Introdução
There are many benefits to adding a second drive to your iMac such as improved speeds, greater storage space, and less heartache when installing new software. Use this guide to install one using our optical bay drive enclosure.
O que você precisa
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Ferramenta utilizada neste passo:Heavy-Duty Suction Cups (Pair)$14.95
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Stick a suction cup near each of the two top corners of the glass panel.
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If your suction cups refuse to stick, try cleaning both the glass panel and the suction cup with a mild solvent.
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Gently lift the glass panel perpendicular to the face of the LCD enough to clear the steel mounting pins attached along the underside of the top edge of the glass panel.
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Pull the glass panel away from the lower edge of the iMac and carefully set it aside.
What's the best product to clean the face of the LCD?
Microfiber Cloth
Try your best not touch it in the first place
Brian -
Wearing Nitrile or regular surgical gloves helps prevent finger prints if you accidentally touch the glass.
I use a Swiffer duster from above at the last moment before I let the magnets grab the glass cover. This has worked so well the last dozen or so times I’ve replaced a glass cover since I never have access to a “clean room” and don’t wear a “bunny suit”.
Also, more dust will shed from your skin if you’ve just taken a shower, so I like to finish these repairs in the morning before a shower.
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Remove the eight 8 mm T10 Torx screws securing the display to the outer case.
8 vis, pas 2
On reassembly, it is REALLY HARD to align those screws, because of the field of the strong magnets that hold the glass cover on. I'm sure there's a trick to it, but I'd love to know what it is for future reference.
A short piece of small gauge vinyl tubing that fits tightly over the head of the T-10 driver leaving an 8th of an inch or so in which to insert the screw to engage the head will hold the screw long enough to keep it away from the magnet and get it going in the hole.
I use non magnetic SS curved tip tweezers together with a magnetized #10 torx bit both to remove and reinstall the screws. You can magnetize and demagnetize the bit using the strong magnets on the LCD frame. Don't worry too much during removal, you can recover the screw. But loath the moment you drop the last screw during reassembly. For that reason, reinstall the screws near the magnets and hardest to get to first.
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Slightly lift the top edge of the display out of the outer case.
When putting the display back I have resistance from the foam elements (on the top end where the iSight is) and have to press down really hard. Is that okay?
Well, stupid me put the 3.5" to 2.5" cage the wrong side up. ;)
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Pull the vertical sync ribbon cable out of its socket on the LED driver board near the top left corner of your iMac.
Reassembly of this part was the closest I came to disaster on this project. I tried inserting the connector a few times without success, and when I looked it it the leads, which are fragile, were all mangled. I smoothed them out by hand as best I could and and reinserted, very carefully this time. The trick is that the tip of the connector should be pointed somewhat upwards when reconnecting.
I was pretty sure that when I was done, I would reboot but have no display; but fortunately, everything worked.
So let’s say someone wanted to suck some of the dust off the back of the display before reassembly. Let’s just say that. Someone would likely suck this forsaken cable up into the vacuum tube then, wouldn’t they? They might. And if it were to oscillate in a rushing torrent of air, it might get munged? It might.
Here’s how you overcome such a disaster:
1) cut the end fresh, as close to the end as you can while cutting off any frayed end.
2) abrade the end gently, repeatedly, along the connector wire axis. I used emory paper. Your goal is to expose the copper conductors in the last 1/4” of the fragile evil wire.
3) Tape a small stiff cardstock to the back of the end of the connector. This is essential to press the connector wires into the connector.
4) Gently insert, taking special caution to not peel the copper off of the connector.
5) Tape that connector down deftly, without letting it move a millimeter and securing it for all time.
I just leave it connected. After disconnecting the other cables, there is enough slack to lay the display on its backside if you’re working on a flat surface.
I have replaced the hdd in this model about 8-10 times - I have never had to disconnect any cables other than the sata and temp sensor cables on the hdd. I just prop the lcd up with an egg carton (or something about 3 inches high that is soft and light) and access the hdd that way. The only thing I ever have trouble with are is putting the LCD screws back in around the magnets - but I have pretty much perfected that with a sissor/ tweezer tool.
