PowerBook G4 Aluminum 12" 1-1.5 GHz Display Replacement

Schritt 1

Use a coin to turn the battery locking screw 90 degrees to the right.
Lift the battery out of the computer.

What can I say?

It is certainly do able. I just completed it. Took me 2 hours. The most important tool you'll need is patience - bag full of patience!!

Gopal -

Took 3 1/2 to 4 hours for someone who is handy but has never opened a computer before. Not so bad and it was a fun learning experience.

Nomad Toes -

Zitat von Nomad Toes:

Took 3 1/2 to 4 hours for someone who is handy but has never opened a computer before. Not so bad and it was a fun learning experience.

Weird. I posted this on Step 1 of replacing the optical drive, but it showed up on the RAM page since Step 1 is the same. Replacing the RAM takes 10 minutes.

Nomad Toes -

I also see this on “replacing the battery” :-)

atarixle - 14/10/18

I guess, the hardest thing is to find a trustfully shop to buy a new one. You should create a manual how to disassemle the body of the battery and replace the standard round cells inside it.

atarixle - 14/10/18

Schritt 2

Remove the four Phillips screws from the memory door.
Slide the memory door away from the memory compartment.

Schritt 3

Remove the long black Phillips screw next to the memory card.
Remove the small EMI finger beneath the black screw.

What is an EMI Finger???

zdavatz -

Zitat von zdavatz:

What is an EMI Finger???

yeah, good question. I just blew that off - everything else worked just fine - thanks to ifixit for such a great step-by-step!

springboard -

Zitat von zdavatz:

What is an EMI Finger???

That black screw needs to come out because it goes all the way through the computer into the back of the keyboard. However, I didn't see any EMI finger, unless that's the purpose of the metal directly underneath it. EMI fingers are those little tin foil like things you'll see along the ports inside the computer. They provide shielding from what I presume stand for electro-magnetic interference.

aratuk -

Zitat von zdavatz:

What is an EMI Finger???

I think the EMI Finger is probably the silver clip that is under the head of the black screw that step 3 tells us to remove.

Derek Roff -

EMI stands for electro-magnetic inteference. An EMI finger is a piece of metal that connects two pieces of a metal case together, preventing EMI ("radio waves") from passing in or out. In this case, yes it is the "clip".

jerrykrinock -

The black phillips screw is completely stuck on my compulter, and in my frustration, I managed to stripp the screw.. Noe I am concidering drilling it out, this will most likely destroy both the screw and the "EMI finger". Is this a problem? I guess the screw is no problem, but the EMI finger? Or anybody have any ideas to what I could do, I wanted to change my harddrive.. Thanks!

powerbookg4hdd -

Dear powerbookg4hdd. This is a very long screw and you could not drill it out. First, try to turn it with needle-nose pliers. If that is too difficult, use a larger drill bit and try to drill the head completely off instead. You're in a very difficult situation. Of course, remove the RAM card to give yourself some working space.

jerrykrinock -

Dear jerrkrinock! Thank you for your quick reply. Taking your recommendation, I did not try to drill it out, and after considering several approaches, I used a cutter and changed the "star" screw into a "straight" one. This was successful, and I was able to change the drive. I did not find anything that could be an EMI finger, though.. Anyways, thanks ifixit.som for great guides!

powerbookg4hdd -

I believe the clip is referring to the ribbon of grounding material that the plate sits on. You need to move it over to take the long screw out without tearing it. And then you need to lift it and hold it out of the way when you replace the the long screw to avoid pinching it under the head of the screw. TR

tredding -

powerbookg4hdd: or anyone else -- i'm in a similar situation. what kind of cutter did you use to re-notch the screw? or is there another way to get this screw out if it is stripped?

afb -

To be clear on this step you don't need to remove the long black screw (in fact it doesn't appear possible to remove it completely) just make sure it's been unscrewed as much as possible and then leave alone

mancunianlad -

This is correct. The long black screw screws into the keyboard so it does need to be unscrewed, but can be left in place. It may fall out while the laptop is bottom down but if you are working on a towel you'll find it easily.

Zitat von mancunianlad:

To be clear on this step you don't need to remove the long black screw (in fact it doesn't appear possible to remove it completely) just make sure it's been unscrewed as much as possible and then leave alone

emanmb -

I don't see anything that looks like a clip under this screw. It came out just fine (although it wanted to pull up the padding directly above it when I I pulled it out), but all that's under it is the metal plate it's screwed into, which looks like it is also held down by another screw. Is this what I'm supposed to remove? It certainly doesn't seem to want to come up.

