Replacing hard drive in PowerBooks

Is it difficult or advisable to replace the hard drive in my PowerBook myself? Or do I need to bring it into a shop?
I've installed memory in desktop Macs, so I'm comfortable opening a computer. I've never opened a PowerBook, though.

Replacing the hard drive is certainly do-able, but you should be comfortable with the Powerbook innards. Here's directions that you can look over, to make the do-it-yourself or have-someone-else-do-it-for-you decision: http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/PowerBook-G4-Al-17-Inch/HD-Replacement/55/6/
If you want someone to do it for you, you can search here for the closest Apple store or Apple Authorized Service Provider: http://www.apple.com/buy/locator/service/ . Note, if you have an Apple store replace your hard drive, they will keep the replaced hard drive. If you use an AASP, you can determine before hand if you want your drive back. Some people have private data on a hard drive, and even if it's dead, would prefer not to have it permanently leave their hands.

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Kernel panic after replacing hard drive in Powerbook 17"

I need help with a kernel panic that won't even let me start up. Here's a detailed account of what happened:
The hard drive in my Powerbook 17" recently failed. Since it is out of warranty anyway, I decided to try to replace it myself. I found a good tutorial with photos online and was careful to rehook everything appropriately. After the replacement, I immediately installed OS 10.2 from my Apple Software Restore CD. It seemed to successfully install on the new HD.
After installing OS X, I restarted. I got the Apple logo on the grey screen but as soon as the "gear" started spinning, I got a kernel panic. I tried resetting the PRAM and the PMU but still got the panic message so I fired up Apple Hardware Test CD. Without even running the test, it gave me the message that errors were detected with my RAM upon startup. In the Hardware Profile tab, under Memory Overview, it showed:
768/1024
SODIMM0/J20STANDARD512/512
SODIMM1/J23REVERSED256/516
The last line "SODIMM1..." was red. It appeared that one of the sticks of RAM was damaged. However, when I swapped the sticks, I still got the kernel panic, but the Hardware Profile no longer listed either of the sticks in red and the full 1024/1024 MB was shown.
Does anyone have any idea why I am still getting a panic message? Could I have damaged the RAM itself or the RAM slot? (I was very careful when pulling it out.) Any help would be much appreciated. This has been a great computer for about 6 years and I hope to get another few out of it!
Peter

For anyone interested: I experimented with this a little more last night. By switching the RAM sticks, the memory problem seems to be resolved. I was still getting the kernel panic though so I put the original hard drive (which is on the verge of crashing) back in the machine and everything booted up just fine. It seems like the problem may actually be with the new hard drive. I don't need to do anything to the drive other than pop it in the machine, right?

Replaced hard drive/ with new install, bad modification dates

Does anyone know how to get rid of bad modification dates that appeared when system (10.3.9) was re-installed after replacement of hard drive on powerbook?
Tech Tools Pro didn't fix it.
The dates for Sherlock, Text Edit, DVD player, ical,isync (even explorer) all say April 1, 1976. That's April Fool's Day and I was 30 years younger, but .... Any ideas?
Sharon

Sharon Chard-Yaron...
Something is odd here as a few weeks ago I was forced into a reformat and a reinstall of my Mac OS.
I reformatted / partitioned / installed Mac OS 10.3.5(+) first, as it is where my Panther CD set starts from. However it prompted me to confirm that my dates was corrected before continuing with the install. It seemed rather serious that unpredictable results could happen if those dates was wrong.
(+)(Later of course, I did update to 10.3.9 from my backup of download goodies and Software Update panel.)
Anyway, my time and dates was messed up and I reset them from within that install.
Now- did you get any time/date prompt during the install like I did?
Mac OS 10 installs so many files that I feel it could be a disaster waiting for a time/date to happen on. Unless there is some gifted fix utility that I am not aware of, nothing short to re-doing everything would clear my conscience to a bug free install.
...Ron

IPod 4th Gen Click Wheel replaced hard drive; problems

Ok, So I replaced the 20gb hard drive with a new EXACT replacement hard drive, no other problems with iPod. But iTunes will not recognize it because the hard drive is not formatted. I tried formating it with Disk Utility but keep getting error messages. Im not sure what format to use. When the 4th gen came out Intel processors werent here so Im sure I need to simply format as Mac OS Extended. There is no HFS= format in Disk Utility. Im lost as to what to do. Please help??!

hmm - curiouser and curiouser
I've now managed to get it to manually update (after iTunes took 100% of system resources and I had to force quit it...) but that still doesn't really help me with the auto-sync feature which still won't work
aaaaaaggggggghhhhh

MacBook Pro does not boot past apple screen after replacing hard drive

After replacing hard drive on MacBook Pro 13 inch early 2011 model, the screen only boots to the apple logo. Do I need to re-install the OS?

