DISASSEMBLY OF FUJITSU
P-2040, 2046, 2110, 2120 LAPTOPS

GENERAL NOTES:

• The ORDER OF DISASSEMBLY is the main purpose of these instructions and should be followed carefully, although this is not the only (or most efficient) way to disassemble a P.
   
• This procedure is not for beginners!! These are only general instructions, and it is assumed you will be able to figure out the details from previous experience.
   
• There are many different screw types and LENGTHS on the P, so it is CRITICAL that you keep very careful track of where each and every screw came from, so you can put it back where it belongs.
   
• You will need to disconnect many internal wiring connectors. Many (but not all) of these connectors are "interlocked" which means they have some sort of plastic lever that you must disengage before you can disconnect the cable. Each connector uses a different locking mechanism. Some have a brown lever that must be swung out in order to release the cable. The wide keyboard connector must be lifted straight up to release the cable.
   
• There may be some small errors or omissions in these instructions. Please use common sense as you go through the instructions! Someday I may add some photos, but the written steps should be sufficient and should make sense when you are looking at the actual laptop. You can also review my Visible P photos before beginning the disassembly.
   
• Please do not hesitate to contact me if you see any errors or have any suggestions.

DISASSEMBLY STEPS:

1. Remove the 3 chrome screws from the hard drive cover, and remove the hard drive. Be very careful not to put any strain on the ribbon cable, because the other end of the cable (not visible) connects to the motherboard with a very flimsy connector.
   
   If any damage is done, a hard drive data recovery service may salvage your data.
    
2. Follow the steps in the memory upgrade instructions to lift off the keyboard (this involves removing 1 chrome screw from the case bottom, then removing the plastic strip below the space bar).
    
3. Disconnect the keyboard cable, which is a wide ribbon cable. The connector has a black locking strip which must be lifted straight up. Disconnect the track-point cable, which is a narrow ribbon cable with a brown locking lever. The keyboard is permanently attached to the case with 2 black tape strips. You can peal off these black strips and put the keyboard aside, or just leave the keyboard attached to the case.
    
4. Remove the 2 black screws in the lower left corner of the keyboard cavity, under the spot where the Fn and Alt keys were located.
    
5. Close the LCD panel and flip the P upside down. Eject the DVD drive, and remove the 3 black screws along the edge on the underside of the DVD drive cavity.
    
6. Remove the remaining 5 silver screws from the case bottom. All the screws look very similar, but note that one of them is a slightly different type. Remove the 3 chrome screws around the perimeter of the hard drive bay. While holding the two halves of the case together, flip the P right-side up again.
    
7. On the rear of the case, just above the NIC connector, there is a U shaped 1" wide section of plastic that is held down with 2 visible locking tabs. You will need to lift it away from the locking tabs, by inserting a razor blade or very thin knife in the horizontal gap between the U shaped plastic piece and the bottom half of the case..
    
8. Swing the LCD panel all the way out, so that it is lying flat horizontally. Disconnect the speaker cable, located in the keyboard cavity just underneath where the down arrow key would be. It has a white connector and is not interlocked. Disconnect the mouse button cable, which is a narrow ribbon cable located in the keyboard cavity just underneath where the spacebar would be. It has a brown release lever. You can now lift the top half of the case (which the keyboard sits into) straight up and set it aside.
    
9. Remove the aluminum sheet metal heat sink, held down by 2 chrome screws, and the Mini-PCI card shield, held down by 2 black screws. The two may be held together by a strip of cloth tape and may need to be removed together in one step. The tape may need to be peeled off from one or more places in order to remove the heat sink. NOTE: In the remaining steps, be very careful not to touch the 'rubber' heat conductors which cover the CPU and video chip. They are very delicate.
    
10. The next 7 sub-steps are for removing and disassembling the LCD panel:
    
     
    1. Disconnect the thin round coax cable from the Mini-PCI card. This snaps off by prying it up. You may have to peel of a couple of pieces of tape to free the coax cable.
        
    2.  Disconnect the white ribbon cable near the upper-left corner of the motherboard. It has a brown release lever. The other end can be left attached. This cable is not attached to the LCD panel, but one end must be disconnected in order to move it out of the way of another cable which does go to the LCD.
        
    3. Disconnect the 2 cables just behind the white ribbon cable. Nether has an interlock. One connector (for the video signals) has a strip of black tape which can be grasped in order to pull the connector off. It does require some force; just pull the tape straight up until the connector snaps off.
        
    4. Remove the brass screw recessed into the upper-right corner of the chassis, which hold down the right LCD hinge. The LCD panel must be swung flat in order to access this screw.
        
    5. Remove the 2 chrome screws from the rear of the case, behind the LCD hinges.
        
    6. The entire LCD panel can now be lifted straight up and set aside.
        
    7. Optional: Disassembly of the LCD panel. This step can be skipped if you do not need to access the parts contained in the LCD case. It requires a firm but light hand and should not be attempted unless you have previous experience.
       
       NOTE: The outside half of the case is rigid magnesium, the inside half (the bezel around the LCD) is very thin flexible plastic.
       
       1) Peel off the 2 rubber feet at the upper-left and upper-right corners of the panel, and the 2 round silver stickers at the lower-left and lower-right corners;
       
       2) Remove the 4 screws underneath the stickers and rubber feet;
       
       3) Very carefully pry the two halves of the LCD case apart, using a safety razor blade, working all around the edge of the case. Insert the edge of the razor into the seam between the two halves of the case, and use a prying motion to separate them. Do not push the razor into the seam with a cutting motion, or you might cut off a locking tab or cut some wiring. The plastic bezel is attached to the metal frame of the LCD with some double-sided tape, so it will require some slight force to peel the plastic bezel away from the LCD frame.
       
       NOTE: This step requires a very delicate touch - be extremely careful to avoid breaking any of the plastic locking tabs which are part of the plastic bezel around the LCD. If any of the locking tabs breaks, the two halves of the case may no longer stay tightly together after re-assembly.
       
       4) Once the plastic bezel is removed, the remaining disassembly steps are straightforward. To remove LCD panel, once you have removed the 4 screws attaching the LCD to the magnesium case you must then slide the LCD panel downward slightly in order to unhook it from the case.
        
11. Remove the 2 chrome screws on the plastic strip which was uncovered by the removal of the LCD panel, and lift off the plastic strip.
     
12. Remove the mini-PCI card, by bending away the metal clips on each side. You will need to disconnect the modem cable from the card.
     
13. Remove the small audio jack circuit board, located at the right-rear corner of the motherboard, near the external mini-VGA connector. This attaches to the motherboard with a single connector (underneath), and should easily snap off. Interesting Note: if it were not for this little audio jack circuit board, the motherboard could be removed without first removing the entire LCD panel. However, this little audio jack circuit board covers a small part of the motherboard, and it cannot be removed without removing the entire LCD panel.
     
14. Disconnect the various connectors around the perimeter of the motherboard (power, headphone jack board, fan, CMOS battery, hard drive). You might want to leave the yellow CMOS backup battery connected, because if you disconnect it you will lose all the BIOS settings, which is OK as long as you remember what they were all set to. You might also want to leave the hard drive ribbon cable attached to the motherboard if possible, because its connector is very flimsy and if the retaining clip breaks off you will have a major problem.
     
15. You can now lift the motherboard up and out of the base! There are a few more small circuit boards around the perimeter of the motherboard, but it will be obvious how to remove those.

(c) 2006 Bill Spandagos