How to disassemble a Palm LifeDrive

Caution! This will probably void your warranty, and you may damage your unit or lose your data. Proceed at your own risk.


 * You will want to perform a hot-sync and backup the Palm LifeDrive volume to your computer before attempting this. This will ensure that even if you need to buy a replacement LifeDrive if you ruin this LifeDrive, your data will be safe.

Materials & tools needed

 * a T5 torx wrench
 * a sharp knife
 * a small flathead screwdriver [optional]

Quick steps
...to be done...

Full steps

 * 1) Turn off your LIfeDrive, and slide the power switch into the Locked position.  This should prevent the unit from powering up as you fiddle with the case.
 * 2) Pry off the two rubber feet off the bottom of the LifeDrive.
 * 3) Remove the two long torx screws, remove the back shell.
 * 4) The back shell is held in place via 6 small tabs, two per left, right, bottom edge.  Press inward on the edge of the case, and the tab should disengage from the socket.  Use something thin, like a screwdriver or plastic card, to gently wedge open the back shell.  Work slowly, or you'll damage the shell.
 * 5) Once the back shell is removed, the inner plastic frame is held down with two short torx screws.  Remove them, keep them separated from the two long torx screws.
 * 6) The inner plastic frame contains a piezoelectric speaker, with two thin wires that plug into the motherboard.  Before you can lift away the inner plastic frame, you'll need to unplug the speaker wires from the motherboard.  Use your fingernails gently to pull the plug from the motherboard.  The plastic frame can be lifted away.
 * 7) The battery is plugged into the motherboard, and can be unplugged at this point.  If the unit has been unplugged long enough, it'll go into a soft reset the next time it is powered up, I believe.
 * 8) Skip this step if you don't need to remove the microdrive.  The microdrive is plugged into the CF interface.  There's a warning sticker (Warranty Void if removed) placed over the lower half of the microdrive and the CF interface.  Carefully cut through the sticker between the CF plug and the microdrive using the very tip of the knife.  Unplug the microdrive from the CF interface.
 * 9) Reverse these steps to reassemble the unit.

=See also=


 * LifeDrive Howtos
 * Howto replace microdrive with compactflash in LifeDrive

=External links=


 * Official Palm PDA disassembly instructions, in PDF format.


 * Index of all Palm disassembly instructions


 * Here are other reports of people disassembling their units.


 * 1src.com thread with photos of LifeDrive disassembly
 * 1src.com thread about fixing a bad headphone jack

From HowTo Wiki, a Wikia wiki.