Inside my laptop » 2. Asus Laptops

How to take apart Asus Eee PC 1201n netbook

Laptop Tech — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 06:41:25 +0000

In this guide I’ll be taking apart a Asus Eee PC 1201n netbook. I will show how to remove netbook memory modules, keyboard, top cover, hard drive, cooling fan and CMOS battery.

Most likely this guide will work for other Asus Eee 12XX netbooks. If it works for you, please mention the model number in comments after this post.

Make sure the netbook is turned off.

STEP 1.

Remove the battery.

Remove two screws securing the memory (RAM) cover and remove the cover.

STEP 2.

Both memory modules can be easily accessed through the door on the bottom.

Spread plastic latches on both sides of the memory slot until the memory module pops up at a 30 degree angle. After that carefully pull memory module from the slot by the edges.

In the following 7 steps I’ll be removing the keyboard.

STEP 3.

The keyboard secured by four latches on the top.

STEP 4.

Press on the latch with a sharp object and at the same time pull the keyboard a little bit up.

Do the same with remaining three latches.

STEP 5.

After all four latches are released, you can lift up the keyboard.

STEP 6.

Be careful, the keyboard attached to the motherboard with a flat ribbon cable.

Before you can remove the keyboard, you have to unlock the connector and release the cable.

STEP 7.

In order to unlock the keyboard connector, move the brown clip about 2-3 millimeters towards the display.

The brown clip must stat attached to the white base.

On the following picture the connector shown in the unlocked position.

STEP 8.

After the connector unlocked, you can release the cable and remove the keyboard.

You’ll find a few keyboard part numbers on the sticker. I’m not sure which one is the official Asus part number, but you can search on google for all of them.

I think one of these part numbers will lead you to the replacement keyboard.

In the following 5 steps I will show how to remove the top cover.

STEP 9.

Remove all screws from the bottom of the netbook.

STEP 10.

Remove all screws securing the top cover assembly.

Disconnect the touch pad cable.

STEP 11.

You unlock the touch pad connector same way you unlocked the keyboard connector.

STEP 12.

Start separating the top cover assembly from the netbook base. You can use a piece of soft plastic to separate the top cover. I’m using the guitar pick.

STEP 13.

Remove the top cover assembly.

STEP 14.

After you remove the top cover assembly, you can access the hard drive, cooling fan and CMOS battery.

STEP 15.

Remove four screws securing the hard drive assembly.

Slide the hard drive assembly to right to disconnect it from the motherboard.

Lift up and remove the hard drive.

As you see, it’s a regular 2.5″ SATA hard drive for notebooks.

STEP 16.

In order to remove the cooling fan, you’ll have to remove two screws and disconnect one cable from the motherboard.

After that the cooling fan is ready for the removal and replacement.

How to disassemble Asus K series notebook

Laptop Tech — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 22:13:00 +0000

In this post I explain how to disassemble Asus K-series notebook and get access to main internal parts.

As an example I took a Asus K50IJ notebook. I believe disassembly steps will be same or very similar for all models in Asus K line.

Let me know if this guide works for your Asus notebook. Please mention the model number in comments below.

Make sure the laptop is turned off.

ACCESSING MAIN PARTS UNDER THE BOTTOM COVER.

Remove the battery.

Remove one screw securing the bottom cover.

Remove four screws securing the bottom cover on the back side of the notebook.

Slide the bottom cover to the shown direction.

Remove the bottom cover.

Under the bottom cover you’ll get an easy access to the memory module, hard drive, CMOS battery, cooling fan, DVD drive, wireless card and heat sink with processor.

Remove one screw securing the DVD dirve.

Slide the DVD drive to the right and remove it from the notebook.

Remove four screws securing the hard drive assembly.

Slide the hard drive assembly to the right to disconnect it from the connector on motherboard.

Remove the hard drive assembly.

Now you can separate the hard drive from the caddy and replace it with a new one if needed. As you see, it’s a SATA hard drive.

Spread latches on both sides of the memory module and after the module pops up at a 30 degree angle, carefully pull it from the slot by the edges.

In this particular notebook I found only one memory slot. It looks like some memory was integrated into the motherboard.

Not sure if all Asus K series notebooks have only one memory slot.

Remove three screws securing the cooling fan.

Unplug fan cable from the motherboard.

Now you can remove the fan.

REMOVING KEYBOARD.

In order to remove the keyboard it’s not necessary to go though all previous disassembly steps.

There are five small spring loaded latches securing the keyboard.

I pointed to them with yellow arrows.

In order to unlock the latch, simply press on it with a sharp object.

At the same time pull the keyboard upwards.

After all latches unlocked, you can lift up the keyboard as it shown on the picture below.

Carefully place the keyboard upside down on the palm rest.

Before you can disconnect the keyboard cable, you have to unlock the connector.

The keyboard cable is jammed between the white connector base and brown locking clip.

