[Red Wolf]

Just posting yet another iBook mod sucess story. I took my iBook 500 which had an AirPort Card added and the RAM maxed out to 640MB. Well that little 10GB hard drive wasn't cutting it in the size department so I bought a Toshiba 40GB hard drive and put it in last last night. Now it is a fully realized iBook, muhahaha!

I was expecting the whole thing to take a few hours but with the help of a friend we got it done in 1:10. It took a lot more time to reinstall systems, apps, and backed up data (still need to install all my games tonight). I found Carl's site helpful (thanks for the HD suggestion) but the biggest help was Apple's own iBook repair manual. I numbered the 36 screws involved on paper and used ice cube trays to keep track of the screws. The most stressful parts were prying off the bottom case (too much potential for damage) and the point where we were putting everything back together and I couldn't find the top plastic case =P

Overall it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. However part of that was due to the fact that we had all the right tools. Philips #0, #1, and a Torx T8, a paperclip (very important at one point), and one of those little grasping claw things. I would not mind doing it again but I would rather not do it often.

I'll be getting a 2.5" FireWire hard drive case tomorrow to put my now wiped and exposed 10GB IBM drive. 50GB in portable hard drive space and an extra 80GB FireWire sitting on my desk at home. That means I shouldn't be fussing for a 60GB or 80GB internal drive for the iBooks for, oh, a few weeks. Cool.

[Carl Norum]

Good to hear about more successes! Tell all your friends, everybody.

[Fausto]

Hello!...only a question...where can I find the Apple iBook repair manual?. Thanks in advance

<a href="mailto:logan200166@yahoo.com.mx" target="_blank">logan200166@yahoo.com.mx</a>

[Red Wolf]

You can find service manuals for all of Apple's current line of computers at:

<a href="http://www.mcvsd.org/applecare/" target="_blank">http://www.mcvsd.org/applecare/</a>

Enjoy.

[thechronic]

What is carls website? I am new to this forum, also what model harddrive, or price. I am really interested in this. Thanks

[Red Wolf]

Carl's web site is <a href="http://homepage.mac.com/carl_norum/" target="_blank">http://homepage.mac.com/carl_norum/</a>

As for drive type and size you want to go for a 2.5" IDE drive that is 9.5mm in height. There are 12mm height drives out there that only fit PowerBooks, not iBooks. The sizes available (for upgrade purposes that is) are 20GB, 30GB, and 40GB. Anything larger I guarantee is a 12mm height drive. I recommend the 40GB since you don't want to run out of HD room twice =) IBM and Toshiba are the two brands to look at and most people seem to recommend Toshiba over IBM.

I personally installed a 40GB Toshiba MK4018GAP. Go to Price Watch at <a href="http://www.pricewatch.com/" target="_blank">http://www.pricewatch.com/</a> and do a search for notebook drives for the best pricing online. Unless you have someone to donate your old drive to let me also suggest you look into spending an extra $50 and get yourself a handy external portable FireWire drive. I got a USB/FireWire case that fits notebook drives from Price Watch (Computer Geeks was the actual store) in which I put my old 10GB iBook drive in. Best part is the generic cases, using either the USB or FireWire connection, work without drivers on most Macs =)

[thechronic]

Thanks alot man, as for using my old HD, what am I searching for, I am havinf trouble finding such a device. Thanks for the info though.

<small>[ 07-01-2002, 12:17 AM: Message edited by: thechronic ]</small>

[Red Wolf]

Check out <a href="http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=064-040036" target="_blank">http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=064-040036</a> for the HD case I got (it has cool LED lights on it, too).

Remember, the search field is your friend.

[thechronic]

Thank you very much