I plan to replace a few parts of my 27” iMac as soon as the 1-year warranty is over. I‘ve seen the video of Snazzy Labs and some posts in this and other forums.

Unfortunately my iMac does have the 128 GB PCI-SSD and a 2 TB HDD (Fusion Drive).

Is there a possibility to replace only the HDD with a 1 TB SATA SSD and reconfigure it as a Fusion Drive with the PCI-SSD?

Or, is it even possible to put in 2 SATA SSDs in there and setting up as RAID and then using as a part of the Fusion Drive?

Thanks for your help people!

⟐ Commented fevereiro 27, 2021 at 12:44 GMT-7

I'm planning to add a SSD in PCIe slot on my iMac Late 2013 using your instructions.

Everything seems to be bought, I'm almost ready to start except one thing - I don't know the size of a screw which holds the SSD on mother board and I don't know if it exists (I mean - if it exists while there is no SSD in my config)?

Here's a picture SSD hold down screw

What's the length and diameter of this screw? Can I use a drop of silicone sealant instead of a screw?

⟐ Answered janeiro 19, 2021 at 20:33 GMT-7

The cable is a completely new Thunderbolt - Thunderbolt cable. I've tried resetting SMC and NVRAM on the iMac which haven't solved the problem. I've also tried the VirtualKVM application but it looks as if the Thunderbolt port isn't recognising the cable.

Obviously the CMD+F2 option isn't working either.

Any ideas?

⟐ Commented dezembro 25, 2020 at 14:20 GMT-7

https://youtu.be/QY-B5TLIU9E

Is it something that can be fixed?

Thanks!

⟐ Edited dezembro 12, 2020 at 21:43 GMT-7

⟐ Commented outubro 23, 2020 at 6:40 GMT-7

⟐ Commented outubro 14, 2020 at 11:35 GMT-7

⟐ Commented outubro 13, 2020 at 2:57 GMT-7

I‘m currently upgrading my 2017 5K iMac (CPU etc.). I have all parts disassembled and only have the aluminum housing in front of me.

I also planed to change the normal stand to VESA mount. Sadly, it seems like the original hinge does not support the old original VESA mount adapter from Apple cause the hinge is not able to flip out the housing.

Now I thought about getting an old 2011 27” iMac hinge which works with VESA mount adapter and just replace it. On the pictures the older hinge has more screw holes as the new one.

My question: Does anyone know measurements of both hinges and if the old one could fit the new iMacs holes?!

5K iMac Inside:

5K iMac original hinge:

Old VESA compatible 2011 hinge:

Thanks a lot in advance!

Leo

⟐ Commented agosto 23, 2020 at 9:27 GMT-7

I have already carried out the two tests you mentioned. No fault was found. Plus the Imac was the only electrical equipment on in the room. There was no other machine it could have come from?

⟐ Commented junho 20, 2020 at 19:14 GMT-7

EDIT: This article mentions that my iMac can upgrade to the Gen 5 SSD's: https://beetstech.com/blog/apple-proprie...

I'm thinking it might be a compatibility issue.  I noticed the MZ-KKW5120 was wider/"Fatter" in appearance than the original PCIe NVME SSD in my system. The MZ-JPV512R looks like it is closer to the size of my original PCIe SSD. Maybe I just bought the wrong SSD and need to get the MZ-JPV512R?

I get this from the Problem report:

• Panic Report ***

panic(cpu 0 caller 0xffffff7f9367eb92): nvme: "InitializeNVMe error = 0xE00002D7\n"

EDIT 2: I actually found out the answer from two different sources.

Some guy from eBay:

"Yes this is a known issue. If you dig through the internet, you'll find users that have experienced this exact issue. It has to do with the iMac chipset for that model year which affects a small percentage of those iMac owners. We've seen this same issue as well with UK/Aus iMac models as well. The AHCI model is not as fast as the NVMe since it doesn't use that communications protocol. (~2200MB/s Read 1700MB/s Write on x4 link width iMacs). Since the newer versions are more efficient, there is no throttling under heavy loads. Also note that the deep sleep issue is just a small portion of the problem. Users have also complained about corruption and data loss. "

This one was from Beetstech:

"I don't think your SSD is faulty. Looking back on our testing of SSPOLARIS controlled NVMe Apple drives it appears we noted a kernel panic on wake from sleep on some 2015 A1419's."

⟐ Commented junho 18, 2020 at 8:15 GMT-7

I personally went with the 256gb Flash option so my iMac doesn't have a harddrive OR a SATA harddrive cable (connector & power). The Flash storage option ONLY comes with 256gb PCie storage mounted onto the logic board, where the Fusion option comes with BOTH a 128gb PCie storage mounted onto the logic board AND a 1TB Hard Disk Drive that is configured to appear as a "Single" drive.

