Dell E31S Series Owner's Manual page 130

4. Remove the cooling fan assembly.
5. Remove all hard drives.
Steps
1. Disconnect the SAS/SATA data, signal, and power cable(s) from the backplane.
2. Press the release tabs and lift the backplane upward and slide it toward the back of the chassis.
NOTE: To prevent damage to the control panel flex cable, unlatch the blocking tab on the connector before removing
the flex cable. Do not bend the flex cable at the connector. To unlatch the blocking tab for the x12 backplane, pull
the locking tab up. For the x18 and x2 backplanes, rotate the locking tab 90 degrees clockwise.
Figure 72. Removing the 3.5 inch (x12) SAS/SATA backplane
1. release tab (2)
3. SAS cable A1
5. backplane signal cable
7. SAS cable A0/B0
9. control panel cable
11. hard drive backplane
130 Installing and removing system components
2. SAS cable A2
4. left ear control panel cable
6. backplane power cable (2)
8. USB cable
10. right ear control panel flex cable
12. hard drive backplane connector (12)