iBook HD Replacment Not Going Well...

[stevietheb]

So, in an effort to save some $$$, I decided to replace the hard drive in my iBook on my own. The SMART of the original was failing, so I bought a Toshiba MK6026GAXB—a 60GB 5400RPM 16MB cache drive. I used the guide found at pbfixit.

I'm fairly confident inside a computer, and I had step-by-step instructions...so I figured I'd be fine so long as I was patient. Things went really well until the dreaded power cable disconnection. The power button on the iBook, located to the upper right side of the keyboard, has a wireset that runs under the case all the way to the left hand side where it dives down through the metal shield and hooks on to the mother board. Looking back on it, I'm not entirely sure that it's completely necessary to remove this cable (which makes the following very painful)...but Ii was going to follow the instructions to the letter.

As the folks at pbfixit suggested, I was very gingerly attempting to coak this cable free, when—lo and behold!—I pulled the entire durn socket off the motherboard. So, I packed up my dissected iBook and took it to a mom-and-pop computer repair shop down the street. They're going to charge me about $100 to solder the thing back on.

In the end, I'm only going to be saving about $10 over what I was originally quoted to have the whole thing done for me (parts, labor, and all).

Blah...just thought I'd share.

 

[mpw]

When I replaced mine the instructions I had were step-by-step but I got half way only to find the 'helpful' comment to '..now remove the top cover..' totally ignored all the wired connections.
Unlike you I'd never been inside any PC before let alone a laptop so I didn't bother and just carried on with the replacement with the top half of the iBook propped up by a tin of beans keyhole surgeon style.
All went well and the only problem I've had is that the original discs that came with the iBook don't play nice with the new HDD but my Tiger discs and iLife'05 worked fine.

Oh and I'm missing a rubber foot so it rocks a little on a desk but that's no big problem.

 

[tekmoe]

you tried...and you failed.

happens all the time.

 

[GreenDice]

I was thinking about doing this myself but will reconsider.

 

[katie ta achoo]

oy, I just opened up the iBook...

I tore off the speaker cords, asked my father to help me get the connector out, so maybe, JUST MAYBE, I can get it back in.

THEN, he ripped the whole thing off the board.

It's headphones from now on.. but it's ok. My brother listens to crap music anyway.

 

[calyxman]

S--- happens. That's how my trackpad failed, though it wasn't from me, but from the schmuck that did the warranty service on my machine. They yanked the ribbon cable without loosening the socket and practically ripped it from the entire logic board. I had to disassemble the iBook all the way down to a standalone logic board just to be able to solder it back on. It works now, thankfully.

Mistakes happen, but you learn and move on. I'm sure once you get your machine fixed you'll enjoy it even more than before.

you tried...and you failed.

happens all the time.

I disagree. It doesn't happen ALL of the time. Unless that's just your luck.

 

[mad jew]

It cost you only $10 to get down and dirty with a naked iBook. That's definitely a positive.

Yeah, iBooks are obviously quite a bit more difficult to service compared with regular desktops, but that's just the nature of laptops.

 

[YS2003]

I wonder if Apple is going to make their portable lines more end user servisable in the near future. The current lines of notebooks from Apple are manufactured in such a way it is very difficult to upgrade HD or replace optical drive. I saw PBFixIt website and by looking at the steps listed there, I hesitate attempting any upgrade/replacement by myself.

On the contrary, Ti PB was very easy to replace HD (just pop off the bottom case and I have an clear access to the HD and its cable).

 

[CalfCanuck]

I wonder if Apple is going to make their portable lines more end user servisable in the near future. The current lines of notebooks from Apple are manufactured in such a way it is very difficult to upgrade HD or replace optical drive. I saw PBFixIt website and by looking at the steps listed there, I hesitate attempting any upgrade/replacement by myself.

On the contrary, Ti PB was very easy to replace HD (just pop off the bottom case and I have an clear access to the HD and its cable).

