How to open a mac mini

Hi, I was wondering how you take off the mini's shell to access all the inside components

I added a larger HDD to my G4 mini last year. I was surprised at how quickly the bottom popped off. I was reading stuff online and saw many people stating how careful you need to be, how precise, etc. You don't want to scratch your mini, and you want to be careful, but a regular putty knife, not even one of those really thin ones, worked fine.
I had my mini opened in less than 30 seconds on my first try. I didn't scratch any part of the mini.
I would open my new Core Duo mini in a heartbeat when the time comes I want to upgrade it. Still, it would be nice for Apple to come up with a sleek way for top to "pop off" easily, while still being totally secured with no fear of the top coming off when you don't want it to.
Bryan

Similar Messages

HT1444 As an obvious novice I want to know how to upgrade my mac mini OSx 10.4 to a newer system can anyone help?

As obvious novice I want to know how to upgrade my mac mini 10.4 OS X to a more uptodate system

At the Apple Icon at top left>About this Mac.
Then click on More Info>Hardware and report this upto but not including the Serial#...
Hardware Overview:
Machine Name:          Mac mini
Machine Model:          PowerMac10,1
CPU Type:          PowerPC G4 (1.2)
Number Of CPUs:          1
CPU Speed:          1.42 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU):          512 KB
Memory:          512 MB
Bus Speed:          167 MHz
Boot ROM Version:          4.8.9f1

How can I get Mac Mini to accept bootable installers for Mountain Lion ? They work fine on MB-Pro

I've had a Mac Mini (late 2012) for the past week and need to do a complete reinstall to get rid of very mucked up Server.app settings that I can't get rid of even though I uninstalled Server.app and what I thought were all of its Library files. I need to get the Mac Mini back to pristine, factory default to start over. Then I'll be able to put Server.app into a VM so I can trash it if need be without mucking up the rest of my system.
I have both a bootable recovery partition on an external hard drive (My Book firewire) and a USB bootable installer with a fresh edition of Mountain Lion. I know the USB installer works just fine because I used it to do a clean install of my MacBook-Pro just last night. Went like a charm.
When I start up the Mac Mini with the option key held down, everything seems fine -- I see both the USB drive and the My Book's 2 volumes (1 for data, 1 for the Recovery partition). But when I select either the USB drive or the My Book Recovery partition as the start-up drive, I get a screen with a circle with a line across (the no-entry traffic sign), with no way to go back or forward. So the computer has to be rebooted.
Any suggestions as to how to get the Mac Mini to recognize bootable installers that MacBooks are able to see?

Late 2012 Mac mini uses a special Mountain Lion version that it's only compatible with this Mac and you can only get on Internet Recovery because it's not available in the App Store. If you want to reinstall Mountain Lion, press Command, Option and R keys while your computer is starting

How to open a MAC desktop

How to open my Mac?

It's not something most would want to attempt and it will definitely void the warranty if it's still covered. Assuming you've got a fairly current iMac:
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iMac-Intel-27-Inch-Teardown/1236/1

How old is my Mac mini

How old is my Mac mini?
Here is the info from the 'about this mac' button:
Model Name:          Mac mini
Model Identifier:          Macmini2,1
Processor Name:          Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed:          1.83 GHz
Number Of Processors:          1
Total Number Of Cores:          2
L2 Cache:          2 MB
Memory:          1 GB
Bus Speed:          667 MHz
Boot ROM Version:          MM21.009A.B00
SMC Version (system):          1.19f2
Serial Number (system):          YM8414TLYL1
Hardware UUID:          00000000-0000-1000-8000-001FF345C86D

OVERVIEW
Introduced     August 2007
Discontinued     March 2009
Model Identifier     Macmini2,1
Model Number     A1176

How to clone 40 mac mini at the same time using network clone (like Ghost)

how to clone 40 mac mini at the same time using network clone (like Ghost)
Any Ideas ?
Thanks

