I recently built an Insprion XPS M1710 from some of my old XPS Gen 2 Parts and some newer corresponding parts I bought from other sources. Here were the specs of the built system:
XPS Gen 2 LCD back lid and Truelife 1920x1200 monitor
Intel Core 2 Duo T7600 Processor 2.33Ghz (thanks to nathorofmoo)
Corsair 2 x 1gb PC5300 SODIMMs
Seagate Momentus 100gb 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive (thanks to brentpresley)
NEC 8x DVD Burner (from XPS Gen 2)
nVidia Quadro FX 1500M
Intel 3945 wifi
Dell 350 Bluetooth
Sigmatel HD Audio
80Whr 9 cell battery
Precision M90 hinge cover and palmrest (thanks to centi)
This is how it went from the beginning:
I bought Norton Ghost 9.0 to clone my old 60gb Hard Drive to the new Seagate 100gb hard drive. This went fairly well, though it had problems booting from the USB port (I bought a HD enclosure for it), but later I found out that XP won't boot from the USB unless the hardware profile in the system folder is modified to bypass that.
Assembling the motherboard was no problem. For those who have built desktops/towers, it's similar to that, though it might help to have a diagram of the 1710 or Gen 2 motherboard assembly if you are new to this. However, this time, I used Zalman STG-1 Thermal grease on the t7600, the northbridge, and on the Quadro card (1500M), and assembled everything, slid the mobo back in, and pulled out the DVD drive from the XPS G2 and placed it inside the M1710's frame, which was a perfect fit (contrary to what ebay vendors tell you). The LED connector from the old XPS G2 LCD backlid fitted perfectly as with the Coax Cable for the LCD. Now the question is, would all this work (after spending a bit over $1,000 in new parts)?
After I placed the M90 palmrest fitted with the XPS touchpad that lights up, I pressed the power button and the screen turns white for about 2 seconds, then the bootscreen appears. An error pops up saying that the Processor couldn't be determined, press F1 to continue. After that, for some strange reason, the screen turns white again and reboots shortly after the XP load screen appears. This was actually a bad XP copy, but this can be fixed by using the windows XP CD from dell (that green CD) to repair XP. After that everything booted smoothly, and I was in! It was like having my old computer, but on a new base, new processor, etc.
And here comes the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The Good.
After installing the required drivers, everything looked and went well (except for two, which I will mention later). After updating the BIOS to A03, the system booted up w/o that error message regarding the processor, and successfully recognized it as a core 2 duo. Loading windows was a bit faster than my old system, and loading windows from hibernation was instantaneous, compared to my old system, which took a bit of time. Overall, I could see an improvement in system performance with the core 2 duo as everything loaded a bit faster than my old system. I even tried 3d studio Max 8, and rendering was seamless. Also, the system was able to identify my old NEC 8x DVD burner from my XPS G2. However, not everything went as planned
The Bad.
Two devices didn't work or were faulty. One of those devices was the Intel 3945. Even with the antennas attached, it refused to roam and look for networks. Even when I tried to refresh the list, it just...didn't. I tried updating the driver a myriad of time and no luck. After 2 hours of failure, I gave up and removed that stupid chip. Out of frustration, I bidded on an Atheros card, but i'm not sure if I still want/need it. So I moved on to the second problem: The Sigmatel HD Audio card.
The internal speakers played no sound, though it appeared to play from itunes. I plugged in external speakers and it worked fine. Again, I exhausted driver after driver, even the hacked ones, even those Hotfixes, and still no luck. I even ran the Dell Diagnostics and the stereo audio was fine and played from my internal speakers. But the Mono test only played from the external speakers. There must have been something wrong with the jack b/c it probably thinks that the plug is still in the jack, when it's not. N e ways, this left me frustrated enough to do the following:
The Ugly.
I reverted back to my old XPS G2 system. It sucks b/c I was looking forward to trying out this core 2 duo technology, but I thought to myself about what is available now in terms of technology, and How close technology is to reaching new standards. I hear a lot about new stuff comming from dell. For example, I talked to a sales rep who told me that the next generation 17 inch inspirons will have standard built-in cameras, and will use the "santa rosa" mobo architecture. Also, I remembered the first time I got my old XPS Gen 2, and I was happy. Aside from the fact that a virus snuck inside it one time (b/c I was juvenile to believe that my school's internet connection had firewall), It never broke down, no hardware failure, I still eat on top of it and it types beautifully, and games play nicely too. I saw that I became one of those consumers who wanted update everytime newer technology comes out. This doesn't mean that I completely regret doing this project, b/c I don't. I'm actually glad I did b/c now I know how to build laptops
. I see this as a learning experience, and an expensive one at that. So I guess I'll keep my scratched up XPS G 2 for a while, maybe till more 64 bit applications start comming out.
