XPS M1530 - Motherboard Problem - Advise

My motherboard on a Dell XPS M1530 (configuration below) does not recognize the hard disk. I checked the hard drive and it is working well so I concluded it is the motherboard. I need advise on how much a new motherboard would cost, which motherboard I need, and whether it is worth going through a repair/replacement.

I gave the laptop (it is out of warranty, but with the cause being water damage the warranty would most probably be void anyway) to a repair shop and they want $349 to attempt a repair or $149 to replace it with a new one (this does not include the cost of a new motherboard). I was looking for one on ebay, however I am not sure if it will be compatible with my configuration.

I would appreciate if anyone who had the same problem or experience with a similar issue can provide any input. Here is the configuration:

1 M244D Processor, T8300, 2.4, 3MB, Core Penryn, M0
1 NK750 Keyboard, 86, United States English, Single, Pointing Barents
1 FW331 Kit, Remote Control, Notebook Mobile 2008, Philips
1 UU572 Assembly, Adapter, Alternating Current, 90W, Cost Reduced, Delta- Ac Adapt, 3P, World Wide
0 01323 INFORMATION..., NO ITEM
1 RU345 PLACEMAT..., GETTING STARTED..., EXTREME PERFORMANCE SYSTEM..., M1530, DAO/EMEA
1 UY685 Cord, Power, 125V, 2.5A, 1M, C5 Dual, United States
1 XR215 Assembly, Palmrest, Aluminum W/FPRDR, M1530
1 H6422 KIT..., DOCUMENTATION..., RECYCLE..., NBK/DT, SYSTEM
1 DP157 Assembly, Camera, 2M, Integrated Manufactured In China, Latin America, M085
1 HT898 Bezel, Liquid Crystal Display Plastic, W/CMRA, Light Emitting Diode, M1530
1 WX781 Card, Wireless, Minicard, DW1395 4312BG
1 TR109 Hard Drive, 160G, Free Fall Sensor, 9.5, 7.2K, FJTSU-A80
1 HT141 Assembly, DVD+/-RW..., 8, Slot, 1530 Teac
2 Y9540 Dual In Line Memory Module 2GB, 667, 256X64, 8K, 200
1 R109C Kit, Software, Turbine, Lord Of The Rings, Extreme Performance System, DELL AMERICAS ORGANIZATION...
1 R770D Printed Wiring Assy, Planar LCD LED, 1530
1 XT816 Battery, Primary, 56WHR, 6C Lithium, SANYO
1 T118F Kit, Software, Mcafee, 9, Compact Disk Drive, English
1 GN866 Kit, Software, Dell Media Direct3.5, Digital Video Disk Drive Extreme Performance System
1 FX313 Liquid Crystal Display 15.4WXGA+, LIGHT EMITTING DIODE..., TLF, CHI MEI OPTOELECTRONICS...
1 N849D Assembly, Cable, LED LCD, M1530
1 XR855 Bracket, Support, Metal, 15.4 Liquid Crystal Display, L, M1530
1 XR856 Bracket, Support, Metal, 15.4 Liquid Crystal Display, R, M1530
1 HX425 Kit, Software, Overpack, VHP32 A01, Digital Video Disk Drive England
4 2864D Screw, M3X3, K SCREW HEAD..., MICROSOFT..., BLACK OXIDE...
1 D501F ASSEMBLY..., BASE (ASSEMBLY OR GROUP)..., DISCRETE..., 256M, M1530
1 F084D Kit, Software, Roxio, 10-0, Dell Edition
1 U054D Assembly, Cover, Liquid Crystal Display, Blue, Light Emitting Diode, M1530
1 XR216 Assembly, Heatsink, Notebook MEROM, M1530
1 XR217 Assembly, Cover, DASHBOARD Plastic, M1530


Thanks!

 

Did you try another hard disk? What happened when the disk failed to work? Was it out of a sudden?

 

Hi XPS36! Yes I did try another hard disk and it did not work. I also tried the same hard disk on another machine and it booted up without any problems.

No, the disk did not fail suddenly. I spilled a cup of water the night before
on top of my desk and even though the laptop was elevated on a stand some water barely touched the front. I decided to turn the laptop off for the night and it was not working the next day - there was a hard drive not found error.

Thanks for your reply! Hope you have any ideas!

 

Oh dear!

There is a colleague (LordRasta) who has replaced himself a motherboard of a M1330 laptop. May be, he can help you. You find his posts here

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=453038

Further, there are some manuals, which you can find here:

1.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=398756
2.
http://ahwee.com/how-to-disassemble-laptop-dell-xps-m1330

Here is a manual for the M1530 written by DELL.:

http://dcse.dell.com/ifr/Portables/XPS_M1530.zip

I hope that I could help,

cheers.

 

Please don't multi-post. There is an edit button for your editing pleasure. I've merged your last three posts into one.

 

Thanks, Evil Cutting Blade.

 

Thanks for your reply! I found the documentation useful and will try to replace the motherboard myself.

Still not sure about the exact part I need to order though. Dell is not willing to answer any question.

 

I have a similar issue with not recognized HDD. But in my case the HDD starts to click loudly and wine like start-stop sequence. After some time it stops to be recognized at all.

So in this moment I'm opening the connections cover (Wifi) and with a screwdriver I tap gently on the SATA connectors (if you wish remove the closest card to have better view). It seems that there is some cold solder and after those taps the HDD works without problem at least a month. And after a month the issue appears again.

I've upgraded my warranty to NBD so on the next failure I think to call a technician to change the motherboard as it seems that the SATA connector is the problematic part.

try my *tap* solution, could work
Good Luck !

 

Thanks for your reply suren! I tried your tapping solution but it still doesn't detect the Hard Disk.

In the meantime, I ordered a new motherboard for $125 and I will install it myself. Will post here on how that went.