wegenermedia.com has factory new drives for ~$70 and pbfixit.com has a nice complete step-by-step procedure outlined. I just did it for my sister-in-law and it went very smoothly. eBay might have somewhat better prices, but when I was looking, they were ~$50 shipped for a used drive.
Good luck - Laurent's solution might be the best, sinking $70 into your clamshell might sting - depending on what your expectations are for the future. --Van On 6/10/05, Laurent Daudelin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On 10/06/05 08:48, "Jim Katz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > My wife's original blue clamshell iBook just went wonky, suddenly deciding > > it does not have an airport card and unable to access the CD-Rom drive, > > which spins up but does not read. Booting is also unreliable. The Apple > > tech says I have to buy a new CD-Rom before anything else can be done as it > > is defective. USB only on this machine, no firewire. My questions: Is > > there any workaround to boot from an external HD or something like that with > > this machine? Any other way to load a new system besides the internal > > CD-Rom drive? In other words, any way to avoid many $100s of expense? > > I'm sorry, Jim, but I don't think there is any other way around it. You > can't boot from USB and since you don't have FireWire, not target disk mode. > > What you could do would be to pull the hard drive and put it into an > external USB or FireWire enclosure. Then, use another Mac to install a > system on it if you can. > > I would also imagine that you should be able to find a CD-ROM replacement > for far less than $100 on that model. > > -Laurent. > -- > ======================================================================== > Laurent Daudelin Developer, Multifamily, ESO, Fannie Mae > mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Washington, DC, USA > ************************ Usual disclaimers apply *********************** > > > -- > G-Books is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... > > Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | > -- Check our web site for refurbished PowerBooks | & CDRWs on Sale! | > > Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> > > G-Books list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-books.html> > --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; > Send list messages to: <mailto:G-Books@mail.maclaunch.com> > To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-books%40mail.maclaunch.com/> > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------- > iPod Accessories for Less > at 1-800-iPOD.COM > Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal > www.1800ipod.com > --------------------------------------------------------------- > > -- G-Books is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- Check our web site for refurbished PowerBooks | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-Books list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-books.html> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:G-Books@mail.maclaunch.com> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-books%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- iPod Accessories for Less at 1-800-iPOD.COM Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal www.1800ipod.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
