In this tutorial I show how to disassemble an Asus VivoBook 15 F512 or X512 laptop. This disassembly guide should work for one of the following Asus VivoBook 15 models: F512DA, F512FA, X512F, X512DA, X512DK, X512FA, X512FB, X512FL, X512FJ, X512UA, X512UB, X512UF and probably some other models too.

Here are some Asus VivoBook 15 F512 X512 design highlights:
– The laptop can support two storage drives: 2.5″ SATA drive and M.2 SATA SSD.
– There is only one RAM slot available for upgrades.
– The cooling fan easily removable.
– The DC power jack soldered to the motherboard.
– The keyboard permanently attached to the top case.

For this disassembly you will need only three basic tools: Phillips #1 screwdriver, case opener tool and tweezers.

Removing the base cover

STEP 1.
Remove ten screws securing the base cover. There are three types of screws: orange – the longest screw, red – medium length screws, green – short screws.

STEP 2.
Pry up the base cover and start separating it from the top case assembly.

STEP 3.
Continue removing the base cover with your hands. You’ll have to apply some reasonable force to remove the cover. There are multiple hidden latches attaching it to the top case.

Disconnecting and removing the battery

STEP 4.
Remove four screws securing the battery and the battery mounting bracket. Remove the bracket.

The battery cable is routed under the touchpad cable which has to be disconnected first.

STEP 5.
Disconnect the touchpad cable from the motherboard.

The connector has to be unlocked before removing the cable. Lift up the locking tab (red arrow) to unlock the connector.

STEP 6.
Unlock the battery cable connector and disconnect the battery cable from the motherboard.

Slide the metal clip to the shown direction (yellow arrow). This clip covers the battery cable to secure the connection.

Now you can lift up the battery cable and unplug it from the motherboard. Do not use metal tools to lift up the connector. You can accidentally short the pins and damage the battery or the motherboard. Use your fingernails instead.

STEP 7.
The speaker cables and the Wi-Fi antenna cables are routed in the guided path on the side of the battery. Separate all cables from the battery.

STEP 8.
Lift up the battery and remove it from the top case. The battery hinges on two knobs on the left side. Make sure to put it back in place properly during the re-assembly process.

Here’s the other side of the battery.
Asus VivoBook 15 F512 X512 battery model: C21N1818-1.

Removing RAM, 2.5″ HDD and M.2 SSD

Asus VivoBook 15 F512 X512 motherboard has 4GB non-removable memory (soldered) and one RAM slot which can take up to 16GB DDR4 memory module. Maximum memory for this laptops is 20GB.

STEP 9.
Remove the memory module and replace it with a larger capacity module if necessary.

STEP 10.
Remove one screw securing the M.2 SATA SSD and pull the SSD out. This is type 2280 M.2 SSD.

STEP 11.
Disconnect the 2.5″ SATA hard drive cable from the motherboard.

Unlock the connector before removing the cable.

STEP 12.
Remove the 2.5″ hard drive from the laptop.

This is a regular 1TB 2.5″ spinning SATA hard drive. I would strongly recommend replacing it with a 2.5″ solid state drive which is much faster. When you upgrade the hard drive, you’ll have to transfer the SATA cable and the rubber sleeve to the new drive.

Removing the cooling fan

STEP 13.
Remove three screws securing the cooling fan. Disconnect the fan cable from the USB board.

STEP 14.
Lift up and remove the cooling fan.

Here’s the other side of the fan (part number 13NB0KA0AM0301).

Removing the display panel

STEP 15.
Disconnect the display video cable which is hidden under the padding foam.

Lift up and remove the padding foam which has an adhesive tape on the bottom.

Peel off the clear tape and unplug the display video cable from the motherboard.

STEP 16.
Open the display panel 90 degrees and place the laptop upside down on the edge of your desk.
Remove four screws securing the display hinges.

STEP 17.
Now you can separate the display panel from the top case assembly and remove it.

I don’t show how to remove the LCD screen in this guide but it shouldn’t be difficult. I believe the screen removal procedure is pretty much standard:
1. Remove two screws from the lower left and right corners of the display assembly.
2. Remove the screen bezel.
3. Remove all screws securing the screen.
4. Disconnect the display cable from the back of the screen.

Removing the USB board and the motherboard

STEP 18.
Disconnect the I/O cable from the USB board.

STEP 19.
Lift up and remove the USB board.

STEP 20.
Remove all screws securing the motherboard and disconnect the following color-coded cables:
– Speaker cable (yellow).
– Touchpad cable (green).
– Keyboard cable (blue).
– Keyboard backlight cable (pink).
Also, its necessary to remove the Wi-Fi card.

Now you can separate the motherboard from the top case and remove it.

The DC-IN power jack soldered to the motherboard. If it fails, you’ll have to unsolder the failed DC jack and replace it with a new one.

Removing the touchpad

STEP 21.
Remove one screw securing the touchpad and disconnect two cables. Remove the touchpad.

The keyboard is not removable because it’s permanently attached (riveted) to the top case. If the keyboard fails, you’ll have to replace the entire top case assembly.

