The old drive has three components that need to be transferred to the new drive before you can install it. The first is the standoffs, which are four screws on the bottom (they’re what the levers you opened in step 4 grab onto). Then transfer the ribbon cable, along with the piece of adhesive tape that attaches it to the drive’s top. Finally, pull the shiny metal EMI shield (which blocks electromagnetic interference) off the front of the old drive and stick it on the front of the new one.
Move the four standoffs, the ribbon cable and its adhesive, and the EMI shield to your new drive (shown above).
Now we’re ready to install the new drive in the G5 tower. The first thing is to reconnect that power cable to the port on the back of the optical drive. Then start sliding the optical drive back it its place, but just enough to guide the ribbon cable back down through the hole in the shelf. Plug the ribbon cable back into the logic board, and make sure to push firmly on both sides for a good connection.
The power cable gets plugged into the drive. The ribbon cable goes through the hole and gets plugged into the logic board.
After you’ve got the power cable connected to the drive, and the ribbon cable plugged in to the logic board, slide the optical drive the rest of the way into its hole. Make sure to line up the standoffs in the slots, and then close the levers that cover those slots to lock the drive in place.
Line up the standoffs with these slots, then close the levers.
That’s it! Now just put back the clear plastic air deflector—it has three tabs along the bottom that fit into holes in the G5’s enclosure. Replace the side panel (the Apple logo should be right-side-up, of course), and push down the latch on the back of the tower to lock it closed. You should have no leftover parts except for your old, broken SuperDrive. Fire up your Mac and press the Eject button to watch your bezel-free drive tray eject triumphantly. You’re done.
