Topic: [SLVD]Intel Extreme Graphics 855 GM on Dell inspiron 1150 -- epic fail

I had the driver packs slip streamed into a AIO install disc.. setup hung.. kept looking for ialm??5.dll (think ??=bb) in \dp\etc\I5\

there was a matching filename I believe, but it would fail everytime.. Downloaded the driver from dell.com
http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/19

it was the "Extreme graphics 855 GM" for a dell inspiron 1150

If I knew how to help out with this more, I would, If anyone wants to point me in the right direction, I do a LOT of reinstalls
and would be glad to help out, so that my set(and everyone else's) contains all the drivers we need ;-P

Re: [SLVD]Intel Extreme Graphics 855 GM on Dell inspiron 1150 -- epic fail

...would that be "ialmdd5.dll" &
   {DriverVer=07/19/2005, 6.14.10.4363} http://downloads.dell.com/video/R105909.EXE ?
Note:  DriverPacks_B_1107\D\G\I5  {DriverVer=02/07/2006,6.14.10.4497}

My first thought is that your optical drive &/or disc may be causing issues.  Many pre-2005 drives (esp. Matsushita-Panasonic) are notorious for poor-compatibility with newer media.  There may be a firmware for that.  Beware that improperly applied firmware can "BRICK" the drive. More often than not, the laser needs light cleaning with a cotton-swab & IsoPropyl Alcohol (99%); put a few drops in the cap & lightly wet the swab; lightly twirl on the lens like you are making fire.  Turn the swab upside-down, breath heavily on the laser & twirl some more.  Beware that improper cleaning can BRICK your laser, so to speak.  If your machine can boot from USB, why not move your media onto a USB-stick or use a USB portable DVD drive?

Bad capacitors can cause unusual results whilst attempting an install.  Can it run a linux live CD (or memtest & vidtest successfully for that matter)?  Google "Capacitor Plague".  Ignore this somewhat if you have a notebook.  I mean somewhat because it's the power-adapters that can have the plague.  No user-serviceable partsI'm not a user, BTW. 
Cleanliness is King with electronics.  "Tin-plague" is another factor if it was regularly stored at temperatures of 15C (59F) or less.  "Tin-Whiskers" can bridge circuits that are connected with Lead-Free solder.  Tin from the casing itself can "plague-off" & bridge circuitry.   I use compressed-air & a soft-bristle nylon brush to clean the boards.  If you have a desktop, the health of the Power-Supply is at issue.  Cleaning &/or servicing these involves knowing four things:  1)  If you don't implicitly know what you are doing, don't even start pulling it apart.  2) Never plug in the AC cord to the back of the P/S while the casing is open.  3)  Always discharge the power-supply before dismantling it. (hold the power-button down for at least 2 minutes with AC cord removed - beware this may reset your BIOS settings.)   4)  Assume that the main caps still hold a residual charge - discharge directly with an electrically-insulated screwdriver or preferably a proper capacitor-discharge tool.

Dead or dying BIOS Batteries can have weird consequences.

Another possibility is that you are attempting to link to an earlier driver possibly due to an out-dated BIOS (usually includes VideoBIOS).  If you have experience updating BIOS's (or is that BIOSae?) you may want to check if an update would apply (A07 possibly, depending upon your service tag). 
Beware that improperly-applied BIOS updates can BRICK your system.
(even if so directed by OEM - rarely, it happens)

BTW:  what has the Dell Diagnostics CD to say for health of the system?

I commend you for (hopefully) having the patience to work with such vintage hardware.  You may need loads of it.
Hopefully you have a goodly-amount of RAM to work with.
  yikes

PS:  what do you think of performance of newer WiFi driver in DP_WLAN_1202 ?

Last edited by TechDud (2012-05-27 21:37:54)

Re: [SLVD]Intel Extreme Graphics 855 GM on Dell inspiron 1150 -- epic fail

LOL, I run a PC repair shop, and I work with what brings me money... moneys tight, and my flat rate reinstall price brings me all sorts of xp, vista, and 7 compatible hardware.. I thought about memory and the dirty DVD eye. I didn't want to open it up and look for bad caps on a laptop :-(. (however I suspect, it is likely either fault dvd-firmware, fault video hard or bad caps, I did notice some other funky behaviors...., I will be running a stress test diagnostic shortly before returning to the customer)... thank you for the input, I am really leaning towards out of date firmware also. Upon completion of the install, the driverpack driver(with the one file from the dell release) was a newer version than the dell version, causing a BSOD. Upon starting and safe mode and "downgrading" the driver, everything appears to function properly.. so far..