Could you put up some photos of this procedure - egg carton etc…
The LCD screen is super soft on these since they rely on external glass for protection. Since LCD side will be facing down without disconnecting vsync, I'd lay it on a flat surface with soft fabric rather than putting the LCD on a rough surface like egg cartons.
Howard -
Any ideas where to replace this cable?
I followed Suzanne’s comment and also did not disconnect this cable (vertical sync ribbon cable) to avoid damage. I pivoted the screen about 110 degrees after the other cables where detached. On a flat surface, this is easily done and the cable is not tight. Image of my angle if I can drop a link. and cable in this position not in tension.
Where can I buy the replacement for this vertical sync replacement cable?
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Rotate the display out of the outer case enough to disconnect the LED backlight power cable from the LED driver board.
I found it easier to very slightly lift the front edge of the black connector with a small spudger, then gently pulling away towards the bottom of the iMac. Pressing felt a little crude and didn’t work for me.
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Squeeze the two display data cable connector arms together to unlock it from its socket on the logic board.
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Pull the display data cable connector away from its socket on the logic board.
Aperte as duas exibição do conector do cabo de dados braços juntos para desbloqueá-lo de seu soquete na placa lógica.
Il vaut mieux déconnecter la partie du côté écran en premier (sous l'autocollant noir)
Je suis d’accord. C’est plus facile. Merci mon ami
Translation: It is better to disconnect the screen side first (under the black sticker)
ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS REMOVE THIS CABLE!!! Even if you are "only in there for a minute" tearing the connector off the board is EXTREMELY easy.
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Disconnect the LCD thermal sensor cable connector from its socket on the logic board.
This is important regarding the fan running full speed
Is there a way to test the power supply to see if it's dead?
Achtung! Dieser Stecker kann sehr fest sitzen, hier hilft ein guter Fingernagel um den Stecker abwechselnd rechts und links zu Hebeln
English translation of bluesoundsmusic comment: “Caution! This plug can be very tight, here a good fingernail helps to lever the plug alternately right and left”
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Pull the optical drive thermal sensor connector straight away from its socket on the logic board.
While you’re here, disconnect that SD reader cable and don’t forget to plug it back in on your way back through: it’s not mentioned elsewhere in this guide.
For me this cable was by the hard drive with a grey and a black wire labeled “ODD_TEMP”
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Use the flat end of a spudger to help disconnect the optical drive cable.
Be sure this cable doesn’t get stuck under the logic board during reassembly. Mine was under it, I was able to get it out but connecting it to the SuperDrive required a bit of force because my cable is so short.
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Peel back the portion of aluminum tape highlighted in red, leaving the rest attached to the black plastic optical drive bracket.
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Use the tip of a spudger to peel back the piece of foam tape covering the optical drive thermal sensor.
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Use the flat end of a spudger to carefully pry the thermal sensor up off the adhesive securing it to the optical drive.
Hello, I've broken the temperature sensor of the unit superdirve, where I can buy one?
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Remove the three 3.0 mm Phillips screws from the optical bay enclosure.
Hello, is the sata & power cabla from the mac can directly feet inside the SSD?
plug in the back of the ssd
I'm trying to find out as well. I read elsewhere you need something like this without the bracket: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0056OB...
However I have NOT confirmed this.
If I understand you correctly; the enclosure allows you to use the existing iMac optical cable. Also the enclosure allows for a safe fitting of the optical drive. In my newer machine I had to double side tape the SSD to the back of the iMac and buy a special cable. Note: this was not an optical drive replacement scenario or I would have done exactly as this tutorial suggests.
I bought another caddy, not the one from the description. i had to extract the plastic adaptor from the optical drive and put in on the new caddy 12,7mm
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Starting from the left edge, gently pull open the optical bay enclosure.
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Continue to pull open the two halves of the enclosure until they separate.
