Installing PowerBook G4 Aluminum 12" 867 MHz DC-In Board

  • Author: iRobot
  • Difficulty: Difficult
  • Add Note x
  • x 4

Tripped over your power cord? At least you don't have to replace the entire logic board.

Sections
Files
Tools
Relevant parts
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Add Note Edit Step 1 — Battery  ¶ 

  • Use a coin to turn the battery locking screw 90 degrees to the right.

  • Lift the battery out of the computer.

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Add Note Edit Step 2 — EMI Finger  ¶ 

  • Remove the four Phillips screws from the memory door.

  • Slide the memory door away from the memory compartment.

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Add Note Edit Step 3  ¶ 

  • Remove the long black Phillips screw next to the memory card.

  • Remove the small EMI finger beneath the black screw.

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Add Note Edit Step 4 — Airport Extreme Card  ¶ 

  • Flip down the door on the right side of the battery compartment.

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Add Note Edit Step 5  ¶ 

  • Use a spudger to disconnect the Airport antenna from the card.

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Add Note Edit Step 6  ¶ 

  • Grasp the plastic tab and pull the card out all the way.

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Add Note Edit Step 7 — Keyboard  ¶ 

  • On the keyboard, remove the F1, F2, F11, and F12 keys.

  • This is scary - take a deep breath before continuing. Place your index finger under the upper left corner of the key and lift up until you hear a click. Then, transfer your finger to the left edge of the key and lift up to pull the key off.

  • You're freeing the two tabs on the left of the key from the two small holes in the plastic scissors mechanism.

  • When replacing the keys in the keyboard, place the key directly over the slot where it will go and press down until you hear the key click into place.

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Add Note Edit Step 8  ¶ 

  • Use your fingernail or a small flathead screwdriver to peel up the gray stickers covering each of the screws.

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Add Note Edit Step 9  ¶ 

  • Remove the two short Phillips screws.

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Add Note Edit Step 10  ¶ 

  • Lift the keyboard by the 'esc' and 'eject' keys and gently lift up until the keyboard is vertical.

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Add Note Edit Step 11  ¶ 

  • Grasp the keyboard connector ribbon near the connector and disconnect it from the logic board.

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Add Note Edit Step 12 — Upper Case  ¶ 

  • Remove the three small Phillips screws from within the battery compartment.

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Add Note Edit Step 13  ¶ 

  • Turn the computer 90 degrees clockwise and remove the two medium-length Phillips screws from the casing.

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Add Note Edit Step 14  ¶ 

  • Turn the computer 90 degrees clockwise again, and remove only the bottom screw on either side of the hinge.

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Add Note Edit Step 15  ¶ 

  • Turn the computer 90 degrees clockwise just one more time, and remove the two Phillips screws on the exterior wall of the battery compartment.

  • Remember these two screws are longer and have shoulders.

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Add Note Edit Step 16  ¶ 

  • Turn the computer over and open it up.

  • Remove the following 14 screws:

    • Six 2.5 mm Phillips on either side of the keyboard area.

    • Five 4.5 mm Phillips on the left half of the keyboard area.

    • One 7 mm hex in the upper left corner of the upper case (a T6 Torx driver will do the job nicely).

    • One 15 mm Phillips in the upper middle of the keyboard area.

    • One 16.5 mm hex in the upper right of the upper case (again, a T6 Torx driver will work well).

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Add Note Edit Step 17  ¶ 

  • Peel up the two pieces of foil tape on the left side of the keyboard area.

  • The connectors at the ends of the cables are attached very firmly to the sockets on the logic board. Pulling directly on the cable will either separate the cable from its connector or the socket from the logic board.

  • Carefully disconnect the microphone and power cables from the logic board. Using your fingernails or a dental pick, carefully pry the connectors from their sockets. Make sure you're pulling only on the connector and not on the socket.

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Add Note Edit Step 18  ¶ 

  • Use the orange plastic loop to disconnect the trackpad cable.

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Add Note Edit Step 19  ¶ 

  • Starting at one of the upper corners near the screen, work around the frame, separating the upper case from the lower case.

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Add Note Edit Step 20  ¶ 

  • Lift the upper case off the computer.

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Add Note Edit Step 21 — Reed Switch  ¶ 

  • Remove the single Phillips screw from the reed switch board on the right side of the computer.

  • Deroute the cable connecting the reed switch board to the DC-to-DC board.

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Add Note Edit Step 22  ¶ 

  • Disconnect the reed switch cable from the DC-to-DC board.

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Add Note Edit Step 23 — Hard Drive  ¶ 

  • Remove the two Phillips screws from the hard drive bracket.

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Add Note Edit Step 24  ¶ 

  • Use the orange plastic loop to disconnect the hard drive cable from the logic board.

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Add Note Edit Step 25  ¶ 

  • Use the orange cable to pull the hard drive up, then pull it and the hard drive bracket out of the computer.

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Add Note Edit Step 26 — Modem  ¶ 

  • Remove the two Phillips screws from the corners of the modem.

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Add Note Edit Step 27  ¶ 

  • Pry the modem up from the trackpad side.

