Today I will be removing and replacing the LCD screen in an IBM ThinkPad T43p laptop. You can use same set of instructions for ThinkPad T43 and some other IBM (now Lenovo) laptops.

Failure description: the laptop starts with a reddish screen (white color appear to be pink). After a minute or two the backlight goes completely off but you still can see a very faint image on the screen if you look very closely. When you restart the laptop, the screen lights up again but a minute later the light goes off.

Solution: the laptop has a failing backlight lamp which is a part of the LCD screen. The whole screen has to be replaced.

You can try replacing just the backlight lamp without replacing the screen, but it’s not easy and should be done only by an experienced technician.

Let’s disassemble the display panel and remove the LCD screen.

STEP 1.

Carefully remove four screw seals from the bottom part of the display bezel.

You can remove them with a sharp object.

Remove all four screws found under the seals.

STEP 2.

Remove three screws (found under seals) from the left side of the display panel.

STEP 3.

Remove four screws (found under seals) from the right side of the display panel.

STEP 4.

The display bezel is glued to the LCD screen with sticky tape. You can separate the bezel using a guitar pick (as I do) or another piece of plastic.
Insert the guitar pick between the display bezel and screen and carefully move it along the side until the bezel is separated.

STEP 5.

Continue removing the display bezel with your fingers.

STEP 6.

The screen inverter is mounted under the bezel and can be replaced without removing the bezel completely. I’ll remove the display bezel because I have to replace the LCD screen.

STEP 7.

The display bezel has been removed.

STEP 8.

In order to confirm the backlight lamp failure I did the following experiment.
I unpluged the LCD screen from the right side of the inveter board and pluged in an known good backlight lamp. After that I turned on the laptop and tested it with my backlight lamp for about 10 minutes. My backlight lamp didn’t turn off and worked fine all time. That means the backlight lamp inside the screen is bad.

If your laptop doesn’t work with a known good backlight lamp, most likely you have a problem with the inverter board.

STEP 9.

Unplug the inverter board from the video cable.
Remove the inverter board.

Do you need a new inverter board? Find a new inverter here.

STEP 10.

Carefully separate the LCD screen from the display cover. Do not forget to release the cable with night lamp. Simply pull the cable from the display cover.

STEP 11.

Now you can access the back side of the LCD screen and unplug the screen cable.

Remove sticky tape securing the connection and pull the cable connector from the LCD screen.

STEP 12.

Remove the LCD screen from the laptop.

The LCD screen has been removed.

Be careful with this piece of plastic. Try not to remove it from the display because it will take some time to figure out how to connect it back together.
I believe this piece of plastic is designed to prevent the screen cable from breaking when you close the display.

STEP 13.

Remove two screws securing the display mounting brackets.
Remove the bracket and move it to a new LCD screen.
Do the same with the bracket on the other side of the screen.

You can find a new LCD screen using two different part numbers from the back side of the defective screen:
1. The model number of the LCD screen. In my laptop it is N150U3-L01
2. FRU part number. In my laptop it is 92P6753.

Looking for a new screen for your IBM ThinkPad T43/T43p laptop? You can find a brand new screen here.

In this guide I explain how to remove the keyboard and replace the launch board (aka button board) in a Lenovo 3000 laptop. As an example I took a Lenovo 3000 v200 laptop but I believe the disassembly steps will be the same or very similar for all models in the 3000 line. If my instructions work for you please mention the laptop model in the comments below.

The launch board is a board with the power and volume control buttons located under the keyboard bezel. I’m replacing the launch board because one of the volume control buttons got stuck in the pressed position and because of that the volume is set to maximum all the time. When I try turning it down, the volume slider goes up by itself. Cleaning the button with alcohol and contact cleaner didn’t help and I decided to replace the board.

Are you looking for a new keyboard for your Lenovo 3000 laptop? Get it here for less than $20.

LAPTOP DISASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS.

First of all, turn off the laptop, unplug the power adapter and remove the battery.

