Dell Inspiron M421R User manual

Dell Inspiron 14R/M421R
Owner’s Manual
Computer model: Inspiron 5420/7420/5425
Regulatory model: P33G
Regulatory type: P33G001/P33G002
book.book Page 1 Friday, September 7, 2012 10:23 AM

Notes, Cautions, and Warnings
NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better
use of your computer.
CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates potential damage to hardware or loss of
data if instructions are not followed.
WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage,
personal injury, or death.
____________________
Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
© 2012 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction of these materials in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of
Dell Inc. is strictly forbidden.
Trademarks used in this text: Dell™, the DELL logo, and Inspiron™ are trademarks of Dell Inc.;
Microsoft®, Windows®, and the Windows start button logo
are either trademarks or
registered trademarks of Microsoft corporation in the United States and/or other countries;
Bluetooth®is a registered trademark owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and is used by
Dell under license.
Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities
claiming the marks and names or their products. Dell Inc. disclaims any proprietary interest
in trademarks and trade names other than its own.
2012 - 08 Rev. A00
book.book Page 2 Friday, September 7, 2012 10:23 AM

Contents | 2
Contents
1 Before You Begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Turn Off Your Computer and Connected Devices . . . 8
Safety Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Recommended Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2 After Working Inside Your Computer . . . . . . . 10
3 Removing the Switch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4 Replacing the Switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
5 Removing the Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
6 Replacing the Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
7 Removing the Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
8 Replacing the Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Postrequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
9 Removing the Base Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
10 Replacing the Base Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Postrequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
book.book Page 2 Friday, September 7, 2012 10:23 AM

3| Contents
11 Removing the Memory Module(s). . . . . . . . . . 30
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
12 Replacing the Memory Module(s). . . . . . . . . . 32
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Postrequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
13 Removing the Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
14 Replacing the Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Postrequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
15 Removing the Optical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
16 Replacing the Optical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Postrequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
17 Removing the Palm Rest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
18 Replacing the Palm Rest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Postrequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
19 Removing the Mini-Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
20 Replacing the Mini-Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Postrequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
book.book Page 3 Friday, September 7, 2012 10:23 AM

Contents | 4
21 Removing the Power-Adapter Port . . . . . . . . 54
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
22 Replacing the Power-Adapter Port . . . . . . . . 56
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Postrequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
23 Removing the Coin-Cell Battery. . . . . . . . . . . 58
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
24 Replacing the Coin-Cell Battery . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Postrequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
25 Removing the Fan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
26 Replacing the Fan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Postrequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
27 Removing the Speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
28 Replacing the Speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Postrequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
29 Removing the Display Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
30 Replacing the Display Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Postrequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
book.book Page 4 Friday, September 7, 2012 10:23 AM

5| Contents
31 Removing the Display Bezel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
32 Replacing the Display Bezel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Postrequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
33 Removing the Display Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
34 Replacing the Display Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Postrequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
35 Removing the Display Hinges . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
36 Replacing the Display Hinges . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Postrequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
37 Removing the Camera Module . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
38 Replacing the Camera Module . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Postrequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
39 Removing the Processor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
40 Replacing the Processor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Postrequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
book.book Page 5 Friday, September 7, 2012 10:23 AM

Contents | 6
41 Removing the System Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
42 Replacing the System Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Postrequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Entering the Service Tag in the BIOS . . . . . . . . . . 103
43 Removing the Processor Heat-Sink . . . . . . . 104
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
44 Replacing the Processor Heat-Sink . . . . . . . 106
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Postrequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
45 Flashing the BIOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
book.book Page 6 Friday, September 7, 2012 10:23 AM

7| Contents
book.book Page 7 Friday, September 7, 2012 10:23 AM

Before You Begin | 8
2Before You Begin
Turn Off Your Computer and Connected Devices
CAUTION: To avoid losing data, save and close all open files and exit all open
programs before you turn off your computer.
1Save and close all open files and exit all open programs.
2Follow the instructions to shut down your computer based on the operating system
installed on your computer.
Windows 8:
Move your mouse pointer to the upper-right or lower-right corner of the screen to
open the Charms sidebar, and then click Settings→Power→Shutdown.
Windows 7:
Click Start and click Shut down.
Microsoft Windows shuts down and then the computer turns off.
NOTE: If you are using a different operating system, see the documentation of
your operating system for shut-down instructions.
3Disconnect your computer and all attached devices from their electrical outlets.
4Disconnect all telephone cables, network cables, and attached devices from your
computer.
5Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds, after the computer is unplugged, to
ground the system board.
Win 8 operating system
1Save and close all open files and exit all open programs.
NOTE: If you are using a different operating system, see the documentation of
your operating system for shut-down instructions.
2Disconnect your computer and all attached devices from their electrical outlets.
3Disconnect all telephone cables, network cables, and attached devices from your
computer.
4Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds, after the computer is unplugged, to
ground the system board.
Safety Instructions
Use the following safety guidelines to protect your computer from potential damage and
ensure your personal safety.
book.book Page 8 Friday, September 7, 2012 10:23 AM

