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In the following guide I explain how to remove and replace damaged LCD screen in HP G50/G60/G70 notebooks. I’m installing a new LCD screen into a HP G50 notebook but all disassembly steps should be almost the same or at least very similar for HP G60 and G70.
By the way, HP G50/G60/G70 notebooks also known as Compaq Presario CQ50, Presario CQ60 and Presario CQ70.
In most notebooks you can replace the LCD screen without separating the display panel from the base but not in HP G50/G60/G70. In order to replace LCD screen in these models we’ll have to remove the keyboard, keyboard cover and display panel. Let’s start replacing the screen.
Need spare parts for your HP laptop? Search by the part name or number here. You can find the HP spare part number in the service manual. I linked to service manuals at the end of this guide.
In the next post I explain how to remove laptop motherboard.
STEP 1.
Turn off the laptop and remove the battery.
Remove one screw securing the Wi-Fi cover and remove the cover.
It is not necessary to remove the memory and hard drive covers. I marked them just for your convenience.
STEP 2.
Remove three (yellow) screws securing the keyboard.
Remove four (red) screws securing the keyboard cover.
If you are using this guide for replacing the keyboard, you have to remove only three (yellow) screws.
In G50 and G60 the keyboard screws are located in the battery compartment.
In G70 notebooks there are only two screws securing the keyboard and they are located on the bottom (there is a small keyboard stamped close to each screw).
STEP 3.
Carefully lift up the keyboard from the base.
STEP 4.
Place the keyboard so you can access the cable connector underneath.
You have to unlock the connector and release the cable before removing the keyboard.
Move the white clip about 2-3 millimeters towards the display panel and release the cable. Now you can remove the keyboard.
WARNING! The white clip must stay attached to the connector base. If you accidentally break the connector, you’ll have to replace the motherboard. If you work slowly, everything should be fine.
On the picture below the keyboard connector is shown in the unlocked state.
STEP 5.
Disconnect the switch board cable from the motherboard.
STEP 6.
Remove the keyboard cover.
STEP 7.
Turn the laptop upside down and disconnect two antenna cables from the wireless card.
Each antenna cable has a golden head. Grab the head with your fingers and lift it up.
STEP 8.
Disconnect the video cable connector from the motherboard.
Disconnect the webcam cable from the motherboard.
Pull two Wi-Fi antenna cables through the opening.
STEP 9.
Remove four screws securing the display panel hinges.
STEP 10.
Lift up and separate the display panel from the laptop base.
In the following steps we will disassemble the display panel and remove the LCD screen.
STEP 11.
There are two screw seals located in the lower left and right corners.
Remove these seals with a sharp object and remove screws found under the seals.
STEP 12.
Start separating the screen bezel from the display cover.
Continue separating the bezel.
The screen bezel has been removed.
STEP 13.
The screen inverter board is mounted below the screen. The inverter is locked between plastic brackets.
You can remove and replace the inverter board without removing the LCD screen. Simply pull the inverter board from the cover and disconnect connectors on both ends.
STEP 14.
Remove two screws securing the right display hinge.
Remove the right hinge.
STEP 15.
Remove two screws securing the left display hinge.
Remove the left hinge.
STEP 16.
Remove the inverter board from the cover and disconnect one connector from the right side. By the way, this is the backlight lamp connector.
STEP 17.
Remove two screws securing the LCD screen on the top.
STEP 18.
Now you can separate the LCD screen from the display cover and access the video cable.
My HP G50 notebook didn’t have the webcam installed and the webcam cable was taped to the display cover.
If you have a HP G60/G70 notebook, most likely it came with the webcam. You’ll have to disconnect the cable from the webcam before disconnecting the video cable.
STEP 19.
Remove sticky tape securing the video cable connector and unplug cable from the LCD screen.
STEP 20.
Now you can remove the LCD screen from the cover.
If you are replacing the screen, you’ll have to transfer the left and right mounting brackets to the new screen.
Remove three screws securing the bracket and remove the bracket. Do the same with the other side.
The LCD screen model number is located on the sticker. In my laptop I had a screen with the following model number: B154EW08 v.1
The best way to find a new LCD screen for your laptop is either searching by the LCD model number (shown in the picture above) or using the HP part number.
The HP part numbers for LCD screen and other parts can be found in service manuals and here they are.
Service manual for HP G50 or Compaq Presario CQ50 (page 57).
Service manual for HP G60 or Compaq Presario CQ60 (page 4-23).
Service manual for HP G70 or Compaq Presario CQ70 (page 4-20).
