Retrobook

After seeing this mod on a friend's portable, I had to try it our myself. My friend replaced the green throbbing sleep LED in the PowerBook G3 firewire (I wish Apple had more creative names for these machines) with a blue one. While I was taking my unit apart, I noticed an old 6 color apple sticker on my desk, and that it was the same size as the white apple logo on my machine. I decided to go for the gusto.

Retrobook - complete

What do you think?

Here's how I did it:

1. Remove keyboard.
2. Gently pry off the black center cover above the keyboard
3. You can now see the inverter board.

Retrobook - led
(click to enlarge)

4. The led to be replaced is circled in blue. The thing circled in red is a fuse. Do not install an LED at this location. It will cause your machine to not work anymore.
5. REMOVE INVERTER BEFORE PERFORMING UPGRADE!!!
6. These tiny LED's (size=1206 by from www.digikey.com) have a green mark on them to indicate polarity. Note the polarity of the original part while it is still installed. Write it down. Here is a picture of the marks still in the package:

Retrobook - itty bitty led

7. Carefully unsolder the old part and solder the new part in. If you have no experience soldering surface mount parts, do not attempt this hack.
8. Reassemble the unit by performing these steps in reverse.

You now have a bright blue throbbing sleep LED!

Retrobook - full blue

But wait, there's more!

The white apple logo on the back of the machine glows from the light leaking out of the back of the display. It is made of clear plastic, and has a white cover over it to make it appear white.

1. Remove the 6 #1 sized philips screws on the front of the bezel. 4 of them are under the rubber bumpers above the screen, and 2 are below the black stickers below the display.
2. CAREFULLY pry the display halves apart using a soft plastic tool like a nylon spudger, plastic wedge, or spatula. Don't use a metal tool or you will mar the plastic, and break the tabs that hold the display together. Start at the top and work your way towards the bottom.
3. Once the top cover is removed set the machine aside someplace safe. DO NOT TOUCH THE BACK OF THE LCD PANEL. It is very fragile.
4. You should be seeing something like this:

Retrobook - logo cover

5. Remove the white plastic sheet circled in red. Throw it away.
6. The styrofoam dampener is held at it's four corners by double sided tape. Carefully remove it trying hard not to break the styrofoam sheet.
7. Place the sticker, color side down, on the clear window. After aligning it to your satisfaction, secure it with clear tape.

Retrobook - sticker

8. Return the styrofoam sheet sans white plastic sheet.

Retrobook - logo uncover

9. Reassemble display.

Retrobook - logo glow

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