In this guide I remove the motherboard and repair the DC power jack in a Dell Inspiron B130 laptop. You can use same instructions for Dell Inspiron 1300 and Inspiron B120 laptops. All three models have same type of body.

In my case the power jack started failing intermittently. The laptop started switching from AC to battery power on its own. In order to switch it back to the AC power I had to fiddle with the adapter plug and find the right position. I tested the laptop with another adapter and it failed exactly the same way. I came to a conclusion that the DC power jack is not making good contact with the motherboard and has to be repaired.

In Dell Inspiron 1300/B120/B130 laptop the DC power jack is soldered to the motherboard. If the jack is broken, you’ll have to unsolder it and replace with a new jack.

Let’s start removing the motherboard.

STEP 1.

Check out spare parts for Dell Inspiron 1300/B120/B130.

Before you start taking the laptop apart, do not forget to turn off the power and remove the battery.

Lift up the right side of the keyboard cover with a small screwdriver and continue removing the cover with your fingers.

STEP 2.

After the cover is removed you can access two screws securing the keyboard. Remove both screws.

STEP 3.

Lift up the keyboard and place it upside down on the palm rest.

STEP 4.

Now you can access the cable connector and release the cable.

STEP 5.

Unlock the connector, pull the cable and remove the keyboard.

On the following picture the connector is displayed in the unlocked position.

STEP 6.

Remove two screws securing display hinges on the bottom of the laptop.

STEP 7.

Remove two screws securing display hinges on the back side of the laptop.

STEP 8.

Disconnect the video cable connector from the motherboard.
Disconnect the wireless card antenna cable.

STEP 9.

Remove the display panel assembly.

Here’s an example of removing the LCD screen from a Dell display panel.

STEP 10.

From the bottom of the laptop you can access the hard drive, memory modules, wireless card, optical CD/DVD drive and heat sink.

STEP 11.

Remove the hard drive cover.
Pull the hard drive assembly to the left and remove it from the laptop.

STEP 12.

Remove one screw securing the optical CD/DVD drive to the laptop base.
Pull the drive from the laptop and remove it.

STEP 13.

It’s not necessary to remove both memory modules and wireless card for the purpose of this guide but you have to disconnect the Wi-Fi antenna cable.

STEP 14.

Loosen four silver screws securing the heat sink.

STEP 15.

Pull the heat sink up and disconnect it from the processor.
As you see, in my laptop the heat sink is clogged with dust and needs a good cleaning.

STEP 16.

Remove all marked screws from the bottom of the laptop.

STEP 17.

Remove eight screws securing the top cover.
Disconnect the touch pad cable.
Disconnect the lid close switch cable.
Disconnect the CMOS (RTC) battery.

In this model the lid close switch is discrete module and mounted under the fight hinge.
If the lid close switch failed, you can remove it and replace with a new one or simply unplug the faulty switch from the motherboard and use the laptop without it.

STEP 18.

Separate the top cover assembly from the laptop base and remove the cover.

STEP 19.

Remove five screws securing the motherboard.
Disconnect the speaker cable from the motherboard.

STEP 20.

Start removing the motherboard from the right side as it shown on the picture below.

STEP 21.

Remove motherboard from the laptop base.

The DC power jack is soldered directly to the motherboard.

I assumed that the power jack is not making good contact with the motherboard and I was correct.

As you see, there is a crack in the solder joint around the “+” pin.
The “+” pin got oxidized and not making good contact with the motherboard.

If you resolder the jack without cleaning the “+” pin, your repair will not last.

It is necessary to unsloder the power jack, clean all contacts and solder it back to the motherboard.

You’ll find more detailed instructing in this guide for fixing failed DC power jack in a laptop.

On the following picture you see the same jack soldered back to the motherboard.
You can find a new power jack for Dell Inspiron 1300/B120/B130 here for less than $8.

In this guide I will be taking apart a Compaq Presario M2000 notebook. The guide should work for all other notebooks in the Presario M2000 line. If it works for you, please mention the notebook model in the comments below. In my case I’m taking apart a Compaq Presario M2005US.

