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PowerBook Upgrade and Repair Guides
kwiens writes "We had such a positive response from Slashdot with our Free-As-In-Beer Mac disassembly instructions last time around, we decided to do it again: We've made six more FixIt Guides, perfect for those intrepid road-warriors who refuse to trust anyone else to work on their 'Book. Now there's nothing stopping you from trying that LNO2 overclock on your PowerBook-- or just a hard drive upgrade. The new Guides have professional photos, a new GUI design, and screw guides (no, not this). Guides are now available for all iBook G3, PowerBook G3, and PowerBook G4 models (including the oft-requested 12, 15, and 17 Aluminum 'Books)."
Considering how Apple treats it's customers that did not shell out the several hundred bucks for Apple care those guides are badly needed.
At least in Germany you have to pay at least 350 Euros if you want Apple to repair your 'book that is older then one year. Of course it's very well possible that you have to pay even more if something seriouse is broken, but even if just a part costing 5 Cents and taking two minutes to replace is broken you'll still have to pay 350 bucks.
To sum it up, I really like Apple's hardware, I really like OSX but personally I'll never buy anything from Apple again.
especially this link
I don't know how many times in the last six months I've heard idiots on IRC claim powerbook 12 inch models don't have fans because apple skimped on the design.
It's nice to be able to show proof. All hail intarweb.
Just open the thing up and figure it out for yourself. It's not rocket science, you know. I've done a bunch of upgrades on PowerBooks without a manual or guide, and it was pretty easy, once you've located the proper screws and whatnot. If it's a simple drive replacement or something, just make sure you have a torx screwdriver set and get crackin.
"I like systems, their application excepted", George Sand (French)
Just sandblast the thing and go for a 5uP3r-1337 look (make sure to tape over all the openings and all around the hinge first). Either that, or cover it in stickers... If you're just not 1337 enough, try this.
"I like systems, their application excepted", George Sand (French)
The rev-A powerbooks (400mhz) had a bug on the Firewire implementation that results in less-than-stellar sustained i/o performance .. it got fixed, fast, in the upgrades that came out folling the first tiBook, but us fast-adopters definitely scored a lemon.
... always wait for the point release.
Just goes to show: never buy the first-generation "wow cool" product release
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
Use an ice cube tray (or two) for all of the screws, separating them by size, and draw detailed charts and notes as to where each one came from.
If you don't do this, you won't get it back together. Good luck!
Before buying from TiPaint, you might have a look at Google Groups. There have been a number of a complaints ranging from poor product to non-delivery.
One CPU cycle wasted on digital restrictions management is ONE TOO MANY.
I recently opened up my AlBook (15") to hopefully to upgrade from a combo drive to a super drive. Lemmie tell you - opening up this case is HARD! Undoing all of the right screws is nothing, but removing the top deck with those tabs - It's murder. I scratched the heck out of my computer and even when I took it to my Apple-Certified technicians (Yes, they claim there's a special tool for unclipping those little metal tabs.) they scratched the heck out of my computer and bent the bit of metal above the CD slot.
If anyone knows more details about a magic tool to help "pop the top" on an AlBook - Please, let the world know about it. Otherwise, I strongly recommend you get a thin plastic-coated pry bar for popping those tabs, and DON'T use a lot of force.
"One touch of Darwin makes the whole world kin." George Bernard Shaw
It all depends on who you take it to. If you take it to an apple store or send it to them, Yes your warranty is voided. If you take it to an authorized service center and they do it in shop, as long as theres no physical damage or spillage, they can swap out the part for ya. Its not hard to tell when someone's been playing in there. Theres thermal pads etc. Plus the drives have little apple logos on them.
