2009 Intel Mac Mini interconnect board damage

[crouchingyosemite]

While attempting to install a RAM upgrade, the interconnector card (or circuit board) suffered damaged pins. One pin also fell off. The interconnector card connects the audio, CD drive and HDD together into a connection on the motherboard. I have done loads of similar work on Fujitsu Siemens, Compaq and Dell desktops so thought it would be a 5 minute job of "hoik the case off, remove the old RAM, slide the new RAM in and put the case back on." Normally I don't even need to remove the HDD or CD drive unless working on a laptop (even some of them have "RAM compartments" accessible via a screwed cover on the base). I unscrewed the drive mount and discovered that there was a strange circuit board with bent pins instead of a ribbon cable or two. I thought the "bending and creaking noise" of the very distressed pins was just glue, which would also explain why the mounting bracket was not so keen on coming away.

I'm used to working with desktop computers with ribbon cables or the HDD sliding into a SATA terminal block rather than the HDD being rammed onto a circuit board with all the strain, stress and movement being taken by some pins like that. A circuit board with pins wedged onto the drive's SATA socket isn't something I've ever encountered before (and hope and pray I don't encounter ever again).

Some guidance would be very much appreciated about how to fix it. It'd be a shame to scrap the Mac Mini and gut it for eBay which is why I'm very keen on sorting it. This is the only "new Mac" (by that I mean one that contains OSX) I've had. I got it for a very low price from a closing-down liqudation at an office, where everything must go. The last Mac I actually owned was back in 2002 (an old Performa with System 8.6) which was replaced with an eMachines Windows XP tower. The loss of the Mac Mini isn't an inconvenience as I have an XP box and a Linux Mint x64 laptop.

I have two ideas about how to fix it.

A) Buy a new interconnector board. This should be easy, but I don't know what the part number is and there are different types of Mac Mini interconnector boards which are very different in appearance to the original. The other problem is that I can't find many boards for sale in the UK so it's quite probable that I may have to import a board from abroad, which will probably attract various HMRC fees like import fees, import duty, VAT etc. These customs & excise fees may in fact cost more than the board itself.

B) Use a SATA ribbon cable to connect the HDD and CD drive to the motherboard directly. I can't find a cable that has the two columns of 25 pins with a slot in the middle of the two columns. Does anyone know what type of cable would fit? I don't know what the "50 pin with the slot" is called other than "motherboard connector socket" so it's not an easy feat to find what I'm looking for. It may be some sort of SCSI connector but that's just a wild conjecture. There are also many different types of SATA connectors too.

In the photo with the yellow pencil, you can see the 50 pin connector I mean just behind the pencil and the audio jumper (the brown ribbon cable).

There appears to be a SATA connector block 8CK1A) right beside the large silvery shiny thing with CE (!) on its but I don't know if that really IS a SATA connector or something else. If it is a SATA connector, can I just buy a ribbon cable with two "inputs" and attach the CD drive and HDD to that connector? Obviously this would result in a loss of audio as the audio jumper (APPL 539 FOXCOM) wouldn't have anywhere to go. I could live without audio (I only use the Mac Mini really for office work) if push came to shove.

You'll be glad to know that never again will I say "it'll be an easy job, I've done it x many times and know everything." A touch of hubris and egotism can be an expensive thing.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

The Mac mini can be tricky to open without previous experience, and parts can easily be damaged as you have unfortunately found out.

Due to the damage, the recommended repair would be to replace the Interconnect Board as stated in option A. I don't believe the mini will startup properly just using a SATA cable. Normally, we wouldn't recommend repairing a Mac mini yourself, as it isn't a user-serviceable unit. But, since it is probably out of warranty and Vintage, and you already have it apart, here are are few things you can do:

-You can find which exact model your mini is by entering the serial number here: Check Your Service and Support Coverage.
-Once you have the model info, visit We Love Macs > Apple Mac Mini Service Parts or Powerbook Medic > Replacement Parts > Mac Mini Repair Parts and Mac Mini Upgrade to find the correct part number.
-Check iFixit > Repair Guides > Mac > Mac Desktop > Mac mini and navigate to your exact model for a guide.

Hope that helps,

C

 

[crouchingyosemite]

Thanks.

It seems that option A is the easiest way of getting it running again.

I was wrong about the date. It's a Mid-2007 rather than 2009 so it's an MB138/A or MB139/A. I've managed to locate a UK based seller of Mac parts so fingers crossed it'll be up and running. I'm going to email them a copy of photos of the original interconnect board first before buying just to be certain that it's the correct part. It'll take about 2 weeks before the part's in stock, I think they order them on-demand. The price is low too, so it's economical to repair it.