Calion -

Should this step specify that the memory door is now to be replaced? At Step 9 the photos show it back in place and yet I didn't see where it was to be screwed back on.

FWIW, my PB did not have an EMI Finger (assume some earlier repair removed it and did not put it back). Is that a concern?

kah -

Schritt 4

Flip down the door on the right side of the battery compartment.

Schritt 5

Use a spudger or flathead screwdriver to disconnect the Airport antenna from the card.

Note that this is a "right angle" coaxial connector. The metal cube is a part of the connector and stays with the cable. It is not a part of the airpor card. Also, I found two clear plastic blocks in front of the airport card, a smaller one near the connector and a larger one on the other side. Possibly these are to keep the cable from vibrating and flexing during, say, a truck ride. Don't lose these.

jerrykrinock -

Schritt 6

Grasp the plastic tab and pull the card out all the way.

Schritt 7

On the keyboard, remove the F1, F2, F11, and F12 keys.
This is scary - take a deep breath before continuing. Place your index finger under the upper left corner of the key and lift up until you hear a click. Then, transfer your finger to the left edge of the key and lift up to pull the key off.
You're freeing the two tabs on the left of the key from the two small holes in the plastic scissors mechanism.
When replacing the keys in the keyboard, place the key directly over the slot where it will go and press down until you hear the key click into place.

once you have removed the little gray stickers, you actually can remove the little screws without popping out the F1/ F2 and F11 and F12 keys. Just pull up the keys a little bit and slip the screw between the keys, a magnetic screwdriver helps.

Jamba -

Schritt 8

Use your fingernail or a small flathead screwdriver to peel up the gray stickers covering each of the screws.

Schritt 9

Remove the two short Phillips screws.

Wish I had bought the magnetic pickup tool, it would really help with getting the very small screws out in step 6!

reginad -

Schritt 10

Lift the keyboard by the 'esc' and 'eject' keys and gently lift up until the keyboard is vertical.

There's some kind of extension to the keyboard in the upper left which slots into the area underneath. Mine was stuckfast and had to be pried loose with a screwdriver. That bent the keyboard, but I manage to get it straightened out somewhat. Any tips for dislodging this piece should it get stuck like mine?

Paul -

Schritt 11

Grasp the keyboard connector ribbon near the connector and disconnect it from the logic board.

I would not pull up on the ribbon as is being done in the picture. Note that the black pastic base that you see is the connector part that is permanently attached to the ribbon cable. Use a small screwdriver or spudger alternately on each end of the black plastic base to pry and rock it upwards.

jerrykrinock -

I agree. I was able to use a needle nose pliers to gently grab the black connector and wiggle the connector from the motherboard.

Zitat von jerrykrinock:

I would not pull up on the ribbon as is being done in the picture. Note that the black pastic base that you see is the connector part that is permanently attached to the ribbon cable. Use a small screwdriver or spudger alternately on each end of the black plastic base to pry and rock it upwards.

emanmb -

Schritt 12

Remove the three 2.5mm Phillips screws from within the battery compartment.

WORST possible location for the screws. They were tight and the space to get to the screws were so small that all my screwdrivers had to get to it at an angle. So afraid of stripping the screws.

James Jan - 15/09/19

Schritt 13

Turn the computer 90 degrees clockwise and remove the two Phillips screws from the casing.
Outside case screws are aprox. 1/4 in long

Schritt 14

Turn the computer 90 degrees clockwise again, and remove only the bottom screw on either side of the hinge.

I guess this is bottom screw if you have the computer upside-down?

shortusername -

That's what worked for me. The illustration is correct or at least this procedure worked for me. =)

Zitat von shortusername:

I guess this is bottom screw if you have the computer upside-down?

emanmb -

Step 10-these two screws are 5.5 mm with a shoulder

Step 11--these three screws are 5.5 mm without a shoulder

Step 12--these two screws are 3.5 mm with a shoulder

Chuck -

Don't do what I did.. I had taken both top and bottom screws out before coming upon this site.

When I had put everything back together again, I unfortunately realized that the top set (towards the bottom of the computer) of screws attach the screen to the frame. On the screen setup there are these prongs that slide into the bottom edge of the frame. My prongs where sitting ontop of where they were suppose to go. I then had to take the computer apart completely again :(

maruskiewicz -

Schritt 15

Turn the computer 90 degrees clockwise just one more time, and remove the two Phillips screws on the exterior wall of the battery compartment.
Note: For reassembly the two screws have long necks.

