Mac Mini :: Unable To Do Self Upgrade 09 Mini's Ram?

Okay I'm writing this for anyone who feels the same as I did about doing this and is unsure whether or not to do it. Maybe it can help someone

Last night I finally got round to upgrading my mac mini to 4GB of crucial memory using a 1.5" putty knife, mini screw driver set, pizza cutter, bright LED torch and towel. And boy was I pooooooping it during the whole process!

But don't let that put you off as if you do your research, take your time, double check everything you do, then double check again, have all the tools by your side and you are not a clumsy oath then you should complete it with out any problems.

My main concern is how much pressure you have to put on parts to remove them, compared to how easy they seem to come off on the vids I've watched. And how easy they seem to put the frame and memory in and out. As this is certainly not the case for a newbie!

The main outer casing for a start takes a lot of force and you are not quite sure how far down to put the putty knife. You think your going to damage the clips or case, but it seem really robust, you just have to trust it and do a little bit a a time working your way around the base.

The 2 small antennas seemed like they were going to snap on removal, really where attached well. One more than the other which caused me some stress

The bigger corner antenna, comes of okay, just don't squeeze the clips in to hard, as I did and managed to bend one in to much so when re-fiting I had to bend it out so it locked into place.

The next bit - the screws... make sure you have plenty of small screw drivers, all the ones I had were not small enough, so had to make a quick trip up to the DIY store half way through the job! The screws are impossible to get out unless you have a magnetic screwdriver, I could only get one out, left the other 3 un-done but still in the frame

The ribbon cable came of easy taking my time with a small screwdriver. After all this the whole frame came out giving me access to the ram - this took some jigging, be careful of the antenna wires and the ribbon.

Ram came out easy, but the 2 sticks I put in were not so easy. I could not see exactly where they had to go in, and took some force to get them in. Think it's all about getting the right angle though.

Everything went back pretty easy apart from the frame, this was a bit awkward getting it to fit exactly, but eventually it popped in to place.

I now have 4GB and intend to do the same process again when I can decide on what hard drive to buy to replace the 120GB internal + I am going to do my brothers.

Overall I am very happy I have saved my self money doing it myself, and learnt about the inside of a mac mini.