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Add Note Edit Step 28  ¶ 

  • Disconnect the modem cable from the modem.

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Add Note Edit Step 29 — Heat Sink & Fan  ¶ 

  • Remove the single Phillips screw fastening the inverter cable.

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Add Note Edit Step 30  ¶ 

  • Disconnect the Bluetooth cable and deroute it.

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Add Note Edit Step 31  ¶ 

  • Peeling up yellow tape as necessary, remove the following 8 screws:

    • One 4.5 mm Phillips on the right side of the heat sink.

    • Three 6 mm Phillips near the display.

    • Two large 7.5 mm Phillips with springs (don't forget to remove the springs). If the springs are not releasing, needle nose pliers can help get this done.

    • Two 13 mm screws from the left side of the heat sink and the right side of the fan.

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Add Note Edit Step 32  ¶ 

  • Remove the yellow tape to free the cable from the left side of the heat sink.

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Add Note Edit Step 33  ¶ 

  • Disconnect the fan cable from the logic board.

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Add Note Edit Step 34  ¶ 

  • Remove the orange tape on the trackpad side of the fan to free the fan cable.

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Add Note Edit Step 35  ¶ 

  • Grasp the heat sink near the copper conductor and lift it out of the computer, freeing it from tape and cables as necessary.

  • If you need to mount the heat sink back into the laptop, we have a thermal paste guide that makes replacing the thermal compound easy.

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Add Note Edit Step 36 — DC-to-DC Board  ¶ 

  • Remove the following five screws:

    • One 3 mm Phillips near the screen latch (mind the big magnet on the screen latch).

    • Two 3.5 mm Phillips attaching the EMI fingers to the metal framework.

    • One 10 mm Phillips near the optical drive.

    • One 14 mm long 4 mm standoff in the upper left corner. You can remove this standoff either with a 4 mm nut driver or needlenose pliers.

  • Lift the EMI fingers above the battery connector away from the metal framework.

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Add Note Edit Step 37  ¶ 

  • Lift the end of the DC-to-DC board closest to the display and pull the board out of the computer.

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Add Note Edit Step 38 — Metal Framework  ¶ 

  • Disconnect the multicolor connector from the upper right corner of the logic board.

  • Remove the following 2 screws:

    • One Phillips buried under the cable to the right of the fan area.

    • One Phillips holding down the display data cable on the left side of the computer.

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Add Note Edit Step 39  ¶ 

  • Disconnect the two connectors on the left side of the computer near the ports.

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Add Note Edit Step 40  ¶ 

  • Use the black plastic pull tab to disconnect the display data cable from the logic board.

  • Deroute the display data cable, pulling up the yellow tape at the RJ-11 board.

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Add Note Edit Step 41  ¶ 

  • Remove the single Phillips screw from the RJ-11 board.

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Add Note Edit Step 42  ¶ 

  • Lift up the RJ-11 board from the left side and remove the Phillips screw from the metal framework.

  • Remove the two Phillips screws securing the EMI fingers to the ports.

  • Lift away the EMI fingers.

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Add Note Edit Step 43  ¶ 

  • Remove the following 5 screws:

    • One 4.5 mm Phillips in the bottom left corner of the logic board.

    • Two 6 mm Phillips to the left of the display hinge.

    • One 10 mm Phillips to the upper left of the fan area.

    • One 13 mm Phillips to the right of the headphone jack on the metal framework.

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Add Note Edit Step 44  ¶ 

  • Disconnect the orange optical drive cable from the logic board.

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Add Note Edit Step 45  ¶ 

  • Lift the metal framework out of the computer. Be careful that the orange optical drive cable doesn't catch on the framework and be sure you haven't forgotten to disconnect any other connectors.

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Add Note Edit Step 46 — Logic Board  ¶ 

  • Remove the two Phillips screws from the bottom right of the logic board.

  • Do not lift the logic board out without disconnecting the DC-In connector underneath the logic board.

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Add Note Edit Step 47  ¶ 

  • Lift the logic board partly up from the optical side.

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Add Note Edit Step 48  ¶ 

  • Disconnect the DC-In connector from the underside of the logic board.

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Add Note Edit Step 49 — DC-In Board  ¶ 

  • There may be black tape covering the screw in the following step, remove it if necessary.

  • Remove the single Phillips screw that attaches the DC-In board to the lower case.

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Add Note Edit Step 50  ¶ 

  • Pull the flat, black DC power cable up from the bottom of the case, removing tape as necessary.

  • Lift up the front right corner of the DC-In board and rotate it clockwise to slide the power receptacle out of the lower case.

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Add Note Edit Step 51  ¶ 

  • The tip of my power supply plug broke off inside the power receptacle.

  • Once the DC-in board has been removed.

  • Peal back the metal RFI shield.

  • At the back of the power receptacle - gently pull the top of the center tab out away from the receptacle body. Forming a gap.

  • From the front of the receptacle - use a screwdriver to push the broken tip out the gap.

  • Push the center tab back in place.

  • Replace the RFI shield.

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

For more information, check out the PowerBook G4 Aluminum 12" 867 MHz device page.

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