PowerBook G4 Aluminum 12" 1-1.5 GHz Hard Drive Replacement

Geschrieben von: iRobot
  • Kommentare: 96
PowerBook G4 Aluminum 12" 1-1.5 GHz Hard Drive Replacement

Schwierigkeitsgrad

Difficult

Schritte

22

Zeitaufwand

40 - 50 Minuten

Einleitung

.

  1. YgsRrYAFBtYrRivQ

    • 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 -

    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 -

  2. R4N3tPJXuHZ3jeoi

    • Remove the four Phillips screws from the memory door.

    • Slide the memory door away from the memory compartment.

  3. BKmiFChnaJgREW6s

    • 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 -

  4. SDuXICZxmojYuKGx

    • 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 -

  5. PSrwUQPXIOE1ELPG

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

  6. sjCtHVAPx1MjOCmQ

    • 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 -

  7. fmaOywbfBwU2MVcK

    • 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 -

  8. t5hlCOsUSCGenNic

    • 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 -

  9. li1AIDLSlfFechFw

    • 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 -

  10. mYTHGZFNhNNh6PQ2

    • Turn the computer 90 degrees clockwise and remove the two Phillips screws from the casing.

    • Outside case screws are aprox. 1/4 in long

  11. nDPTDIZteywgJQUq

    • 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 -

  12. IQCcudxWlystgoX1

    • 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.

  13. doMIVqiMWsxsLpSZ

    • 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 -

  14. LBAOcDRNBIVXXF5I

    • 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 -

  15. edhkfdmWO5VegjVt

    • 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 -

  16. eX3NTxyYCmFQrdmL

    • 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 -

  17. HJHOyJsUVNGDKS5d

    • Remove the two Phillips screws from the hard drive bracket.

    The right screw is in a standoff, if it's coming loose instead of the screw can hold it with a 4mm wrench.

    Pk11 -

  18. qVa3MjZy3TiRT3dr

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

  19. cUAmJMQrdUuSEVDD

    • Use the orange cable to pull the hard drive up, then pull it and the hard drive bracket out of the computer.

    at any part of this disassemble, is the fan affected? I performed this upgrade very very carefully and now my fan wont stop running.

    okiediver -

  20. IClHZcmbgaIjlIRU

    • Remove the two Phillips screws on the bottom of the hard drive.

    I found a #1 Philips screwdriver worked better for removing these two screws

    slessard -

    I found a #0 Philips screwdriver worked better for removing these two screws

    slessard -

  21. xsQPSsq5A4XjEnwi

    • Remove the two Phillips screws and black rubber bumpers from the right side of the hard drive bracket.

    • Lift the metal bracket off of the hard drive.

    • Carefully peel the orange hard drive ribbon up from the bottom of the hard drive.

    On my PB the screws were #7 Torx, but these may not be stock as someone before me had added a 120 GB HDD.

    No Name -

  22. DI5WJRlSoCtYsMUk

    • Disconnect the hard drive cable from the hard drive by applying even pressure on both sides while maintaining a firm grip on the drive itself.

    • This is a bit tricky. Try holding the drive against your body while pushing the cable away from you, or rocking the cable gently from side to side while applying even pressure, or both. If you bend the pins, do your best to straighten them, using the hard drive cable as a guide.

    • If you are installing a new hard drive, we have an OS X install guide to get you up and running.

    This bit really is tricky. Just be patient and make sure you don't pull the orange cable strip off the black plastic connector which attaches to the hard drive. You can try using a thin (preferably plastic) lever to work the black connector away from the drive to reduce the stress to the orange cabling.

    mancunianlad -

    Everything works fine upon reassembly, except my trackpad. Will see what I can do about connecting that back better. Hopefully didn't break the connector -- it seemed to slide back in place easily enough.

    kdunk -

    Opened the PB up to the point of the trackpad cable and took it off and put it back on. No bent connectors, fortunately, and I must have gotten it seated correctly this time. Wish I knew what I did differently... maybe pressed a little more firmly or maybe got the pins lined up right. This was a tricky step -- hard to see where the pins line up, given the placement.

    kdunk -

    I use a plastic burnish tool (for folding paper) to removed the hard drive cable. Like Mancunianlad said "Just be patient".

    mr5989 -

    I arrived to this point and had to “crunch away” the part of the connector which was supposed to master/slave the drive, as my replacement zheino ssd female part was smaller.

