Good news and bad news

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Bad news... iMac was slow with safari and some other programs and then i rebooted. Then it was the grey screen and spun and spun. Hard reboot to recovery and drive is bust. It is a 2010... iMac "Core i3" 3.06 21.5-Inch (Mid-2010) Specs (Mid-2010, MC508LL/A, iMac11,2, A1311, 2389) @ EveryMac.com
Good news is i have a Time Capsule backup and I get to finally open it up and replace that now junk 500gb HDD.

Now for some questions...
1) Is that the model that needs fan firm/soft ware downloaded after a replacement HDD is installed to combat something with a temp sensor not matching properly?

2) This may tie in with the first question but idk.. does the replacement HDD need to be the same brand?

being able to take this apart is like an early christmas present.. up until now i've just taken apart iPhones and that gets boring.. and our MBP i upgraded was very meh
any other input is appreciated.
 

chscag

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Yes, your iMac needs a replacement hard drive that is the same as the one you're replacing, otherwise your hard drive fan will go full blast. There are work arounds and other various methods to overcome this. Suggest going to Other World Computing and look up the procedure and their recommended fixes and work arounds before you start.

I just a hard drive replaced on my 2011 iMac 21.5" by Apple. However, my machine was covered by Apple Care.
 
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Ok thanks, I'll get back into recovery mode tomorrow and see what the serial or model number was. I'll report back to make sure that is the one I need.


Since it has to be the same brand does that limit my choices on SSD/Hybrid vs HDD?
 

chscag

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It doesn't necessarily have to be the same brand, but it does have to be a hard drive that meets the special requirements and firmware. For example... the hard drive I had replaced in my 21.5 iMac was a Seagate, but Apple put in a Western Digital model. No problem with the heat sensor or the hard drive fan.

You can probably add a SSD to your iMac with the kit sold by OWC. But the main drive will have to be an Apple replacement unless you use one of the work arounds I mentioned. Go to OWC and read up.
 

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