The problem is that the OS is not in any where else of the MacBook Pro than in the HD / SSD. If you replace the Hard Drive, then you will need to Re-install OSX into that hard drive, it's pretty easy.
1) Power up your Macbook Pro, as fast as you can press and hold the Option key (ALT). You'll see that it opens the bootable-devices you have, you'll see a Recovery partition, click it.
(If the Hard Drive contains data do the following)
2) In the menu select Disk Utility.
3) In Disk Utility go ahead and select the Hard Drive that is inside the MBP.
4) Erase the content.
(If the Hard Drive contains no data continue with the following jumping the last 3 steps).
5) Select Re-install OSX.
6) Select the Hard Drive in which you want to install it.
Follow the steps of everything else (it should take approximately 1 hour to do the whole thing).
Hope this helps!
Later.

I went to Mac Store and had replaced hard drive because I encountered 4HDD ERROR(hard drive failure). I had backed up my old hard drive by TIME MACHINE regularly. Now how can I restore everything I had?

I went to Mac Store and had replaced hard drive because I encountered 4HDD ERROR(hard drive failure). I had backed up my old hard drive by TIME MACHINE regularly. Now how can I restore everything I had?

Thanks for your response.
I had tried COMMAND+ALT+R which led me to directly to INTERNET RECOVERY via wifi. After 1 hour or so it dropped me at the same point.
I've tried MIGRANT ASSISTANCE as well, it kept on LOOKING FOR OTHER COMPUTERS even though I clicked on TIME MACHINE BACK UP USING EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE
so what to do now?
P.S. Guys at MacStore were so careless to even listen to me when I asked them about retrieving back up :(
Please help

I have an iMac 21.5 inch purchased in 2011 with a failing 1TB Seagate hard drive. Can I get a replacement hard drive?

I have an iMac 21.5 inch purchased in 2011 with a failing 1TB Seagate hard drive. Can I get a replacement hard drive thru the Apple Replacement Program? I did purchase the Applecare Plan but it expired in Dec. 2013.

FWIW, if you purchased the iMac in 2011 and purchased Applecare, you are covered for a total of 3 years. You mentioned yours expired in December 2013 - that cannot be unless you bought yours in 2010. If you bought it in December 2011, you should still be covered until December 2014 - if so, contact Apple/make a Genius Bar appointment quickly so the replacement is covered by the warranty. The hard drive replacement program might have expired, but as long as you're covered by Applecare, a drive replacement is covered.

Can anyone help me with advice for a replacement hard drive

Hi there,
Can anyone help me with advice for a replacement hard drive and RAM upgrade for my Mac Book Pro 5,3
Its 3 years old & running Snow Leopard 10.6.8
I do a lot of audio & movie work so performance is important.
The logic board was replaced last summer & I was advised to replace the hard drive then...oops
Anyway it has limped on until now but is giving me cause for concern...
I have found a couple of possibilities below...so if anyone does have a moment to take a look & help me out I would be most grateful
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-Scorpio-7200rpm-Internal/dp/B004I9J5OG/r ef=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1356787585&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kingston-Technology-Apple-8GB-Kit/dp/B001PS9UKW/ref=pd_s im_computers_5
Kind regards
Nick

Thanks guys that is so helpful :-)
I will follow your advice Ogelthorpe & see how I get on with the job!!! Virgin territory for me so I may well shout for help once my MBP is in bits!! Is there a guide for duffers for this job anywhere??
& yes in an ideal world I would be replacing my old MBP but I'm just not in a position to do that at the moment....let's hope things pick up in 2013
All the very best
Nick

My 2010 imac does not recognise my time machine since I had the Seagate replacement hard drive. Any thought from anyone? The External hard drive is a 1 TB seagate

My iMac (2010 intel model) does not recognise or communicate with my external seagate drive as a time machine for back ups since I had the 1TB Seagate replacement hard drive as part of the replacement prgram with OSX LION 10.5.8 installed.
Is this because I need to update the time machine drive itself?

This excellent Support article may help you solve that TM problem:
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html

Replacement hard drive not shown in Disk Utility

So I just finished installing a replacement hard drive for my PB 12". I got a Seagate 2.5" ATA Momentus 5400 etc as per my previous thread. But after firing it up from the install disk, the new volume fails to show up. Anyone else had this problem? And fixed it? Opening up the case again now...