TAKING APART NOTEBOOK

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

The following 8 steps explain how to remove the keyboard.

STEP 1.

Remove two screws in the battery compartment. These screws securing the keyboard bezel.

STEP 2.

Lift up one side of the keyboard bezel with a small flat head screwdriver. Continue removing the bezel with your fingers.

STEP 3.

The keyboard bezel has been removed.

STEP 4.

Remove four screws securing the keyboard.

STEP 5.

Lift up the keyboard. Be careful because the keyboard is still connected to the motherboard.

STEP 6.

Place the keyboard so you can access the cable connector.

STEP 7.

Carefully unlock the connector by moving the white part of the connector towards the hinges.
WARNING! If you accidentally break the connector, you will have to replace the whole motherboard or use the notebook with an external keyboard.

STEP 8.

Now you can release the cable and remove the keyboard.

You will find the keyboard part number on the back side of the keyboard. In my laptop the part number is 367777-001. Do you need a new keyboard for Presario M2000 notebook? Find a new inexpensive keyboard here.

In the following 2 steps I will remove the notebook LCD panel.

STEP 9.

Remove six screws securing the display hinges (three screws per hinge).
Disconnect the LCD cable (video cable) from the motherboard.
If you laptop came with Wi-Fi card, you’ll have to disconnect Wi-Fi antenna cables from the wireless card and unroute the cables. My laptop came without wireless card and because of that there are no Wi-Fi antenna cables running from the display panel.

By the way, you’ll find the display panel part number on a sticker above the LCD cable connector. In my case the part number is 381066-001. This is part number for the whole display panel assembly including the LCD screen, video cable, hinges, plastic cover and bezel.

Some sellers use this part number just for the LCD screen. Make sure you know what you are buying, the whole display panel or just the LCD screen. Ask the seller.

STEP 10.

Remove the display panel assembly. Here you can buy a new LCD screen or entire display panel for Presario M2000.

In the next guide I explain how to disassemble the display panel so you can remove the inverter board and LCD screen.

STEP 11.

Remove two screws securing the button board.
Disconnect the white ribbon cable from the button board.

STEP 12.

Remove the button board. You can find a new button board using this part number: DACT2BPI6B2.

STEP 13.

Remove the RAM, HDD and Wi-Fi card covers from the bottom of the notebook.

STEP 14.

Pull the hard drive up and remove it from the notebook.

STEP 15.

Remove both memory RAM modules.

STEP 16.

Remove one screws securing the CD/DVD drive and pull the drive from the notebook.
If you are just replacing the drive, you don’t have to go though all previous disassembly steps.

STEP 17.

Remove all screws from the bottom of the notebook.

STEP 18.

Remove all screws securing the top cover.
Disconnect the touch pad cable from the motherboard.

STEP 19.

Turn the notebook upside down and carefully lift up the base cover.

STEP 20.

Remove the base cover.

STEP 21.

Now you can access the cooling fan.
In order to remove the fan you’ll have to remove two screws and unplug the fan cable from the motherboard.

STEP 22.

Remove the cooling fan and replace it with a new one if needed.

STEP 23.

Unplug the speaker assembly cable from the motherboard and remove the speaker assembly.

STEP 24.

The battery is connected to the motherboard via a battery board.
Remove two screws securing the battery board and disconnect it from the motherboard.

STEP 25.

In a Presario M2000 notebook the power connector (power jack) is located on a separate power connector board. You can remove and replace the power connector board without removing the motherboard.

Remove two screws securing the power connector board and unplug it from the motherboard.

The power connector board is removed.

Using the part number DA0CT2PB6D8 you can find a new power connector board here.

In a case of power connector (power jack) failure either resolder/replace the power jack or replace the whole power connector board.

STEP 26.

Remove four screws securing the motherboard.

STEP 27.

Carefully lift up the motherboard on one side.

STEP 28.

Remove the motherboard.

The processor (CPU) is located under the heat sink.

Before you start do not forget to turn off the laptop, unplug the AC power adapter and remove the battery.

STEP 1.

