1 00:00:06,630 --> 00:00:10,110 - In this sub lesson, we're going to take apart the laptop 2 00:00:10,110 --> 00:00:11,490 and get at the display. 3 00:00:11,490 --> 00:00:13,950 We have to remove the bezel to do this. 4 00:00:13,950 --> 00:00:15,390 This can get a little bit hairy 5 00:00:15,390 --> 00:00:16,621 when you're working on laptops, 6 00:00:16,621 --> 00:00:20,400 so you gotta be patient and just take it step by step. 7 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:21,233 Let's begin. 8 00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:25,290 Every laptop's different, and some are easier 9 00:00:25,290 --> 00:00:27,390 to take apart than others. 10 00:00:27,390 --> 00:00:32,010 For this particular laptop, we've got these little pads 11 00:00:32,010 --> 00:00:34,413 which cover the screws. 12 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:37,660 So you kind of have to pull those off, 13 00:00:38,670 --> 00:00:42,050 and then you can unscrew each of these, 14 00:00:42,050 --> 00:00:46,020 and then you can take the entire bezel off, 15 00:00:46,020 --> 00:00:49,140 and then you'll be able to unscrew the monitor from there. 16 00:00:49,140 --> 00:00:52,061 Now, I've covered the actual display with paper 17 00:00:52,061 --> 00:00:54,570 just in case, because, you know, 18 00:00:54,570 --> 00:00:56,160 if you're using a screwdriver you don't wanna 19 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:59,070 go up against this display by mistake. 20 00:00:59,070 --> 00:01:00,960 So, a little extra protection there, 21 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:04,710 put some, ah, regular 8-1/2 x 11 paper on there. 22 00:01:04,710 --> 00:01:08,310 And you'll find that it usually sticks right to the screen 23 00:01:08,310 --> 00:01:10,950 because of static, um, 24 00:01:10,950 --> 00:01:13,500 but you can tape it on if you have to. 25 00:01:13,500 --> 00:01:15,780 And be careful when you're removing the bezel. 26 00:01:15,780 --> 00:01:18,180 You might have a webcam or something like that, 27 00:01:18,180 --> 00:01:20,010 so you want to be careful to pull everything away 28 00:01:20,010 --> 00:01:20,940 at the same time. 29 00:01:20,940 --> 00:01:23,970 The webcam may connect with a little flex connector, 30 00:01:23,970 --> 00:01:26,820 so you want to watch for that kind of thing. 31 00:01:26,820 --> 00:01:28,440 Remember, when opening a laptop, 32 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:31,080 you have to employ anti-static methods. 33 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:31,913 Very important. 34 00:01:31,913 --> 00:01:34,830 Use that anti-static strap, and if you're working 35 00:01:34,830 --> 00:01:36,851 with any equipment like hard drives or RAM, 36 00:01:36,851 --> 00:01:40,211 make sure you keep those inside of an anti-static bag 37 00:01:40,211 --> 00:01:42,600 until you're ready to install them. 38 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:46,020 Also, you may wanna use an anti-static mat. 39 00:01:46,020 --> 00:01:48,360 However, in this case, there's not going to be anywhere 40 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:51,240 for you to connect the alligator clip from that 41 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:54,180 anti-static mat, so you're gonna need another source, 42 00:01:54,180 --> 00:01:56,490 another grounding source to connect to. 43 00:01:56,490 --> 00:01:59,481 And a computer case would be fine for that 44 00:01:59,481 --> 00:02:01,050 if you have one that's open. 45 00:02:01,050 --> 00:02:03,420 Just make sure that you're connecting to the chassis. 46 00:02:03,420 --> 00:02:05,610 So, make sure you employ anti-static methods 47 00:02:05,610 --> 00:02:07,680 when working on the laptop. 48 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:09,810 Okay, so here's another laptop, and we've taken 49 00:02:09,810 --> 00:02:12,150 the bezel off here, and once you do 50 00:02:12,150 --> 00:02:15,180 you can actually remove the display if necessary, 51 00:02:15,180 --> 00:02:17,820 and you've got some screws here that have to be removed, 52 00:02:17,820 --> 00:02:19,110 and some connections. 