[Ti] Is 12 inch Powerbook disk user upgradeable?

[Kynan Shook]

It's a fair amount more difficult than the 15" Titaniums.  Also, it 
requires a 9.5 mm tall drive, while the Ti can take a 12 mm drive.  If 
you're brave, the general procedure is this: take out the memory door 
and memory card.  There's a screw or two in there that holds in the 
keyboard.  Then, pop off the F1, F2, F11, and F12 keys (works best if 
you lift up from the left side, IIRC).  There are little round stickers 
right inbetween those pairs of keys, covering 2 screws.  Remove those, 
and you should be able to pull the keyboard up and flip it on top of 
the trackpad.  Then remove the foil tape and pull up on the 
connector...  CAREFULLY.  There are a number of connectors at this 
point that are EXTREMELY easy to break if you are not careful.  I'd 
recommend using a small flat-blade screwdriver to lift the connectors 
out first at one end, then the other, all while pulling up gently on 
the cable.  But it's very easy to pull the cable out of its plug, or 
break the plug with the screwdriver, or pull the other end of the plug 
right off the logic board; for these reasons, it might be worth taking 
the computer to a service provider to do the upgrade.
Anyway, remove the other foil tape here, and disconnect the other 3 
tiny cables.  Next, there are a zillion screws.  A bunch are in the 
keyboard well, then there are two on each side, two on the back (the 
upper ones, not the lower ones), two hex screws (a Torx-6 will work, 
IIRC), and several in the battery bay.  That's all of them, if I recall 
correctly.  Then you have to slowly pull up around the edges to try and 
work the case off.  It can be difficult sometimes; I recommend having 
some sort of flat, soft plastic tool so you can pry up without damaging 
the case.  After you have the top case off, the hard drive is in the 
lower left corner; pull up on the connector, remove a few mounting 
screws, and you have the drive out.

As I said, a fair amount more difficult than the 15" Tis.  ;-)

If you attempt it, I'd recommend keeping the removed screws in a 
pattern matching the holes they came out of; they are varying lengths, 
so you'll want them to all go back into the right holes when you're 
done.  Especially the ones that come out of the keyboard well.

Tools you'll need; a Torx-6 screwdriver, probably a Torx-8 for the 
drive mounting screws, and a small phillips (Size 0, maybe 00, both 
might be better).


Robin Jackson <robin at moneypit.demon.co.uk> writes:
> My daughters 12inch G4 Powerbook is running out of disk space.
>
>  have a spare 60Gb drive I have just removed from my 15 inch Powerbook 
> but I
> cannot find upgrade instructions which used to be available for the 
> older
> Powerbooks.
>
> Anyone know if it is possible?
>
> What the specs (physical size) of the replacement drive needs to be?
>
> Where I can get the instructions?