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Pale Rider · Dec 25, 2001, 04:15 PM

Am I the only guy going nuts with those two tiny seemingly-welded-in Philips head screws that hold the plate below the Airport card?

I have put memory into just about every Apple laptop I have owned, and I have never seen anything so tough as in my wife's new iBook.

Dec 25, 2001, 04:34 PM

I had that problem too, damn plate was warped too. Apple's quality is really slipping these days.

Dec 25, 2001, 04:39 PM

(I am referring to my dad's iBook there-iNub, yours is fine

)

tobster · Dec 25, 2001, 10:17 PM

No problems for me here at all...

you using the right sized screwdriver?

- tobs

seanyepez · Dec 26, 2001, 04:44 AM

I've installed RAM and it's usually a breeze if you have the correct screwdriver.

Pale Rider · Dec 26, 2001, 12:29 PM

Originally posted by seanyepez:
I've installed RAM and it's usually a breeze if you have the correct screwdriver.

I suppose that's a fair comment, given the number of people who cannot program a VCR. ;-) But yes, I do have the right screwdriver. I had to do this once before for a colleague's iceBook, and I bought one, because none of the Phillips heads I have used in my TiBook or other machines was small enough.

The thing is torqued down, and as another user recounted, the plate is slightly warped by that extra torque.

Group51 · Dec 26, 2001, 01:36 PM

Originally posted by Pale Rider:
Am I the only guy going nuts with those two tiny seemingly-welded-in Philips head screws that hold the plate below the Airport card?

I have put memory into just about every Apple laptop I have owned, and I have never seen anything so tough as in my wife's new iBook.

I did it in about 5 minutes. A breeze. You are using the right sized mini-screwdriver for the screws right?

[/LIST]

Agent69 · Dec 26, 2001, 03:50 PM

I didn't have the proper screwdriver, so I had to make a trip to Sears. The upgrade probably took 3 to 5 minutes. I found the directions in the owner's manual helpful.

Agent69

clash · Dec 26, 2001, 07:53 PM

Just got my wife one for Christmas too, installed extra memory without a hitch. The Airport plate was in tight though.

Kestral · Dec 26, 2001, 08:33 PM

I used the dull end of an exacto knife and was very careful with it, RAM installed easily. If only hard drive upgrading was this easy.

Kestral · Dec 26, 2001, 08:41 PM

test

MacAgent · Dec 26, 2001, 08:58 PM

It was easy for me. I did it twice in a week.

EmAn · Dec 26, 2001, 09:18 PM

Did mine in 5 minutes.

iDaver · Dec 26, 2001, 09:32 PM

Mine was easy too, but this isn't the first place I've heard of this problem. Can't help thinking that maybe, just maybe the folks who are having problems are using screw drivers with a damaged tip or the wrong size. A tiny little screw like that can't be all that hard to get out. No offense to those who have the problem. Good luck.

iJed · Dec 29, 2001, 02:56 PM

No problem whatsoever upgrading mine. Like many of the other posts, it took me about 5 mins from taking the keyboard off to putting it back on. An amazingly easy upgrade.

tobster · Dec 29, 2001, 03:02 PM

Originally posted by MacAgent:
It was easy for me. I did it twice in a week.

I'd say it wasn't easy if it was taking 3.5 days for each time

ehm... obviously joking!

- tobs

Jan Van Boghout · Dec 29, 2001, 03:54 PM

I never did anything easier . Quite different from installing RAM in a Performa 6400

V Roller · Dec 30, 2001, 02:42 AM

I never would have guessed that this topic was about turning those screws. I found the hardest part about the upgrade process for the iBook was removing the keyboard. Installing RAM in a Centris 650 and a beige G3 desktop, now those were daunting tasks.

Milo Waye · Dec 30, 2001, 03:24 AM

Originally posted by Pale Rider:
Am I the only guy going nuts with those two tiny seemingly-welded-in Philips head screws that hold the plate below the Airport card?

I have put memory into just about every Apple laptop I have owned, and I have never seen anything so tough as in my wife's new iBook.

Getting them out was the easy part. Picking them up was the hard part. I fumble fingered one & watched it roll down into the 'Book

. Was glad the battery was out.

king_of_electric_boogie · Dec 30, 2001, 11:24 AM

Believe me. It is not a matter of screwdrivers. I work in a computer store and have access to all the right tools. When I wanted to upgrade my iBook i just borrowed the tools and thought that it would be a breeze (I have installed memory in the first 50 notebooks). The first screw went fine but the last one was like glued. I have tried all the tools in the world but I still haven't been able to install it and I am now forced to send it to Apple. Haven't anyone found some kind of trick??

[ 12-30-2001: Message edited by: king_of_electric_boogie ]

Group51 · Jan 1, 2002, 12:00 PM

Originally posted by king_of_electric_boogie:
Believe me. It is not a matter of screwdrivers. I work in a computer store and have access to all the right tools. When I wanted to upgrade my iBook i just borrowed the tools and thought that it would be a breeze (I have installed memory in the first 50 notebooks). The first screw went fine but the last one was like glued. I have tried all the tools in the world but I still haven't been able to install it and I am now forced to send it to Apple. Haven't anyone found some kind of trick??

[ 12-30-2001: Message edited by: king_of_electric_boogie ]

Brute force? That's what they use with the Dell's a work.

Dogma · Jan 1, 2002, 10:02 PM

I hope it's not chewed up now? I've found the new screws to be made of a much softer metal than before, and if they're a bit tight, even with the best screwdriver in the world it can chew the heck out of it.

Try these tricks -

If you live in a warm house - try cooling the iBook down a bit. (Don't stick it straight into the freezer!) A couple of degrees of difference can loosen up that sucker. (My fave is to stick a tshirt in a plastic bag into the freezer - and covering the area with the tshirt. Hence no moisture)

Push the screwdriver really hard into the screw. I mean, uncomfortably, hand bleedingly hard, and twist it slow. Complete brute force stuff (The extra torsion might break the threads, but at least it might come off)

Or go buy a Black and Decker powerdriver with the right guage tip. Cost me �20 for one - has saved me so much headaches it's unbelievable. I don't know how they do it, but that thing is an absolute jem - and they're so cheap. I've had chewed up screws with absolutely no grip left that it just whisked out in a couple of second.

Again, if it's really bad, you might just have to resort to the old 'close your eyes and hope for the best' technique. Dremel the tip of the screw off, just so you can get the cover off. At least you'll get the RAM in, but you will now be left with half a screw in your machine and an ill fastened cover.

Take it to an AppleCentre if it doesn't look to bad and they'll look all seriously and charge you loads for doing it. But they'll probably get it done - they look at more than you and I, so they'll have the tricks.

I did Airport and RAM in 75 iBooks one day. Absolute hell on the wrist as I had no powerdriver, and some of those screws can be nightmare.

murbot · Jan 1, 2002, 11:18 PM

I went out and bought a brand new screwdriver for this as well. I've installed RAM in 4 new iBooks now, and 3 were very easy, and 1 was a nightmare.

I know it's the right screwdriver, it had only been touched twice previously so the head was fine. It was the screws - the edges were just not as clean or something on it. I almost stripped them.

I put my fingers on the plate around the screw, pushed down fairly hard to take pressure of the screws, and it came out a little easier.

[ 01-01-2002: Message edited by: murbot ]