Mac Mini Questions Thread

[unspec]

I'm adding this because it something I've read about but its unconfirmed so don't burn me in hell and if anyone has anything to add or correct feel free to do so.

Of course you can buy 3rd party RAM and install it yourself but it will break the Warranty sticker and you'll be screwed for onsite or offsite repairs, but for someone who's experienced that shouldn't really be a problem, but I did read something about the case being very special, as mentioned above I'm under the impression that it has no screws much like the iPod, and having seen pictures of the inside of the case it seems like they are clips but they are in fact not, they are EMF fingers

.... EMF fingers basically help form a faraday cage for the computer.... the reason they are located where they are is because for a faraday cage to work the innards need to be completely metal enclosed in a metal or mesh cage.... the metal fingers preven stray electromagnetic field lines from going in or out of the computer......this becomes increasingly important as clock speeds go up and computers nowadays require them....

most likely there are 4 long #4-40 machine screws (or similar thread pitch and size, maybe smaller knowing apple) that attach the innards to the top cover..... when you pull it appart the metal fingers will slide down and pop outwards when released ... then you replace the RAM and push the fingers back in (they are like leaf springs) when sliding the innards back into the case.

Once again feel free to add or correct anything said here :)

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Just a few thoughts.

Why would you need "EMF fingers" when the sides can be shielded anyway?

Personally I think they are just plastic clips, a tool would be provided by Apple to slide under the side and press the clips down - allowing the top to come off.

[heesey1010]

Interesting:

The RAM. The most widely criticized aspect of the Mac mini is its meager base 256MB of RAM. However, the RAM slot on the Mac mini seems to be pretty accessible; if it turns out to be fairly easy to crack a Mac mini open, it seems that more RAM would be the easiest thing to install. Keep in mind there?s only a single RAM slot, so if you want to upgrade your RAM after buying a Mac mini, you?ll need to yank the pre-installed module first.

<>

Not too specific on where it's located, but seems like its easi...

o there it is i think lol, on the side. in the pic above me

source: http://www.macworld.com/2005/01/news/minioverview/index.php

PS: if neone has said this already, please forgive me

[Southern Patriot]

- USB KVM Switches exist (www.ebuyer.com for 3rd party)

- DVI KVM Switches exist (haven't searched the net as yet)

- Power Supply (aka 'Dells Brick') is external (good move, leave the heat away from the Mac)

- USB 2.0 Hubs will definately work (expanding your USB 2.0 or even USB 1.1 ports)

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You missed one:

- USB to PS/2 adapters are available, are cheap, and work just fine with the Mac

I don't know why, but for some reason, you will usually not see the Mac listed as being compatible with them on the package, but rest assured, they do work.

Also, I'm not sure why you would consider the optical drive HARDER to get to than the hard drive. It appears from the pictures I've seen that you would have to remove the optical drive to get to the hard drive, making it one step easier to get to.

[Southern Patriot]

i'm mostly interested in running iLife and manipulating music/pictures/video files that are on my pc hard drive (via SMB).

- does iphoto have any problem with using an image library over the network?

- can imovie/idvd output to file so i can use my pc's dvd burner to do the burning?

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I've never run my iPhoto library from a PC drive, but I have used it from another drive on my Mac. It's as simple as creating a symbolic link between the normal iPhoto library location and the location you want to store the files.

ln -s /Users/Shared/iPhoto\ Library ~/Pictures/iPhoto\ ?Library

That would be the Terminal command if you wanted to put your iPhoto library in the /Users/Shared folder. If you wanted to put it on the PC, you would have to make sure the PC's shared drive was mounted at startup (or at least before running iPhoto), then use /Volumes/PCDriveName in place of /Users/Shared in the path above.

As for the iDVD question, I know there are hacks available to do this, search Google for "iDVD hack"

[richman]

I have some questions regarding the mini mac.

Iam intrested in getting a mini mac and using it as my main pc and putting aside my pc for gaming only.

