# Can I put a Toshiba IDE (MK1517GAP) in my titanium powerbook G4



## kpark11 (Jul 26, 2009)

I have an old titanium Powerbook G4 lappy that has a bad hard drive.  I can get a sweet deal on a Toshiba 15GB IDE Had Drive ( Model #MK1517GAP), but didn't know if that would work in this laptop.

Any advice or help would work.

Thanks,
Kelly


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## Jesse714 (Jul 27, 2009)

IDE is ATA which is exactly what the Powerbook G4's have. How come you don't buy a bigger drive?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010150380 1035907889&name=ATA-6

How much are you going to pay for that 15 gig? It can't be worth more than 10 Dollars. 

I bought a 160gb off ebay for 45, but the first one i got was DOA, so im waiting for the people to give me an exchange.

Good Luck


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## Satcomer (Jul 27, 2009)

Look at a guide. Have you ever opened a laptop before?


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## djackmac (Jul 27, 2009)

kpark11 said:


> I have an old titanium Powerbook G4 lappy that has a bad hard drive.  I can get a sweet deal on a Toshiba 15GB IDE Had Drive ( Model #MK1517GAP), but didn't know if that would work in this laptop.
> 
> Any advice or help would work.



Should work fine. The titaniums are very easy to swap HDs on. But I question the "sweat deal" as larger HDs are going for dirt cheap almost.


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## DeltaMac (Jul 27, 2009)

Yes, if you install most any version of OS X, you would run low on space very quickly with only 15 GB.
As the drive would likely be used or reconditioned, that's false economy, IMHO


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## kpark11 (Jul 27, 2009)

Thanks Jess714 for the quick reply.  The reason I'm grabbing a small drive is because the computer is going to be for my 4 year old son.  He's a nerd in training, and all I want to do is put a couple of childrens games on it and let him store some photos he takes with a digital camera.  

The drive only cost me $10, so it was a pretty good deal.   I did get the drive in last night, but wasn't able to get the OS loaded using the Reinstall disks.  I'm going to give it a shot tonight.

I put the drive into a external casing to make sure it worked & format it.  That didn't seem to be the problem. 

Any other thoughts/suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.

KP


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## djackmac (Jul 27, 2009)

Take the battery out and there is about 8 T8 hex screws that hold the bottom cover on. Remove the bottom cover and the drive is right there. You might need to take out a couple mounting screws the hold the drive in an you'll be home free. Keep us posted.


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## Jesse714 (Jul 27, 2009)

There phillips screw's, not T8's.

That sounds like a pretty good plan.

Good luck with your son's nerd training haha.


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## Jesse714 (Jul 27, 2009)

Satcomer said:


> Look at a guide. Have you ever opened a laptop before?



Hey, You accidentally gave him an aluminum powerbook. He need's a titanium, but its really simple to take the back off, its just like delta mac said, but instead there phillip's (at least the 500MHz one i had were, sorry djackmac if im wrong)

[url=http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Device/PowerBook_G4_Titanium_Mercury]Your Powerbook[/URL]


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## DeltaMac (Jul 27, 2009)

Jesse714 - I plead ignorance - it was really djackmac


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## Jesse714 (Jul 27, 2009)

Ah, haha, Sorry about that, Your names are easy to mix up, ill change it


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## MisterMe (Jul 27, 2009)

kpark11 said:


> ... The reason I'm grabbing a small drive is because the computer is going to be for my 4 year old son. ...
> 
> The drive only cost me $10, so it was a pretty good deal. ...
> 
> ...


Your 15 GB hard drive for $10 is not a good deal. It is not a good deal in terms of the $/GB of available drives. It is not a good deal in terms of its capacity.

You didn't give the specific model of your PowerBook, but it is quite likely that it shipped with a larger hard drive. With sufficient hard drive capacity, the computer can easily run MacOS X 10.4 plus Classic. With only 15 GB of hard drive capacity, it will be limited to MacOS 9.2 and/or MacOS X 10.3.9. 

I strongly suggest that you look-up your specific model. Determine its minimum hard drive and OS requirements. You may find every PowerBook model ever manufactured on the Apple-History.com website.


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## Jesse714 (Jul 27, 2009)

The 500MHz one that i bought, only came with a 10 gig hard drive.

But the computer is for his son said, 15 gigs for a young kid, with a couple of (small) games, will do just fine. I would recommend putting in at least a 40gig,which will cost more than 15 buck.


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## kpark11 (Jul 27, 2009)

Hey guys, thanks for all the action on the thread.  The problem isn't with replacing the actual drive, that was the easy part.  Now I'm having an issue loading the OS onto the new drive.  I'm using the "Software Install" CD and when I hold down Ctrl when I reboot it just errors out with the following grey screen error.

"The Installer has unexpectedly quit. (error 1)

Press the Return key to restart the computer...
kmod_destroy: com.apple.driver.AppleFWOHCI (id 42), deallocating 14 pages starting at 0x12552000.....
"

I'm attaching a photo.


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## MisterMe (Jul 27, 2009)

kpark11 said:


> ...  Now I'm having an issue loading the OS onto the new drive.  I'm using the "Software Install" CD and when I hold down Ctrl when I reboot it just errors out with the following grey screen error.
> 
> ...


You cannot install an OS on your computer that is older than the one that the computer shipped with. Also, you cannot use the System Restore disc for one computer to install the OS on another.


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## kpark11 (Jul 27, 2009)

Thanks MisterMe.  But I'm trying to install from the disks that shipped with the G4.  I believe it is 10.0.4.  

Does that make sense?

Thanks,
KP


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## kpark11 (Jul 27, 2009)

MisterMe, you got me thinking about the install, and I inserted the other "Software Install" CD which is OS 9.  Everything was going great before I got the BOMB.  Photo attached.


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## MisterMe (Jul 28, 2009)

If you can't boot from the MacOS 9 CD that shipped with your computer, then you will never be able to boot the computer until it is repaired.


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## kpark11 (Jul 28, 2009)

MisterMe, what would need to be repaired?  Do you think it is an issue with the hard drive?


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## MisterMe (Jul 28, 2009)

kpark11 said:


> ... Do you think it is an issue with the hard drive?


Your computer won't boot from the CD. This has nothing to do with the hard drive.


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