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I must be insane

M

meatness

n00b
Joined
Jan 31, 2011
Messages
16
It had to be that bus and that alley way. On my way to work I found an abused laptop sitting in on a dirty oil drum in an alley. The screen was completely mutilated and the case was missing some very important parts. The keyboard had been pried from the chassis with the surgical precision of a drunken thumbless Hulk. I kept walking signing it off as garbage until it occurred to me there may be a good hard drive still in there. Besides, I am a bleeding heart for strays. After taking it to work and pulling it apart on my break I realized that this might be worth a little bit of my time and perhaps I COULD do something with it. Then I got this horrible idea, I could make a HTPC out of this.......... kill me now.

Here is what I found.
http://www.aroundgadget.com/2011/03/dell-price-dell-inspiron-14-n4030-p6100_04.html

And here is what is left of it after throwing everything out that was no longer recognizable as anything more than abstract art.



I do have a NIC/VGA header that is a little worse for wear but it might just work as is. I also scored a 500gb sata hard drive and a slim optical drive that look to be okay.

My idea is pretty straight forward really. Mount this hardware into a interesting box that I have and cover it up with a false bottom (you will understand later) so that I can use the box for controller storage and it stays an unobtrusive piece in the living room. Going for a few style points here.

Here is the box with the pieces in the bottom for perspective.



I plan to cut out all of the holes for each port in the side of the box, figure out some decent/quiet/effective cooling, and place a false bottom over the parts to retain the box for controller storage like I said before.





Here is the problem. I'm an idiot. I don't have the skills nor the knowledge to accomplish this on my own. I'm not quite a drunken thumbless Hulk, I have one thumb and my skin is more yellow than green.

Problem number one. I like to call this issue, "Does this thing even work?"
Yes, I have not even powered this thing up yet. Because I'm an idiot and I don't know how. See the laptop didn't have a battery in it and it looks to me that the power supply plugged into the battery and the battery plugged into the motherboard at these pins here.




I am very very very far from being an electrical engineer but it stands to reason that I should be able to make some kind of plug that connects directly into this spot with the proper size power supply and be golden. Ah I make it sound so easy but the truth is I don't even know where to begin to find out which of these pins to connect to.HELP

Once I have the power set up hopefully with help from the amazingly smart people on this board I will be in the middle of the ocean or at least the lake. How could I find out which of these pins to connect to and what type/size power supply will I need?

Here is all the information I have found on this thing so far.
The motherboard is a 7NTDG by Dell, The processor is a Intel P6100 Dual Core and it MAY have ATI Radeon HD5430 512MB graphics chipset. Although I don't know about that...

Here are the rest of the pictures.






Also, does anyone know if you can pick up a ribbon cable to fit these connections so that I can mount the daughterbaord somewhere remote in the box?





That is all for now. The power issue is the most important thing right now. There is not point in doing anything else until I know that this will boot up.

Thank you all very much for your time and humoring an idiot.

Gary
 
Once you get it working as a PC, you can then turn it into an HTPC by adding software (assuming it has usable video/sound for TV purposes).
 
meatness said:
Problem number one. I like to call this issue, "Does this thing even work?"

Gary
Click to expand...

Ah, you quickly found the crux of the issue. Unfortunately, my work blocks image hosting sites so I can't see the pictures. It would be very unusual to have the power input integrated into the battery. The power input should be located next to the VGA output/NIC card daughterboard. I've exhausted my Google-Fu trying to find a disassembly guide that isn't blocked here at work.

I would almost recommend selling the CPU and using the funds to buy a Celeron G530 and Intel DH61AG mITX board. Re-use the laptop memory and wireless cards in the intel board with a generic laptop power brick. Small, low profile, standard connectors. It would be much easier to work with, and you know it will work.
 
No picture of the case that shows what the acutal plugs/orientation is supposed to look like. I'm not aware of dell making a laptop that plugs in through the battery, that would be stupid.
 
Plug should be in the back panel on the right hand side as you use the laptop. It's the standard round Dell co-ax barrel plug that Dell has been using for the last few years. Definitely not plugged into the battery.
 
