Boot-Block Bios Problem & disassembly problem-Laptop

First-off, let me apologize for the length of my post, however it is
necessary.

My Gateway Solo 9300 has given me problems since day-one. The first
problem was with the battery not charging with docking station,..etc.
i upgraded my OS from Win 98se to Win2K-Pro. For the upgrade, i
updated (flashed) the bios that was recommended by Gateway for the
Win2k OS. Even after the successful upgrade, the charging problem
persisted.
I sent the unit (under warranty) back to Gateway & they said they put
in a new motherboard (MB). Here's the rub.... i'm not sure they
upgraded the new MB's with the proper bios for Win2k.

Anyway, the laptop unit ran ok for a few months then i started having,
boot problems.
It simply would not turn_on.
Nothing but the power light turned on.
No boot noises.
to overcome the problem i would have to unplug the unit's main battery
& wait 20 min. then re-insert the battery, then it would boot
correctly.
After about 10 times doing this procedure (over a month period of
time) the work-around no longer worked.

So this is my current symptoms:
when powering_on...Nothing is displayed on the screen, the hard disk
light does not light, no lights at all except for the floppy disk
light which stays on all the time.
IT can Not be turned-off. A inserted floppy is not read & it can Not
be ejected ( the floppy must be must be removed by carefully prying-it
out, manually).
From what i understand is, i have a boot-block bios problem. However i
can not find any info on how to deal with it on my Gateway Solo 9300
laptop.
All the "how to fix" info that i've found, is very general & refers to
desktop computers.

My biggest problem is i can not remove the laptop's top panel covers &
the keyboard too. I need to do that so i can gain access to the
motherboard, itself.
I've removed all the screws but the covers still won't come-off.
therefore there must be a removal technique i'm unaware of & can't
figure out.
If nothing else can some one here in this NG please help me get the
top of this laptop.

S_H



BTW- My original email address, is highly filtered.
So if you prefer advise me through email, use this email addy.
trueteck@despammedDOTcom
Remember that the above "DOT" is equal to " . " symbol.
:-)

(CKD) wrote in message news:<. com>...
> My biggest problem is i can not remove the laptop's top panel covers &
> the keyboard too. I need to do that so i can gain access to the
> motherboard, itself.
> I've removed all the screws but the covers still won't come-off.
> therefore there must be a removal technique i'm unaware of & can't
> figure out.

tried using a screwdriver to pry it off? there also might be some
hidden screws. sometimes computer companies hide screws under
stickers.