Rather than a 100% identical clone to 40 Macs, I suspect you want the same basic image to be loaded on to those 40 Macs but will require some individualisation so that for example each has a unique computer name.
NetRestore and System Imaging Utility can do this but a lot of people including myself prefer to use DeployStudio which has more capabilities. See http://www.deploystudio.com
DeployStudio can be used to like NetRestore to restore an image to multiple Macs at the same time which is like multiple people downloading at the same time, but it can unlike the standard NetRestore also be configured to use multicast traffic which is more like a TV broadcast whereby multiple people receive the same transmission at the same time. This can be more efficient for imaging larger numbers of computers at the same time. For example 1Gbps shared between 40 computers is only 25.6Mbps each, but if you multicast a single transmission of 100Mbps to 40 computers then all 40 can listen to it at the same time and still be receiving 100Mbps even on the same network connection.

I don't understand how much memory a mac mini has please help!

I feel really stupid asking this, but I can't understand how much memory a Mac Mini has...
512MB of 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-5300), supports up to 2GB
I hope that doesn't mean it only holds 2GB...but I don't know.
PLEASE HELP ME! I need to get a Mac soon before my PC dies again.
Mac Mini

Hi opera_rocker
I think that you may have found yourself in a little bit of a pickle regarding technical hardware terms, so I'll try and clear things up for you.
The Mac Mini comes as standard with 512MB of RAM (Read Only Memory). RAM is a little stick that is built into the computer that supplies the software with all the virtual memory that it needs to accomplish tasks. The more RAM that you have in your computer, the faster software will run, and the more things you can have going on at the same time. You never actualy use RAM for personal files and folders. The Mac Mini will accept a total of 2GB of RAM, which comes as an optional upgrade from Apple, however, 1GB is more than adequate.
All of your files and folders are kept on your hard drive, like that in your 30GB iPod. Everything that you use on your computer, whether it be Word Processing software, or Games for example, are stored on the hard drive. The Mac Mini can come with either a 60GB, or 80GB Hard Drive depending on which model you decide to buy. That's plenty more space than you have on your actual iPod and you will most probably never seem to run out of room!
Hope that I may have been of help!
-Pos
Message was edited by: Pos

How stable is the mac mini as a server?

Hi List,
I am planning to get the mac mini with snow leopard server.
Has anyone tried it?
How stable is the mac mini as a server?
I'd be setting it up for 10 mac clients.
It will be used as a file/print/dhcp server.
thanks.
Dp

max out the memory to reduce / eliminate paging. although you might not need to in your situation. I think printing is a light use of memory. Inkjet printers are heavy on the cpu.
electronics don't usually fail. It's the moving parts. Doesn't the mini take the 2.5 inch drives that are not as reliable as the 3.5? An external drive will get past this.
You could get an external bootable harddrive.
You need an external Firewire drive to boot a PowerPC Mac computer.
I recommend you do a google search on any external harddrive you are looking at.
I bought a low cost external drive enclosure. When I started having trouble with it, I did a google search and found a lot of complaints about the drive enclosure. I ended up buying a new drive enclosure. On my second go around, I decided to buy a drive enclosure with a good history of working with Macs. The chip set seems to be the key ingredient. The Oxford line of chips seems to be good. I got the Oxford 911.
The latest the hard drive enclosures support the newer serial ata drives. The drive and closure that I list supports only older parallel ata.
Has everything interface:
FireWire 800/400 + USB2, + eSATA 'Quad Interface'
save a little money interface:
FireWire 400 + USB 2.0
This web page lists both external harddrive types. You may need to scroll to the right to see both.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/eSATAFW800_FW400USB
Here is an external hd enclosure.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MEFW91UAL1K/
Here is what one contributor recommended:
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=10452917#10452917
Folks in these Mac forums recommend LaCie, OWC or G-Tech.
Here is a list of recommended drives:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5564509#5564509
FireWire compared to USB. You will find that FireWire 400 is faster than USB 2.0 when used for a external harddrive connection.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UniversalSerial_Bus#USB_compared_toFireWire
http://www23.tomshardware.com/storageexternal.html
Here are two utilities for making a complete backup of your internal hard drive. I've recommend using one of these so that you can create a bootable system on your external hard drive. ( PPC require a firewire connected drive. ) Once created, you can run your system from the external drive. Hold down the option key on your keyboard then power on your machine. This will bring you in startup manager click on the drive image you wish to boot then click on the arrow key to the right.
"Clone, synchronize, backup. Schedule and forget it."
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
"SuperDuper is the wildly acclaimed program that makes recovery painless, because it makes creating a fully bootable backup painless."
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html
Robert

