Question about installing bluetooth on P7805u

We all know the down part of the P7805u FX is that it doesnt come with bluetooth capability. I have the need to sync lots of music and pictures from/to my cellphone with my current Dell, so I want my new P7805u to be able to do that too. Plus I don't want to use any USB dongle as they are big, noticeable and consume 1 out of 3 of the USB ports that the laptop has.

I researched and no that they have bluetooth receiver miniPCI card. My question is:
- Does the P7805 mainboard have spare slot to put in a miniPCI card?
- Has anyone done this before and is it easy to do?
- What kind of bluetooth card are there that I can use? I use a bluetooth mouse, and want to sync data at the same time. So far I searched on ebay and found these:

http://shop.ebay.com/items/_W0QQ_nkwZbluetoothQ20miniPCIQQ_armrsZ1QQ_fromZQQ_mdoZ
Are they OK to put in the machine? Which one should I buy?

Anyone has experience doing this before please share with me. Greatly appreciated!

- Caten

 

Couple things, you have one open HALF SIZED mini PCI-E slot, they do make half size mini PCI-E bluetooth recievers, but they're rare. The other option is a standard size mini PCI-E card and get a half size intel wireless card, but thats kinda counter productive since you already have a full sized one. But you definately must use mini pci-E not pci cards.

 

Thanks Mike. Sounds like I have to go with the dongle..
Do you know if they make miniPCI card with both Bluetooth and wireless card?

 

I've heard of such a thing but all the ones I've ever found turned out to just be "bluetooth compatible" ie they're tuned to not interfere with bluetooth since they both operate in the same frequency range.

 

This issue comes up occasionally.

If we can assume the 7805 uses the same mobo as the 7811 (I don't know this, I've just seen various posts indicating this opinion), and if you can settle for bluetooth 2.0 vs 2.1, then you may wish to perform a search in this forum.

One person found a multi-pin header on the mobo (after a full disassemble) that can connect to a harness for a bluetooth 2.0 board offered by various sources. Dell uses this same board and method. The board number was given in the post and a search on eBay turned up a few of them (as low as $19). If you go that route, make certain the mobo has the header and you get the harness with the bluetooth board.

I ran across that old thread a couple of days ago, so it shouldn't be too difficult to find...

 

You know what the thread's name is?

 

Start here...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=4067605#post4067605

I also found pictures showing the small board "shoved" into a space behind the "Wireless" switch. This looks exactly like the board/harness I installed in a couple of Dells.

 

Thanks... looking at it!

 

Looks like I have to buy a miniPCI bluetooth card according to the pictures in that thread.. Anyone knows where I can find them? Been searching ebay but couldn't find a Gateway compatible one. Can I just buy any kind of miniPCI bluetooth card?

 

This is the picture I located (thanx to another NBR member's work)...
It's for a P-171, but it's the same basic idea. Look at the upper-left section. See the white header and cable with a small board behind the wireless switch? That's the bluetooth sub-assembly.

This is the same board on the old eBay auction...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...270289447988&_sacat=See-All-Categories&_fvi=1

Also found this thread...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4046275&postcount=2

 

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=m38&_nkw=bcm92045nmd&_sacat=See-All-Categories

That's the module, the cable seems to be the harder/more expensive part to get

 

Another possibility, with cable...

http://cgi.ebay.com/2-0-Bluetooth-M...4|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Compaq-Pres...4|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:0|293:1|294:50

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-AOpen-Bluet...4|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:0|293:1|294:50

You may have to change the connector at the mobo end, but the function is the same. Generic USB devices.

 

Thanks for all the product links.. but according to the picture of that thread, I don't see where should the cable go... I suppose we just plug the card in and what to do with the cable?

 

According to that picture I should put the miniPCI bluetooth card right there, behind the wireless switch? I thought the card will go to the lower right corner near the fan. Am I wrong?

 

The Dell 5100 is a draft n 1T2R and blue tooth mini 1/2 height pci card

 

A mini-PCI Expess card will go in the mini-PCI slot.
A cabled (USB) board will connect to the small pin header close to the wireless switch.

Either solution can work. If you find a bluetooth half-length mini-PCI Express card, that would be the most simple solution (no dis-assembly required).

