How to Replace Logic Board G4 PowerBook Titanium

The G4 PowerBook Titanium was a major change from its predecessor, the G3 PowerBook, more commonly known as the Pismo. While still based on the PowerPC logic board architecture, the G4 Titanium was significantly faster than any G3. Unlike in later PowerBooks and MacBook Pros, replacing the Titanium logic board is relatively simple. It does entail taking apart the entire laptop except for the screen, though. It also is possible to upgrade some of the logic boards from one Titanium to another, but this is limited due to various changes Apple made along the way. The example here is for the last Titanium, the 1GHz model.

• 1

  Remove the power cord from your G4 PowerBook Titanium; flip the computer over and remove the battery. Bring a screwdriver into contact with the metal inside the battery compartment to discharge electricity. Wear your anti-static wristband to prevent conducting a surge into the PowerBook.

• 2

  Flip the Titanium back over and open the screen. Just above the "6" key, turn the tiny screw there with a flathead screwdriver. The groove in the screw should be parallel to the screen. With your fingernails, take hold of the two keyboard clips---one above the "Tab" key and the other above the "1" key---and move them toward you. Flip the keyboard back toward you, resting it on the computer. At the right, you will see the keyboard connector ribbon. Disengage this from the computer and set aside the keyboard.

• 3

  Release the RAM chips in the center of the exposed area of the PowerBook. Two plastic clips, one on each side, hold the chips down. Pull these slightly apart and the chip will spring up. Remove it, and then repeat the procedure for the second chip underneath if you have one. Turn the PowerBook back over and unscrew all the screws on the bottom casing. These will be seven Torx T8s. On either side of the hinges, press the bottom case toward the battery compartment. This takes a little finagling. Be careful not to break the plastic tab at the front of the PowerBook near the optical drive.

• 4

  Remove the AirPort card if you have one installed. Grab hold of the plastic tab, lift and disengage the antenna cable. Then pull the card out. In the center of the PowerBook, to the right of the empty battery compartment, sits the hard drive. First, raise the hard drive connector cable, then use a Torx T8 screw driver to remove two screws in the battery compartment. These secure the hard drive. Raise the hard drive by the left side and take it out of the laptop. At the far right of the PowerBook is a long S-shaped cable. Disengage this from next to the optical drive, then from the logic board. Beneath where this was near the optical drive, you will find a white and pink connector. Disengage it.

• 5

  Unscrew two Torx T8 screws at the left of the optical drive and take out the bar they secured. Two more connector ribbons still are attached to the logic board: one just below the optical drive and the other to the far right of the drive. Disengage both of these. Raise this drive at the right and disengage the cable for the modem before removing the drive. At the right below the drive chamber, approximately in the middle of the logic board, take out the DC-in connector. Unscrew two T6 screws on the DC-in board and remove it.

• 6

  Disengage four connectors to the logic board once you have flipped it back over. Two are on the left, one in the middle near the screen and the last at the right. Unscrew the T8 screw at the left in the notch of the silver plate. In the upper left corner near the screen, disengage two more connector cables. Just below these, unscrew the T6 screw and take out the small board it held.

• 7

  Flip the PowerBook back over, resting it on a towel or cloth. Look for and unscrew a total of seven T8 screws directly on the logic board. Five more connectors remain attached to the logic board that you need to disengage. Take hold of the board near the hard drive compartment and pull it toward this compartment. If there is a fan cable still attached, disconnect it. Replace the logic board with the new one and do the steps in reverse to reassemble the computer.