iBook G3 Clamshell Charger Board Replacement

Schritt 1

Use a coin to turn both battery locking screws 90 degrees to the left.
Remove the battery cover.
Remove the battery from the computer by pulling up on the plastic tab.

Schritt 2

Pull the keyboard release tabs toward you and lift up on the keyboard until it pops free. Note that the keyboard ribbon is still attached to the logic board, so you cannot completely remove the keyboard yet.
If the keyboard does not come free, use a small flathead screwdriver to turn the keyboard locking screw (between F4 and F5 key) 180 degrees in either direction and try again.
Rotate the keyboard away from the screen and rest it face-down on the trackpad area.

Schritt 3

If your computer does not have an airport card, you can skip the next two steps.
Grasp the clear plastic tab on the airport card and pull up and toward the display.

Schritt 4

Hold the airport card in one hand and use your other hand to remove the antenna cable.

Schritt 5

Remove the two Phillips screws that secure the RAM shield.

Schritt 6

Grasp the wire metal bracket on top of the RAM shield and pull upward to remove the shield.

Schritt 7

Pull up the keyboard connector cable by its clear plastic loop.

Schritt 8

Use a straightened paperclip to manually eject the CD-ROM tray.

Schritt 9

Turn the computer over so that the bottom is facing up.
Remove the following Torx screws:
Four short T8 Torx near the battery compartment.
Two long T8 Torx near the hinges.

Schritt 10

Pull the CD-ROM drive tray partly out.
Remove the silver Phillips screw from the plastic casing.

Schritt 11

Turn the computer over.
Remove the three Phillips screws.

Please note: these screws can (and may!) strip easily, so take extra care in removing them!

LambdaCalculus -

Schritt 12

This is a diagram of the trackpad ribbon clamp connector you will disconnect in the next step.
1) With your fingernails, grasp the locking bar on either side and pull up a small amount (about 1/16" or 2 mm).
2) After disengaging the locking bar, slide the cable out of the connector.

In part 1, you can use a small flat-blade screwdriver to lift the locking bar. This will not put pressure on the cable itself. Each end of the locking bar will click when it has been lifted sufficiently.

Don Solomon -

Schritt 13

Loosen the trackpad clamp by pulling the top piece up slightly, freeing the trackpad ribbon.
Slide the orange trackpad ribbon out of the clamp.

Before going to the next step, remove 4 T8 screws from bottom of case.

gestler - 16/07/20

Schritt 14

Do not lift the upper case too far without first disconnecting the audio cable.
Push out the rim of the lower case and pull up on the upper case, grasping it just to the left of the optical drive.
Repeat the above step on the upper left corner of the upper case, grasping the bottom left corner of the upper case.

Schritt 15

Disconnect the audio cable.

Schritt 16

Grasp the upper case on either side of the keyboard space and rotate up and away from the screen.
You may be thinking you're about to break your upper case. Not to worry - the tabs holding the upper and lower cases together are very strong. Simply apply even pressure and continue to rotate the upper case up and away from the screen until it comes free.

When replacing the upper case, test the trackpad button to make sure it clicks before proceeding. If it does not operate properly, remove the upper case and reattach it.

Don Solomon -

Once you free the back half, pull the the case forward, not up so much, or you’ll break the tabs on the sides by the optical drive on the right, and about the same place on the left.

Rick Karrer - 03/05/19

I second this.

DistroHopper39F - 02/08/20

Schritt 17

If the optical drive is not open, use a straightened paperclip to open it now.
Remove the 5 mm standoff.

Schritt 18

Disconnect the optical drive cable from the logic board.

Schritt 19

Lift up on the optical drive while sequentially pushing the small plastic tabs one after another toward the screen to free one side of the drive.
Lift up the side of the optical drive you just freed and slide the drive out and away from the screen.
When reinstalling the optical drive, be sure that the drive tray is out far enough to slide under the lower casing rim.
If you have a CD or any other object jammed in your optical drive, we have an optical drive repair guide.

Schritt 20

Remove the following Phillips screws:
Remove the longer Phillips screw from the middle-rear of the modem shield.
Remove the three identical Phillips screws, two on either side of the EMI fingers, and the remaining one on the right side of the modem shield.
Remove the larger Phillips screw that secures the EMI fingers to the modem board.
Remove the EMI fingers.

Schritt 21

Peel the modem shield away from the metal framework below, working from the right front and moving to the left.

Schritt 22

Remove the Phillips screw from the left side of the modem.
Pry up the right side of the modem.

Schritt 23

Lift the modem partially out and disconnect the cable on the left side.

Schritt 24

Remove the Phillips screw from the left hinge.
Peel up the airport cable from beneath the yellow tape.

Schritt 25

Disconnect the large display data cable from the logic board and deroute it from the plastic and metal tabs.

Schritt 26

Disconnect the backlight cable from the logic board and deroute it.

Schritt 27

Remove the three small Phillips screws from the clutch cover.

When reinstalling, hold the display so the clutch cover is flush with the panel below. Make sure no wires are caught before tightening the screws.

Don Solomon -

Note that there are small hooks that hold the clutch cover down. When reinstalling, be sure to hook the cover to them from the back, or you will have problems with the cover catching on the lid as you close it.

Brandon Dusseau - 18/01/18

Schritt 28

Finally, support the display with one hand while unscrewing the last Phillips screw from the right hinge (push the display gently down to avoid putting pressure on the screw).
Remove the display assembly.
When re-installing the display assembly, make sure that the clutch cover goes over the white plastic tabs protruding from the rear underside of the laptop.

Schritt 29

Remove the two small Phillips screws from the RJ-11 board.

Schritt 30

Push out the lower case rim and pull the RJ-11 board out of the computer.

Schritt 31

Deroute the speaker cable from the metal framework and disconnect it from the logic board.

I don’t believe you need to deroute the speaker cable; just disconnect it from the logic board and leave it taped on where it is.

John Hagan - 11/10/17

I second this.

Maxime Abbey -

Schritt 32

There are six screws to remove (if you have an iBook without Firewire the screw circled in orange will not be present):
Two short, flat-headed Phillips screws near the battery compartment.
One short, round-headed Phillips near the speaker cable connector. (This is present on some models, but not others - especially the older ones)
One short, flat-headed Phillips between the ethernet and USB ports.
One short, flat-headed Phillips to the left of the hole-y (polite laughter) area.
One long, round-headed Phillips screw near the power receptacle.