[DarwinX]

Here is the scoop.

PowerBook G4 12"
1.33 GHz, Combo-Drive
AirPort, Bluetooth
768 MB RAM, 256 original, 512 MB Crucial Memory

About 5 months ago I had a hard drive issue after dropping the laptop.
The damage to the PowerBook from the drop consisted of the face of the optical drive being "bumpy" but it continues to function properly. The hard drive obviously did not appreciate the drop as well. I simply reformatted the hard drive and it ignored the bad sectors and returned to full functionality. Recently the hard drive SMART status changed to fail. I formatted once more but the hard drive SMART status remained at fail.

Just this week I ordered a brand new Toshbia 100GB 5400 RPM 16 MB Cache Hard Drive from ifixit.

I received the drive yesterday and began to install the drive today. Upon completion the OS X installer did not see the drive. Upon attempting to open the PB up again, 2 screws have become stripped and life has become really difficult. At this point I'm thinking of just parting it out, that of which I can or selling as is to someone more dedicated than I.

The battery is still good, showing slightly above 3500mah(i believe mah is the term) and only about 500 charge cycles. I have the power cord, the display is great, the keyboard is intact and in good shape other than the caps lock key. The 512 MB RAM chip is from Crucial.

I would gladly ship the unit to someone in tact as is if they felt they could work with it. This would include the new Toshiba hard drive. I'm probably going to get suckered but I'm open to anyone's input on this per parts, or more specifically for the unit as a whole. Thank you if you read this far!

PM me and I'll answer any and all questions!

[chipchen]

I'm interested, but don't need the Toshiba drive.

Try this though:

When you start up from the OS X Install Disc... go to Disk Utility. You may see your drive on the left, click it, then format under the "Erase" option. A lot of people miss this. A brand new drive without formatting isn't seen by OS X until it's formatted. Plus... if you have a drill, you can usually get a stripped screw kit from sears or somewhere for like $20. And you can always ask around the forums for the right screws to replace.

If you'd rather not try, or don't want to deal with it, let me know what you want for the whole thing.

[imitchellg5]

How much you want for the whole thing?

[DarwinX]

Sorry guys, I answered most questions via PM, forgot to check the thread haha. Lots of interest so far.

Here is the scoop, I'm going to have an Apple tech look at it on Monday to figure out the screw situation. I'm hoping to have a great little working unit for whomever. I'll let everyone know Monday. Thanks for all the suggestions!

[DarwinX]

Here is the latest.

I was unable to talk to the Apple tech on Monday as he was out on call. The lady that worked at the place said she hadn't recorded any problems and or resolutions that involved fixing stripped screws. I asked her to have the tech email me if he had any suggestions. He didn't have much sadly.

I tried to use a dremel tool on one of the screws to try get two notches so I could use a flat head screw driver to get it out, no luck, though I only made one notch and couldn't bring myself to do anymore.

This probably sounds crazy but I was hoping to get 500 out of this guy as there is so much that is good about the unit somebody just has to have more patience and skill at resolving the screw issue. I'm probably being unrealistic, I won't go below 400 as there is still a couple offers at that level.

I'm open to any thoughts, suggestions, offers or anything else under the saw, haha. Send me a PM if you have questions. Thanks for listening to this saga, sorry for all the words. Thanks.

[chipchen]

Seriously... go to sears... buy a stripped screw kit. You basically use a drill to drill down the screw, then another bit to pull it out. Also, check out what I wrote about formatting.