On the screen bezel you’ll find six screw seals. Four rubber seals and two plastic seals.

You can remove these seals with a sharp object.
Remove all six screws found under the seals.

STEP 2.

Start separating the screen bezel from the display cover with your fingers. You can use a piece of soft plastic to separate the bezel.

Continue separating the screen bezel on the top of the display and after that move to the lower part.

Finally, remove the screen bezel.

STEP 3.

Remove four screws securing the LCD screen to the left mounting bracket.

STEP 4.

Remove four screws securing the LCD screen to the right mounting bracket.

STEP 5.

Remove two screws securing the web camera.

STEP 6.

Separate the LCD screen assembly from the display cover. As you see, the web camera is still attached to the screen assembly.

STEP 7.

Plase the LCD screen assembly upside down on the palm rest.
The green ribbon cable is the video cable and it has two connectors. One of the is connected to the LCD screen and another one to the inverter board.

Carefully push on two latches on both sides of the LCD connector, release the cable and disconnect it from the LCD screen.

Pull the second connector up and disconnect it from the inverter board.

STEP 8.

Remove the screen assembly (LCD screen and inverter board).

The inverter board is attached to the bottom part of the LCD screen. The inverter board can be replaced separately.

The best way to find a new replacement screen is searching by the LCD screen model number or Dell part number. Both numbers can be found on one sticker with a barcode.

You can find a cheap replacment LCD screen for Dell Vostor 1500 and other Dell laptops here.

Today I explain how to repair a damaged power connector also known as power jack in Toshiba Satellite L305 and L355 laptops. I started covering this problem in one of the previous posts.

Also this power jack modification should work for the following models: Toshiba Satellite L300, L305D, L355D, P305, P305D, Toshiba Satellite Pro L300, L350 and probably some other Toshiba laptops.

PROBLEM DESCRIPTION. The power jack gets pushed into the laptop base so it feels loose.

I will replace the original plastic jack with a generic metal jack purchased at RadioShack for about $3.
The RadioShack part number is 274-1576. This jack is designed for tip size 5.5mm O.D.x2.5mm I.D. You can order this jack online or pick it up in a local store.

Proceed on your own risk! If you do something wrong, you can damage the laptop.

In order to access and repair the power jack it’s necessary to disassemble the laptop and remove the top cover assembly (palm rest). Here’s an example of removing the top cover assembly from a Toshiba Satellite L355D, you’ll have to follow steps 1-14.

Disassembly steps for all above mentioned models will be very similar.

OK, let’s say the top cover is removed and we are inside the laptop. By the way, I’m fixing a Satellite L305D laptop.

Why the power jack feels loose? You see the answer on the picture below.

In my case both, the power jack and mounting brackets on the base assembly got broken. Even if you replace the broken jack with a new one, it will not stay attached to the base. If you send a laptop with a damage like that to a repair shop, they will recommend replacing the power jack harness and laptop base. This repair will easily cost over $200 but I have a better idea how to fix it for $3 without replacing the base assembly.

Here’s my new replacement panel-mount jack which should last for a long time unlike the original Toshiba jack.

All laptops mentioned above come with one of the following AC adapter: 19v-3.42A, 19V-3.95A, 19V-4.74A or 19V-6.3A.
All these power adapter will fit perfectly into the jack from RadioShack.

LET’S START THE REPAIR.

STEP 1.

Using a pocket knife remove plastic supports from the internal side of the base assembly, so the side where the new jack will be mounted is flat.

On the picture below you see plastic supports removed.

STEP 2.

Again, using the pocket knife remove the plastic wall surrounding the mounting hole. Make the hole larger, so then new jack fits in.

STEP 3.

The new jack is too long and if you install it as is the laptop cover will not sit properly on the base. It happens because one of the speakers (in Satellite L305D) is located very close to the power jack.

It will work if you make the jack shorter. You can cut off part of the long “-” lead or simply bent it as I did. After it’s done coat both leads with generous amount of solder.

STEP 4.

Now remove the damaged power jack from the laptop and cut off wires somewhere close to the jack base.

