Need to replace HD on old PPC white Macbook.

[OrlandoTragic]

This is my roommates, she got it in 2007 as far as she remembers.

The HD is shot, can't verify, even after a repair.. its shot.

Will any 2.5" SATA drive work?? Thanks!

 

[spinnerlys]

Any 2.5" SATA HDD with a maximum height of 9.5mm will work.
www.macsales.com or www.newegg.com are reputable online vendors.

Btw, PPC is short for PowerPC and is the architecture used in Macs with IBM G3, G4 and G5 CPUs till 2005/6, the MacBook uses the x86 architecture and uses Intel CPUs.

 

[MrCheeto]

PPC? The MacBooks were the first Intel Macs, meaning they replaced the iBooks, which were PPC.

What made you think MacBooks are PowerPC?

Yes, any 2.5" SATA drive should work without a single catch.

 

[plinden]

There's no such thing as a PPC MacBook. It's either an Intel MacBook or a PPC iBook. Does it say MacBook under the screen?

If she bought it new in 2007, it's a MacBook and any HDD will work.

Do not attempt to replace the drive if you have not taken apart laptops for such things before. You will lose screws or place them in the wrong holes. As well you will need to know how to apply thermal paste, and practicing on this laptop is not a great idea.

There's no thermal paste to apply on a pre-unibody MacBook hard drive. It's a simple matter of unscrewing two brackets, replacing the drive cables (edit: and four drive pegs), slotting the drive in, and screwing the brackets back on. - http://www.macinstruct.com/node/130

 

[OrlandoTragic]

It's definitely a Macbook, my fault. I tried to install Snow Leopard and it said it couldn't install, at first I chalked it up to being a PPC processor but I guess its just a bad HD.

At least I learned something today!

Thanks for the help all

 

[MrCheeto]

There's no thermal paste to apply on a pre-unibody MacBook hard drive. It's a simple matter of unscrewing two brackets, replacing the drive cables (edit: and four drive pegs), slotting the drive in, and screwing the brackets back on. - http://www.macinstruct.com/node/130

Ah yes. I just put together a unibody MacBook and a MacBook Air and had to meticulously reapply the paste and didn't consider that the heat sink doesn't need to be removed at all to replace just the hard drive. Hahaha, I was thinking back to all the times I've had to replace the screens and motherboards and so on. XD

Exactly what does it say when it tells you it can't be installed? Is a certain naughty boy using the GRAY discs?

 

[scottacus]

PPC? The MacBooks were the first Intel Macs, meaning they replaced the iBooks, which were PPC.

What made you think MacBooks are PowerPC?

Yes, any 2.5" SATA drive should work without a single catch.

Do not attempt to replace the drive if you have not taken apart laptops for such things before. You will lose screws or place them in the wrong holes. As well you will need to know how to apply thermal paste, and practicing on this laptop is not a great idea.

If you live in the US, I'd be happy to do the swap for free, just pay to ship it. Send me a message if you like. I repair a Mac or two every day, and I take a MacBook down from memory.

I disagree completely.

HDD replacement on a 2007 MacBook is EXTREMELY easy. The case does not need to be opened. And IIRC the only screws are on the drive bracket (the memory bracket in the battery bay has captive screws that are almost impossible to lose. The only non-standard thing you need is a Torx screwdriver (and those are pretty easy to come by).

Even for someone doing a first-time replacement, this should be really easy as long as you have a tray to keep the screws in and you follow basic static electricity precautions.

 

[MrCheeto]

-.-'

What's wrong with me...

First I confuse the MacBook with the unibody models then the iBooks...

I'm sorry, yes, you just remove the panel behind the battery.

At least I would have recalled that right away if I had a MacBook right in front of me.

Damn...