I giveup, I dont know what to do more !!!

Hi
I have Alienware M17xR2

i have been looking for Audio Cable Connector ( the cable that connects the Saound Board with the MotherBoard ) everywhere

I checked with Dell ( my laptop still under warranty ) they dont have

I checked all web page that sell Alienware parts, but no one has it

I have been searching for more than a month now.

I dont know what elese i can do, or where to check more.

I am willing to pay for the cable and the shipment triple its price, but where i can find it????

please if you know anyone who has it, New, Refurbished, Used, what ever, just let me know

Thanks

 

I think you'll be better off buying the board with the cable.
Who broke it btw and what type of warranty do you have?

 

Dell guy broke it when he was trying to replace the motherboard
They ask for replacement for the Sound Board but they got the Sound Board without the cable...

I have full warranty next business day + Weekends and Public holidays

I bought it from Australia but i am in Saudi Arabia now

 

Dell broke it then Dell should fix it. You have warrenty.

 

Thats what i have been trying with Dell since the problem started

The last thing was i managed to contact the Tech Support Supervisor and she said i will check and get back to you but she never did, she does not even reply my emails

I tried with Dell in Australia, they say you not in Australia anymore we cant help!!!

I hope I can find any one who sells Alienware parts and has this cable

I am sure it wont cost more than $5, for my case this $5 is ruining my $3500 laptop.

 

You live in Saudi Arabia now? Does Dell sell systems there? Did you transfer the warrenty to Saudi Arabia?

If all is yess, try Saudi Arabia tech support.

 

Those people who ruined my laptop, Dell Technical Support in Saudi Arabia

They dont have this cable !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the much i loved my Alienware, the much i hate it now..

 

No suprising. This is typical treatment. Just keep calling them both until you get it resolved. Do NOT rely on one person to help you and call you back - this almost never happens in my experience. Keep calling until you get results and make sure you get confirmation emails BEFORE you hang up the phone.

Try this, do you have any friends or relatives in Austrailia still? Make Dell send the parts to a trustworthy friend and then have them forward it to you.

Here's the thing, if they don't have the part and they broke it (even if YOU broke it under warranty) they have to replace it. If they cannot replace it - then you get a new machine. Peroid.

Keep calling and demand a supervisor. This is the only way. Explain that it's not your fault the system is damaged and tell them that they are responsible for it. Don't give up. KEEP CALLING EVERYDAY UNTIL YOU GET RESULTS, BUT REMEMBER - GET CONFIRMATION EMAILS OF EVERYTHING THEY PROMISE YOU BEFORE YOU GET OFF THE PHONE WITH THEM - THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!

 

What is the part number?

 

I dont know what is the part number
it is the cable that connects the Sound Board ( the right board ) to the mother board

it is called "Audio Cable Connector"

it is part number 1 in Page number 65 , in the Alienware Service Manual
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/Alw_M17xR2/en/SM/sm_en.pdf

 

I see. What exactly is broken on that cable?

 

There are 2 small wires that are disconnected
i will take a pic of it now and post it

 

this is the image of the cable
when i asked dell to put it back, these 2 broken might be for 1 usb and not for the sound, so i could get the sound working, they said no we wont do that as it may harm the motherboard...

i agree with them on that.

 

Easy fix? Go to a hobbyshop and they will solder it back together if it came out of the connector.

 

yes it did came off the connector
but this wont cause damage to Motherboard?

 

No, just make sure you dont switch the wires. If you lived in the Netherlands I could fix it for you, its real easy. See if someone at a hobbyshop can help you.

 

how can i know which wire goes where?!!

 

That I dont know.

Maybe someone with the same cable can trace the wire's.

 

i will try to send it to a tech guy
hopefully it is doable.
thanks a lot Brabostaan you awesome

 

Make sure the tech guy nows where the wires should be. Must be some sort of pin layout scheme floating arround the www somewhere.

 

That indeed is an easy fix even if they came out of the connector as they are all the same, take a look at another one from a fellow R2 owner and it can be done with a needle, the ones that are disrupted you can solder them together and isolate them(respect the colors of course).

 

it sounds risky for me, as i dont want to make further damages.

incase the wires got mixed and the 2 black wires swapped, what is the damage in this case?!
would i lose the Motherboard?

 

Those wires all look to be color-coded. Why don't you place the plugs side-by-side facing the same direction and compare the wire placements in the terminals. Most likely (but you need to verify this) the plugs are the same and they have the same color wire going to corresponding holes. If so, then you will easily see where that dark wire came from. I think you can fix this one yourself. In fact, this cable looks like something that, with a little effort, you could duplicate on your own if you had to.

 

If the 2 black cables are the only ones to get disconnected it gets easier for you:
They have the same task so yeah they can be swapped!

 

Agreed. I don't know what kind of stores they have in Saudi, but if you're on a Military base I know you can get a soldering iron at the commissary realy cheap. They have real small tipped ones for this job.

This will be a good learning experience for you. You can do this with little worry of messing the machine up. If you really can't do it - I'm sure you could ship it to someone on these forums with the right stuff to do it for you though I don't what that would cost for shipping. It's worth a shot, but I still think you can do it.

 

I have never dont something like this before. and you guys encouraged me to do it

the only thing worries me that i end up in serious $h*t because of small mistake i do..

I will wait for another week, if dell did no action i will try to do it....

 

We just gave you a fix as it's pretty simple to do, i personally do not encourage you to do it if you have warranty and it was not your fault the cables were broken.
You just have to make a choice: Either call Dell till they fix it or find a solution or solder/reconnect the wires and be done with it.

Cheers

 

If you dont want to mess with the cable, buy the cable in the link I gave you earlier.

 

I dont know what to say
I got email 2 days ago from Dell informing that the cable will be reach thier represintative in Saudi Arabia on Saturday. I called them today and informed them that I am currently overseas and will be back to Saudi Arabia on Monday night. What the responsible guy told me that they will return the cable back on Monday night !!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't know what crappy service is this?!!

 

Wow that stinks man

 

It doesn't look like an easy fix unless you have the wires and the connectors, then you have to plug them in with a tool. Judging by the photo you took it looks like the two wires broke off from the end of the connector plug. This is both bad and good for you.

Firstly, it's bad because you can't just soldered them back in. You can but since the wires are shorten now the whole cable will bend. That and you need the connector plug IF you don't remove the ones lodged in the connector themselves. Not sure if this is a problem during installation or not. Good news is that you can easily tell where each wires goes too because the plug should have a bit of the color shield is left inside. The best thing for whomever is going to work on this is to use two new, correct gage, wires so the whole cable does not bend abnormally. They can even try to salvage the connector plug as I've done this before.