[gthyb]

I've been thinking about upgrading my imac G4 800 with a 120 or 160gb hard drive. i was wondering if anyone here has done this, or is aware of any sort of guides online to help take the machine apart and put it together.

Also, does anyone know if it is possible to extend the desktop onto another monitor with some sort of hack??

thanks for any info,

ryan

[Simon]

I haven't done it, but maybe this manual will be of some help. I've heard the install is kind of tricky because of the thermal paste and tight enclosure... Good luck!

[Xaositect]

Done so several times.

Go with the 120GB, the 160 is too big for the controller to see properly.

You need a phillips #1 tip, A torx 15 (magnetic) and possibly a torx 10 (or 8), depending on which screws were used at the assembly facility your machine came from (yes, some factories used differtent screws for the hard drive mount until Apple caught them). And the thermal paste, and a scraper (small, I use a pocket knife).

In an anti-static environment, unplug and tip the iMac over so you can get to the bottom. Loosen the four screws holding the base plate on.

The following voids your warranty!!

Use the T15 to take out the four long screws around the edge of the panel area. They are very long, it will take a while. Pull the bottom off the iMac. It will take some force, but be prepared to stop as soon as it comes loose as the internal cables are still plugged in and you don't want to break them. Pivot the bottom to the side and unplug the cables. There is one cable that has a plastic cover over where it plugs into the logic board. Remove the cover (pull up on the tab) and the cable slides out sideways. The ground wire to the faraday cage is also a long T15, though with a different shaped head. Scrape the thermal goo off the heat transfer pipe and block (one on the removed bottom, one on the top). If you have a 1GHz iMac, there are two points of contact, so clean all four surfaces.

Ok, look into the top part. Near the CD door, there are two very short T15 screws, and there are two medium length T15 screws on either side of the CD drive (total 6 screws). Use the magnetic T15 to remove these, if they fall into the machine they can damage the power supply. After all six screws are removed, the drive cage can be pulled out. Disconnect the power cables to both drives, then remove the IDE cable (two cables on the 1Ghz). Peel the white cover sticker off the hard drive and cage carefully if you want to put it back on (I try to). Remove the four screws holding the drive to the cage, remove drive. If you can put the sticker back on, center and align it over the drive, then wrap it down onto the cage for best alignment.

Be very careful putting the six T15 screws that hold the drive cage, if one falls into the unit it will roll into the power supply and may require you re-remove the drive cage to extract the screw. This is why you really should use magnetic bits for this part.

When putting the thermal paste on the heat pipe, remember just a dab, not a ton!

When putting the four long (verrrry long!) screws in to hold the base, be careful with the alignment of the cables, they are easy to pinch in the rim or on one of the four posts the screws go through (this can be tricky, take your time and do it right). Put all four screws in loosely (about ten to fifteen turns to get them started)before tightening the screws the rest of the way. Do not gorilla torque these four screws! Tighten normally, then using just your fingers (NOT YOUR WHOLE ARM!!!), finish tighten them.

Put base plate back on, boot off an OS CD, intitialize the drive, and restore.

ALternately, you can take it to a shop. Some shops will install the new drive for free if you purchase it from them (I do many such installs for CompUSA, as my employer is subcontracted to come in and do such for them). This route will also leave your warranty intact. If you choose the CompUSA route (woohoo, more work for me!) and don't want to wait, they do sell a priority service for about $30. Due to the possible damage to the power supply, and the trickyness of not pinching the cables, I do recommend having it done rather than doing it yourself.

There is supposed to be an Open Firmware hack that allows monitor spanning, but I have never seen it work.

Now, every time I mention using magnetic bits in a computer, someone (it varies who, but always someone) comes along and screams about using magnetic bits in a computer. The exchange-bit magnetic screwdriver I use was given to me by Compaq when I finished their certification process, and I have other magnetic screwdrivers from IBM, HP and, yes, even Apple. There are a couple of old (I'm talking 70s and 80s era) computers, and some of the original laser printers, in which you shouldn't use magnetic bits. Also, the magnet should be just able to pick up the screw - do not use one of those "Guaranteed to pick up 200lbs" magnets. I've been working on computers for over twenty years, professionally for almost ten, and I have never lost a bit of data or damaged a computer by using a magnetic bit.

[gthyb]

wow, thanks for all the info. I do have an apple care waranty, so I don't want to mess with that.

So CompUSA does upgrades on iMacs? i'll bet that's a hassle...well moreso than upgrading joe shmoe's computer because he can't tell the difference between an IDE cable and...something that looks like an IDE cable. anyway, i think I may look into the CompUSA route.

I remember installing RAM on my Rev B. imac (damn i loved that computer). I had to take the whole thing apart for that. This imac looks to be even more complicated.

thanks again,

Ryan

[Dex13]

Also you should check out Macworlds current July Issue, the "Bonus" CD comes w/ a instruction video on how to replace the Hard Drive in a G4 imac

[gthyb]

perfect!! awesome. thanks for the info.

[misc]

Careful with using magnets near computer hard drives (and other discs for that matter)!