This is the 12.7mm caddy.. but, the caddy 9.5 mm fit fine as well? or it doesn't fit on imac mid 2010
My caddy (ordered 5/2019) had two additional screws that needed to be removed from the sides for it to open.
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Lift the black plastic faceplate out of the optical bay enclosure.
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Reassemble the optical bay enclosure without the faceplate, reusing the original three 3.0 mm Phillips screws to keep it intact.
Just curious, why is it necessary to remove this black plastic faceplate from the enclosure? It doesn't appear to serve any function in or out of the enclosure.
Maybe because it would interfere with the bracket you have to put back on in step 21?
So I'm confused about the Optical Drive Bracket, the one that originally held the DVD-CD drive. I had an awful time remounting the kit into that bracket as the screws didn't line up correctly. I finally got everything to fit, less one of the four holding screws. Did anyone else experience this problem? I would have expected a much better alignment for this assembly considering the quality of the iFixIt site.
For the record, the upgrade went fine with a SanDisk Extreme II 480GB SSD, but that one step was next to impossible, and not covered in any detail by the instructions.
Yep, I had exactly the same problem. The alignment was way off.
olafgoy -
My kit also did not line up correctly. I had to put all four screws in at an angle cross-threaded to mount the unit.
Kevo -
Same here. managed to get two screws in at a decent angle on one side and couldn't get the others in. Felt solid enough once I'd screwed the original ODD casing back onto the iMac.
I had the same alignment problem, too. I ended up removing the rubber grommets from the plastic enclosure, widening the holes with a small file, then replacing the grommets. All four screws went in, but not in perfect alignment. Should be ok, though.
I bought a different enclosure than the one recommended ($18 instead of $39) and it came with new screws because the old screws were too big to fit in the holes for the new enclosure.
Hi. Which enclosure did you buy? link please.
Alex -
Where did you get the alternative enclosure from?
I completed this guide last night on my iMac and it all worked great until I got to step 26 and none of the holes on the 12.7 mm PATA Optical Bay SATA Hard Drive Enclosure lined up with the black plastic faceplate. Just like what is being commented on by previous fixers, I could only get 2 screws on one side of the enclosure in, but they were crooked and unable to screw in all the way. It was crude, but it worked.
The rest of this guide works flawlessly. This is a great site!
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Remove the plastic positioner from the optical bay hard drive enclosure by pressing in on one of the clips on either side and lifting it up and out of the enclosure.
What’s the switch for on the inside of the caddy? What position should it be in? Mine came switched to the right (towards SATA connector that disk inserts into).
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Make sure that the hard drive connectors are facing down before placing it into the enclosure.
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Gently place the hard drive into the enclosure's hard drive slot.
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While firmly holding the enclosure in place with one hand, use your other hand to press the hard drive into the enclosure connectors.
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Once the hard drive is snug, reinsert the plastic positioner while holding the hard drive against the bottom of the enclosure.
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Reconnect any cables you have removed from the original optical drive onto the optical bay enclosure.
Why no mention of attaching the new hard drive to the Optical Drive Enclosure using the enclosed phillips screws?
Once you have securely inserted the new hard drive into the Optical Drive Enclosure and replaced the plastic positioner you should attach the drive to the enclosure using two of the provided phillips screws. Two holes on the underside of the enclosure should align with two attachment holes on the underside of the drive.
I suspect that the plastic positioner will secure the drive well enough (for this style of adapter). As I mentioned in earlier comment, this should mean you can replace / upgrade the SATA drive later without needing to remove the adapter, skipping many steps.
Do you need a sata cable to connect the new drive to the board or does it connect via the optical drive cable that we disconnected earlier?
It does connect to the optical drive cable but if you don't use the optical bay enclosure you'll need a 13 pins to 22 pins sata adaptor (and some tape!)
The sata cable for the optical drive has 6 + 7 pins while ssd and hhd have 15 + 7 pins
Can someone please explain why you need to remove the black plastic faceplate from the optical bay enclosure. It is designed to receive the standard SSD. What is gained from removing a part of it?