Fenris_Ulf said:
Ah, you quickly found the crux of the issue. Unfortunately, my work blocks image hosting sites so I can't see the pictures.
<snip> I've exhausted my Google-Fu trying to find a disassembly guide that isn't blocked here at work.
Click to expand...

I suggest you go punch your boss in the neck and quit.
 
meatness said:
I am very very very far from being an electrical engineer but it stands to reason that I should be able to make some kind of plug that connects directly into this spot with the proper size power supply and be golden. Ah I make it sound so easy but the truth is I don't even know where to begin to find out which of these pins to connect to.HELP

Once I have the power set up hopefully with help from the amazingly smart people on this board I will be in the middle of the ocean or at least the lake. How could I find out which of these pins to connect to and what type/size power supply will I need?

Here is all the information I have found on this thing so far.
The motherboard is a 7NTDG by Dell, The processor is a Intel P6100 Dual Core and it MAY have ATI Radeon HD5430 512MB graphics chipset. Although I don't know about that...

Gary
Click to expand...

You probably want to ignore the battery pins, the laptop doesn't need a battery to operate. You need to find the co-ax power input. Dell uses standard 19v power bricks, but I'm not sure of what the co-ax size is (my Dell laptop is about 250 miles away from me right now so I can't measure), it's probably around 6mm inside diameter, 10mm outside diameter. Any 19v laptop power supply with at least 2-3 amps and a compatable plug should work, but I'm not sure if Dell does any tricks to detect/require "genuine" Dell power bricks.

I doubt it has an external graphics card, the 14R series is a low end Inspiron and uses the integrated Intel graphics.
 
dustNbone said:
I suggest you go punch your boss in the neck and quit.
Click to expand...

Well, I quoted my boss twice in my sig. I'm pretty sure that if I tried that shennanigans, he would literally kill me with his bare hands, even though he's at least 15 years older than me.
 
Fenris_Ulf said:
Well, I quoted my boss twice in my sig. I'm pretty sure that if I tried that shennanigans, he would literally kill me with his bare hands, even though he's at least 15 years older than me.
Click to expand...


This is the Hardforum... shouldn't you be in charge of blocking/unblocking pictures at work?
 
Verge said:
This is the Hardforum... shouldn't you be in charge of blocking/unblocking pictures at work?
Click to expand...

Being [H]ard isn't just about being an IT pro. Granted, most of the public [H] forums deal with tech, but Genmay has firearms, auto, food, and politics/opinion sub-forums that are very active. Plus, IT policy for my work is made in Washington and implemented elsewhere on a big scale. Screwing around attempting to bypass policy is not worth losing my job.
 
Fenris_Ulf said:
I would almost recommend selling the CPU and using the funds to buy a Celeron G530 and Intel DH61AG mITX board. Re-use the laptop memory and wireless cards in the intel board with a generic laptop power brick. Small, low profile, standard connectors. It would be much easier to work with, and you know it will work.
Click to expand...

That CPU isn't worth anything. I've got the P6200 (one tiny notch higher), and it isn't even worth $20 on eBay.

The integrated graphics, however, is more than enough to play HD content. I've been playing some 720p MKVs @ 1080p beautifully with it outputting to my TV.
 
Yeah, I too have noticed that the CPU isn't worth anything. I think the least expensive route would be to just figure this set up out.




Here is the daughterboard with the vga/nic on it doesn't look like there is any power plug in there. The board is cracked where the nic is mounted but I am guessing the nic is fine. Then again it's not really a nic but the ethernet input so...

I have been looking for some kind of schematic of the laptop online but nothing yet. If anyone has something like that it would help me out a lot. I fear that I may have tossed the power input with the case but should be able to find another one.
 
I think where you want to look is by the RAM. On the edge of the PCB next to the RAM and right by the mounting hole (not the mounting holes on each side of the battery connector, but the one right "above" the RAM) there should be a black 5 or 6 pin connector. This should have a cord with red/yellow/green/blue wires that go to the DC power jack. The power jack is a separate piece that slides into the chassis and not on a PCB. What you're looking for is here:
http://www.laptopking.com/kingpartdetails.asp4204&category=dcjack

Edit: It's Dell part number N32MW. It should be about $10 on ebay.