HT1338 how much is the mac mini A1347,i7,4GB RAM,1TB hard drive ?? and wat maximum upgrading for the ram ? thannks :D

how much is the mac mini A1347,i7,4GB RAM,1TB hard drive ?? and wat maximum upgrading for the ram ? thannks

go to Apples website and look. That's what anyone else here would do.

How good is the mac mini

hello
I am planning to buy a mac
How goof is a mac mini with 2gh processor/ 2gb ram
for applications and leopard os or any future os ?
also will it work well with a full hd 24 inch display?
I think of a mac mini , i wanted an imac
but maybe better a mac mini / a full hd 24 inch screen
and a playstation 3 with the screen on the top
for gaming and blue ray ... i am thinking
so if mac mini would work well with photo editing etc
and leopard would run fast and smooth on it , i would go for my trio
mthx
Message was edited by: anteros27
Message was edited by: anteros27

In a broad sense it's probably best to think of the mini as a full desktop computer, simply shrunk down to a small size - that way you'll get the idea of how good it is rather than risk the impression that it's small size is in any real way indicative of it's performance. It isn't.
The new 2.0GHz mini is very close in performance to the original dual processor G5 computer (advertised as the fastest desktop on earth when it was released in 2003). Leaving aside the advertising hype, it was (and remains) an incredibly powerful system in very extensive use in video, image and publishing industries. Given the mini has as much raw power, just a slower hard drive and no internal expansion options, you can see that it is, in it's own right, a very capable system.
Just how capable depends a lot on the specific uses you have in mind for it of course. It'll cope well with all the normal computing tasks people typically run - word processing, internet, email, photos, etc, and would be suited to a lot of far more intensive tasks, including image editing work. Gaming is a bit suspect though, with the limitations of the on-board video sub-system making some games run well and others less so.
There should be absolutely no problem with Leopard when it is released, though of course it isn't possible to give a definitive statement on it since as yet Leopard is still in development. However, at this time developer builds are being run on existing minis of lower specification, and historically Apple have typically ensured new OS versions are backwards compatible with older hardware platforms - certainly recent ones. Given the newly updated mini has just been announced and is likely to remain on sale for some time as a result without further change, and Leopard is due in a couple of months, it in highly improbable the mini won't run it, and run it well.
It will drive a 24" display since the maximum resolution of the mini is 1920x1200 (DVI) or 2048x1536 (VGA).

How slow should a Mac mini with i7 2.3 GHz quad core be?

I am really disappointed about how mind numbingly slow this computer is for even the most basic tasks. I'm wondering is something wrong with it or is this just what happens when you don't have an SSD?
I have been using exclusively SSDs in my computers since about late 2009 or early 2010 and since then I have never really felt my computer was utlra slow. I got a Mac mini as a temporary computer when my MacBook Pro started blowing up logic boards every other week while it is endlessly being "repaired". Since this has the same exact processor I expected it to be reasonably speedy at least for simple tasks like web browsing, email, word processing, etc. (no heavy graphics work) but it's not. Every experience is hard drive *crunch* *crunch* *crunch*, wait wait wait, *crunch* *crunch* *crunch*. It's really very slow even on the simplest tasks and if I am running a few things it's like molasses. According to activity monitor as expected the CPU is not taxed in the slightest.
Is there something wrong or is this just what it's like going back to hard drives that spin? Is there something I should be testing or looking into? At least I can say that it doesn't crash.
Timed with a stop watch it takes about 10-15 seconds to launch any of the following with nothing else open: Excel (blank workboook), Mail app, Firefox, etc. It's worse with lots of things open. Always tons audible hard drive activity no matter what I'm doing.

