Apple iBook G4 12” Repair Manual
Copyright © 2006 Powerbookmedic.com. All rights reserved.
Any portion of this manual may not be copied, reproduced, or distributed without theexpress written consent of Powerbookmedic.com. Violators will be prosecuted.
This manual is presented as a guide in order to help you repair problems on yourpowerbook. Working on a powerbook can be dangerous if not done properly. We at
Powerbookmedic.com take no responsibility for any damage or harm done to yourself or
your powerbook as a result of reading this guide.
Suggestions for making this manual better? Email: sales@powerbookmedic.com

Tools Needed for Take Apart:
Torx T8 Screwdriver – Available from our online store
Torx T6 Screwdriver – Available from our online sore
Philips head screwdriver ( small and medium size screwdrivers)
Hex Wrench or pliers to remove hex nut (only for logic board disassembly)

Always remove the battery and power supply from the computer before beginning any
take apart or repair!

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Table of Contents
Battery Removal…………………………………………………...………....pg. 4
Keyboard /Airport Extreme Card…………………………..……..………….pg. 6
Ram / Memory……………...…………………………………..……………pg.10
Bottom Case……..………………………………………….….………….....pg. 12
Bottom Shield……………………….………………….……..……………..pg 16
Dc-In Board…………………………………………………..………………pg. 17
Fan Assembly………………………………………………..……………….pg. 19
Top Case…………………………...………………………..………………..pg. 21
Sleep Light Assembly…………….………………………..………………...pg. 24
Top Shield…………………………………….………………………..….....pg. 26
I/O Bezel……………………..…………………….…………………..….....pg. 28
Modem Port……………………………..……………………………..….....pg. 29
Hard Drive……………………..………………………….…………………pg. 31
Bluetooth Assembly……………………………………..…………………..pg. 35
Optical Drive……………...……………………………..…………………..pg. 39
Display Module………………………………………..…………………….pg 45
Back Casing…………..……………………………….……………………..pg. 49
Clutch Cover…………………………………………………………………pg.51
LCD………………………………….……………..………………………..pg. 53
Inverter Board……………….……………………………………………….pg. 57

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Airport Antenna………………………………………..…………………….pg 60
Reed Switch / Inverter Cable………………………….……………………..pg. 65
Microphone Assembly………………………………………………………pg.67
Hinge / Clutch Assembly…………….……………..………………………..pg. 68
Inverter Board……………….……………………………………………….pg. 69
Logic Board………...……….……………………………………………….pg. 71

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Battery Removal
Before beginning any repair, remove the battery first!
Locate the battery lock as shown in red in the picture.

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Using either a flat head screwdriver or a coin (anything with a flat surface) turn the
security latch to the left as shown. Turn it until the notch is facing the “unlock graphic.”

The battery will then pop up slightly. Grasp the battery as shown, and pull it up and outof the computer.

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Keyboard / Airport Extreme Card
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Battery
Located at the top of the keyboard are two tabs that need to be pulled towards you. Thesetabs are located between the ESC and F1 keys and between the F11 and F12 keys. The
location of these tabs is also shown in the picture below.

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While depressing the tabs, pull the keyboard up, out, and flip it towards you as shown.

Before proceeding with any repair, touch a metal surface such as on the computer asshown to discharge any static buildup.

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Behind the airport extreme card is a retainer clip. Push this clip out and up as shown.

Locate the plastic tab on the airport card, and gently pull away from you to disengage itfrom its connector. Undo the airport connector from the card, and set the card aside on a
static free surface. Note – To remove the airport connector from the Airport extreme card,
use your fingers to pull it out. If it does not come out easily, use a pair of needle nose
pliers to gently pull it out. Do not use too much force or you may damage the connector.

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Remove the four screws from the airport retainer in the locations shown, and lift the
airport retainer up and out of the unit.

To remove the keyboard, gently lift up on the cable as shown. The connector should
easily come free. Set the keyboard aside.

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Ram / Memory
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Battery* Keyboard *•Note that you do not have to undo the keyboard from the logic board if all you aredoing is replacing ram.

To replace or install ram, push the metal brackets on either side of the ram chip awayfrom the chip. The card should pop up when free. Then just gently pull the card free.

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To install, simply line up the chip with the ram slot and push the chip down so it engages
the ram clips

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Bottom Case
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Battery
Remove the three Torx T8 screws at the locations shown.

Pry up the 3 feet on the edges of your computer as shown.

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Unscrew the Philips head screw underneath the three feet, and lift out the metal footsocket as shown.

