** XPS M1330 A04 motherboard exchange thread **

The post from Dell Support Forum mentioned A04 MB does not resolve the issue, http://www.dellcommunity.com/suppor...thread.id=20241&view=by_date_ascending&page=3

 

everyone try this tell me if you notice the whine changing

click the battery icon in the taskbar, click more power options, click change plan settings for the plan that is allready chosen, click changed advanced power settings, expand processor power management, change the minimum power state to 100% for on battery and plug in, click apply

 

yea, that should work, cos if the processor cant go below 100%, then it can never ever reach C4 state...so its just like disabling C4 using Windows.

 

So it would appear that the A04 mobo doesn't do a thing... Why would Dell blatantly lie like this?

 

I'm pretty sure it worked for many people, I guess not all though.

 

I guess it's worth a shot though. For most people, once they get their issues resolved, you don't hear from them on here anymore. Hopefully that's it.

As for the installation of the mobo, it doesn't seem too be too crazy, nothing like replacing the screen on the M1330!

 

Removing the screen is one of the earlier steps of replacing the motherboard...

Received my new motherboard today, it is hardware revision A04, bios A06. The board is refurbished, but there are no currently discernable differences. I'll compare the new and the old more closely when I do the swap this weekend. I'm nervous it will be in vain.

 

I think he was talking about replacing LCD. Taking bezel apart is pain in the XXX, not to mention you just may stretch the front bezel if you are not being careful-which will lead to wobbled up front side bezel.

 

Just got my motherboard replaced, rev A04 bios A06. The cpu whine isn't gone, but it's quieter

 

At least it fixes it alittle...nothing damaged in the process darkcond0?
No loose parts after reassembly?

 

Same with me. It is still there, but I think it is quieter..

 

The bottom panels stick out a bit, but that takes like 10 seconds to fix. She fixed a lot of my problems after I mentioned them, my hdd cover is flush with the system now, no keyboard bulge, the xps logo by the hinge doesn't sink when you press it, but the left hinge sticks out more than it used to. It was really nerve-wracking to watch. This is the first time a tech visited my house, and I thought it would be a careful process where they're sure to not scratch or mess anything up. It seemed like she just ripped the laptop apart. I'm pretty satisfied though. It's just the warm cpu that bothers me.

Should I flash from A06 down to A05?

 

I don't know about flashing but...
cool, it's nice that the tech was able to fix lots of problems..
I'm hoping the tech can fix this teeth problem im having with my screen...
maybe tighten the top up..

 

Okay, just had my motherboard replaced. A04 running now.

The good news: My CPU whine, which was really, really noticeable earlier, is gone. 100% gone. The only thing I hear when I stick my ear to the cpu/fan area is airflow.

The bad news: Just about everything else on my machine has now gone directly to Hell. The keyboard's taken on the shape of a freaking wave. The touch media panel is completely fecked up. It juts up as much as the keyboard, doesn't snap into place at most of the "snap points", and it's up so far that you have to JAM your finger into the power/mediadirect buttons to get them to actually make contact with the motherboard's buttons underneath. The battery does not go in at all unless you "wriggle" it around when trying to put it in.

It's not the tech's fault, he did everything he could. The wire thicknesses and lengths on this motherboard are not the same as the A04 motherboard. As a result, absolutely nothing fits together anymore.

Earlier I had SOME keyboard jutting, but the media panel was completely flat. Now they're both just popping up, and the media buttons (normal, not touch) don't work because of this.

Just kill me.

Update: ...Okay, the whine came back. And then I started hearing noises that sounded like the fan was pushing some chunk of plastic around. So all I really have now is a noisy, broken computer. Killlll me.

 

Call Dell, they will be happy to replace all the parts you need. I asked for a keyboard replacement, and they offered me LCD,media panel, palmrest, keyboard replacement.

I'm only going to take palmrest, and keyboard though.

 

I'm getting it sent over to the depot... Gah, this has been so much trouble. Before this I went through four or five replacements.

 

I wouldn't do that if I were you.

I've seen a guy sending E1705 to depot after spilling coke (had complete care). The system came back in a couple of weeks, it worked, but when he opened it up to see what they did, he saw the coked all dried up inside of it.

Just ask for new palmrest, keyboard, media panel if the problem is just cosmetic.

Oh.. it sounds like the jackass broke something inside....

 

I don't really understand how the coke example applies here...