On the following picture the connector is shown in locked position.

Move the locking clip about 2 millimeters to the left (do not move any further).

The locking clip must stay attached to the white base.

On the following picture the connector is shown in unlocked position. Now you can pull the keyboard cable from the connector.

Finally, remove the keyboard and replace it with a new one if needed.

How to disassemble and modify Asus Eee PC

Laptop Tech — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 07:30:02 +0000

In this thread you’ll learn how to disassemble and modify an Asus Eee PC. I’ll be posting new instructions and guides as soon as I find them. If you find a new guide not mentioned in this thread feel free to leave a link in comments.

Guide 1. Taking apart Asus 701 and modifying the motherboard.

This guide will help you to take apart an older Asus Eee PC 701.

You’ll find instructions for:
1. Taking apart the laptop base and removing the motherboard.
2. Taking apart the display panel and accessing the LCD screen.
3. Modifying the motherboard by installing two extra USB ports in the area of unused MiniPCI slot.

In the same guide you’ll learn how to take apart the display panel assembly and access the LCD screen. You can use this guide if you want to replace the LCD screen or inverter board.

You may ask: “Can I install a new 8.9 inch LCD screen on a 7 inch model?” This guy attempted replacing the screen.

..so the screen works, but BIOS needs to be hacked for full screen image.

..and you would need to modify the housing quite a lot.

Do you know how to hack the BIOS? Can you modify the housing? I guess the answer it NO.

Guide 2. Installing internal Bluetooth module into an Asus Eee 701.

This guide will walk you through the motherboard modification and installing an internal Bluetooth module into an Asus Eee 701.

I’ve added internal USB Bluetooth to my Eee without interfering with the built-in wireless, using the empty mini PCIe card slot, or disabling any of the available USB ports.

Guide 3. How to make an internal Bluetooth adapter from an external USB adapter.

Let’s say your Asus Eee PC doesn’t have internal Bluethooth adapter. Does it mean that your are stuck with using an external USB adapter? Apparently not.

Frustrated by the ugliness of plugging a USB bluetooth adaptor into my Eee PC, I decided that the best thing I could do was gut a bluetooth adapter and install it internally.

Check out this tutorial for converting your external USB adapter into the internal adapter.

Guide 4. Asus Eee 901 disassembled.

Actually it’s not a disassembly guide, but some pictures from the inside of the laptop. Could be very useful if you need to take a quick look at the motherboard.

Where to find hidden memory slots in Asus laptop?

Laptop Tech — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:28:39 +0000

Let’s say you have an Asus laptop and you are trying to install extra memory. You removed all covers from the bottom of the laptop but still cannot find memory slots. Where are they? Both memory slots are hidden under the keyboard!
In order to access them you’ll have to remove the keyboard. Take a look at this tutorial, it could be similar to your Asus laptop.

Also, you can use this instructions for removing and replacing the keyboard.

Taking apart Asus W3V, W3N, W3A, Z63A series laptop

Laptop Tech — Tue, 13 May 2008 19:51:47 +0000

With this guide you can take apart and remove major components from Asus W3V, W3N, W3A, Z63A series laptop.

This guide is to show you how to take off the top case, which is the palm rest part of the keyboard along with the Touchpad and the Keyboard frame. Removal of this part will allow you to access the mainboard of the system for repair, replacement, or cleaning. This guide will show you how to dismantle the W3V with all the screw locations and procedure to properly take it apart without damaging any of the components, reversing this procedure will allow you to put this back all together.

I already linked to an Asus W3J laptop disassembly instructions in my previous post. You’ll find it here: Asus W3J laptop disassembly and upgrade tutorial.

How to remove and replace keyboard on Asus A8J laptop

Laptop Tech — Mon, 12 May 2008 20:23:03 +0000

Here’s another guide for Asus a8j series laptops. This guide explains how to remove and replace the laptop keyboard yourself.

Replacing a laptop keyboard isn’t difficult, if you know what you are doing. Most of the time, because laptops keyboards seem so well integrated, it is tough to get started without knowing where to start.

If you do everything right, replacing the keyboard will take only a few minutes and you definitely can do it yourself, without taking your laptop to a repair shop.

WARNING! You have to be very careful with the keyboard connector on the motherboard. If you accidentally break the clip you will not be able to lock the keyboard cable in the connector and the keyboard will not function properly.
The author says:

you’ll see the clip mechanism and the white piece that keeps ribbon cable in place. Simply take your flat head screwdriver and push down on the white ends. They will unclip, and you’ll be able to lift the keyboard away.

My comment: Do not push the clip too far. In order to unlock the connector, you’ll have to push the clip 1-2 millimeters, not more. The clip has to stay attached to the connector. I usually push the clip with my fingernails.

Here’s my previous post about tightening hinges on an Asus A8J laptop.