53 00:02:19,110 --> 00:02:20,430 Now, before you do any of that, 54 00:02:20,430 --> 00:02:22,920 you want to make sure that you have your anti-static strap, 55 00:02:22,920 --> 00:02:24,000 and there's two reasons for that. 56 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:26,170 One, ah, you want to protect, 57 00:02:26,170 --> 00:02:28,260 just in case you touch a circuit board, 58 00:02:28,260 --> 00:02:30,240 you want to protect those circuit boards, 59 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:32,220 and you don't wanna discharge to them. 60 00:02:32,220 --> 00:02:36,480 But two, ah, if you're working with the power connections 61 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:39,060 for a display or the inverter, 62 00:02:39,060 --> 00:02:40,440 then you want to make sure 63 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:42,330 that you have something like this. 64 00:02:42,330 --> 00:02:45,390 One, it'll provide a path to ground for any electricity, 65 00:02:45,390 --> 00:02:49,410 and two, um, these devices, these anti-static straps 66 00:02:49,410 --> 00:02:51,889 often have a one megaohm resistor, 67 00:02:51,889 --> 00:02:53,760 so that can help protect you against 68 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:56,430 any type of spike or shock. 69 00:02:56,430 --> 00:02:57,588 So anyways, to remove these, 70 00:02:57,588 --> 00:03:00,180 you have to remove all the screws, obviously, 71 00:03:00,180 --> 00:03:04,290 and then we have the data connection for the display, 72 00:03:04,290 --> 00:03:06,330 and that's here, it's a flex connector. 73 00:03:06,330 --> 00:03:08,220 We can pull that out with this, 74 00:03:08,220 --> 00:03:10,140 try to pull it out evenly, 75 00:03:10,140 --> 00:03:12,153 and that pulled that out right there. 76 00:03:13,260 --> 00:03:15,153 Okay, and you can see the connector. 77 00:03:16,050 --> 00:03:19,980 This is one of the most common culprits for, ah, no display, 78 00:03:19,980 --> 00:03:23,550 and it's the video connector's loose or damaged. 79 00:03:23,550 --> 00:03:25,380 Ah, and that happens, you know. 80 00:03:25,380 --> 00:03:29,040 It could creep out because the humidity changed real quick, 81 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:32,130 or pressure changes, let's say the laptop was taken 82 00:03:32,130 --> 00:03:35,850 on a plane or it was in some type of other transit. 83 00:03:35,850 --> 00:03:37,560 So, that can come loose a little bit. 84 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:39,360 I've fixed this three or four times 85 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:41,010 in the past year for people, 86 00:03:41,010 --> 00:03:43,020 and I'm not a laptop tech. 87 00:03:43,020 --> 00:03:44,880 That's not what I do right now. 88 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:47,370 But, ah, you know I'll get, ah, various people saying, 89 00:03:47,370 --> 00:03:48,570 hey, my laptop's not working, 90 00:03:48,570 --> 00:03:49,830 the display isn't doing anything 91 00:03:49,830 --> 00:03:51,450 but it sounds like it's running. 92 00:03:51,450 --> 00:03:52,380 And it's like, well, the first thing 93 00:03:52,380 --> 00:03:54,060 I'm gonna check is this guy. 94 00:03:54,060 --> 00:03:56,220 And this could be here underneath the keyboard, 95 00:03:56,220 --> 00:03:58,926 or it could be, ah, in underneath the bezel, 96 00:03:58,926 --> 00:04:00,660 you know, in a different circuit board. 97 00:04:00,660 --> 00:04:01,980 Depends on the laptop. 98 00:04:01,980 --> 00:04:04,110 Quite often, it's under here. 99 00:04:04,110 --> 00:04:06,240 So, you have to disconnect that data connection, 100 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:08,130 but also the power connection. 101 00:04:08,130 --> 00:04:10,860 And this is uses a black wire and a white wire, 102 00:04:10,860 --> 00:04:12,573 and these actually pull apart, 103 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:17,490 and so you wanna pull apart the black wire first, 104 00:04:17,490 --> 00:04:20,028 and again, make sure you have some type of path to ground 105 00:04:20,028 --> 00:04:22,440 and that one megaohm resistor, 106 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:24,660 and then pull the white wire apart. 107 00:04:24,660 --> 00:04:26,310 And then you'll pull those out of here, 108 00:04:26,310 --> 00:04:28,140 and pull the whole display out. 109 00:04:28,140 --> 00:04:30,960 Now, what could go wrong with the displays? 