The problem with going smaller is that all designers have to pack more in a tighter space (compare a 2005 car engine to a 1960 one!).

While I've done a lot of non-warranty upgrades to multiple computers myself, I doubt they will get any easier in the future. The one advantage of sending it off to approved dealers is their learning curve - they've disassembled/reassembled every PB/iBook model thousands of times, so it's relatively fast and simple for them (barring the odd breakage as well, I'm sure).

 

[caveman_uk]

I successfully managed to replace the hard drive in my old G3 ibook. I was very careful and read through the instruction several times to make sure I knew what the gotcha's were. I took my time and it went fine.

 

[calyxman]

I wonder if Apple is going to make their portable lines more end user servisable in the near future. The current lines of notebooks from Apple are manufactured in such a way it is very difficult to upgrade HD or replace optical drive. I saw PBFixIt website and by looking at the steps listed there, I hesitate attempting any upgrade/replacement by myself.

I really doubt it. The tighter the design, the tougher it is to work on. My HP ZV6000 is in 800lb gorilla compared to my little G3 iBook. Replacing the hard drive on that thing is a matter of unscrewing a panel from the bottom of the notebook. That's it!

Indeed look at the process involved in installing additional memory on the G3 iBook (I think the G4's are similar as well). You have to pop out the keyboard, remove the airport card (if you have one, I don't), and then unscrew the metal panel and remove the clip to access the memory module. With HP, again, it's a matter of unscrewing a panel from the bottom of the notebook.

 

[YS2003]

Indeed look at the process involved in installing additional memory on the G3 iBook (I think the G4's are similar as well). You have to pop out the keyboard, remove the airport card (if you have one, I don't), and then unscrew the metal panel and remove the clip to access the memory module.

I think even the thin and light notebook can be made user accessible. Like a thin notebook such as Dell X200, which is easy to replace HD and other parts. So, the manufacturers should not give up the user upgradability issues simply because the notebook is getting thinner.

As far as adding RAM for a G4 iBook, you don't have to take out the airport card. You just pull the keyboard out and unscrew a few screws from the RAM shield and you can just pop in the new RAM in the RAM slots.

 

[Crikey]

( . . . )

As far as adding RAM for a G4 iBook, you don't have to take out the airport card. You just pull the keyboard out and unscrew a few screws from the RAM shield and you can just pop in the new RAM in the RAM slots.

Hmm. On mine, I had to remove the AirPort Extreme card, because it was mounted pretty much on top of the RAM shield. The RAM upgrade process wasn't bad, but I agree with other posters that it could be easier if user upgrades were a factor in Apple's design process. I'll eventually want to upgrade the hard disk, and that looks like much more hassle than it should be.


Crikey

 

[Gokhan]

yeah

man am i glad i got a ti powerbook !!

But for whats its worth i replaced the dc board on my alu powerbook and it was very very hard but i took my time drew diagrams of where the screws i took out would go and i repalced the dc board but the machine still was not fixed it would boot from a charged battery but not charge it hmmm

sold it on ebay thinking i screwed the logic board only to be informed by the buyer that after unplugging the battery cable going to the logic board the machine boots fine so i guess that was the culprit !!!!

but you have to have a very steady hand and be very very gentle i did bend one cable but i bent it back in to the correct shape and inserted into its port very scary though !!!!!

if u can pay a proffesional for anything apart from ram upgrades

 

[California]

Well I bought some of those black plastic spounger sticks to help me out when I feel courageous enough to tackle a non warranty iBook myself.

Until then, I plan my ibook upgrades like a strategic military advance:

if I'm going to pay an Apple tech to upgrade, then I want new better faster warrantied hard drive,

new better faster superdrive (if it didn't have it) etec.


I added bluetooth, new b faster hd, superdrive 1gig of ram plus new plastics to a 1ghz ibook I have. It was out of warranty, so in fact, adding the new hd and superdrive at least put part of the machine back under warranty. It's a new machine. Very very happy with it. But next time, I wish I could do the upgrade myself. I suppose if I cloned myself, I'd have the time to have a career as an Apple Tech.