    Giovanni Elia -

Abschluss

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Tinte & Feder

iRobot

Mitglied seit: 25/09/09

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13 Kommentare

I suggest you also have a #0 Phillips screwdriver and a T7 Torx screwdriver

slessard -

I did this. It takes time but you do get there eventually.

A big help for me was to have a square of cardboard(corrugated fiberboard to be precise) the size of the mac next to it as I took out the screws. As I took a screw out I pushed it into the cardboard and made a simple reminder of what layer it came from.

This kept all the screws separate, safe and quick to remember.

Of course I some soft material underneath as well just in case something did slip out.

David Pagan -

To whomever put this guide together, a big thank you. My 14 year old son replaced the drive in his system over the weekend following these steps picture by picture. Also,the idea for using a cardboard template to hold the screws was a wonderful organizer.

Dave Anderson -

Zitat von David Pagan:

I did this. It takes time but you do get there eventually.

A big help for me was to have a square of cardboard(corrugated fiberboard to be precise) the size of the mac next to it as I took out the screws. As I took a screw out I pushed it into the cardboard and made a simple reminder of what layer it came from.

This kept all the screws separate, safe and quick to remember.

Of course I some soft material underneath as well just in case something did slip out.

I print out any of the pictures showing a number of screw positions and then stand the screws on their equivalent locations on the picture. Makes steps like 13 really easy when it comes to reassembly.

chris Hands -

What a fantastic guide. I've never done anything like this, other than increasing RAM, but 2 hours later and I've got a new hard disc in place and operating. The added comments help clarify enormously. And the tips to use pots and cardboard press-in's for the screws were invaluable. True to form, stage 16/17 was the hardest bit (a plastic lollipop stick helped me) followed, bizarly, by getting the screws back into the battery compartment - two are still a bit squint, but the battery fitted so no matter. Thanks again ifixit!

joolz -

Using the step by step instructions, with the pictures, I replaced the broken hard drive without a hitch. The users advices regarding keeping track of the screws is very useful. In my case, I taped some double sided sticky tapes to the printed instruction pictures over the screw spots and placed the screws on them. Placing the G4 in a tray helps to keep the screws within sight when you drop them. In step 13, especially when replacing all those screws, I placed some masking tape over the holes that a dropped screw can disappear into which would then require opening everything up again.

Joseph Ku, Castro Valley, CA

umi -

Thanks to this guide this upgrade was easy! It took be about 90 minutes to complete. Just a few important tips to share:

1. Keep track of the screws for each step - there are a lot of great suggestions already posted (thanks everyone!)

2. Skip step 14 (as others have suggested)

3. Before you do anything - MAKE A BACKUP.

4. Have a can of air (cleaning duster) so you can blow out any dust as you go.

Shack -

This guide was great - very clear in both text and photos. I bought a used 12' powerbook for 'spares or repairs' as my daughter's had been the subject of substantial screen damage - I suspect the closed case had been trodden on... However, the recent addition to our large Mac family was in much better condition except the hard drive didn't work. Initially I swapped out the screens, but then decided to have a go at installing a new hard drive myself - and lo and behold, once formatted, Leopard installed without trouble, and my daughter now has a far superior powerbook for a very, very small outlay. Thanks!

justine mckay -

I managed to follow this guide successfully and installed a new Hard disk. I already owned a set of tools: Draper brand - 31 piece precision screwdriver and bit set, which contains the necessary tools for this powerbook (not just the steps for this hard disk replacement guide). I did find, using this tool set, though, that my philips 00 head wore away a little and would not 'grip' the screw heads well. After a bit of panic, I tried the philips 0 head, and this worked just fine for all the philips screws. Hope that tip helps some others.

msarolker -

The power lead was already loose, so the two pins broke from the board, even though I tried really carefully to remove it with a press and tweezers. I guess it has to be soldered now :/

spezialemichael -

Excellent guide! Thank you, thank yooooouuuu!!

cfwths1 -

Great Guide, I put an SSD in my 12”b Powerbook G4, everything worked first time and this guide was spot on! :)

Mark Nissen -

Because the SSD (SATA) has to be installed with an adapter (SATA~IDE), the SSSD has to be removed from it’s case, to fit in the powerbook. So I packed it with foam, to prevent it, banging around in the powerbook case. Ooh! too hot! I reassembled it again, with minimal foam packing, taking care not to cover any of the chips or circuitry of the SSD. Now it’s a lot cooler and better!.

Mark Nissen -