 

Got a link? Last time I looked at a card with that description it was an incorrectly labeled card. Systems that have both bluetooth and Wifi frequently have specially tuned Wifi cards to minimize interference (since they both operate on 2.4ghz) and the cards come labeled as "with bluetooth" not because they have it but because they are designed for notebooks that have it. I've never seen both on one card, in part because they don't get along well I'd have to imagine. HP has this same issue where people were trying to get bluetooth and being told that the wifi card from the bluetooth model had the bluetooth on it when in fact it was just a modified version of the standard wifi card and they use that same broadcom USB module for bluetooth. In all reality putting in the USB card in that corner farthest from the wifi card may be the best idea to minimize interference, and may well be why its laid out that way.

 

Another thought on that second half-height slot...

There was some discussion a while back on this slot. It was proposed that it might be a dedicated slot for some Intel proprietary memory to enhance the performance of the computer. I recall those who bought the memory modules weren't impressed...

Is it possible this second slot isn't even fully utilizing the mini PCI Express spec? It might not even work with "standard" cards...

Opinions? Other (more accurate) information?

If you did shuffle the cards (replacing the existing Wifi card with a smaller card in the second slot and installing an additional bluetooth full-length card in the original slot), would the antenna wires reach to the second slot?

Dell Bluetooth card http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...1&cs=04&c=us&l=en&dgc=SS&cid=30098&lid=674093 (Does it look like this requires an antenna?)
Dell 5100 http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...=us&l=en&dgc=SS&cid=30098&lid=674093#Overview

Questions, questions...

 

Tybalt39, did you mean if I buy the Dell5100 and put it in the empty miniPCI slot I don't need the cable and dis-assembly? Just plug it in and it have both wireless n and bluetooth?
If I go with the Dell bluetooth card I will need to connect the cable to the header behind the wireless switch?

 

Ok, so I only either the miniPCI card OR cabled USB board right? As in last post should I go with the Dell bluetooth or Dell 5100?

 

Dell sells a pci-e mini half card, which is an Intel 5100 Wifi A/B/G/draft N card. You buy that and put it in the mini half card slot that's empty right now... remove that full length pci-e mini card you already have.... and then replace it with a bluetooth pci-e mini card from DELL too... they have like four to choose from.

 

Sorry I don't quite get it. OK I buy the Dell 5100 card from Dell which supports draft-n and bluetooth. Open the computer and replace the Gateway wireless card and put the Dell card in. I should have draft-n + bluetooth right? What you mean they have 4 to choose from?


Edit: and this is the thing I should buy?
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...=us&l=en&dgc=SS&cid=30098&lid=674093#Overview

Edit: After re-read your post, so I have to buy both Dell bluetooth card and Wifi 5100? Doesn't Wifi 5100 already support bluetooth as in the Tech specs? Why do I need to buy the Wifi card from Dell when I already have it? Can I just buy the Dell bluetooth card?

Sorry for many noob questions

 

ne er mind, it is the 1510 Dell and is says support but if you pull the manual it mentions nothing of support, I guess they mean low to no interference

 

The Dell (Intel 5100) doesn't have bluetooth...but it's suppose to support bluetooth operation (from another source of course) by making sure it doesn't interfere (well, it will try anyway) within the same 2.4Ghz frequency Wifi B/G/draft N works in.

So if you really want to put blue tooth in, you'll have to choose what to do...

1. Buy a Dell 370 or 410 Bluetooth PCI-E Mini Card

2. If you want to just put it in the empty half height slot, then you can't screw the board in. (I've not seen an image of the 370 or the 410 from underneath to know if that's an ok way to go) But that's the simpliest way to do it. You're just have to find a way to fasten it in place.

3. You can opt to just put it in the existing full length mini pci-e card slot. (currently occupied by your Intel 5100 wifi card and a warranty sticker)

- So if you go this way,

Buy a mini - half height Intel 5100 wifi card (Dell sells them too)

This way, all the cards will be screwed in place...

- no word yet if the antennae cords will reach to the mini half height card position

 

It looks like it's down to "crunch" time.

You are looking at buying either:
1 (perhaps 2) new cards OR
1 new USB board/cable (possibly modifying the cable)

It's an experiment either way you go unless someone chimes in who's already done it with this exact machine...

Good Luck!

 

You have the same Intel chipset.

Yes, I think you can... it's just that, you don't have a spare "full length" pci-e mini slot, only a half height slot. So you have to make sure you don't short out your bluetooth card and it won't wiggle out of that slot since you can't screw it in.

 

Guys thanks for being patient with me.. Really appreciate..

OK I see.. So I have 2 slots. 1 full length and 1 half length. The current Intel 5100 is a full length card that occupies the full- length slot.
Since they dont have any half-length bluetooth card I have to buy half length wifi card and full length bluetooth card. If I go this way I will have extra Gateway full-length Wifi with no use. Is that right?

