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iBook G3 Airport Card Mod
We're all aware of the sky-rocketing price of the original Apple-branded Airport 802.11b cards. Being too expensive to justify buying one for your older G3 ibook or Powerbook, you find that the former has few options since it has not the PB's card slot. And yet. And yet! What is one to do?
Mod the sucker. That's what.
What we'll need for this project:
- iBook G3 model. I used the ibook 500 "icebook."
- Buffalo Aircard, or a card with the same Lucent chipset Apple's card has.
- Soldering tool, solder. Don't spend too much-- $10 should be fine for this.
- Some wire. Just. some. wire.
- Some sort of prying tool. Knife pehaps.
Okay, for starters, here's the problem we're dealing with here, as shown by comparing another Lucent card-- as found in the Graphite station-- with the that rare creature, the Apple card. Here it is in its natural habitat. Sshhh!
Okay, obviously the problem you're going to have is one of size-- no way is a normal-sized 802.11b card going to fit in the space alloted for it in the ibook
.
Instructions:
First step: remove that awful black plastic exterior on the end of the card. The plastic is in two pieces, and the metal is crimped over it. You should be able to pry it off without doing any damage to the card. It's pretty sturdy.
Once off, you'll see that familiar lush green of the board inside. You'll then think to yourself: "what a waste", refering to the number of wholes in it. Now you can see why Apple easily requested the manufacturer to scale down their model. Also, you'll notice that the antenna plug is soldered on at four or more places, two of those points being the antenna in, at both the long end, and at the side opposite the "power" and "activty" lights.
Step 2: Let us now remove the plug. There is no going back now. "Lay down all hope, you that go in by me." Use your finely honed soldering skills, which really ought to be better than mine, to take off the plug. Be patient. Don't be afraid to apply some pressure, in the end. Remove all the solder when the plug has been removed.
Step 3: Okay, find your "just wire" and solder wire into both aforementioned connections. Give yourself no more than 3 inches of wire, since it's a tight space once the keyboard is in place. For some reason, these connections then need to be crossed. Why? I don't know. Test it out. You'll find the do. I put some solder in between. This may have affected performance, though, and I may do over some day soon.
Step 4: This is the real point of no return for the ibook's future wireless possibilities. We need to cut the plug off of the antenna. First, take up the keyboard. Then, take the metal plate from overtop the ram slots. This will allow more room for the card, for you to work. I haven't since replaced it. No big deal. Next, cut off the plug from the antenna.
Inside the antenna we find that there are two wires: the outer, insulating wire that serves a function besides insulation, and the inner, brittle bastard of a wire, covered in a plastic sheath. The latter is VERY fragile. Remove 1/4" or so of the plastic. DO NOT BEND IT! There is only so much you have to play around with.
You should consider, now, whether or not you want some shrink-wrap insulator to cover the wires. This would be a good idea, I imagine. I am not one for actualizing good ideas, however.
Step 5: connecting the dots. We need to connect the wires, appropriately. The inside wire we'll attach to the "centre" wire on the card. The outer we'll attach to the "side" wire. How you do this is up to you. I twisted the latter together, although the former is difficult. No twisting can be done, since the wire is weak. Instead, perhaps a daub of solder will do.
The card is now a permanent fixture of the ibook. Plug it in. Replace the metal shielding if you wish. Tuck those wires safely under the iBook's keyboard.
If the card you used had the Lucent chipset, it will be immediately recognized by OSX. It thinks it is an Apple card, in fact, and will show you all the signs and wonders of Apple airport networking.
This mod, I must say, was undertaken with little cost, yet with even less skill in electronic modification, particularly soldering. I have confidence that anyone with the least bit of skill would be successful in this small project.
Thanks to all who provided suggestions on the forum. This was fun.
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