Wednesday, November 25, 2009

HP Mini 1000 (1151nr) Hard Drive How To

How to remove the Hard drive from the HP Mini 1000 or the HP Mini Verizon 1154nr

here is a short tutorial on how to get to the hard drive on the HP Mini 1000

Hp has a great design on these little NetBook's I just wish they could have shoe horned a 2.5" inch SATA drive in these instead of the 1.8" inch zif (zero insertion force) hard drive that they put in. These drives are more expensive to get a hold of and the capacities are smaller as well as the rotational speeds are limited to 4200rpm. This is good to keep things small, light, and a lower power consumption. Just a pain in the %^$ to upgrade.

This is actually not that difficult so here we go....


If you are looking for 1024x768 on an HP Mini 1000 or 1100 (1154NR, 1151NR)








First the Netbook I still can't get over how stunning the display is and the shinny exterior.. The design IMO is just Mavalous.



Turn off the NetBook flip it over and here is what you have, remove the battery the latches are circled. Where to pry for the memory cover is circled too .. here is the post for memory upgrades on this HP Mini 1000



There are only 2 screws to remove ... remember the bottom one (closest to you) is shorter than the top one.



Flip the NetBook Back over and open it up grasp the keyboard close to the function keys I lifted a bit on the f5 key .. not enough to pull the key off ... but enough to get under the keyboard chassis. Bow it up a little.



Here you can see there are 4 small plastic keepers one on each corner of the keyboard.. that is why we are bowing the keyboard just a bit to slip it past those keepers.



once you have the keyboard free you can leave it attached just don't move the assembly around very much, the ribbon cables are relatively delicate and could be easily damaged.



There are 2 more screws holding the hard drive and the hard drive chassis in.



very carefully pull up a little where one of the screws were ... and the drive should shimmy out past the chassis on left side ... as you can see it is free now ...

You can disconnect the ZIF cable ... remove the carrier put it on your new drive .. and just follow the instructions backwards to put it back together..

good luck and have fun...


HP Mini 1000 (1151nr) Memory Upgrade How To

DIY HP Mini 1000 memory up-grade how to HP Mini 1151nr Verizon branded Memory Upgrade how to.

If you ever want to know if something is durable or not give it to a 6 year old to use for a month. That will tell you!!

Kid tested Dad approved.

So we have had the HP Mini 1000 in the house for about a month now. The littlest one has been using it for internet access at the coffee table for the entire time. She is enthralled with www.starfall.com (a great learning sight for the little ones) and of course www.disney.com something about Hannah Montana???

BTW I am still waiting for the recovery disk from HP it was ordered over a month ago.. I don't think I will ever get it ... going to call and have the case escalated in the next couple of days. Come ON HP how difficult is it?????

Well I know that this is a very simple procedure but may as well outline it while I'm not busy. so here goes


If you are looking for 1024x768 on an HP Mini 1000 or 1100 (1154NR, 1151NR)




First the Netbook I still can't get over how stunning the display is and the shinny exterior.. The design IMO is just Mavalous.

The biggest disappointment with this HP Mini 1000 and other NetBooks is the display .. Unfortunately the 1024X576 on the 10.1 inch display is just unusable of any professional applications, or connecting to Terminal Server, Citrix. This NetBook would have been better off with a 10.1 inch screen with the resolution of 1280X800 like HP Mini 2133 I reviewed earlier this month... HERE



I even like the plastic outer casing with the visual design with the glossy finish ... if you are picky about finger prints and every thing else these NetBooks are not for you.. Finger prints and grime will show up immediately on the finish. I am amazed that it has held up as well as it shows... with the 6 year old using it for as long as she has.



Turn off the NetBook flip it over and here is what you have, remove the battery the latches are circled. And where I started to pry the memory cover is circled.




Like I mentioned before just pry the memory cover off .. if you don't have any finger nails left you can slip a cut up "credit card" (only thing those damn things are good for) in an pry up a bit till you can get a hold of it. There are no screws holding this in place ... just don't break off the little plastic nibs that keep it in place.




And Voila you now have full access to the memory ... I pulled the 1GB ram stick out and opted for an inexpensive 2GB module of Corsair DDR2 667mhz. I have had this one hanging around from other upgrades / downgrades. Local MicroCenter had the 4GB kit on sale a while ago for 50$...

Hope this helps someone...

In response to a question does it really work... I have uploaded a screen shot of the system...

It shows the 2GB upgrade and it works... click on the image for a bigger picture.



Saturday, November 21, 2009

Take Your Top Off PowerBook Part 3

Continuation to Part 1 and Part 2 of PowerBook G4 15" WideScreen tear down

Apple PowerBook G4 disassembly DIY PowerBook G4 tear down.

I have been covering a few laptops recently ... and I would be remiss if I did not cover some of the Apple Mac products

At this point you have removed all of the screws required to get the top chassis off
with the exception of the 2 top alan head screws, from here on out it is not totally smooth sailing but you should be okay.