Schritt 16

Turn the computer over and open it up.
Remove the following 14 screws:
Six 2.5 mm Phillips on either side of the keyboard area.
Five 4.5 mm Phillips on the left half of the keyboard area.
One 7 mm hex in the upper left corner of the upper case (a T6 Torx driver will do the job nicely).
One 15 mm Phillips in the upper middle of the keyboard area.
One 16.5 mm hex in the upper right of the upper case (again, a T6 Torx driver will work well).

Suggestion: Print the photo on a full sheet of paper and punch small holes through the paper inside each circle. As you remove the screws, push each one through the corresponding hole in the picture.

LauderdaleMac -

What are those connectors responsible with? What parts do they connect.

I need to know this since after my hdd replacement my airport card is not seen in the list of contents:

I get this massage : "No information found."

The card is working since I put it in another laptop and it worked there.

THANK YOU!

diago -

Make a full page printout and using sticky tape put the screws (in clusters if easier) where they should go on the photo. In fact I took a blank sheet of paper and did a step by step guide to all screws I took out and then put the screws next to each step header (1,2,3....) and put sticky tape on them.

mancunianlad -

FYI there are 14 screws - not 13

mancunianlad -

I found that a T7 Torx screwdriver worked better for removing the two hex screws

slessard -

I set out tiny dixie cups and marked them for each step wit screws 2-22, including 3 cups for step13, red, orange, and the other 3.

shon -

Also, a T6 driver works for the blue and yellow screws, but the 1.5 mm hex head driver is the appropriate driver for those screws.

shon -

I think, that the needed Hex is actually a 1/16 inch Hex.

the 1.5mm works fine but seems to be a littlebit too small (But i can't test it since i do not own 1/16 inch Hex (but that one should be about 1.58mm).

MrKane -

Zitat von MrKane:

I think, that the needed Hex is actually a 1/16 inch Hex.

the 1.5mm works fine but seems to be a littlebit too small (But i can't test it since i do not own 1/16 inch Hex (but that one should be about 1.58mm).

That very well may be true. The 1.5 mm hex does go in pretty easily, but I got both screws out and back in with it. I don't have a 1/16 hex either, but that would be interesting to try if anyone has one.

shon -

at keyboard left I've a metal piece not show in any powerbook G4 12"... how to tear down it correctly ? I took 2 pictures from another PB with this same piece

In one I forced it: beneath Its seems to be a screw !!

How I can upload those pictures ?

Fernando -

Schritt 17

This step is extremely tricky, and has the potential to ruin your computer. It is easy to pull the plug with the red and black leads (the power) out of the motherboard. If you do that, it is nearly impossible to fix.
Peel up the two pieces of foil tape on the left side of the keyboard area.
The connectors at the ends of the cables are attached very firmly to the sockets on the logic board. Pulling directly on the cable will either separate the cable from its connector or the socket from the logic board.
Carefully disconnect the microphone and power cables from the logic board. Using your fingernails or a dental pick, carefully pry the connectors from their sockets. Make sure you're pulling only on the connector and not on the socket.

What two pieces of foiltape do you mean?

zdavatz -

Zitat von zdavatz:

What two pieces of foiltape do you mean?

There should be two pieces of foil tape on top of the connectors on the left side. The laptop in the picture was disassembled previously and somebody forgot to put the tape back...

Miroslav Djuric -

Is anything can be done if I brooked the power sockets in the logic board during hard drive changing?

gregk -

In the picture, the foil is already gone. If your computer has been taken apart previously, as apparently ours has, the foil may be already gone. The photo is missing the markers that are needed to see what they are talking about, but these two connectors are near the left side. The speaker cable has a red and black wire, and the microphone connector has three grayish white wires.

jerrykrinock -

YOU DON'T NEED TO DO THIS!!! IT IS DIFFICULT. WHEN YOU PROCEED TO STEP 16, JUST LIFT TOP OFF CAREFULLY AND LAY BESIDE LEFT SIDE!

jnelson -

Zitat von gregk:

Is anything can be done if I brooked the power sockets in the logic board during hard drive changing?

