How To: Mac Mini RAM Upgrade

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Comments

  • Reply 41 of 78
    johnwd3johnwd3 Posts: 1member
    Great guide - put in 4 gb ram into an Intel chip. All went together easily - double checked the connections and screws. On start it whirs for maybe 2 secs then clicks over and over. Sounds mechanical.

    Have taken it back apart and reassembled 2x w/ the same result.

    The power light is steady. Any suggestions?
  • Reply 42 of 78
    blondieblondie Posts: 1member
    Hi all! I have a Mac Mini - 1.83/512 and the memory is in serious need of an upgrade. Running IPhoto with anything else open takes me back to the days where you'd launch a program and hope it was up by the time you returned from the restroom....



    I bought the memory (2 1G Kingston chips - $13 ea) and am getting ready to do the upgrade. I was going to see if the techs at the Apple store could upgrade it, but I saw your directions tonight and am going to try it myself. Doesn't look too difficult. Thank you smee for the comprehensive directions. Richard H - I have your notes too. I'll let you all know how it turns out.
  • Reply 43 of 78
    futurepastnowfuturepastnow Posts: 1,772member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Blondie View Post


    Hi all! I have a Mac Mini - 1.83/512 and the memory is in serious need of an upgrade. Running IPhoto with anything else open takes me back to the days where you'd launch a program and hope it was up by the time you returned from the restroom....



    I bought the memory (2 1G Kingston chips - $13 ea) and am getting ready to do the upgrade. I was going to see if the techs at the Apple store could upgrade it, but I saw your directions tonight and am going to try it myself. Doesn't look too difficult. Thank you smee for the comprehensive directions. Richard H - I have your notes too. I'll let you all know how it turns out.



    Just take it slow. Rushing things is when you break things.
  • Reply 44 of 78
    m01etym01ety Posts: 278member
    Thanks for this guide! I managed to upgrade the RAM in my 2006 mini.



    Fun fact: a rolling pizza cutter works quite well to get the case open! =D
  • Reply 45 of 78
    I wanted to purchase the Kingston HyperX 4GB Kit RAM for my MAC mini 2.0 667 bus from newegg.com but they have several models. Which did you buy? the PC2 5300 or PC2 6400 are the same price.
  • Reply 46 of 78
    Hi:



    Many thanks for posting this guide to upgrade. Unfortunately I accidentally detached the airport cable. When I reattached it to the most likely place (the right most post above the silver box with the fcc number on the motherboard) the system won't turn on and I get only a flashing light. Any help would be greatly appreciated.





    Many thanks,





    Adam
  • Reply 47 of 78
    Hi all, i've a macmini 1,83GHz with 2x 512ram. I've buy 1 year agò a macbook pro 2,5GHz with 2GB of ram, upgraded with 2x 2GB samsung 667.

    Now i've try to swap the mac mini ram with the one that i've take out from the macbook pro but i've noticed that the macmini do not recognize the one in the slot0.

    If i swap the new ram in the slots, nothing change, but if i put the old ones, 2x 512, the macmini recognize slot0 and slot1 correctly.

    All the codes over the rams are the same.

    Who can help me with this?

    G.
  • Reply 48 of 78
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Hotelbymaps.com View Post


    Worked in general: I've done it on two macmini's (early 2009 that used to have 1GB each).



    For my own macmini: I got the 1GB out, and placed 2 GB from my recently bought Macbook Pro inside. Works like a charm (I added 4GB to the Macbook Pro).



    This is exactly my situation. My macmini is a 1.83 core 2 duo where i've installed 2x1GB ram (twins) taken from my book pro 2,5 where i've put 4GB samsung.



    Quote:

    For my dad's macmini: I added the 1GB from my own macmini to his machine. This is where the problem starts: The memory is all origninal apple, but not identical. The computer starts up (strangely without the poing sound), 2GB is recognized, but since the upgrade Skype is not working. Flushing the PRAM also won't fix it, neither will a reinstall of skype. So, be sure to have identical memory, or you might get disappointed.



    My ram are twins but the strange problem is that the macmini recognize 2x512MB original ram, slot0 slot1, but not 2x1GB original ram, slot0 seems empty, even if i switch the ram into the slots.
  • Reply 49 of 78
    Thanks for a brilliantly explained memory upgrade demo. Unfortunately when I tried upgrading my Mac mini Intel solo from 2x 256 to 2x 1mB things have not gone well. Mechanically all went well but on powering up again the boot process did not start. Checked all connections (memory properly bedded in, ribbon cable OK, black wires re-connected but all that happens is the power LED illuminates, no fan noise or signal sound, monitor screen briefly wakes up then blanks with no signal.



    Have tried reverting to the old memory but same results, also forgot the black wire(fan? one attempt and got fan action but still no boot up.



    Can anyone help?

    Thanks
  • Reply 50 of 78
    Fixed it myself!!!!

    Measured button battery voltage at just over 3v, presumed that was OK so decided to disconnect it.



