Screws & grommets for 2012 Mac Mini HDD

Your local Ace Hardware has a pretty good assortment of bolts and screws. I got a bunch of new "torx" screws for my G5 iMac there, when I replaced the optical drive and HD.

1. How did you manage to get the correct ribbon cable without the rest of the kit...?

2. Those screws are actually studs with a short thread on one end and a torx slot on the other.

It's a little shade tree, but one might cut some small rubber automotive vacuum hose into grommets and use regular flat head screws instead of the studs to mount the drive to the frame.

You can buy just the cable online (I got mine on Amazon). Actually if you look at the drive placement in the Mini there is no where for it to go when both drives are installed. Instead of grommets and screws you could use some foam strips (like weather stripping) which would hold the drive snug in the bracket and put a piece of foam between the two drives. Works great.

Awesome, another great shade tree tip. 😉

I was also thinking something along those lines for SSDs, but I wouldn't want to block to much of the air flow if the OP is installing a second conventional HD.

You will not block any air. The foam strips are very small and only on the sides (use soft foam style) and one small piece between them in the center.

I use the open cell strips from ACO. It is normally used for weather stripping. Get the narrow 1/4" width peel and stick variety.

Check back with that AASP, they should have some extra screws around that will work.

2.5" drives have 3mm threads in them.

Can't say for sure how long of a headed screws you will need to reach thru the frame and grommet from the outside? Most likely it would need somewhere between a 3x3mm and 3x5mm depending on frame and grommet thickness.

Hard Drive Screws