iBook G4 - Hard Drive Replacement

Watch as Jeff performs surgery on his iBook G4, replacing the stock 40 GB hard drive with a new 5400 rpm 60 GB hard drive, using instructions from www.ifixit.com. The whole operation took less than 90 minutes, and only one screw was missing at the end (luckily the screw didn't matter too much).

The computer booted up immediately after Jeff restored the information from the old hard drive to the new using Mac OS X's Disk Utility and an external 2.5" USB 2.0 hard drive enclosure.

The operation required a #0 phillips screwdriver, a Torx T8 screwdriver, and a mini flat screwdriver and putty knife to help pry open the case.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• ibook
• apple
• mac
• g4
• laptop
• repair
• case
• surgery
• hard
• drive
• disassemble
• ifixit

[Skatemore1243]

I have an iBook G4 and it crashed, but I have a DVD stuck the disc drive, and the computer won't start up, how do I open it to get the the disc??

[geerlingguy]

@Skatemore1243 - Yikes! I'd consult with an authorized repair technician, or follow the directions from iFixit for removing the DVD drive, then trying to figure out how to manually eject the disc...

On your laptop, there might still be a pin on one of the ends of the slot you can push with a paperclip to manually eject the DVD. Or not; I don't have a G4 to test.

[heyapie]

What did you get the equipment to do this? Is there some type of kit i can buy?

[geerlingguy]

@heyapie - Just a mini-screwdriver kit from a local RadioShack or hardware store.

[edwardomus]

what do i do now that i replaced the hard drive on my ibook? i only have my macbook install disk.... what do i do?

[geerlingguy]

@edwardomus - You'll need to find an older Mac OS X Install disc, or hope the MacBook disk will work in your iBook (put it in, restart, and hold down the C key to boot from the DVD).

[Xiolablu3]

Absolutely incrediblely bad design. I could replace this in a PC in 3 minutes. Awful Awful things

[dacelooper]

worst. video. ever.

[fixplanes]

wow this didn't help anything

[imsostupidyay]

Hello.So I bought an Ibook G4 on the internet.And it messed up and crashed when I turned it on.So my dad went and got it repaired.Turns out it needed a new hard drive.So bluh bluh new hard drive.Well everything is old,outdated, I cant open iTunes because i need quicktime 7.5.5 by the way when I tried downloading quicktime 7.5.5 it said that it could not be run is DOS modeAnd i was wondering if you had any advice or a link to where i could trade this mac for a windows powered computer plz respond

[rolitas6]

ES UNA MIERDA DE VIDEO

[boyuchuadaniel]

@Skatemore1243 the dvd drive uses a sata connector. so, plug the drive into a pc/mac(as long as you gove it power, that will be fine). then, make sure that you can hear the drive spinning. then, take two credit card and sitck it in. one on the top, one of the bottom and pull it out. or you can use a pair of tweezers if you don;t have two credit cards. or another difficult way is to unscrew the dvd drive until you can see the disc and eject the disc

[mpbsmithaa]

I can't believe Apple designed the ibook this way. I'm glad they've made their newer models more serviceable.

[dudelolwot]

im eating my dinner!

[saxdame]

time lapse tutorials are a waste of time. no one can follow at this speed. if you are going to go to the trouble of doing it why not post the entire video so it would be useful instead of this macho speed crap