So I had some spare time today, and I figured I should install my new Alpine 9815 deck. Now, I got this deck from a local retailer at a super cheap price because it was the last one he had and it was mounted in a demo board. Not a problem, he was willing to still honor the warranty and help out with any problems I had.

So I get it all wired in with the help of some Lucid parts, and turn it on. Everything works great! I go to remove the face plate from the deck, and it pops out about a millimeter and stops. What the hell? I give it a good pull and it won't come off. Damn! I sit there looking at it for the longest time, trying all sorts of stuff, but that stupid face plate is stuck on there. It's not coming off. So, I finally hit the eject button to get the face plate to tilt all the way down. I pull the wiring harness of the back and flip the deck over. There on the bottom is the tinyest screw I have ever seen, passing through the frame and into the face plate. I take this screw out and the face plate comes right out like it should.

I'm guessing this was the retail store's security against people popping off the plate and stealing it. They simply screwed the face plate to the deck. That sure wasn't documented anywhere in my owner's manual. So, lesson learned? If the damned face plate won't come off your brand new deck, look for a hidden security screw!