This guide will help you to take apart the display panel and replace the LCD screen on an Asus F556U series laptop. Also this guide should work for Asus F555L models.

It is much easier to replace the LCD screen if you separate the display panel from the laptop base as I explained in my previous Asus F556U base disassembly guide.

It’s possible to replace the screen without removing the display but most likely you will have trouble seating the screen bezel back in place during the re-assembly process. The screen bezel has to go under the hinge cover which cannot be removed with the display attached to the base. The display panel must be removed if you are taking it apart in order to replace damaged hinges.

For the screen removal I’ll be using a Philips #0 screwdriver and X-Acto knife.

STEP 1.
Slide the hinge cover to the right until it clicks and separates from the display.

STEP 2.
Remove the hinge cover. This cannot be done with the display panel still connected to the laptop base.

STEP 3.
Remove two screws securing the screen bezel in the lower left and right corners of the display assembly.

The screws are hidden under self-adheasive covers. You can remove the screw cover using an X-Acto knife. The blade is thin enough to get under the cover and remove it without leaving marks on the plastic bezel.

STEP 4.
Start separating the screen bezel from the back cover on the top side of the display, somewhere around the webcam.

STEP 5.
Continue removing the screen bezel. You’ll have to wiggle the bezel to disengage multiple hidden latches securing it to the back cover.

STEP 6.
Remove the screen bezel completely.

STEP 4.
Remove four screws attaching the LCD screen to the display hinge brackets.

STEP 5.
Separate the LCD screen from the display back cover and turn it upside down on the desk.

STEP 6.
Now you can access the connector on the back of the LCD screen and unplug the video cable.

STEP 7.
Peel off the clear tape securing the connection. Pull the video cable out to unplug it from the screen.

You can find a replacement LCD screen if you search by the model number printed on the original screen. In my Asus F556U I had this screen installed: B156HTN03.8

Here’s the display back cover with the LCD screen removed. Now you can replace the damaged hinges if necessary.

To re-assemble the laptop just follow all disassembly steps in the reverse order.

In this guide I show a full disassembly of an Asus F556U series laptop. To be precise, I’m taking apart an Asus F556UA-UB71 model (made in 2016) and most likely you can use this guide Asus F555L and some other models too.

There will be two Asus F556U disassembly guides. In this one I explain how to take apart the laptop base and in the next one I explain how to take apart the display panel and remove the LCD screen.

I will be using a Phillips screwdriver #0, fine tweezers and a plastic spudger.

Memory module removal

Asus F556U series laptop has 4GB non-removable memory soldered to the motherboard and one memory slot which can be easily accessed through the RAM cover on the bottom. It can take up to 8GB DDR4-2400 SODIMM in the empty slot. Total RAM for this model is 12GB (4GB onboard and 8GB removable).

STEP 1.
Remove one screw (hidden under a cover) securing the memory cover. Pry up and remove the memory cover.

STEP 2.
Remove the memory module and replace it with a larger capacity module if necessary.

Base cover and battery removal

STEP 3.
Remove all screws securing the base cover to the top case.

One of the screws is hidden under the bottom foot (closest to the optical drive). Remove the bottom foot (self-adhesive) in order to access the hidden screw.

For some reason Asus decided to use five different types of screws on the bottom. Keep track of all removed screws, it will help a lot during the re-assembly process.

Here’s how I do it. Draw a diagram of all bottom screw locations on a piece of paper. Using a small screwdriver make holes for the screws and secure all screws on the diagram.

STEP 4.
Start separating the base cover from the top case using a plastic spudger. Move the spudger along the side and try up the base cover.

STEP 5.
Continue removing the base cover with your hands. There are many hidden latches securing the base cover. You’ll have to use some reasonable force to remove the cover.

STEP 6.
Remove the base cover completely.

STEP 7.
Remove two screws attaching the battery to the top case.

STEP 8.
Lift up and remove the battery.

Hard drive removal

The hard drive is mounted under the I/O board cable and part of the hard drive bracket is located under the I/O board. It’s necessary to remove the I/O board with the cable in order to remove the hard drive.

STEP 9.
Disconnect the I/O cable from the motherboard.

Here’s how to release the I/O cable. Lift up the locking tab (red arrow) to unlock the connector and pull the cable out.

STEP 10.
There are no screws securing the board but there is a small latch on the right side. Release the latch to separate the board from the top case.

Lift up and remove the I/O board (USB/audio jack/card reader) with the cable attached.

STEP 11.
Remove two screws securing the hard drive bracket.

STEP 12.
Lift up the left side of the hard drive and pull it away from the motherboard to disconnect from the SATA port.

Asus F556U series laptop has a regular 2.5″ spinning (slow) hard drive installed. I would strongly recommend upgrading it to a 2.5″ solid state drive which will make your laptop much faster.

If you decide to upgrade to a solid state drive, you’ll have to transfer the mounting bracket to the new drive. The bracket is secured by four screws (two on each side).

