iBook G4 HDD Replacement hell

IceDigger

IceDigger

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Feb 22, 2001
Messages
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So I had someone come in the shop with a bad hdd in a ibook g4. Replacing hdd on pc laptops is very easy and thinking this would be similar I said yes.

A couple days later and I Finally get the damn thing apart where the hdd is located!

It's easier to take out the motherboard then the hdd, wtf is apple thinking?!

I hope when I put it back together it works..... So frustrated....

ibook.JPG
 
LOL!





wow. so simple its complicated?
im just glad my macbook was much easier to switch the hard drive than that mess you ended up with.
 
i upgraded mine to 100gig with that guide. Time consuming but glad I had it for reference.
 
I have that model and sweet baby jesus did they make it hard to service the HD. Definitely deserve some punishment for that.

I have worked on only one laptop that was worse. It was "EPS" branded, some piece of shit 17" multimedia Windows laptop. I didn't have to remove 30 screws but the case was full of interlocks between plastic parts, as if they were afraid of screws. Every single move resulted in a loud SNAP. Made me twitchy by the end, thinking I was always breaking something off. :D
 
Real notebooks:
2 screws for the caddy
remove caddy
2 screws for the hdd
remove the hdd
Place new hdd in caddy
2 screws
replace caddy
2 screws

all of 3 minutes.

Appearance over form and function at ALL costs!
WOO!
 
The older PowerBooks were really easy. Just pop up the keyboard, grab the little handle on the HD and out it came. I was really disappointed to see that the same pop up keyboard on my iBook only led to the RAM slots, and nothing more.
 
Well it was successful, took a while though.

Never again.... unless they pay me more.
 
IceDigger said:
Well it was successful, took a while though.

Never again.... unless they pay me more.
Click to expand...

When I worked in retail I was one of 2 notebooks techs in the store and both of us happened to be the only apple techs as well. I did a few ibook g3/g4's a month. Man I hated those fucking things. I want to say the g3 had 47 screws you had to remove to get the hd out. Pain in the ass. Only notebook I hated more was the toshiba 15 inch widescreen p4's. I would do at one point 5 to 10 a week fixing the top covers. Got to the point with them one would come in out of warranty and I would tell the person to walk around the store for 30 minutes. I could get the thing apart, fixed with tape(toshiba said replace the top but you could fix it with tape), and back together in less then 15 minutes. Then you just test the fans(another a75 issue) and be done. Maybe reflow the dc jack if needbe(yet another series issue).

With the ibooks though I could do a hd swap in like 30 minutes or so. Faster is that is all I was working on. The powerbook 12 inch g4 was almost as bad as the ibook as well. They also had an issue with the solder points on some of the surface mount stuff. Had to be very careful taking the top cover off to get to the hd as you could pull a connector off the mb very easy. People around me generaly learned to leave me alone when they saw me with an apple notebook comming apart.
 
mwarps said:
Real notebooks:
2 screws for the caddy
remove caddy
2 screws for the hdd
remove the hdd
Place new hdd in caddy
2 screws
replace caddy
2 screws

all of 3 minutes.

Appearance over form and function at ALL costs!
WOO!
Click to expand...


QFT...... the hard drive replacement on these things is the most ridiculous thing i've ever seen................ more like a complete system rebuild than a hardware swap.............
 
The recent iterations of Apple laptops are absurdly complicated to upgrade the HD. My PowerBook G3 (1999) was damn simple. Remove keyboard. Remove 4 screws and there you were.

I'm planning on getting a MacBook Pro as a desktop replacement fairly soon. And I'm willing to pay the extra buck for the largest capacity HD to avoid the whole mess.
 
mwarps said:
Real notebooks:
2 screws for the caddy
remove caddy
2 screws for the hdd
remove the hdd
Place new hdd in caddy
2 screws
replace caddy
2 screws

all of 3 minutes.

Appearance over form and function at ALL costs!
WOO!
Click to expand...
hmmm... i only had to remove 3 screws in my macbook to replace the hard drive. looks like i got FORM and FUNCTION.
 
autumnmist said:
Only until that HD dies... Good luck though.
Click to expand...


The macbook pro HD replacement does not look difficult, just tedious.
I'm sure anyone who's methodical and not in a hurry would have no problems with this.

In other words, should be easy if youre even slightly [H]ard. :)
 
I didn't read the whoel post, but i do know that macbook pro's are easier to take out the hard drive (mine took like 15 minutes mostly becuase there were so many screws and i decided to do it on my lap for some reason isntead of a table)

So,, if it's a macbook or macbook pro maybe you could say yes to keep some business but powerbooks it seems are more complicated.
 
My fucking God. I have to work on laptops at work, I hate it. Having to take apart a laptop every time a hdd drive failed? That would put me on the brink...
 
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