[NC10]How to remove the keyboard (not 56k friendly)

[Alfihar]

Here's a quick guide for anyone that want to remove their NC10's keyboard.
Additionally I fixed the issue of the top right part of my keyboard from flexing.

Click on the pictures for a larger version.

STEP 1.
Switch off the laptop, unplug it and remove the battery.

STEP 2.
Turn laptop over, I would recommend putting it on-top of something soft so as not to damage the lid.
You then need to remove the 3 screws labelled KBD, see the picture below:-



STEP 3.
Flip the laptop back up the right way and open the screen.
You will need to pry at the top of the keyboard, there may be quite a bit of resistance from the sticky pads which hold the keyboard in place. Be careful not to damage any of the keys.



In the image below I have highlighted the sticky pads, on my NC10 and some other peoples the pads have come loose causing the keyboard to flex at the corner.



At this point if you just want to replace the pads you can leave the ribbon cable connected, and apply some replacement pads/double sided tape.

Or you could remove the keyboard completely.

STEP 4.
Disconnect the ribbon cable from the motherboard by pivoting the black connector upwards, the ribbon cable should then come loose. See the pictures below:-



Don't worry the label is referring to the battery, it's not going to explode!



Congratulations your keyboard has now been removed.
Now, to put it all back together.

STEP 5.
If you have removed the ribbon cable, you need to place it back into it's connector carefully so that the tabs on the edge of the cable line up in the connector. Once they are lined up close the connector.

The rest of the process to reattach the keyboard is just the reverse.


Here are a couple of extra images:-

Here's my keyboard with some additional sticky pads, to fix the issue of the keyboard flexing.



The keyboard should be held in place a little bit at the top by some tabs, these didn't appear to be of much use on mine



Here's a clear shot of where the keyboard sits, incase anyone is thinking of a backlight mod.

[TCMuffin]

Very informative post - thank you

Did this fix the issue of the keyboard flexing?

Was there any other reason why you wanted to remove the keyboard?

[kirkuk]

Did you stick that Fedora sticker on ? Thought the NC10 only came with XP Home ?

Kirk

[Alfihar]

@TCMuffin
Yes, the additional sticky pads have so far stopped the top right of my keyboard from popping up and flexing.

This was partly my fault though, if you look at the first photo you can see the screw on the left side is missing, well it's actually snapped off inside. Which means my keyboard is only held in place by two screws. Additionally if you try and remove the back, in the process of removing the screws you may push the keyboard out a bit and weaken the sticky pads/tape.

As for other reasons, well I guess I just wanted to know what was under there. :P

@kirkuk
Yeah I stuck that one on myself (and installed Fedora), along with the one next to it. And removed the MS licence sticker from the bottom of the laptop and stuck it to the instruction manual instead.

[Freddy]

Great post! Thank you!

[lozza69er]

Nice guide. Wouldn't it be cool if you could install something like here under the keyboard and have a nice backlit keyboard.

[Alfihar]

[quote1233252894=lozza69er]Nice guide. Wouldn't it be cool if you could install something like here under the keyboard and have a nice backlit keyboard.[/quote1233252894]
This was something I was wondering about, especially after seeing pictures of it done to an Asus Eee.

I'm kicking myself a bit as I should have tried shining a light through the keyboard while I had it off. Though from looking at it, I'm not sure how much light would get through, especially with the black keyboard.

That tape should fit ok under the keyboard, the main problem would be the power supply for it, as even the 12v one is quite large, and I'd rather have it all inside the laptop rather than bits hanging out.

[TCMuffin]

[quote1233254574=kirkuk]
Did you stick that Fedora sticker on ?
[/quote1233254574]
!lol Didn't notice that !lol

[kinkbmxco]

Thanks for this thorough post! My double sided tape has unstuck on the top right as well. Now I know how to fix it!
Cheers

[Rsaeire]

Very nice work. I especially like the quality of the images; they are excellent and extremely detailed.