Project 10: Replace SuperDrive of a 17-inch Aluminum PowerBook G4

Project Description: To replace a broken SuperDrive of a 17-inch Aluminum PowerBook with a new one.

Cause of Project: A teacher requested me to exchange the broken SuperDrive.

Difficulty: Hard

Length of Project: 2 hours

What I did: I followed the steps in disassembling the PowerBook to get to the SuperDrive from this manual. Although very easy to follow, the manual misses a few key points:

1) There is a magnet next to two of the screws on the inside of the place where the battery is usually placed. This causes the screw(s) to stick onto the magnet, and becomes very annoying when you have to screw it back in. Especially if you have short nails. Plus, who's stupid enough to put a magnet next to a hard drive??

2) It tells you everything you need to know to disassemble the PowerBook and how to take out the old Superdrive, but it doesn't mention one thing on how to install the new one other than "To reassemble simply follow the directions in reverse order."

3) As a result of 2, it doesn't say that you have to reattach the ribbon on the new super drive.

4) As a result of 2, it doesn't say where in the casing to put the trackpad ribbon through when reassembling the PowerBook. So when you try to put the casing back on, it can cause you to squish/sandwich the trackpad ribbon between the casing and logic board. However, it does say how to reattach the trackpad ribbon back to the connector.

Challenges: Replacing the SuperDrive was easy as pie. It was getting to it that was the hard part.

Status: Completed. I inserted a DVD disk into the SuperDrive and it worked perfectly fine.

Other: If you're not good with your hands, don't attempt this.