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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.
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September 23rd, 2009 at 12:27 am
I have a gateway laptop that slowly stop powering. I replaced the battery. The replacement worked but the power connection had a short. I followed your awesome directions. I am in the process of fixing the power connection. I need to know where to get a replacement part or do I need to replace it? Where to find parts? Thanks for an awesome attention to detail.
August 30th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
My NX 570 recently started freezing and displaying a screen full of vertical lines. Eventually the screen went blank and the only way I could even boot it up at all was using an external monitor and in Safe Mode. I ended up reformatting and reinstalling Vista and thought it was going to work, but soon after it started doing the same thing again.
I suspect it is the video card, but I am unsure if it can be replaced, fixed or if the entire mother board must be replaced. The video in my laptop is the ATI Mobility RADEON x1400 graphic, which sounds like it should be a separate video card. Does anyone know if it a dedicated video card or have any solutions for me?
August 27th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Joe Martin,
Is it completely blank or you still can see a very faint image?
Can you get video on the external monitor if you connect it to the VGA port?
August 27th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
I have a blank screen. I have replaced the screen and the converter and still a blank screen. Is there something else I am missing?
August 5th, 2009 at 4:52 am
I have a Gateway Laptop, purchased new in 2006, has worked flawlessly until NOW. The CD/DVD RW drive reads intermittently.
The drive IS recognized by the computer, and the device checks out as “Device is working properly” when I check the properties. I put a disk in, it spins, and searches and finds nothing. No matter what type of disk and what type of info is on the disk, it is not reading the disk.
I am not sure if this is germane, however a few weeks before all this happened I installed Roxio. I have the same program on my standalone PC. I NEVER had any problems on the PC., therefore am reluctant to blame the program for the issue of the DVD drive failing to read/record disks.
I use the laptop daily and carry it to/from work; often it’s in my car for extended periods (NEVER in direct sunlight).
Any thoughts on what is causing the problem would be appreciated. What plan of action should I take?
Replace the drive?
Remove it and re-seat the contacts?
Are there contacts that may have loosened?
I am NOT the worlds best tinkerer and have limited tools, thus am reluctant to taking apart the laptop.
July 28th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
Great instructions – thank you so much for taking the time to publish this… you are a rock star!!!
July 28th, 2009 at 7:12 am
I have a E475M Gateway that shows no signs of life. I tested the a/c power and battery and both are ok but no lights, fans, nothing. I am thinking that maybe my problem is the connection to the motherboard- is there any way to check before I tackle this.
Thanks,
Wayne
July 25th, 2009 at 8:14 am
Thanks a million for posting such detailed instructions and pictures. It saves me a lot of time.
BTW, an resistor near my DC jack was burnt. Anywhere to buy (economically, of course, otherwise with today’s laptop price it doesn’t make sense to spend more than 50 bucks on this 3 years old laptop) used motherboard? Googled a little but could find only expensive ones.
July 8th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
Awesome guide. Worked for my Gateway MT6840 (MA7) laptop!!! Thanks for taking the time to make this guide!
Note, I had no problems after the copper sleeve popped out with the rear pin. I’m a hack when it comes to electronics soldering…but all I did was make sure I put adequate solder on that pin before inserting it into the mortherboard. to mak sure I had a solid connection on both sides of the board. I did scrape the green coating a little bit on the one side to make sure the solder adequately contacted this area. That seems to have worked just fine. If you have the skills to fortify the rear pin then by all means do it. I don’t have all the tools and took the risk not doing it!!!
July 8th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
Thanks this was helpful however my mx6429, the lcd just turned all black for no reason, I tried reattaching the cable but no luck, any ideas what it could be?
June 25th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
This also works for the Gateway ML-6227b Laptop disassembly, just two screws different. I just re-soldered the + pin without removing the DC socket and that seems to have done the job. I do wish I had read the reply that told how the keyboard cable clamp works before I started, luckily I didn’t break anything before I worked it out for myself.
Thank you so much for publishing this guide, you are a real Godsend!
June 24th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
jonny,
You cannot. The video chip is integrated into the motherboard and you cannot remove it and replace with a better one. You are stuck with what you have.
June 18th, 2009 at 10:52 am
can you upgrade the video card
June 16th, 2009 at 12:42 am
Disassembly works exactly like this on MT6840’s, just thought I’d mention it.
June 10th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Thank you so much. You are a wonderful person.
June 10th, 2009 at 11:41 am
I replaced the lcd on a nx570s and now the external monitor shows but not the new screen. Before I replaced the screen, neither showed. Is there a way to test the screens? Maybe the old screen was not the problem.
