Chosen Solution
Hi everybody, I’d appreciate some advice: My late 2009 iMac has been opened for a video graphics bake (successfully!), but for some odd reason the HDD temp sensor cable has vanished and now needs to be replaced. Should I try to find out which HDD-brand my system has and get the matching cable or might I just as well replace it by the OWC thermal sensor solution and thus be prepared for a coming HDD/SSD upgrade? Thanks, Ulli
First I love the older models! But I’ve got some bad news ;-{ Apple has now listed this model as vintage! So they won’t repair or stock parts for it any more. Don’t let that stop you here! OK, so what to do??? If you are leaning towards upgrading your HD or thinking of adding a SSD then you might as well just bite the bullet here and do that now. As to which way to go about it you do have a few different options here: Swap-out the HDD for a bigger HDD or faster & bigger SSHD, or swap-out the optical drive for a SSD drive. I like SSHD’s, or better yet, dual drive setups (HDD & SSD) as you gain the most performance your system can offer. I know this is a bit off from what you asked but you might as well think it out. Lets say we go with a new HDD or SSHD or install a SSD in the HD bay you’ll then need to OWC in-line thermal sensor cable. While some 3rd party houses still have the needed Apple sensor cable you’ll need to know who’s drive you currently have so you can get the correct one. So if you think your current drive is good enough and you just want to use a dual drive setup this would be the better (cheaper option).
Update - unfortunately need further advice… After having replaced the missing temp sensor cable with the OWC-solution as recommended, I still have to deal with fan(s) running at full speed. Unbelievable, but I noticed another missing cable! The “ODD temp” connector socket is empty. I then removed all connectors and took out the complete logicboard, hoping to find a loose cable behind it, but: no! As I wasn’t sure what to do next, I first of all got myself the app “TG pro” and took a photo of some of the info provided. I hope someone will thus be able to guide me on my way of fixing my good old one. Thanks for your attention, Ulli
The OWC sensor cable costs $40 + shipping. I went another route and bought a second ODD sensor for less than $10. It comes with an adhesive back so I stuck it to the SSD case, routed the cable and plugged into the HDD sensor port on the logic board.
Temps seem pretty normal and no ramped up fans during boot or normal operation.