What about the antennae cords? I though I can just put them into the slots and they can work.. does the card come with the card that I must do something with it?

 

You can read the adventures of some other folks trying it out.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=4010789#post4010789

 

The more I contemplate this myself the more I think the micro usb dongles are the way to go, even though I hate having stuff in ports etc when it can be put inside. I suspect when gateway designed this thing they only intended to the second pci-e to be used for the short length robson turbomemory from intel, this being a centrino2 it would take it no problem. If you're any good at disassembly I'd do the USB without a doubt, baring that I'd almost say you might as well get a plug in dongle.

 

Hmm thanks Bravoexo for the link. I have read thru it and I have to agree with Mike. It's so complicated to wire the antenna and the price for the module is not cheap at all. I dont want to pull out everthing in the laptop for this thing. Bluetooth option is so much common and cheap I wonder why Gateway dont put it in.

 

Here is a very cheap solution:
Blue Tooth Dongle $3.38 fee shipping too.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.11866~r.53733725

 

nice deal, cheap and easy... ehhehehehe

 

Thanks.. I know that deal but still think the dongle looks ugly on my cool 7805 B-)

 

OK, looks like we have confirmation of the USB board/cable solution...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=310447

It looks like the 8-wire harness is standard, so no cable modification required to install any of the previously linked solutions from other vendors. Looking through the original Japanese pages (linked in the thread), the board used was from HP. Vista found it just fine and installed it. (No, I don't read Kanji, but the author had lots of pictures, including screen shots of the driver installation)

 

Pardon my noobie but what does this mean? Does this mean I can buy a bluetooth module and put in the miniPCI next to the WIFI module without adding the antena?

IF so which module should I buy, or which usb/cable whatever thing I should buy and where to put it?

 

As Big Mike and I have been indicating, the most elegant (in my opinion) solution is to use the Broadcom bluetooth board with the 8-wire cable. This would connect to the dedicated bluetooth header located close to the "wireless" switch and give a "factory installed" appearance and function.

This will require completely dis-assembling your computer, so you may not be comfortable with this solution.

Also, while the connector has apparently been proven to exist on the 7811, there is no proof that it exists on the 7805 (although, as previously observed, it could as they may have the same motherboard).

It boils down to how comfortable you are with taking your laptop apart to investigate because the area of the motherboard that you need to access is not available by simply removing access panels on the bottom of the unit. The mini PCI Express slots don't even come into play...

 

Thanks for your reply. IF I want to try to open the faceplate of the laptop which module can I buy? Also I link to the guide to open it?

 

Search eBay for "Broadcom bluetooth". I found a few ranging from $10 (buy now) to $50. The cable lengths vary, so you will have to do some research to find the best fit (and to verify BT version). Also, don't forget to verify you have the connector in your computer before you invest $$$ (up to you, of course)...

 

Can you use the F5 key to turn it on and off?

 

Unknown, but as this is intended to be an OEM solution, I would expect whatever controls exist in your BIOS or OS for bluetooth would work.

 

Is there a 7800 series maintenance guide floating around out there? I'm really tempted to do this but I'd want to know exactly how to take the thing apart if I was going to do it. I was going to break down and buy a USB one but the more I think about it the more I think I'd rather do this.

 

I only got to the point of removing my keyboard...

 

Same here. Just so I could get access to the monitor connection (to upgrade the screen). I also replaced the DVD with a Blu-ray (easy) and upgraded the CPU. But the only mod that required "surgery" was the monitor.

Others have completely dis-assembled their computers, however. " Search and ye shall find..."

 

Found in the other thread...

Apparently, there are different sizes of the 8-pin connector.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4395658&postcount=13

Also, this sort of answers the question of keyboard switches for bluetooth (Flynnaz)

 

I realize these "updates" are getting a bit redundant, but until these two threads are joined, this is how to get the info out there...

A good solution for the OEM look bluetooth with the right cable...
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4399891&postcount=18

 

well i bought http://laptopparts.vivotechnology.net/Items/!MSC-HP-513?gclid=CMb0sPqTj5gCFRFWagodTxPT8w today and will let you guys know how it goes. im gonna take pictures of each disassembly step and post it for you guys. While im in there gonna replace my gpu and cpu paste with some AS5

 

Which Blu-Ray did you go with and were you able to swap the bezel from the old to the new so it matches the case?

 

This thread...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=338162

 

Thanks, bumped your rep for the help. Heading over there to check it out.

 

Looking forward to your results...