I need to know this as well. The top socket (red and black wire) broke off the logic board. Can I fix it?

kristinaksmith -

Zitat von gregk:

Is anything can be done if I brooked the power sockets in the logic board during hard drive changing?

thomsenmusic -

I pulled the plug off the red and black power leads. I successfully pulled the plug off the board and took it to my apple store. The tech. said that I would need to find the entire power lead..from the button to the plug, or the entire metal piece with everything attached. He doubted that Apple still stocked any of the parts and suggested I look for parts on eBay. I may be able to push the wires back into the old plug but this may not be a stable connection. Any suggestions???

Zitat von thomsenmusic:

thomsenmusic -

As another reviewer suggested you don't need to unplug the 2 cables for the mic and power cables and risk breaking the connectors. Once you have managed to unclasp the casing just - carefully - put the casing to the left side and prop it up so it's standing almost vertically. You will have enough room to access the hard drive underneath.

mancunianlad -

I agree with several others here. It is not necessary and not recommended to perform the step 14-unpluggings. Everything worked fine without doing this step.

suselfunk -

Zitat von jnelson:

YOU DON'T NEED TO DO THIS!!! IT IS DIFFICULT. WHEN YOU PROCEED TO STEP 16, JUST LIFT TOP OFF CAREFULLY AND LAY BESIDE LEFT SIDE!

I agree. I did not disconnect either one either. I propped it against the side of the monitor of the MacBook Pro I was reading these instructions on while doing this repair.

shon -

Mine was that way too! No foil.

Zitat von Miroslav Djuric:

There should be two pieces of foil tape on top of the connectors on the left side. The laptop in the picture was disassembled previously and somebody forgot to put the tape back...

emanmb -

I agree as well. Step 14 can be skipped and I did it that way as it was advised by users here. Just be careful once the plate is free as it is still connected to those wires and they seem fragile.

Zitat von shon:

I agree. I did not disconnect either one either. I propped it against the side of the monitor of the MacBook Pro I was reading these instructions on while doing this repair.

emanmb -

They must have stopped using the foil tape. Mine did not have it either. I left the connectors alone too as suggested. Not a problem.

Craig -

I found it easier to leave these attached and pry them off after partly lifting the top chassis in step 17.

Kees -

Note were the tapes are as they do not fully show in the photo.

Sergio Zori -

I broke out the power socket here. Even though I tried to hold it down with a plastic dental tool. I believe I have carefully soldered it back to the board. I will know if I did when I get it back together. I quit at step 21 and decided to put it back together. I will use an external optical drive if I ever need one.

jsparks -

It might be better to disconnect the connectors after step 18.

Paul -

On my PBG4, I found 3 wires attached to the upper case - red and black wires that run to the power button, blue and black wires that run to the mic, and a flat orange cable that runs from the trackpad to a socket on the motherboard. The coloured wires are taped to the upper case, and don't need to be removed. The flat orange connector is directly under the square opening in the upper case, and has loop to help in removing it from the motherboard (which needs to be done). This step was not tricky at all.

No Name -

Yes, you don't need to do this step, but you SHOULD gently pull the little loop that is to the right of the yellow box -- separates the trackpad wires from the board. Compare the picture in 14 with the picture in 15 and you'll see the technician did this.

sciencereporter -

Schritt 18

Starting at one of the upper corners near the screen, work around the frame, separating the upper case from the lower case.

As suggested above this is quite tricky due to the plastic catches towards the front of the case (ie where the trackpad is). Access the front 2 on the right by going in through the empty battery slot and prise away the plastic from the case. That leaves the 2 on the left which are tricky. Use a spudger or flat head screw driver (v careful here though so as not to scratch the casing) to work around the front left casing. Don't give up or despair - it does unlock eventually!

mancunianlad -

Heed the warning that this is a difficult procedure. Those little clips were a lot of work (sliced finger trying to get into the case). I was able to do it but with much attention to not break my case. Patience.

randy29 -

Maybe mine had been opened before but the cover came off fairly easily. Getting it back on was a little tricky and required some finesse. I was able to get mine off with just my fingers and finger nails.

emanmb -

Zitat von mancunianlad:

As suggested above this is quite tricky due to the plastic catches towards the front of the case (ie where the trackpad is). Access the front 2 on the right by going in through the empty battery slot and prise away the plastic from the case. That leaves the 2 on the left which are tricky. Use a spudger or flat head screw driver (v careful here though so as not to scratch the casing) to work around the front left casing. Don't give up or despair - it does unlock eventually!

