How to disassemble Asus UX50V

posted in: 2. Asus | 13

In this guide I will disassemble an Asus UX50V laptop.

I’m not sure 100% but I think this guide might work for one of the following Asus models: U50A, U50F, U50VG, U50, U50V, U50F, U50VF.

If you have one of the mentioned models please confirm if my guide works (of doesn’t work) for you in comments after this post.

I’ll go through the following major disassembly steps:

STEP 1-7: Disconnecting and removing the keyboard.
STEP 8-11: Removing the top cover and display assembly.
STEP 12-18: Removing the DVD drive, hard drive and cooling fan.
STEP 19-21: Removing the motherboard and accessing both memory modules.

STEP 1.

Turn off the computer. Remove the battery.

STEP 2.

The keyboard is secured to the top cover by five plastic latches.

Push on a latch with a small flathead screwdriver and at the same time lift up the keyboard a little bit.

When the keyboard is lifted up, it will not allow the latch to lock.

Unlock all five latches.

STEP 3.

Now you should be able to lift up the upper side of the keyboard and turn it upside down.

Be careful, there are two ribbon cables connected the keyboard to the motherboard.

It’s necessary to unlock both connectors and release cables before removing the keyboard.

In the following three steps I explain how to unlock connectors.

STEP 4.

Here’s the main keyboard cable connector and it’s shown in the locked position.

Slide the locking tab (brown piece) about 1-2 millimeters to the shown direction.

NOTE: the locking tab must stay attached to the connector base.

STEP 5.

On this picture the same connector shown in the unlocked position.

Now you can pull keyboard cable from the connector.

STEP 6.

Unlock the keyboard backlight cable connector same way as the main connector.

Release and remove the cable.

STEP 7.

Remove the keyboard.

STEP 8.

Remove all screws from the bottom.

STEP 9.

Remove screws securing the top cover assembly.

Disconnect the following cables:
1. Touchpad cable.
2. Video cable.
3. Web camera cable.
4. Power button board cable.

Also, it’s necessary to disconnect wireless card antenna cables from the wireless card.

Here’s how to disconnect wireless card antenna cables.

Simply lift up the golden connector and unplug it from the card.

Disconnect the touchpad cable the same way we disconnected the keyboard cable in steps 4 and 5.

Slide the locking tab about 1-2 millimeters to the shown direction.

After that pull the cable from the connector.

In order to disconnect the video cable, just pull it up by the clear tab attached to the connector.

Finally, disconnect the web camera cable and power button board cable.

These are regular male-female connectors.

STEP 10.

After all screws removed and cables disconnected you can start separating the top cover assembly from the bottom cover.

I’m using the guitar pick as a case cracker. You can use a small piece of soft plastic. Insert it between the top cover and bottom cover and move slowly along the side.

At the same time lift up the top cover with your finger.

STEP 11.

Lift up and remove the top cover assembly.

As you see, the display panel attached to the top cover. Remove them together.

STEP 12.

This is a view on the bottom part of the top cover assembly.

Here you can access the power button board and touchpad.

This is a view on the laptop internal components after the top cover/display assembly removed.

STEP 13.

Remove three screws securing the hard drive assembly.

STEP 14.

Lift up the hard drive assembly and disconnect it from the cable.

STEP 15.

Remove four screws securing the DVD drive.

STEP 16.

Lift up one side of the DVD drive and slide it to the shown direction to disconnect from the motherboard.

Remove DVD drive.

STEP 17.

Remove two screw securing the cooling fan.

Disconnect fan cable from the motherboard.

STEP 18.

Lift up and remove the cooling fan.

STEP 19.

Remove screws securing the motherboard.

Disconnect the touchpad cable.

STEP 20.

Carefully lift up one side of the motherboard and remove it from the bottom base.

The motherboard removed.

STEP 21.

Here’s a view on the bottom side of the motherboard.

NOTE: in an Asus UX50V laptop both memory modules are located on the BOTTOM side of the motherboard. In order to remove, replace or upgrade memory it’s necessary to disassemble the entire laptop and remove the motherboard.

Here’s a view on the bottom cover with the motherboard removed.

Here you can access:
– Card reader board.
– CMOS battery (attached to the card reader board).
– USB board.
– Touchpad button board.
– Both speakers.