Flip the laptop back over and start in on the top.




here are the 2 screws that need to be removed ... not sure exactly what size but I think they are 2 or 2.5mm



Now that all of the screws are out you can proceed to lifting the top chassis off but don't just try to rip it off just yet the keyboard ribbon cable, track pad and power are still attached, as well as there are metal clips holding it in the front by the optical drive and the latch release.

To get the front latches to release ..(this can be difficult and taxing on your nerves) you will need to lift up the back part of the keyboard and CAREFULLY rock it from side to side a little while push towards the front they will eventually come loose




Tilt the top chassis back up against the LCD panel .. now you can get to the keyboard and trackpad ribbon cable ..



here you can see the track pad / power connection .. it will lift up with either a finger nail or .. Spudger ( plastic thing that you use for all Mac products iPod's iBooks... its like the classic tool )



Here is the other side of the connector ... as well I have noted the hard drive connection if all you want to do is replace the hard drive.



there are clips on either side of the keyboard ribbon cable the need to be pushed up to release the cable from the LogicBoard.




place the top chassis in a safe place now that it is free.... and now here is what you have... you have full access to the hard drive.. the screws have been circled if you want to remove that now. as well the NVRam Battery if you need to replace that.

I have also circled the back side of the ati video chip in question here ... if you want to see the actual chip there is a photo on ifixit.com

thats as far as I go on this one .. hope this helps someone.

Good Luck in all of your endeavors.



WOW Leveling professional power levelers and struggling newbies





For More Great info on Laptop Repair Tips Hit Repair4Laptop.org the author is also the same guy that started tuxmobile.org

To find that long lost friend search4me.ws






Take Your Top Off PowerBook Part 2

Continuation to Part 1 of PowerBook G4 15" WideScreen tear down

Apple PowerBook G4 disassembly DIY PowerBook G4 tear down.

I have been covering a few laptops recently ... and I would be remiss if I did not cover some of the Apple Mac products

by now you have removed all of the screws from the bottom of the case now we move on to
the back of the chassis and the sides



Here are 4 small screws that need to be removed ... actually only the 2 bottom ones need to




on the each side there are 3 more small screws holding the top case on this side is the DVI port, network, and a USB port as well as the s-video and the firewire ports.



on the other side of the laptop. There are another 3 screws that need to be removed.



At this point you have now taken out all of the necessary screws. IMO you should keep the screws in the same basic orientation they came out in ... it gives you a kind of map to put them back in with.

On to Part 3 ..... NEXT



Take Your Top Off PowerBook

Apple PowerBook G4 disassembly aluminum DIY PowerBook G4 tear down.

Ok so its not as sexy as someone taking their top off but....

Apple's Aluminum PowerBook G4 15' inch WideScreen you have to admit is a sexy machine (if you are in to those kinds of things :) )

I have been covering a few laptops recently ... and I would be remiss if I did not cover some of the Apple Mac products


Main reason I was opening the chassis on this one is the same reason for the dv6000 and the f730us tear downs. The video chip on the PowerBook this time its an ATI chip set is separating from the system board.. Once the chip heats up and the BGA (ball grid array) flexes the video becomes pixelated and will some times cause the system to freeze up as well.. The iBook's G3 and G4's also suffered from this issue as well. The only fix is replacing the logicboard (ie. system board) or re-flowing the bga.


Here are the Spec's on this one:

PowerBook G4 1.25GHz
OS X Tiger 10.4.11 fully patched and updated
1 Gb ram
15" WideScreen
Super Drive DVD-RW / CD-RW
BlueTooth
2 high speed USB ports 2.0 ready for your iPhone or iPod Touch ... iTunes loaded.
FireWire
DVI out.
RJ-45 10/100 network
WireLess Wi-Fi 801.11 G
80GB hard drive

Technical skill required: This is an easy partial tear down (comparatively speaking) can you take a screw out? if so you can do this...










Here is a screen shot of About This Mac



And here is the PowerBook



Flip it upside down with the battery away from you, I have circled all of the screws you can get to before the battery is out and the memory cover is removed there are 4 long screws along the bottom. and the 4 screws that are holding the memory cover in place.



Using a coin.. I used a dv penny (lol)



The Battery will pop up and you can just grab it and take it out.




once the battery is out you have access to 2 more screws that were hidden under it. and now you can see where the AirPort card is as well.



This shows the battery out and the memory cover off .. under the memory cover is 2 more screws that need to come out .. at this time you can take the memory out as well .. just remember if you are going to test make sure you put at least one dimm back in or you will get the beeps and the blinking sleep light and nothing else.

****Tangent ... also another known issue with the PowerBooks ... the bottom dimm slot has a tendancy to go out as well IMO this is a cold solder joint somewhere too... but have not found that one yet. ****


ON To Part 2 .. NEXT....