Damo -

I use a credit card to part the case. works very well

Damo -

The aluminum upper case has a grey plastic rim that comes off with it. Running a guitar pick between the plastic rim of the upper case and the aluminum of the lower case made removal easy.

No Name -

If you don't do step 14 (and you really DON'T need to), then know that you're not going to be able to remove completely the upper case from the lower. It will be attached by the black/red wires and the gray wires (see my comment in step 14, too, about detaching the wires that connect with the trackpad). I could not lean the upper case against the screen -- my wires were not long enough, I guess -- but since both sets of attached wires (skipping step 14) are on the same side, you can tip it up and hold it whilst you remove the hard drive. Yes, be patient in doing this step. I broke a guitar pick doing this, so you can apply some force, but do so gently. In the end, I'm not sure what I did to get the non-battery side separated, but just kept wiggling it and applying some force near the trackpad. It popped, and I immediately stopped putting on pressure to ensure I did not pull the upper case completely off (separating the wires/connectors referenced in step 14).

sciencereporter -

Schritt 19

Using a screw driver, gently release the two grey plastic clips inside the battery compartment in order to remove the right part of the upper case.
There are two more grey plastic clips holding the left part of the upper case. They are not easy to release as they are hidden from view prior to disassembly. They are in the same position as the two in the battery compartment, but on the opposite side of the trackpad. Try to stick a flat pry tool into the clip holes and push the clips inward (toward to screen) so they disengage and release the left part of the upper case.
Lift the upper case off the computer.

This is not as easy as it looks. You see the four slots in the picturer there -- the two on the end are partially covered by the technician's left and right thumbs. Those are attached to plastic clips that need to be disengaged. You can access the two inside the batter compartment and disengage them using a small flat-head screwdriver, but the two on the left are not accessible. I finally got them to disengage by pulling up near the trackpad.

jerrykrinock -

Also there are two small cables on the right side that need to be removed and then reinserted when removing and installed the top case back.

Andrew Harris -

upper case won't go out .... it's seems like a metal top obstruct it , because upper case bend when I try to pull out !!

Fernando -

The top case will not come completely off without removing the track pad cable connector.

antonio -

These instructions neglect to mention that there are two hidden clips on the left side of upper case. They are just like the clips in the battery compartment, but they are hidden from view (they are above the hard drive compartment. So it is necessary to not only pry the bottom case out a little, but also to find the two slots where those clips are engaged, and push them in slightly (with a small nylon pry tool, or very gently with a small flathead screwdriver). You can see one of them in the photo above just to the left of the the trackpad, but the one on the left is blocked (in the photo) by the person's left thumb. It's pretty much in the same location as the two in the battery compartment, just on the left side. Good luck. Took me 15-20 minutes of increasingly more forceful prying before I got lucky and accidentally found the left clip holes. I wish these instructions mentioned them... I've edited them so they do now.

Donald Aehl -

I had my hard disk replaced about 6 years ago but I decide to replace it myself this time. I think the service guy must have had a problem with the power socket as this was wobbling on the logic board when I opened it up. I unplugged the mic but left the power (red and black wires) in the board as this was so loose it would have come clean off trying to unplug. I put it all back together and it didn't fire up. In the end I had no choice but to pull the power socket clean off the board as it wasn't making any contact with the contacts on the board. Using a magnifying glass i could see that this wasn't soldered (looked like it was glued) and had two plastic pins. These pins slotted in two holes on the board to align. I the end I just put a bit of superglue gel on the pins and using tweezers place it in position and held it there for 20 secs. It was how firm on the board like the mic socket. Before screwing it all back I pugged in the power to test it. It worked. Fired up instantly. If you ever manage to pull off the socket, just glue it back but avoid getting glue on the contacts.

gapalmer -

with all screws removed from under keyboard and along sides start releasing palmrest from right side . gently work whole palmrest up and do not remove power or mic from sockets . just remove palmrest as if opening a book keeping left side resting on inside of chassis as right side is raised exposing hard drive

robert -

Schritt 20

Peel back the yellow tape securing the inverter cable near the fan.

FYI, if all you want to do is oil your computer fan, remove the sticker from atop the fan at this step and you will expose three holes that lead directly to the fan's bearing. I used a silicone-based lubricant and sprayed directly into the holes.

Maecenas -

many thanks, great tip..

