⟐ Answer edited July 05, 2026 at 3:18 MST

I deconstructed my iMac and made it into a functioning external monitor after it broke.

I want to re use the iSense camera by making it a USB device. I have heard of people soldering the cables onto a USB for use. The issue is, there is 7 wires and I am not sure which wires to attach to the USB as they only have 4 connections. I have attached an image.

Thanks in advance

⟐ Commented June 22, 2026 at 8:01 MST

⟐ Edited by author June 05, 2026 at 18:46 MST

⟐ Answered May 27, 2026 at 6:05 MST

I am planning to upgrade my iMac (27 inch - mid2010) which is now 10 years old and running on El Capitan 10.11.6 OS. Since its having a good CPU (i7 2.93) I am considering replacing the stock HDD (1TB) to an SSD, and maximising the RAM from 8GB to 32GB.

1. is this upgrade worth it? and will I notice a different when using it?
2. for the RAM upgrade, I think this part is the best option (iMac Intel 27" (Core i5 or i7) EMC 2390 (Mid 2010) Memory Maxxer RAM Upgrade Kit)?
3. for the SSD, I was reviewing this guide (Mac Intel 27" EMC 2390 Hard Drive Replacement), and I am confused about the parts options. the SSD Upgrade Bundle with Crucial MX500 SSD 1TB, or buying 2 TB SSD Segate Hybrid 3.5" Hard Drive with all the required tools separately which will almost cost the same. my concerns are:
   • is the two SSD mentioned having the same performance?
   • is the two SSD mentioned having the same certification with my iMac?
   • is there any drawback for using Segate 2TB over Crucial 1TB?

**

This is my first time upgrading my iMac, and I really appreciate if you can guide me in selecting the best parts to get the most performance out of it for the longest period.

Regards,

⟐ Answered May 07, 2026 at 22:33 MST

⟐ Answered May 02, 2026 at 11:48 MST

⟐ Commented April 26, 2026 at 19:06 MST

the ribbon is so fragile, looks like it broke

thanks

After changing the microphone for a new one it is still the same problem, no idea what happened, i was being very careful inserting the flex cable on the board.. when removing the original one i pulled it instead of removing the tiny latch because i did not know

Any idea?

Thanks

⟐ Answer accepted April 20, 2026 at 15:15 MST

I have a late 2013 27" that I replaced the failing HDD with a new 2TB Crucial Bx500 SSD.

Write speeds are an abysmal 20-40MB/s no mattter what.

I have also replaced the SATA cable AND enabled Trim.

I have tried also formatting the drive to exFat and then back to APFS with a clean install of Catalina, and then migrated the data again with migration assistant.

Originally, I thought the drive or cable was bad, so I replaced both again.

The issue persists. Write speeds hover from 20-40 MB/s.

Thank you for your consideration and help. I will be sure to respond as promptly as possible.

⟐ Commented April 19, 2026 at 12:09 MST

⟐ Commented April 10, 2026 at 20:06 MST

⟐ Answer accepted March 31, 2026 at 12:30 MST

• One big 12 pin molex connector connected to the logic board.
• One small 2 pin connector connected to the power button.
• One small 7 pin connector, connected to the logic board via a flat cable.

The big 12 pin molex connector is apparently the 12V rail. It's also confirmed by the schematic.

The 2 pin connector for power button is probably a passthrough to the logic button. The PSU usually needs a PS_ON pin to be pulled to the ground to keep on, if it's like an ATX PSU.

The 7 pin connector probably has that PS_ON pin, along with some other pins. I'm trying to figure out their functions. According to the schematic, they are:

1. PWR_BTN_R
2. GND
3. SMC_ACDC_ID_R
4. TSNS_ACDC_N
5. TSNS_ACDC_P
6. GND
7. BURSTMODE_EN_R_L

So, it confirms my suspicion about the power button. Pin 1 must be the power button pass-through. I looked up burst mode, which I probably don't need to worry about. But I'm unclear about the rest 3:

• SMC_ACDC_ID_R
• TSNS_ACDC (Positive and Negative)

Can someone shed some light on them?

P.S. does anyone know what kind of connector it is? I hate cutting the original cable. Worst case, I can solder wires to the PCB but it's kinda hard to do with the connector in place.

Schematic:

Connector:

⟐ Commented March 26, 2026 at 17:18 MST

My iMac is a 2019 5K iMac 27in with an Intel i9 processor at 3.6GHz. (iMac19,1 - EMC 3194)

After putting Arctic Silver MX-6 on the heat sink and reassembling the Mac, when I start it up it is very slow to boot and is very sluggish. The fan is running at full speed.