STEP 1.

Insert a small flat head screwdriver between the keyboard bezel and laptop base. Carefully lift up one side of the keyboard bezel.

Continue removing the keyboard bezel with your fingers.

STEP 2.

The launch board is located above the keyboard. In order to release the launch board cable we’ll have to remove the keyboard first.
Remove one screw securing the keyboard.

Lift up the keyboard as it shown on the picture below.

Turn the keyboard upside down and place it on the palm rest.
The keyboard is still connected to the motherboard. If you are replacing only the launch board, it’s not necessary to disconnect the keyboard from the motherboard.

If you decide to remove the keyboard, you’ll have to unlock the connector first. On the picture below you can see the keyboard cable connector in the unlocked position.
After the connector is unlocked you can release the cable and remove the keyboard.

STEP 3.

Remove two screws securing the launch board. Disconnect the launch board cable from the motherboard.

Lift up and remove the launch board.

Transfer the flat ribbon cable to the new launch board and install it back into the laptop.

This guide explains how to remove a broken LCD screen from a Lenovo X60s laptop and replace it with a new LCD screen. The display disassembly procedure will work for some other IBM ThinkPad and Lenovo laptops. If this guide works for your laptop, please mention the model in the comments.

Before you start, please turn off the laptop, unplug the AC adapter and remove the battery.

STEP 1.

There are three screw seals on the bottom of the display bezel. These seals hide three screws securing the display bezel to the display cover.

You’ll have to remove all three screw seals with a sharp object and after that remove three screws.

STEP 2.

There are three screw seals on each side of the display assembly. Remove TWO seals I marked from each side of the display. Remove screws found under those seals.

STEP 3.

Start separating the display bezel from the cover as it shown on the picture below.

Continue separating the bezel.

The inverter board is located below the LCD screen. In order to access and remove the screen inverter it’s not necessary to remove the bezel completely.

Finally, the display bezel has been removed.

STEP 4.

Disconnect the screen backlight cable from the inverter board.

STEP 5.

Now you can separate the LCD screen from the display cover and access the video cable connector on the back of the screen.

STEP 6.

The video cable is plugged into the connector on the LCD controller board. There is clear tape securing the connection. Carefully remove clear tape.

STEP 7.

Unplug the video cable from the LCD screen.

STEP 8.

Now you can remove the broken LCD screen and replace it with a new one. Search for a replacement LCD screen using the FRU part number from the back of the original screen. You can find a cheap replacement screen here.

Using this guide you’ll be able to replace or upgrade memory modules (aka RAM) in IBM ThinkPad T40, T40p, T41, T41p, T42, T42p series laptops. In my case I’ll be working with a ThinkPad T41.

This laptop came with 512MB RAM installed. There are two 256MB memory modules installed. One of them can be easily accessed from the bottom of the laptop. The second module is hidden under the keyboard.

Before you start, turn off the laptop, unplug the adapter and remove the battery.

Removing RAM module located on the bottom.

First of all, remove the memory cover.

Spread latches located on both sides of the memory module until the module pops up at a 30 degree angle, as it shown on the picture below.

Grab the memory module by the edges and pull it from the slot.

Removing RAM module located on under the keyboard.

The second memory slot is located under the keyboard, so we’ll have to remove the keyboard first.

Remove four screws securing the keyboard.

Insert a small flathead screwdriver between the keyboard and palm rest and carefully lift up the keyboard.

Place the keyboard on the palm rest so you can access the cable.

Disconnect the keyboard cable from the motherboard. Now you can access the second memory module.

Remove the internal memory module the same way you removed the first one.

On the picture below you can see the original module.

According to the official hardware maintenance manual for ThinkPad T40/T40p, T41/T41p, T42/T42p, these laptops can take up to 2GB memory total. You can install up to 1GB memory module into each slot.

You should use PC2700 (DDR-333) 200-Pin SODIMM RAM.

