In this guide I explain how to take apart a HP Pavilion dv8 laptop. I’m taking it apart in order to replace failed DC jack.
The LED light on the DC jack started flickering when adapter plug moved. I tested it with another known good AC adapter but it didn’t fix the problem. I assumed this is DC jack related failure and decided to replace it.
I believe that HP Pavilion dv8 Â have many different flavors.
It’s possible that your model will be a little bit different but most disassembly steps should be very similar.
Before you start, make sure the computer is turned off and battery removed.
STEP 1.
Loosen six screws securing the Wi-Fi and Hard drive/Memory covers.
Remove both covers.
STEP 2.
My HP pavilion dv8 had two hard drives installed. By the way, they are regular 2.5″ SATA HDDs.
Disconnect the hard drive cable from the motherboard. Lift up and remove the whole HDD assembly.
STEP 3.
Remove the second HDD.
Also, you can see the CMOS battery.
STEP 4.
HP Pavilion dv8 has two memory slots and both slots accessible though the door we removed in the step 1.
In order to remove the memory module spread latches on both sides of the memory slot. The memory module will pop up at a 30 degree angle.
Remove both memory modules.
STEP 5.
Remove one screw securing the DVD drive.
Pull the DVD drive to the left and remove it.
NOTE: in my laptop the DVD drive face plate was missing. Normally, the DVD drive will have the face plate attached to the front of the drive.
STEP 6.
Disconnect both antenna cables from the wireless card.
Remove two screws securing the wireless card.
Remove the wireless card.
STEP 7.
Remove six (red) screws securing the speaker cover.
Remove two (yellow) screws securing the keyboard.
STEP 8.
Carefully lift up one side of the speaker cover with a sharp object.
Remove the cover with your fingers.
STEP 9.
Carefully lift up one side of the keyboard bezel.
STEP 10.
Continue separating the keyboard bezel from the base.
Be careful, the bezel has LED board built in. There is a cable connecting the LED board to the motherboard.
Turn the keyboard bezel upside down so you can access the LED board connector underneath.
STEP 11.
Here’s how you unlock the LED board cable connector.
Move the brown tab about 2 millimeters to the direction shown by two yellow arrows. DO NOT move it any further.
The brown tab must stay attached to the connector base.
STEP 12.
On the following picture the connector is shown in the unlocked position.
Now you can pull the LED board cable from the connector.
STEP 13.
Remove the bezel.
STEP 14.
Remove four screws securing the keyboard.
STEP 15.
Lift up the keyboard and move it towards the LCD screen.
Now you can access the keyboard cable connector underneath.
Before you remove the keyboard, it’s necessary to unlock the connector and release the cable.
STEP 16.
In order to unlock the keyboard cable connector lift up the outer side of the brown tab at a 90 degree angle.
STEP 17.
On the following picture the connector is shown in the unlocked position.
Now you can pull the cable from the connector.
STEP 18.
Remove the keyboard.
STEP 19.
Disconnect all cables i pointed with yellow arrows (from left to right):
– Video cable.
– Webcam/microfilm cable.
– USB board cable.
– DC jack (power) cable.
– Pull wireless card antenna cables though the opening in the top cover.
STEP 20.
Remove four screws securing display hinges.
STEP 21.
Lift up and remove the display panel assembly.
STEP 22.
Remove all screws from the bottom.
STEP 23.
Disconnect all cables I pointed with yellow arrows (from left to right):
– Power button board cable.
– Touch pad board cable.
– Speaker cable.
– LED board cable.
– Touch pad on/off button cable.
Remove five screws securing the top cover assembly.
STEP 24.
Start separating the top cover assembly from the bottom cover.
When you lift up the top cover don’t forget to disconnect the finger print device cable (pointed with yellow arrow).
STEP 25.
Remove the top cover assembly.
STEP 26.
The top cover has been removed.
As you know, my goal is replacing the DC jack which is located in the upper right corner.
STEP 27.
Remove one screw securing the metal bracket to the bottom case.
Lift up and remove the bracket.
STEP 28.
Finally, lift up the DC jack.
As you see, in HP Pavilion dv8 laptop the DC jack is not soldered to the motherboard. It’s attached to the harness.
We unplugged the DC jack harness from the motherboard earlier, in the step 19.
Now you can remove the failed DC jack and replace it with a new one.
Instead of buying just the DC jack itself, I would recommend buying the whole harness (jack and cable). In this case you don’t have to solder anything.
I’m not going to disassemble this laptop any further but it shouldn’t be difficult.
In order to remove the motherboard you’ll have to remove two screws and disconnect one cable (maybe more cables if you have a different Pavilion dv8 model).
After that you should be able to lift up and remove the motherboard.
The cooling fan can be accessed and replaced only after the motherboard is removed.
David
If someone knows how to open and clean the fan of Samsung R519 I will appreciate it.
