I'm trying to replace the hard disk in my iMac G5 (I-Sight). I printed the DIY instructions from Apple and I can't get the back panel off my i-Mac. The dirctions shows screws in the very corners of the lower "vent", but my i-Mac doesn't have any screws in this location. When I remove the screws that are there, the front bezel comes loose, not the back panal. What am I missing? What am I doing wrong?
The iSights can't be opened without voiding the warranty. However, if you have to, they open from the
front, it lifts off when the screws have been loosened, then there's a screen that has to be lifted off. The insides are behind that. Photos
HERE
Thanks for the info. I got as far a removing the screws, but got hung up on removing the front. It seems that there some kind of connection at the top, I didn't want to muscle it off. Is there a trick there?
Removing the front of the iMac is not that hard, but to get to any of the components, you must then remove the LCD screen which is sealed to the internals of the case by lots of foil tape, and several hard to reach torx screws. Once the tape and screws have been removed, you can lift up the screen, but must be careful to unhook the remaining power and video cables that run to the LCD.
This is a quote from the link I sent you, the tape and screws are what are preventing you from lifting the screen off. No one said it was easy...
I'm trying to do the same—replace my hard drive and I cannot get my case to budge! I'm pulling on the stand arm and slipped a very thin blade in the seams to check if something was stuck (it's not), and it just pulls the plastic shell up where the stand goes into the center back—in other words it's REALLY stuck!
Any suggestions on how to get this thing loose past the foil tape that I apparently can't see? And my 3 torx screws on the bottom edge were not captive. They came all the way out really easily.
I finally got in. Some tips from MacFixIt forum that I wish I had found before, but found AFTER I got in finally!:
Remove all 5 screws on the bottom. The two for the ram slot are captive. The other 3 are not. One is longer than the others, note which slot it came from.
There are catch levers on the top corners that need to be released by sliding something in there. That post recommended a credit card or thin plastic. I used two thin table knives with non-serrated edges.
Once the top is off you can flip it up and lay it down or undo all the tape and unplug the iSight. I left mine intact.
Then the fun part (NOT!). Using my table knife I very carefully peeled up the thick black foil tape stuff along the two edges. It's so sticky and tears easily. You need infinte patience. Once peeled up it reveals 4 torx screws holding the LCD in down on the bottom. You need a long Torx screwdriver and make sure it is magnetic—the screws are not captive and what a pain! Especially when you don't have a magnetic driver!
The you can lift up the LCD. Again I left mine connected and just propped it up by sticking a can of compressed air I had sitting nearby in as a prop (obviously away from the boards). I did have to disconnect the video though (two white connectors on the left that are easy to disconnect). I later read that other connectors were very fragile in this model and wires rip easily, so I'm glad I didn't mess with any more than I had to.
Once I got to the drive I discovered that the third connector (very small 4-pin that went off the side of the drive and over to the board in a different place than the bigger connectors) was too small for the drive that OWC sent me, so now I'm back together (but it ain't pretty in there anymore!) and calling OWC, only to have to do this again in another week or so. 😟
Moral of the story: don't try this at home, folks, unless you have infinite patience and love to do painstaking, tedious things, and also are really good at putting things back together the way you found them!
can you please tell me how can i recover my data from my G5 imac with iSight. with you help i was able to remove the hard drive 160GB and i'm replacing it with 300Gb HD. Thank you for the info it was very very helpful. I was wondering if you can help with recovering part once i remove it. Any info you give me is +. thanks
FT
