13th, 2010 (Note about later Mini's)Updated: Sept 17th, 2012 (another report)Updated: Apr 29th, 2014 ( Delock SATA3 card report)Updated: Dec 5th, 2014 ( SYBA SD-MPE40056 card report)NOTE/FYI: 2009 and later Mac Minis DO NOT have a Mini-PCIe Airport card and therefore cannot use this mod. However with todays prices on 2.5 enclosures on amazon.com, your better off going that way in a lot of circumstance.2006-2008 Mac Mini SATA Card (mini-PCIe) Install/Mod for eSATA useUpdated: Sept 7th, 2010 (more info in "Raoul's" report again)Updated: Oct. USB-C Hub with Hard Drive Enclosure, Hagibis Type-C Docking Station & Stand for Mac Mini M1 with SATA, USB 3.0, SD/TF Card Reader and USB 2.0 Ports for New MM M1 Laptop (Silver for Mac Mini 2020) USB-C Hub with Hard Drive Enclosure for Mac Mini M1, Type C Docking Station with SATA SSD/HDD Slot, Dual USB 3.0/2.0 Port, TF/SD Card Reader, Compatible with Mac Mini 2018/20202006-2008 Mac Mini Internal SATA Card Install/Mod for eSATA useAnswer (1 of 6): Its more than possible, People do it all the time as a way to cut costs on getting an external hard drive.
Sata To Usb Series But 2009No model named 2008 series but 2009's and later had major changes and no mini-pcie airport card/slot. A complete take-apart for the mini is not included but here's OWC's 2006-2007 Mini page of take-apart videos. Original (802.11B) Airport cards were based on a subset of PCMCIA.) Verify your Mac has a Mini-PCIe Airport card slot BEFORE buying a Mini-PCIe SATA card.)( FYI: Here's links to notes/pix from iMac owners that did this same mod and a Photo Gallery on a iMac eSATA Card Install/Mod.)This page has reports/replies to a report here originally in August 2010. (My G5 has a mini-PCI Airport Ext. PPC Macs also do not have Mini-PCIe Airport cards.I am using a 1394a external drive as a scratch disk but this is hardly an ideal situation. Though maxed out at 3Gb, it struggles with huge PhotoShop files especially when used in conjunction with Quark and Word. I too have a 2007 Mini currently used for DTP work. (A Mini-PCIe Airport card slot is required of course for this mod to work.) Early Intel-based Minis (1,1 and 2,1) also had a Socketed CPU, a plus for CPU upgrades/swaps.Reader Reports/Feedback on Mac Mini 1,1/Mini 2,1 eSATA Card Mod:( Don't forget that Driver Installs are required for the SI3132 based cards.)When I read the reader report ( in Aug 24th, 2010 news page here - a copy is below) of a SATA card that was compatible with an (intel-based) Mac Mini, I was immediately interested. (The mini 2,1 was also sold thru 2008 until mini 3,1 model was intro'd in spring 2009.) Again this mod is NOT usable with 2009 (mini 3,1) and later mini models which do not have Mini-PCIe Airport cards. (Sorry for the quality of the pictures but I was too lazy to employ proper lighting.)Above is the interior of my Mini. (Incidentally, the salesperson I spoke to mentioned that this was a popular item and they were down to seven units left in inventory.)I later saw xlr8yourmac.com's request for user reports on compatibility so I decided to record my installation in detail so that other Mini users considering this upgrade would be able to make an informed choice. They shipped the card the same day and I received it three days later. Not exactly cheap but if the card delivered I figured it was worth it. What it did help with was pointing me towards a US webstore that stocked the card.You can actually purchase them here: I called Global American and purchased the card for $61.63 ( including freight. You'll have to purchase a Sata-eSata cable adapter in order to hook up an eSata enclosure. Firewire performs better but is still capped at about 34 MB/s.The (2) cables provided end in standard Sata terminals. The 'before' tests are with the drive in a USB enclosure.Pretty pathetic. Install microsoft office 2011 for mac freeRemoving the DVD facilitated this.Having read what little I could find about this installation, I recalled that the RAID drivers had to be used from this page ( same SI drivers page linked earlier). For my initial 'proof of concept' testing, I simply folded it over and ran it under the drive cage. This would have serious repercussions later on. (Update: In Feb 2014, the non-RAID v1.2.5.0 driver was reported to still work in OS X 10.9.2 by a SIL3132 SATA card used (w/MBP).)I'm running Leopard (10.5.8) not 10.6.X so I used the 10.5 RAID5 driver. ( A note in red was added to that earlier post, however one report (below) said he's using the non-RAID driver w/10.6.4 but he's using a different card/adapter - a Mini-PCIe to (std) PCIe adapter. The non-RAID driver does not work. Microsoft for mac computersI did so hoping I hadn't wasted my money and possibly faced having to reinstall my OS. Note that there is NO uninstaller included.After installation you have to reboot. I hoped having 10.5.8 wouldn't prove problematic (and thankfully it didn't).The (raid) driver installs a kext as well as a java-based RAID utility. I considered trimming off the sleeving but was discouraged by a number of small splices made to the ends of the cable covered in shrink tubing. Intuitively this card is not designed for the Mini and the very inflexible cables would be a chore to permanently install.Most of my effort in this project was invested in figuring out what to do with the cables. Trust me, this is the real problem. The internal WD Caviar Black I have as my Mini's internal boot drive were 15-20 MB/s slower!Now that I knew the card would work in Leopard, I faced the far tougher problem of cable management. The numbers were great, especially from a run of the mill drive. The numbers speak for themselves.So far, so good. I hoped that the backplane would seat far enough in to ensure a good connection.It proved impossible to get good pictures of the flattened cables running out from under the drive cage. Even then, it caused a bulging of the drive cage once it was screwed down. Fortunately the card connector end has loose wire that could be easily folded over. Bends would have to be made after they cleared the cage. There is absolutely no clearance to fold the cables over. Ultimately I plan to cut a slot in the white plastic edge to feed the ribbon cable outside the mini, and reassemble everything.Flexible Mini PCI Express card Extender/Extension CableSYBA SD-MPE40056 Mini PCI-Express 2.0 SATA III 2-port card (ASM1061 chipset)Thanks. The attached SATA drive worked (though not for booting). I have the following parts working in a quick test. All rights reserved.Other Mini Owner Reports on Mac Mini eSATA card Mods: (later added first)SYBA SD-MPE40056 Mini-PCIe SATA3 card (ASM1061 chipset)(added , Assume 2006/2007 (pre-2009) mini)Just a quick note for your page. Cable management though may dissuade you from choosing this upgrade.© 2010 Steve Johansson. This turned out to be far less atrocious looking than I feared.In conclusion, the Commell MPX-3132 does work (at least in Leopard) provided you use the RAID drivers.
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