Essa
wow
unlock this laptop needs a great effort
I have the same device and I have and I want to open the device to clean the fan
And treat the problem of light screen
Do I need to work all the steps that you have made?
Shelly R
Thanks so much!!!
Rodolfo Gonzalez
first thank you for your site,
I made a mistake in step 17, I broke the black part of the port (the locker), is there any way to find a replace of this?.
I asked to a dealer in my contry but they say that the part is only avaible whith the entire mother board wich is useless for me.
Dyon
hi there,
Nice work on taking your DV8 apart. I have a question, did you take a look at the HDMI port? Could you tell me how it is connected to the motherboard? Mine seems to be defective and I hope you could tell me if I’m able to fix it 😛
Thanx
IML Tech
@ Dyon,
The HDMI port soldered to the motherboard.
Dyon
Thanx for the quick reply. Geuss that means fixing it my self isn’t a option. Is there a way to identify the motherboard with out taking it completely apart?
IML Tech
@ Dyon,
There should be a sticker located somewhere in the memory compartment. Probably you’ll find it under the memory.
This sticker has motherboard part number. Find the part number and google it.
mario cardenas
thanks very much, from central america
Vlad A.
I found this guide very useful, but i have one issue with my laptop.
Maybe you are already familiar with this message:
The system detected that a cooling fan is not operating correctly.
Continued operation is not recommended and may cause unpredictable bhavior that could result in random shutdown, data loss, or possible system damage. The system will shut down in 15 seconds. To prevent shutdown and continue operation press the enter key now.
System fan (90B)
Enter= Continue Startup
Could you please help me. The laptop is only one year old. I bought this computer new. Two weeks ago I took the laptop to a the service for a dust cleaning. After three days it started to give this message.
Do I need to replace the cooling fan? What should I do? Please reply. Thanks
IML Tech
@ Vlad A.
It’s possible the cooling fan failed.
Turn on the laptop and listen for the fan. Does it spin at all?
Does it show this message as soon as the laptop turned on or after a while? It’s possible they forgot to connect the cooling fan back to the motherboard after the cleaning.
Maybe you should take it back to the repair shop and ask them to fix it.
Vlad A.
My laptop is HP Pavilion dv8-1220eg (WN917EA):
Core i7-720QM 4x 1.60GHz • 8192MB (2x 4096MB) • 1000GB (2x 500GB) • Blu-ray (BD-ROM) and DVD+/-RW DL • NVIDIA GeForce GT 230M 1024MB max.2815MB shared memory • 4x USB 2.0/FireWire/Gb LAN/WLAN 802.11abgn/Bluetooth/eSATA • HDMI • ExpressCard/54 slot • 5in1 card reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS Pro/xD) • Fingerprint reader • Webcam (0.3 megapixels) • 18.4″ WUXGA glare TFT (1920×1080) • Windows 7 Home Premium • Li-Ion battery (4 cells) • 3.98kg
Mike Camodeo
I am having some trouble with step 23, I cannot figure out how to remove the four ribbon cables, can someone help?
LJ
I am stuck on step 23. How do I remove these cables. Can you provide more detail please? I’m afraid I will break them. 🙁
IML Tech
@ LJ,
Look at steps 7 and 20 in this guide.
You’ll get the idea.
Greg J.
I have a DV7-3167 with a damaged HDMI port and possible damaged memory card reader.
Do you know the HDMI port part number?
if the card reader is damaged is that replaceable and if so the part number?
NMSS
Hi, is it normal that the plastic zone below the hp logo, where is the display inverter gets hot when you select maximum brightnes after awhile? It happens in your dv8?
JO
Hi,
I need to replace just the LCD video cable and I already have the replacement part with me. I saw a bunch of screen placement videos for similar laptops, but couldn’t find any tutorial for the video cable replacement. Is there a simpler way to replace the cable or will I need to disassemble the screen? If you can provide any help, I’d greatly appreciate it. Thank you!
Sincerely,
J
shah muhammad
hi dear — i want dv8 model keyboard . pls give me price
Steven
How do you remove the top cover to reveal the motherboard? I’ve been at it for hours
IML Tech
Steven,
What? Look at the guide again. It shows step-by-step how to remove the top cover assembly.
Also, look in this service manual for HP Pavilion dv8 notebook.
tamer
if i want to improve the performance of hp dv8 by increasing the RAM
i already have 6 GB
who much i can increase the ram please?
thank you
IML Tech
@ tamer,
HP Pavilion dv8 notebook can handle 8GB.
You can remove the 2GB RAM module and replace it with a 4GB RAM module.
For best performance, you should have identical memory modules in both slots. In this case the laptop shuld run in dual-channel mode.
Nader
I have a HP Pavilion DV8 1200 with 2 HDD. I changed the drive 2 with a SSD drive.