The main issue with installing a 3rd party ssd into your retina iMac is that it can't read the temperature of the drive so it forces the fans to run at full speed. When the 5K iMac first came out, there weren't many solutions to this as the parts for it didn't exist (as you can see from the lack of parts listed on the 5k iMac product page)

I believe this can be solved with this. OWC in-line digital thermometer

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DIDIM...

**Since I got the 256gb+ flash storage upon purchase, I believe I will need these parts in addition to the Thermometer**

SATA Connector & Power Cable:iMac Intel 27" 5K (Late 2014-Mid 2015) Hard Drive Cable

HDD Bracket: http://www.impactcomputers.com/922-9135....

Adapter Caddy 3.5" to 2.5":http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/84...

(All parts listed available as of May 2015)

So My Question Is....

Does this all look correct? Have I glossed over concerns I should have?

Thanks for reading this

So I just got my iMac today and I cracked it open within the hour I got it.

I installed a 1TB ssd where my hard disk fusion would have been if i hadn't gone with the flash option. Also threw in 32gb of RAM.

All the stuff I mentioned worked really well and i actually didn't need the HDD bracket, Apple gives you the bracket but not the Sata cables.

Here are some pics of the install

_________________________________

(image 1)All of the guts ripped out for the most part

(image 2)Apple was nice enough to give us a HD bracket, but not nice enough to give us the cable.

(image 3)SSD in 2.5" to 3.5" adapter. Also, shot of inline OWC thermometer from above.

(image 4)Cut out a portion of the sticker label so the thermometer would have direct contact against metal

(image 5)Everything in place getting ready to seal it back up. Praying it all works still

(image 6) WORKS!

(image 7) More info :)

________________________________

Everything went really smoothly--getting the screen off is actually really easy if you're patient.

DO THIS WITH A FRIEND

I was lucky enough to have a buddy of mine as my screen holder while I was making sure the drive could be read/partitioned and the thermometer was working alright.

Crack those iMac's open, they're really not that difficult to work on

⟐ Commented junho 12, 2020 at 20:04 GMT-7

⟐ Answer edited junho 10, 2020 at 15:52 GMT-7

Is this the case when replacing the optical drive with an SSD rather than the hard drive?

⟐ Commented maio 09, 2020 at 10:58 GMT-7

Recently my iMac 21.5" EMC2308 wouldn't start. Nothing happends when pressing the power button.

I have just taken the LCD off and found the diagnostic LEDS.

While connected to powersource LED1 is green, but nothing happens when i press the power button.

Is it possible that the PSU can be faulty when LED1 is green as it should be ?

Hope you can help me get my iMac working again

⟐ Commented abril 15, 2020 at 8:36 GMT-7

I have a 2009 27” iMac that upon pressing the power button, makes the Mac chime, but then displays nothing on the screen and the fans then spin up. I have tried resetting the SMC and checked for other power related issues.

⟐ Commented março 21, 2020 at 14:56 GMT-7

I have early 2008 8,1 iMac with two 2+2GB modules. I would like to upgrade it to 4+2GB.

My questions are:

1) can I keep one of my old 2GB Kingston modules and add just one Crucial/OWC 4GB module to this configuration? Will it be stable? Or do I have to buy matched pair 4+2 made by one manufacturer (OWC, Crucial) to ensure the stability?

Is it right to insert 2GB module into the left slot and 4GB into the right slot? Or it does make no difference?

2) Of course I would prefer to upgrade to 8GB too, but let's say I buy matched Crucial pair 2x4GB (CT2KIT51264AC800) but the system doesn't recognize 8GB, is there any chance to run at least 6GB on the same configuration without further modules changing? Or will i have to throw 2nd 4GB module away and use another 2GB module instead?

Thank you very much for your help

⟐ Answered novembro 30, 2019 at 14:40 GMT-7

Suggestions? Thoughts?

Thanks,

SH

⟐ Answer edited outubro 29, 2019 at 20:38 GMT-7

Could anybody please say if it's possible to upgrade graphix card of the late 2012 21,5 inch iMac?

I am currently using the basic 650M, but it does not satisfy the requirements of videogames :)

I think I should meet some trouble with installing GPU's like 800-900-series due to the difference in "sort of" sockets.

If somebody could provide a link to some manual or guide, I would be really grateful.

Thank you for your thoughts!

⟐ Commented outubro 29, 2019 at 14:35 GMT-7

could someone tell me where I can find pinout for espower pwb-iv49151t inverter board please ?

I need to test it as I've just receive replacement screen for my iMac and it's still dead.

symptoms :

-4th diagnostic led not on.

-when dp ribbon disconnected the fans go full blast.

-when all the cables are connected the internal screen is discovered as online by system info and starts with internal as main screen (4th led still off).

-when disconnected from inverter board screen is not discovered.

the Mac works fine with external display.

if anyone have any suggestions I'll be forever grateful.

Seb

⟐ Commented outubro 14, 2019 at 9:08 GMT-7

⟐ Comment deleted setembro 23, 2019 at 18:19 GMT-7