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PowerBook Disassembly Guide
kwiens writes "We've been slaving away for months to create the FixIt Guide Series-- a set of Free-As-In-Beer step by step PowerBook disassembly instructions. Maybe waiting another 6-18 months for those PowerBook G5's will be easier if you fix your old PowerBook now (or just use the Guides as a starting point for that killer PowerBook case mod). Guides are up now for the PowerBook G3 Wallstreet, Lombard, Pismo and Titanium PowerBook G4 Mercury, Onyx, DVI."
Will this void my warranty? I paid sooo much for my Powerbook, I'd like to keep the warranty intact.
Stop corporate
I don't think they can shut it down. You aren't trying to reverse engineer their technology. You aren't violating the DMCA. It would be like GM forcing down a website with instructions on how to mod your car. There is no grounds.
Evolution or ID?
without meaning to sound like your father, it's the best thing you can do, especially for a valuable investment like an Apple laptop.
They don't go wrong often, but when you pick the thing up and carry it round with you everywhere, inevitably some of the laptops develop issues. And portables can be expensive to fix.
It's what, a couple of hundred dollars? Trust me, you'll make that back many times over if a hinge goes, or a screen dies, or whatever...
-- james
These guides are great and all but if you hang around Apple specific hardware hacking forums enough, you'll come across the official Apple repair manuals which feature complete dissasembly guides, exploded views, etc.
That said, I love being an Apple tech.. I get these goodies within a week of the product being released.
1600$ laptop + 400$ warranty + 0$ self-mod case == useless warranty.
This guide may be ok if you're past the manufacturers warranty and you didn't get an instore one...
But for me, I got a 3yr [practically useless] warranty from Futureshop. I'll let them [or their sub-contractors] fix problems with my laptop.
Though if I had todo it again I would probably a) not buy a laptop and b) not get an extended warranty. It's been nearly 60 days since I dropped of my laptop to have the hard drive replaced.
nearly 90% of the time Futureshop had my laptop it was sitting in their warehouse awaiting transport...Such a waste.
Tom
Someday, I'll have a real sig.
free as in beer means that it doesnt cost money. free as in speach is about freedom. freedom to copy the source code and modify it. freedom to redistribute it. those are just a few examples of free as in speech.
What I used was the iBook Upgrade website. But be aware that there is a lot of difference between the 12" and 14" versions, so screws are not always on the same location as shown on the pics!
"Honey, I feel a certain distance between us..." "Really? A 31ms ping ain't that bad..."
Here are some more links to free disassembly instructions for laptops and notebooks (also links to service manuals), dissectioning HOWTOs for PDAs and handheld PCs (including information and pictures of JTAG ports), take apart notes for mobile (cell) phones and dismantling guides for mobile MP3 music players. ;-)
-- Keep your mobile running
adzoox: How can you judge what is ethical and what is not?
If you have to ask that, then you obviously have never taken any classes on ethics, or really thought about it. It would really do your business (and your customers) a service. Here is a link to reading up on ethics. Creating a Code of Ethics for Your Organization
My user number is prime. Is yours?
I glanced through the one for the DVI Powerbook G4 before the database ran out of filehandles and died; their photos for access to the underside of the Powerbook show the it with the keyboard/other components removed and the screen closed over the top, which I'm not convinced is a good idea (if something falls through the gap where the keyboard should go and onto the screen, it'll get scratched).
The Apple manual for the same model suggests putting the keyboard/wrist rest area of the laptop flat on a desk (with a towel or similar underneath), with the screen open and extended off the desk into your lap; that strikes me as less likely to get the screen damaged.
The worst you can do in a desktop PC is NOT pop a sub 60 component. I have seen people blow 1000 dollar computers into the grave... infact I remeber a great TechTV Screensavers episode where they where building another version of the ultimate gaming machine and destroyed TWO 500 dollar prossesors in the construction.
"Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."
I've had a customer bring in his iMac G4 for repairs, and when we opened it we immediately noticed that the board screws (which require the calibrated torx driver to screw back in) were overtightened. This had forced the onboard video connector into the fixed video cable connector and consequently damaged it.
So we called Apple, and notified them. they immediately canceled the warranty on the computer's serial number, and we refused to do the repairs.
This doesn't happen very often, but it's happened two or three times in the 5 years I've been working here as an Apple Tech.
If he explores all forms and substances Straight homeward to their symbol-essences; He shall not die.
What you might be looking for is something like SideTrack, which allows you to use the trackpad tap as a ctrl+click, or many other things. It also lets you use the side of the trackpad as a scroll wheel for both horizontal and vertical.
- Sherman
This voids your warranty!
BLING BLING. Meet the architecture that's changing everything.
I recently had a hard drive fail on my Powerbook G4 550 (a 2.5 year old machine), and I found the PDF step-by-step guides on Apple's support pages to be more than adequate for the drive replacement. The guides on PB Fixit's site appear to be less detailed than Apple's guides, but then again, I don't think Apple documents how to remove the logic board. :^)
It was interesting to note how many people attributed my laptop's hard drive failure to the fact that it was a Mac. The Powerbook used an IBM Travelstar (or should that be IBM Travesty?) hard drive, which is also very common in PC laptops (as are Toshiba drives). These people just didn't realize that I was toting it back and forth to school every day, and waking it from sleep a LOT daily. Some days I would tote it on the back of my motorcycle, sitting in my backpack without a case of its own (admittedly not a smart thing to do). One day I accidentally dropped it three feet onto hard ground (thankfully while it was off). I can attest that any machine would die given what I put it through. Thankfully, it was just the hard drive, and it was easy to swap out. Otherwise, it's still chugging along, like a double decker bus packed into a sports car body.
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