Mac mini (PowerPC) Optical Drive Replacement

Introduction

Upgrade or replace the combo or SuperDrive.

If your mini does not have Airport installed, then skip this step.
Grasp the Airport antenna board and lift it off of the two plastic posts holding it in place. You may need to push back the black plastic tab jutting through the lower left corner of the board.

Remove the yellow tape securing the power button cable to the black plastic framework.

Remove the three black Phillips screws securing the plastic framework to the logic board and lower case.

Grasp the optical drive and mass storage unit in one hand and lift up enough so that you can see beneath it.

If your mini has neither an Airport card nor a Bluetooth board, you can simply lift the optical drive up and away. Otherwise, you need to disconnect the Airport and/or Bluetooth antenna cables first.
With your free hand, pull the Bluetooth cable up from Bluetooth board and unplug the Airport antenna cable from the right of the Airport card. Caution: both of these connections are very small. When re-assembling unit after repair, you may want to remove the two screws holding the airport card to the assembly and lift the card up and out to re-attach the cables.

Remove the four silver Phillips screws attaching the optical drive to the black plastic framework (two on each side).

If your mini does not have a Bluetooth board, you may skip the following step.
Remove the yellow tape securing the Bluetooth antenna cable to the black plastic framework.
Lift the silver Bluetooth antenna board out of its slot.

The cables you're about to remove are very fragile - do not pull directly on the wires. Instead, try to pry up the connector directly, using your fingernails or a small flathead screwdriver if necessary.
Flip the mass storage assembly over and disconnect the speaker and fan cables from the interface board.

Flip the mass storage assembly back over. Grasp either side of the plastic framework and push the optical drive away from you with your thumbs on either side of the bezel until you hear it pop free.
Lift the optical drive and attached interface board up from the assembly.