ssyyssyy - i'm glad to hear that it's working for you. if you find yourself a little on the adventurous side, do you think you could adjust the screen, shake a little side to side, and open/close the cd tray? for me, that caused the computer to go haywire. i hope that after a little tough love, the laptop will still work fine. if this provides even a quick fix, it's better than none at all.
If the IC is damaged, however, it must be replaced. If the board under or near it is damaged, it must be repaired. Shaving the tab won't help after the damage is done, it only helps prevent new or further damage.
my 5100 has apparent damage to the plastic cover from the C panel. I have not planned on, and do not plan on removing the plastic cover ... but the plastic itself has definitely been pushed in
I will email pics to that website ;p
somewhat odd that no 5100 users have reported the problem ... wear from the cover appears to be the same
OK just checking that that possibility was covered. With all these posts, it could have been buried.
BTW, I still have the plastic tubing over the unused antenna connectors for the wireless board. Does everyone having the problem with no wireless board have those connectors insulated with the tubing or other means?
Forgive me for the dumb or redundant questions. Just fishing for additional causes until we know definitively that the damaged Schmitt trigger is the culprit.
Everything under the "C" cover looks ok on my machine (which has not failed yet). Only a minor mark where the tab hits the plastic shield, but no real damage. Don't know if this has been asked yet: Does anyone have the problem who has
never had a wireless card installed? (No wireless on my two machines, for example.) Could extra heat from wireless card be a contributing factor?
I have no internal wireless card on my machine, and that spot on my failed motherboard does look to be damaged. I suppose I should take a look at the new one to see if the same problem is developing.
dspman, I never had a wireless card and I experienced the problem. Dell replaced my motherboard, and when I look at the IC, the plastic has a significant mark from the C panel tab. Now maybe when they replaced the MB they used the plastic from my orginal machine, but I doubt it. The plastic looks shiney new, and I've had the computer since January. I'm convinced this is a new indentation in the making so I have shaved off the top of the C panel tab and cut of about 25% of the tab's side that hits the plastic.
I am pretty convinced this was THE SOURCE of my problem. Perhaps some people are experiencing problems due to overheating, but working with a data center that recently added hundreds of servers such that the air conditioning systems wasn't adequate enough, I have seen systems overheat. My system required some sort of physical movement (although it could be ever so slightly) to shutdown. When a system overheats it doesn't require some sort of physical movement to shutdown, it just shuts down immediately.
What boggles my mind is that with all the people complaining about the issue, and all being specifics expressed about the area that is most sensitive, and all the people who have sent their system in for repair, that Dell's techs either didn't see the physical damage (even as small as it is they are being paid to find the problem no matter how small it is) or they saw the damage but didn't want it communicated throughout the company such that people such as us could get that answer.
Thanks for the counter-examples. Your posts are evidence for the tab being involved in causing or exacerbating the problem. I've updated my summary list (now 8-pages back) to reflect this tip.
Let's hope that filing this tab down makes a big difference in avoiding the problem. I'm concerned, however, that it will not fix the problem. Any flexing of the system board might cause shutdown once the damage has occured.
"I am pretty convinced this was THE SOURCE of my problem" with regards to the C pannel tab.
I am confident that the SOURCE of the problem is heat. The systems are slowly failing due to the heat issue. The C pannel happens to be located adjacent to one of the developing weak areas. Physical movement of the board causes a short and a reboot. By filing the C tab, you are reducing
one of the triggers of the reboot. However, as the mother board degrades due to heat, it will eventually fail completely. Some users have stated as much.
ssyyssyy
1 Rookie
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5 Posts
0
December 1st, 2004 23:00
Back to square 1.
I tried to move around my laptop more violently now, and it once again shutdown on me... *sigh*.
Previously, it powers up every time, but it periodically reboots. This time around, i can only power up my machine about 20% of the time.
Btw, I even removed the tab + plastic this time.
ssyyssyy
1 Rookie
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5 Posts
0
December 1st, 2004 23:00
aznman43
62 Posts
0
December 1st, 2004 23:00
dspman
306 Posts
0
December 2nd, 2004 01:00
NemesisDB
2 Intern
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7.9K Posts
0
December 2nd, 2004 02:00
daveclarkvibe
2 Posts
0
December 2nd, 2004 02:00
I removed the tab completely and cut out that section of plastic.
My computer won't even turn on now.
Oh well.
Someone mentioned parting these things out and gettting some dough out of it. I sent him a private message, and no response all day.
Anyone else have any ideas or have successfully contacted that person?
NemesisDB
2 Intern
•
7.9K Posts
0
December 2nd, 2004 04:00
my 5100 has apparent damage to the plastic cover from the C panel. I have not planned on, and do not plan on removing the plastic cover ... but the plastic itself has definitely been pushed in
I will email pics to that website ;p
somewhat odd that no 5100 users have reported the problem ... wear from the cover appears to be the same
dspman
306 Posts
0
December 2nd, 2004 04:00
OK just checking that that possibility was covered. With all these posts, it could have been buried.
BTW, I still have the plastic tubing over the unused antenna connectors for the wireless board. Does everyone having the problem with no wireless board have those connectors insulated with the tubing or other means?
Forgive me for the dumb or redundant questions. Just fishing for additional causes until we know definitively that the damaged Schmitt trigger is the culprit.
dspman
306 Posts
0
December 2nd, 2004 04:00
pbloom
11 Posts
0
December 2nd, 2004 04:00
snarf_b
6 Posts
0
December 2nd, 2004 07:00
forgive me my ignorance: what is the "IC" some of u have been talking about?
aznman43
62 Posts
0
December 2nd, 2004 10:00
rhammersmith
8 Posts
0
December 2nd, 2004 11:00
dspman
306 Posts
0
December 2nd, 2004 14:00
Thanks for the counter-examples. Your posts are evidence for the tab being involved in causing or exacerbating the problem. I've updated my summary list (now 8-pages back) to reflect this tip.
Let's hope that filing this tab down makes a big difference in avoiding the problem. I'm concerned, however, that it will not fix the problem. Any flexing of the system board might cause shutdown once the damage has occured.
guyFromEdmonton
21 Posts
0
December 2nd, 2004 15:00
rhammersmith writes