WOW Leveling professional power levelers and struggling newbies





For More Great info on Laptop Repair Tips Hit Repair4Laptop.org the author is also the same guy that started tuxmobile.org

To find that long lost friend search4me.ws



Monday, November 16, 2009

Compaq F700 series Disassemble Tear-down How To Part 3

Compaq F700 series Disassemble Tear-down How To Part 3

This is the Third Part of the Compaq F700 series laptop

Part 1 can be found here

And Part 2 can be found here


How To Disassemble the Compaq / HP F700 series F730us Laptop Disassembly Tear-Down with photos.

How to take apart Compaq Presario F700 Series Laptop

Tear down Guide for the Compaq Presario F700 / F730us Series Laptop

By now you have removed the LCD panel and
we are pretty close to removing the top cover from the chassis



Remove the power button circuit board but first remove the connection to the speakers from the board.




Almost to the system board it self there are 2 more screws that were uncovered by removing the LCD one on the top right.




And one on the top left.

After those are removed carefully pry around the top case use a piece of plastic if need (cut up credit card) around the edges to release the remaining plastic keepers.. it should not take to much force.. make sure all of the screws have been removed first. And place it off to the side in a safe place.




Now you should have full access to the system board and it should look like this...

The 2 screws holding the system board to the chassis have been circled.



route the power cables from the power board out of their keepers but do not try to remove them from the system board just yet .. it will be easier in the following steps..





Carefully lift up on the right side of the system board



... here is the tricky part... the system board is free to come out .. but you will have to gently pry the left side away from the system board ... gently rocking the system board back and forth to free it from the bottom case ... gently pry away the plastic areas next to the usb and the s-video connector the system board will eventually come free. Remember the power cables are still connected and the head phone and ir board are still connected so do not just yank it out.







Remove the cable from the head phone and input jack from the system board.



Carefully flip the system board over with the power cables still intact .. and it should look like this.. now you can easily remove the power cables. and your done

To put it back together ... just follow the guide in reverse .. and you are all set..

soon I will be covering Why I Took it apart in the first place... has to do with BGA separation and re-flow of the BGA on the Nvidia Video Chip.



To Be Continued .... this is a work in progress



WOW Leveling professional power levelers and struggling newbies


For More Great info on Laptop Repair Tips Hit Repair4Laptop.org the author is also the same guy that started tuxmobile.org

To find that long lost friend search4me.ws






Compaq F700 series Disassemble Tear-down How To Part 2

Compaq F700 series Disassemble Tear-down How To Part 2

This is the Second Part of the Compaq F700 series laptop

Part 1 can be found here


How To Disassemble the Compaq / HP F700 series F730us Laptop Disassembly Tear-Down with photos.

How to take apart Compaq Presario F700 Series Laptop

Tear down Guide for the Compaq Presario F700 / F730us Series Laptop




Once you have removed all of the screws from the bottom you can now flip over the laptop and start disassembling the top.

The first thing to do is carefully pry up the power button bezel. There are 6 plastic fasteners that hold it to the chassis as well as the screws that were on the bottom.. carefully starting around the escape key and the outer edge pry up on the bezel and it will come free.. continue grasping the bezel close to each of the function keys and it will pop out. but DO NOT pull up on the bezel to remove at this time there are still connections that need to be disconnected before you can remove it entirely just make sure it is loose.



Once the bezel is loose you can get to the keyboard and start prying that up ... there are plastic keepers on each side of the keyboard.. pry up from the center and it should come free.. also with this be careful and do not pull it out yet you have to disconnect the ribbon cable first.



This picture shows the keyboard ribbon cable and the clips to push up on towards the LCD panel to release the cable.



At this point you should also disconnect the TrackPad ribbon cable so you don't forget and accidently rip it out when you are taking the top panel off




These are the ribbon cables for the top bezel there are no clips holding them in it is all pressure this is another major failure item for these computers .. if the foil on them gets scratched or damaged for one reason or another either the power button will not work or you will not have sound to the speakers.. and on the DV series laptops the QuickLaunch buttons may not work either.



As you can see in this picture the cable to the right is foil side up and the Power Button cable is foil side down.. this should not create an issue if you do not disconect the power button circuit board .. but if you are replacing the cables this is something to keep in mind.



This shows the screw locations of the top panel.. remember the hidden screw down where the optical drive lives... this one will get you every time....


WOW Leveling professional power levelers and struggling newbies




Disconnect the cable for the LCD panel.



Pull the wireless cables through the system board and chassis. and remove the cables from the keepers on the shielding.



On the F730 laptop there are 4 screws on top holding the LCD panel in place 2 on the left




and 2 on the right .. Remove the LCD panel and set it off to the side in a safe place


On To Part 3



WOW Leveling professional power levelers and struggling newbies


For More Great info on Laptop Repair Tips Hit Repair4Laptop.org the author is also the same guy that started tuxmobile.org

To find that long lost friend search4me.ws






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