Anyways, it's over now, I know there were people here that were looking forward to this, but for those building an inspiron/precison/XPS laptops, don't give up. If you are really for revamping your old systems, then kudos to you. I guess I can assist those who are doing such a project, but here is what to expect:
-LCD: The LG TrueLife from the G2 works on the newer inspirons, however, this is what might happen: Screen will turn white when it's supposed to blacken (i.e. when changing resolutions), and brightness control wouldn't work. Based on dell diagnostics, the culprit of the inverter. If possible try changing the inverter to that which is compatible to the newer models
-DVD/CD combo drives: Contrary to popular belief, the old optical drives WILL work on the newer systems. I'm not sure if the opposite is true, but I'm guessing a BIOS update could help
-Processor: for those looking to upgrade from core duo to core 2 duo using the A01 BIOS; it'll work, but a message about unknown processor would appear after boot screen. This doesn't prevent you from loading windows tho. To fix this, simply update the BIOS
-Hard Drive cloning: I had some trouble doing this but try this: Download/buy Partition Magic to partition the drive (make the partition sequence look similar to the orginal Dell Hard Drive (with the dell diagnostic being partitioned first, followed by the main partition (usually NTFS). Also, label that partition as the C drive if possible or don't name it at all and let Norton Ghost name it for you). If you label it something else, there will be a conflict about the operating system being counterfeit and it'll lock some features too. Also, when copying the hard drive, make sure to tick: Copy MBR (Master boot record) and set the drive active. And if the new Hard Drive has problems booting in the built system, use the dell Operating System CD (the green one) to fix it. The one from your old system would work fine, as long as it's a dell
Bluetooth: Be prepared to reinstall your bluetooth drivers, but you don't have to download the driver again as microsoft would take care of it. Be prepared for about 10-15 "found new hardware" screens relating to the bluetooth module, just install them and that should be fine.
And I guess that's it for now. I'd be happy to answer any questions regarding this build. I would post pics of the Mobos but it seems like a waste seeing that the build didn't go so well for me.
XPS Gen 2 LCD back lid and Truelife 1920x1200 monitor
Intel Core 2 Duo T7600 Processor 2.33Ghz (thanks to nathorofmoo)
Corsair 2 x 1gb PC5300 SODIMMs
Seagate Momentus 100gb 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive (thanks to brentpresley)
NEC 8x DVD Burner (from XPS Gen 2)
nVidia Quadro FX 1500M
Intel 3945 wifi
Dell 350 Bluetooth
Sigmatel HD Audio
80Whr 9 cell battery
Precision M90 hinge cover and palmrest (thanks to centi)
This is how it went from the beginning:
I bought Norton Ghost 9.0 to clone my old 60gb Hard Drive to the new Seagate 100gb hard drive. This went fairly well, though it had problems booting from the USB port (I bought a HD enclosure for it), but later I found out that XP won't boot from the USB unless the hardware profile in the system folder is modified to bypass that.
Assembling the motherboard was no problem. For those who have built desktops/towers, it's similar to that, though it might help to have a diagram of the 1710 or Gen 2 motherboard assembly if you are new to this. However, this time, I used Zalman STG-1 Thermal grease on the t7600, the northbridge, and on the Quadro card (1500M), and assembled everything, slid the mobo back in, and pulled out the DVD drive from the XPS G2 and placed it inside the M1710's frame, which was a perfect fit (contrary to what ebay vendors tell you). The LED connector from the old XPS G2 LCD backlid fitted perfectly as with the Coax Cable for the LCD. Now the question is, would all this work (after spending a bit over $1,000 in new parts)?
After I placed the M90 palmrest fitted with the XPS touchpad that lights up, I pressed the power button and the screen turns white for about 2 seconds, then the bootscreen appears. An error pops up saying that the Processor couldn't be determined, press F1 to continue. After that, for some strange reason, the screen turns white again and reboots shortly after the XP load screen appears. This was actually a bad XP copy, but this can be fixed by using the windows XP CD from dell (that green CD) to repair XP. After that everything booted smoothly, and I was in! It was like having my old computer, but on a new base, new processor, etc.
And here comes the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The Good.