9| Before You Begin
WARNING: Before working inside your computer, read the safety information
that shipped with your computer. For additional safety best practices
information, see the Regulatory Compliance Homepage at dell.com/
regulatory_compliance.
WARNING: Disconnect all power sources before opening the computer cover or
panels. After you finish working inside the computer, replace all covers, panels,
and screws before connecting to the power source.
CAUTION: To avoid damaging the computer, ensure that the work surface is flat
and clean.
CAUTION: To avoid damaging the components and cards, handle them by their
edges and avoid touching pins and contacts.
CAUTION: Only a certified service technician is authorized to remove the
computer cover and access any of the components inside the computer. See the
safety instructions for complete information about safety precautions, working
inside your computer, and protecting against electrostatic discharge.
CAUTION: Before touching anything inside your computer, ground yourself by
touching an unpainted metal surface, such as the metal at the back of the
computer. While you work, periodically touch an unpainted metal surface to
dissipate static electricity, which could harm internal components.
CAUTION: When you disconnect a cable, pull on its connector or on its pull-tab,
not on the cable itself. Some cables have connectors with locking tabs or
thumb-screws that you must disengage before disconnecting the cable. When
disconnecting cables, keep them evenly aligned to avoid bending any connector
pins. When connecting cables, ensure that the connectors and ports are correctly
oriented and aligned.
CAUTION: To disconnect a network cable, first unplug the cable from your
computer and then unplug the cable from the network device.
CAUTION: Press and eject any installed card from the 8-in-1 Media Card Reader.
Recommended Tools
The procedures in this document may require the following tools:
•Phillips screwdriver
•Plastic scribe
•Small flat-blade screwdriver
book.book Page 9 Friday, September 7, 2012 10:23 AM

After Working Inside Your Computer | 10
3After Working Inside Your Computer
After you complete replacement procedures, ensure the following:
•Replace all screws and ensure that no stray screws remain inside your computer
•Connect any external devices, cables, cards, and any other part(s) you removed
before working on your computer
•Connect your computer and all attached devices to their electrical outlets
CAUTION: Before turning on your computer, replace all screws and ensure that
no stray screws remain inside the computer. Failure to do so may damage your
computer.
book.book Page 10 Friday, September 7, 2012 10:23 AM

11 | After Working Inside Your Computer
book.book Page 11 Friday, September 7, 2012 10:23 AM

Removing the Switch | 12
4Removing the Switch
WARNING: Before working inside your computer, read the safety information
that shipped with your computer and follow the steps in "Before You Begin" on
page 8. For additional safety best practices information, see the Regulatory
Compliance Homepage at dell.com/regulatory_compliance.
Procedure
1Slide the switch release latch to the side.
The switch pops up.
2Lift the switch off the computer.
1 display cover 2 switch
3 switch release latch
2
3
1
book.book Page 12 Friday, September 7, 2012 10:23 AM

13 | Removing the Switch
book.book Page 13 Friday, September 7, 2012 10:23 AM

Replacing the Switch | 14
5Replacing the Switch
WARNING: Before working inside your computer, read the safety information
that shipped with your computer and follow the steps in "Before You Begin" on
page 8. For additional safety best practices information, see the Regulatory
Compliance Homepage at dell.com/regulatory_compliance.
Procedure
1Align the tabs at the bottom of the switch with the slots on the display cover and
snap the switch into place.
NOTE: Ensure that the tabs on the switch are secured in the slots on the
display cover.
2Follow the instructions in "After Working Inside Your Computer" on page 10.
1 switch 2 tabs
3 slots 4 display cover
4
2
1
3
book.book Page 14 Friday, September 7, 2012 10:23 AM

15 | Replacing the Switch
book.book Page 15 Friday, September 7, 2012 10:23 AM

Removing the Battery | 16
6Removing the Battery
WARNING: Before working inside your computer, read the safety information
that shipped with your computer and follow the steps in "Before You Begin" on
page 8. For additional safety best practices information, see the Regulatory
Compliance Homepage at dell.com/regulatory_compliance.
Procedure
1Close the display and turn the computer over.
2Slide the battery release latches to the unlock position.
3Lift the battery out of the battery bay.
1 battery release latches (2) 2 battery
1
2
book.book Page 16 Friday, September 7, 2012 10:23 AM

17 | Removing the Battery
book.book Page 17 Friday, September 7, 2012 10:23 AM

Replacing the Battery | 18
7Replacing the Battery
WARNING: Before working inside your computer, read the safety information
that shipped with your computer and follow the steps in "Before You Begin" on
page 8. For additional safety best practices information, see the Regulatory
Compliance Homepage at dell.com/regulatory_compliance.
Procedure
1Align the tabs on the battery with the slots on the battery bay and snap the battery
until it clicks into place.
2Follow the instructions in "After Working Inside Your Computer" on page 10.
book.book Page 18 Friday, September 7, 2012 10:23 AM

19 | Replacing the Battery
book.book Page 19 Friday, September 7, 2012 10:23 AM