There's a reason they fixed your motherboard without question. They're legally obligated to (at least in the USA). From the Magnuson-Moss act 16 C.F.R. 700.10 section 102(c):
"No warrantor may condition the continued validity of a warranty on the use of only authorized repair service and/or authorized replacement parts for non-warranty service and maintenance. For example, provisions such as, 'This warranty is void if service is performed by anyone other than an authorized "ABC" dealer and all replacement parts must be genuine "ABC" parts,' and the like, are prohibited where the service or parts are not covered by the warranty. These provisions violate the Act in two ways. First, they violate the section 102 (c) ban against tying arrangements. Second, such provisions are deceptive under section 110 of the Act, because a warrantor cannot, as a matter of law, avoid liability under a written warranty where a defect is unrelated to the use by a consumer of "unauthorized" articles or service. This does not preclude a warrantor from expressly excluding liability for defects or damage caused by such "unauthorized" articles or service; nor does it preclude the warrantor from denying liability where the warrantor can demonstrate that the defect or damage was so caused."
"Nature doesn't care how smart you are. You can still be wrong." - Richard Feynman
In the G3 Pismo guide, only one I checked, they tell you how to pull the heatsink OFF, make no mention of the quiet little popping noise you'll hear when you do (it's the double-sticky thermal transfer tape, a tiny little rectangle on top of the CPU that fails when the heatsink is moved even slightly).
And they say to replace the heatsink. just do the reverse.
Well, NO. Apple made it very easy to break the contact between CPU and heatsink, even accidentally, and once that's impaired overheating is going to become a problem.
Look for posts in MacFixit forums, about G3s, Powerlogix, heatsinks, thermal transfer -- best advice I've seen has been put together by a fellow named Bruce Miller.
Not to mention the PowerBook User's Guide (the one for the average user) provides instructions for opening your PB and replacing the hard drive.
cat
There's pirated copies of the official Apple service manuals floating around on p2p networks, but if you're extremely careful and have a good memory, you shouldn't need them. You'll need a Torx T8 screwdriver, a Phillips #0, and a flathead (not used for screws, but it's very helpful in cracking the case open).
IIRC, you need to start by removing the memory shield under the keyboard and any memory that may be in there, and then removing the keyboard itself. You'll have to take off the bottom case (this is where the flathead is helpful. also, there's a few tiny things you can break around the area of the pulsating sleep lamp, so be careful), what they call the "bottom shield" - a metal shield separating the case from the mobo, the top case, and, iirc, the top shield. Have fun!
my laptop came with a 3 year limited warrenty...
:)
the laptop cost $2k canadian.
i was a little worried about theft and if i dropped it since those weren't covered.
so i got third party insurance from an insurance company that covers EVERYTHING for about $100 one time payment. (lasts about 2 years)
much cheaper than most extended warranties
-judging another only defines yourself
I'd recommend setting the processor performance level to "reduced" in the options tab of the energy saver system preferences menu, which should cut your processor to roughly half its speed. For me, crippling the processor made my 12" PB run at 50C instead of 65C when playing games with no noticeable drop in performance. The real limitations of laptops are generally HDD speed and RAM, so you may find that in most situations you don't even notice the reduction. I watched most of the Two Towers EE on last night and the fan didn't kick in once.
Alternatively, you could get a stand or something. But that kind of defeats the purpose of having a 12" PB.
~Tirinal
You're right. Before buying my Powerbook, I asked one of the salesdroids at the local Apple store if replacing the hard drive on my own would void the warranty. He emphasized the point that I could take it completely apart and it would not void the warranty. However, if I damaged it in the process of doing my own work, the warranty would not cover repairs.
>> "What would the robut do? Frame someone!"
Actually, it's true that it's usually not cost effective to upgrade most components of Macs, but not for the reason you thing. Macs keep a very strong resale value, so it's usually cheaper to sell your old one and buy a new one than to upgrade things like processors and other expensive components. For basic upgrades such as drives and memory, it does make sense, but for more substantial upgrades, it's usually a better value proposition to just trade up for a new model. It's not uncommon to see Macs several years old going for >$1000 used, decreasing the upgrade cost significantly.
"I like systems, their application excepted", George Sand (French)
Besides instructions on how to upgrade and repair Apple notebooks, at TuxMobil there are disassembly guides for laptops and notebooks, dissection pictures of PDAs and handhelds, take apart manuals for mobile (cell phones), as well as images from the inside of mobile media players. Guides on how to maintain other mobile electronic gadgets will follow.