First, back up all data immediately unless you already have a current backup. If you can't back up, stop here. Do not take any of the steps below.
Step 1
This diagnostic procedure will query the log for messages that may indicate a system issue. It changes nothing, and therefore will not, in itself, solve your problem.
If you have more than one user account, these instructions must be carried out as an administrator.
Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:
syslog -k Sender kernel -k Message CReq 'GPU |hfs: Ru|I/O e|find tok|n Cause: -|NVDA\(|pagin|timed? ?o' | tail | awk '/:/{$4=""; print}' | open -ef
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V). I've tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, you may have to press the return key.
The command may take a noticeable amount of time to run. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign (“$”) to appear.
A TextEdit window will open with the output of the command. Normally the command will produce no output, and the window will be empty. If the TextEdit window (not the Terminal window) has anything in it, stop here and post it — the text, please, not a screenshot. The title of the TextEdit window doesn't matter, and you don't need to post that.
Step 2
There are a few other possible causes of generalized slow performance that you can rule out easily.
Disconnect all non-essential wired peripherals and remove aftermarket expansion cards, if any.
Reset the System Management Controller.
Run Software Update. If there's a firmware update, install it.
If you're booting from an aftermarket SSD, see whether there's a firmware update for it.
If you have a portable computer, check the cycle count of the battery. It may be due for replacement.
If you have many image or video files on the Desktop with preview icons, move them to another folder.
If applicable, uncheck all boxes in the iCloud preference pane. See whether there's any change.
Check your keychains in Keychain Access for excessively duplicated items.
Boot into Recovery mode, launch Disk Utility, and run Repair Disk.
If you have a MacBook Pro with dual graphics, disable automatic graphics switching in the Energy Saverpreference pane for better performance at the cost of shorter battery life.
Step 3
When you notice the problem, launch the Activity Monitor application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Activity Monitor in the icon grid.
Select the CPU tab of the Activity Monitor window.
Select All Processes from the View menu or the menu in the toolbar, if not already selected.
Click the heading of the % CPU column in the process table to sort the entries by CPU usage. You may have to click it twice to get the highest value at the top. What is it, and what is the process? Also post the values for User, System, and Idle at the bottom of the window.
Select the Memory tab. What value is shown in the bottom part of the window for Swap used?
Next, select the Disk tab. Post the approximate values shown for Reads in/sec and Writes out/sec (not Reads in andWrites out.)
Step 4
If you have more than one user account, you must be logged in as an administrator to carry out this step.
Launch the Console application in the same way you launched Activity Monitor. Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left. If you don't see that menu, select
View ▹ Show Log List
from the menu bar.
Select the 50 or so most recent entries in the log. Copy them to the Clipboard by pressing the key combinationcommand-C. Paste into a reply to this message (command-V). You're looking for entries at the end of the log, not at the beginning.
When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.
Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
Important: Some personal information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting. That should be easy to do if your extract is not too long.

How can I turn mac mini into wifi access point for iPhone?

Hi,
I do not have a wifi router.
I want my iPhone to be able to use my broadband internet instead of the slow EDGE internet.
The simple solution would be to buy a wifi router whih would enable my iPhone to access the wifi home network.
*What if I could turn the mac mini into a wifi access point?* That would save me from the hassle of buying a wifi router.
Any idea how to do this??
Message was edited by: d00by666

I did this.
I think I am doing something wrong. I am doing something wrong in this setting *from ethernet to airport*.
see attached screenshot.
To start Internet sharing on a computer using Mac OS X:
1. Open System Preferences, click Sharing, and then click Internet.
2. Select how you would like to share your Internet connection, and then click Start. You
can choose to share your Internet connection with AirPort-enabled computers,
computers with built-in Ethernet, or both.
Note:
If your Internet connection and your local network use the same port (built-in
Ethernet, for example), contact your ISP before you turn on Internet sharing. In some
cases (if you use a cable modem, for example) you might unintentionally affect the
network settings of other ISP customers, and your ISP might terminate your service to
prevent you from disrupting its network.
3. If you want to share your Internet connection with computers using AirPort, click
AirPort Options to give your network a name and password.
----------------------------------------------------

How to restore my mac mini

how do i restore my mac mini to factory settings?