Optical drive and fan assembly removal

STEP 13.
Remove one screw securing the optical CD/DVD drive. Pull the optical drive out.

STEP 14.
Remove seven screws securing the cooling fan assembly (fan and heatsink). Disconnect the fan cable from the motherboard.

STEP 15.
Carefully separate the heatsink from the processor and remove the fan assembly.

Display panel removal

STEP 16.
Disconnect one antenna cable from the wireless card (red). Disconnect the display video cable from the motherboard (yellow).

In order to disconnect the wireless card antenna cable simply lift up the cable “head” and un-snap it from the connector on the card.

Be careful while disconnecting the display video cable. The connector looks fragile with a bunch or thin wires exposed.

Lift up clear tape securing the connection and pull the display cable out.

STEP 17.
Open up the display panel 90 degrees and place the laptop upside down on the edge of the desk as it shown on the following picture.
Remove four screws securing the display panel hinges.

STEP 19.
Separate the display panel from the top case assembly.

In the next guide I explain how to take apart the display panel and remove the LCD screen.
The display panel has to be removed in order to replace the screen.

Motherboard removal

STEP 20.
Remove two screws securing the optical drive and hard drive connector board.

STEP 21.
Lift up the optical drive and hard drive connector board to disconnect it from the motherboard and remove it.

STEP 22.
Disconnect the keyboard cable (red) and the touchpad cable (yellow) from the motherboard.

Both connectors have to be unlocked before you disconnect the cable.

STEP 23.
Lift up and remove the motherboard.

Here’s the other side of the motherboard.

The DC power jack is soldered to the motherboard. If the DC jack fails, it has to be de-soldered from the board and replaced with a new one.

The keyboard is permanently attached to the top case. It’s possible to replace the keyboard without replacing the top case but it’s not easy. In a case of keyboard failure I suggest you replace the entire top case.

The touchpad, on the other hand, is removable.

In this guide I explain how to disassemble an Asus Q405U (model Q405UA-BI5T5) laptop. You can use this guide for replacing the battery, upgrading the hard drive, adding more memory or any other repair that requires laptop disassembly.

Some of the design features of this model:
– The battery is mounted inside the laptop case and cannot be easily removed.
– The keyboard is permanently attached to the top case.
– The motherboard has one memory expansion slot but it’s located on the hidden side of the motherboard.
– The motherboard has a M.2 slot for SSD upgrade but it’s located on the hidden side of the motherboard.

For Asus Q405U you will need only three basic tools: Phillips screwdriver #0, tweezers and case opener tool.

STEP 1.
Remove all screws from the laptop base. Seven screws color-coded in red are longer than other four screws color-coded in green.

STEP 2.
Insert a thin metal case opener tool between the laptop base and top case assembly. Pry up the base to separate it from the top case. There are many hidden latches fastening to parts to each other.

STEP 3.
Continue separating the top case from the base assembly.

STEP 4.
Be careful. There are four cables connecting the top case to the motherboard.
Before removing the top case completely it’s necessary to disconnect the following color-coded cables:
– Keyboard cable (orange).
– Trackpad cable (yellow).
– Finger print cable (blue).
– Keyboard backlight cable (green).

You will have very limited space to disconnect all these cables.

First, disconnect the keyboard cable. Unlock the connector by lifting up the locking tab at a 90 degree angle (red arrow) and pull the cable out (yellow arrow).

Second, disconnect the keyboard backlight cable – the smallest connector on the board.

Third, disconnect the finger print cable and trackpad cable.

STEP 5.
Now you can remove the top case assembly completely.

Here’s the other side of the top case assembly.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this guide, the keyboard on an Asus Q405U laptop is permanently riveted to the top case. It’s not easy to replace just the keyboard.

STEP 6.
Before taking it apart any further, don’t forget to disconnect the battery.

The wireless card antenna cables are running over the battery. We’ll remove the battery later in the guide, after we disconnect the wireless antenna cables.

Here’s how to disconnect the battery. Lift up the battery connector and unplug it from the motherboard.

WARNING! Do not use a screwdriver for that. You can accidentally short the battery connector pins and damage the motherboard. Use a plastic pry tool instead or finger nails.

STEP 7.
Remove five screws securing the hard drive caddy. Two screws on the left are covered by an aluminum shield which has to be removed too.

STEP 8.
Lift up the right side of the hard drive assembly and pull it to the right to disconnect from the SATA connector board.

My opinion about the hard drive: It’s beyond my understanding why in 2018 (when SSDs are dirt cheap) Asus used a regular 2.5″ spinning hard drive in this laptop. Just doesn’t make sense.

Upgrading this drive to solid state drive will speed up the laptop significantly.

STEP 9.
Disconnect both antenna cables from the wireless card. Lift up each connector to un-snap it from the Wi-Fi card.

STEP 10.
Remove one screw securing the Wi-Fi card and pull it out.

STEP 11.
Remove four screws securing the battery.
Un-tape Wi-Fi antenna cables from the battery and move them aside.

STEP 12.
Lift up the left side of the battery to separate it from the base assembly.

