Mac Fallout Shelter


The new drive has to be the same size and shape
as the old one so it will fit in your PowerBook's
tray (below).

Replacing or Upgrading the Optical Drive in Your PowerBook G3 or 1400

- 2006.01.24 - Tip Jar

Most PowerBook G3 owners I know of want to upgrade their internal CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive to something faster and more flexible. The problem is that most new drives for sale around the Net are over $100 and are simply not worth the investment.

In this article I'll show you how to swap your existing drive for another one. These instructions should work for any PowerBook with a removable optical drive, including the PowerBook 1400 and the G3 models.

Things you need:

  • Your current CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive
  • Any CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, etc. drive from a laptop that has the ATAPI 50-pin interface
  • Small screwdrivers

Things to look for in a replacement drive:

  • Tray design that will fit
  • CD-RW, Combo, DVD-RW, or DVD±RW are a plus
  • Slot loading drives will work

The best place to get your "upgrade" drive is from a broken PC laptop. Chances are it will work, because most laptops have used the ATAPI 50-pin standard for over 10 years.

Location of six screws

Follow these steps to do the switch:

  1. Remove 6 screws from PB G3 tray (see photos above) or 4 from PB 1400 tray.
  2. Pull out the original drive.
  3. Place the new drive in the tray.
  4. Replace the screws (only 4 are required on some drives).
  5. Install PatchBurn for iApp/OS X compatibility.

After you install the new drive, it automatically works with Toast. To get your iApps working, download and run PatchBurn. PatchBurn installs new drivers in Mac OS X so that it will support your replacement drive.

The final resultIn most cases the new drive will not have the same size and shape as your original Apple drive. It's possible to switch the faceplate on some drives, but those are rare, so you'll see a funky looking drive in your PowerBook (see photo). But remember that now you can burn CDs (and possibly DVDs), which you couldn't do with your original drive. LEM

Join us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, use our Google+ page, or read our RSS news feed

If you find Joe's articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.

Recent Mac Fallout Shelter articles

Links for the Day

Recent Content on Low End Mac

Recent Deals

About LEM Support Usage Privacy Contact

Mac Fallout Shelter articles copyright ©2005-07 by Joe Rivera. Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Opinions expressed are those of their authors and may not reflect the opinion of Cobweb Publishing. Advice is presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all.
  Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2013 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc. unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Low End Mac, LowEndMac, and lowendmac.com are trademarks of Cobweb Publishing Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iPad, iPhone, iMac, iPod, MacBook, Mac Pro, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.
  Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Email may be published at our discretion unless marked "not for publication"; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it, and we don't share the information we have with others. For more details, see our Terms of Use.

Custom Search

FollowLow End Mac on Twitter
Join Low End Macon Facebook

Low End Mac Reader Specials

Quantcast

Quantcast

Quantcast

Quantcast

Quantcast

Quantcast

Quantcast

Quantcast

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
Cult of Mac
Shrine of Apple
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac Museum
Deal Brothers
DealMac
Mac2Sell
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End Mac FAQ

Affiliates

Amazon.com
The iTunes Store
PC Connection Express
Macgo Blu-ray Player
Parallels Desktop for Mac
eBay

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeatMedia. For price quotes and advertising information,please contact at BackBeat Media(646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link

Low End Mac's Amazon.com store

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link