110 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:32,490 There's a couple things that could go wrong. 111 00:04:32,490 --> 00:04:35,430 First of all, the video adapter could fail. 112 00:04:35,430 --> 00:04:38,640 If you have a separate video adapter, um, 113 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:41,550 you can replace that, but in a lot of cases 114 00:04:41,550 --> 00:04:43,680 it'll be integrated to the CPU. 115 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:47,730 The GPU processing will be integrated to the CPU, 116 00:04:47,730 --> 00:04:50,610 so that CPU will have to be replaced, 117 00:04:50,610 --> 00:04:54,990 or the entire CPU and motherboard will have to be replaced. 118 00:04:54,990 --> 00:04:57,570 So, that's, you know, that makes it more difficult. 119 00:04:57,570 --> 00:05:00,606 In other cases, it could be a mini PCI express card 120 00:05:00,606 --> 00:05:02,700 that's controlling video. 121 00:05:02,700 --> 00:05:05,100 There's a couple different options there. 122 00:05:05,100 --> 00:05:06,686 But if that happens, you know, 123 00:05:06,686 --> 00:05:09,277 if that video adapter goes bad, 124 00:05:09,277 --> 00:05:12,180 you will be able to tell because you won't get anything 125 00:05:12,180 --> 00:05:15,090 on your main display, and you also won't get anything 126 00:05:15,090 --> 00:05:17,580 on an external display, quite often, ah, 127 00:05:17,580 --> 00:05:20,700 if you have one connected via HDMI or something. 128 00:05:20,700 --> 00:05:23,820 Now, let's say you see nothing on this display, 129 00:05:23,820 --> 00:05:27,240 but the external display does work. 130 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:28,950 Well, then that means a couple other things 131 00:05:28,950 --> 00:05:30,120 could have gone wrong. 132 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:33,330 The display itself could have failed, 133 00:05:33,330 --> 00:05:35,940 which honestly I don't see that as much anymore. 134 00:05:35,940 --> 00:05:39,390 I don't see it as often as I did five or ten years ago. 135 00:05:39,390 --> 00:05:42,810 Another possibility is the inverter failed, 136 00:05:42,810 --> 00:05:44,910 or the power circuit board that these 137 00:05:44,910 --> 00:05:46,558 power connections goes to, 138 00:05:46,558 --> 00:05:49,053 these power connections go to has failed. 139 00:05:50,130 --> 00:05:52,560 How do you know the difference between the two? 140 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:56,850 Well, if the display fails, you will get nothing. 141 00:05:56,850 --> 00:05:59,970 You will be able to see nothing on the display at all. 142 00:05:59,970 --> 00:06:04,500 If the inverter fails, and this changes the voltage in here 143 00:06:04,500 --> 00:06:07,920 ah, so that the display can register properly, 144 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:12,810 if that fails, you might see a very dim display, 145 00:06:12,810 --> 00:06:16,716 or, ah, if you can't, you can still try to see it 146 00:06:16,716 --> 00:06:19,514 by taking the laptop into a dark room 147 00:06:19,514 --> 00:06:22,590 and flashing a flashlight against it 148 00:06:22,590 --> 00:06:24,480 while the system's running. 149 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:27,720 If you can see Windows or whatever other operating system 150 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:30,630 on here very dimly with the flashlight, 151 00:06:30,630 --> 00:06:34,680 because that will reflect back off of the display, ah, 152 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:36,090 and show you what's happening, 153 00:06:36,090 --> 00:06:38,970 if you can see that then you know the display is okay, 154 00:06:38,970 --> 00:06:40,860 and it's either the inverter has failed 155 00:06:40,860 --> 00:06:43,020 or something else has failed in here power wise, 156 00:06:43,020 --> 00:06:44,490 probably the inverter. 157 00:06:44,490 --> 00:06:45,510 On this particular device, 158 00:06:45,510 --> 00:06:48,990 the inverter could be replaced separately. 159 00:06:48,990 --> 00:06:50,604 On other laptops, it has to be replaced by 160 00:06:50,604 --> 00:06:52,470 removing the whole display anyway, 161 00:06:52,470 --> 00:06:54,933 so it all depends on the laptop. 