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My 2.0 GHz Aluminum Macbook's SATA SuperDrive (HLDT GS21N) no longer accepts media - recorded CD/DVD or blank CD/DVD. I...

Now that you’ve updated to show an A1181 MacBook, here’s a manual that goes through the screw arrangement for that model. The first 10 steps cover the removal of the battery and the removal of the screws holding the lower case to everything else; reverse those steps to reassemble. There are a lot of different screws holding the lower case to the upper and to the chassis. Get a nice clear area, (ideally) some magnetized #0, #00 and #000 screwdrivers, and take your time. I’ve done it myself many times, and it can be a stressful process. MacBook Core 2 Duo Lower Case Replacement

There are three different 2009 generations in MacBooks: (1) A1181 Early 2009 MacBook/EMC 2300: 2GHz, FireWire400 port, removable battery (2) A1181 Mid 2009 MacBook/EMC 2330: 2.13GHz, FireWire400 port, removable battery (3) A1342 Late 2009 MacBook (Unibody)/EMC 2350: 2.26GHz, USB ports only, non-removable battery If your friend’s battery can’t be removed from the bottom case without unscrewing the whole bottom plate, and yours can be removed by sticking a coin or a screwdriver in the slot in the round space next to the battery, then you have two different designs. You can also identify the computers by the EMC number, which is printed in very tiny letters on the bottom case behind the hinge, along with the model number. The later A1342 Unibody MacBooks (2009-2010) can take OSes as late as 10.13.x High Sierra. The earlier A1181 MacBooks (2006-2009) have a number of different cutoff points, depending on the generation; 10.6/Snow Leopard for the 2006 first generation, 10.7/Lion for the five Late 2006-Late 2008...

As of 2.5 years later, the only aftermarket vendor who makes SSDs compatible with laptops from mid-2013 or later is still OtherWorld Computing/OWC. Fortunately, OWC's cards can be swapped between MacBook Pro Retinas and MacBook Airs from this period. Update (07/01/2019): Additional options have appeared since my previous comment re OWC. 1) Transcend (a Mac manufacturer/retailer for many decades) now features a lineup of SSDs with Apple's connector. These are available in x2 and x4 PCI-e variants, in variants for pre-PCI-e 2010-early 2013 MB Airs and MB Pro-Retinas, with and without external enclosures. 2) A number of Chinese OEMs are retailing adapters for Apple's customized Late 2013+ connector, which allow the user to install common industry M-key m.2 PCI-e SSDs. Simtech is the most widely advertised of these OEMs; they may be the primary manufacturer for the other retailers. There are a couple of caveats for these adapters. Simtech lists a limited range of m.2 SSDs as compatible; others are listed as...

If there’s an LED coming on, then the power supply works - at least, well enough to power the LED. An LED coming on (and maybe blinking) is a code for a variety of RAM/BootROM errors. Apple used to have a support note on this, but I don’t seem to be able to find it now. However, the University of Oregon has a reference: https://it.uoregon.edu/node/3308 UofO’s list of blink error codes matches my memory, and is as follows: (1) Black screen, power LED on (solid): POST or BootROM failure (2) Flashing power LED once per second: bad RAM or no RAM (3) Three flashes, a pause, and three more flashes (occurs continuously): marginal RAM If the LED is blinking, I’d try replacing the RAM. If you have no compatible replacement RAM, at least remove the RAM you have, clean off the contacts on the RAM sticks with a pink rubber eraser so they’re shiny, scrub out the RAM sockets with a soft dry toothbrush to get any gunk out of them, and try booting with the cleaned/reinstalled sticks. It’s possible that one stick may have...

Since you formatted the drive under a different OS, the formatting tool may have used a partition scheme that's incompatible with OSX booting. In order to boot an Intel Mac running OSX, the boot drive needs to be GUID partitioned (not MBR as Windows uses), and HFS+ formatted (HFS+ journaled is the default format for later versions of OSX). I suspect that the partition mapping a formatting utility puts on a drive is the default partition used by the boot OS, unless you specify otherwise beforehand. If the Linux tool you're using doesn't include an option for a GUID partition map, you may need to format the drive from a Mac, using Disk Utility.

PC3-12800 1600 MHz RAM is faster than PC3-10600 1333 MHz RAM, but that’s not relevant to your problem. The RAM bus (the pipeline connecting your RAM to your CPU) is 1333 MHz; faster RAM won’t make your computer any faster, because the CPU can’t talk to the RAM any faster than it’s designed to do. RAM tends to be downward-compatible; faster RAM typically will scale down to a slower bus speed, as long as it’s the same type of RAM (PC2/PC3/PC4 etc.) and fits in the same socket. But the RAM scales down to the speed of the computer - the computer doesn’t speed up to the bus speed of the RAM. If you suspect you might be buying a newer PC3-12800 computer in the foreseeable future (like a 2012 mini, or a 2012 MacBook Pro), then it might make sense to get the faster RAM, so you have the option of moving it to the newer computer later. I suggest you take the RAM you’ve already bought, install it in your mini, and see if it works. If it does, then enjoy it and move on. RAM is a commodity: If it works, different RAM...