Is there a bios option to switch the boot order form HDD to SSD?
The only option I find under boot order is: Laptop HDD – CD DVD – etc
IML Tech
@ Nader,
Why did you install SSD as a secondary drive? I would try installing it as a primary drive. After that it should be detected by the BIOS automatically.
Roy
Hi.
Got a SATA error on my DV8 1190eo
It takes appox 15 min to start win.
When running diagnostics i get HDD error 03f0
Tried to switch HDD same issue
When running fron DVD it takes very long time to read files
When runnig from USB stick it is as normal
Thats why i think it has an internal SATA error
Have resoldered the chiset BGA with same result
Next step is to change motherboard if not anyone have a better suggestion?
IML Tech
@ Roy,
If you tried replacing the hard drive and getting the same error, probably this is controller related issue.
Also, could be defective hard drive cable. Not likely but possible.
Here’s what you can try.
HP Pavilion dv8 can support up to 2 internal HDDs, correct?
Try connecting the primary HDD to the second connector and run diagnostics. Does it fail this way?
If the hard drive passes test on the second connector but fails on the first, this is the motherboard related issue. Could be defective connector or bad HDD controller.
Marcus
Hi i have the dv8 but the problem i have is that every now and then the volume starts to go up and down by itself and like the treble and bass aswell. Has anyone got an idea of what this problem could be??
Abdulrazeed
how to remove webcam from HP Pavilion dv8
DaveW
Awesome… just replaced a motherboard and your instructions were invaluable. Check your paypal account.
Thanks!
IML Tech
@ Dave,
Thank you very much for your generous donation!
Jony
please i need to buy the side plate, of the DVT 1100, i let my notebook fall , and i can’t found that part of the side, the metallic part, aluminium i dont know the bolth side are broken !! please help somebody please !
Donna
Hi…I followed your instructions and took the computer apart to replace the fan assembly because the computer had died from overheating and would not stay on for more than a few minutes at best (so I figured that was the problem because it also got super hot immediately after turning it on). I put it back together except for the screws on the back side (other than the audio), just to be safe in case there was a issue, and lo and behold the power button does not turn the computer on. I double checked the cable from the Bezel and it seems to be inserted and stable. The only other possible issue is the cable to the keyboard, as I couldnt seat the brown connector tab correctly (it had fallen off) and i’m not sure the cable is securely in place (this was the most time consuming frustrating step in putting the laptop back together), but I can’t imagine that would affect the computer powering on, unless missing any one connector or not seating a cable tightly could prevent the computer from turning on? The light where the A/C plugs in does light up, so it appears to be getting juice. The light on the front of the computer also lights up but only for a few seconds. I dunno, maybe it’s fried for good from the fan overheat problem and it’s just a coincidence that it won’t power up. Do you have an suggestions?
patrice
thanks guy, i had wifi connection drop and since i disconnected led cable, everything is ok
Rich
My notebook feels very hot on the bottom and fan makes sick noises. I’m going to replace the fan. I want to make sure that removing the logic board is the only way to do that.
Thanks.
IML Tech
@ Rich,
Unfortunately, you have to disassemble the whole unit as I explained in my guide. The fan mounted under the logic board and you’ll have to remove it in order to replace the fan.
Wangjenhung
Hp dv8 1106tx laptop motherboard repaired fixed ok
IML Tech
@ Wangjengung,
Did you repair it yourself? What was wrong and how you fixed it?
Thanks.
Regis
Little technical question… 2 years ago, I did upgrade my DV8 from 2x 500gb HDD to 2x 1Tb HDD and it did work fine ! Now… I’ve tried a 2nd upgrade from 2x 1Tb HDD to 2x 2Tb HDD !!!
But this upgrade causes an unexpected problem : HDD in bay 1 is recognized and fully working… No problem… But the 2nd 2Tb HDD installed in bay 2 is not recognized at all !!! ( my former 1Tb HDD’s were already Advanced format ones… So are my new 2Tb ones )
All drivers are up to date… BIOS is upgraded to F.25… Intel SATA controler pilot is 9.6… and… still impossible to use my 2nd 2Tb HDD in bay 2…
I did try to connect it to an external USB port with an adapter : the DV8 recognizes it !
If I swap it from bay 2 to bay 1 : the DV8 does also recognize it…
I’ve read ( HP support forum ) that the SATA port in the bay 2 is not an actual SATA one
but a kind of USB converted one… Well… OK… So why is it detected on the external USB port then ??? O_o
After installing Seagate HDD Tools… I noticed this :
HDD Bay 1 : SATA controler 0
DVD writer : SATA controler 1
empty Bay 2 : SATA controler 2 ( and the 2Tb HDD is installed… but not recognized )
So my question to try to solve my problem is :
Can I try to invert connections of SATA 1 and SATA 2 controlers in order to use the SATA 1 controler with the 2nd HDD instead of the DVD writer ???
and… is the SATA connector of the DVD writer on the motherboard the same as the 2 other SATA connectors ??? ( well… can they be physically inverted… )
or any other solution is also welcome of course !!!
