We recently had a Packard Bell Easynote (model identified as ‘Argo C2’ which seems to correspond with Packard Bell series MZ35 and MZ36 laptops) with a broken spacebar in for repair. We presumed it to be a complete keyboard replacement job so for your benefit, we detailed the procedure for getting the keyboard off the laptop.
Tools required are basically a Phillips head screwdriver of suitable dimensions and a narrow, flat blade or similar prying tool.
We started out by turning the laptop over and removing the battery. The battery is located on the back edge and has a thumb-operated spring-loaded latch on the bottom surface of the laptop. The battery withdraws to the rear.
Next we needed to remove the keyboard retaining screw which (IIRC) is marked with a small keyboard legend. It is found roughly centrally on the underside of the laptop. Note that we had actually forgotten to remove the battery at this point /me smacks hands all round.
After putting the screw somewhere safe, we turned the laptop back over and with the lid closed, removed the hinge-cover retaining screws from the rear of the laptop.
Next, we carefully opened the laptop lid all the way.
Once fully open, we used the prying tool to carefully lift the hinge covers which are an integral part of the upper cover on the laptop.
The whole cover should hinge from the keyboard side. We lifted the cover slightly and withdrew it away from the keyboard, towards the screen. The cover just removed acted as a secondary retaining feature for the upper edge of the keyboard.
The keyboard was lifted from the edge nearest the screen, slight screenwards motion was employed to release the keyboard from the lower edge.
The keyboard ribbon cable is now visible. The ribbon is fastened using a black locking tab/collar.
We very carefully release the locking collar with a screwdriver. Usually working it back from each edge in turn works well.
The keyboard could now be fully removed. The exposed internals of the laptop at this point are shown below.
The keyboard refitting procedure is the reverse of the removal procedure. Special care is to be taken when re-seating the ribbon cable and cover clips.
The usual disclaimer applies plus the caveat that it was a couple of months ago when this procedure was performed and my memory may be slightly rusty on it. Don’t forget, if your device is still under warranty, you’re best off getting a service call.
Having not attempted anything like this before, worked perfectly for me. Many thanks.
Laptop MZ35 UK version. Replacement keyboard sourced from http://www.laptop-parts.co.uk
Do you have a procedure for a Packard Bell M5255 Easy Note? I need to upgrade the ram which I believe is under the keyboard.
I haven’t seen an M5 255 personally but Packard Bell make the disassembly manual for the M5 / M7 series laptops available on their FTP site.
As you say, it does appear that the ram is located under the keyboard (and then under it’s own cover).
It’s not the easiest procedure I’ve seen for changing ram, following through the pictures, I noticed that it is imperative you fully remove the keyboard before removing the RAM cover as the ribbon connector actually passes through the ram cover!
Very clear! Have exactly the same model, and before ruining anything, followed your pix and voila!
I’m glad our pictures were of help to you Gustafano 🙂
Very Nice Post. I love it.Have a Great day.
Very easy to follow, keep up the good work!
I have this, or a very similar laptop, and am trying, to no avail, get the back casing off, but so far only one corner is lifting freely. We’ve loosened every screw we can see without removing the harddrive or ram, and am not really wanting to do so myself.
Are there more screws under the HD n ram n stuff?
If you’ve not got exactly the same model laptop, be careful.
It’s possible that there are differences in your casing. A good tip is to check for screw points under labels which OEMs may have placed on the machine. Run your finger over any labels to feel for a screw port underneath.
Also be sure that you’ve found a screw port marked with a ‘keyboard’ legend.
Above all, don’t apply excessive for to what are, in essence, rather weak plastic parts. If in doubt, seek the services of a professional.
I would like to disassemble the Packard Bell Easynote H5 Series. (for changing the harddisk)
Would I like to remove the keyboard first shown as above?
Thank you!!
The Easynote H5 is a different machine so may require different procedures.
Hi there,
Changing the hard drive is fairly easy and straight forward. Remove the battery component cover and access is immediate for the hard drive. There are acrews in the side and one each on on the top. Undo those and lift out using the tab. Good Luck.
Hello,
i have the same notebook but i need it the keyboard, if you have one let me know than i buy for you
thank you
TO meimmi132 (and anyone else whos interested)
Here is a link to the the dissasembly instructions forpackard bell easynote mz series…
ftp://ftp.packardbell.com/pub/itemnr/7602080000/Disassembly_EasyNote_MZ_rev_100.pdf
hope this is useful.
As there are over four thousand directories there, finding disassembly manual for particular model (P/N: PB91QD0091) is going to take a while! Findind the exact item number would be nice, as otherwise the task is next to hopeless. Lets see what FileZilla’s “Find” function has to say about it…
Hopefully it’s just dirty connector or loose graphics card and not the infamous nVidia hardware bug…
PB FTPadmin probably hates me now, but I found the correct dissassembly manual. Four clips holding the keyboard are way too tough to handle without breaking them. However, I found the faulty part (LCD cable) and it’s close to impossible to fix and replacement not available anywhere near here, so the laptop is considered as toast. No commerse via net for me, so I’ll let the owner decide what to do with this.
Still, thanks for pointing out PB FTP server for me.
Thanx, it helped me well….lol!
my laptop packard bell easynote MV35-202 has been in the repair shop twice to get the same soldering job carried out, each time cost £40.00, (i now do not trust the shop) where the power lead fits into the laptop it is that part of a small pc board which is giving me problems with dry joint/s which results in swiching the power off or causing it to crash although i can solder perfectly well, i have only managed so far with getting at the small pcb. is there a free manaual available to dissemble the laptop so i can repair it myself or will i have to purchase. thankyou.