Jamba -

Schritt 21

Remove the following eight screws:
One 4.5 mm Phillips near the modem.
Three 6 mm Phillips near the display.
Two large 7.5 mm Phillips with attached springs.
Two 13 mm Phillips, one on the lower left side of the heat sink and one between the fan and the optical drive.

The middle of the three 6 mm screws (orange circles) is hiding under the cable. Actually you need to do step 24 first, so you can access it.

jerrykrinock -

The 6mm screw is mis-labelled on the photo. The actual screw is on the upper-left corner of the frame around the fan, not the one under the heat sink bar across the top.

Raymond -

The spring screws here are very hard to remove.. the posts holding them down to the logic board popped off for me, and I wasn't about to remove the logic board to re-solder them. I couldn't even get them apart after they were out though! All I did was re-apply thermal paste to the CPU and thermal pads to the GPU and Northbridge chip, and them put on the heatsink without the two spring screws. It keeps cool temperatures, (118* F after normal web browsing for about an hour), which is pretty good still. Just some reassurement for anyone with the same issue. :)

Jonas Kvale - 02/08/14

Yes, these 7.5 mm screws are fussy indeed! The left one came off without issue, the right one spins for days in either direction yet remains tightly secured to the assembly. Not even pliers can loosen the little bugger! Glad to know at least I’m not the only one to encounter this issue.

Paul Grzelak - 01/05/19

Schritt 22

Peel up the Bluetooth cable on the right side of the fan.

They say "peel" because it is stuck with adhesive.

jerrykrinock -

Schritt 23

Lift up the inverter cable with one hand, and carefully thread it around the heat sink. The inverter cable is still attached to the logic board, so be careful not to put too much strain on the cable.

Not sure what they mean by "thread it around". I would say that you simply lift it up a little so that you'll be able to slide the heat sink assembly out from under it in the next step.

jerrykrinock -

How on earth do the 7.5 mm heat sink screws work ? The ones with the springs? I had difficulty taking them out, and now I cant get them back in. They appear to have no threads on them yet all the instructions indicate to remove with a screwdriver. I dont get it-- after working on this for 2 days and I am stuck.

okiediver -

Zitat von okiediver:

How on earth do the 7.5 mm heat sink screws work ? The ones with the springs? I had difficulty taking them out, and now I cant get them back in. They appear to have no threads on them yet all the instructions indicate to remove with a screwdriver. I dont get it-- after working on this for 2 days and I am stuck.

The screws connect to two posts coming up from the logic board. The post(s) may have popped off the logic board once you removed the screws. If so, you can try super-gluing the posts back to the logic board. There should be one post on either side of the CPU -- see Step 23 to get an idea of how they should look like.

Miroslav Djuric -

I had a problem with one of those heatsink screw-posts and the super glue idea hasn't worked...I just left the screw out but when I powered up the computer everything works fine except if I open more than one program the fan kicks on and the computer goes to sleep for a few seconds until I hit the space bar, then everything works great...

Could this be because the heatsink isn't secure because I didn't put both screws in?

Robert -

Schritt 24

Support the heat sink with both hands, and carefully lift it out of the computer. Be careful not to bend the copper heat pipe connecting the two sections of the heat sink.
If you need to mount the heat sink back into the laptop, we have a thermal paste guide that makes replacing the thermal compound easy.

Schritt 25

Remove the single Phillips screw securing the hall effect sensor board to the optical drive.

screw is 3.5mm

Light Blair -

Schritt 26

Deroute the cable connecting the hall effect sensor board to the DC-to-DC board.

Schritt 27

Use a spudger or the tip of your finger to disconnect the hall effect sensor cable from the DC-to-DC board.

Schritt 28

Use the orange plastic loop to disconnect the hard drive cable from the logic board.

Schritt 29

Remove the two Phillips screws securing the hard drive bracket to the metal framework.

These two screws are black.

jerrykrinock -

When removing the screw to the right, it helps to hold the 4mm standoff underneath the bracket with a pair of pliers. Otherwise it's very easy to strip the screw head.

Joey -

Schritt 30

Lift the hard drive up and out of the computer.

Actually you are removing a "hard drive assembly", which consists of the hard drive plus a mounting bracket and flex cable.

jerrykrinock -

Schritt 31

Use a spudger or the tip of your finger to disconnect the sleep light cable from the DC-to-DC board.

I broke this cable, but I think is only matter to re-solder it ... if I could find where are each pole !!!

Fernando -

This socket is often very tight, and can easily lead to damaging/breaking out the socket. You can just leave it be as it only connects to the DC-to-DC board, not the motherboard.