Remove isolation, twist wires and coat them with solder.

The red “+” wire will connect to the lead in the center of the new jack.
The black “-” wire will connect to the lead on the side – the one you made shorter.

In some laptops Toshiba uses green wires instead or red wires. They also should be soldered to the “+” lead in the center of your new jack.

WARNING! Check the polarity before you apply power to the laptop.

STEP 5.

Now mount the new power jack on the base.

STEP 6.

Solder wires to the new jack. Again, the red wire is soldered to the lead in the center and the black on to the lead on the side.

As you see, I soldered wires at a 90 degree angle to the jack so the top cover (and the right speaker) fits in.

I covered both leads with electrical tape.

The new (modified) power harness has been installed into the laptop base. Now you can tighten the nut on the power jack and secure it on the base.

STEP 7.

You’ll have to modify the top cover assembly a little bit so it fits on the laptop.

Remove plastic reinforcement walls so they do not touch the power jack when the cover is installed. If you leave these walls, there will be a gap between the cover and base.

The plastic walls have been removed.

STEP 8.

Assemble the laptop. You are done!

I think the new power jack is way more robust then the original one and should last for a long time.

And it looks great too.

Here’s an example of damaged power jack in a Satellite L355D laptop. This base is bigger than in Satellite L305 and you’ll have plenty of space for your modification.

Here’s another example of damaged base assembly in a Satellite P305D laptop. Again, there is plenty of space for the jack modification.

By the way, if your laptop is still under warranty, Toshiba might fix this problem at no charge. Call them first or take the laptop to the authorized repair center.

If this modification works for you, please mention the laptop model in the comments. You are welcome to post any suggestions and improvements.

In a Dell Latitude D500 laptop the power jack is soldered to the motherboard. If the laptop loses power intermittently when you wiggle the power plug, most likely the power jack is damaged and has to be repaired. In order to repair the power jack you’ll have to remove the motherboard.

In one of the previous posts I explained how to remove the motherboard from a Dell Latitude D500 but it came out mounted to a metal bracket. You cannot access and repair the power jack while the motherboard is mounted to the metal bracket, it has to be removed first.

OK, let’s prepare the motherboard for the power jack repair.

STEP 1.

Remove two screws securing the cooling fan. Disconnect fan cable from the motherboard. Remove the fan.

STEP 2.

Remove one screw securing the power button board. Lift up the board and disconnect it from the motherboard.

STEP 3.

Loosen three (red) screws and remove one (green) screw securing the heat sink. Remove the heat sink.

STEP 4.

Remove one screw securing the CD-Rom cover. Remove the cover.

STEP 5.

Remove four screws securing the hard drive bracket. Lift up the bracket and disconnect it from the motherboard.

STEP 6.

Remove two screws securing the speaker assembly. Disconnect the speaker cable from the motherboard. Unplug the CMOS (RTC) battery.

STEP 7.

Remove two screws securing the PC card slot. Lift up the slot and disconnect it from the motherboard.

STEP 8.

Remove one screw securing the modem card. Unplug the modem cable from the motherboard. Remove modem with the cable and phone jack.

STEP 9.

Remove six hex studs from the laptop ports.

STEP 10.

Remove one screw securing the motherboard. This screw is located on the left side from the power jack.

STEP 11.

Start separating the motherboard from the metal bracket.

The motherboard has been removed.

Now you can access the power jack and repair it.

If the power jack is broken, you’ll have to replace it with a new one. If the power jack is loose, you’ll have to resolder it to the motherboard.

Here are instructions for removing and replacing laptop power jack.

What could be wrong? Is it bad power jack or the motherboard is dead?

By the way, the power jack aka DC-IN jack is the power socket on the side or back of your laptop where you plug the AC/DC power adapter.

I’ll explain how to perform basic troubleshooting and find out what is wrong. This is only for experienced people, who know how to disassemble laptops.

First of all, test the AC/DC power adapter with a multimeter. It’s very likely that there is noting wrong with the laptop and your problem is related to the power adapter.