Thank you,
Regis.
IML Tech
@ Regis,
Apparently, there are some limitations. What if you boot with the old 1TB in the bay 1 and new 2TB in the bay 2? Will it recognize the new 2TB HDD this way?
Regis
Well… I did try it… 1 Tb HDD in Bay 1 is recognized ( both in BIOS and Win 7 ) but not the 2 Tb HDD in bay 2… In fact… All combo’s are working but the 2tb + 2tb ( which is the one I wanted… ) 🙁
This couldn’t be a hardware issue between my specific model of HDD ( M9T Seagate / Samsung Spinpoint ) and my HP DV8 ??? Would it worth testing with other 2Tb HDD models ??? ( I’m thinking of the Toshiba MQ Series which is SATA II instead of my M9T which is SATA III )
Using a Sata III in bay 1 taking the full speed would ‘neutralize’ the Sata port in Bay 2 ???
So this would prevent me from using 2 SATA III HDD together ??? ( my ‘old’ WD 1Tb are both SATA II and are working perfectly togheter… )
PS : I know WD and TOSHIBA 2Tb drives are 15mm thick instead of 9.5mm for the Seagate M9T
Regis
Problem solved !
The solution was in my last post ! I did receive my 2 Toshiba 2Tb MQ series today ! They are both SATA II and… are both recognized by the HP DV8 ( by the BIOS and by my WIN 7 OS ). So I do now have a 4Tb DV8 ! Last issue to solve, they are 15mm thick and I’ll have to modify a bit the bottom cover panel ! 🙂
DK8
Thanks for posting these instruction. I have had my DV8 since my divorce over 4 yrs ago – House I don’t have anymore, but because a good machine is important I bought this. Has been great, but then my charger started to make noises but when I replaced it I noticed the plastic in my power jack broke off. – as had the plastic tab in the right side USB port long ago. I could get by having two USBs but not the loss of power. So this was perfect step by step for a newbie/. I had never done more than swap a hard drive in an old tower before.
I made a mistake in step 23 – connectors work so many ways & I did not know the extent… I broke the connector off the board and couldn’t do a successful search for a new one other than to buy machines or MBs to cannibalize. I think it is the power button – 6 contacts in what seems 1.4 inch white connector that I thought slid off two metal prongs, so I pushed in the direction of your arrow. Whoops – that ain’t right – In this case you’re supposed to just yank out the wires/mini flat-cable. After weeks of sitting in parts (with a dust drape) I gave up the search and used a fine needle to set superglue to hold the ‘pressure contact’ down in place. Wish I had a hands-free lighted magnifier for that, but it looks good. I hope I did okay. Tomorrow I try to work these steps backwards. Thanks for the help. Do you have other web class or lessoons, like ‘learning your connectors, or , ‘shade tree fixin man’s computer basics for newbies?’ Thanks for investing your time and effort to help others – that rocks!
k sarma
I got new motherboard for my HP dv8, after installing it, i am not able to install windows 7 from recovery cd, it exist in between without error message.
my motherboard initial give error OOA :product configuration, also when i see details vista preinstalled it show on my motherboard. how to change bios of my original and software. please help
Deen
My laptop was working fine for almost 5 years. Now the display remains black very often. I have to open the display in a certain angle to see something on it.
This means, that the display is still ok and only some display cables might be loose. You know which cables I should check ?
Rosh
Hi Have used your guide to replace a fried motherboard, After getting everything back together and connecting the power adapter the power light comes on and is steady, but nothing happens on pressing the power on button.
Would this be an adapter fault or could it be the dc cable connecting the board is faulty.
Sajjad
hi, have used your guide to take apart my HP Pavilion DV8 guide, and then assemble it step by step as instructed by your guide, but when i want to switch it on it did’nt turn on. what should I do, please help me.
Regards
Sajjad
FrostAskar
I did all the steps of this tutorial, but at the time of reassembling, the screen stays black, even though it shows that recieves power (Glows lightly), also, if I connect a monitor through the VGA port, it displays the desktop without problems. I’ve been told that might be a problem with the inverter, but so far I couldn’t open the screen case. Do you have a tutorial to open the case as well?
Michele
Thanks for your tutorial. I use it every time I disassembly my HP Pavilion DV8.
I wrote a complementary tutorial that focus on the disassembly of the “Display components of the HP DV8”. I mentioned you in my tutorial. I will be glad if you could do the same with yours.
here is the link to my tutorial of the display part:
https://pcwizard-italia.blogspot.com/2023/02/supplementing-insidemylaptop-s.html