New hard drive for g4 ibook?

mac-aj:

Welcome to Apple Discussions and the world of Mac. And congratulations on your "new" Mac.

It will be helpful if we know exactly which iBook G4 you have. I take it that your G4 is 14". In any case that should be easy to identify. Secondly, can you tell us the processor speed? To locate this, with the computer booted go to the Apple Menu > About this Mac. The processor speed will be listed there.

Your iBook G4 will will support a 2.5" ATA/IDE HDD. The iBook G4s will support an HDD up to 250 GB. The new HDDs come in 7200 rpm and 5400 rpm speeds. The 7200 rpm come in capacities up to 100 GB, and the 5400 rpm currently come in sizes up to 250 GB. Here is a list of compatible HDDs for your iBook available at OWC. Most HDDs come with a 3 year manufacturer's warranty. Seagate HDDs come with a 5 year warranty. Many users report problems with Toshiba drives, and Seagate HDDs seem to have a high user satisfaction rate.

Installing your own HDD is doable, although the iBook is the most difficult Mac laptop on which to install a HDD. It requires almost complete disassembly of your computer as you will see from these directions at ifixit. If you think you would like to attempt this please post back for additional hints to assist in the project.

Additional questions or comments will be welcome.

Good luck.

cornelius

I just did a hard drive installation on an iBook that was given to me. If you follow the directions at ifixit.com it's not a bad job. It took me about 2 hours. I put a Hitachi 160 GB drive in, and while I was in there I upped the ram by 1 GB. This old iBook is now running 10.5! So far it seems to be working great.

Thanks for the info above.

I have an iBook G4 14in with a 1.42 GHz processor, 512 MB of built-in RAM, and a 60GB hard drive.

I want to upgrade the hard drive. Is it recommended to upgrade the RAM, as well?

Looking at the link provided above, it looks like the largest hard drive available is 250GB from Western Digital. Does anyone have experience with that hard drive to let me know if it's worth it?

Thanks also for the link to the instructions for installation. I'm nervous about taking it apart on my own, but I desperately need a bigger hard drive.

I have a backup, external hard drive ready to go. I'm waiting to install 10.5 until I have more space. It will be a long while before I buy another new laptop, due to my budget, but I can handle the cost of a hard drive (and possible RAM).

Thanks in advance for the advice. 🙂

2ndGradeTeacherAZ:

Welcome to Apple Discussions.

Is it recommended to upgrade the RAM, as well?

Your profile does not tell us how much RAM you have in your computer. However unless you have maxxed out your RAM that is a good place to begin. Your computer has 512 MB of logic board RAM and 1 - PC2700 DDR333 200-pin SO-DIMM slot which can be upgraded with up to a 1 GB module for a total of 1.5 GB RAM. You will find a list of popular brands with prices at ramseeker.

the largest hard drive available is 250GB from Western Digital. Does anyone have experience with that hard drive to let me know if it's worth it?

Whether it is worth it or not depends on your particular needs. Some who have installed this drive report a continuous ticking, which, although it does not seem to interfere with the drives functionality, can be a source of distraction or annoyance. If you need that much storage capacity, however, it could be a good investment for you.

I'm nervous about taking it apart on my own, but I desperately need a bigger hard drive.

Hard Drive removal and installation in the iBook is not for the faint hearted. Unfortunately ifixit does not include instructions for the iBook you have, the G4 1.42 GHz. I suggest that you might be well advised to get some expert help doing it.

If I have missed anything, or if you have further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Good luck.

cornelius

Thanks again, cornelius.

I've never attempted to upgrade anything on my laptop. Does the Apple Store offer that service, or will I need to find a different local service provider? I don't want to put my precious iBook in just anyone's hands. 🙂

2ndGradeTeacherAZ:

Does the Apple Store offer that service, or will I need to find a different local service provider?

I suggest you call the Apple Store and find out exactly how it works, as I have done the work myself, and have no first hand experience with Apple. My understanding is that they will not install a drive which you purchase on your own, which means that theirs will likely cost more. In addition, again it is my understanding, they do not return the old HDD (although that may be when they do it under warranty). The best way to check this out is to call and ask.

In some areas there are Apple approved shops that will do the work for you. There are, also, online facilities that will do it for you, if you wish to go that route.

Good luck.

cornelius

Try the Western Digital MY Book Essential Edition, with USB connection its a breeze to connect up. Priced around $130 for 500 GB from Tiger Direct.

Markus:

Try the Western Digital MY Book Essential Edition, with USB connection its a breeze to connect up. Priced around $130 for 500 GB from Tiger Direct.

The OP was asking about installing an internal Hard Disk Drive. An external USB drive will hardly do. Besides, a USB drive is not very useful with a PowerPC Mac, as you can't boot a PPC Mac from a USB device.

Cheers 🙂

cornelius

We are in the process of upgrading our beloved iBook 12" G4 and have ordered some some more ram (512 to add to the 128 on board because we got the impression that that is max for our machine) and the 160 GB Hitachi. My question is how best to transfer the data from the old drive to the new. We've been backing up (home folder, personal data, and system) to DVDs but is there some better or additional way? Seems I should know that but can't recall. We do have an iMac that we could migrate from but that is configured differently.

Cornelius-I'm in the process of upgrading my iBook G4 14in.hard drive to 160Gb Seagate or Hitachi Travelstar. Is either a better choice?

Machine Name: iBook G4
Machine Model: PowerBook6,5
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (1.1)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 1.07 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 1.25 GB
Bus Speed: 133 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.8.5f0
Serial Number:
What is the best way to transfer my OS and all contents of my old drive to the new one? Thanks for any help! Will

Hi Conelius ...

I have the same issue with mine, i have a ibook G4 12" and after i installed my new hard drive all comes up on the screen is the logo with the question mark on it but it does not go any further but if i hit (Option on the keyboard) then it takes me to another screen where it's asking me to type in a password, i do not know what to do ... can you please help me? ..... Thank you

Hi Conelius ...

I have the same issue with mine, i have a ibook G4 12" and after i installed my new hard drive all comes up on the screen is the logo with the question mark on it but it does not go any further but if i hit (Option on the keyboard) then it takes me to another screen where it's asking me to type in a password, i do not know what to do ... can you please help me? ..... Thank you

Whilst changing the hard disk in my iBook G4, 12” 1,3 GHz, and trying to disconnect the blue & white power cable connector, the socket has come off the motherboard. Can this be resoldered?
Many thanks