mini, disconnect all of the cables, and flip it over.
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Insert the Jimmy into the crack between the aluminum top housing and the plastic lower housing.
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The Jimmy should reach a stop about 3/8" down.
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Gently bend the Jimmy outwards to pry the crack open a little larger and lift the lower housing up a small amount.
Patience is your best friend.
Do not insert “jimmy in too far. Marking a line from tip upwards on the tool will prevent too far insertion, possibly breaking tabs or damaging internal components.
To prevent the cover closing back up, small strips of matchbook cover (os equivalent) can be inserted about half inch hold prevent closure.
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Once you have the first side free, rotate the Mac mini and start prying up on the front edge.
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Use the same prying motion to both bend the clips inward and lift the lower housing up out of the top housing.
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You may need to move the Jimmy along the edge to pry up all of the clips. Be patient and do a little bit at a time.
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Keep working around the perimeter, freeing the clips along the final edge.
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Flip the Mac mini back over and lift the top housing off of the lower housing.
Before reassembly, make sure no wires are sticking out.
Line up top cover carefully. Gently press down on top cover until top and bottom fully seated.
CAUTION! DO NOT PRESS TOO HARD ON THE COVER TO PREVENT CRACKING THE PLASTIC TOP.
GO EASY.
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Slightly squeeze the two retaining arms toward each other and lift the AirPort antenna off its post.
How serious is it if W1 loses the spring? Mine pinged off and I cannot find it. I spent about half an hour looking with no success.
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Use the tip of a spudger to slightly lift the left side of the ZIF cable lock up from its socket.
Now also lift the right side of the ZIF cable lock up from its socket.
Good catch of the incomplete unlocking instructions. ;P
Hmmm... what if I didn't read this before and I removed the cable and the lock sort of broke?... what would happen... would I experience problems? I can still put the cable back in place and push the lock back down with the spudger.
Same. I totally removed the lock , the edges are busted and won't stay in place, How can I get the cable to stay? what's the fix?
Suzanne -
Dan O & Suzanne, hold the cable in the socket and put a dab of hot glue on both sides, It's non-conductive and should hold...worked for me.
does any one know, where to get the connector from zhe ZIF Cable?
someone, that preowned my mac broke the holder!
Julian, did you ever find where to get a replacement lock for the Zip Cable. Mine is also broken..
Suzanne -
This is not my first memory replacement in a Mini and I got over-confident and stupidly fully removed the audio cable ZIF lock and assumed I had broken something. But, now that I have read this guide more carefully, I am not sure. I sure would love to hear some detailed instructions for putting a ZIF lock back on.
Is it possible that I have removed it without having broken it? If I have broken it, do I have to buy a new cable? Just a new ZIF lock? A new audio board? This is a 2.0 GHz A1176.
Thanks!
Michael, Mine seems to be broken. I bought & tried the Kapton Tape that was suggested & still no sound.
Suzanne -
C’est la première que je doit déverrouiller un câble ZIF. Je précise qu’il faut lever à gauche et à droite, ça force un peu, prendre appui sur le boitier du Mac, comme e montre la photo.
La partie noire reste dans la partie blanche (+1 mm), et la nappe flexible sort par le haut.
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Lift the audio board ribbon cable up out of its socket.
As an option to avoid potential damage when disconnecting the cable from the ZIF socket and clip, it is possible to unscrew the audio board and remove it along with the internal frame.
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crwdns2935267:0crwdne2935267:0Tweezers$4.99
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Use a pair of tweezers to lift the hard drive thermal sensor cable connector up off its socket on the logic board.
Managed to leave this connected by flopping back the drive rather than totally removing
WATCH OUT!!
separated one of the wires from the connector very easily. i would have preferred to use a spudger at this step. the tweezers in effect snipped the wire!!
As my experience you should definitely use angeled tweezers as shown in several pictures. To avoid stripped cable deflash sharp edges of the tweezers a little bit. I never experienced problems when using that kind of tool carefully.
I've had to remove a few of these connectors on iBooks and other small Apple devices ... I've found that, with careful and gentle pressure (working first one side and then the other) using a small flat-headed jeweller's screwdriver is best.
I agree Mike.
Note where the airport antennae connecting wire comes out from the interior along the top. When reassembling, it has to be routed the same way, or it won't reach its install position.
If your fan runs at high speed after you complete this project, you have forgotten to reconnect the thermal sensor.
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Remove the recessed Phillips screw near the power button securing the internal frame to the bottom housing.
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Remove the recessed Phillips screw near the sleep light securing the internal frame to the bottom housing.
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Remove the Phillips screw from the internal frame near the Bluetooth antenna.
Before removing any of these screws, there is another step needed which is not here:
On the front of the optical drive, right side as you look at the slot-load, is a small blue board attached by a single black screw. This needs to be removed before the optical drive can be taken out.
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Remove the Phillips screw near the audio ports securing the internal frame to the bottom case.
On reassembly, if you don't have a magnetic screwdriver, a tiny dab of grease at the tip of your screwdriver will help hold the screw on the driver so you can lower it into the recessed slot.
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Gently lift the internal frame up from the bottom housing, minding the AirPort antenna and any other cables that may get caught.
At this point be careful that you don't pull out the Airport antenna ... but if you do, just check that it is back before re-assembling.
During re-assembly, the internal frame has to go in at an angle ... the back of the optical drive goes in first.
This means that you can seat the fan cover correctly, but more importantly, there is an interconnect board on the back of the optical drive that must be firmly pushed back into its housing on the logic board.
Reassembly: Before slipping the main frame back into its place, refer to earlier photos, ensuring proper routing of the WiFi cable.