Asus A6R laptop disassembly and upgrade instructions

Laptop Tech — Sat, 10 May 2008 22:51:14 +0000

These disassembly pictures show how you can access an upgrade or replace main components in an Asus A6R laptop. Almost all main components can be easily accessed through the bottom of the laptop without taking the whole thing apart.

Before you go inside the laptop do not forget to unplug the power adapter and remove the battery. Let’s take a look at the laptop components you can remove yourself and possibly upgrade them:

1. This laptop comes with a 80GB IDE hard drive witch can be easily upgraded to a bigger 100GB or 120GB IDE hard drive. To remove the hard drive, simply slide it towards the battery bay and after it got disconnected from the connector lift it up.

2. Both memory modules can be accessed from the bottom of the laptop. This laptop comes with two 256MB DDR2-533 PC2-4200 memory modules. Asus A6R can handle up to 2GB memory total, so you can install up to 1GB memory into EACH slot.

3. Wireless card can be accessed from the bottom. You can remove the wireless card the same way as you remove the memory module, spread latches on both sides of the card and carefully pull it from the slot by the card edges. There are two antenna cables connected to the wireless card. The black cables goes to the main connector on the wireless card and the white cable goes to the auxiliary connector. To unsnap the antenna cable from the wireless card, simply grab the golden connector with your fingers and pull it up.

4. The cooling module – fan and heat sink can be accessed through the cover on the bottom. It’s very convenient if you want to clean it. If you clean the cooling module with compressed air once a month, your laptop will never suffer from overheating.
If you want to replace the cooling fan, just remove two screws securing the fan and unplug the cable from the motherboard. That’s it.

5. This laptop comes with a Pentium M 1.73GHz processor. CPU is located under the heat sink but I don’t think if it’s a good idea upgrading the CPU because it’s too expensive.

Taking apart an Asus L3800 (Asus L3C) laptop

Laptop Tech — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 04:22:02 +0000

I found instructions for taking apart an Asus L3800 or Asus L3C laptops. Apparently both models are the same or at lease very similar.

This guide has instructions for taking apart the whole laptop. You’ll need this one for accessing the wireless card, CPU cooling fan with the heatsink, dial up mode. Also, you can use it for removing the motherboard and replacing the power jack. By the way, if the power jack is loose you can use this tutorial for resoldering the jack yourself.
The second source offers basically the same laptop disassembly guide but with better pictures taken from different angles.

Let’s say you repaired the laptop, assembled it and now it gets power but will not turn on. What could be wrong?
1. If you removed the CPU, make sure it’s seated properly inside the socket and the socket is LOCKED.
2. Make sure the memory is properly connected to the motherboard and making good connection with the slot. Try reseating the module inside the slot.

Replacing internal wireless card on an Asus M2400N notebook

Laptop Tech — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 23:46:31 +0000

Need instructions for replacing or upgrading the internal wireless card on an Asus M2400N notebook? Here it is. With this guide you’ll be able to remove the notebook keyboard and get down to the wireless card slot.

I used an Atheros Cardbus card for a while, using the madwifi driver, but the laptop has only one PCMCIA slot, and it was a bit of a pain to have it always occupied.

Now I have bought an Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG mini-pci card, which I managed to insert into the laptop with not too much difficulty.

Instructions for replacing the old wireless card:
1. Unsnap the antenna cable from the wireless card with your fingers. Do not use plyers, use fingers or you can damage the connector.
2. Spread the latches on both sides of the card. The wireless card will pop up at a 30 degree angle.
3. Carefully pull the wireless card from the slot by the card edges. Do not touch chips on the card.
4. Insert a new wireless card and connect the antenna cable. There are two connectors on the card – Main and Auxiliary. Snap the antenna cable on the main connector.

How to tighten loose hinges on an Asus A8j laptop

Laptop Tech — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 08:23:13 +0000

The display panel on your laptop feels wobbly? Apparently, the display hinges are loose and it’s time to tighten them up. On some laptops tightening up hinge screws is not difficult at all, let’s take for example instructions for this Asus A8j laptop.
In order to secure loose screws you’ll have to remove hinge covers and then remove the LCD bezel.

You first have to pry out the LCD bezel cover (this requires your fingernails a lot. Start from top and look at the whole LCD cover from the side. prying open from the outside seemed a lot easier than trying to open it from the inside like the guide told me to). Before that, you have to take the 6 rubber things off and unscrew the screws beneath those.

Here are instructions for removing the LCD bezel from Toshiba laptops, it will be similar to removing the bezel from Asus laptops.
After the LCD bezel and hinge covers are removed, you’ll get access to the screws securing the hinges.

there are two screws holding down the LCD part to the hinges, and one screw (the one that’s under the hinge cover) holding the hinge down to the body. I found that my two screws were quite loose. After I tightened them, the LCD hinge was loose no more.

Tighten them up and assemble everything back together, you’ll see the difference.

UPDATE: removing and replacing keyboard on an Asus a8j laptop.