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Help me recover data from an old iBook HDD
September 14, 2008 9:38 AM   RSS feed for this thread Subscribe

How can I recover data from an iBook (G4) HDD using my new Intel-based MacBook?

A few years ago I had an iBook G4 that died of a logic board failure. The HDD, as far as I know, is still intact. I have a MacBook now and would really like to retrieve some things that I never backed up from that old drive. What's the easiest way for me to do this myself? Are there any external enclosures I could use that would just work with an iBook drive right out of the box? Thanks!
posted by saraswati to computers & internet (5 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
It's going to be torturous to get to the hard drive in the iBook G4. Steps here. I've done this teardown three times, and it's no fun. However, since the iBook is dead anyway, you have nothing to lose.

After you do the surgery, get yourself an 2.5" IDE FireWire or USB enclosure, install your drive and Bob's your uncle.
posted by porn in the woods at 9:54 AM on September 14, 2008


Sure, just get an external 2.5" PATA enclosure. They are $12 at Fry's for a basic model. Or just buy one of these, it's not an enclosure but it does provide the ability to hook up any 2.5" or 3.5" IDE or SATA drive via USB. Handy to have in your toolbox.
posted by kindall at 9:55 AM on September 14, 2008


All this is assuming the logic board is b0rked enough that you can't get this lappy to boot into FireWire Target Mode
posted by porn in the woods at 9:58 AM on September 14, 2008


Thanks guys. I come from a technical background involving PC's so I wasn't sure if there was any catch to using an iBook drive in a standard enclosure. Wasn't able to do FireWire Target Mode (would've been a lot easier if it had worked!) so I'll go out today and get an enclosure and get to work hacking the iBook to bits. Thanks again.
posted by saraswati at 11:29 AM on September 14, 2008


Regarding the enclosure: avoid anything that is SATA (Serial ATA), for your drive is PATA (Parallel ATA). Newer machines like your MacBook use SATA.
posted by porn in the woods at 11:56 AM on September 14, 2008


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