STEP 13.
Remove the battery.

Asus Q405U (Q405UA-BI5T5) battery model: B31N1705-1.

STEP 14.
Remove one screw securing the I/O board and disconnect the I/O board cable.

On the I/O board you will find: two USB ports, SD card reader port, battery charge and status LED lights, volume control buttons and power button.

STEP 15.
Lift up and remove the I/O board.

STEP 16.
Remove four screws securing the motherboard. Two silver screws on the left (red) are shorter than two screws (green) on the right.

Disconnect two display cables (yellow and green) and one speaker cable (pink).

Here’s how to disconnect the first display cable with a plastic base.
Peel off clear sticky tape securing the connection and pull the cable out.

Disconnect the second display cable with a metal base the same way.

STEP 17.
Separate the motherboard from the laptop base.

STEP 18.
Remove the motherboard. The hard drive SATA connector board is attached to the motherboard.

Here’s the other side of the motherboard. The power connector is soldered to the motherboard.

Finally, you can access the memory expansion slot and upgrade RAM if necessary.
You can add up to 8GB 2400MHz DDR4 SDRAM memory module in the open slot.

The M.2 slot for SSD upgrade also located on this side of the motherboard (fits SSD size 2080).

STEP 19.
Remove two screws securing the left and right display hinges to the base assembly.

STEP 20.
Now you can separate the display panel from the laptop base.

In this guide I show how to disassemble an Asus ROG GL551J (series GL551JW-DS74) laptop.

The main design features of this model:
– Both RAM modules and 2.5″ hard drive can be easily accessed under the service cover.
– The laptop has a 128GB mSATA SSD which can be removed and upgraded with a larger mSATA SSD.
– The RTC battery is located on the bottom side of the motherboard and cannot be easily removed.
– In order to replace the cooling fan it’s necessary to remove the motherboard.

You will need the following tools during the disassembly process: Phillips screwdriver #0, tweezers, case opener tool.

STEP 1.
Unlock and remove the battery. Battery model: A32NI405.
Remove two screws securing the service cover. Slide the cover down and remove it from the laptop.

STEP 2.
Remove three screws securing the hard drive mounting bracket.
Slide the hard drive assembly to the left to disconnect it from the SATA port.

Both RAM slots also accessible here. This laptop can handle up to 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3-12800 SODIMM RAM modules.

STEP 3.
Lift up and remove the hard drive assembly. This laptop has a regular 2.5″ hard drive installed. Upgrading this drive to a 2.5″ solid state drive will improve the laptop performance significantly.

STEP 4.
Remove one screw securing the optical drive on the bottom of the laptop.
Pull the optical drive to the left and remove it.

STEP 5.
Disconnect both antenna cables from the wireless card.

STEP 6.
Remove one screw securing the wireless card and pull the wireless card out.

STEP 7.
Remove all screws from the laptop base.

STEP 8.
Remove two more screws located in the optical drive bay.

STEP 9.
Separate the laptop base from the top case assembly.

STEP 10.
Be careful, there are two cables still connected to the motherboard.
Lift up the laptop base so you can access and disconnect the speaker cable.

STEP 11.
Unplug the speaker cable from the motherboard.

STEP 12.
Turn the laptop upside down and lift up the top case until you can access the display cable.

STEP 13.
Disconnect the display cable from the motherboard.
There is a plastic tab on the top of the connector. Pull it down to unplug the cable.

STEP 14.
Now you can remove the top case assembly (the motherboard is mounted to the top case).

Here’s the laptop base/display assembly with the top case removed.
Again, you’ll have to have the display cable connector (red), speaker cable (orange) and wireless antenna cable (yellow) disconnected before removing the top case.

When the top case removed, you can access the mSATA SSD.

Asus ROG GL551J (series GL551JW-DS74) has a Kingston mSATA SSD installed.
Kingston SSD model: SMSM151S3/128GD – it’s a half size SSD.

NOTE: if you want to upgrade, you must use a half size SSD. There is not enough space for a full size mSATA SSD.

STEP 15.
Remove one screw securing the DC power jack to the top case.
Disconnect the DC jack cable from the motherboard.

This particular Asus ROG GL551J laptop had a problem with the DC power jack. It was pushed in inside the case. Why it happened? Take a closer look at the picture. As you see the plastic bracket got cracked (laptop was dropped) and the DC jack got loose.

When I was researching a new jack I found many of them available on eBay but only a few of them had the mount for the screws. Pay attention to that.

STEP 16.
Remove eight screws securing the motherboard and cooling fan to the top case.
Disconnect the following color-coded cables:
– Touchpad cable (orange).
– Keyboard cable (green).
– Keyboard backlight cable (blue).
– WOFER FCC cable (yellow).

Here’s how to disconnect flat cables.
Lift up the locking tab to unlock the connector (red arrow) and pull the cable out (yellow arrow).

STEP 17.
Separate the motherboard from the top case. Be careful because the USB Audio board cable is still connected to the other side.

The USB Audio board is glued to the top case. Make sure to unglue the cable before removing the motherboard.