If the adapter tests fine and output correct voltage, disassemble the laptop and remove the top cover.

As you see on the first picture, in my laptop the power adapter plugs into the DC-IN power jack which is connected to the motherboard via a harness.
In some models the DC-IN power jack is soldered directly to the motherboard.

Plug in the power adapter and measure voltage at the point where the DC-IN jack or DC harness (like in my case) connected to the motherboard.

If you are reading the same voltage as on the AC adapter, it means the power jack or harness works properly and the problem is related to the motherboard.

If there is no voltage, most likely there is a problem with the jack or hardness and it has to be replaced.

By the way, in some case the problem could be related to the fuse which is usually located somewhere very close to the power jack/harness connector. You can test the fuse with a multimeter.

If the fuse is bad, the motherboard will appear to be dead even if there is nothing wrong with the power jack and AC/DC adapter. If that’s the case, replacing the bad fuse should fix the problem.

On the picture below you can see a good working power socket. The power jack is seated correctly. It’s tight and will not move when you plug in the adapter.

On the next picture you see a broken socket. There is a gap between the power jack and laptop base and when you plug the AC adapter inside the jack it feels very loose. In some cases, the power jack disconnects from the laptop base and you cannot plug in the power adapter at all.

In order to understand what’s going on it’s necessary to remove the top cover and take a closer look at the power jack.
As you see on the picture below, the power jack is not seated correctly and separated from the laptop base.

In some cases it happens because the DC-IN power jack gets broken.

In other cases, the DC-IN power jack is OK but the laptop base is broken. The power jack mounts between two plastic brackets inside the case. If one of the brackets is broken (the left one in my case), the DC-IN power jack will not seat correctly.

But in many cases you have both parts broken, the power jack and base assembly.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO FIX THE POWER SOCKET?

1. If the power jack is OK but the base is broken, you’ll have to replace the base assembly, which means you’ll have to disassemble the whole laptop.

2. If the base assembly is OK, but the DC-IN jack is broken, you’ll have to replace the DC-IN power harness.

3. In the worst case scenario you’ll have to replace both parts, the base assembly AND power jack harness.

UPDATE!

I just published a guide explaining how to repair broken power connector yourself.

In the following guide I’ll be taking apart a Gateway NX570X laptop. I think my disassembly instructions will work for other Gateway laptops in the NX570 line too. Please let me know if you have a different Gateway laptop and this guide works for you, you can mention your model in the comments below.

The laptop I’m fixing stopped charging the battery even though the AC adapter works properly and outputs correct voltage. I tested the adapter with a voltmeter. Actually, it’s charging the battery but only intermittently, when the AC adapter pushed in firmly. In order to charge the battery I have to adjust the AC adapter plug inside the power socket on the back of the laptop. Apparently, there is a problem with the power socket (aka power jack) and it has to be replaced or resoldered. OK, let’s take this lappy apart. I’ll be removing the system board so I can access and repair the power jack.

Are you looking for spare parts for your Gateway NX570 laptop? You’ll find them here.

STEP 1.

Turn off the laptop, unplug the AC adapter and remove the battery.

Remove seven screws (yellow circles) securing the memory cover.

Remove one screw (yellow circle) securing the keyboard. There are two more keyboard screws under the memory cover. You can see them in the step 5.

Remove one screw (orange circle) securing the Wi-Fi card cover.

Remove two screws (red circle) securing the hard drive. In order to disconnect the hard drive from the motherboard, you’ll have to slide the hard drive assembly to the left. Remove the hard drive assembly from the laptop.

STEP 2.

Disconnect two antenna cables from the wireless card, simply unsnap them from the card using your fingers. Remove one screw securing the wireless card and remove the card.

Remove both memory modules.

Loosen four screws securing the heat sink assembly (red circles).

STEP 3.

Carefully lift up the heat sink assembly from the laptop. The cooling fan is attached to the motherboard. Unplug this cable from the motherboard.

STEP 4.

Remove one screw securing the CD/DVD drive. Push the drive to the left and remove it from the laptop.

STEP 5.

