After tunneling through the motherboard we realized the second side panel was hiding a secret compartment. A few failed attempts to open the hidden door reminded us that HP had our backs with their repair documentation.

Lo and behold there were some screws we'd missed and a sliding action we hadn't gotten quite right. Surprising no one, it's a lot easier to work on a machine that has a service manual!

Popping the side panel, we find some nicely bundled cables routed along the interior wall to poke into the main compartment. HP is good at this spring cleaning thing.

The front panel is now free to leave, allowing access to the power buttons and some port action.