Yes, you can replace the SSD in a 2017 model MacBook Air. The socketed PCIe SSD that fits Late 2013-Early 2017 MacBook Airs will also fit Late 2013-Mid 2015 MacBook Pros. If you’re shopping on the used market, be sure to get a 4x card, which is the speed your computer is designed to use. Pre-2015 laptops use a slower 2x card; it will work in your system, but you're throwing speed away. iFixit sells both recycled Apple SSDs and new replacements from OtherWorld Computing: (1) MacBook Air 11" (2013-2015) 13" (2013-2017) MacBook Pro Retina 13" and 15" (2015) SSD (2) OWC Aura Pro X SSD iFixit doesn’t have any guides for the 2017 MacBook Air, but it’s basically just a speed bump of the earlier Early 2015 MacBook Air. Most of the repair guides for the 2015 model should work with the 2017 model, as long as you use the replacement parts for the newer model: (1) MacBook Air 13" Early 2015のSSD交換 The 2017 MBA is the most recent Apple laptop with a socketed drive. All the Thunderbolt 3/USB-C era MacBook Pros (2016 and...

If the screen lights up and the operating system loads, and it gets to a desktop, then the computer is booting up. What it's not doing is staying powered up once you've booted up. The first thing I would try is resetting the power manager/SMC controller, just in case this is just a system glitch: How to reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac I doubt that's the problem, but the fact that disconnecting/reconnecting the battery seems to change things may be power management-related. But really, it sounds like the computer is overheating, possibly due to one or more of the following issues: (1) Clogged or failing fans (2) Disintegrating heatsink compound between the CPU/GPU and the attached heatsink (3) Clogged air vents I'm guessing that when you try to start up the computer, the fans are making a lot of noise. Depending on your environment, fans and air vents can get clogged with dust or pet hair; cat hair is particularly bad, as it's usually finer than dog hair, and can get deeper into the...

With a spill, you can't be sure where the liquid has gone - it gets everywhere. Once it gets on the circuit boards, it can start to corrode the electronic circuitry. The idea of a deep cleaning (with purified alcohol or a similar cleaner) is to remove both the liquid and any residue the liquid carried in suspension. In the case of water, the concern would be minerals; in the case of beer, wine, soda or juice, the concern will be sugars, which can burn/caramelize with the heat of the circuit, and cause further damage. iFixit's Electronics Water Damage guide is a good start; also the MacBook Core Duo Logic Board Replacement guide.

Have you tried a different charging adapter? Just because the connections look fine doesn't mean they are fine. The MagSafe connectors are magnetized; there can be metallic debris stuck on the connectors. There can also be nonmetallic dirt/grease etc. on the connectors, and it may interfere with the electrical connection. It's also possible that the pins on the MagSafe connector may be bent, and aren't connecting cleanly with the charge points on the computer. And of course, the cable connecting the MagSafe connector to the power block is very thin and very fragile. Apple has a tech note on MagSafe troubleshooting: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203207

How strong is the adhesive on the iFixit replacement battery, compared to the Apple OEM adhesive? Are we looking at a similar painful extraction process if/when we pull the replacement battery?

For that matter, is an Apple-esque strong adhesive actually necessary in this application? Double-sided tape is usually weaker; it might be a little thinner than the adhesive layer, and certainly far more user serviceable. Would tape be sufficient to hold the battery in place? Once you've got the bottom case screwed back on, the battery is immobilized anyway.

The epoxy cementing the rubber pad to the aluminum base is a lot stronger than the rubber itself. The rubber is likely to tear as you remove it; I had to use a putty knife to clear the screws. It's worth hanging onto the branding near the Ethernet ports, for future identification (model number, serial number, Ethernet ID, AirPort ID); you can fashion a replacement pad out of neoprene rubber.

In both the online and the PDF version, Steps 17-18 and Steps 29-30 are identical. At which stage should you actually remove the display screws?

I use a screw ID technique similar to griffn's; I print out the PDF version of the guide, then Scotch-tape each screw type to the guide at the step where the screw was removed. The screws are then distinguished by size and type at the point where they need to be reinstalled.

I use a similar technique: I print out the iFixit manual for the job, and Scotch-tape down the screws/brackets/cables I remove at each step next to the component descriptions. That way, when I'm reassembling, the bits are taped right next to the photo of where they came from.

When reinstalling the battery connector/cable, placement of the connector is critical. If the connector isn't positioned accurately, contact with the battery terminals won't be completed. The battery connector cover will help you align the connector, but there will still be a little leeway as you screw the cover down. Position the battery first, to adjust the connector's position; then remove the battery and tighten the cover screws down. You may even want to try plugging the computer into the AC charger before completing the cover attachment, to ensure that battery is charging and the connector is correctly positioned.