On my first reinstall attempt I encountered two seperate corruption of file issues(after succesfully testing the hardrive twice with my notebook-usb adapter, and two seperate memtests of 7-passes each), along with some dvd-read errors after cleaning the drive.

grrr, I think I feel a no machines older than 5 years policy in the works

at any rate, I will do a stability test, and at that point I have done WAY more than I was obligated to do.

Re: [SLVD]Intel Extreme Graphics 855 GM on Dell inspiron 1150 -- epic fail

and for what it's worth I'm not a user either.. If I have a bad laptop GPU, I can reflow it, or just lift it from the board and fix the problem ;-P

Re: [SLVD]Intel Extreme Graphics 855 GM on Dell inspiron 1150 -- epic fail

cool.  wall-wart may be at issue.  compressed-air shot to clear the radiators.  battery restoration with 3 successive charge-discharge cycles.    Not really an epic fail on DP's part wouldn't you say?

Last edited by TechDud (2012-05-27 21:45:14)

Re: [SLVD]Intel Extreme Graphics 855 GM on Dell inspiron 1150 -- epic fail

zerohimself wrote:

it was the "Extreme graphics 855 GM" for a dell inspiron 1150


just reading a pc mag about issue, the feedback was if its an 1150 (or many other models) "they have a well known design fault"

Re: [SLVD]Intel Extreme Graphics 855 GM on Dell inspiron 1150 -- epic fail

You can always test the disc by using VirtualBox.  If you get read errors, then you know it's a bad burn and to burn a new disc at the slowest speed.  No need to use "extreme" troubleshooting procedures like scanning for "bad capacitors", "tin whiskers" or firmware upgrades when it's something simple.

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Re: [SLVD]Intel Extreme Graphics 855 GM on Dell inspiron 1150 -- epic fail

I agree. 
My confusion concerning whether the Inspiron 1150 was a desktop or laptop came from the image dell displays at one point for that model.
http://i.dell.com/das/dih.ashx/169x169/das/xa_____/global-site-design%20WEB/9428c668-47c3-adfe-d13e-9c4a8c2b9095/1/OriginalPng?id=Dell/Product_Images/eSupport/notebooks/inspiron_notebooks/laptop-inspiron-1150-overhead-esupport-149.jpg
from:  ../inspiron_notebooks/laptop-inspiron-1150-overhead-esupport-149.jpg

botus wrote:

"the feedback was if its an 1150 (or many other models) "they have a well known design fault""

Do they elaborate upon that design flaw in your pc mag botus?

I would assume that it wouldn't be the DC jack, as likely zerohimself would have noticed.  I tend to reason that a 'design-flaw' may have revolved around the lack of an updated Video BIOS to allow '4497 to work.  I refer to the release date of what may be the most up-to-date official BIOS for that model; it coincides somewhat with the older driver posted.
(reference:  http://downloads.dell.com/bios/1150_A07.TXT)
Ergo, the latest driver is significantly newer that the latest BIOS.  I have previously run into a similar issue on an i865G board, and prevailed with an updated BIOS of my own manipulation (i noted no discernible performance difference though).


I apologize for the 'shotgun' approach; i should have elaborated that what i listed were merely potential sources of error hoping to be effective as a 'first-responder'.  I will endeavor to simplify my approach to be more efficient in the future.

I've been thus-far stymied in my quest for a second [SLVD] topic! neutral

Last edited by TechDud (2012-05-28 07:44:51)

Re: [SLVD]Intel Extreme Graphics 855 GM on Dell inspiron 1150 -- epic fail

First thought was the DC in,so I used two different adapters ;-P
about 10 minutes after my last post, the HDD failed, and 10 minutes after that, a second LCD inverter failed....
after replacing both the HDD, and the another inverter, I am chalking it all up to old multiple failing components. and possibly dirty CDROM drive.

I suspect, that the install may have worked, had the HDD not began a catastrophic failure. HDD tested good before the install, then It appears, that the heads began impacting the disc about 30 minutes after beginning. With the new disc, I have had ABSOLUTELY no weird behavior, short of the LCD inverter going.