Inside the battery bay are two more Philips head screws in the locations shown. Remove
these two screws.

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Beginning in the battery bay corner, Use your fingers to separate the corner plastics, andthen undo the latch in the battery bay by using your flat tool to pry the latch out while
lifting up.

Work your away around the front edge of the casing with a flat head screwdriver or pry
tool while pulling up on the case to disengage the latches around the unit.

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Disengage all of the latches all the way to the optical drive. The right hand casing shouldbe free to lift up and to the left. Lift the bottom case up as shown to disengage the latcheson the optical drive. The bottom case should come off easily.

Notice that in the battery bay there are two springs with white rubber stoppers. You
should remove these by simply lifting them up. Make sure to reinstall them during
reassembly.

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Bottom Shield
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Battery
Bottom CaseFirst, remove the four Philips head screws as shown in the locations below.

Next, simply lift the bottom shield up and away from the unit. It should come free easily.

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DC-In Board
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Battery
Bottom Case
Bottom Shield
Begin by removing any yellow tape from the DC-In board. Next, remove the two Philips
head screws at the locations shown in the picture below.

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Disconnect the DC-In board connector from the logic board by gently grasping the cableand pulling away from logic board connector,

Grasp the Dc-in board as shown, and lift it up and out of the unit. It should come freeeasily.

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Fan Assembly
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Battery
Bottom Case
Bottom Shield
Begin by removing any yellow tape holding the fan cable. Next remove the four Philips
head screws in the locations shown. The one on the top left hand side may be slightly
hidden under the inverter cable.

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Disconnect the fan cable from the logic board, and lift the fan up and out as shown.

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Top Case
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Battery
Keyboard / Airport Extreme Card
Bottom Case
Bottom Shield
DC-In Board
Remove the two Philips head screws from inside the battery bay at the location
shown.

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Remove the seven Philips head screws from the locations shown. Note that the 4.5mm
screw is located under a magnet. Use your flat tool to pry the magnet up to reveal thisscrew. Do not forget to install this magnet during reassembly.

Starting at the battery bay gently pry the top case away from the frame of the computer.

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Make your way around the top case until you can easily flip it up as shown (with cables
still attached!)

There are two cables attached from the top case to the logic board. You should be able togently wiggle these free from their logic board connections. If they do not come out
easily, then use a flat tool to gently pry up while pulling. *Be careful! If you use toomuch force and the cable does not come easily, you could damage the connector to thelogic board! Once the connections are undone, the top case will be free to be removed.

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Sleep Light Assembly
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Battery
Keyboard / Airport Extreme Card
Bottom Case
Bottom Shield
DC-In Board
Top Case
Begin by removing the single Philips head screw from the sleep light in the location
shown.

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Flip the unit over and locate the cable going from the sleep light to the logic board.
Gently pull this cable to free it from the logic board, and set the sleep light should comefree easily.

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Top Shield
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Battery
Keyboard / Airport Extreme Card
Bottom Case
Bottom Shield
DC-In Board
Top Case
Remove the 15 Philips head screws from the locations shown.

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The top shield can now easily be lifted up and out of the unit as shown.

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I/O Bezel
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Battery
Keyboard / Airport Extreme Card
Bottom Case
Bottom Shield
DC-In Board
Top Case
Top Shield
Remove the 2 Philips head screws from the locations shown and pull the bezel off of theunit as shown in the second picture.

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Modem Port
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Battery
Keyboard / Airport Extreme Card
Bottom Case
Bottom Shield
DC-In Board
Top Case
Top Shield
I/O Bezel
Disconnect the modem port cable from the modem by gently grasping the cable andpulling it away from the modem. It should come out easily.

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Using your finger, push the modem port away from the unit. You may have to use aminimum amount of force to guide it off the logic board. The port will now be free.

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Hard Drive
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Battery
Keyboard / Airport Extreme Card
Bottom Case
Bottom Shield
DC-In Board
Top Case
Top Shield
Flip the unit over and disconnect the hard drive ribbon cable to the logic board. You caneither use your finger or your flat tool to disconnect the cable from the logic board.

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Flip the unit back over and remove the two 6mm Philips head screws from the locations
shown in the picture below.

Lift the hard drive up and out of the unit as shown.

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Pull the bracket off of the side of the drive as shown. It should come off easily.

