ubuysa
The BSOD Doctor
PCS have agreed to replace the Intel Centrino Wireless-N 135 card in my Optimus IV. I've had to send the old one back before they'll send me the replacement but that's ok because I have an external wifi adapter I can use in the meantime. I asked them for some instructions on getting the old card out and they sent me the service manual for the Optimus IV which describes in good detail how to remove the keyboard - the wifi card is underneath.
I took some pictures after I'd got the keyboard out and I thought other Optimus IV owners might find the pictures and a description of my experience useful?
The service manual tells you to first remove the battery and then remove the main cover on the underside of the laptop. This is pretty easy, it's held on by three cross-head screws, I used a small screwdriver from a cheap watchmaker's screwdriver set to get them out. They weren't terribly tight but you'll want to be careful because if you damage the heads you'll never get them out. Once the screws are completely out the main cover can be slid forward and then lifted off. Underneath it looks like this:
To remove the keyboard the manual tells you to first remove the speaker cover. This is the strip with holes in it above the keyboard. You are supposed to pop the left edge of the speaker cover by pushing with a small screwdriver somewhere to the right of the fan. I found it extremely hard to see where to press and I was of course scared of doing any damage. Eventually I managed to find the right spot and to help others I took a picture of where you need to press with the speaker cover off. In the picture below the white area just above the top copper-coloured cone-shaped thing is the light shining through where the speaker cover would fit:
The speaker cover is held down by a series of plastic lugs that clip into the chassis, once I'd popped the left hand corner I slid a plastic credit card under the edge all the way round to pop the remaining lugs. The speaker cover then simply lifted off.
Underneath the speaker cover you can clearly see five cross-head screws that hold the keyboard down. You need to be careful not to drop any of these into the innards of the chassis, getting them out again might be tricky. Once all the screws are out the keyboard can be lifted from the middle of the edge where the screws are and slid forward a little, the other edge is located by some plastic tabs that fit into the chassis. The ribbon cable is not very long and you need to be careful not to damage it, the keyboard can be rotated towards you 180deg and laid down flat and upside down on top of the touchpad area. The picture below shows the keyboard in this position (so you're looking at the back of it) and you can clearly see what's under the keyboard:
You can see the third RAM card in it's slot and the round BIOS battery (which will eventually need replacing). The wireless card was in the space at top right where the loose wires are. The picture below shows a close up of the card with the cables popped off (they are just press fits) before I took it out (the red and white cloth is a tea-towel I used to cover the screen - just in case). The wireless card is held in place by the single cross-head screw you can see in the bottom left corner:
Because I had to send the old card back I slid the rubber sleeves you can see on the cables to completely cover the plugs so that they didn't touch anything after it was reassembled.
Reassembly is the reverse (really!). I slid the tabs on the keyboard back into the chassis, making sure that they all went in, then replaced the five screws (being careful again not to drop any into the depths of the chassis). The speaker cover simply clicked back into place with a little pressure all round.
It's a pretty straightforward job but I'm posting this in case it helps anyone else who has to get under the keyboard of an Optimus IV.
I took some pictures after I'd got the keyboard out and I thought other Optimus IV owners might find the pictures and a description of my experience useful?
The service manual tells you to first remove the battery and then remove the main cover on the underside of the laptop. This is pretty easy, it's held on by three cross-head screws, I used a small screwdriver from a cheap watchmaker's screwdriver set to get them out. They weren't terribly tight but you'll want to be careful because if you damage the heads you'll never get them out. Once the screws are completely out the main cover can be slid forward and then lifted off. Underneath it looks like this:
To remove the keyboard the manual tells you to first remove the speaker cover. This is the strip with holes in it above the keyboard. You are supposed to pop the left edge of the speaker cover by pushing with a small screwdriver somewhere to the right of the fan. I found it extremely hard to see where to press and I was of course scared of doing any damage. Eventually I managed to find the right spot and to help others I took a picture of where you need to press with the speaker cover off. In the picture below the white area just above the top copper-coloured cone-shaped thing is the light shining through where the speaker cover would fit:
The speaker cover is held down by a series of plastic lugs that clip into the chassis, once I'd popped the left hand corner I slid a plastic credit card under the edge all the way round to pop the remaining lugs. The speaker cover then simply lifted off.
Underneath the speaker cover you can clearly see five cross-head screws that hold the keyboard down. You need to be careful not to drop any of these into the innards of the chassis, getting them out again might be tricky. Once all the screws are out the keyboard can be lifted from the middle of the edge where the screws are and slid forward a little, the other edge is located by some plastic tabs that fit into the chassis. The ribbon cable is not very long and you need to be careful not to damage it, the keyboard can be rotated towards you 180deg and laid down flat and upside down on top of the touchpad area. The picture below shows the keyboard in this position (so you're looking at the back of it) and you can clearly see what's under the keyboard:
You can see the third RAM card in it's slot and the round BIOS battery (which will eventually need replacing). The wireless card was in the space at top right where the loose wires are. The picture below shows a close up of the card with the cables popped off (they are just press fits) before I took it out (the red and white cloth is a tea-towel I used to cover the screen - just in case). The wireless card is held in place by the single cross-head screw you can see in the bottom left corner:
Because I had to send the old card back I slid the rubber sleeves you can see on the cables to completely cover the plugs so that they didn't touch anything after it was reassembled.
Reassembly is the reverse (really!). I slid the tabs on the keyboard back into the chassis, making sure that they all went in, then replaced the five screws (being careful again not to drop any into the depths of the chassis). The speaker cover simply clicked back into place with a little pressure all round.
It's a pretty straightforward job but I'm posting this in case it helps anyone else who has to get under the keyboard of an Optimus IV.