1. What i would like to know is does the mac come with Mac OSX on a recovery cd much like the windows xp cd's which will restore the mac the exact point it was at when you very first turned it on OR will it come will a cd like a windows xp cd that will allow you to install a fresh install.

2. Will all the mac USB keyboards work with the mini mac becuase in the mac online store they have a note saying

Important: Requires Mac OS X, v10.2 or higher.

does the mini mac have this?

last but not least does the mini mac come "ready to run" if you have a monitor and keyboard & mouse will it be all ready to go?

Thankyou in advance

Rich

[chmsant]

1)Yes, all Macs ship with recovery CDs in case something goes wrong, and they will do either option.

2)Yes all mac keyboards will work as all Apple computers ship with Mac OS 10.3 "Panther"

3)Yes, all you do when you first start the unit is enter in your user/location info and you are up and running.

[DjmUK]

Also, I'm not sure why you would consider the optical drive HARDER to get to than the  hard drive.  It appears from the pictures I've seen that you would have to remove the optical drive to get to the hard drive, making it one step easier to get to.

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Well from what I can see from the pictures is that the HDD is located at the rear of the mac (unknown at present if it's located under the Optical Drive or not), so a replacement would be simple.

With the Optical Drive replacing, I would imagine it's difficult because it's a slot-loading version specifically designed for the Mac Mini and it's integrated with the Mac (unknown if replacements can be purchased from the general public).

I thought it would be more difficult to remove/install the Optical Drive compared to a HDD.

* Correct me if I'm wrong please, I don't have a lot of knowledge about this - because I haven't found a picture specifically detailing each components location (ie, HDD etc).

[richlin71]

does anyone else out there plan on using the same keyboard/mouse on their mini & pc *without* using a KVM switch? i plan on buying a good wireless kb/mouse set and simply moving the RF receiver from the usb port of the pc to the mac...i'm wondering if this setup will work well. so far i'm looking at the Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop 3.0 (the Zoom slider looks great!).

KVM switches are overkill for me, since i already have an extra VGA connection on my lcd and an extra audio input to my speakers.

[kainashi]

if i do get a mac mini, which i'm 90% sure i want to right now, i'll probably use my mx1000 on it too. i'll need a new keyboard though, this one is ps/2 only. :(

[DjmUK]

if i do get a mac mini, which i'm 90% sure i want to right now, i'll probably use my mx1000 on it too. i'll need a new keyboard though, this one is ps/2 only. :(

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I'm 95% sure to get one :)

PS/2 --> USB (and vice versa) Adaptors are extremely cheap (and fully compatible).

[richman]

1)Yes, all Macs ship with recovery CDs in case something goes wrong, and they will do either option.

2)Yes all mac keyboards will work as all Apple computers ship with Mac OS 10.3 "Panther"

3)Yes, all you do when you first start the unit is enter in your user/location info and you are up and running.

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Thanks cswadner.

I am almost 100% certain on getting my Mac Mini. They dont Ship till Jan 27th So iam going to hold off abit but when they do iam ordering.

I have ordered my mac keyboard and mouse today aswell so that will be here before the mini mac.

Rich

[Guest]

I am with richman going to use my mac for surfing and chatting and leave my pc games only :)

[richman]

I am with richman going to use my mac for surfing and chatting and leave my pc games only :)

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Are you going to get a mini mac qrich19??

Rich

[Slipdisc210]

Alright... was looking at a mini here at work today.... (yes you read that right) and the memory slot is buried underneath the optical drive... and is extremely hard to get to.  It is not user serviceable and must be taken into an Authorized Service Provider.

As for the hard drive.... it doesnt look like it would be easy, but a possibility.  Attempting both however would void the warranty.  Apple can tell when something has been replaced that was not meant to be, even if you remove the part before service.

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no point in lying dude. Cause in the end....

[Guest]

yea i am really thinking about doing it, i have just added you to my msn list if you are on.

