Recycled Computing

The iBook Can't Replace the Hard Drive Blues

- 2009.04.28

Popularity:

After an influx of MacBooks into the Hatchett hacienda around Christmas time, I inherited my daughters G4 iBook with a pixel line of death on its 14" screen. I, of course, am still bonded to my G3 Pismo in spite of its aged graphics card and limited software options. (I still use Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" and had to go searching for an older version of Skype).

Now, in addition to the pixel line of death, the iBook had a tiny 60 GB hard drive. I had dropped a 160 GB drive into the Pismo, but it was the wrong kind of ATA, and only 128 GB is useable.

Being the sort of person who can get in over his head in a microsecond, I thought that I would switch the hard drives and get the 160 GB drive in the G4 and put the 60 GB in my trusted Pismo.

Sounds simple, right?

Nope. Those of you who have tried to replace the hard drive in an iBook G4 know what I am taking about and are already trying to warn me.

The easy part - removing the hard drive on the Pismo. It's a snap. Everyone knows this.

Step 39 of 45 in replacing an iBook's hard drive

The disaster part - removing the hard drive from the G4 iBook is not a snap. The designer of this computer - I'm trying to be polite - must have worked on the clamshell iBook G3. After 42 steps (don't believe it - see iFixIt!) and some moaning and groaning, I swapped the drives.

After I reassembled the G4, I pressed the power button and - no! Meaning no power. I wasn't sure if I had made the connection from the power button and the main board, so I took it apart and saw that the connector had broken away from the main board.

I got them G4 blues

Can't replace my hard drive easily

I got them G4 blues

Apple - your iBook frustrates me

Well, I had to strip the iBook down to get at the main board, and I am now waiting for Mr. Mike to solder the connection. Keep your fingers crossed.

Soapbox time: Apple has done a good job of making the hard drive accessible on the white MacBooks that my sons and daughter have. But - and it's a big but - I have a modest proposal for Apple.

If I was building an ideal laptop, I would make the following things accessible and removable - the hard drive, the RAM, the AirPort Card, the CPU, and the graphics card. Oh, an Express Card slot would be good, to. I don't want much, just a laptop I can use for the rest of my life.

Join us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, use our Google+ page, or read our RSS news feed

Recent Recycled Computing Columns

Changes, 2012.10.16. A new job has John Hatchett considered something of an iPad expert.
In Praise of Optical Viewfinders, 2012.07.30. Although modern digital cameras have digital viewscreens, there's something to be said for the traditional viewfinder.
The Lion Sleeps (on My MacBook) Tonight, 2012.07.05. Starting with a full backup, a Time Machine Backup, and an OS X 10.7 thumb drive, John Hatchett moved to Lion.
More in the Recycled Computing index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: Mac LC II, introduced 1992.03.23. The LC gets 4 MB base RAM, gains virtual memory thanks to 68030 CPU.
May 19 in LEM history: 99: Student Bill of Rights - 01: First Apple Stores - 03: Upgraded beige G3 problems - 04: The Mac legacy - More for Mac users in superstores than many realize - 06: Smart design make the MacBook a winner - 08: Top 10 freeware - My first iMac
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

About LEM Support Usage Privacy Contact

Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Opinions expressed are those of their authors and may not reflect the opinion of Cobweb Publishing. Advice is presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all.
Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2013 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc. unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Low End Mac, LowEndMac, and lowendmac.com are trademarks of Cobweb Publishing Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iPad, iPhone, iMac, iPod, MacBook, Mac Pro, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.
Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Email may be published at our discretion unless marked "not for publication"; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it, and we don't share the information we have with others. For more details, see our Terms of Use.