Remove all screws from the bottom of the laptop. Two screws marked with green circles are securing the keyboard.

If you are replacing the keyboard, you simply remove one green screw in the step 1 and two green screws in the step 5 and then proceed to steps 7,8,9,10.

STEP 6.

Remove two screws from the hinge cover.

STEP 7.

Start removing the hinge cover with a small flathead screwdriver and continue removing it with your fingers.

STEP 8.

Remove the hinge cover.

STEP 9.

Lift up the keyboard as it shown on the picture below and place it upside down on the palm rest.

STEP 10.

Unlock connector on the system board. Release the cable and remove the keyboard.

STEP 11.

Release the wireless card antenna cables.

Unplug LCD cable from the system board.

Remove two screws from each display hinge.

STEP 12.

Carefully lift up and remove the LCD assembly.

STEP 13.

Remove four screws securing the top cover.

Unplug the touch pad cable from the system board.

STEP 14.

Lift up and remove the top cover assembly.

STEP 15.

Remove five screws securing the motherboard.

Unplug the speaker cable (left) and the Bluetooth card cable (right) from the system board.

STEP 16.

Start removing the system board from the left side.

You’ll have to disconnect one more cable shown on the picture below.

Finally, the system board has been removed.

Now you can access and repair the power jack. You can use these power jack replacement instructions.

When I was removing the power jack from the system board, it came out with the internal sleeve attached to the “+” connector. This sleeve connects traces on both sides of the system board and normally, when you unsolder the power jack, it stays inside the hole.
Now I’ll have to make a modification so traces on both sides of the system board are connected. I’ll have to connect traces with a cable.

My reason for taking it apart is replacing the broken power jack but I will remove all major components so you know how to do that.

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

You can search for spare parts for your Sony Vaio VGN-S360P laptop here.

Remove two screws securing the cover on the bottom. Under these cover you’ll find laptop memory and wireless card.

This model has two memory slots accessible from the bottom but unfortunately you cannot use regular notebook RAM modules. You’ll have to use PC2700 DDR333 microDIMM. I believe you can install 1GB total. Up to 512MB module into each slot.

If you are replacing the keyboard, remove only two green screws and proceed to the next step. These two screws secure the keyboard.

If you are taking the whole thing apart, remove all screws – red and green.

There are two spring loaded latches above F4 and F12 keys.

Carefully release these latches with a small flathead screwdriver.

After the latches has been released, you can lift up the keyboard as it shown on the picture below.

Turn the keyboard upside down and place it on the palm rest. In order to remove the keyboard you’ll have to unlock the connector first.

Remove the keyboard.

Remove four five screws securing the top cover assembly. (I forgot to circle one screw which is located on the right side from the touch pad cable).

Unplug two speaker cables (green), the touch pad cable (red) and the power button board cable (yellow).

Here’s a closer shot on the speaker connector.

Now you can lift up and remove the top cover assembly.

The top cover assembly has been removed.

Remove two screws securing the hard drive assembly. Unplug the hard drive cable from the motherboard.

Remove the hard drive assembly. If you are replacing the hard drive, you’ll have to remove the mounting bracket with the cable and transfer it to a new drive.

Before you can remove the CD/DVD drive, you’ll have to remove the PC card slot.

Remove one screw securing the slot and unplug it from the motherboard.

Remove the PC card slot assembly.

Remove four screws securing the CD/DVD drive assembly to the laptop base. Unplug the cable.

Remove the CD/DVD drive assembly. If you are replacing the drive, you’ll have to transfer the face plate with the cable and mounting bracket to a new drive.

Remove three screws securing the CPU heat sink.

Remove the CPU heat sink.

If the heat sink is clogged with dust blow it off with compressed air.

Remove two screws securing the DC power jack. Remove the mounting bracket and release the jack.

As you see on the picture below the power jack in my laptop is broken in two pieces. I’m going to replace it with a new power jack. I will unsolder the broken jack and solder a new one.

Before you install the heat sink back in place, you’ll have to apply new thermal grease on the top of the CPU.

