Home » forums » Hacking » Hardware Hacks

plans/brainstorm for a TiBook Hack

Submitted by simon_C on January 19, 2006 - 12:39am. Hardware Hacks

ok im planning on getting a 15" titanium powerbook G4. the one with the black keyboard. i like the look of it better than the new aluminum ones.

here are my plans:

--find a place for a d-link usb bluetooth adaptor inside the case.

--sand all the paint off (elimating the paint chipping problem)

--make the apple logo on the screen blue as well as the power LED

--link an LED behind the screen apple logo to the power led so it pulses when sleeping.

--peel the silver film off the trackpad and replace with transparent contact paper (as with the iComet mod)

--tape off and etch a design into the lid

--sand and repaint the white frame aound the palmrest with a high gloss white paint

so thats the basic plan.
ideas, comments, critisism?

thanks!

» login or register to post comments | previous forum topic | next forum topic

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
MaxTek's picture

Re: plans/brainstorm for a TiBook Hack

Submitted by MaxTek on January 19, 2006 - 1:36am.
simon_C wrote:
ok im planning on getting a 15" titanium powerbook G4. the one with the black keyboard. i like the look of it better than the new aluminum ones.

here are my plans:

--find a place for a d-link usb bluetooth adaptor inside the case.

--sand all the paint off (elimating the paint chipping problem)

--make the apple logo on the screen blue as well as the power LED

--link an LED behind the screen apple logo to the power led so it pulses when sleeping.

--peel the silver film off the trackpad and replace with transparent contact paper (as with the iComet mod)

--tape off and etch a design into the lid

--sand and repaint the white frame aound the palmrest with a high gloss white paint

so thats the basic plan.
ideas, comments, critisism?

thanks!

I have one opened up and taken apart in my office...if you can find a place for the bluetooth adapter you are amazing.

as for the lid logo...have fun taking the halves apart with the glue that holds them together. The metal pieces kink very easy...very, very easy.

as for the trackpad, I am looking at the inside of mine at it doesn't look easy at all to remove it to peel off the gray layer (by the way take a look at my gallery for my 540c trackpad. http://www.applefritter.com/node/5984 I peeled the gray layer and left it as is. Works wonderfully and the circuit board pattern looks great). It looks to be either pressed on or glued.

Other than that, go for it.

MaxTek

» My name it means nothing. My fortune is less. My future is shrouded in dark wilderness.

login or register to post comments
simon_C's picture

actually...

Submitted by simon_C on January 19, 2006 - 2:36am.

i plan on putting the bluetooth module where the airport card is supposed to go, as i will be using a 802.11G card in the pc card slot...

» Buy it, use it, break it, fix it, trash it, change it, mail - upgrade it,
charge it, point it, zoom it, press it, snap it, work it, quick - erase it,
write it, cut it, paste it, save it, load it, check it, quit - rewrite it,
plug it, play it, burn it,

login or register to post comments
dankephoto's picture

BT over HD?

Submitted by dankephoto on January 19, 2006 - 2:45am.

TiBooks can accept HDs up to 12.7mm thick. With a 9.5mm HD installed, that's 3mm of available space. Is that enough?

dan k

» || web page | Applish goodies servers Carracho (port9700) & Hotline (port9500) ||
ยป email macdan at comcast.net

login or register to post comments
simon_C's picture

no, its thicker than that. bu

Submitted by simon_C on January 19, 2006 - 2:56am.

no, its thicker than that. but if i do end up putting the toshiba 1.8" hard drive i have in it, with some anti-static foam surrounding it as super-shock padding... ill have some extra room, but for now, the airport slot sounds fine, closer to the usb ports too.

» Buy it, use it, break it, fix it, trash it, change it, mail - upgrade it,
charge it, point it, zoom it, press it, snap it, work it, quick - erase it,
write it, cut it, paste it, save it, load it, check it, quit - rewrite it,
plug it, play it, burn it,

login or register to post comments

Place for a the bluetooth adaptor...

Submitted by ChrisPaz on January 25, 2006 - 12:45am.

If you start pulling components out of your powerbook you begin to realize there is actually a lot of open space for mods. If you pull the modem (who uses it?) out of the upper left hand corner of the laptop you should have space for the adapter (I know there is enough length not sure about the depth). If it would fit there that's great because the usb ports are right there and you could hard wire it into one if you wanted. The other good place to fond space is to pull the left hand speaker ( I use headphones or external speakers so this is of little use to me). You could also pull out the right speaker but this is also the component that contains the mic. If you rip those out i would suggest applying some sort or black material to make sure that crumbs and other stuff dose not fall into the powerbook. You can also find a lot of room where the pci card and airport card would go. If you remove the tray that holds said cards there is even more room (just 3 easy screws away).

As for removing the paint, I remember this question being answered a few years before. The person who originally did this mod used a type of "plastic" based steel wool. I have seen it many a times in my local hardware store and I tried it out on a small spot on my powerbook and it took the finish off with out much effort. Just remember to fully disassemble your powerbook before taking the paint off. Even if the non-steel wool dose will not bridge electrical connections it will still get all over the place.

Good luck and be careful

»
login or register to post comments