After you find the spare part number for LCD screen or any other part, you can search for a new replacement part here. You’ll find many cheap LCD screen replacements.
If you find this article useful, please consider making a donation to the author. Thank you!
February 5th, 2010 at 6:17 pm
I am having the same problem as experienced by Joshua and Adam in post 47 and 48. I have double and triple checked the connections and have also tried reattaching the cracked lcd which now also experiences the same problem so I am convinced it has something to do with the internal display/cover closed switch. I have found the magnet on the underneath of the bezel but I am at a loss what to do know. Is there a physical switch somewhere? Post 43 refers to an “impossibly tiny switch” but cannot see one. Been at this for about 5 hours now (currently 2:15am) so head is fried. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
February 4th, 2010 at 7:01 pm
Thank you very much for all of your help. I broke the LCD on my laptop and purchased a new one. Well, it didn’t seem like rocket science since i am pretty technologically savy, just to remove the screen bezel and unscrew the brackets and such. However, to my dismay, when I unscrewed the screen brackets, something was just not right and the left one broke, so I had to purchase a new one. Come to find out, I needed to remove a lot more than what was expected, due to my research on online and I came across this website. I have a compaq presario cq50-130us and this website helped me to a “T”! My laptop is now prestine thanks to you!!!
February 4th, 2010 at 6:13 pm
My first attempt at any PC repair.
Instructions first class.
Thank You.
February 3rd, 2010 at 8:31 pm
Your instructions and photos were great! Performed the screen change in about 2 hours with no issues (other than dropping my new screen on the floor – it still worked). Total cost – $109.00
Thank you!
February 1st, 2010 at 1:33 pm
You are are lifesaver (computer-wise) INSIDE MY LAPTOP! and a special thanks to TOM and Jazzy (daughter) –
I had exactly the same problem Tom did, but was trying to test it without putting all the screws back in (duh!) Jazzy told me to put it together first before I remove the new screen. It works perfectly!
While I’m unemployed I will be sending a donation after I pay my current bills. This makes me want to try and fix my very slow desktop (much later on). Thanks again.
January 30th, 2010 at 4:09 pm
I lost the clip that hold the swtichboard cable in place…I’m running into a brick wall trying to find one…can anyone assist?
January 26th, 2010 at 5:47 pm
I’m experiencing a difficulty. After replacing the screen and putting the laptop back together, when I switch it on, I get no display and it doesn’t sound like the computer actually boots up – the power light and wireless light come on (Amber) but nothing seems to move past there.
Any ideas?
January 25th, 2010 at 9:47 am
Having the same difficulty as Tom… Everything went back together fine… Press Power and nothing happened. Anyone have any close ups of the switch board cable connector in its proper position?
January 24th, 2010 at 5:44 pm
Thanks a bunch. I would have liked a better close up for the power button connector, but couldn’t have done it without this site. Thanks, Thanks, Thanks again.
January 23rd, 2010 at 9:56 am
I disassembled and focused on the switch board connector. Not sure how it is supposed to go back together but ended up using the black piece to leverage the cable against the pins. so far so good. If you read this first pay attention to this before taking it apart. The only connector that is not plug and play.
January 23rd, 2010 at 8:38 am
Just finished. everything seeminlg went smooth. Plugged it in pressed power….nothing. no power light no fan or hard drive. Have light by power cord and on front panel.
January 22nd, 2010 at 4:05 pm
Wow, thanks for the very quick reply!
I had already tried the old screen, but re-verified it, still no backlight. I checked the inverter output with a VOM meter, no dc voltage at all. Triple-checked the cable connections, all seems ok unless internally broken..I can always ring them out but doubt this is the issue. Thanks for the info re: the cover switch, I found the magnet on the bezel, which helped me locate the (impossibly tiny) switch inside the frame over the battery compartment. It looks (judging from a flashlight through a crack wedged by a screwdriver) as though the leads to the tiny reed switch are broken away from the switch. I dont *think* I did this removing the bezel, but anything is possible. I tried shorting out the leads with two screwdrivers (if it doesnt work with the circuit open, it must be looking for a closed circuit, right…?) but no luck. At this point I am thinking I need to crack the case to get to the switch and make sure I am shorting across it to close. Either that or try to find an inverter (this one is an oddball part number and not much luck finding compatibility lists online) and throw parts/$$$ at it.
Hope I can get this going, son is deployed US Army and this laptop is his commo link to home; if not I will have to buy a replacement for him. A sincere THANK YOU for your help and advice!