These instructions explain how to take apart a Sony Vaio VGN-FZ220 series laptop. I had to replace the DC-IN power jack because it was broken. The jack is soldered to the power harness and can be easily replaced if you have basic soldering skills. Use this guide on your own risk.

You can search for spare parts for Sony Vaio VGN-FZ series notebooks here.

I created these instructions while taking apart a Sony Vaio VGN-FV220E but I think you can use them for entire VGN-FV220 line.

STEP 1.
Unplug power adapter. Unlock and remove laptop battery. Remove one screw securing the memory cover and remove the cover. Remove one screw securing the hard drive cover and remove the cover.

STEP 2.
Remove three screws securing the hard drive. Slide the hard drive to the left side and disconnect it from the connector on the motherboard. Remove the hard drive. Remove both memory modules (spread latches on both side of the memory module and carefully pull it from the slot).

STEP 3.
Remove two screws securing the DVD drive. Carefully pull the DVD drive from the laptop and remove it.

STEP 4.
Remove all screws (marked red and green) from the bottom of the laptop.
If you are taking apart the whole laptop, you’ll have to remove all screws.
If you are using this guide just for removing or replacing the keyboard, you’ll have to remove just four green screws (they secure the keyboard bezel) and after that you can proceed to the steps 7-9.
Again. If you want to disassemble the whole laptop, you’ll have to remove all screws from the bottom (red and green).

STEP 5.
Carefully disengaged three latches in the battery compartment. These latches secure the keyboard bezel. Push on latches with a small flathead screwdriver until they are unlocked.

STEP 6.
Carefully unlock two more latches in the DVD drive compartment. I wasn’t careful enough and broke one latch. :)

STEP 7.
You can remove the keyboard bezel with a small flathead screwdriver.

STEP 8.
Remove two screws securing the keyboard.

STEP 9.
Carefully lift up the keyboard and place it upside down on the palm rest. The keyboard cable is connected to the motherboard.

First, unlock the connector. Remove clear tape securing the connector. After that slide the LOCK (this part of the connector secures the cable inside) about 1-2 millimeters to the left using your fingernails. This will release the keyboard cable. Now you can pull keyboard cable from the connector and remove the keyboard.

WARNING! If you break the keyboard connector you’ll be screwed big time. The keyboard will never work again (until you find a way to repair the connector or replace the whole motherboard). Be careful.

STEP 10.
Disconnect cables pointed with red arrows. Disconnect three wireless card antenna cables pointed with yellow arrows.

STEP 11.
Release all disconnected cables. Remove screws securing display hinges (three screws securing each hinge).

STEP 12.
Lift up and remove laptop display panel.

IMPORTANT! You’ll have to go through steps 10-12 only if you want to remove the display panel.
In order to remove the laptop base cover and access the power jack, it’s not necessary to remove the display panel. It occurred to me only after I removed the display panel.

Here’s what you have to do. Leave all cables mentioned in the step 10 connected to the laptop and go to the step 11. Remove only two red screws from each hinge and do not remove green screws. Now you can close the display and proceed to the step 14 (removing base assembly).

STEP 13.
The display panel has been removed. I didn’t have to remove it but I did.

STEP 14.
Turn the laptop upside down and remove the base cover.

STEP 15.
Now you can access and replace the DC-IN power jack located in the top left corner of the laptop.
Do you see the RTC (CMOS) battery? I’ll explain at the end why I mentioned the battery.

STEP 16.
The DC-IN power jack was broken in many pieces. I unsoldered the broken jack and replaced it with a new power jack.

The power jack has been replaced. Now you can assemble the laptop following steps 16-1.

IMPORTANT! After I replaced the jack, I assembled the laptop back together, plugged in the power adapter, pressed on the power button and NOTHING! The laptop was dead! There were no LED lights or any activity at all. I tested power jack continuity with a voltmeter and didn’t find any problem. The motherboard was getting power but didn’t turn on. I thought the motherboard was fried. Just in case I unplugged the RTC (CMOS) battery from the motherboard, waited for 30 seconds and plugged it back in. Tested the laptop again AND it started like new!!!!