I have a 2011 iMac 21.5 in. running 10.13.6. It has been running a bit hot lately, so I need to take it apart to clean it out. I also need to clean the screen on the inside because of a large clouded area. I have decided to replace the hard drive with a SSD drive when its apart. I have 2 questions. What format to use on the new drive? And how to get the iMac to boot up to my clone backup when I first start it up? I found some conflicting answers on a few web searches and just want to be sure.??

David Myers wrote:

I have a 2011 iMac 21.5 in. running 10.13.6. It has been running a bit hot?lately, so I need to take it apart to clean it out. I also need to clean the?screen on the inside because of a large clouded area. I have decided to?replace the hard drive with a SSD drive when its apart. I have 2 questions.?What format to use on the new drive? And how to get the iMac to boot up?to my clone backup when I first start it up? I found some conflicting?answers on a few web searches and just want to be sure.??

Your machine appears (Mactracker) to have a 3.5” form factor hard drive; SSD’s come in laptop-size, 2” form factor, so it will need an adaptor to fit properly.?

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First of all, be sure you know how to take it apart and put it back together. Second, decide for yourself if it is worth it to do that with a 2011 machine. Regarding the new hard drive, if it is an SSD then you very much want APFS. To boot from the clone, if you wait long enough, when it cannot find a bootable internal drive, it will boot from a drive it does find. However, you can speed that up by holding down the option key when you boot. It will give you a list, left-to-right, of bootable volumes. Scroll over there with the arrow keys (I don’t know if a mouse will work here) and select the one you want (In your case maybe only the clone) and hit return.?

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?Initially, before cloning the clone backup back to the new SSD, <Option> wil NOT show you the SSD. Once it has a working OS on it, it will.

On Sat, Oct 26, 2019 at 07:46 PM, Barry Austern wrote:

First of all, be sure you know how to take it apart and put it back together. Second, decide for yourself if it is worth it to do that with a 2011 machine.

Barry, Thanks for your reply. I have 35 years experience as an Elevator mechanic, so I feel confident that this is a task that I can accomplish. And yes it is well worth it for me to keep this computer going. The parts from OWC were about $150 US. I plan to use this computer for as long as it fulfills my needs.

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David Myers wrote:

My plan is to boot to the clone backup drive and then format the new drive and copy the clone to the new SSD drive. I use a wireless key board and track pad. Do you know if these will work when I first turn on the computer after installing the new drive?

Sorry, I've mostly used laptops so I've never been without the built-in keyboard.

I *think* so, because all the drivers and settings should be present on the clone you're booting from. Hopefully someone with relevant experience will answer.

The very last things to do before shutting the computer down to disassemble it are to update the clone backup, and to test that backup by booting from it.

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On Sun, Oct 27, 2019 at 09:15 AM, jimrobertson wrote:

But then I re-read David Myers initial post and realizes he wants to replace the drive and clean the inside of the screen as well. So, David, I’d be very grateful for a postoperative report, estimating:

Jim, I plan on attempting this next weekend. I will post and let you know how I make out.?

On Sun, Oct 27, 2019 at 09:49 AM, Jim Saklad wrote:

When it's all done and working, ?maybe you will consider Apple certification, and start a second career fixing iMacs out there in the wilds of Montana.

Jim, I don't think I'll be fixing many iMacs in Montana. I live just outside Philadelphia.

Sent from JT's Ipad - maybe using voice dictation!

On Oct 27, 2019, at 11:28, Jim Saklad via Groups.Io <jimdoc@...> Responded to: h

I use a wireless key board and track pad.

I've found situations where a wired mouse has been essential, and I am reluctant not to have a wired keyboard [i don't usually use wireless kbds. ]

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"Still sitting on the fence regarding doing major surgery on my 2017 21.5” 4K iMac…"

On Sun, Oct 27, 2019 at 09:15 AM, jimrobertson wrote:

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Still sitting on the fence regarding doing major surgery on my 2017 21.5” 4K iMac, I was all prepared to ask David to post after he’d done the exenteration (that, for a surgeon, basically means removing most of the internal abdominal organs) and the facial surgery (removing and replacing the screen). Then I consulted MacTracker and discovered that back in 2011, Apple seemed to understand that mere mortals might want to work inside their machines, and actually DID supply an access door on them to replace the RAM with higher density modules.