January 22nd, 2010 at 9:46 am
Steve,
I believe this laptop might have a magnetic switch. There is a small magnet mounted somewhere under the screen bezel and when the display is closed, it activates the switch under the cover.
Find a small magnetized screwdriver and move it slowly alone the perimeter of the screen bezel. You’ll feel where the magnet is located and this will help you to find the switch.
Here’s what you can try. Connect the new screen to the laptop but instead of plugging the backlight lamp from the new screen, plug in the old screen. Can you get the backlight this way? I’m just trying to generate some troubleshooting ideas.
Check connection between the video cable and motherboard/LCD and inverter again.
January 22nd, 2010 at 7:50 am
Great site, thanks! I just replaced a broken LCD screen in my son’s G60. The old one was cracked, but the backlight worked. Now, the display works but the backlight will not come on. (I reconnected the old screen, still no backlight). All connections appear tight. I am assuming it must be either a) bad ribbon cable to the inverter (although data to the screen seems to pass ok), b)the inverter went bad while changing the screen, c) backlight bulb is burnt out (unlikely since both screens do not have backlight), or D) the cover closed switch is stuck in “closed” condition. Which brings me to my question….WHERE the heck is this internal display switch? I cannot locate it on this laptop at all…In the online manual (another big THANKS!) it shows it vaguely in section 2-1, but never mentions it again, not even as a part number. Can you provide any clue as to where it is located? Also, if the inverter is good, what voltage should I be looking for on the output side?
Thanks again!
January 15th, 2010 at 5:36 am
Used these instructions to change out the LCD inverter for my HP G60 laptop. Step-by-step instructions were easy to follow and got the job done.
Thanks a bunch!
January 5th, 2010 at 6:34 am
I followed the step by step instruction given and was able to replace my laptop screen. t took me about 21/2 hours to do it, but it works great now.
The one thing I made sure to do was to create an envelpoe for each step. I placed the screws that I removed during each step into the appriate labeled envelope.
If you do replace your screen make sure to buy a good screen. I went with a less expensive screen because I wasn’r sure if replacing the screen would really work or not.
December 27th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
My son has a Compaq CQ-70 116. Both the hinges have sized up completely making the laptop unusable… the right one sized up first a few months ago and the left one has just sized this week…
He has been getting by with carefully opening and closing the lid, but he has cracked the plastic and popped some of the screws and casing… any ideas on how to fix this one? I can get new hinges, but the other parts??
Any ideas?
December 24th, 2009 at 3:59 am
I used these instructions to replace a broken screen.
My first attempt at any PC repair.
Instructions first class.
Thank You.
December 21st, 2009 at 10:57 pm
[...] the next post I explain how to remove the LCD screen, inverter board and hinges from the display assembly in HP G50/G60/G70 laptops. It’s similar for Compaq Presario [...]
December 20th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
article was a great help,only problem I had was the lcd connector wasn’t all the way in.
December 12th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Thanks for this posting, the instructions, very detailed and easy to follow. My brother changed the lcd on my compaq cq60 pretty easily. I sent my laptop out to HP service support, thinking they would cover it under their warranty. Boy was I disappointed when they said they wouldn’t fix it under the warranty and wanted more than I had spent on the computer to replace the screen. I need help though. When I first sent them the laptop, there was a big black spot (the crack) and a white background with colorful lines going across the screen, but if hooked up to an external monitor, that monitor would show a perfectly clear picture. When I got the computer back, there was just the crack and a plain white background, no lines in it. After my brother put the new one in, there was still just a plain white screen, and when hooked up to an external monitor, the picture doesn’t come up, there’s just a message about that monitor going into sleep mode. Could HP have damaged something when they were looking at the computer before they shipped it back?
December 11th, 2009 at 10:52 am
I started over and pressed tie video ribbon in tighter, works great.
thanks
December 10th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Thank you SO MUCH for this posting. My husband broke the LCD on his CQ-50 laptop last week. We ordered the replacement on eBay and was this close to having some big name do the replacement installation for us. I work with computers, but never had to do this type of work. So I figured I’d look up anything I could about it and I am forever grateful for your info. The steps were very clear and to the point. No mess, no fuss. Thanks again!
December 10th, 2009 at 10:27 am
I have a hp G60-123CL laptop and one of my kids stepped on it and the screen cracked. I’m not sure if its the 16″ or the 15.6″, how do i measure this? Where would be a good site to buy the lcd screen from thats not too expencessive?? Does these instructions work for this model?