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13 Responses

  1. benedict

    thanks the info. about this laptop & the site it is very helpful to me!!.. thank you

  2. jotacer

    Help, I need a guide to disassemble my Asus G60Vx. someone please send or tell me how to do … thanks

  3. Moondancer

    Hi,
    Although the information provided here is excellent and potentially useful to me, it did not contain the information I need. I have the Asus U50A and the power jack hinge has finally broken completely. I need to remove that and replace it. I took it in for a battery replacement when it was still under warranty and pointed out that the hinge was loose. Best Buy told me they only deal with one issue at a time, so I chose the battery and was told to bring it back in right after I received the new battery. I live in a small rural area and have to drive 85 miles to get to the Best Buy I normally use. I never made it back in before the warranty expired. Can you help me? Thank you.

    • IML Tech

      @ Moondancer,

      I have the Asus U50A and the power jack hinge has finally broken completely. I need to remove that and replace it.

      Not sure what the power jack hinge is but you can find a new replacement DC jack harness on eBay for about $6.

  4. Moondancer

    Greetings;
    Thank you very much. I don’t know what it’s actually called, I just call it that because it’s the right side hinge for the monitor/lid and it is where the DC power jack fits in. I’ll just have to figure out how to disconnect and replace it once I get a new one. Thank you, again.

    Best Regards,

    Moondancer

  5. Moondancer

    Sorry, my brain sometimes doesn’t process correctly. Right after I hit “submit” I realized I was bass-ackward and it would be what you called it, not the hinge, since it’s on the outside, to the right of the hinge. (I’ve been extremely ill for quite some time and still have good & bad days)

    Thanks again!

    M

  6. Derek

    I have the asus ux50v and need to replace the lcd screen. How do you take the bezel off? I dont see any rubber to take off to reveal screws or anything.

    • IML Tech

      @ Derek,

      I have the asus ux50v and need to replace the lcd screen. How do you take the bezel off? I dont see any rubber to take off to reveal screws or anything.

      I haven’t done it myself but if you don’t see any screws apparently the bezel is secured to the back cover via hidden plastic latches.
      Maybe just insert a guitar pick (or other piece of plastic) between the bezel and cover and separate them?

  7. Moondancer

    Just thought I’d get back to you regarding my Asus U50A. I finally just dismantled it using a combination of the instructions for the ux50v and trial. (Thankfully, no error, lol) It is a little more complicated than the ux50v, after removing the keyboard. There is no way to remove the housing top until you locate 3 extra screws from the bottom side, one of which can only be accessed AFTER removing the fan and copper heatsink(s), as one of the screws is UNDER the cpu heatsink “leg”. :p

    As for the problem I had, there are no tutorials for actually replacing the power jack harness itself. I wish I had taken photos or shot video while I worked. Actually, I’ve not been able to find ANY tutorials for repairing the U50A, period. Everyone seems to assume that it will be very similar to the others since the parts are interchangeable. IT’S NOT. lol I had to completely dismantle the laptop, including removing the motherboard, to have access to the power jack housing on the outside position of the right hinge. The outer housing slips off inner housing of the jack after the hinge is opened and the monitor is separated from the body. The inner housing is part of a solid molded piece that guides the wiring for the monitor, and the power jack harness across the bottom of the body. it’s made of some kind of “pot metal” that more resembled “plasteel”, tho not as durable.

    My problem was caused by the power jack inner housing breaking away from the rest of the molded part. I had little faith that I would be able to find that molded part, much less being able to order it, so I got out the JB Weld and very carefully put the 2 pieces together and let it all set over night under a lamp. This morning it had set hard and seemed to be good to go. I put everything back together again, (after installing the new power jack harness), and let the battery charge for awhile before powering on. It’s now working beautifully, although I had forgotten that the fan needed to be replaced also, so it’s pretty noisy. Once I get that problem fixed, I will have my favorite laptop back on the job. 😀

    As for Derek’s question above: yes, it is secured with hidden latches and separates fairly easily. There is a YouTube video showing how to replace the lcd screen on that model.

    Thank you for providing this tutorial, as it was enough for me to get started. 🙂 I may disassemble mine again, just so I have pics and/or video available should I (or others) need it.

  8. DC_DC

    @Moondancer

    To replace the power jack, is soldering required?

    • IML Tech

      @ DC_DC,
      What is your laptop model?
      For Asus U50A no soldering required. If you search eBay for “U50A jack” you’ll see that it’s attached to a cable. You can unplug the failed jack from the motherboard and replace it with a new one.
      For Asus UX50V, on the other hand, soldering is required. eBay search shows just bare DC jack.

  9. Nathanael

    This tutorial will work fairly well for the U50F. As far as my uses went, there is no second cable for the keyboard, and the CPU and cooling system are immediately accessible to remove without actually taking the entire unit apart. Which is what I was trying to get at anyways, so I didn’t need to follow through all the way. Good Job as usual, mate.