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PowerBook G4 Aluminum 12" 1-1.5 GHz EMI Finger Replacement

What you need

  1. PowerBook G4 Aluminum 12" 1-1.5 GHz EMI Finger Replacement, Battery: step 1, image 1 of 1
    • Use a coin to turn the battery locking screw 90 degrees to the right.

    • Lift the battery out of the computer.

    What can I say?

    It is certainly do able. I just completed it. Took me 2 hours. The most important tool you'll need is patience - bag full of patience!!

    Gopal - Reply

    Took 3 1/2 to 4 hours for someone who is handy but has never opened a computer before. Not so bad and it was a fun learning experience.

    Nomad Toes - Reply

    Quote from Nomad Toes:

    Took 3 1/2 to 4 hours for someone who is handy but has never opened a computer before. Not so bad and it was a fun learning experience.

    Weird. I posted this on Step 1 of replacing the optical drive, but it showed up on the RAM page since Step 1 is the same. Replacing the RAM takes 10 minutes.

    Nomad Toes - Reply

    I also see this on “replacing the battery” :-)

    atarixle -

    I guess, the hardest thing is to find a trustfully shop to buy a new one. You should create a manual how to disassemle the body of the battery and replace the standard round cells inside it.

    atarixle - Reply

  2. PowerBook G4 Aluminum 12" 1-1.5 GHz EMI Finger Replacement, EMI Finger: step 2, image 1 of 1
    • Remove the four Phillips screws from the memory door.

    • Slide the memory door away from the memory compartment.

  3. PowerBook G4 Aluminum 12" 1-1.5 GHz EMI Finger Replacement: step 3, image 1 of 1
    • Remove the long black Phillips screw next to the memory card.

    • Remove the small EMI finger beneath the black screw.

    What is an EMI Finger???

    zdavatz - Reply

    Quote from zdavatz:

    What is an EMI Finger???

    yeah, good question. I just blew that off - everything else worked just fine - thanks to ifixit for such a great step-by-step!

    springboard - Reply

    Quote from zdavatz:

    What is an EMI Finger???

    That black screw needs to come out because it goes all the way through the computer into the back of the keyboard. However, I didn't see any EMI finger, unless that's the purpose of the metal directly underneath it. EMI fingers are those little tin foil like things you'll see along the ports inside the computer. They provide shielding from what I presume stand for electro-magnetic interference.

    aratuk - Reply

    Quote from zdavatz:

    What is an EMI Finger???

    I think the EMI Finger is probably the silver clip that is under the head of the black screw that step 3 tells us to remove.

    Derek Roff - Reply

    EMI stands for electro-magnetic inteference. An EMI finger is a piece of metal that connects two pieces of a metal case together, preventing EMI ("radio waves") from passing in or out. In this case, yes it is the "clip".

    jerrykrinock - Reply

    The black phillips screw is completely stuck on my compulter, and in my frustration, I managed to stripp the screw.. Noe I am concidering drilling it out, this will most likely destroy both the screw and the "EMI finger". Is this a problem? I guess the screw is no problem, but the EMI finger? Or anybody have any ideas to what I could do, I wanted to change my harddrive.. Thanks!

    powerbookg4hdd - Reply

    Dear powerbookg4hdd. This is a very long screw and you could not drill it out. First, try to turn it with needle-nose pliers. If that is too difficult, use a larger drill bit and try to drill the head completely off instead. You're in a very difficult situation. Of course, remove the RAM card to give yourself some working space.

    jerrykrinock - Reply

    Dear jerrkrinock! Thank you for your quick reply. Taking your recommendation, I did not try to drill it out, and after considering several approaches, I used a cutter and changed the "star" screw into a "straight" one. This was successful, and I was able to change the drive. I did not find anything that could be an EMI finger, though.. Anyways, thanks ifixit.som for great guides!

    powerbookg4hdd - Reply

    I believe the clip is referring to the ribbon of grounding material that the plate sits on. You need to move it over to take the long screw out without tearing it. And then you need to lift it and hold it out of the way when you replace the the long screw to avoid pinching it under the head of the screw. TR

    tredding - Reply

    powerbookg4hdd: or anyone else -- i'm in a similar situation. what kind of cutter did you use to re-notch the screw? or is there another way to get this screw out if it is stripped?

    afb - Reply

    To be clear on this step you don't need to remove the long black screw (in fact it doesn't appear possible to remove it completely) just make sure it's been unscrewed as much as possible and then leave alone

    mancunianlad - Reply

    This is correct. The long black screw screws into the keyboard so it does need to be unscrewed, but can be left in place. It may fall out while the laptop is bottom down but if you are working on a towel you'll find it easily.

    Quote from mancunianlad:

    To be clear on this step you don't need to remove the long black screw (in fact it doesn't appear possible to remove it completely) just make sure it's been unscrewed as much as possible and then leave alone

    emanmb - Reply

    I don't see anything that looks like a clip under this screw. It came out just fine (although it wanted to pull up the padding directly above it when I I pulled it out), but all that's under it is the metal plate it's screwed into, which looks like it is also held down by another screw. Is this what I'm supposed to remove? It certainly doesn't seem to want to come up.

    Calion - Reply

    Should this step specify that the memory door is now to be replaced? At Step 9 the photos show it back in place and yet I didn't see where it was to be screwed back on.

    FWIW, my PB did not have an EMI Finger (assume some earlier repair removed it and did not put it back). Is that a concern?

    kah - Reply

Conclusion

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

2 other people completed this guide.

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iRobot

Member since: 09/24/09

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