162 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:57,960 So, what are the things that could fail? 163 00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:00,510 Once again, the video adapter itself could fail, 164 00:07:00,510 --> 00:07:04,620 which could be integrated to the motherboard or to the CPU, 165 00:07:04,620 --> 00:07:08,220 but the most common thing that I see is that flex connector. 166 00:07:08,220 --> 00:07:10,570 You've gotta make sure that that is connected 167 00:07:11,974 --> 00:07:15,756 real solid and tight, make sure everything's flat, 168 00:07:15,756 --> 00:07:19,876 and check that wire too, make sure it's in its wire guide, 169 00:07:19,876 --> 00:07:22,473 so that it doesn't get damaged. 170 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:27,750 So, when you put everything back together, 171 00:07:27,750 --> 00:07:29,100 everything's nice and flat. 172 00:07:30,540 --> 00:07:33,770 Again, in addition, the display itself could fail, 173 00:07:33,770 --> 00:07:36,330 in which case it has to be replaced, 174 00:07:36,330 --> 00:07:38,430 or the inverter could fail, and in some cases 175 00:07:38,430 --> 00:07:40,140 that can be replaced separately. 176 00:07:40,140 --> 00:07:41,760 You've gotta be very careful with the inverter. 177 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:45,750 In some cases, ah, you connect those with the screw and 178 00:07:45,750 --> 00:07:48,720 their housed in a metal housing here, 179 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:53,720 but in other cases, ah, the inverter is just a card, 180 00:07:53,820 --> 00:07:55,800 and you have to actually replace the whole, 181 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:57,690 the card by itself. 182 00:07:57,690 --> 00:07:59,460 You wanna be real careful not to touch anything 183 00:07:59,460 --> 00:08:02,073 on that device, especially when removing it. 184 00:08:03,090 --> 00:08:05,790 Um, so that's a possibility as well, 185 00:08:05,790 --> 00:08:08,130 without having to remove the display. 186 00:08:08,130 --> 00:08:10,050 And you might have a problem with the power connection, 187 00:08:10,050 --> 00:08:11,283 maybe that's loose. 188 00:08:12,540 --> 00:08:15,330 Or the circuit board that the power connections go to 189 00:08:15,330 --> 00:08:16,380 might have to be swapped out, 190 00:08:16,380 --> 00:08:17,880 that's usually just a screw or two, 191 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:20,130 and a power connector. 192 00:08:20,130 --> 00:08:23,070 Ah, and then there's the lid switch. 193 00:08:23,070 --> 00:08:25,890 Every laptop has a lid switch, which tells the system 194 00:08:25,890 --> 00:08:29,340 to shut off when it's closed, shut off the power 195 00:08:29,340 --> 00:08:31,290 to the display when it's closed, 196 00:08:31,290 --> 00:08:33,780 and turn on the power to the display when it's open. 197 00:08:33,780 --> 00:08:36,270 And sometimes that'll fail, when you open the laptop 198 00:08:36,270 --> 00:08:37,440 you get nothing on the display, 199 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:39,453 so you can check the lid switch as well. 200 00:08:41,220 --> 00:08:43,263 Here's an example of lid switches. 201 00:08:44,460 --> 00:08:47,130 And this is a really powerful system, 202 00:08:47,130 --> 00:08:49,860 this is a really tough system right here. 203 00:08:49,860 --> 00:08:53,400 You can see that's a pretty powerful mechanism. 204 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:57,480 The chances of that failing are slim to none, but it could, 205 00:08:57,480 --> 00:08:59,010 and so you have to check that. 206 00:08:59,010 --> 00:09:03,180 Maybe it's stuck, or maybe the switch needs to be replaced. 207 00:09:03,180 --> 00:09:04,577 And sometimes you'll see this referred to 208 00:09:04,577 --> 00:09:09,390 as the LCD lid switch, and it could just be a little button, 209 00:09:09,390 --> 00:09:13,230 could be a little tiny button, ah, in the corner 210 00:09:13,230 --> 00:09:16,260 that is depressed when this closes. 211 00:09:16,260 --> 00:09:19,050 And this is a much more powerful version of that, 212 00:09:19,050 --> 00:09:22,020 but it all depends on the laptop. 