I have reset the SMC and the PRAM several times, and have checked and re-checked all the cable connections to no avail.

It is running Sequoia 15.7.4.

Has anyone got any suggestions for a fix?

⟐ Answered March 25, 2026 at 15:53 MST

⟐ Commented March 24, 2026 at 12:44 MST

Nothing happens when I press the power button other than a small hum.

Removing the display gives me access to the LEDs showing 1 and 2 are lit but nothing from 3 or 4.

The 2600 is a known working chip and the 2500s still works fine in the board.

Please help.

⟐ Answered March 24, 2026 at 10:54 MST

TLDR: T2 / PCH related kernel panic if CPU is hot for a long time, boots only after I let it cool down. No kernel panic during normal/light use. Possibly a faulty component on the motherboard that has a bad connection? Possible fix if opened?

EDIT: More tests in the comments

Long version:

I obtained a faulty 2020 iMac 5K with an i7-10700K and 5500XT to be used as a DIY 5K project base. The ad said that the GPU is faulty, it randomly restarts but during normal use, no problem.

The screen is the most important for me (only slight pink hue around the edge, no problem), I did not really care about the issue but here is what I discovered and it made me more interested in fixing the issue.

I benchmarked the GPU using Heaven Benchmark for 1-2 hours running at max fan speed, the GPU was at 80-90 degrees and it did not restart.

Then I benchmarked the CPU using Cinebench, survived 10 minute single-core but crashed 2-3 seconds after starting multi-core. Later when it cooled down, I tested the multi-core again and it lasted a lot longer but not 10 minutes.

When it restarts, sometimes it crashes on boot but mostly it gets to the login screen, can stay there for hours but after entering my password and it would start loading everything, it crashes until I let it cool down so it has a thermal headroom or something. Macs Fan Control turns up the fan speed immediately after login but still not early enough, I also turned off Intel Turbo Boost to decrease the temp generation.

The kernel panic logs (when present) show T2 / PCH / SEP related crashes (BAD MAGIC, x86 global reset detected - CORE 0 is the one that panicked / void AppleEmbeddedPCIeUpLinkMgmt::_linkInterruptAction(IOInterruptEventSource *, int): A link timeout has been seen after 650000 microseconds and 49999 iterations - CORE 0 is the one that panicked

But the weird thing is that I have been using this thing everyday for basic tasks, logging in, sleeping, passwd auth, everything seems to be working as usual. I guess normal tasks use the T2 as well but it does not heat up that much maybe?

What I'm planning to do in the coming weeks is to open it up, check visual defects on the motherboard, get an LGA1200 PC motherboard to test if the CPU is okay or not.

This whole issue seems to be only happening when the CPU is over 75-80 degrees for longer period of time when the nearby components are also heated up, I suspect a faulty connection somewhere that is when hot, not connecting correctly. Maybe the T2 chip's connection is bad or something?

What do you think, what would be the best steps to troubleshoot this issue? Is there a tool that only stress tests the T2 chip and not the CPU? Maybe a feature in macOS that really stresses that?

Thank you in advance!

⟐ Commented March 24, 2026 at 8:41 MST

⟐ Commented March 20, 2026 at 5:16 MST

But while trying to close the iMac screen, all adhesives lined up, I connected the display's power cable and ribbon cable. Mistakenly, I lifted the display while trying to align bottom and ouch....the ribbon cable (vsync cable??) pulled out from its connector argh.....

I connected it back and closed the iMac. When I powered up there was a green vertical line (which was gone after a min) and the gray/black thick stripe about 1.5inch wide. This stripe stays all the time from boot to shutdown.

Tried SMC reset, PRAM reset... no luck.

I doubt the ribbon cable damage (is it vsync cable)...now I'm skeptical to reopen to play around without knowing what could be the issue.

Many questions on my mind....did I damage the display? Is the ribbon cable replaceable (I tried googling for spare part couldn't find a proper lead)?

Any help would be much appreciated thanks.

Finally fixed the expensive mistake :)

Had a local shop fix my system in Dubai

Also the iFixit adhesive strips and the removal tool are a must have!

[linked product missing or disabled: IF173-005]

⟐ Answered March 19, 2026 at 12:01 MST

Looking at this product here, it does not say if it causes the issues or not. Just to update mac for the firmware.

What's the performance gain if I would already have a SSD instead of a HDD?

What is so special about the Apple blade SSDs that others have problems waking from sleep?

⟐ Answered March 16, 2026 at 1:38 MST

Do I have to change the power supply as well?

⟐ Commented February 27, 2026 at 6:04 MST