STEP 18.
Turn the motherboard upside down and disconnect the USB Audio board cable.

Here’s the top case with the motherboard removed.

Asus ROG GL551J has the keyboard permanently attached to the top case. The keyboard cannot be easily removed and replaced.

Here’s the other side of the motherboard. The RTC battery is located on this side.

The cooling fan is taped to the heatsink. The fan can be separated from the heatsink after you remove the tape.

In this guide I explain how to take apart Asus ZenBook UX330 UX330U UX330UA laptops.

In this particular example I’m taking apart an Asus ZenBook UX330U but all other models should be identical.

STEP 1.
Start the disassembly process with removing all screws from the base cover.
One Torx 5 screw (color-coded in green) is longer than eight other Torx 5 screws (color-coded in red).

Also, don’t forget to remove two Phillips screws hidden under two upper bottom feet (color-coded in yellow).

STEP 2.
Separate the base cover from the top case assembly.

STEP 3.
Remove the base cover.

STEP 4.
Make sure to disconnect the battery cable before continuing any further laptop disassembly.

In order to disconnect the battery cable, it’s necessary to unlock the connector first.
Slide the metal locking bracket to the shown direction (red arrow) to unlock the connector.
After that lift up the battery connector (yellow arrow) and unplug it from the motherboard.

STEP 5.
In Asus ZenBook UX330 UX330U UX330UA laptops the battery is mounted under the I/O board cable. Let’s remove this cable first.

Remove two screws from each side of the I/O cable. Two of these screws (on the bottom) also securing the battery.

STEP 6.
Lift up each side of the I/O cable to disconnect it from the motherboard and I/O board.
Remove the I/O cable.

Asus ZenBook UX330 UX330U UX330UA I/O cable part number: 08201-01342000.

STEP 7.
Remove six screws attaching the battery to the top case assembly.

STEP 8.
Lift up and remove the battery.

Asus ZenBook UX330 UX330U UX330UA laptops have the following battery model installed: C31N1602.

STEP 9.
Remove one screw securing the solid state drive.
Pull the SSD out. This is m.2 SATA III solid state drive (type 2280).

STEP 10.
Remove one screw securing the cooling fan and disconnect the fan cable from the I/O board.

STEP 11.
Remove the cooling fan.

STEP 12.
Disconnect two Wi-Fi antenna cables from the wireless card.
Remove one screw securing the wireless card.

STEP 13.
Pull the wireless card out.

STEP 14.
Remove two screws securing the I/O board and unplug the speaker cable.

STEP 15.
Remove the I/O board (USB, SD card reader, audio jack board).

STEP 16.
Remove three screws attaching the motherboard to the top case assembly.

Disconnect the following color-coded cables:
– Display cable (orange).
– Touchpad cable (yellow).
– Keyboard cable (green).
– Keyboard backlight cable (blue).

Here’s how to disconnect all flat cables on the lower side of the motherboard.
Unlock the connector by lifting up the locking tab (red arrow) and after that pull the cable out (yellow arrow).

Here’s how to disconnect the display cable.
Peel off sticky tape securing the connection. Pull the cable out.

STEP 17.
Remove the motherboard from the top case assembly.

Here’s a photo of the other side of the motherboard.

Asus ZenBook UX330 UX330U UX330UA motherboard has the DC power jack soldered.
If the DC jack fails, you’ll need a soldering station to replace the jack.

STEP 18.
Place the laptop upside down with the display opened up on the edge of the desk.
Remove two screws from each display hinge.

STEP 19.
Separate the display assembly from the top case assembly.

By the way, in Asus ZenBook UX330 UX330U UX330UA laptops the display can be removed only after you remove the motherboard. A part of the right display hinge is mounted under the motherboard.

The keyboard is permanently attached to the top case and cannot be easily removed and replaced. If the keyboard fails, you’ll have to replace the top case assembly or try this repair.

In this guide I explain how to disassemble an Asus ZenBook Flip UX360C laptop. This guide should also work for Asus UX360 and UX360CA models.

How is this laptop different from many other laptops? In an Asus ZenBook Flip UX360C two battery mounted under the motherboard and USB SD card reader board.

We’ll remove the battery not at the beginning of this laptop dismantle, as it down in most other disassembly guides, but at the very end.

STEP 1.
Remove twelve screws securing the laptop base assembly to the top case assembly.
Notice that two Phillips screws are hidden under the rubber feet.

STEP 2.
Using a thin case opener tool start separating the top case from the base.
You’ll have to move the case opener along the side of the top case and pry it up in order to unlock hidden latches.

STEP 3.
Lift up the top case assembly but pay attention to the touchpad and keyboard cables still connected to the motherboard and USB SD card reader board.
It’s necessary to disconnect these cables before you remove the top case assembly completely.

Here’s how to disconnect the touchpac cable from the I/O board (USB port, SD card reader and power button board).
1. Unlock the connector by lifting up the locking tab (red arrow).
2. Carefully pull the touchpad cable out (yellow arrow).

