SSD in Clamshell Ibook

[Garyed055]

Hey guys

I scored a Tangerine Clamshell off Ebay and the HD is a tiny noisy 3gig. is it possible to put an SSD in this old of a laptop?

thanks

Gary

 

[AndyMacAndMic]

Hey guys

I scored a Tangerine Clamshell off Ebay and the HD is a tiny noisy 3gig. is it possible to put an SSD in this old of a laptop?

thanks

Gary

I found this. The youtuber says it is not easy but possible:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

 

[CooperBox]

I didn't use a CF card, I went the IDE mSata route with my Clamshell. Still functions perfectly.
The somewhat difficult issue is opening the Clamshell and disassembling down to the removal of the HD. If you've never disassembled a Mac laptop, I wouldn't particularly advise starting with a Clamshell, unless you are good with your hands and enjoy a challenge. If you ticked the last two comments, HERE you go.
In the 2nd video it's the removal of the top cover at 5:38 which is tricky, and in particular detaching the front section at 6:02 which I've always found rather nerve racking. You have to use 'moderate force' and when it finally detaches with a cracking sound you'll be convinced you've broken something.
If you go with this SSD install, let us know how you get on.

 

[AphoticD]

Hey guys

I scored a Tangerine Clamshell off Ebay and the HD is a tiny noisy 3gig. is it possible to put an SSD in this old of a laptop?

thanks

Gary

@Garyed055, have a read through this thread;
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/blueberry-ibook-clamshell-1st-gen.2087119/

Among other things, I put an mSATA SSD into the original Blueberry clamshell, rebuilt the battery and overclocked the CPU with help from the @CooperBox, @LightBulbFun and others in the community here.

 

[B S Magnet]

Hey guys

I scored a Tangerine Clamshell off Ebay and the HD is a tiny noisy 3gig. is it possible to put an SSD in this old of a laptop?

thanks

Gary

It's very doable. My avatar is of a clamshell key lime 466 with a 128gb msata attached via an msata-to-ide adapter, and it boots 10.4.11 in 38 or so seconds.

The hard part, as you likely know already, is the patience and time to disassemble the whole thing to get to the drive bay, but if you're aiming for a performance improvement, it's well worth your effort.

Adding after-the-fact: the adapter you want, which is a little more than others but has consistently good quality control and a solid chip, is the Ableconn adapter (notable for its red PCB).

 

[z970]

Adding after-the-fact: the adapter you want, which is a little more than others but has consistently good quality control and a solid chip, is the Ableconn adapter (notable for its red PCB).

I don't want to spend that much for a simple adapter enclosure for such old machines, so I just chose this generic one.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/mSATA-to-2...-Drive/301976528432?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

I bought two of them on separate occasions, and both have and continue to work well in an iBook G4 and a PowerBook G4. Cannot complain.

 

[B S Magnet]

I don't want to spend that much for a simple adapter enclosure for such old machines, so I just chose this generic one.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/mSATA-to-2-5-PATA-IDE-SSD-Enclosure-Adapter-Case-9-5mm-Solid-State-Drive/301976528432?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

I bought two of them on separate occasions, and both have and continue to work well in an iBook G4 and a PowerBook G4. Cannot complain.

If you've had them work ok, then stick with them.

The Ableconn was my second bridge after the first one, a generic one sold by multiple Chinese vendors, failed from the outset. I cringed to spend more, but I wanted something to work, rather than gamble on getting the same item again and having it also fail.

 

[Garyed055]

Thank you everyone I'll be doing the upgrade soon as I acquire the parts

Gary

 

[bobesch]

Here's the quick&dirty way to replace the drive (without having to remove display etc...)
In fact I've seen a Clamshell, that was offered as a "developer-model" with the EMI-shield permanently removed above the harddrive-bay, so you could simply flip open the keyboard and swap the drive without any hassle ... (Well, that'S the way, Apple should have designed it in first place).

Mind 4':20" (and don't forget the screws in the battery-door, that fix the handrest) ...

 

[Raging Dufus]

...with the EMI-shield permanently removed...

Off topic, but I've often wondered if EMI shields are really necessary anyway. At times I've had a computer open and accidentally neglected to replace the EMI shields, especially those little EMI "fingers" around the ports of some PowerBooks. I never could tell a difference in operation of any kind.

Although, I don't generally use my Macs for audio work, which I could imagine being more sensitive to EM interference.