Either way, there are too many issues with it to request specific things. In terms of specific parts well, it's pretty much the whole thing. The fact that nothing fits together sort of takes out the base, the palmrest, the keyboard, and the media panel. The battery not fitting in takes care of the motherboard. So it's really the whole thing.

I can't do another replacement. I'd bet anything I'll get a replacement with more/different problems, just like the last bunch of replacements I went through. My biggest reason for being reluctant on a replacement is because my screen on this one is gorgeous beyond imagination. It's a pure white backlight, brightest of the five machine I dealt with. I don't care how many problems I have, I won't risk getting more crap screens.

 

So swap the screen when you get your replacement. You've already seen that it would't be difficult to do better than the technicians. Though I'm sure she could have physically broken something, I have a feeling that most of your fitment issues (waviness under the XPS logo, for example, is almost certainly due to a failure to properly seat the bluetooth connector in the small rectangular recess below it) are fixable, even without part replacements. See for yourself, taking the media control panel off is quite easy.

 

I tried, for the whole two hours he was here and for a couple after he left. Stuff just doesn't fit. The thing is in the recess.

Just to show you how bad it is, here's a picture. You can easily see how warped the panel is. The red line follows the keys. That big jut in the middle is the F5 and F6 keys.

 

Also, I'm not sure if this is just what he told you:

but it's complete horse ****. There are two small wires that actually come connected to the motherboard; all of the ones which run under the keyboard that would cause fitment issues/bulging (wifi antenna, monitor, webcam) are reused. The dimensions of the revised motherboard are exactly the same. You shouldn't trust your tech so much, it's completely his fault for failing to reassemble it correctly.

Keep trying. This is fixable.

 

I know it's fixable, and I'm usually up for fix-it-yourself, but I don't see why I'm assembling a $2400 laptop at home like a Lego. Let Dell be responsible for it. And if they screw up, well, I'll keep *****ing at them till they fix it.

 

Okay, I reduced the warping on the media panel and keyboard a bit, but it still doesn't change the messed up battery slot and other issues. So off to the depot it goes.

 

I really do hope you get it fixed.

GL.

 

Based on your issues computernerd, I think I'm just going to live with this whine...

My coworker has a new T61 Thinkpad. She has the whine too, so it's a processor issue not exclusive to Dell. It's more apparent on the M1330 though, maybe how it's shaped or the thinness...

 

the cpu whine isn't dell's fault.
It's intel's core 2 duo's fault so that's why the whine also occurs in non dell notebooks

 

I think I'm just going to deal with the whine. It appears everyone on here is having such horror stories about this mobo replacement, which doesn't change the actual problem, the chipset from Intel.

 

I just received my m1330 last Friday, I noticed the whine right away, it's not bad when the notebook is plugged in but when on battery it's pretty loud.

I scheduled to have the motherboard replaced but after reading some of the horror stories about tech's ripping apart the laptops and the sound not fully going away, I canceled the service call last night. Other then the whine this notebook is perfect, I don't have any of the other known m1330 issues.

Do you think there is any risk with just keeping this motherboard? Ignoring the sound?

 

Seems like many people are worried to get parts replaced by field techs... may be Dell knows what it's doing lol.

Anyways I'm supposed to get my keyboard replaced. I hope I don't get screwed. Dell initially offered to replaced LCD, palmrest, media panel, and keyboard, but I told them I want the tech to minimize his work on my system as much as possible lol. btw, the problem was keyboard bulge leaving (which could be removed w/ cleaners, but was getting on my nerves) marks on the LCD.

 

Yeah see I don't want to risk damage to my spot-less LCD, non-bulging keyboard, or perfectly aligned plastic parts just to have a chance of removing this whining sound.

Not worth it.

 

I think if you are due work that you should just get it done. Just because somebody has a bad experience it does not mean that you are going to. That would not put me of if i needed to get work done. If you have the whine it is worth seeing if a new motherboard will improve things for you. I could never live with the whine. I was moaning last night when the fans went on my computer let alone keep a computer that whines.

 

I'm with you Marko, I'm going to cancel my service appointment...

 

Oh snap. I'm afraid now.
Tech is coming in a few minutes...

 

Just had mine fixed with the REV 04 motherboard a few minutes ago.
The CPU whining is gone now. For those that are asking for a new motherboard, make sure to ask for a NEW one, mine was refurbished.

