Pull the keyboard release tabs (shown in yellow) toward you and lift up on the keyboard until it pops free.
If the keyboard does not come free, use a small flathead screwdriver to turn the keyboard locking screw (shown in orange) 180 degrees in either direction and try again.
Flip the keyboard over, away from the screen, and rest it face-down on the trackpad area.
Breathe deeply. Trying times are ahead, but we promise the lower case does come off.
Push in the thin rims of the lower case surrounding the battery compartment, bending them past the tabs, and then lift up to free that corner of the lower case.
There is a slot on the wall of the battery compartment that locks the lower case in place. Use a small flathead screwdriver to pry out the slot's lower rim and pull up on the lower case to free the slot from the tabs holding it.
Run a spudger along the seam between the lower case and upper case on the front of the computer to free the tabs locking the lower case. Pull up on the lower case and continue to use the spudger as necessary until you hear three distinct clicks.
Continue to run the spudger around the front, right corner. There are two tabs on the port side of the computer, one near the front corner and one near the sound-out port.
There are three tabs over the optical drive that must be released before the lower case can come off. Slide the spudger into the lower case above the optical drive and run it toward the back of the computer until you hear three distinct clicks.
Be especially careful while disconnecting the cables in the forthcoming steps. Never pull directly on the cables, but use a spudger to pry up the connector directly from its socket.
Lift the upper case and use a spudger or your finger to disconnect the trackpad connector hidden beneath the white plastic tab.
Be careful while lifting the upper case, as its tabs are still hanging on the metal frame.
The sockets attached to the motherboards of most iBooks are very weak and easily broken. Use extreme caution when pulling connectors out of their sockets.
Lift the upper case enough to disconnect the blue and white power cable from the logic board. Using your fingernails, carefully pry the connector from its socket.
Carefully disconnect the multicolored speaker cable from the logic board in the same fashion.
Disconnect the hard drive connector from the hard drive.
This is a bit tricky. Try rocking the connector gently from side to side while applying even pressure. If you bend the pins, do your best to straighten them, using the hard drive cable as a guide.
If you are installing a new hard drive, we have an OS X install guide to get you up and running.
My iBook G4 had some differences… there was a bracket retaining the HDD, screw placements weren't quite the same, the 'L' screw in Step 25 is actually a larger headed screw. Success achieved. Dead drive removed for destruction.
Wow!! Who knew it would be so complicated?!? I just wanted to pull the hard drive out before recycling the old case and never would have figured it out on my own. Thanks so much for posting these instructions.
A lot of these steps aren‘t necessary. Especially to save yourself the trouble: do not disconnect the power button and speaker-it works fine with having the shield next to the iBook with the cables still threaded through the metal sheet.