Introduction
Replace your interconnect board to fix a broken hard drive/optical drive connector.
What you need
-
-
We will first remove the AirPort antenna, located in the lower left corner of this picture.
-
-
-
Slightly squeeze the two retaining arms toward each other and lift the AirPort antenna off its post.
-
-
-
Grab the Bluetooth antenna nearest the port side of the computer by the edges of the board and pull it straight up off the internal frame.
-
-
-
Remove the antenna board near the front of the mini by pulling it straight up off the internal frame.
-
If necessary, remove the piece of tape securing the antenna leads to the internal frame.
-
-
-
-
Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the audio ribbon cable connector up off the audio board.
-
-
-
Remove the following four screws securing the internal frame to the bottom housing:
-
Three 6.7 mm Phillips #00 screws
-
One 9.5 mm Phillips #00 screw
-
-
-
Lift the internal frame off the bottom housing, starting at the rear edge, until you feel the concealed edge connector on the motherboard disconnect. Then lift straight off, minding the bluetooth and 802.11 antenna cables.
-
-
-
Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the audio ribbon cable connector up off the interconnect board.
-
-
-
Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the following connectors up off the interconnect board:
-
Fan cable.
-
Speaker cable.
-
IR board cable.
-
-
-
Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the hard drive thermal sensor cable connector up off the interconnect board.
-
-
-
Use the flat end of a spudger to separate the interconnect board from the optical and hard drives.
-
Pull the interconnect board away from the drives and remove it from the internal frame.
-