Almost scrapped the machine as a bad MOBO, but it became personal lol. It turns out that the HDD just had a really quick and almost unnoticed failure. It would have went unnoticed, had I not heard a PING come from the disc, and decided to test it again.

ahh the joys of "Vintage" hardware. lol

Re: [SLVD]Intel Extreme Graphics 855 GM on Dell inspiron 1150 -- epic fail

the inverter may (or may not) be failing due to a damaged or dying CCFL bulb.  A reddish tint is a good indicator (although you probably already know this).  Another panel may work well (15" 1024x768 or potentially 1280x1024).
The 30-pin connection to the panel is a VESA standard, yet i generally reference LCD datasheets to double-check pinouts & voltage, etc (I can do this for you if needed - just post the panel model #'s & mfg. name).  I also have a copy of the A1277 Dell Diagnostics CD if it helps.  http://ftp.dell.com/diags/cdd_1277.iso
From DDUP1277.exe:

Title      : Diagnostics:Dell 32-bit Diagnostics Utility Partition Contents Upgrade Tool Diagnostics Utility
Version    : A1277
OEM Name   : Dell
OEM Ver    : UpUpdate.A1277
Computers  : DE051, DE061, DM051, DM061, DV061, DXC051, DXC061, DXP051, DXP061, 1520, 1521, 1720, 1721, MM061, MXC051, DXG051, DXG061, MXG051, MXG061, MXP061; Dimension - 2300, 2300C, 2350, 2400, 2400C, 3000, 4500C, 4550, 4590T, 4600, 4600C, 4700, 4700C, 5000, 5100, 5100C, 8250, 8300 / 8300N, 8400, 9100, C521, DC051, DV051, E521, XPS, XPS (Gen 5), XPS Gen 2, XPS Gen 3, Dimension - XPS Gen 4; Inspiron - 1000, 1100, 1150, 1200, 1501, 2200, 300m, 4100, 4150, 500m, 5100, 510m, 5150, 5160, 6000, 600m, 700m, 710m, 8200, 8500, 8600, 9100, 9200, 9300, B120, B135/1400, E1415/650m, ME051, MP061, MXC061, XPS, Inspiron - XPS Gen 2; Latitude - 100L, 110L, 120L , 130L, 131L, C400, C510 / C610, C540 / C640, C840, D400, D410, D420, D500, D505, D510, D520, D531, D600, D610, D620, D630, D631, D800, D810, D820, D830, V740, X1, Latitude - X300; OptiPlex - 160L, 170L, 210L, 320, 740, 745, 745c, GX240, GX260, GX270 / GX270N, GX280, GX520, GX60, GX620, L60, SX260, SX270 / SX270N, OptiPlex - SX280; Precision - 340, 350, 360 / 360N, 370, 380, 390, 450, 470, 490, 530, 650, 670, 690, M20, M4300, M50, M60, M6300, M65, M70, Precision - M90; SmartPC - 300D / 400D, SmartPC - 350D / 450D; M1720, MXC062,

  Dell Inspiron 1150 Service Manual --> http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/s … ns1150/sm/
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1150/sm/cpu3.jpg

Wikipedia wrote:

"One other problem can happen with the wattage rating of the power supply. There are 2 Dell power supplies that were used for different Inspiron models which have the same plug assembly and voltage, a 65 watt supply model PA-6 and a 90 watt supply model PA-9. Some models for example the Inspiron 1100 shipped with a PA-9. If a PA-6 (or equivalent aftermarket supply) is used in these models then the system might not boot at times. In such cases, it will light the battery light for a few seconds when the supply is plugged in. This can also happen if the power supply becomes marginal. Marginal supplies can show as supplying full voltage even if tested with a volt meter while the supply is plugged into the computer and an attempt is made to turn on the computer."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell_Inspiron

Wikipedia also says that overheating is a major caveat of this product.  Considering the desktop-style CPU,  the integrated heat-spreaders (and heat sinks) are rarely perfectly flat.  They are "within tolerance".  I also noted with s478 Prescott mobile CPU's with HyperThreading are much more efficient with HT disabled.  I dropped 15 degrees Celsius on a Toshiba Satellite A70 just by turning it off (D.P.C. latency also dramatically improved).  Your experience may vary.  This is where a cheap plugin power meter is helpful.  I also note that every 10 degree Celsius drop in temperature doubles the lifespan of ordinary electrolytic capacitors; the effect is more pronounced with Solid Polymer Electrolytics.  Tantalum capacitors can experience explosive failure modes (very rare).

The nice thing about restoring "vintage" equipment is that the principles of restoration can apply to even the newest of hardware. 