    Slid a piece of paper between the frontal spring contact and the battery for about 10 seconds then reassembled (with the upgrade memory in place) and applied power.



    This time some whirrings then that beautiful doing! Screen came back to life and the Mini booted up as though yesterday had not happened - except now I have 2Gb RAM showing and can start to install Snow Leopard - I hope!

  • Reply 51 of 78
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by dje735 View Post


    Slid a piece of paper between the frontal spring contact and the battery for about 10 seconds then reassembled (with the upgrade memory in place) and applied power.



    This time some whirrings then that beautiful doing! Screen came back to life and the Mini booted up as though yesterday had not happened - except now I have 2Gb RAM showing and can start to install Snow Leopard - I hope!





    hello

    I have intel c2d mac mini with same problem you described.

    but it's usually begins to boot up after 20 minutes of no activity and black screen.



    I don't understand what you did with piece of paper

    could you draw scheme of your action on any photo or picture with mac mini bowels?

    please help

    thanks!
  • Reply 52 of 78
    ibook911ibook911 Posts: 607member
    The videos from Other World Computing are great too.



    I was quite nervous about upgrading my 2009 Mini as it looked complicated, but I watched the video and these step by step tutorials, and it went ok.
  • Reply 53 of 78
    Oh how I wish I had read this guide before I did that and killed my mini.
  • Reply 54 of 78
    photogphotog Posts: 1member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by smee View Post


    Sorry, I thought I already posted about this on AI.

    Guess not



    You can put in 4GB (2 x 2GB) in the mini, but it will not recognize the whole 4GB, it will recognize 3GB. But it's still faster to get 4GB rather than 2GB + 1GB.



    Sorry for the confusment....



    Hi... Thanks for all the info! I installed 2 x 2GB of PNY memory. All went well and the system recognized both sticks. The only problem is that they are listed as 533 MHz instead of the system bus speed of 667 MHz. Any thoughts?



    Thank you!



    (Mac Mini 1.83 GHz Core 2 Duo Version 2,1)
  • Reply 55 of 78
    Why would anybody in there right mind buy anything called Mini?



    SHEESH!
  • Reply 56 of 78
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sequitur View Post


    4.0GB (2GB + 2GB Module Set) Upgrade kit with Micron devices for all Apple 'Core 2 Duo' 2.2GHz, 2.4GHz, Core ... more

    Brand: Other World Computing

    OWC Item # OWC53IM2DDR4GBK $103.99 \t



    With 4GB hovering around $100, I thought of putting 4GB in a Mac Mini. What would happen? Would it create problems or ......?





    Hi,

    I just followed the instructions to upgrade my Mac Mini 1.83Ghz, Intel Core 2 Duo, to 4GB Ram, Snow Leopard, and these 4GB are recognized very well.



    I bought 2 x "HYNIX original 2GB 200pin SO-DDR2-667 (PC2-5300) 128Mx8x16" from Amazon.



    Now it says this:



    Model NametMac mini

    Model IdentifiertMacmini2,1

    Processor NametIntel Core 2 Duo

    Processor Speedt1.83 GHz

    Number Of Processorst1

    Total Number Of Corest2

    L2 Cachet2 MB

    Memoryt4 GB

    Bus Speedt667 MHz

    Boot ROM VersiontMM21.009A.B00



    Thanks again for the tutorial, I had a good time doing this - late night - while the rest of the house was sleeping - a great improvement to my mac mini for 80 bucks!!



    Ph
  • Reply 57 of 78
    john.bjohn.b Posts: 2,742member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tim Paine View Post


    With 4GB hovering around $100, I thought of putting 4GB in a Mac Mini. What would happen? Would it create problems or ......?



    Depending on which mini you have, it'll work better. Highly recommended, if you don't mind the minor hassle of opening up the case.
  • Reply 58 of 78
    Thanks for this info... would've driven me crazy without it!



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by FrankP View Post


    smee, thanks very much for your detailed instuctions and photos. They worked very well and I wouldn't have attempted the memory upgrade without them.



    I did have a problem with excessive fan noise after re-assembly - my Mac mini had always been very quiet. After reading all sorts of articles around the web and in Apple's support pages which suggested either cleaning dust out of the fan (there wasn't any) or resetting the smc (which I did to no avail). I finally looked over your disassembly instructions again: I'd forgotten to re-attach the little black wire After opening up the case again and attaching it - hey presto fan noise gone.



  • Reply 59 of 78
    I just upgraded my 2009 2.66Ghx mini to 4GB (2x2) from OWC. But in rebooting it only shows 2GB. Is there somewhere to check if it's seeing both boards?
  • Reply 60 of 78
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by edslunch View Post


    I just upgraded my 2009 2.66Ghx mini to 4GB (2x2) from OWC. But in rebooting it only shows 2GB. Is there somewhere to check if it's seeing both boards?



    I see in system profiler that bank 1 is empty - bad board or bad install. Does anyone know which in bank 1 - the top or bottom board?
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