PowerBook G3 Pismo RAM Replacement

Written By: iRobot

Comments: 3

Difficulty

Easy

Steps

Time Required

No estimate

Introduction

Two RAM slots allow up to 1 GB of PC100 or PC133 RAM.

Tools

Parts

Step 1

Turn the keyboard locking screw so that it is parallel to the space bar.
Pull the keyboard release tabs toward you and lift up on the keyboard until it pops free.
Lift the keyboard out by pulling it up and away from you. Rest the keyboard, face down, on top of the track pad.

Step 2

Pull the keyboard ribbon straight up from the logic board. Place the keyboard aside.
The connector may be tight. Gently rock the connector from side to side while pulling directly upward to free it. You can use this technique on many of the cards and cables you'll be disconnecting.
Make sure you have removed the laptop battery and CD/DVD modules from the expansion bays before proceeding.

Step 3

Your laptop should look approximately like this.

Step 4

Remove the two silver Phillips #1 screws that attach the heat shield to the internal metal framework.
Lift the heat shield up and pull it toward you.

On my M7572, these are T9s not Philips.

Rufleyboy -

Step 5

Your laptop should look approximately like this.

Step 6

Skip this step if your computer does not have an Airport card installed.
Firmly grasp the plastic tab attached to the Airport card and pull up and then to the right.
The Airport card is still attached to the antenna cable, so don't just yank it out of the slot.

On mine, the airport card had been put it with the orange ribbon OVER the top, so had to unplug the righthand connector and then plug it back in after (see pic for Step 8)

Rufleyboy -

Step 7

Disconnect the antenna cable from the Airport card.

Step 8

Pull the battery cable directly up from the logic board.
Remove the battery from its holder by pulling up and to the left.

Step 9

Your laptop should look approximately like this.

Step 10

Remove the long silver Phillips #1 screw from the heat sink.
Remove the two T8 Torx screws that attach the heat sink to the processor.

Step 11

Lift the heat sink up from the left side and pull it out.
If you need to mount the heat sink back into the laptop, we have a thermal paste guide that makes replacing the thermal compound easy.

Step 12

Grasp the plastic tab on the processor's right side and pull it directly up.
Some processors may be missing the plastic pull tab. In this case, we suggest using a non-metal tool to gently pry up the processor. Slip the tool's thin edge under the front right corner of the processor and carefully pry it up.

Step 13

Your laptop should look approximately like this.

Step 14

Release the tabs on each side of the RAM chip at the same time. These tabs lock the chip in place and releasing them will cause the chip to "pop" up.
Pull the RAM chip out.
There are RAM slots on both sides of the processor. We recommend installing higher capacity chips on the bottom so that if you want to upgrade later, you won't have to remove the processor.

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

One comment

Way too many steps in my opinion. First, the battery should be removed. I saw no reason to remove keyboard, folding it over was enough. Also, saw no reason to remove PRAM battery, I did disconnect it, however. The AirPort card didn’t have to be removed, either. Once the shield was removed along with the heatsink, the processor board just popped right out. When replacing board, make sure the little tabs are in their slots since the board won’t push back in all of the way. Thanks iRobot!

pjmrozinski - 15/01/18