Disconnect the keyboard cable. Use the same technique to unlock the connector and release the cable.

Here’s a photo of the bottom side of the top case (palmrest/keyboard/touchpad) assembly.

In an Asus ZenBook Flip UX360C laptop the keyboard is permanently riveted to the top case. The touchpad, on the other hand, can be easily removed and replaced if necessary.

STEP 4.
After the top case is removed we can disconnect the battery cable.

Lift up the battery cable connector to disconnect it from the motherboard.
Do not use a screwdriver or other metal tool for disconnecting the cable. You can accidentally short metal pins.

Use fingernails or a plastic stick for that.

STEP 5.
Remove one screw securing the solid state drive.
Pull the SSD out of the slot and remove it. This is m.2 SATA III solid state drive (type 2280).

STEP 6.
Remove six screws securing the display hinges to the base assembly.
Disconnect two display cables from the motherboard.

Here’s how to disconnect the display cables.
Insert a plastic stick under the cable connector and pry it up.

STEP 7.
Separate the display panel from the base assembly.

STEP 8.
Disconnect two antenna cables from the wireless card.
Remove one screw securing the wireless card.

STEP 9.
Pull the wireless card out to remove it.

STEP 10.
Remove eight screws attaching the motherboard to the base assembly.
One screw on the heatsink (color coded in orange) is different from all other screws.
Disconnect the speaker cable from the motherboard.

The speaker cable is very small and has thin wires attached to it.
Be careful disconnecting this cable.

STEP 11.
Lift up the motherboard and place it upside down.
Before removing the motherboard it’s necessary to disconnect the I/O cable on the other side.

STEP 12.
Remove two screws securing the I/O cable connector and disconnect the cable.
Now you can remove the motherboard.

By the way, Asus ZenBook Flip UX360C motherboard has no memory slots. All memory is built into the motherboard. Memory cannot be removed and upgraded.

The DC jack is soldered to the motherboard and cannot be easily replaced.

STEP 13.
Remove six screws from the battery (red) and one screw from the I/O board (yellow).
One of the battery mounts located under the board.

STEP 14.
Carefully lift up one side of the I/O board (yellow arrow) and slide the battery from under the board (red arrow).

STEP 15.
Now you can remove the battery completely.

Here’s a photo of the other side of the battery.

Asus ZenBook Flip UX360C battery model: C31N1528. Same as for Asus UX360 and UX360CA.

STEP 16.
Remove black cover from the I/O board.

STEP 17.
Remove two screws securing the board to the base case.

STEP 18.
Remove the I/O board with the cable attached to it.

In this guide I will go through a complete Asus F402B laptop disassembly. Model F402BA-EB94.

If you are here for the LCD screen replacement instructions, the display removal and disassembly shown at the end of this guide.

In order to remove and replace the LCD screen in an Asus F402BA-EB94 it’s necessary to remove the display first because you will not be able to remove the hinge cover otherwise.

STEP 1.
Remove all screws from the bottom cover.

STEP 2.
Start separating the bottom cover from the rest of the laptop using a thin case opener tool.

The bottom cover fitted very tightly. Continue lifting up one side of the bottom cover while prying up the other side.

STEP 3.
Remove the bottom cover completely.

STEP 4.
Remove two screws securing the battery.
Disconnect the battery cable from the motherboard.

In order to disconnect the battery cable you’ll have to unlock the connector first.
Unlock the connector by moving the metal bracket away from the battery (red arrow).
Only after it is unlocked you can disconnect the cable by lifting up the white connector (green arrow).

STEP 5.
Remove the battery completely.

Replacement batteries model: C21N1618

STEP 6.
Remove four screws securing the hard drive assembly. In my Asus F402B I had a 2.5″ solid state drive installed.

STEP 7.
Slide the hard drive assembly away from the SATA connector and remove it.

STEP 8.
Disconnect the wireless card antenna cable. Carefully lift up the golden connector and unsnap it from the card.
Remove one screw securing the wireless card.

STEP 9.
Pull the wireless card out.

STEP 10.
The USB audio board mounted under the right display hinge.
Remove two screws from the hinge and one screw from the board.
Disconnect the USB audio board cable.

Unlock the connector by lifting up the locking tab (red arrow) and pull the cable out.

STEP 11.
Open up the display hinge and remove the USB audio board.

STEP 12.
Disconnect the display video cable from the motherboard.
Remove two screws securing the left display hinge.

STEP 13.
Open up the display hinge.

STEP 14.
With both display hinges opened up you can separate the laptop base from the display.

STEP 15.
Remove two screws securing the cooling fan and four screws securing the motherboard.

Disconnect the following color-coded cables:
– USB audio board cable (red)
– Two speaker cables (orange)
– Keyboard cable (yellow)
– Touchpad cable (green)
– Front LED board cable (orange)

STEP 16.
Separate the motherboard from the palrmest assembly and remove it.

The cooling fan is a part of the heatsink.
In order to remove the cooling fan assembly you’ll have to remove four screws from the heatsink and disconnect the cable.

