t420 optical drive lock switch

it came out and is sitting on my desk. i have tried numerous times to get it back in but to no avail, not sure if it is possible without some amount of disassembley. watched the support and training videos online but nothing related to this.

has anyone else had this problem and remedied it. thing is the optical drive will fall out sometimes or at least out enough that it comes out of its bay so I have to restart my machine to use it.

 

look at the bottom of the machine.

 

Last time I checked you just pop it back in and push the lock into a closed position.

 

its not the drive its this little piece of plastic that locks the drive in place. it stops you from accidentally hitting the lever on the bottom of the machine and popping the drive out.

 

Sorry. It seems like I misunderstood your question. So let me get this straight. Did you mean to say that the lock switch came out?

If so, then yes, you will need to take the machine apart to repair. If the machine is under warranty then I would have Lenovo do it. BTW, Did you buy Thinkpad Protection (provides coverage for accidental damage)? Sometimes Lenovo techs will not fix it if they determine that the damage was caused by the user. TP Protection covers you for that.

 

i sent the machine in for a cracked lcd and they sent it back bc i didnt have the accidental coverage and didnt want to pay 750 for the repair. purchased a lcd on ebay for 60ish and did the repair myself in 15 minutes.

i wrote on the paper that the lock switch was also broken but for some reason they didnt check it out after I called them to inquire why it was not fixed or even mentioned in the repair report.

they refuse to tell me over the phone if they will repair it or just send it back to me so not worth the 7 days or so for shipping there and back.

just wondering how much disassembly is required as it is not included in the support and training portion of the lenovo site for any machines.

 

Since I am not sure how much damage there is, it is possible that you will need to order both the base cover assembly and the Base Miscelleneous Parts kit from Lenovo. If damage is limited then you might be able to make do with the base parts kit only.


The base cover assembly is here: System service parts - ThinkPad T420, T420i


You can find the details at for the base parts here kit here (FRU #04W1602): Miscellaneous service parts - ThinkPad T420, T420i. If you see the list there are bunch of items described as ODD Lock, ODD Spring, ODD brecket (sic), etc.

To purchase parts online from Lenovo, go here: Purchase accessories, upgrades, and replacement parts Scroll to the bottom of the page and look for the link for parts, select your geographic area. If in the US, you will be directed to the IBM maintenance shop page. You will need the FRU numbers. The parts kit is $40 plus S&H.

And, instructions on taking apart the base cover assembly are on page 106 of the T420 Hardware Maintenance Manual located here: http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/0a60007_04.pdf.

Since there is no video for this, you will need to take a look at the existing base cover assembly and then replicate it with the in new ODD parts.