The lion's share of my equipment is similarly restored, and typically lasts a minimum of 3 years of full-time usage.  That period starts long after any OEM warranty had expired.  This includes "wall-warts" (especially those with ID chips).  "Wall-warts" can only be properly tested under load.

I consider Henry Ford, and his "production engineering" as my inspiration (his wife had AFIK the first electric car in Detroit).  For it is often the needs of production engineering that are the root of failure.  Think of what is involved in the restoration of the drivetrain & safety systems in an automobile, apart from "cosmetics".

Tomorrow i get to tackle a Sony KDS-60A2020 1080p projection TV with the "green" tint issue!

Last edited by TechDud (2012-05-28 17:19:13)

Re: [SLVD]Intel Extreme Graphics 855 GM on Dell inspiron 1150 -- epic fail

TechDud wrote:

botus wrote:

"the feedback was if its an 1150 (or many other models) "they have a well known design fault""

Do they elaborate upon that design flaw in your pc mag botus?


PC Advisor (UK mag) June 2012 edition...Page 105

guy has a dell laptop crashing within 1 or 2 mins of boot , seemingly heat releated (even when in BIOS)

response....

"inspiron models: 1100, 1150, 5100, 5150 may suffer from a known design fault that could cause the sort of symptoms you describe"

Last edited by botus (2012-05-29 07:33:26)

Re: [SLVD]Intel Extreme Graphics 855 GM on Dell inspiron 1150 -- epic fail

I love this forum already ;-P

So, can a failing CCFL cause the inverters to fail? is this a permanent issue, or will the inverters work properly if I plug them into a good CCFL? I have 3 of these dell *proprietary* inverters, and they all hum really loud, and cut out after about 3 seconds. the last one worked in the dell for about 12 hours, now it just cuts out after 3 seconds, and I am about to order a new one.. I don't want to put it in if the CCFL is just going to cause it to burn out.

I have noticed that for the most part, all of my LCD panels are interchangable, but I need one that fits this machine, I think I got 2 toshiba tecra M2's I could scavage they look like they might be the right size..

This whole "is it the CCFL or is it the inverter" issue is driving me nuts... this is not the first one that I am having this issue with

Re: [SLVD]Intel Extreme Graphics 855 GM on Dell inspiron 1150 -- epic fail

If you have a Ohm Meter, you should find infinite resistance between each CCFL end & the panel chassis, as well as each other (while unplugged from the inverter).

  I had a novel idea; use a Digital Capacitance Meter (& a couple of pins) to test the CCFL bulb.  It should read a few tenths of a nano-Farad or so.  If it reads a great deal more, or doesn't register (including 0.001 nF or less - probably a broken bulb), it's probably bad news for the CCFL.  I have no burnt bulbs to double-check this theory (AFIK), though it's consistent throughout my spare panel collection (all but one i suspect to be bad - an 11" circa 1999 that reads a few hundred nano-Farads; i'll rip it apart later to see if an end is burnt - just like a regular failed fluorescent bulb).  (False alarm, the few hundred nano-Farads were from me accidentally touching both probes & tainting the reading- that bulb appeared OK).  There are standalone dedicated power-supplies strictly for testing CCFL's.  Akin to wall-wart testing, CCFL's are likely best tested under load.

  To protect the laptop, they do usually include a Surface-Mount fuse or two on the inverter itself.  I've never heard one hum, though.  Were they victims of spillage?  Sometimes pins get bent inside connectors.  Last time that happened to me, i burnt a CCFL connector.

  One of the odd-size panels may help diagnose those inverters, if you have one you're willing to risk.  With a pin it may be possible to exchange CCFL plugs, rather than chopping the wires.  The fun part is figuring out which side of the connector the manufacturer put the retaining clip.  If the clips don't fit properly, you may need to move on, unless you can solder & insulate the joint with shrink-tube.  High-Voltage joinery must always be properly insulated due to risks of shock, smoke, &/or fire (with earth, &/or water to follow!)

There's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip.  -  Mark Twain  smile

Edit:  it appears that dell caught the image mixup.