Don't know if your problem solved. Had the same thing happen to me. Was told that new HD was bad (unlikely), Logic board was bad (disaster). Then finally was tole by another tech (OWC) that it sounded like a bad cable connection. Took it apart again and reseated both ends of HD cable a couple of times. Started up and the HD recognized by disk utility. Works great since. Hope your problem as simple as mine.

How to replace hard drive in macbook pro?

How to replace hard drive in macbook pro?

Hi S,
If you have the newer unibody style, it's very easy. If it's one of the earlier models, it's considerably more difficult. Go to Apple Menu > About This Mac > More Info > Hardware and find your Model Identifier. Then go to ifixit.com, or powerbookmedic.com or macsales.com or youtube or others and there are illustrated, detailed directions. Good luck to you and post back if you have further questions.

Dv6700 broken HDD "#10009 replace hard drive"

Hi, My laptop model dv6700 and harddrive: SATA 250Gb. I have made recovery discs. Issue: hard drive gave up recently and in BIOS HDD checkup it showed "#10009 replace hard drive" Query: 1)since I need to replace the hard drive, i wish to upgrade it to 500GB.Is it possible or not?? 2)if yes, are there any constraints on size,make of HDD?? 3)Once i replace my HDD how to get my old OS(i got vista home premium along with laptop)?? 4)will there be a problem if i use my recovery discs on the new 500 Gb HDD?? 5)will there be any conflict in recognizing the new HDD of 500 Gb?? Is there any other way to solve this issue without replacement?? Thanks in advance!!
This question was solved.
View Solution.

Here are answers to your question.
1) You can upgrade to 500GB and its possbile without any problems
2) No constraints on size or make. You can use any brand or manufacturer of your own choice
3) You need to install your OS using recovery disks. There is a guide available over here
4) There will not be any problems if you using recovery disks on new HDD
5) There wont be any conflict. If you do face any issues, you can always post your query on the forums.
6) Unfortunately there is no other way. If the HDD test fails, it means its gone. Only option is to replace HDD.
//Click on Kudos and Accept as Solution if my reply was helpful and answered your question//
I am an HP employee!!

After i replaced hard drive my bluetooth disappeared where can I find it?

After i replaced hard drive my bluetooth disappeared where can I find it?

If you are talking about the bluetooth software (to connect devices) then you can download it here!

Suggestions on replacement hard drive

I'm needing a replacement hard drive for a 733MHz 128MB 40G Quicksilver. Anyone with experience on certain brands?
Thanks,
Jason

Jason:
A 120GB (ATA-100 or ATA-133) drive is perhaps the optimum size... You've confirmed that Mac won't see more than the first 128GB of any drive connected to the native drive bus on the logic board. You may add a drive larger than 120GB to this bus (in case you find a larger drive for less money than a 120GB one), but only the first 128GB will be recognized after formatting. For larger drive internal use at full capacity, you'd need to add a PCI controller card to hook the drive to.
To physically install the drive, you need to correctly set the jumper pins on the drive and then connect it to the proper connector on the ribbon cable. (I assume that the current drive is working and you'll be duplicating the data on it to the new drive. If I'm wrong, please let me know.) One of the drives will be pinned as master (single master/single drive) and connected to the end of the ribbon cable; the other pinned as slave and connected to the inline connector. They get mounted one above the other in the drive stacking tray that's in the Mac. The new drive will come with the jumpers, mounting screws and a spare ribbon cable, so you'll have all that you need).
If you need help with this, let us know after you've purchased the drive (pin setting positions vary on different brands). Don't drive yourself crazy with the installation manual that comes with the drive, which is confusing and Windows-oriented. Also note that the accompanying software CD is useless for Macs. You'll instead simply use Disk Utility to initially format (initialize) the drive.
As for cloning, I think that the most user-friendly software is SuperDuper, which I'm pretty sure you'll find to be a snap to use. (I'm a long time fan of CarbonCopyCloner, but recently tried SuperDuper to familiarize myself with it and was very impressed by how friendly it is.) It walks you through the volume duplication process in a few easy steps.
Gary
1GH DP G4 Quicksilver 2002, 400MH B&W rev.2 G3, Mac SE30 Mac OS X (10.4.2) 5G iPod, Epson 2200 & R300 & LW Select 360 Printers, Epson 3200 Scanner

Download mountain lion on replaced hard drive

I need to download mountain lion on a replaced hard drive. how can I do this?

If your Mac came with 10.7 or 10.8 installed, you'll have access to Internet recovery - reboot holding down cmd-R and follow the prompts.
If you started on 10.6, you must reinstall that OS first and then use the App Store to install 10.8.
Matt

Replacing hard drive in PowerBooks

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