June 3rd, 2009 at 3:12 am
Hello,
I have a question. Could you please send me some pictures of this motherboard detailing the power jack and power button on both sides? please? My motherboard (gateway MT6709) is damaged around that area and I am trying to fix it
Thank you, Mihai
May 27th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
Benny,
1. Try reinstalling the wireless card driver.
2. Try reconnecting the wireless card, maybe it’s not making good contact with the slot.
3. Replace the wireless card.
May 27th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Hello…..there………… I have a mt6451 i have problem with wireless adapter I have a Linksys router in work perfect on my other pc , my gateway wireless is missing,sometimes work,sometime not , someone get give me an idea,plase is gonna help me a lot , thank you this webside is excellent,to find nice persons, help other to fix computer, and save some money……………. Im been waiting for a respond,, see ya
May 18th, 2009 at 10:10 am
@ Mike:
I had an MX7118 — I’d bought it refurbished, and it turned out that some bright bulb ‘fixed’ some issue the original owner had by soldering the right-hand screen hinge so it would no longer turn, so that normal use for ~2 years made the metal bars attached to the hinge shear off from the stress of bending every time the screen angle was adjusted; after the bars snapped off, power to the backlight was interrupted and my screen went dark. My repair guy suggested that buying a compatible model and moving my HD into it would probably be cheaper than the labor involved in opening up the whole screen assembly and likely doing some soldering and/or replacing of parts, so I now have a virtually-identical MX7122 (and the old MX7118 for parts).
I’ve used the universal AC adapters with multiple heads like you mention, and the compatible head on the Cables Unlimited model I had did fit very loosely, as you mention. I found that the universal models had a longer usage life (6-14 months) than most non-Gateway replacement AC adapters, which tend to heat up so much their plastic cases warp and they die within a couple of months — or in one case less than a month! — but at the moment I’m using the Gateway-branded adapter that came with my MX7122. It’s model 0220A1890, manufactured by Li Shin International Enterprise Corp., and not only has a transformer (the box the half of the cable that goes to the wall plugs into) that stays relatively cool — warm but not excessively hot when in use — it’s about 6′ long wall-to-laptop, much longer than most generic replacement adapters. I definitely recommend getting a Gateway brand adapter cable, as the difference in quality (especially usage life) really is worth the extra cost. One tip if you’re going to stick with the uiniversal: make sure the switch that sets the voltage doesn’t get bumped while the cord is in use; some of these universal adapters have quite loose voltage switches, and the wrong voltage can damage your wife’s laptop. Consider sticking something to either side of the switch so it can’t move to a different voltage on her. You might also consider using some electrical tape to keep the end of the cord in place at the back of the laptop.
On the front panel, the blue LED light indicates when the computer is powered on, and the amber one is lit only when the battery is charging. The amber light should be on when the laptop is off if it’s plugged in and the battery is charging. If the blue light is also on when the laptop is shut down, I’m not sure what could be causing that. There are blue LED-lit icons below the touchpad buttons, also — the far left one indicates whether the laptop is plugged in (even when off), the one to the right of that is lit when the laptop’s wireless connection is active, and the far-right one lights up whenever the HD is active (so it often just flickers when you’re writing to or reading from disk). I don’t think the icon lights could be ‘bleeding through’ to the bar-shaped front panel light, though.
Some things to try:
Make sure you don’t just need a new battery. If the amber light is staying on all the time (when there’s AC power available) it’s not charging up all the way. The MX7122 I got second-hand had nothing wrong with it* except needing a new battery, but the problems the previous owner described having with it sound like yours. It’s handy to have a backup battery anyway, and if it turns out you need to replace her laptop, you can still recoup most of the cost of the second battery via eBay if it turns out the battery wasn’t the (or the whole) problem.
A laptop that shuts itself down can be caused by too-high internal temperatures… which in many cases is a result of the fans and/or heatsink being too dusty. (*This was the one other problem with the MX7122; when I ran any RAM-hogging programs, or just too many at once, it would overheat and even shut itself down a couple of times.) Unfortunately, the fans and heatsink on the MX7000 series Gateways are not easily accessible. They are in fact about as inaccessible as laptop fans can be. IF you’re hardware-savvy enough to be comfortable getting into the guts of your wife’s laptop, get yourself a can of compressed air and a magnetized screwdriver, and open it up. (Blowing air in through the outside vents probably won’t do much if any good if there’s enough dust inside to cause a problem.) The NX570x instructions on this page are close enough to get you through most of the disassembly on a MX-7118; the main differences are in the layout of the underside of the case. If you’re not comfortable doing that yourself, it’s worth paying $75-120 for a professional to open it up, clean the fans and heatsink, and — importantly — get it back together again. (Putting a laptop back together is trickier than taking it apart, trust me.) You’ll need the magnetized screwdriver because some of the screws are just about impossible to remove otherwise, but you can try magnetizing a screwdriver you have by scraping the tip across a solid magnet until you can pick up a paperclip (or one of the screws that comes out easily) with it. I hopefully don’t need to remind you to keep the magnet itself far away from the computer. Before you open up the computer (or pay someone else to) though — at least in terms of fixing the immediate problem of the laptop shutting down — check how hot the bottom of the computer is getting before it shuts down. If it’s barely getting warm to the touch, hold off on cleaning the fans until you’re sure it’s worth doing. You’ll still probably want to clean the fans eventually, though, as laptop fans accumulate a lot of dust and will run inefficiently, reducing performance, unless they’re cleaned every year or two.
