CD stuck in iBook G4 Superdrive

[AphoticD]

Yanno I didn’t mention this earlier but I hotglued a small magnet to the underside of each ice cube hole to ensure the screws stay put. I know it seems kinda overkill but even with the tray, I’ve (well my nosey cat at the time too) managed on multiple occasions to knock or turn over the tray and in the process lose/misplace a screw. Pill boxes work well but then you’re limited to 7 steps per pill box.

Anyhow, magnetizing the tray has eliminated this risk for me as everything stays in the tray if it’s accidentally knocked.

Nice work @RhianB , a magnetic mat also works well.

In a pinch I have used strips of single sided tape on a sheet of paper, sticky side up and taped down with short strips crossing over the ends and in the middle. Place the screws head first on the tape and they stay put.

I came up with a sequence technique that works for me, where I remove screws in a clockwise order, typically starting top left corner if possible and then keep them in that order to be reassembled in reverse.

 

[weckart]

For smallish jobs, I use a magnetic dish, for more complex ones, a compartmentalised craft box. Both were cheap investments and have saved me a lot of grief. I don’t need a blundering cat; I am clumsy enough to knock over anything almost on cue.

 

[1042686]

For smallish jobs, I use a magnetic dish, for more complex ones, a compartmentalised craft box. Both were cheap investments and have saved me a lot of grief. I don’t need a blundering cat; I am clumsy enough to knock over anything almost on cue.

Speaking of cats, at the time I had three lol ... and Ds tape method. I actually tried that & it works great until my nosey ding dong cat gets the tape stuck to them & proceeds to run around in a panic.

Seriously. It was like a lol scene out of a movie. How bout this.

PRO TIP: don’t work on laptops around cats. Feed them & Lock the door.

I had to learn this the hard way

 

[weckart]

It's very unlikely now but there was at least one SATA SSD, whose circuit board only occupied the first third/half of the casing that covered it. With a suitable adapter, it would fit into most PowerBooks/iBooks. Almost all, however, are too long hence mSATA. You could try opening up the casing of the SSDs you have (you will lose your warranty) and looking inside. You might just strike lucky.

Here's a current contender, if you have one spare: The ubiquitous Kingston A400 series SATA drive.