This guide explains how to add more RAM memory into a Lenovo ThinkPad T61p series laptop. Are you trying to upgrade laptop memory but cannot find RAM slots on the bottom of the laptop? In this model both slots are hidden under the touch pad. In order to access both memory slots, you’ll have to remove the palm rest.

The palm rest removal procedure could be found in the official ThinkPad Hardware Maintenance Manual. There are three different manuals for laptops with different LCD size. Choose the right one for your laptop. After that go to the “Removing and replacing a FRU” chapter and read instructions for removing the palm rest.

Basically, all you have to do is remove four screws on the bottom of the laptop and then remove the palm rest.

ThinkPad T61p laptop will take up to 4GB RAM total. You can install up to 2GB module into each slot.

Use PC2-5300 DDR2-667 SO-DIMM modules.

You can easily remove and replace the keyboard at home without taking your laptop to a repair shop.

First of all, turn off the laptop, unplug the power adapter and remove the battery.

Turn the laptop upside down and remove two screws securing the keyboard.

On a ThinkPad T30 laptop both keyboard screws are marked with two small triangles as you can see on the picture below.

On some other ThinkPad laptops keyboard screws are marked with a small keyboard.

Turn the laptop over again. Insert a small flathead screwdriver between the keyboard and palm rest and carefully lift up the keyboard.

Remove the keyboard and place it on the palm rest. The keyboard is still connected to the motherboard.

Carefully unplug the keyboard cable from the connector on the motherboard. Now you can remove the old keyboard and replace it with a new one.

Most IBM parts have a FRU number on them. You can find a new keyboard for your laptop if you search by the FRU number on the back of your laptop. There could be more than one keyboard that fits your laptop and they could have different FRU numbers.

Here are instructions for replacing screen inverter in IBM ThinkPad T40, T40p, T41, T41p, T42, T42p series laptops. All these models are identical and share the same disassembly steps.

What is the screen inverter in a laptop computer? Why would you want to replace the inverter?

The screen inverter is a small circuit board witch is located inside the laptop display panel, you’ll find it below the LCD screen. The screen inverter provides high voltage AC power for the backlight bulb (CCFL) and because of that the image on the screen is bright. If the inverter board fails, the LCD screen remains dark after the laptop is turned on and the image on the screen is very dark, almost invisible. You still should see the image on the screen under a bright light but without backlight the laptop is unusable.

How to fix this problem? Disassemble the display panel and replace the inverter.
Will it fix your problem? Most likely yes.
Why did I say most likely? Because this problem also can be related to the backlight bulb witch is located inside the LCD screen. If you have a faulty backlight bulb, replacing the inverter board will not fix the problem. You’ll have to replace the LCD screen or the backlight bulb inside the LCD screen.

Most common symptoms of a faulty screen inverter:
1. The laptop start as usual but after some times the screen goes black. The image is still on the screen but it’s very dark.
2. The laptop turns on but the LCD screen is dark all the time. The image is still on the screen but it’s very dark. The laptop works fine with an external monitor.

Not sure witch inverter to buy? Find the inverter part number on the page 190 in the service manual.

Let’s say you have an IBM ThinkPad laptop and when you turn it on all you get is a black screen with “Fan error” message. What could be wrong?

A few weeks ago, the fan in my trusty IBM T42 bought the farm. This resulted in the unit heating up considerably, as well as numerous “fan error” messages on bootup. It eventually became so bad that to boot up at all, I had to blow compressed air into the fan’s exhaust grill for 5-10 seconds, in order to fool the BIOS and make it believe the fan was actually spinning.

According to the IBM hardware maintenance guide (HMM) for ThinkPad T40, T40p, T41, T41p, T42, T42p this error message indicates a problem with the fan, you can find symptom-to-FRU index on the page58.

The symptom-to-FRU index in this section lists symptoms and errors and their possible causes.

Apparently it’s time to replace the fan assembly. The cooling fan comes together with the heat sink, that’s why you’ll have to replace the whole fan assembly.

