How the blazes does one open the indicator panel / media bar?!

I watched the video from Alienware

M17x Teardown Video1 of 2 **READ SAFETY PRECAUTIONS PRIOR TO REPLACING PARTS** (Official Video) - YouTube

And attempted to remove the panel between the screen and the keyboard (M17x-R2) twice but failed miserably, with an ugly scratch scar and some paint chipped at the side.

Can someone give me detailed steps on removing the Indicator Panel please?

Do I have to push my screen all the way back til it is parallel to the body?

Are there only TWO screws that needs to be removed from the back prior to the removal of the indicator panel?

Do I have to remove the palm rest before I can remove the indicator panel?

I tried doing this last year but to no avail too. So frustrating. Now my GPUs are overheating, but I can't get to them thanks to the panel. All I can do is flush canned air in the vents (which is unsurprisingly uneffective).

Any help would be MOST appreciated. Thanks!

(Also, is it possible to ask Dell to send a tech to remove the indicator panel for me?)

 

Hi ShimmerArc,

I understand your frustration, it is a pain to remove it.

There are only two screws securing the panel, and you need to remove the bottom fan vents to get to them. And yes the screen has to be pushed back as far as possible.

As for popping it out, I have actually found that using a card (eg bank\credit card) works quite well. But it is different for everyone as some can be a lot harder to come out then others.

I attack it from the far right and push a corner in at the top, so the card is horizontal. The panel should move down enough and provide enough of a gap for the card to fit in. I then leaver it up and slide the card to the vertical position. So the corner of the card is now wedged under the far right of the panel. I can then pop it out.

Remember, once you have the first bit out, kinda wiggle the panel up and down as you lever it off.

I will put up a diagram, but it is going to be difficult to portray...

It does get easier the more you do it, and I too have a scratch from my first attempt.

 

First of all you have to remove the two screws behind, after that, get a prying tool, screwdriver or similar to get under the touchstrip( indicator panel) and pry it off (lift it).
If you have difficulties lifting it on the right side, try the left side and vice versa.

The screen has to be opened till it stops.

The first couple of times if may seem impossible and you will hear a snap but don't worry, that's normal.

 

Agree completely with Douse and Katalin on this. I've found that purchasing a nice nylon pry tool helped significantly.

I use something similar to this :

Professional Nylon Laptop Opening Stick Pry Tool Apple Phone Spudger USA Made | eBay

A small screwdriver will also work, but I've found the nylon tool to be a bit "safer" to avoid scratches, etc. Just my personal preference however.

Good luck.

 

Yeah, I would stear away from metal screwdrivers or butter knives, pretty much anything metal as it scratches.

A plastic prying tool will be ideal, but it has to be strong and thin. I had one and the prying tool just broke because I needed to use too much force.

 

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions! Will try them out in a bit and get back to you guys.

Also, just to clarify, the screws are accessible without having to remove the system fan, just the panel with the vents covering the underside of the M17x. I got that right?

 

Yeah you dont need to remove the fan itself, just the fan cover. The screws for the cover are located under the battery.

 

I have highlighted in red the screws you need to remove the vent cover, and the two that are needed to remove the indicator panel(top of pic).

 

+rep-ed for all who helped. Thanks! Managed to pry the thing open after a considerable amount of effort and cleaned my GPUs' vents (amazing amount of dust).

Sadly, for some reason, my screen stopped working and the indicator panel's cable's latch broke off so I had to use some sticky tape on that. Works with an enternal monitor though so I'm guessing my GPUs are fine but the LCD is not. :S

Here's the link to my other thread. If you can help, please do!
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/651229-blank-monitor-startup-no-backlight.html

 

I pretty much bet that the monitor plugs are not seated correctly.
They can give you the impression of being well plugged while they are not. So now that you know what to do, go back and reseat them.

 

Thanks for the super fast reply! Which one is the monitor plug?

I almost agreed to send my system to the depot for £100!

 

Monitor plug is the longer one. The other one (smaller) controls the webcam if I recall correctly.

 

See my pic on your other thread.

Sorry to hear you broke the clip. Those ZIF clips are easily damaged. If you have problems with it holding the ribbon cable in PM me as I have recently had to dodgy something up to fix it on a work laptop.