Disconnect the hard drive cable by gently pulling the cable away from the hard driveusing the orange pulling cable as shown in the picture below. The cable should come freeeasily.
*Note for replacement – If you are replacing the hard drive, you will need to transfer the
4 black T8 screws (2 on either side of the hard drive) to your new drive.

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ModemBefore proceeding, you must first remove:
Battery
Keyboard / Airport Extreme Card
Bottom Case
Bottom Shield
DC-In Board
Top Case
Top ShieldIf you have not already done so, disconnect the modem cable from the modem. Remove
the two screws from the locations shown. To remove simply pull the modem up to free itfrom its logic board connector, and place the modem on a static free surface. You can use
either you fingers or your flat tool to pry the modem up to free it.

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Bluetooth Assembly
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Battery
Keyboard / Airport Extreme Card
Bottom Case
Bottom Shield
DC-In Board
Top Case
Top Shield
Remove the two Philips head screws from the locations shown.

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Grasp the Bluetooth cable as shown and gently pull it free from its Bluetooth board
connector. It should come out easily. If it does not, Use your flat tool to aid.

Use your flat tool to gently pry the Bluetooth antenna connector from the Bluetoothboard. It should come off easily. If it does not, try it from a different angle. The
Bluetooth board will now be free.

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Grasp the Bluetooth cable, and gently pull it free from its logic board connector. The
cable will now be free.

To remove the antenna, grasp the cable as shown, and pull to the left. It should easily
slide out of the antenna holder.

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The antenna holder is held in place by a very light adhesive. Use your flat tool to pry theholder off of the optical drive. It should come off easily.

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Optical Drive
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Battery
Keyboard / Airport Extreme Card
Bottom Case
Bottom Shield
DC-In Board
Top Case
Top Shield
Bluetooth Antenna and Bluetooth Holder
Remove the four screws from the locations shown and remove tape (if any) holding theoptical drive cable in place.
*Note that some earlier iBook G4s have an orange logic board connector that will bedifferent then the cable pictured below. If you have this version, simply remove thescrews, gently pry up the orange logic board connector, and remove the drive.

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There is a brown clip that holds the optical drive cable to the logic board connector.
Using your flat tool or your finger and using barely any force, lift up this clip on eachside (*Note – Do not remove the clip! Leave it in place. Only lift is up slightly on eitherside.)

This will free the optical drive cable.

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You can now lift the drive up and out of the unit as shown.

Optical Drive Cable
Remove the two Philips head screws from the locations shown.

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This will release the back bracket. Remove it as shown.

Use your flat tool to gently pry up on the optical drive cable connector as shown. Itshould come free with little force

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Right bracket
Remove the two Philips head screws from the locations shown.

Remove the one Philips head screw on the front of the drive. The bracket should fall off.

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Bezel
You can now pull the bezel off the drive. You may have to use a little force to pull thebezel off.

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Display Module
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Battery
Keyboard / Airport Extreme Card
Bottom Case
Bottom Shield
DC-In Board
Top Case
Top Shield
Modem
Begin by disconnecting the LVDS cable by grasping the black pull strap and gently pullup. Remove any tape that may be holding the cable in place.

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Remove the screw holding down the LVDS cable in the location shown.

Next, disconnect the microphone cable by gently pulling up as shown. Remove any tapethat may be holding the cable in place.

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From the bottom of the unit, disconnect the inverter cable from the logic board, by gently
grasping the cable as shown and pulling away from the connector.

Remove the four Philips head screws from the locations shown. Note that the middle twoscrews hold on the vent cover that can be lifted out once the display module is remove.

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Lift the display module up and out as shown. Make sure all cables are routed properly
and come out easily.

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Back Casing Removal
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Display Module
With the display removed, begin by removing the two Torx T6 screws from both sides ofthe display. (You should remove a total of 4 screws, two from each side)

Next, you will need to pry the back panel (case with Apple logo ) off. It is best to start at
a corner as shown, and pull the casing in the opposite direction as the LCD. You may
need to use a flat too to help you at first. After you get started, the casing will come off
easily.

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Lift the back casing off and away from the rest of the display module, and place it on aclean surface.

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Clutch Cover Removal
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Display Module
Display Back Casing

Begin by removing the two Philips head screws in the location shown (near where thecables enter the display)

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This will allow the clutch cover to simply be pulled off as shown. *Note that there are
two small white plastic ends on either side of the clutch cover. If these fall off you willneed to place them back on and hold them in place while placing the clutch cover backon. The grooves on these pieces line up with the clutch cover. **Also, when replacing
the clutch cover, note the location of the screw holes in the cover. It is possible to put
this piece on backwards.

