iMac G3 Model M4984

The iMac G3 came in tangerine, blueberry, lime, grape, and strawberry colors.

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Installing iMac G3 Model M4984 Hard Drive

User-Contributed Guide

An awesome member of our community made this guide. It is not managed by iFixit staff.

Author: Chris Green
Time required: 10 - 20 Minutes
Difficulty: Moderate

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The iMac G3 Uses a 3.5" IDE Hard Drive. It supports data partitions no larger then 128GB and boot partitions no larger then 8GB (The 8GB limit only applies to iMac G3 tray loaders).

Sections

Logic Board 8 steps
Optical Drive 4 steps
Hard Drive 5 steps

Tools

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Edit Step 1 — Logic Board ¶

The iMac G3. This was a great computer for the time, and had plenty of features.

Edit Step 2 ¶

Start by flipping the iMac upside-down. It may help to lay it on a towel, so you don't damage the screen, or scratch the face.

Edit Step 3 ¶

Remove this Phillips screw.
Using a flathead screwdriver, work your way around the bottom cover, until it comes off.
Then, lift the bottom cover up and out, and set it aside.

Edit Step 4 ¶

Now, remove the DB-15 Video connector from the logic board.
It may be helpful to use a Phillips screwdriver to remove the thumbscrews.

Edit Step 5 ¶

Remove the power cable from the logic board assembly.

Edit Step 6 ¶

Remove the front panel connector.

Edit Step 7 ¶

Now, remove these Phillips screws.
Now, grab the logic board assembly by the piece of plastic, and lift it out.

Edit Step 8 ¶

The logic board assembly. This is the heart of the computer, it contains the motherboard, CPU, RAM, V-RAM, PRAM battery, the hard drive, and the optical drive.

Edit Step 9 — Optical Drive ¶

Now to remove the optical drive!

Edit Step 10 ¶

The optical drive is located near the front of the assembly.

Edit Step 11 ¶

To remove the drive, push it in, lift up, and then pull forward.
As you pull the drive forward, disconnect the ribbon cable and set it aside.

Edit Step 12 ¶

Remove the two phillips #00 screws.
Then remove the board. This will reveal that it is a standard PATA drive.
Congrats, the drive is free! You can use any PATA-tray loading drive in the iMac G3 which means you can install a CDRW to burn CDs in OS9 or X(if using OSX,install that DVD writer) but, of course only original drives will match the great look of the iMac).

Edit Step 13 — Hard Drive ¶

Hard Drive Removal:

Edit Step 14 ¶

Start by removing these Phillips screws:
Now, remove all of these cables:

Edit Step 15 ¶

Now, remove the optical drive retention spring.
Push in on both sides, and pull towards you releasing the retention spring.
It may help to do it one side at a time.

Edit Step 16 ¶

Now lift the drive up, and pull it out.
Make sure that no cables are snagged before completed pulling out the drive!

Edit Step 17 ¶

When installing a new drive, make sure that the drive jumper block is set to "Single drive". In most drives, this means removing the jumper, or positioning the jumper horizontally instead of vertically, so you don't lose it.
To remove the drive from the metal caddy, remove these four screws from the side of the drive.