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In this guide I explain how to disassemble a HP Pavilion dm4 laptop.
I’m doing this disassembly in order to replace damaged LCD screen. Unfortunately, in order to replace the LCD screen in an HP Pavilion dm4 laptop, it’s necessary to disassemble the entire laptop and remove the display panel.
I’ll split laptop disassembly instructions across two posts. In this post I explain how to remove the display panel and in the next post I’ll explain how to replace the LCD screen.
Before you start make sure the laptop is turned off and battery removed.
STEP 1.
Remove two screws securing the memory cover in battery compartment.
STEP 2.
Slide and remove the memory cover.
Remove two screws securing the hard drive cover. Remove the cover.
STEP 3.
When all covers removed you’ll be able to access both memory modules, hard drive, CMOS battery and wireless card.
For the purpose of my guide it’s not necessary to remove memory modules, wireless card and CMOS battery.
STEP 4.
Disconnect hard drive cable from the motherboard.
Remove the hard drive assembly.
STEP 5.
Carefully disconnect both antenna cables from the wireless card.
Again, we’ll leave the wireless card connected to the motherboard.
STEP 6.
Remove one screw securing the DVD drive.
Slide DVD drive to the left and remove it from the laptop.
STEP 7.
Remove two screws securing the keyboard.
STEP 8.
It’s very tricky removing the keyboard from a HP Pavilion dm4 laptop. There is no way you can do it from the top without damaging the keyboard.
Here’s how I did it.
In the DVD drive compartment there is a hole and you can use it for removing the keyboard.
Very carefully push the keyboard through the hole in the DVD drive compartment. I’m using a thin plastic tool for that.
After the keyboard separates from the top cover you can continue removing it with your fingers.
To make it more complicated, HP glued the keyboard to the top cover with double sticky tape. 
STEP 9.
Continue separating the keyboard from the top cover.
STEP 10.
Finally, lift up the top side of the keyboard and flip it upside down on the palm rest.
STEP 11.
Now you can access the keyboard cable and disconnect it from the motherboard.
STEP 12.
The keyboard connector opens up as it shown on the picture below.
Carefully open the brown tab at a 90 degree angle. Do not separate the locking tab from the white base.
On the following picture the keyboard connector shown in the unlocked position.
STEP 13.
Now you can pull keyboard cable from the connector and remove the keyboard.
Need a new keyboard for HP Pavilion dm4 laptop? You can find good selection here.
STEP 14.
Remove all screws from the bottom of the laptop.
There are two screws hidden under base feet (green circles).
Remove the rubber foot with a sharp object and remove the screw.
STEP 15.
Remove four screws securing the top cover.
Disconnect three cables. Use same technique as in the step 12.
STEP 16.
Carefully separate the top cover from the laptop base.
Continue removing cover with your fingers.
STEP 17.
The top cover has been removed.
Here’s the opposite side of the top cover.
Here you can access and remove (if needed) the finger scanner and power button board.
STEP 18.
Disconnect display video cable from the motherboard.
Pull both wireless antenna cables through the hole in the bottom cover.
STEP 19.
Remove four screws securing display hinges.
STEP 20.
Now you can separate the display panel from the laptop base.
The display panel is ready for the LCD screen replacement.
Here’s the laptop base with the display panel removed.
In a HP Pavilion dm4 laptop the DC power jack is not soldered to the motherboard. The jack is attached to a power harness.
If the DC power jack goes bad you simply unplug it from the motherboard and replace with a new DC jack.
May 21st, 2013 at 7:38 am
@ C,
Yes, it’s necessary to remove the top cover assembly as it shown in the step 17.
After the top cover removed you can access and replace the DC jack harness.
May 14th, 2013 at 11:36 pm
Do you have to take the computer all the way apart to change the DC jack?
May 11th, 2013 at 8:16 pm
Wow this is great! I may need to use it soon
My dm4 stopped booting and I dont know why. When you press the power button, the button lights up as does the wifi button and the caps lock button blinks. I hear noises of hardware doing stuff but I’m not sure if the primary fan is working. The screen is black throughout. Nothing else happens. It’s likely a hardware issue. I replaced the BIOS chips battery on a hunch but no dice. The caps lock button continues to blink. That’s it. Any ideas?
April 28th, 2013 at 7:45 pm
Opps i didnt give all the info in my previous post. My brown locking tab for the KEYBOARD CABLE CONNECTION if broken. Any clue where to get a new one?
April 28th, 2013 at 7:42 pm
I have a pavilion dm4 2015dx and the locking tab (brown) is broke. Do you know how I can get a new one?
Thanx, Jeff
April 7th, 2013 at 7:18 pm
Hi, Please help me. I had a broken hinge and have disassembled my dm4 laptop to put adhesives on it. But after I re-assemble and turned it on the monitor will only work for few minutes and will turn to black screen and then log-in screen every once in a while, so i would have to re-log again though it retains the last session. But this information is very helpful for me to review the assembling procedure because I still have 4 remaining screws that was placed back on the laptop. And I think it is a lose-contact problem. Please give me some suggestions on how to solve the screen problem.
Thanks
April 4th, 2013 at 6:29 pm
About that battery with the broken latch. Sorry to bother you. I was over thinking. I took dremel tool and cut out the bottom of the battery pack without cutting batteries. Then I just squeezed it out of the latches. Took less than 5 minutes. New battery went right back in. Thanks again.
March 23rd, 2013 at 7:53 am
@ Jerry Keylly,
Sorry, there is no simple answer to your question. It depends on how the latch failed. You can try prying it out with a small screwdriver and at the same time sliding the latch. Maybe the latch will engage while you lifting up the battery. This is just a guess. I cannot see how it’s damaged.
March 21st, 2013 at 4:01 pm
I have andm4-1160us. I have a broken battery access slide. How do I get the battery out? Otherwise the laptop is great, just worn out batter. The slide lock mechanism has fallen off. Thanks for any guidance. Jerry
March 20th, 2013 at 7:25 am
@ Zak,
The touchpad button is a part of the palmrest assemble. The easiest way to fix the problem is replacing the whole palmrest assembly. You can see it removed in the step 17.
A new replacement palmrest assembly (with touchpad and buttons) available here.
A new palmrest assembly is relatively cheap and easy to replace.