There’s a remote chance the problem is malware having gotten into her computer. You can rule this out by taking her hard drive out (very easy — just flip the laptop up with the two LEDs facing up and the keyboard facing away from you; that panel just below and to the left of the blue and amber LEDs is the hard drive, and all you need to do to get it out is unscrew that one screw and pull it out like a drawer) and putting it into a HD enclosure, which you can then attach to another computer as an external drive so you can run virus scans on it. I recommend AVG, Spybot, Malwarebytes and Kaspersky’s online scan (yes, run all four) which are all free. Some anti-virus software will shut down the computer to protect it from an existing malware infection, while some viruses will shut the system down either to prevent the user from finding/fixing the infection or because they spread by hijacking startup processes. The computer you use to run the scans from should be safe even if the external drive being scanned is infected, but it’s a good idea to have a resident-protection program or two running, such as Spybot’s TeaTimer (included in the Search & Destroy download).
If neither replacing the battery nor cleaning out the fans solves the problem, and virus scans all come up clear, you’re probably looking at a more serious problem… possibly the motherboard. If that’s the case, you might want to just do what I did and pick up a compatible model from the MX7000 series on eBay to move your wife’s HD into.
Good luck!
May 15th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
I’m attempting to ri see under eset the bios/hdd master password on my nx570x by removing/unhooking the cmos battery. I see in the picture under step13, near the lower-right corner there’s a circular opening with a round green-plastic-covered object with a wire connected to a plug. Is that the cmos battery? I’m just so used to desktops where they’re so much easier to find. If that’s it if you could confirm. If not, could you point me to it? I’ve already unhooked that wire plug and just waiting. Thanks in advance.
May 14th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
Wow, thanks for the detailed instructions. Im working on my wifes Gateway MT6711 which appears nearly identical. Hopefully I will recieve the new power jack in the mail this week and can get it back together
I had the same problem you mentioned about the sleave coming out of the motherboard attached to the + connector on the jack…….
I cant really tell where it needs to attach to the trace on the jack side of the board? Any advice?
Thanks again!
Rob
May 3rd, 2009 at 12:17 am
Thank you for a great guide.
April 28th, 2009 at 10:49 am
hey there,
awesome Site!
so where can i find a new power adapter to solder to the motherboard?
thanks,
G
April 25th, 2009 at 11:11 pm
A great thank to you!! this is the best instruction i have ever see
now i wiil be able to fix my power jack
all because of you so i can do it it’s you!!! you!!! you!!! man!!!!!!
ONCE AGAIN ,THANK YOU!
April 25th, 2009 at 10:55 am
I would like to say, this was great instructions and I was able to fix my laptop.
The person who put this together knows how to write a procedure.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Mark Kreifels
April 20th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
I wanted to say thank you for posting this, it saved a lot of trial and error. I would like to add one thing and I hope you put it in your description.
The clips that hold the mouse and keyboard ribbon cables – they just FLIP UP – do not remove them by pulling them backwards (toward the cable). If you DO remove them completely, pay attention to the little holes – they sit on the pins then fold down to lock the cable in place. If you break the tabs off (like I did….) hot glue works great to hold them in place. Be sure to test the keyboard and mousepad are working before you put the cover on (where the power switch is) as it will save you MUCH trouble.
April 20th, 2009 at 12:05 am
Mike,
Before you go any further, check the AC adapter. I really don’t trust all this universal adapter with multiple heads.
April 19th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
Tom,
Thank you for mentioning the laptop model. I’m sure my instructions will work for many different Gateway models.
April 17th, 2009 at 7:13 am
I’m having problems with my wife’s MX7118. The PSU light stays on intermittently & the system powers up but shuts down after a few minutes. On the front panel when it is charging should both the blue & amber lights be lit up (when the unit is off)? The A/C cord light is lit as well. I attempted to take it apart but apparently am missing a hidden screw (or 2?). I’m also suspecting that the A/C cord itself is bad, it is an aftermarket unit w/ several end connectors & it feels very loose. Does anyone have any experience with this particular model? Thanks!