Hi all, just took a look at the area that Nillion's pic referred to.  My 5150 actually has a shield that covers the entire area referred to.  I did notice that the tab did indeed touch the cover above the chip.  The chip had no visible wear on it however when i peeled back the covering.  The fact that my 5150 has a different covering between the mobo and the wireless modem informs us that Dell is aware of problems in that spot.

It seems as though the tabs are there to keep the mobo from pressing down on the wireless card.  If pressure from where your palm would rest on the top of the 5150 presses down enough, it pushes the mobo down onto the plastic tabs of the "C" cover.  Which we all know creates unwanted stress on the mobo.

I took out my wireless modem and applied pressure to the two prongs that hold the card in.  This caused the short-out for me.  When the tech comes to replace my mobo, I will look closer at where the wireless modem card connects to the mobo....on both sides of the mobo to see if I see any irregularities.

Great work Nillion for the picture and the info.

Message Edited by mv_gibson on 12-01-2004 01:03 PM

I opened my C door and the same spot has same damage.

I took a razor blade to the tab and shaved off as far down as I could while still preserving the nub on the side that actually fastens the door to the laptop body.

I then turned on the laptop and then applied pressure to "the spot"  and the computer still failed.

Several folks refer to folding back or removing some plastic.  Is this on the door or is this the black stuff over the mb that has the white damage on it? 

Please advise on How exactly to fold the plastic back and what other steps to take to make this repair.

Great job and good sleuthing.  I am SO excited to be able to fix this problem and not have to talk with Dell on the phone anymore!

 

I figured a long time ago that those two prongs might have something to do with shutting the computer down.  That's why I removed the other thing that was there.  I also taped them apart from each other and for a while, it seemed to do the trick.  As for the area shown in the picture, I'll take a look at it when I get my computer back.  Hopefully we can compare mine (repaired from AQS) to those who have experienced the shut down problems and to those who have yet to experience the problem.

This seems to have worked for me for the moment, hopefully this makes my previous posts a bit clearer.

Also try to see if it is only the 74LVC14 or the mobo area underneath/around the chip that is damaged.

Are the prongs referred to the antenna leads for the wireless card?  These would not normally cause shutdown unless touching something else.

Message Edited by cordless_larry on 12-01-2004 08:54 PM

Hopefully, removing the tab removes the source of the problem.

I assume everyone trying this fix are out of warrantee.

Also, just because you get your machine up and running does not resolve the initial issue.

cordless_larry, the SOURCE of the problem is dell's inability to design/or re-design the i5150 and the way it distributes heat, not a tab on the "C" panel. The fact that the mobo rubs against the tab it not good, but removing it will not prevent this from happening IMO.

-D

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@guyFromEdmonton wrote:

Well if they do know, they are not sharing with the service contractors. My i5150 came back a couple of weeks ago and the C door is unaltered.

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I'm going to try and get a hold of my ex-girlfriend's 5150. I bought hers about a month before mine. I'd like to see if her panel was modified.

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@METALGEAR wrote:

ok ur all going to hate me for this but im jsut lost where on earth is my wireless card or wherever u guys are looking at??? Im lafing at myself for writing this now....

Anyways my comp is really messed up it wont even turn on now =(

Thank God I have my desktop still sadly its a Dell to =(

But the pictures are great =)

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Look on the bottom the your 5150. There are 2 removable panels. The one in question is marked "C".