Dell Inspiron N5110 No-Screen Mod

A friend’s Dell Inspiron N5110’s screen cracked. Instead of a screen replacement, he wanted me to remove the screen so that he can use it as a desktop computer plus keyboard and touchpad.

What a mess!

Full interior view

Here are my procedures in case you want to do the same:

  1. Disconnect all peripherals and the charger. Remove the battery.
  2. Unscrew all of the bottom screws and remove the RAM door.
  3. Pry the tabs holding the top side of the keyboard. Remove the keyboard and disconnect its connector.
  4. Disconnect all of the revealed connectors and unscrew all of the screws on the metal plate.
  5. Peel off the entire top plate.
  6. Unplug the video cable. Remove the screen by uninstalling the hinges.
  7. Disassemble the screen. Peel off the WiFi antennas and the camera.
  8. Peel off the LCD controller board from the LCD panel. You need to keep the controller board because the N5110 refuses to POST (boot) without it.
  9. Tuck the antenna cables between the DVD drive and the motherboard. Tape the antennas to the empty bottom-right corner inside the computer.
  10. Plug the video cable back in. Reassemble the laptop.
  11. Now you have a semi-portable desktop computer with integrated keyboard and touchpad! You will have a dangling LCD driver board though.
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

2 Comments
Oldest
Newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Larry Chen

Refuses to POST without a display? Wow, that’s certainly new!!!

John

Hi, Thanks your information, you are right, need to keep the LCD controller board attach on the cable, if not will get 8 beep and cannot be turn on.