If, like me, you pull the wire on the airport antenna free, it snaps back into place easily. The connector is on the extra card screwed to the motherboard that looks like it has a phone battery embedded in it. The connector is at the top of the 'battery'. This accessory card is the wifi card, so it makes sense that the antenna plugs onto this.
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Simultaneously pull the tabs on each side of the RAM chip away from the center of the chip. These tabs lock the chip in place and releasing them will cause the chip to "pop" up.
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Pull the RAM chip directly out from its connector.
When (re)inserting RAM, the connector is tight - push firmly on both sides evenly - usually will "click" when fully seated. Look at the RAM connector edge - the gold should be almost completely within the socket (if not fully seated, it won't be recognized).
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To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
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As a quick warning for noobs (that'd be me before I attempted this repair :P ), you need a matching pair of RAM (two chips the same size and spec). Otherwise, the computer won't boot up. ^_^
There were 2x 1GB chips in my 2007 mini. I bought 1x 2GB chip, because I read somewhere that model only would allow 3GB. After replacing a 1GB chip with the new 2GB chip, the system is only showing 1GB RAM installed. Is this what you’re talking about? If I buy another 2GB chip, will it work? PC2-5300 2 GB RAM Chip
Jeff Box -
That is not always true. Often, perhaps…60/40, ish? My 2007 mac mini 2,1 is running one 1gb stick and one 2gb stick, a 500gb Kingston SSD and a salvaged superdrive from a MBP. I am tempted to try a core 2 quad or Xeon in it. For no particular reason than to see if it runs. anyone tried that one? I also had a 2008 mac pro 3,1 running four 2gb and four 4gb of under spec ram without issues.
In the 25 years i’ve been hanging out in server rooms, the client side of the working guidelines for ram matching has become less strict., but still, I believe, the ability to mix is in the manufacturing process. there’s no way but experience to be able to confirm that different makes, speed or size will function together. Unless of course stated in manufacturers documentation. The quality of the individual components will decide.
It will either work or it wont.
If you don’t have ram laying about, then your 100% right, buy matching pairs. otherwise, try it 'till it fires!
I successfully run 3GB in my A1176 Minis. When I put the 2GB chip in the bottom slot with the 1GB chip in the top slot, the machine would not boot and the power LED would blink continuously. When I put the 1GB chip in the bottom slot with the 2GB chip in the top slot, the machine works perfectly and sees all 3GB of RAM. (I don’t know if this is a rule or not, this is strictly my anecdotal experience.) I have *not* experienced installing 3GB and having the Mini run and only report 1GB. If you do that, I’d recommend checking to assure that the 2GB stick is seated properly.
I’ve also used 4GB without any trouble in A1176 Minis, but this model can only address a maximum of 3GB RAM. I have run performance comparisons between one equipped with 4GB and equipped with 3GB RAM and they measured identically. If you’re upgrading an A1176 from 2GB (equipped with a pair of 1GB chips) to 3GB, you can save a few dollars by just buying a single PC2-5300 2GB stick.
Mark B -
Thanks a lot, 1Gb -> 4Gb is done !
This was easier than it looked, the only thing I had trouble with was getting the cover off (tried to use a flexible palette knife, bad idea) and getting the little sensor plug back in (it's SO tiny.) Oh, and one screw I had trouble getting back into the hidden recessed hole because my screwdriver isn't magnetized.
Speaking of which, size of screwdriver matters, I bought a set with a size 0 and size 000, but no 00, neither worked. Fortunately I had one of those cheap eyeglass repair kits, and the Phillips screwdriver worked perfectly.
The covers are the Worst….then and Now!!!
Thank you so much iFixit! Very nice guide. Followed and worked like a charm. Keep up the good info coming!
Great step-by-step instructions, but now it won't boot... What to do?
did you change ram
Great job, went like a charm. btw, the old Mac mini 2007 can accept 4 Gb, and it looks like it uses the full monthly according to the memory app I am using.
Some say t can't but how can I make sure of that, does any one knows?
Went from 2 towards 4 Gb, now my old iMac from the same year is most lightly the same hardware as this Mini and that one can hold 4 to 6 Gb.
Grts
The Mac Fiddler
Instructions along with comments worked well. Thank you. Tab of silicon grease very helpful on reassembly.
Excellent! Thanks a million! :-)
Nice equipment
This update worked very well. Tougher to get apart than expected. My experience was that the prying tool is very flexible and bends. You are trying to find and push the plastic hooks inward slightly to release them rather than prying on the back housing. Also be careful with the Airport antena - it can pop off the connector from the interior pc-board. I didn’t find this out until I went to re-attach it and found he wire had popped free and I had to take out all the screws and and connectors and disassemble a second time to re-connect it! Fortunately ifixit has instructions on where that goes, thanks!
that is so right. the prying is not good. the tabs, especially on a ten or more years old device, are brittle and the intake vents don’t leave much for them to be mounted on. I have broken a couple, when I was a Mac mini virgin.
there’s always that one screw/bolt/nut that gives you the gears. cars, macs, anything mechanical always has that one @#!@#@ fastener.
Thank you, it has worked very good!
Thank you! Works very well!
I found a pizza cutter is the best tool to separate cover from the bottom part.
A spackle knife makes these steps go much faster.
jouniseppanen - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
A double sided letter opener or a thin non-serrated butter knife will suffice.
To prenent cosmetic blemishes, place a matchbook cover or similar thin cardboard on the outer perimeter under the “jimmy”.
Mike - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Despite mentioning recommended tools at the top I think it’s really worthwhile making a point about narrow Philips screwdrivers at this point before people start putting the case apart.
Matt D - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0