I agree that figuring it out would be the most cost effective, I just was warning you that this could be a venture fraught with perils and tribulations. Or epic win. Personally, I love the challenge of re-purposing and re-using something, especially if it turns out to be really useful.
 
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Wow thanks, yeah I must have thrown the power plug away......


Your link is broken btw. I haven't really messed with it to see if there is just an extra character of some kind, the part number should be very useful though. I wouldn't be able to do this without your guys help. Gonna give it a shot!
 
Just bought the part off ebay for $7 woot. Now I need to find the power supply, lookin up so far.
 
Do you still have the heatsink? The spacing on Socket G1 is an unusual 51mm x 51mm spacing. How much space above the mobo will you have? If you've got 4" of clearance, I can easily find some tall aftermarket heatsinks (the XIGMATEK PTR-CN881 or Thermalright HR-05 come to mind), but a low profile one that's not crazy loud will be more difficult. What's your overall cooling scheme going to be? I'd recommend putting some feet on that box, cutting a hole in the bottom, and mounting the biggest, slowest fan that you can on the inside drawing air in. Cut a hole/slot in the back for the air to escape. Let the air flow across the mobo. If you want a low profile, quiet heatsink, you may have to be a little creative.
 
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I like your style Fenris_Ulf.

I was thinking along the same lines you are. The outside dimensions of the box are 11.5" x 16.5" x 7" deep. I figure I can get away with a decent 220mm fan in the bottom. Forturnatly I do still have the heat sink. It isn't a bad unit but I may have to build some kind of shroud to force air through it. Quiet is key of course so if I can get away with one huge quiet fan I think we will be in business.

Here is a pic of the heat sink.




I was also sharing my project with a friend and mine and he handed me this laptop. Again I should have got a compete photo of it but I took a lot of pictures as I took it apart. The issue was that it wouldn't actually power up, no video, no hdd activity. Just a power light that would turn off after I powered it up. I could hear the hdd spinning but no sounds other than that. I tried re-seating the RAM and CPU with the same results. He said that the motherboard was bad but he knows even less than me about these things. I took it thinking I could use it for part on my project in the very least. It's just too bad that I couldn't get it working because as you can see from the pictures it has better specs than the one I am building. Which also may not work....

The history of this machine is that my friend owned it from new and one day it just stopped working. No warning, although he said he could get a beep code out of it ( I wasn't able to ) and that when he looked it up, the code was for a bad mobo. I haven't lost complete hope for it but if it IS the mobo I don't see it worth too much... although will the CPU work in my board? hmmmm would it be a better CPU for my application?








I just realized from these photos that the ram in there was not matching... I did try with only one stick of ram though so that shouldn't be the issue. I may give it another try before cannibalizing.

What do you guys think?
 
You're better off sticking with the one you started with, the CPU is more modern and you probably don't need the extra GPU power, and I'm not sure a GF 8400 would be an upgrade. Maybe you could use the fan from the XPS, if it plugs in. Otherwise, maybe a PCI slot fan could be modded to work. I'd definitely use the WiFi and bluetooth modules if you don't have them already - that way a BT keyboard and mouse plus wireless nework = minimal wires coming out and you would save your USB ports for other things.

Watch Newegg sales for the fan, they usually have a Xigmatek 170mm or 200mm for free after rebate, and they're pretty quiet fans. You might have to get a little creative - where are you going to tap 12v from for the fan? You can get 5v from the USB, but many fans, especially the slow speed ones, won't start on less than 7 or 8 volts. I've got an idea, I've got several of these:
http://goldmine-elec.com/pdf/G16902.pdf
coupled with an old USB cable and you've got 9v to run a fan.

The CPU from the XPS may be worth something on ebay, as well as the RAM and LCD. Those mobos were notoriously failure prone. The power brick should work with your project board.

What about the power button, do you still have the original?
 
meatness you'll finally get it all working, then it'll phone home & the cops will arrest you for having those pieces in your possession. Only kidding good luck with it. ;)
 
SUbbed. I was going to do this with my wife's old laptop, but I pussed out. Go meatness!
 
Waiting for a few parts to come in. I will update more when there is something to update...
 
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