06-03-2011, 05:56 PM

Hi all

I'm relatively new to the world of mac. I bought a 20" Imac just before xmas and up until recently it was my kids main PC. But recently I decided to make it my main machine and use it for work.

I needed to upgrade it and I've installed 8GB RAM and a 2TB drive. I replaced the drive with a Western Digital WD20EARS drive thinking if I bought the same brand, then it will have the same connector to plug in for the temp sensor.

The new drive has the same 6 pin connector but the cable has an extra nobble bit which the old drive is cut out for but not the new one. So it wont fit unless I can somehow either cut a chunk out of my new hard drive without damaging it or the cable..... Not keen on either to be honest!

Right now I'm using the wonderful HDD Fan Control program which is awesome but I also need for work a boot camp partition. And I've noticed that when I've been using Windows then dual boot back to OSX that my disk temp is sky high.

Any ideas how I can either:

1) Control the fan under Windows 7 using software? I've tried MacFan but it doesn't seem to see any fans.

2) Get a new cable to fit the imac which will fit in my new drive

3) Any other options others have thought of? I'll even make a cable if someone can point me in the direction of parts.


I've tried running Windows inside Parallel's and it's a bit too fiddly for me. It's trying to be too clever and I end up messing around switching all the time between mac & windows apps which is driving me insane.

I tried also VMWare but that doesn't seem to play nice with dual screens and is noticeably slower too so I gave up on that.

Thanks in advance

06-03-2011, 08:42 PM

Didn't know you could get a 20"iMac - was it a few years old ?

Lucky Kids !!

Maybe not so lucky now ?!

P.S.Not being the most tech. person on here I have to say that I understood very little of what you wrote...

You give no indication of the location you are posting from, but if you're say near Nevada, maybe with your 'heat problems' etc - you could re-locate in a walk-in freezer room maybe...?

Back to the drawing-board, and re-read 'Mac for Real Dummies' for 3rd time perhaps...

Smiley !

06-03-2011, 09:52 PM

It's not a 20" iMac but likely a 21.5" model.

As to the hard drive and fan.... It's a known problem with the new iMacs. The original hard drive has proprietary firmware that's designed to work with the special temperature sensor and fan. If you change that drive yourself, you not only void your warranty, but you might have a run away fan going on all the time. Yes, you can control it with software, but it's not recommended.

I suggest doing some googling... Both MacWorld Magazine and Other World Computing have lots to say about the problem.