Defective XPS M1210 Resurrection. Battery wont charge? Quickcam wont work? LOOK HERE

I picked up a Dell XPS M1210 Notebook in a deal, because it wasnt functioning whatsoever. Here are some of the Specifications:

-2.0 Ghz Intel Core 2 Processor

-1GB RAM

-INTEL 945 Series Video Card

-70~80 GB HDD

-Wireless internal card

-Logitech Integrated Camera (with Microphone)

Let me explain the initial symptoms:

-Wouldnt boot in any form, (had to go to a local microcenter and test on their AC Adapter, didnt include one) and plugging into an AC adapter would only show the 3 Indication lights for NUM LOCK/Caps LOCK/SCROLL LOCK

-No display whatsoever on the screen or any error beeps or audible signals

So with the little hope i had left for this notebook, i completely disassembled down to the mobo, and cleaned and checked for any signs of damage or burnt up chips or anything of that nature. **Id like to note I searched all over the internet and found tons and tons of information regarding failed GPU problems causing this - IT WAS NOT THE PROBLEM! ** it was listed as having problems with the Nvidia video card, but it turns out this particular M1210 has the Intel 945 series chip, not the nvidia one.

So anyway, after the reconstruction of the laptop, i took her back into my local PC store (microcenter in my case) and again tested on their power adapter. This time the result was so much more encouraging, the associate tried at first and had no luck, but I asked the associate to try pluggin an external monitor to the PC, and after doing so (even though nothing came up on the external monitor) he removed it and tried booting again to the regular screen. The PC actually went into the Bios and started to fire up! I instructed the associate to go ahead and shut down before windows launched, and went ahead and purchased a $60 generic power adapter for the laptop. (note that many will say that you can only use dell products - not true)

After toying around only a minute or two i noticed there were indeed some power issues with this unit, and tried messing around with the power adapter cable, until i found the formula that got it to stay on full time (it would start, then power down, or not start at all sometimes) - and that was just to use the actual Screen on the laptop to hold the cord in place, by turning the cord so that it was plugged in facing upwards (my generic power cord had a L shaped connector so it worked perfectly in this situation) and would push the screen backwards to put pressure on the cord, holding it in a position that would allow the laptop to boot. Once i had booted into windows, everything seems to function, but after checking around on the OS, I noted these problems:

-Battery wouldnt be detected by the OS or by Bios

-Logitech Camera wouldnt show up in the logitech program, and the microphone as well did not work

So i went ahead and used it in this condition for a few days just to surf the web and play some GTA san andreas or Counter strike source, and things worked pretty well, assuming i could keep myself from knocking the power adapter out by accident, or some fool ran by and jerked my screen forward to have a look at what i was doing (grrrr) and although it worked as a crippled laptop this way, it wasnt a satisfying situation.

So heres the deal, I wanted that logitech camera to work, and went ahead and tried every method i could find on google or in the back of my head to get drivers updated/installed/reinstalled for the camera. No joy. So i thought to myself this could be a defective camera perhaps (wouldnt show up in control panel under cameras - the logitech program said it couldnt detect the cam or some message like that) and decided to disassemble the screen and check out what would happen without the camera connected. JOY! after doing this, the computer had initial boot problems (prolly cuz i had been jerking the AC adapter around and stuff too much while tryin to boot) so i went ahead and reconnected the camera/mic combo...and TA-DA! fired up windows to find the following:

-WORKING logitech camera!

and more importantly:

-THE BATTERY STARTED TO CHARGE AND WAS IDENTIFIED PROPERLY!

so in closure...do not give up on your non charging - not AC adapter liking M1210, because theres still hope! If you have the technical know-how, then go ahead and take a shot at just removing the panel that contains the camera, and reseating all cables, and rebooting once without it plugged in at all (if it doesnt work just reseating) and this should take care of not only your camera problem, but perhaps get your laptops battery to function again!

 

I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY IF YOU BUST ALL THE CLIPS ON YOUR SCREENS BECAUSE THEY ARE EASY TO BREAK!

 

So i take back some of my hatred for this series of laptops, and now feel that it simply was poor connections causing my issues. I may check back in a few days from now to let you guys know how well this whole battery situation works out, but i feel very optimistic as it properly identified and I havent received and more Bios warnings about AC power or about Battery low anymore, and the battery is indeed gaining a charge (went up from 4% to about 7% now!)

Oh one last thing! I did update my Bios from A04 to A08 during this process, and had to use a hacked up version of the update that skips the whole battery not connected error message, which im unsure where i located, but note that I couldnt use the normal "go into dos and /forceit" method (which still gave me the battery failure message inside windows or from DOS on a USB drive)

Good luck! MD_Reptile :emotion-2:

 

QUICK UPDATE: after a while it has succesfully charged to 10 percent, and has held a charge without the power adapter! It also no longer shows the red X over the icon (inside the power options), so it seems to be truly fixed as far as the battery problem goes, and havent experienced any errors or problems since! ill update again after its been further along!