Follow these instructions step by step to prepare a Mac for sale:
Step One - Back up your data:
       A. If you have any Virtual PCs shut them down. They cannot be in their "fast saved" state. They must be shut down from inside Windows.
       B. Clone to an external drive using using Carbon Copy Cloner.
          1. Open Carbon Copy Cloner.
          2. Select the Source volume from the Select a source drop down menu on the left side.
          3. Select the Destination volume from the Select a destination drop down menu on the right
              side.
          4. Click on the Clone button. If you are prompted about creating a clone of the Recovery HD be
              sure to opt for that.
               Destination means a freshly erased external backup drive. Source means the internal
               startup drive.
Step Two - Prepare the machine for the new buyer:
          1. De-authorize the computer in iTunes! De-authorize both iTunes and Audible accounts.
          2, Remove any Open Firmware passwords or Firmware passwords.
          3. Turn the brightness full up and volume nearly so.
          4. Turn off File Vault, if enabled.
          5. Disable iCloud, if enabled: See What to do with iCloud before selling your computer.
Step Three - Install a fresh OS:
     A. Snow Leopard and earlier versions of OS X
          1. Insert the original OS X install CD/DVD that came with your computer.
          2. Restart the computer while holding down the C key to boot from the CD/DVD.
          3. Select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu; repartition and reformat the internal hard drive.
              Optionally, click on the Security button and set the Zero Data option to one-pass.
          4. Install OS X.
          5. Upon completion DO NOT restart the computer.
          6. Shutdown the computer.
     B. Lion and Mountain Lion (if pre-installed on the computer at purchase*)
         Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because
                   it is three times faster than wireless.
          1. Restart the computer while holding down the COMMAND and R keys until the Mac OS X
              Utilities window appears.
          2. Select Disk Utility from the Mac OS X Utilities window and click on the Continue button.
          3. After DU loads select your startup volume (usually Macintosh HD) from the left side list. Click
              on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
          4. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Optionally, click on the Security button
              and set the Zero Data option to one-pass.
          5. Click on the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.
          6. Quit DU and return to the Mac OS X Utilities window.
          7. Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Install button.
          8. Upon completion shutdown the computer.
*If your computer came with Lion or Mountain Lion pre-installed then you are entitled to transfer your license once. If you purchased Lion or Mountain Lion from the App Store then you cannot transfer your license to another party. In the case of the latter you should install the original version of OS X that came with your computer. You need to repartition the hard drive as well as reformat it; this will assure that the Recovery HD partition is removed. See Step Three above. You may verify these requirements by reviewing your OS X Software License.

Opening A Mac Mini

I'm considering a Mac Mini. I'm going to an Apple store and asking should I get the 1.82 or 2.00 Ghz but it depens how fast the apps run anyway. But lets say I want to upgrade the RAM or somthing. Does it void the warrenty opening it up? And How i the world do you open it up?
Thanks,
Nick

You won't 'void' it just by opening, however if you break it, or if the components you install damage the machine etc..You won't be covered by warranty.
There are a bunch of guides available for upgrading:
http://www.applefritter.com/MacMini_Take_ApartGuide
Search google for 'Mac Mini ugprades' or 'Opening Mac Mini'and you'll find heaps more .
Good Luck!

How to power on Mac Mini at scheduled time ?

Is there any way I can get my Mini Mac to power itself on at a scheduled time of day ?
Then when it powers on, I want to execute a program, how's that done too ?
Thanks for any help.
Kind regards
Dan
Mac Mini Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Hello dfreer. In the Energy Saver Preference Pane in System Preferences, you can schedule your mini to wake from sleep or startup at a scheduled time every day by clicking the "Schedule" button.
To start a program at startup, just go into the Accounts Preference Pane, and click the "Login Items" to add an application to open automatically at startup. To do anything fancier with this application when it opens, you might need to look at Automator or Applescript.

How to open a mac mini

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for