Here’s the other side of the motherboard. The DC power connector is permanently attached to the motherboard. Here’s how to remove the DC jack.

The keyboard is permanently attached to the palmrest but the touchpad can be removed and replaced.

Asus F402BA-EB94 display disassembly

STEP 17.
Remove two screws from the lower right and left corners.
These screws are hidden under two plastic covers.

STEP 18.
Start separating the LCD bezel from the back cover.

STEP 19.
Before you can remove the LCD bezel completely it’s necessary to remove the hinge cover.
Slide the hinge cover to the right and lift it up.

STEP 20.
Remove the LCD bezel.

STEP 21.
The LCD screen secured to the display back cover by four screws.
Remove all screws, separate the LCD screen from the back cover and disconnect the video cable on the back.

In this tutorial I explain how to disassemble an Asus K501U laptop.

In the first part of this guide I will show how to take apart the laptop base assembly in order to access all internal components. In the second part of this guide I will show how to take apart the display panel in order to remove the LCD screen.

Taking apart Asus K501U base assembly

STEP 1.
Remove all shown screws from the bottom cover. These screws have different length. I color-coded screws with similar length in red, yellow and green. Make sure to install them correctly when you assemble the laptop back together.

STEP 2.
Separate the bottom cover from the palmrest assembly and remove it.

STEP 3.
Remove four screws securing the battery.
The battery connected to the motherboard via a cable.

STEP 4.
In order to unlock the battery connector you’ll have to slide the metal bracket to the shown direction.

STEP 5.
Carefully lift up the battery cable from the connector.
Do not use metal objects to lift up the cable. You can short metal pins inside.

STEP 6.
You can find a new replacement battery using the part number printed on the original battery. I would recommend using a genuine Asus battery, not a third-party replacement.

Replacement battery model B31N1429.

STEP 7.
Asus K501U motherboard has only one memory slot. Some memory is built into the motherboard. You can access the available slot if you remove the metal cover.

You can install up to 8GB DDR3-12800 SODIMM RAM module into this slot.

STEP 8.
Remove four screws from the hard drive caddy and remove the caddy. This laptop came with a m.2 solid state drive so there is no regular 2.5″ hard drive installed.

STEP 9.
Remove one screw securing the solid state drive and pull the drive out.

This is m.2 SATA III solid state drive (not NVMe).

STEP 10.
Remove three screws securing the right fan.
Disconnect fan cable from the motherboard.

STEP 11.
Remove the right fan.

STEP 12.
Remove three screws securing the left fan.
Disconnect fan cable from the motherboard.

STEP 13.
Remove the left fan.

STEP 14.
The USB audio board is mounted under the right hinge.
Remove three screws from the right hinge.
Remove one screw securing the board.
Disconnect the USB audio board cable (color-coded in green).
Disconnect the right speaker cable (color-coded in yellow).

Here’s how to disconnect the flat cable.
Unlock the connector first by lifting up the locking tab. After that pull the cable out.

STEP 15.
Lift up the right hinge and remove the USB audio board.

STEP 16.
Carefully disconnect wireless antenna cables from the wireless card.

STEP 17.
Remove one screw securing the wireless card and pull it out.

STEP 18.
The motherboard mounted under the left hinge.
Remove three screws from the left hinge.
Remove two screws securing the motherboard.

Disconnect the following cables:
– USB audio bord cable (red)
– Keyboard backlight cable (orange)
– Keyboard cable (yellow)
– LED board cable (green)
– Trackpad cable (blue)
– Display video cable (pink)

STEP 19.
Lift up the left hinge.

STEP 20.
Remove the motherboard.

Here’s the hidden side of the motherboard. The DC power jack is soldered to the motherboard and here’s how to replace the failed DC jack.

STEP 21.
With both hinges lifted up you can separate the palmrest assembly from the display.

STEP 22.
The trackpad is secured to the palmrest assembly with one screw. Remove the screw.

STEP 23.
Remove the trackpad.

STEP 24.
The LED board secured by one screw and can be easily removed too.

The keyboard is permanently attached to the palmrest assembly. It’s not easy to replace just the keyboard without replacing the entire top case.

Taking apart Asus K501U display panel

STEP 25.
Slide the hinge cover to the shown direction. This can be done only after the display panel separated from the palmrest assembly.

STEP 26.
Remove the hinge cover.
Remove two screws securing the front bezel to the display back cover.

STEP 27.
Start separating the bezel from the back cover.

STEP 28.
Remove the display front bezel.

STEP 29.
Remove four screws securing the LCD screen to the back cover.

STEP 30.
Separate the LCD screen from the back cover to access the video cable connector on the back of the screen.

STEP 31.
Unplug the video cable from the screen.

You can find a new replacement LCD screen using the part number printed on the back of the original screen.

The screen model N156HGE-EAB.

In this guide I show how to disassemble Asus Q553 Q553U Q553UB Notebook PC.

In the first part of the guide I will tear apart the laptop case and in the second part I will take apart the display assembly. As you noticed, in my laptop the screen digitizer glass is cracked and it stopped working. We’ll take a look if it’s easy to replace the digitizer or not.