213 00:09:22,020 --> 00:09:24,900 It could even be activated in a magnetic way. 214 00:09:24,900 --> 00:09:26,640 So it all depends on which laptop you have. 215 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:28,230 So check the LCD switch, 216 00:09:28,230 --> 00:09:29,940 make sure that's functioning properly, 217 00:09:29,940 --> 00:09:32,070 whether it's down here in the corner, 218 00:09:32,070 --> 00:09:33,573 or whether it's up here, 219 00:09:34,590 --> 00:09:37,230 and make sure that's actually working right. 220 00:09:37,230 --> 00:09:39,390 That could be the culprit as well. 221 00:09:39,390 --> 00:09:41,070 You might have to go onto the motherboard 222 00:09:41,070 --> 00:09:43,590 and reconnect the, ah, connector for that, 223 00:09:43,590 --> 00:09:45,840 so that's another possibility. 224 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:48,450 Let's take a look at one more laptop, 225 00:09:48,450 --> 00:09:50,073 and talk about the bezel. 226 00:09:50,910 --> 00:09:54,120 Now, sometimes you have a really thin bezel, 227 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:57,573 and it can be very difficult to get that off. 228 00:09:59,340 --> 00:10:02,702 And sometimes you have to actually pry it from the back 229 00:10:02,702 --> 00:10:05,850 in between the two pieces of plastic. 230 00:10:05,850 --> 00:10:09,175 Sometimes you have to disconnect something here, from the, 231 00:10:09,175 --> 00:10:12,390 ah, right here from the hinge. 232 00:10:12,390 --> 00:10:14,730 Sometimes you have to pry in from a certain area 233 00:10:14,730 --> 00:10:17,010 where there's an opening and then start moving around 234 00:10:17,010 --> 00:10:20,250 very slowly, and you want the thinnest shim 235 00:10:20,250 --> 00:10:22,920 you could possibly get that's either wood or plastic 236 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:24,540 so you don't damage this. 237 00:10:24,540 --> 00:10:25,920 You might even use a credit card 238 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:27,660 or something else like that. 239 00:10:27,660 --> 00:10:30,720 Ah, it could be very difficult to remove these bezels 240 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:33,090 when they're this thin, especially if you have a 241 00:10:33,090 --> 00:10:35,306 MacBook Air or something like that. 242 00:10:35,306 --> 00:10:37,980 And it's really recommended that you just take those 243 00:10:37,980 --> 00:10:39,990 to an authorized repair center. 244 00:10:39,990 --> 00:10:43,320 So, in some cases you don't actually even have any screws, 245 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:46,230 you just have a bezel that has to be removed 246 00:10:46,230 --> 00:10:50,580 in order to get to the display, or get to that inverter, 247 00:10:50,580 --> 00:10:53,370 um, so you gotta be real careful with that. 248 00:10:53,370 --> 00:10:56,026 Sometimes the connection, the power connection, 249 00:10:56,026 --> 00:10:59,674 and the data connection which goes through here 250 00:10:59,674 --> 00:11:03,180 can get damaged just from use, just from 251 00:11:03,180 --> 00:11:07,590 opening and closing, and you know, usage of the hinge. 252 00:11:07,590 --> 00:11:10,233 So, sometimes that has to be replaced as well. 253 00:11:11,250 --> 00:11:13,444 Not the hinge, but the power cable, 254 00:11:13,444 --> 00:11:16,020 and/or the data connection. 255 00:11:16,020 --> 00:11:19,050 So, be real careful when you're working with these bezels, 256 00:11:19,050 --> 00:11:21,840 make sure that you use a very thin shim, 257 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:26,130 and, ah, you know, just work it one little bit at a time. 258 00:11:26,130 --> 00:11:28,950 You're gonna have to find that opening, ah, 259 00:11:28,950 --> 00:11:32,310 and it's gonna be different from one laptop to the next. 260 00:11:32,310 --> 00:11:35,615 And honestly, the displays don't go bad as often. 261 00:11:35,615 --> 00:11:38,556 Especially now we're moving past LCD, 262 00:11:38,556 --> 00:11:42,482 we're getting into LED LCDs, and OLEDs, 263 00:11:42,482 --> 00:11:44,070 and all these displays. 264 00:11:44,070 --> 00:11:45,810 They last longer, they don't fail as much, 265 00:11:45,810 --> 00:11:48,596 you don't get any bad pixels anymore. 266 00:11:48,596 --> 00:11:51,750 That kind of stuff's a thing of the past, really, so, 267 00:11:51,750 --> 00:11:53,730 unless it's damaged, you know, and that's why 268 00:11:53,730 --> 00:11:56,666 you've gotta be real careful with these displays. 269 00:11:56,666 --> 00:11:58,623 So, that's about it for displays.