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Putting LED's Into an i9300 with hacked XPS bios

post #1 of 29
12/4/05 at 1:00am
Thread Starter 
ok here is the thing. I am not one to start soldering on motherboards but the pins for LEDs are on the i9300 and seeing as how the hacked XPS bios has the LED control and in bios it seems to report as normal. I was wondering if there was anyone out there that hooked up LED's to those pins.
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post #2 of 29
12/4/05 at 1:13am
Im on the same boat. I think can be done, but not 100% sure. Any pictures or info about this?
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post #3 of 29
12/4/05 at 2:23am
Thread Starter 
well I have seen pics posted with the pin posts I think what we would need is somone with an XPS Gen 2 to get some pics for us so we can compare and look at where the LED's are connected and how they are wired.
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post #4 of 29
12/4/05 at 2:36am
Thread Starter 
Ok from doing some research the XPS uses fans and speakers with the LED's built in and then there is a connector that the LED's plug into.

on the 9300 there is no connector just this



that being said. Anyone who is planning on taking thier i9300 apart in the near future can you please get a couple of shots of the connector areas there seems to be 3 of them and they are detailed in the XPS doc's.
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post #5 of 29
12/4/05 at 3:36am
Hmm so do you think we could just get part numbers and order them ? lol I bet it's expensive and how many of you are willing to spend 100+ dollars to get those lights? If we make are i9300's too identical to XPS, then we'll hit a point where we've spent nearly just enough to have boughten an XPS to begin with. I know casing alone is easily 120 dollars, given you buy the LCD case off of ebay for 30 w/shipping and the touchpad with black sides from Dell Direct for 88 dollars. And people in this forum have done it, I personally have been thinkning about giving my laptop casing to my Automobile Painter Friend and get him to paint my entire casing Glossy White.
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post #6 of 29
12/4/05 at 10:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bal`thzar
Ok from doing some research the XPS uses fans and speakers with the LED's built in and then there is a connector that the LED's plug into.

on the 9300 there is no connector just this



that being said. Anyone who is planning on taking thier i9300 apart in the near future can you please get a couple of shots of the connector areas there seems to be 3 of them and they are detailed in the XPS doc's.

Apart from the LED connector there seems to be at least one transistor missing (Q68 in that pic) and some resistors and caps. This is standard external devices to drive LEDs, they usually can't be driven directly from an IC pin and need the transistor for the added power.

Keops
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post #7 of 29
12/4/05 at 12:05pm
Question:
If we paint the casing, that void the warranty? Obiously, using a paint that do not affect the board and parts temperature.

Xav
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post #8 of 29
12/4/05 at 3:06pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Keops
Apart from the LED connector there seems to be at least one transistor missing (Q68 in that pic) and some resistors and caps. This is standard external devices to drive LEDs, they usually can't be driven directly from an IC pin and need the transistor for the added power.

Keops
Thanks Keops that is exactly what I needed to hear. I was wondering as well about those points but I couldn't make comparisons.

Though there is a LED mod out there its a real wiring nightmare.
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post #9 of 29
12/5/05 at 5:14am
I just talked Dell into the XPS2 shell parts for my conversion for under 100$... so if there is a way to get the LED's to plug up like the XPS2 OE... and it's under 100$, I'll give it a shot. Btw, the Dell conversion without LCD back panel is normally 106$~ but it only cost me 95$ with tax. =) They allowed a code and counted it as an E&A order for free shipping (or is that usual for Dell Spare Parts?).
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post #10 of 29
12/5/05 at 12:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JaxChris
I just talked Dell into the XPS2 shell parts for my conversion for under 100$... so if there is a way to get the LED's to plug up like the XPS2 OE... and it's under 100$, I'll give it a shot. Btw, the Dell conversion without LCD back panel is normally 106$~ but it only cost me 95$ with tax. =) They allowed a code and counted it as an E&A order for free shipping (or is that usual for Dell Spare Parts?).

Ok explain me this. The 9300 can be modified with the XPS gen 2 Casing. But just the primary casing (wheres the keyboard, mb, hd, touchpad, etc.)??? Then, whats happend with the warranty? I know that this do nothing to the parts but Dell is nasty about change the system in any way.

What are the XPS Gen 2 part No.?

Thanks,
Xavier
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post #11 of 29
12/5/05 at 12:29pm
Thread Starter 
yes please explain

I am extremly interested too
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post #12 of 29
12/5/05 at 1:47pm
as long as you keep the original parts and swap them back before having a warranty issue, dell wouldn't have any problems with doing this as far as I can tell, or wouldn't know it has been done
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post #13 of 29
12/5/05 at 2:28pm
Thread Starter 
warantee issue? if I have a problem with a part I pull the part and send it back to them. upto and including Motherboards <shrug>
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post #14 of 29
12/5/05 at 4:01pm
will they take pieces back or do you have to ship the whole laptop? If thats the case theres almost no way I'm buying an xps as I've been contemplating it.
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post #15 of 29
12/5/05 at 4:20pm
ok in all honesty you're wasting your money I think. I mean you buy these XPS parts and not the LCD? All you're getting is the black sides that's it the black plastic crap on the side for 100 dollars, A+.. . If anything get the LCD casing at least, and leave the original 9300 bottom and just paint it or put the carbon fiber vinyl on the sides. Just think of it this way 100 dolars buys you like almost 2 gigs of ram ( 120 off of newegg.com). Me? I'm going to paint my entire casing pearl white which will cost me about 15 dollars.
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post #16 of 29
11/3/06 at 6:46am
the connectors for the LED jacks are on the motherboard, i think you have just to solder the jacks on the motherboard...

does anybody know where i could get the jacks and the LED fans, LED speakers and the back lid from the XPS2, and how much it would cost?
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post #17 of 29
11/3/06 at 6:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by sparrow
the connectors for the LED jacks are on the motherboard, i think you have just to solder the jacks on the motherboard...

does anybody know where i could get the jacks and the LED fans, LED speakers and the back lid from the XPS2, and how much it would cost?
The 9300 mainboard is missing the proper transistors for this. It will not work even if you get the XPSs fan/speaker setup. What you need to do is order the XPS2 mainboard aswell which does fit in the 9300.

This has been talked about in other threads going back well over a year ago. It will not work with the 9300 mainboard only.
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post #18 of 29
11/3/06 at 8:23am
ah, ok all clear...

but i've heard that some graphic cards also have a connector for the back lid LEDs... do you know if this would work?
i know, i saw a thread about this theme, but i can't find it anymore... sry
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post #19 of 29
11/3/06 at 12:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bal`thzar
well I have seen pics posted with the pin posts I think what we would need is somone with an XPS Gen 2 to get some pics for us so we can compare and look at where the LED's are connected and how they are wired.
I have an XPS 2, I'll take pics of the inside too seeing that i'm going to rip it apart for a new project. Also, if you look at your 9300 motherboard. There should be empty pins on the left, right, and top of the motherboard (as if you were looking at the motherboard as if you were typing on your notebook) If they look the same, then those are the pins for the LED i assume. The top one is for the LCD bezel led.
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post #20 of 29
11/3/06 at 12:55pm
I have tried this, and ended up buying a M170 motherboard to make it work. There are more parts then just the connectors that are missing.

There are some resistors, etc. Someone would really have to compair the two boards (9300, M170) to see what thoes parts are.
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