[richman]

The mac OSX 'tiger' is due for relese soon if you buy a mac mini now will u be able to buy mac OSx 'tiger' and upgrade it from 'panther' with no problems or will apple restrict us from doing this?

Rich

[noyb]

The mac OSX 'tiger' is due for relese soon if you buy a mac mini now will u be able to buy mac OSx 'tiger' and upgrade it from 'panther' with no problems or will apple restrict us from doing this?

Rich

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If your talking about the almost free upgrade, Tiger won't be out in time to meet the offers usual deadline. If you are just worried about the upgrade, no Apple will throw no roadblocks in your path.

[+Warwagon MVC]

now is there a 2.5 to 3.5 IDE adaptor

would it be possible to take out the motherboard and transplant it in a different case with a standard hard drive? I know you can't put a new graphics card in it, but putting in a 7200 rpm 8 meg 200 gig IDEdrive might speed it up alittle ..

just wondered if it was possible

[richman]

now is there a 2.5 to 3.5 IDE adaptor

would it be possible to take out the motherboard and transplant it in a different case with a standard hard drive? I know you can't put a new graphics card in it, but putting in a 7200 rpm 8 meg 200 gig IDEdrive might speed it up alittle ..

just wondered if it was possible

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Can i ask what is the point in doing this when you can just buy parts and load panther onto the box u make. THe whole idea of the minimac is to be small and cheap god only knows why you want to take it apart and put it in another case.

Rich

[Chad]

I've seen so many people say it will void the warranty if you isntall ram, and others say it won't. I'm very interested in getting one, but if Apple is going to be picky about the warranty, I'm not so sure.

How about installing the AE card?

[noyb]

I've seen so many people say it will void the warranty if you isntall ram, and others say it won't.  I'm very interested in getting one, but if Apple is going to be picky about the warranty, I'm not so sure. 

How about installing the AE card?

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I have not read anything that actually says it will void warranty by installing upgrades by yourself but they do advise caution like many companies do, i would think if it was the case they would say so.

As for evidence Apple do provide this, http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300572

And many vendors like Crucial are listing it without mentioning warranty threats.

AE? Doubt it, with that form factor it might not even be the regular card that is supplied for PowerMac and iMac machines.

[mikedc1760]

I was watching TSS and Kevin Rose was there talking to someone from Apple, he asked if you install RAM yourself will you void your warranty for the Mini. He only replied with Apple doesn't recommend you do this. I am assuming this means that it doesn't void your warranty.

[Chad]

I have not read anything that actually says it will void warranty by installing upgrades by yourself but they do advise caution like many companies do, i would think if it was the case they would say so.

As for evidence Apple do provide this, http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300572

And many vendors like Crucial are listing it without mentioning warranty threats. 

AE? Doubt it, with that form factor it might not even be the regular card that is supplied for PowerMac and iMac machines.

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Thanks for that. I haven't read anything where it actually says, yes it will or no it won't, Just different people saying different things.

I assumed as much about AE.

[Ricky Smith Old]

I was watching TSS and Kevin Rose was there talking to someone from Apple, he asked if you install RAM yourself will you void your warranty for the Mini. He only replied with Apple doesn't recommend you do this. I am assuming this means that it doesn't void your warranty.

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That show is horrible now. I bet kevin can't wait to get out of there. As for the RAM I don't see why it would void the warinty because I have seen other boxes that are small and hard to open but it doesnt void the warinty. Why doesn't someone call up apple sales or support and ask? Also I'm sure if you break it while trying to upgrade the RAM that WILL void the warinty but as for just upgrading the RAM i doubt it.

[erbol]

I'm considering to buy mac mini in Japan at Ginza store.

My questions are as follows;

- regarding power brick (AC adapter) is it designed for 110 V or it has wide range like 110 - 230 V ?

- bundled iLife is in Japanese ? Is it possible to change it to English?

Thank you.