OT: manual for laptop

I know of no source for a manual and I've never serviced an AST Ascentia A41, but...

There may be one or more enclosure screws hidden beneath the label(s) on the bottom. Removing the label(s) may be worth a try.

Good luck.

Probably a screw or two hiding under an antitamper label that also has serial number and other critical goodies on on it. You should be able to work out where by which part doesn't move.

Laptops are the very devil to dismantle although you should be able to swap a hard drive without much effort most manufacturers make access to the drive bays easy. I did once have an AST 950N ages ago.

You don't half pick them! Buy one on eBay?

Search YouTube for a tedious annoying video of how to do it? (works well for a lot of undocumented Nintendo stuff - voids warrantee)

Driver disks do seem to be available online but not manuals.

Also, often the intended access for laptops is by detaching the keyboard.

Sort-of.. 5 screws on bottom one is easily accessible after battery is removed. In front of the keyboard, there are tabs inside that can be un-latched. At that point, it is _almost_ apart,but in the middle of the back there is something holding it together like gangbusters. Nothing visible. Yes there are two (in-accessible) screws under the hinge,but it is plain that they are not holding top/keyboard to bottom/base (position and placement far away from the ONE "tie-down").

The one non-mobile point is at/very close to the back, and far away from label. Will try YouTube; i am guessing they have some kind of search, or does one use the Baby Bird (GooGull)?

YouTube not useful so far; dis-assembly of Toshiba laptops there but not for AST.

I had my Toshiba laptop apart, I had to remove a cover over the WiFi pcb, under that was a screw holding the DVD drive, remove that, slide out the drive which was hiding two case screws. Mikek

Unfortunately, a Toshiba laptop is a totally different Chinese puzzle...

Sometimes the top deck above the keyboard snaps in place. Hiding the keyboard screws etc. My gateway is like that.

Cheers

I have seen YouTube vids that show what you are talking about. The "top deck" is one piece from the front to the back, including the hinge part. Held down by the 5 screws i found, plus one "invisible" one, at the back in the middle. There are two sites that PRETEND to have manuals:

spelling).

Maybe from Samsung? They bought AST in 1996.

In the mean time is the back of the laptop removable? If so, try removing it to find the hidden screw. Also look for screws along the side near the screen and see what they might release to find the hidden screw.

?-)

Wayback machine?

First of all, I'm guessing that the sites you found that use e-mail for replies are just harvesting e-mail addresses. You could ask for a repair manual for the NC-1701 and they'd offer to send you one. Hope you used a disposable address.

How old is that? Sites like iFixit don't go back to earlier models, so you might be out of luck there.

Did you get the keyboard out? Chances are there is a screw right in the middle underneath that holding the thing together. There could also be some under the hard drive or anything else for which there is an access panel on the back.

Contacted Samsung; the "live chat" group has zero info on AST stuf; had to remind them of a Samsung news flyer concerning Ascentia (AST trade name) model M in Korea...

Have attached a "log" of my "progress" in abse. Any ideas, no matter how crazy, as to what is keeping it together?

To make a pun, the "key" was to pry/lift the keyboard at the bottom left and right. Unplugging the 2 Kapton ribbon connectors was a little dicey (thus will be a bitch plugging back in). That made 5 screws available; removal allowed separation. The damn hard drive was not mounted to anything; it could easily rattle around and bump against anything. No wonder the BIOS or anything else could not find it; it was trashed.

I told you that weeks ago! :)

You did; was afraid to try that as it looks so delicate. Despite some care,i trashed a key.