B-tooth

[daman1212]

Hello my fellow Apple users,

When I first bought my 1.2GHz iBook G4 with already-installed airport extreme, i thought that this would be enough for my liking. However, about two months down the road, I discovered the world of bluetooth. Now I am kicking myself for not getting it installed, and I am tired of the stupid black thing sticking out my laptop. I know many people say that I cannot get it once I had already gotten my laptop sent, but will somebody please tell me why I cannot get internal bluetooth on my machine.

Thanks Anyway

 

[aussie_geek]

You might be in luck

I believe there is a way of doing it but you will have to take it apart and do some mods. Maybe you should take it to an AppleCentre so they can check it out. There is a service manual for the iBook I am downloading at the moment to see how hard it is.

Oh well, hopefully you have realised to make sure you buy a Mac (especially notebooks) jammed packed with all the features that are available. There is always something in the future that you will want and be cursing yourself for not getting it installed

aussie_geek

edit - yes you can get bluetooth installed. It involves pretty much taking the computer completely apart - definately a job for an Apple Tech. Here is a link to the iBook manual.

good luck

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Well, since installing involves soldering the internal Bluetooth module directly on the motherboard of your PowerBook, I think you're better off with an external adapter (also called dongle). I have one from Keyspan, but D-Link is Apples perferred dongle.

I don't think even an "Apple Authorized Service Provider" will install an internal module on your Powerbook, but you can always ask them...

Let me know as I did the same mistake when ordering my iBook a year ago...

Just notice that the D-Link adapter tends to be updated by Apples Bluetooth firmware updates, which renders them useless on other systems (Windoze/Linux), so if you want an adapter you can use with several machines consider Keyspan, Billington, 3Com or some other that doesn't get updated by Apple...

Edit: I saw in the manual aussie_geek provided that no soldering actually was needed (which is the opposite from what I was told from Apple Support a year ago, when I wanted to get an internal module). But, I still think you'll have trouble gettin someone to do the job without paying a LOT of money. And, for most people, it's not recommended to fix this by yourself, even with the exellent sevice manual, at least until your warranty has expired...

 

[daman1212]

B-tooth

Thanks for the help.

I definitely am going to see an apple technician.

 

[diamond geezer]

The BlueTooth module is not a soldered part (where did that come from Mitthrawnuruodo) and is easy to install (once you have the top shield off).

The part is available for Apple Techs to buy, so they should be able to install it for you for a labour charge.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

The BlueTooth module is not a soldered part (where did that come from Mitthrawnuruodo) and is easy to install (once you have the top shield off).

Check out my edit...

By the way, it's Bluetooth, one word, no internal Capitalization...