Changing the hard disk drive of your PowerBook
Here is a guide to change the internal hard disk drive of your PowerBook G4 (1,67GHz, model 5,8). I am changing the original Seagate 80GB for a Hitachi HDD ordered at my local Apple retailer (160GB, 5400rpm).
First you have to be ready to lose Apple’s warranty and to get a few scratches on your laptop, especially at the junction between the keyboard and the frame. If you go slowly you can reduce the scratches but they are unlikely to be completely avioded. Those scratches appear when you use a screw-driver as a lever to separate the frame from the keyboard
For backup purposes, I advise you to buy an external rack for 2,5″ hdd (25e at any store) and to clone the older drive on the newer one, using Carbon Copy Cloner (free). Then you will swap the disks. There should be no problem during the duplication. Only LittleSnitch complained about being modified but it’s ok, just ignore it the first time it appears. I used the following settings for CCC : Make Bootable, Repare permissions, and don’t create an image but do an actual cloning. Before the backup, remember to partition the new disk with the Disk Utility in case you want or need it. In order to install Linux, let some space after your MacOSX (hfs+) partition. The old and the new MacOS partitions do not need to be the same size, as long as you can copy the old one on the new one…
What you need: time, a good pocketlight, a little clip and possibly a plier, smallest screw-drivers you have (incluging a 1,0 torx) and also large screw-drivers to be used as levers.
First of all, remove the battery and the two screws inside the battery bay. Then remove the three screws on each side of the laptop and the four screws on the back. I am not quite sure it is necessary but you can open the memory bay and remove the two long screws fixed there (remember to replace the cover of this compartment before the next step). Then, remove with a torx screw-driver the two screws at the bottom of the screen on the keyboard.
The next step will be to set the keyboard loose from the mother board frame. It’s better to use a large strong screw-driver and to begin on the back and go round the frame. Don’t worry about the plugs on the side, it should go fine. There will probably be noises of the glue seals breaking (or of screws breaking their lodging if you have forgotten some…). With a tiny screw-driver, you can remove the four shoes under the laptop, it seems to be helping. They might seem broken once removed but if you did it carefully, they should be easy to put back afterwards.
Once you have gone round the laptop with your lever, the keyboard should loosen. Don’t open it too much or you will disonnect the keyboard connector. The hdd is located right under the trackpad. Remove the rubber block located in the front side of the hdd(cf. picture). Remove the two screws located on the right side and remove the metal bridge-thingy. Unplug the cable from the motherboard and then lift the hdd from the right and make it slide to the right.
Now it’s time to swap the two disks. Remove the rubber pieces on the side of the old hdd and place them on the new one, along with the isolating foil. Just follow this guide backwards to reassemble your laptop.
In the case you have a problem during the reassembly, make sure you are not folding the ventilation grid located at the junction between the keyboard and the screen, it is a tough part to negociate. Before closing everything, check that connectors are completely plugged (hdd and keyboard).
You can also have a look at the Installations Guides by MCE here. MCE is also selling kits with HDD and tools as well as 2,5″ external racks.
The pictures of the process in full size are here. They may take a while to load…