Berliner Bahnhof - 09/10/20

Schritt 32

Remove the following five secrews/standoffs from the DC-to-DC board:
One 3.5 mm Phillips in the lower right corner.
Two 3 mm Phillips on either side of the battery contacts.
One 10 mm Phillips in the upper right corner.
One 14 mm long 4 mm standoff in the upper left corner. You can remove this standoff either with a 4 mm nut driver or needlenose pliers.

Well, obviously there is a mistake in step 33 since the "One 3 mm" and "Two 3.5 mm" are both shown as red, while the photo shows one red circle and two orange circles. In fact, I believe that the "One 3 mm" screw, which is the one that should be red, is in fact 4 mm, and the "Two 3.5 mm" screws are actually in the two orange circles.

jerrykrinock -

Schritt 33

Remove the silver EMI fingers located near the battery contacts.

Schritt 34

Use a spudger to pry up the end of the DC-to-DC board closest to the display and remove the board from the computer.

Schritt 35

Remove the three Phillips screws securing the modem and modem shield to the logic board.

Some computers have only two screws -- the top and bottom one.

bluePeter -

My 1 ghz model only has 2 screws, one in the upper left hand corner of the modem, one in the lower right hand corner, NOT one in the middle, so don't waste your time trying to peel the black plastic cover off of the modem.

stevesontheroad -

3 mm phillips screw

riverate - 26/08/15

Schritt 36

Disconnect the modem from the logic board by lifting the bottom edge of the modem. Don't remove the modem entirely just yet as it is still connected to the RJ-11 board.

Schritt 37

Turn the modem over and disconnect the RJ-11 cable.

Schritt 38

The connectors at the ends of the cables are often attached very firmly to the sockets on the logic board. Pulling directly on the cable will either separate the cable from its connector or the socket from the logic board.
Carefully disconnect six indicated connectors from the logic board. To disconnect the four white connectors, use your fingernails or a dental pick to carefully pry the connectors from their sockets. Make sure you're pulling only on the connector and not on the socket.

Note that the display connector (black rectangle, second from left of the six) has a flexible black plastic handle on top which you can safely pull on.

jerrykrinock -

Connectors top-left and bottom-right of fan should be disconnected (along with screws) before removal of the heat-sink to avoid awkward "threading" of the heat-sink towards the display (potentially injurious to the display also).

Raymond -

Schritt 39

Lift up middle speaker cable from the lower left corner of the fan, and disconnect the two sections of the cable.

Schritt 40

Deroute the microphone cable from its channel in the metal framework.

Schritt 41

Remove the following nine screws:
Four 3 mm Phillips allong the left edge and near the fan.
One 4 mm Phillips in the bottom left corner.
Two 6 mm Phillips near the left hinge.
One 9 mm Phillips in the top left corner of the fan.
One 12 mm Phillips just above where the hard drive was located.

The top-left 3mm screw should already have been removed in step 23 to allow easier removal of the heat-sink (in step 22 or 23).

Raymond -

Not 4mm, its 4.5 mm, and instead of 9mm it is a 10mm

riverate - 26/08/15

Schritt 42

Peel up the yellow tape securing the display data cable to the metal framework, and deroute the display data cable from its slot in the framework.

Schritt 43

Remove the newly revealed Phillips screw near the RJ-11 board.
Some computers may have two Phillips screws securing the RJ-11 board to the metal framework.

This is a 4.5mm screw

Charles Fuller -

Schritt 44

Lift the RJ-11 board up from the left side, and remove the single Phillips screw hidden beneath.
You may have to remove the metal shield above the RJ-11 board before you can lift it up.

This is a 6mm screw

Charles Fuller -

Schritt 45

Lift up and remove the silver EMI fingers located above the ports on the left side of the computer.

Schritt 46

Pull back on the orange optical drive cable with one hand, and use your other hand to lift the front section of the metal framework over the optical drive cable.

Schritt 47

Deroute the microphone cable from its channel in the upper right corner of the framework.
The metal framework should now be free can be removed from the computer. Be careful when removing the metal framework that none of the cables get caught on the framework.
When reassembling the laptop, make sure that two wires come through the loop of metal on the frame on the upper right-hand side - a silver wire at right angles and the skinny black microphone channel. The third wire from underneath the frame is routed over the fan. The fourth wire from this corner is directly attached to the frame.