After installing the required drivers, everything looked and went well (except for two, which I will mention later). After updating the BIOS to A03, the system booted up w/o that error message regarding the processor, and successfully recognized it as a core 2 duo. Loading windows was a bit faster than my old system, and loading windows from hibernation was instantaneous, compared to my old system, which took a bit of time. Overall, I could see an improvement in system performance with the core 2 duo as everything loaded a bit faster than my old system. I even tried 3d studio Max 8, and rendering was seamless. Also, the system was able to identify my old NEC 8x DVD burner from my XPS G2. However, not everything went as planned
The Bad.
Two devices didn't work or were faulty. One of those devices was the Intel 3945. Even with the antennas attached, it refused to roam and look for networks. Even when I tried to refresh the list, it just...didn't. I tried updating the driver a myriad of time and no luck. After 2 hours of failure, I gave up and removed that stupid chip. Out of frustration, I bidded on an Atheros card, but i'm not sure if I still want/need it. So I moved on to the second problem: The Sigmatel HD Audio card.
The internal speakers played no sound, though it appeared to play from itunes. I plugged in external speakers and it worked fine. Again, I exhausted driver after driver, even the hacked ones, even those Hotfixes, and still no luck. I even ran the Dell Diagnostics and the stereo audio was fine and played from my internal speakers. But the Mono test only played from the external speakers. There must have been something wrong with the jack b/c it probably thinks that the plug is still in the jack, when it's not. N e ways, this left me frustrated enough to do the following:
The Ugly.
I reverted back to my old XPS G2 system. It sucks b/c I was looking forward to trying out this core 2 duo technology, but I thought to myself about what is available now in terms of technology, and How close technology is to reaching new standards. I hear a lot about new stuff comming from dell. For example, I talked to a sales rep who told me that the next generation 17 inch inspirons will have standard built-in cameras, and will use the "santa rosa" mobo architecture. Also, I remembered the first time I got my old XPS Gen 2, and I was happy. Aside from the fact that a virus snuck inside it one time (b/c I was juvenile to believe that my school's internet connection had firewall), It never broke down, no hardware failure, I still eat on top of it and it types beautifully, and games play nicely too. I saw that I became one of those consumers who wanted update everytime newer technology comes out. This doesn't mean that I completely regret doing this project, b/c I don't. I'm actually glad I did b/c now I know how to build laptops
. I see this as a learning experience, and an expensive one at that. So I guess I'll keep my scratched up XPS G 2 for a while, maybe till more 64 bit applications start comming out.Anyways, it's over now, I know there were people here that were looking forward to this, but for those building an inspiron/precison/XPS laptops, don't give up. If you are really for revamping your old systems, then kudos to you. I guess I can assist those who are doing such a project, but here is what to expect:
-LCD: The LG TrueLife from the G2 works on the newer inspirons, however, this is what might happen: Screen will turn white when it's supposed to blacken (i.e. when changing resolutions), and brightness control wouldn't work. Based on dell diagnostics, the culprit of the inverter. If possible try changing the inverter to that which is compatible to the newer models
-DVD/CD combo drives: Contrary to popular belief, the old optical drives WILL work on the newer systems. I'm not sure if the opposite is true, but I'm guessing a BIOS update could help
-Processor: for those looking to upgrade from core duo to core 2 duo using the A01 BIOS; it'll work, but a message about unknown processor would appear after boot screen. This doesn't prevent you from loading windows tho. To fix this, simply update the BIOS
-Hard Drive cloning: I had some trouble doing this but try this: Download/buy Partition Magic to partition the drive (make the partition sequence look similar to the orginal Dell Hard Drive (with the dell diagnostic being partitioned first, followed by the main partition (usually NTFS). Also, label that partition as the C drive if possible or don't name it at all and let Norton Ghost name it for you). If you label it something else, there will be a conflict about the operating system being counterfeit and it'll lock some features too. Also, when copying the hard drive, make sure to tick: Copy MBR (Master boot record) and set the drive active. And if the new Hard Drive has problems booting in the built system, use the dell Operating System CD (the green one) to fix it. The one from your old system would work fine, as long as it's a dell
Bluetooth: Be prepared to reinstall your bluetooth drivers, but you don't have to download the driver again as microsoft would take care of it. Be prepared for about 10-15 "found new hardware" screens relating to the bluetooth module, just install them and that should be fine.
And I guess that's it for now. I'd be happy to answer any questions regarding this build. I would post pics of the Mobos but it seems like a waste seeing that the build didn't go so well for me.
