This mod fixes the internal bluetooth connection problem that's plaguing the 600m/D600 notebooks by moving the bluetooth module to a different location inside the notebook. Doing so also makes it possible to upgrade to the newer bluetooth card - the TM350.

Background:

The internal bluetooth module (TM300) for 600m/D600/500m/D500 notebooks is installed as follows:



There are two problems with this. First, because the card is positioned vertically and directly under the palmrest, it suffers from wear and tear caused by the user pushing down on the palmrest. The connection will eventually become intermittent or stop working entirely. This is a known design defect that will affect most users sooner or later and you can read more about it here: http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=54208

Second, with the new line of notebooks (i9300/xps2,D610, M70), Dell has introduced an upgrade to the TM300 (Bluetooth 1.2) - the TM350 (Bluetooth 2.0) - which is not compatible with our four notebooks under discussion. Other older generation notebooks with an internal bluetooth (i8600, i510m, D800), while not officially stated, are able to upgrade to the TM350 because the new card has the same form factor (size, shape, and connects the same way via a cable) as the older TM300. More on this upgrade here: http://vbdotnet.home.comcast.net/BT_2.0_experiment.htm.

The difference between the TM300 card 600m/D600 use (called Type-B card) and the TM300 card notebooks such as i8600/ixps use (called Type-A) is only in the connector. The Type-A card has a connector on the side and connects to the motherboard via a cable:



While the Type-B card has the connector at the back which connects directly to the motherboard:



The circuitry of the TM300 Type-A card and the TM300 Type-B card is exactly the same.

The Mod:


We can solve both problems mentioned above if we use the newer TM350 and move it to a different location inside the notebook. We do that by building a Type-B to Type-A adapter cable.

First, I took off the connector from the Type-B card with pliers:




Soldered the 10 very thin (~30 awg) wires to the tiny pins on the Type-B connector:



Next, I soldered the other ends of the wires to the bluetooth cable that's used to connect the Type-A card to the motherboard and applied epoxy for insulation and a strong physical connection.

Here is what the final adapter cable looks like:



Finally, I routed the adapter through the motherboard and mounted the TM350 with some double-sided sticky tape :



Installed the drivers and it's good to go:

If you're using the official Toshiba drivers this is what you should be seeing in the device manager:



If you're using the hacked WIDCOMM drivers (much better than Toshiba's) you should see this:



This isn't a simple mod, I can't really recommend it just to anyone, and you will not be able to do it with just the information presented here. If you have questions about references, parts/tools I used, specfic procedures, post here.

How do you solder the wires to the tiny connector? I tried to solder an inverter cable some days ago and it MELT DOWN (the plastic connector)...

Mike,the trick is not to use the traditional method of feeding the solder but instead use the tinning method. I first brushed very small amount of liquid flux (rosin) to the pin (with a needle), put a tiny amount of solder on the iron and touched it to the pin for a split second. This will cause the solder to flow towards the flux and coat the pin with solder. I then tinned a short tip of the wire using the same method and finally soldered the wire to the pin by touching the tinned end of the wire to the tinned pin with the iron. I used a regular RadioShack iron with a regular tip.

To give everone an idea how small everything is here is a comparison pic:



Left: TM350 , Top: Cable for Type-A card, Right: TM300 Type-B

Well guys - great idea, good job...But not really fine imho
I'd solve/solder it a bit different...As soon, as I get a BT350, or if my BT300 goes dead - I'll present then.

Regards

^ I'd be interested to know how you did it. The reason why I didn't solder directly is because I want it to be removable and, more importantly, I wanted to move the card to another location where my there was no pressure on the card.

Well - at first I'd take a piece of a flexible flat cable, i.e. from ide/uw-scsi, something like that:


or



then I'd place BT far away from heatsink and IM855, cpu and so on...and of course not under keyboard's fat alluminium shroud

But tastes are differ!

I was under the impression that you already did this. In that case, the space under the keyboard is the only place where the card will fit comfortably. Granted, the keyboard ground above it is not according to BT specs. However, I have not noticed signal loss. I also have not noticed any temerature spikes. In fact, I'd think that the card would be cooler there as opposed to next to the hard drive.

Do you have the pin outs for the type a to type b connectors? Im not sure which one is pin 1 on each connector. Maybe it will be easy to tell when I have everything in my hands, Dell parts just shipped my items today.

I was going to include it initially in the write up but decided not to include such details. Here it is:

http://www.angelfire.com/jazz/mich43...od/Pinout.html

I got the mapping by tracing the circuitry at the back of the card from type A pins to the type B pins. I verified the trace by performing a continuity test.

Hey thanks, that helps out a lot. Ill let you know how it goes when I get it finished up.

My 600m BT stop working about two weeks ago (right after my warrenty expired ), thanks for the info. provided in this thread, I now have a new 350 BT module installed. Here are pictures.


Problem was the connector on main board so I removed it.



And here is finished picture.

whk that's awesome. I suggest you put some epoxy on both the connection to the motherboard and the card. You don't want to find out what happens if the wrong wires meet. And this is one of the reasons I wanted my contraption to be removable and not soldered directly to the board or the card. Once you put the epoxy on anything, it's a hell of a pain to take off and fix. In addition if dell comes up with a better bluetooth card (type A) I can easily switched mine.

wow, nice work. I am still waiting for my BT stuff from Dell parts. I might try something like that, but include the connector somehow incase I need to swap out the 350 at some point.

I can't believe it!!!

I buy this great laptop and before I know it the bluetooth is not working.......I then start surfing the net and find that EVERYONE is having the same problem.....So, I go thru the DELL DRILL (spending hour after hour on the phone) and finally realize that DELL has no clue how to fix this thing, especially since I am out of warranty by two months.

I am now at the stage where I've got the DELL 600M apart(easy to do... haven't lost ANY screws)) and see that the TM300 Connector is the problem.
I also see that DELL knows about that because they now have the BT350 with a nice new connector on it......I have also read the GREAT fixes already posted......

So, I get DELL to send me a BT350 card/Software and label(probably surplus because the part numbers are missing from the metal can), and a cable for free...They did that just to shut me up. I also purchased a cable on EBAY.

NOW MY QUESTION, The cables have the Same Connectors that mate with the BT350 board but the wiring is different on the two cables.

One cable is missing one wire altogether(never installed) and the other cable has several wires shorted(soldered) together(this was done on purpose). Also, the color coding isn't exactly the same, wire for wire. This may be due to the TM350 being used on different computers

It is apparent that all the wires aren't used........What I need is to know which pins on the TM350 card go to which pins on the motherboard.

I think I'll be OK doing the soldering using the tinning method........

Regards to All.............

Can you confirm that this should work for a D600? I know the connector has to be created but any software issues that it would not work with a D600? The dell site says the TM350 works for Inspiron™ 640m / 9400 / E1405. I think I saw a thread that it works with D800s but they have the correct connector.

Also, can you send over a parts list that I need to shop for to make this work? I have some basic soldering skills with a heat gun from Radio shack but sounds like I need flux, cabling, connectors, etc. Do you get this all from a RadioShack?

Thanks so much - I hope this is a great solution so I can use bluetooth to access my bluetooth Treo 700P and use Sprint's EVDO network!