Thank you! This guy has made upgrading the mid 2010 iMac I inherited from my mom MUCH easier and saved me a lot of time, trial, and error.
I'm a little confused. Do I need the enclosure from ifixit or am I removing the optical drive and installing an ssd in the preexisting op drive enclosure? If using the already existing enclosure what type of ssd do I need as for Sata connectors?
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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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9Comentários do guia
I followed this guide to place a samsung 840 EVO 750 GB ssd in the optical drive bay. The instructions worked near perfectly. However, I got many SATA CRC errrors. Not a connector seating problem. After placing the SSD in the hard drive bay (following the hard drive replacement guide) no more CRC errors.
I tested with an older laptop hdd: This works fine in the optical bay.
Apparently either the optical drive bay does not work well with the samsung 840 EVO or my optical drive cable is no good.
I reassembled my superdrive and placed the SSD in place of my built-in HDD for a nice speed increase.
Is there any listing of ssds that work well in the OD bay?
I recently replaced my HD with an SSD drive. Watching this guide actually helped too!
I would also like to replace the optical drive with a Hard Drive. Would it make much of a difference wether I use a SSD or a 7200rpm HD? I would be using it for video and audio files for Protools and Final Cut Pro that are running on the SSD..
It seems like the negotiated speed on the optical SATA is only 1.5 Gigabit..
Do you attach the thermal sensor to the equivalent place on drive enclosure as it was on the optical drive?
Would love to know how to re-use the optical drive externally, with an inexpensive enclosure.
There is the OWC SuperSlim (https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20...) The iMac drive looks at least half again as thick as a laptop drive, so there would be a gap between the top and bottom pieces of the SuperSlim - maybe build a thin wood frame to take up the gap? Four pieces, each about a quarter-inch thick, glued or lapped on the corners. If you want to be *really* nifty, maybe try to do a dove-tail on each corner - but that would require cutting about 2 mm "doves and tails".
jimwitte -
There is a smarter solution for this hack, see iMac Intel 21.5" EMC 2308 Dual drives. Replace DVD with SSD with fast SATA connector
Is scotch tape inside the mac likely to dry out or fall apart "quickly"? The bracket I had for the optical drive (the DataDoubler bracket designed for laptops) didn't fit, and I didn't have a proper 2.5->3.5 adapter plate for the main hard drive, so I just ended up "mounting" them using the optical drive EMC tape for one, and a fair amount of scotch tape on both to keep them from completely flopping around in there too much - it is a *desktop* after all. Will this work? And will having both of them at an angle with one edge touching the back of the machine (and the tape) create thermal problems? The SSDs are both Crucial brand, 240GB.
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I'll probably be opening the thing up again in the next week - there was an *incredible* amount of dust in the fans - it seemed surprising though I it shouldn't. Can you get "dust suckers" to clean dust from fan blades and such without having to remove the fans themselves? I don't want to brave a full tear-down. Getting 8 metal screws back in past NeoDy magnets was tough!
Is scotch tape inside the mac likely to dry out or fall apart "quickly"? The bracket I had for the optical drive (DataDoubler bracket for laptops) didn't fit, and I didn't have a proper 2.5->3.5 adapter plate for the main hard drive, so I just ended up "mounting" them using the drive EMC tape for one, and a fair amount of scotch tape to keep them from completely flopping around in there - it is a *desktop* after all. Will this work? And will both of them being at an angle with an edge touching the back of the machine (and tape) create thermal problems? DVD one still has the temp sensor, the other is shorted. Both are both Crucial brand, 240GB.
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I'll probably be opening the thing up again - there was an *incredible* amount of dust in the fans - it seemed surprising though I it shouldn't. Can you get "dust suckers" to clean dust from fan blades and such without having to remove the fans themselves? I don't want to brave a full tear-down. Getting 8 metal screws back in past NeoDy magnets was tough!
If I use a SSD drive would I lost some performance by connecting it to the optical drive SATA slot?
