Macnadoodle

I had tried everything I could think of the make the G3 iBook classroom-functional.  I added RAM, I loaded Ubuntu Linux, I loaded  OS X, I reloaded OS,  I loaded Ubuntu again.  It’s interesting how I can do the same thing over and over again and expect different results…     After giving up and placing it on auction, a student accidentally knocked the machine to the floor busting the CD-Rom.  I got a new on auction but it was the wrong type.  Rather than hassling with returning or reselling it, I resolved to fix it myself by taking both units apart to make one good one.   You laugh.  You’re right.  It didn’t work.  Bad idea #1. I sat with our principal and discussed what to do with all of these laptops and he said “we should stuff them into another box!”  He suggested a wooden box but I started looking at every possible container.   Then I saw it – one of those drawing toys that you write on with a magnetic wand.  Sort of a modern-day etch a sketch.  I think it was called a Magnadoodle at some point.

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Specs

• G3 Clamshell iBook
• 366 mhz
• Wifi (airport)

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Parts

• 1 Large Magnetic Drawing Toy (Magnadoodle)
• 1 Apple G3 Clamshell iBook
• 9x12 inch piece of black poster board
• Exacto knife (to cut poster board)
• Pliers
• Needle Nose Pliers
• Small Torx wrench set (to take iBook apart)
• Drill & Unibit (or assorted drill bits)
• Electrical tape (optional)
• Wireless connection (optional)

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Process
Part 1 - Disassembly
After following an online tutorial on dismantling a Clamshell iBook (http://news.cnet.com/2300-1041_3-6227288-1.html ), I decided that all I needed was the following pieces:
* The mother board
* The screen and cable
* The airport card and antenna
* The sound card, cabling, and speaker with cable.
* And the heat sinks (rectangular metal pieces that bolt to the processor.

I broke off all of the plastic rivet heads on the back of the Magnadoodle with a flathead screwdriver and tore out the plastic ribbing with pliers (just grab some plastic and wiggle it until it breaks off.  I also gutted the yellow sliding tray, leaving only the cosmetic edge.  All of this was necessary to make room for the board.

Part 2 - Glueing and Screwing
After drilling some speaker holes in the case and hot glueing the speaker under the outer-top cover, I drilled a hole to make room for a speaker wire.  I then hot glued the screen to the front of the Magnadoodle case and cut out a cardboard frame to cover the open space between the G3 screen and the Magnadoodle frame.  I also had to cut a space for AC plug socket.
I used the tall bolts and screws and installed them on the opposite side of the board.  This stilt-like support flat.  The “stilts” were then hot glued to the Magnadoodle back.

Part 3 - Heatsink?  What Heatsink?
Plug it in, plug in a mouse and/or keyboard (I used one of my alphamsart Danas as a keyboard).  Voila’ – or so I thought.  I posted some picks on maker-magazine’s flickr.com group and received a very helpful comment.  It went something like this, “I noticed you left the heat sinks off. Are you having overheating problems?”.  I responded with “what heat sink”.  After climbing out of the dumpster with a soggy bag of parts, and an additional picture of how to mount the heat sink, I got out the hot glue gun, screwed the heat sink down on one side, and glued down the other side.

Now it’s finished.  I think I’ll use it as a digital picture frame outside my classroom this year.

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Images

Pop the rivits
Lay the board on backside and mark areas to remove	Tear off the ribbing on back
Remove Drawer	Remove excess drawer and leave only cosmetic edge
Drill holes for small sound card cable	Remove plastic and make room for AC plug
Screw down heat sink then hotglue edge to Magnadoodle	Board is hotglued and finished!
After and Before	Backside on Stand
Alphasmart Dana used as keyboard	Front on stand