 

[stevietheb]

Well, I got the iBook back this morning. I brought it home, reassembled it (I only took part of the iBook to the repair folks. I was able to effortlessly copy all of my stuff back from my firewire drive—so my new hard drive is whirring away—no problems.

Part of Apple's design that really irks me is this discouraging of user upgrades. My brother's new (well, now a year old) 12" Dell laptop is ridiculously easy to upgrade RAM and HD. Those are the only two upgrades that I'm really interested in—the RAM isn't too bad to do...keyboard, airport, and RAM shield half to come out—but it's still too much. This hard drive upgrade is ridiculous.

All that being said, I'm pleased with how easy it is to work with the iMac G5s—my next HD upgrade will be there.

 

[Mechcozmo]

Unlike you I'd never been inside any PC before let alone a laptop so I didn't bother and just carried on with the replacement with the top half of the iBook propped up by a tin of beans keyhole surgeon style.
Oh and I'm missing a rubber foot so it rocks a little on a desk but that's no big problem.

iBooks are tricky to work inside of. RAM and Airport is easy, but anything else and you start to get into the danger zone.

If I tell you that you can get your rubber feet replaced for free at an Apple Store, no charge, no questions asked, will you stop using Comic Sans? Please?

 

[California]

Well, I got the iBook back this morning. I was able to effortlessly copy all of my stuff back from my firewire drive—so my new hard drive is whirring away—no problems.

How is the toshiba working? Let us know about noise, speed etc...

 

[mpw]

iBooks are tricky to work inside of. RAM and Airport is easy, but anything else and you start to get into the danger zone.

If I tell you that you can get your rubber feet replaced for free at an Apple Store, no charge, no questions asked, will you stop using Comic Sans? Please?

Ooo, now had you said you knew where to get free rubber feet and you'd tell me if I stopped using Comic Sans you might've been on to something but you made a school boy error. Re-read yaw post and see if you can spot it. I'll check this thread again when I'm back from the AppleStore.

EDIT: Thanks Mad Jew, wouldn't want to look stopid.

 

[Megatron]

Even when you have a slight mess up like this - I still think it's better than just paying someone to do it because then you learn a little about how to work on it yourself, how it functions, etc. And that is priceless.

 

[mad jew]

...but you made a school boy error. Re-read you post and see if you can spot it.

I can't find a school boy error anywhere.

 

[calyxman]

Edit: Nevermind

 

[Mechcozmo]

Ooo, now had you said you knew where to get free rubber feet and you'd tell me if I stopped using Comic Sans you might've been on to something but you made a school boy error. Re-read yaw post and see if you can spot it. I'll check this thread again when I'm back from the AppleStore.

EDIT: Thanks Mad Jew, wouldn't want to look stopid.

Are referring to the fact that I used the present tense of the world "told" (tell) instead of saying, "If I told you where you could get your rubber feet replaced for free at an Apple Store, no charge, no questions asked, will you stop using Comic Sans?"

I'm confused. And I believe school-boy deserves a hyphen. And no comment on "yaw" since I'm not that mean.

 

[katie ta achoo]

Yeah... just ask them nicely.

I can't tell you how many little feet I've gotten replaced.

and if you can't get 'em, I'll get ya some and ship 'em over. Just paypal me back.

just pleeasseee stop using comic sans.

 

[Lacero]

It took me nearly two hours to replace my PowerBook HD. At the end of the ordeal, I walked away with a faster PowerBook and a sore back from being hunched over in some ungodly position.

Without pbfixit.com, I would have been screwed (figuratively speaking). There were several roadblocks along the way to my self repair adventure, but I treaded really slowly, a bit of sweat and frustration but I managed through it well, and I can safely say I never want to upgrade my laptop HD ever again. Hope this helps.

Here's to the Crazy Ones ​