When I painted the LCD cover of my mini, I took pictures along the way. Hopefully these are helpful for someone....

So many people are curious about the Bluetooth module... location, ease of installation, etc... so I pointed out where it is in some of the pictures.

I followed the steps outlined in the online manual, so if you go by those steps and look at my pictures, things will be easy to follow.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/s ... /index.htm

There were a few times where the manual says to just use your fingers to pry something apart, and I thought I was going to break the plastic but if you keep using a little more force until the connectors snap apart, then it'll come apart. Once you get a part of it apart, the rest comes easy.



To Begin: Remove the Battery!


Next remove the back cover with two screws


Remove screws from bottom, including two that hold the keyboard on:


Once the keyboard screws are out, you can lift the keyboard back... don't pull too hard, the ribbon is still attached.


pull back to expose the ribbon... to remove it you'll need to push the two connector tabs back on each side, which is easier to get to from the other side of the keyboard, not how it's pictured here:


here's the keyboard connector... push the two grey tabs straight back, the ribbon will now slide out. To install, slide the ribbon in, and lock the tabs back in.


Now disconnect the three cables shown here... two use the same type of connector as the keyboard, by pushing tabs back, but the Bluetooth connect just comes out with some light force.


Remove the seven screws securing the palmrest to the base [added by holmes4]

now you have to start popping the palm rest loose... once you pry one part up the rest come easy. I started at the top right near the LCD.


Once you have the palm rest loose, you can turn it over and see the Bluetooth module, held on with two screws.


Now admire the mini motherboard!


a look underneath, with my 2gb upgrade of memory installed. You need to unplug the WLAN antenna wires now, they just come straight up from the board.


an up close shot of the Bluetooth:


And the motherboard connector for the Bluetooth:


once you disconnect the WLAN wires, you can feed them through the hole in the base and pull them out.


Remove two screws from the hinges that connect it to the base, and you now have the two halves apart.


With the LCD apart, you can then pry the LCD trim off. Same as the palm rest, it just snaps on there, and you only need your fingers to remove it. This one I thought I was going to break because it took quite a bit of force in spots to get it apart. It survived ok though.


Backside of the LCD Trim piece.


LCD Trim removed, you can now see the two speakers, marked L and R, and the built in Camera at the top.


Remove some more screws, unplug the camera and speaker wires, and you can now pull the LCD from the LCD cover.


The LCD cover all by itself.... camera and speakers still installed.


Back of the LCD... with DO NOT TOUCH warnings at the base, where the LED lights are I guess.

[dwkmi]

Also not mentioned in the instructions are the 7 screws under the keyboard.

[Sumanji]

Hey

Can anyone post a pic of the trackpad screw please? I've removed one directly to the right (with battery slot at top) of the wifi card, but experiencing heavy resistance with the palm rest at the front of the machine... dont want to try harder in case I break it!

[edit] I had to remove the front 4 screws on the bottom as well!

Cheers,

Suman

[solutionsville]

Thanks, this is perfect. I am looking at a mini with a busted LCD.

Great job!

[dellbattery]

Oh, thanks, We specializing in offering high quality and higher capacity replacement laptop batteries, may be can help you for you laptop battery, buy a dell mini 9 laptop battery, you can go:
Inspiron Mini 9 Battery, Dell Inspiron Mini 9 Laptop Battery * Fast shipping

[tanjeraldyne]

hi!

am about to install a new lid on my mini 9.

http://www.freewebs.com/myc500/vostr...elogohack1.jpg

http://www.freewebs.com/myc500/vostr...elogohack3.jpg

read and reread this thread for the lid uninst/inst guide.

the guide stops at where the LCD was removed. no pics/guide on how to take out the webcam/speakers/wires from the OLD lid and install it on the NEW lid.

how hard is it to do?
could someone please explain it to me in details?

a guide (or better yet, pics! i know, i know, its too much to ask!) would be hugely appreciated! c",)

regards,

jeraldyne

[fitnessman]

hi seem to have wiped my bios is there anything in here that i can do to reset it? or do i have to buy a new motherboard

[atgw]

great post full of real info but where is the cmos mobo battery Im sure mine will need to be replaced soon & ? type

btw got the same thread elsewhere before I saw this one via a google search...