Is the SATA slot connecting de 3.5" hard drive more efficient?
Very easy to lift the glass out. Don't jerk too hard.
kctipton - Responder
Another comment on DATA & LCD Temp. Sensor cables: I had to remove the vertical sync, and the backlight cable, however, if you have an assistant or/can carefully rotate the screen clockwise/and then have it held up about 5" to 6" at a slight angle, you do not need to remove LCD data cable or LCD thermal cable, however - IMPORTANT: you must have a second pair of hands/or way to securely prop up the LCD. Also, don't rotate too much, since then you will pull out LCD data cable, and it renders the whole exercise moot, or can damage the cable or connector.
MaximBorzov - Responder
You don't need suction cups. The screen, held by magnets, can simply be pried off using a very thin blade such as a screw driver and fingers.
Deepsurvival - Responder
That's a bad idea. using a metal tool to pry off glass is likely to end with an expensive broken front glass.
Suction cups are common. Find a couple and do it the safe way. I use some cheap ones that came with iPhone repair kit.
max damage -
No need for suction cups, I just stuck my nails (short like guys usually have) between the top part of the screen and body, and it came off easily. I've never done it before, so it seems to be very easy.
Nikolas Lintulaakso - Responder
Nails worked for me too
Rob Dale - Responder
Just completed the replacement of the optical drive with an SSD using an OWC Data Doubler kit. Attempted to remove the optical drive without disconnecting any cables but found it a bit fiddly to orient the screen for good access. I bit the bullet and disconnected them and found the process less daunting than I imagined. Reconnecting them was similarly straightforward if you're careful.
Tip: you can skip the step for removing the optical drive thermal sensor connector from the motherboard. Still need to remove the sensor from the optical drive but you can leave that hanging and reattach it to the SSD later.
osienna - Responder
I use Garmin GPS suction cup. Work very well
jc3Dcx - Responder
I’ve just successfully installed a 1TB SSD in place of my optical drive thanks to the information here- thank you to everyone who has contributed!
3 comments- the procedure described here seems to vary between HD replacement and dual HD/optical drive replacement. This can be confusing at times.
Expect there to be minor differences between the layout described and what you find when you open up your iMac. There are also, surprisingly, differences between the HD enclosure description, and the article provided by ifixit.
I was able to replace the DVD/HD enclosure single-handedly without fully removing the LCD, or deconnecting any of the cables (steps 5-11). It’s a bit cramped, and fiddly, but I was not happy removing any of the cables despite watching videos, etc., since they all seemed to involve applying more force than I was comfortable with. A more detailed description of how to release them might have helped, but even here, there may be minor variations even within the 2389 model.
Good luck!
ivan birks - Responder
I did it several times with one suction cup at the end of a kitchen brush. Once with the blade of a swiss army knive, also ok. And i’m pretty sure it works with fingernails too
Tai - Responder
Fingernails are all you need to free the glass from its magnetic hold. If you don’t have them, slip something thin and plastic, like a spudger, at a top corner.
Max Powers - Responder
Minha dúvida é a seguinte: após o técnico trocar o HD do meu iMac de 21,5 polegadas, a câmera parou de funcionar. Seria por causa da troca do HD? Tem solução?
Claudio - Responder
Creio que o cabo da camera não foi plugado ou deu mau contato… ou até danificado.
glecyo@gmail.com
glecyo medeiros -
I can’t get my glass to budge. I’m replacing a cracked one and now it’s about to shatter.
jamboxmitchell - Responder
I know that I'm replying really late but I advise to use clear tape over any cracks so the cracks don't get bigger
Jace Holmes -
Check for chips in the glass BEFORE you do this step. If there is a chip when you pull up with the suction cups you will wind up with a jagged mess. If you do have a chip I would advise covering the screen near the chip with clear tape of some kind before lifting out. Mine shattered right at the chip and the resulting glass dust cloud got all over. My solution was buying a new glass screen.
BCam - Responder