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LCD Removal
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Display Module
Display Back Casing
On the side of the display casing you will notice two U shaped notches. In these notches
there are Philips head screws, two on each side of the display. Remove all four screws.

Remove all the pieces of tape holding the thin metal sheet in place. The location of thetape can vary from model to model, so use the picture below as a guide. Make sure to
remove the Aluminum tape in the middle of the cover as well.

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You can now lift up the back shield. Lift it completely off and place on a clean surface.

Remove the piece of tape holding down the display cable in the location shown.

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Disconnect the display cable from the LCD by gently grabbing it as shown and thenpulling it towards you. It should come out very easily.

The LCD panel will not be free to be moved. Lift up the display, and pivot it towards theleft hand side where the inverter cable enters the LCD.

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Pivot the LCD all the way to the left as shown, and disconnect the inverter cableconnector from the Inverter board at the location shown.

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Inverter Board
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Display Module
Display Back Casing
LCD Module
Begin by removing the yellow strip of tape in the location shown.

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Undo the inverter cable connector from the inverter board by gently pulling the cable out.
You may need a flat tool to help aid in the task.

The inverter board is held in place by adhesive tape. You will need to use a flat
tool to pry up the board. It is best to do this from the left hand side of the board. Put a flat
tool under the board, and gently pry up.

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Lift the inverter board up and out.

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Airport Antenna Cable
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Display Module
Display Back Casing
LCD Module
Begin by removing the piece of yellow tape in the location shown (bottom right handcorner)Page 60 of 73
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Next, you need to pry up the green airport board as shown below. It is held on by a lightadhesive.

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Remove the two Philips head screws in the locations shown below.

With the screws removed, tilt the metal piece with cable attached up and out towards you.
Note that there is a cable that keeps going past this piece. That is the microphone cableand is not a part of the airport cable assembly.

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Now, on the left hand side, repeat the procedure. Remove the two Philips head screws
from the locations shown below.

With the screws removed, tilt the metal piece with cable attached up and out towards you.

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The cable assembly should now be loose. If it is not, make sure you have removed any
tape that may be holding the cable in, and make sure the cable has been guided out of allof the metal clips that hold the cable in along the side of the display. (Just pull up on thecable to release it from the clips)
Next, remove the tape holding the display cable and airport assembly together. It may
take several attempts to get the tape off. Separate the cables. When replacing, it is notnecessary to tape the cables back together, but you can do so if you have some yellow
tape.

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Reed Switch / Inverter Cable
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Display Module
Display Back Casing
LCD Module
Begin by removing the Philips head screw in the location shown.

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Guide the reed switch cables out, and if held in place by any tape, remove the tape.

Next, remove the tape holding the inverter cable microphone cable together. It may takeseveral attempts to get the tape off. Separate the cables. When replacing, it is notnecessary to tape the cables back together, but you can do so if you have some yellow
tape.

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Microphone Assembly
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Display Module
Display Back Casing
LCD Module
The microphone is located in the top left of the display. Then guide the cable all the way
around the bezel and remove it from the inverter cable by undoing the tape holding thecables together.

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Hinge / Clutch Assembly
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Display Module
Display Back Casing
LCD Module
Clutch Cover
Inverter Board
Antenna Cable
Reed Switch / Inverter Cable
Microphone Cable
Remove the six Philips head screws from the locations shown in the picture, and then justlift the clutch assembly out of the unit.

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Heatsink
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Battery
Keyboard / Airport Extreme Card
Bottom Case
Bottom Shield
DC-In Board
Top Case
Top Shield
Hard Drive
Modem
Remove the 4 Philips head screws from the locations shown.

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Remove the 3 hex nut screws from the locations shown. Use either pliers or a hex nut
screwdriver to remove the screws.

Lift the heatsink up and out of the unit as shown.

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Logic Board
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Battery
Keyboard / Airport Extreme Card
Bottom Case
Bottom Shield
DC-In Board
Fan
Top Case
Top Shield
I/O Bezel
Sleep Light
Hard Drive
Modem
Heatsink
If you have not removed the display module, refer to the display module disassembly to
disconnect the LVDS, microphone cable, and inverter cable from the logic board. Also,
disconnect the optical drive cable.
Remove the 10 screws from the locations shown.

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Lift the board up and out as shown.

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would like to see something in this manual or would like to see something improved inthis manual, please email us at: sales@powerbookmedic.com
For all of your Powerbook & iBook parts and repair needs, visit us at:

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