You can easily replace the fan assembly after you remove the palm rest and keyboard.

1. Remove the battery and unplug the AC adapter.
2. Remove four screws marked with yellow circles. These screws securing the keyboard.
3. Remove eight screws marked with orange circles. These screws securing the palm rest.
4. Lift up the keyboard and upnlug the keyboard cable from the motherboard.
5. Lift up the palm rest and unplug the touchpad cable from the motherboard.
6. Remove three screws securing the fan assembly, unplug the fan cable from the motherboard. Lift up and replace the fan assembly.

You’ll find step-by-step laptop disassembly and fan replacement instructions in the HMM in the chapter “Removing and replacing a FRU” on the page 70.

You can find a new fan assembly using the FRU number located on your failed fan, it might look like 91P8393, 26R7860, 13R2919, 13N5442, or 13R2657. Just google the FRU number and find a place to buy it from. Different laptop types with different screen sizes use different fans, so you have to find the correct one witch fits your model. If for some reason your fan assembly doesn’t have the FRU number, you’ll have to refer to the HMM page 216-217. On these pages you’ll find witch fan belongs to your laptop. Here you can find new and used fans for ThinkPad laptops.
For example, if have a type 2378-FVU laptop with 15.0″ LCD screen, then you need a fan assembly with FRU: 13R2657

Do you want to replace the wireless card on your IBM ThinkPad laptop but not sure where to find it? Pictures posted on this blog explain how to open up an IBM ThinkPad laptop in order to replace the wireless card.
On some ThinkPads the wireless card is located inside the laptop and you’ll have to remove the keyboard with the palm rest if you want to replace the card yourself.

Laptop disassembly and wireless card replacement procedure:

First of all, unplug the power supply and remove the battery.
Picture 1.
Remove all screw marked with red circles from the bottom of the laptop. These screws secure the keyboard and the palm rest. These screws have different length. I would recommend to make some notes where each screw goes, so there is no confusion during the reassembly process.
Picture 2.
Turn the laptop over. Insert a small flathead screwdriver between the keyboard and the palm rest and carefully lift up the keyboard.
Picture 3.
Disconnect the keyboard cable from the motherboard and remove the keyboard. You can leave it connected to the motherboard, just place the keyboard as it shown on the picture so you can remove the palm rest.
Picture 4.
Lift up the palm rest and unplug the touch pad cable from the motherboard.
Picture 5.
The wireless card is located under the palm rest, under the touch pad.
In order to remove the wireless card, you’ll have to disconnect wireless antennas first. Unsnap both antenna cables from the wireless card with your fingers. Make a note witch cable goes to the main connector and with one goes to the auxiliary connector on the card. Spread latches on both sides from the wireless card with your fingers until the card is released and pops up at a 30 degree angle. Carefully pull the wireless card from the slot by the edges and replace it with a new one. You can use FRU part number from the old card to find a new one, just search by the part number on Google.

If your IBM ThinkPad laptop came without wireless antenna cables and you would like to install it, continue reading here: Adding internal wireless card to an IBM ThinkPad laptop.

Do you have an IBM ThinkPad laptop with a missing key on the keyboard? Not a problem, you can fix the keyboard without taking your laptop to a repair shop. It’s not even necessary to disassemble the laptop and replace the whole keyboard. If you have all the pieces from the fallen key, then the repair process shouldn’t take a lot of time. These instructions will explain how to assemble the key and install it back on the keyboard.

The key pieces are small and it may be very challenging to put them together, so be patient and have plenty of light in the work area.
If you are missing the key or one of the pieces, you can find them here. A single key assembly (including mounting hinges) will cost you about $5-$6 including shipping.

If you cannot find the right key but still want to fix the problem, then you’ll have to replace the whole keyboard. You’ll find keyboard replacement instructions in the IBM hardware and maintenance guide here.

Finally, if you still cannot figure out how to install the missing key back on the keyboard or if you have another laptop brand, check out this instructions for fixing keyboard keys.