Schritt 48

Remove the two Phillips screws from the bottom right of the logic board.
When reassembling, take note of the plastic piece immediately to the right of the screws. Make sure you do not neglect to put it in place before screwing down the logic board.

On my computer the rear screw is 6mm and the front one is 4.5mm. But my computer has obviously been disassembled bdfore

Charles Fuller -

both screws should be 4.5mm

riverate - 26/08/15

Schritt 49

Do not lift the logic board out completely without first disconnecting the DC-In connector underneath the logic board.
Lift the logic board partly up from the optical side.

When you remove the logic board, note that there is an EMI finger surrounding the connectors on the left side. Now here is the important part: When reassembling, remember to reinstall this EMI finger!

jerrykrinock -

To re-assemble the EMI finger, make sure it fits well around the video connector. At the bottom of the video connector, the EMI finger has small "fingers", that should grab the logic board. At the top of the video connector, the EMI finger should go under a metal mesh "pillow".

bluePeter -

I re-assembled the EMI finger completely wrong: on the top side of the connectors. i'm almost done re-assembling the power book, and I ask myself if it's necessary to do steps 21-54 again, or if I could just leave the EMI finger out....

springen -

You say do not lift the board before you disconnect the DC-in connector. The connector is under the board, how do you disconnect it without lifting the board first?

hooligan -

Zitat von hooligan:

You say do not lift the board before you disconnect the DC-in connector. The connector is under the board, how do you disconnect it without lifting the board first?

hooligan -

I can not lift the board. Something is holding it down on the lower left side. all of the screws are out.. What can be holding it down?

hooligan -

Zitat von hooligan:

I can not lift the board. Something is holding it down on the lower left side. all of the screws are out.. What can be holding it down?

Hi hooligan,

There shouldn't be anything in the lower left corner that would catch onto the logic board. Please double-check that all screws are removed before taking it out. You can disconnect the DC-in connector once you're able to partially lift out the logic board.

Miroslav Djuric -

I can't remove the board either. It is stuck in the lower left. All the screws are out.

genetics -

did you get any solution for this? I can't get it out either.

Brian -

Verify that the Aircard has been removed. That should do the trick.

Brandon Curtis -

Schritt 50

Disconnect the DC-In connector from the underside of the logic board.

Schritt 51

Remove the two 6mm Phillips screws from the upper right corner of the computer.
Remove the newly-liberated small metal bracket.

I think the picture here could be improved?

Adam -

It sure could! But they do still have little red screws highlighted in the center right of the very frame of the photo. Almost can’t see them! Here’s hoping this comment indicates them more clearly.

Paul Grzelak - 01/05/19

Schritt 52

Remove the two recessed Phillips screws on the right side of the optical drive.

Both 4.5mm screws

riverate - 26/08/15

Schritt 53

Lift the optical drive up by its front left corner and pull it out of the computer.
If you have a CD or any other object jammed in your optical drive, we have an optical drive repair guide.

Schritt 54

Disconnect the multicolor connector by sliding it to the left.

Schritt 55

Disconnect the silver bluetooth cable by pulling directly up.

Schritt 56

Remove the single Phillips screw from the right side of the board.
Lift the bluetooth board out of the computer.

Schritt 57

Peel back the yellow tape from the right side of the subwoofer.
Remove the single Phillips screw from the right side of the subwoofer, under the tape you just removed.
Remove the yellow tape that secures the remaining cables to the side of the subwoofer.

On my computer this is a 6mm screw, longer than the screw in the previous step 57

Charles Fuller -

A 3.5mm in my computer

riverate - 26/08/15

Schritt 58

Slide the subwoofer away from the screen and out of the computer.
The subwoofer is adhered to the case, so a little force may be required.

The subwoofer is double sided taped to the back of the chassis. So... you have to pull it a bit harder than you'd thing.

rseymour -

Schritt 59

Deroute the Airport Extreme antenna from the card slot and lower case, removing tape as necessary.

Schritt 60

Place a cloth between the screen and the bottom case.
Close the bottom case and turn the laptop over.
Remove the two Phillips screws from the bottom case.

Schritt 61

Remove the two Phillips screws from either side of the display hinge.

Schritt 62

Grasp the lower case and push down on the hinge side while rotating the other end of the case toward you until it pops free, then remove it entirely (leaving the display).
You have effectively removed the computer from the display.

PowerBook G4 Aluminum 12" 1-1.5 GHz Display Replacement

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