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But then I re-read David Myers initial post and realizes he wants to replace the drive and clean the inside of the screen as well. So, David, I’d be very grateful for a postoperative report, estimating:

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1. How long it took, start to finish
2. How many times you walked away from the table, cursing
3. If there was any step you performed that made you think you’d killed the computer, only to discover that you’d actually done it successfully.

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I am happy to report that the operation was a complete susses. The mew SSD arrived yesterday and I started the task today around 3 PM and finished around 9 PM. To take apart and clean inside and replace the hard drive took about 1hour. To take the screen apart to clean inside and reassemble took about 2 hours. This was a delicate task, not for the fainthearted. The rest of the time was spent copying the clone to the new SSD. Here are my tips for this job. Wear a ground strap and DO NOT use a vacuum to clean the inside, they can produce a ton of static electricity. Use compressed air. Make sure your wife is not watching when you blow the dust all over the house, I learned that one the hard way. And don't force anything just take your time.

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On Sat, Nov 2, 2019 at 02:13 AM, jimrobertson wrote:

On Nov 1, 2019, at 7:54 PM, David Myers via Groups.Io <myavid76@...> wrote:

I am happy to report that the operation was a complete susses. The mew SSD arrived yesterday and I started the task today around 3 PM and finished around 9 PM. To take apart and clean inside and replace the hard drive took about 1hour. To take the screen apart to clean inside and reassemble took about 2 hours. This was a delicate task, not for the fainthearted. The rest of the time was spent copying the clone to the new SSD. Here are my tips for this job. Wear a ground strap and DO NOT use a vacuum to clean the inside, they can produce a ton of static electricity. Use compressed air. Make sure your wife is not watching when you blow the dust all over the house, I learned that one the hard way. And don't force anything just take your time.

Thank you SO much, and I’m happy it turned out well. The grounding strap is something I’ve wondered about, because I’ve watched a bunch of OWC and iFixIt and other independent videos, and none of the people doing the disassembly/reassembly seem to be wearing them. Back in the days of the cute little box 128 K Mac, there could have been several thousand volts on the back end of the CRT for people who ventured inside, and there was no space to do what we could without being quite close to that gun. My understanding is that the threat to US is when working around the power supply, but the threat to the iMac itself is always there.

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I’m following a discussion on Macintouch focused on what mods add the biggest boost to the iMac, and I’ll probably get going once that discussion is over.

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Thanks again,

Jim Robertson

Hi Folks,

???? I have dissected almost all of my iMacs going back to the one with the stainless steel stalk that held the screen (one of my favorites). It is absolutely worth it, even if the process is tedious and time consuming....it's the only way to really get the innards clean. Plus, you may be able to perform all sorts of upgrades. Going from a HDD to an SDD should be a no-brainer because the cooling requirements should be much less. WRT, static electricity....I alway use an anti-static mat with an alligator clip that attaches to the metal frame of whatever system I'm working on. If you run into a problem that you can't solve, (in my case, replacing failing capacitors in the power supply of my second iMac), then it may be time for an upgrade, but there is no reason, IMO, that an iMac should not last upwards to ten years. You might not have much support from Apple, but older systems still have value. And if all else fails, and you feel adventurous, you can always go the Hackintosh route.

On Fri, Nov 1, 2019 at 08:13 PM, jimrobertson wrote:

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Thank you SO much, and I’m happy it turned out well. The grounding strap is something I’ve wondered about, because I’ve watched a bunch of OWC and iFixIt and other independent videos, and none of the people doing the disassembly/reassembly seem to be wearing them. Back in the days of the cute little box 128 K Mac, there could have been several thousand volts on the back end of the CRT for people who ventured inside, and there was no space to do what we could without being quite close to that gun. My understanding is that the threat to US is when working around the power supply, but the threat to the iMac itself is always there.

You're welcome Jim. When working on equipment where there are programs stored is where you need to make sure you don't have a static build up on your body. It only takes a few volts to scramble a program. Better safe than sorry.?