Taking apart the laptop case.

STEP 1.

Remove all screws from the bottom case.

STEP 2.

Separate the bottom case from the top case and remove it.

STEP 3.

Remove four screws attaching the battery to the top case.

The speaker cable attached to the right side of the battery. While removing the battery you will have to un-route the cable from the guided path.

Lift up the battery connector and unplug it from the motherboard.

Replacement battery type N593UB-1A.

STEP 4.

Remove four screws securing the hard drive bracket. Slide the hard drive assembly to the left to disconnect it from the motherboard. Remove the hard drive.

I recommend upgrading this regular hard drive to a 2.5″ SATA solid state drive to improve laptop performance.

STEP 5.

Remove one screw securing the optical CD DVD drive. Slide the optical drive to the left and remove it from the laptop case.

STEP 6.

Asus Q553 Q553U Q553UB motherboard has only one removable memory module. The memory module located under the metal cover which can be easily removed.

You can leave the memory module connected to the board unless you are replacing it with another one.

You can install up to 8GB DDR3-12800 SODIMM module into this slot.

The second memory module integrated into the logic board and I will show where it’s located later, after I remove the motherboard from the case.

STEP 7.

Remove there screws from the cooling fan and four screws from the heatsink.

Disconnect the fan cable from the motherboard.

STEP 8.

Lift up and remove the cooling module assembly.

The cooling fan is permanently attached to the heatsink.

STEP 9.

Remove one screw from the USB SD card reader board.

Disconnect the I/O cable from the board.

Here’s how to disconnect the cable.

1. Unlock the connector by lifting up the locking tab (red arrow).
2. Pull the cable out of the connector (yellow arrow).

STEP 10.

Remove the USB SD card reader board.

STEP 11.

Remove the hard drive board with the cable.

You will have to lift up the board in order to unplug it from the connector on the motherboard.

The CMOS battery is hidden right under the hard drive board.

STEP 12.

Disconnect both antenna cables from the WLAN card. It’s a dual band wireless-AC card.

STEP 13.

When you remove one screw securing the WLAN card, it will pop up at a 30 degree angle.

Pull the WLAN card out of the slot.

STEP 14.

Remove one screw from the power button and volume control board.

Disconnect the cable.

STEP 15.

Remove the power button and volume control board.

STEP 16.

In order to remove the motherboard, it’s necessary to open up the left hinge.

Remove four screws from the left hinge.

STEP 17.

Lift up the left side of the hinge so it opens up at a 60 degree angle.

STEP 18.

Remove three motherboard screws. Two of them located on the LAN port cover.

Disconnect the following cables:

• Keyboard data cable (red rectangular).
• Touchpad cable (orange square).
• Speaker cable (green square).
• Keyboard backlight cable (yellow square). Attention!!! It’s easy to overlook this cable because the connector is small and located in the middle of the motherboard.
• Display video cable (purple rectangular).

Both wireless antenna cables are taped to the motherboard in the fan area. It’s necessary to remove the tape and separate antennas from the motherboard.

The keyboard connector unlocked the same way as other flat cable connectors.

In order to disconnect the display cable simply lift up the connector using the black belt on the top.

STEP 19.

Separate the motherboard from the top case and remove it.

Here’s the other side of the Asus Q553 Q553U Q553UB motherbaord.

The integrated RAM located under the silver shield. It’s permanently attached to the board and cannot be removed or replaced. The DC jack also soldered but it’s possible to replace the jack.

STEP 20.

The touchpad attached to the top case by three screws. I’m not removing the touchpad in this guide but it shouldn’t be difficult.

The keyboard is permanently riveted to the top case and cannot be easily removed. If your keyboard failed, I would suggest replacing the entire top case or you can try this keyboard removal method.

Removing the display and taking it apart

STEP 21.

Remove four screws from the right hinge.

STEP 22.

Open up the right hinge the same way as the left hinge earlier in the step 17.

STEP 23.

With both hinges opened up, you can easily separate the display panel from the top case.

Now let’s take apart the display panel.

STEP 24.

There are two screws located in the lower left and right corner of the display assembly. They are hidden under the plastic covers.

Remove both covers and both scews.

STEP 25.

Insert a think plastic case opener between the LCD screen/digitizer assembly and display back cover.

STEP 26.

Pry up and unsnap the LCD screen/digitizer assembly from the cover.

STEP 27.

Move along the side of the display separating one part from the other.

Continue separating them on the top, sides and bottom of the display assembly.

STEP 28.

Remove the LCD screen/digitizer assembly from the back cover.

Here’s the display back cover where you can access and remove both hinges if necessary.

Here’s the LCD screen/digitizer assembly.

The LCD screen is glued to the back side of the front bezel frame and can be removed relatively easy.

The digitizer, on the other hand, is glued to the front side of the bezel and removing it can be a real pain, very similar to replacing cracked glass on MacBook Pro.

After some consideration, I decided to replace the entire LCD/digitizer assembly as it shown on the following picture.