At the end of the day,the lab tech ripped off my bluetooth connection wire and the wireless on/off cable. He also couldnt fit the white cable to the WLAN card anymore , only the black cable is fitted in now. So basically now, I dont have my bluetooth anymore and my wireless cant be switched off and also i am receiving lesser signal while using my wireless

One of the dell rep is gona call me back tomorrow to discuss for my replacement.

 

Unreal! It seems most of these techs have no clue what they're doing!

But the whine is completely gone? I still may risk this though. What exactly are they doing to get to the motherboard? They're going to have to run those wires underneath the keyboard again? Are your keys flat or is there a bump in the middle of the keyboard itself?

 

Yea its gone. No bumps in the midle of the key board. But the trade off is too big for me, if I agree for another tech visit to fix my bluetooth wire , wireless on/off wire and the WLAN card, he will dismantle the whole laptop again (which is pain to watch). Before the fix, my laptop can stand perfectly without the 6cell battery, now the left front is not intact to the ground (wobble) after the fix.

I will rather have everything back to normal and use RMclock to keep the CPU whining away. This is just my personal opinion though. Good luck to those that are going to have thier motherboard replace

 

Ok, so I just got my motherboard replaced.
Actually, I don't think anything has really changed....I still have cpu whine
The curious thing though, is that the cpu isn't actually located at where the whine comes from.
The whine comes from the bottom right of my laptop, a little lower than the fingerprint reader...and the cpu is actually located opposite from that..more to the top left of the laptop...weird...
Yeah, I also got a refurbished motherboard...oh well.


ahh...with my old motherboard, the whine stops whenever I scroll up/down using hte touchpad
now, it doesn't stop.. D:
dang..

 

Your unfortunate encounter has almost completely put me off ordering my M1330 in the new year. This incompetence is unacceptable by a corporation as vast as Dell. What worries me most is that the standard of service you received for this 'fix' is not an isolated case. Not even close...

I'm beginning to wish Dell systems were sold flat-pack with instructions. Atleast then I would take care with my self build and maintenance because I've paid an obscene sum for the parts. I'd also be a lot more confident of it's quality and of potential oversights in its design if I knew exactly what went into it and how.

Call me crazy but I think it would even be fun, and possibly even result in a more satisfying end product.

I'd just need to laser etch 'Made in my living room' to its little plastic bum.

 

Umm... Just take a look at my issues and those of people's posts after me... Looking back now, if I had known this would be the result, I would have dealt with the whine. It's just not worth it. Now I'm worried it'll come back from the depot with a big scratch on some part or some other part screwed up.

If all your parts are good, except for the CPU whine, I don't know, I would choose to live with it. The risk isn't worth taking. It's insanely unfair that people have to deal with defective machines, but it's better than having your entire machine ripped apart like I did.

Dell WANTS to help, they get full points on effort. The problem is that they don't know how to do it properly yet, at least for this machine.

 

I blame it on the techs' lack of experience. The one that replaced my said that it was her very first time working on an m1330 and that she was relying on experience. I believe this is common among most techs.

So... should I go back to A05 from A06?

 

As i said these few feedback would not put me of getting the work done that was needed if i needed it.

 

Multiple negative testimonials wouldn't worry you at all about how your own servicing might go? Alright, I guess <_<

 

I didn't write that i said i would get what i needed to do done. It maybe on the back of my mind some of these complaints but i would still go for what i needed done and hope that mine turned out ok. I am sure there are people out there who have been happy with the work that a tech has carried out.

 

My tech left two messages today. I'm afraid to call back! LOL...

 

can someone post a number to the XPS Tech?

 

I second this. The tech that dealt with my XPS m1330 today was his 1st time too, he even called his colleague asking him how to remove the LED screen off from the laptop.

 

Besides the whine, what oter difference does a A01 mobo, has witha an a04, becuse i dont have the whine and i dont whnt to let dell dismantle my computer again( Last time they changer a faultu DVD drive it didnt accepted any type of disks), last time i notices that the guy that came was only guessing on how to disasemble the laptop, but evrey thing went well he even fixed the bump in the keyboard

 

Don't bother with replacing it if you don't have any problems. It's only supposed to fix the whine.

A01 here too btw, with no whine.

 

that's not CPU whine! That's whine coming from the Intel 82801HBM drive controller chip!

I would get another motherboard, cos RMClock wont fix that, and neither will anything else!

 

So anybody else have any luck with their a04 exchanges? I'm still unsure of what to do...