Thanks very much for this – I would not have known where to start otherwise. My model was an MZ35 purchased in Europe – a minor difference in the casing was that there are two keyboard retaining screws on the underside, and they were both marked with a K
one of the buttons has gone on the touch pad is there a simple way instead of taken all the rest of apart
hi i have a packard bell mv35-202 which has no power at all either from the battery or from the mains lead, i think i will need to replace the mother board as think the power card has gone, do you know where i can down load a dissasembly manual / instructions for this lap top,also do you know where the best place to purchas a new mother board. thanks
I have been pointed to this disassembly manual for the “V Series Sable Chassis”.
I don’t have an MV35 here to compare with so I can’t say for sure that this service/disassembly manual matches up with your laptop. If you find that it does, please let us know here.
Note that the MV35 is not the same chassis as the MZ35/36
Packard Bell Model ETNA-GM how does one remove the case, I have got as far as the hinges rear section and unable to go any further I want to open it to have a look at power port which does not no longer make physical contact with its power input.
thanks John
I began to repair my laptop myself and I ended up doing more damage than good. Sometimes I just leave these sort of things to professionals.
Is anyone aware that these instructions also apply to Toshiba Satellite L30 which is identical.
Before attempting to remove the hinge cover there are three screws retaining it, which are underneath the computer.
I have eastnote with spaniah keyboard avn an english keyboard be fitted to make life easier
hey guys i have a packardbell easynote tj75.
somme one know if i can take of my key board easy and if how do i do that?
Sorry Sebastian, the TJ75 seems to be a very different beast to the MZ series.
I searched a bit online but I couldn’t find any disassembly information.
somme one got somting?
hi,
I’m glad that I found your guide, for replacing the keyboard. I do have another problem though (totally not related). My easynote has a checksum problem. Though it works with 1 Gig memory (in one slot), when I insert another (identical) 1 Gig memory on the vacant slot (making it 2 Gigs), it will come up with a checksum error. While browsing for solutions to this problem, one solution I seem to find is to replace the CMOS battery. But I dont know how to get to it. Can you please show me (guide like what you did here) on how to replace this laptops CMOS battery.
Thanks,
Hi John. Sorry we no-longer have access to an MZ35 to do this.
I did however find this French site which appears to show the location of the bios battery on the board. http://forum.pcastuces.com/remplacement_pile_sur_packard_b_easynote_mz35-f4s52568.htm
The Frenchman seems to have had a terrible time getting to the bios battery, having to dismount the motherboard and rotate it to gain access.
Quite why the designers didn’t provide an access hatch for the bios battery is beyond me. The job of dismantling the laptop to reach it appears to be a complex one!
The manual I found on the Packard bell FTP site is very easy and straightforward to follow but it looks like its gonna be a big job just to find out if a connector has come out
Hi, I have the Easynote ALP-AJAX C3 model, does anybody knows whether replacing the keyboard is similar to this manual?
Thanks in advance!
I’ve go the same model, and need to get to the fan to clean it, do i need to take the keyboard off to get to it ( i think it can be seen in the last image on the left) or is there another way to access it.
thanks
Does anyone know of a URL for where I can get a replacement fan for this Laptop please? (for the processor) Much appreciated 🙂
I have studied your keyboard replacement of PB mz35/mz36 with interest. But found it only of little help as I have the W3301 laptop that I am trying to dismantle to repair the power socket. I would appreciate it if you could give me any advice on where I might get some dismantling details from. I have removed every screw I can find and still the top cover and bottom cover remain in place. Thank You in anticipation
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ry the following link, may help you….
http://www.google.co.uk/search?sourceid=navclient&hl=en-GB&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGHP_enGB430GB430&q=W3301+disassembly+manual#q=W3301+disassembly+manual&hl=en&rlz=1T4GGHP_enGB430GB430&prmd=ivns&source=univ&tbm=vid&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=VfHkTYeXEoiXhQfSjtzpBw&ved=0CHQQqwQ&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=5058ac85bf93e8c2&biw=1339&bih=781
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hi!,I love your writing very a lot! proportion we keep in touch more approximately your article on AOL? I require an expert in this area to unravel my problem. May be that is you! Having a look ahead to look you.
Helpfull article,
Thank you!
i do have same model of this laptop that stocked for more years, the problem is I forgot the bios/cmos password as well as the hard disk password.
Any idea how to removed it. I disassemble the laptop but having hard time to find the cmos battery? or how to clear cmos?
Your help will be very much appreciated. Thank you
Hello i am hoping some body can advise me as my MZ35 mouse pad and left and right buttons do not work anymore , i tryed replacing with a second hand part with the two flat cabels
Inclouded , but still not working !!!
I think the problem arouse when i erronously tryed to place the left hand cable to the mainboard upside down as it fryed the cable , so i am left
Wondering if this had coused a short to ground or some other issue ; is there anyway to fix this short or advice to find out where or how to identify the issue???
Any advice other then get a new mainbord most welcome, Alaster
Hello i am hoping some body can advise me as my MZ35 mouse pad and left and right buttons do not work anymore ,
i tryed replacing with a second hand part with the two flat cabels
Inclouded , but still not working !!!
I think the problem arouse when i erronously tryed to place the left hand cable to the mainboard upside down as it fryed the cable ,
so i am left wondering
If this had coused a short to ground ,or some other issue ;
is there anyway to fix this short ,or advice to find out where or how to identify the issue???
Any advice other then get a new mainbord most welcome, Alaster