Last edited by TechDud (2012-05-29 20:38:04)

Re: [SLVD]Intel Extreme Graphics 855 GM on Dell inspiron 1150 -- epic fail

When you are able, could you check to see what version is in your inspiron?  Here's a reference in a BIOS update to the Inspiron 700m Series with an i855g chipset

"Build Date:   05/18/2005               

Intel 855GM Video BIOS version is 3104."
ftp://ftp.dell.com/bios/700m_A04.txt

I found the latest Video BIOS directly from intel.  No batteries included; what is included is a battery of VidBIOS modules.

mtg_1235.vbt contains, not having wrote:

"Intel(r)852GM/852GME/855GM/855GME PCI Accelerated SVGA BIOS
Build Number: 1235 PC 14.4   07/18/2005  09:51:21
DECOMPILATION OR DISASSEMBLY "[MUY PROHIBIDOS]"
  Copyright (C) 2000-2003 Intel Corp. All Rights Reserved."

Intel seems to recommend {DriverVer=11/03/2005, 6.14.10.4421} for that chipset, with that VidBIOS.

intel wrote:

"This file is intended for use by Developers."

  here --> http://downloadmirror.intel.com/9630/a0 … xp1418.zip
Production Version 14.18.0.4421 Release Notes

The driver for the i865G series contains one additional VidBIOS; the one for the i865G series {DriverVer=08/24/2005, 6.14.10.4384}.  The VidBIOS for the i852/i855 series appear the same as the one in the driver for the i852/i855 series above.
http://downloadmirror.intel.com/9353/a0 … xp1416.zip  The Embedded driver for the i915GME series {DriverVer=01/13/2007, 6.14.10.4764} has newer VidBIOS's for the i910-i945 series chipsets and adds a VidBIOS for the i96x series.  http://downloadmirror.intel.com/15219/e … _25_50.zip  Naturally, the VidBIOS's aren't interchangeable, and driver interchangeability is rather limited.

More VidBIOS's, including i945, i965 & g35 series exist in the first Vista driver for the i945 series chipsets.  http://downloadmirror.intel.com/14430/e … ta_156.zip  http://downloadmirror.intel.com/14429/e … 64_156.zip

There's also an Embedded driver and VidBIOS available for most of this hardware {DriverVer = 06/04/2006,5.1.0.838}, although it is decidedly non-WHQL, and most likely a non-starter .  Definitely, only use at your own risk!  Release Notes:  http://downloadmirror.intel.com/9870/en … in_5_1.txt  VidBIOS Release Notes:  http://downloadmirror.intel.com/9867/en … OS_5_1.txt

intel wrote:

"The Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers (IEGD) have been developed from the ground up to specifically target the needs of embedded platform developers, offering an alternative to drivers designed for the desktop and mobile market segments.

The IEGD Video BIOS is specifically designed for use with IEGD, and is supported on a majority of the embedded Intel® Architecture roadmap, including the Intel® 815/E chipset "[and including the Intel® 845GV and 852/855GME chipsets.]".

The IEGD Video BIOS utilizes the same code based as the drivers, providing the same flexibility in configuration as the drivers.

This package contains release 5.1 of the Video BIOS to be used in conjunction with the IEGD 5.1 driver releases."
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_ … p;lang=eng

This may or may not be relevant:  http://downloadmirror.intel.com/9071/en … LVBIOS.txt

EDIT:  That's hilarious, the image is that of a desktop, again. lol

intel has no driver listed for "Mobile Intel® 910GML Express Chipset", "Mobile Intel® 915 Express Chipset Family " & the "Mobile Intel® 945 Express Chipset Family ", except what appears to be the same linux driver as the i852/i855 series (includes support for i865G).
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_ … p;lang=eng
That aforementioned Developer driver contains all four Video BIOS's.

Another thought occurs, perhaps all of this legwork has been done before, and an older DP_Graphics pack might work swimmingly.
Stuff happens.

Last edited by TechDud (2012-05-30 14:51:51)

Re: [SLVD]Intel Extreme Graphics 855 GM on Dell inspiron 1150 -- epic fail

@techdud, I will check the CCFL as far as I can with my multimeter, since I am going to attempt a backlight replacement on this machine. I may PM you(does dp have a PM function?), to ask more specifically what you mean about a few things, as for the version, you totally lost me. I will check the bios version, i don't know where to start to check the vidbios version, but please provide me with any directions, and I will check. I might be good at what I do, but I still have a lot to learn!!!

This may be resolved, when I do a reinstall in a day or two, with a good HDD in the system... I will probably find out tomorrow.  Oh, is there a vista/7 driver compatible with this chipset?? I have several Dells, that are not 7 compatible due to lack of display(or sound) drivers... If there is a vista/7 driver, how do I get vista/7 to pick it up, as device mgmr->update driver never finds any compatible drivers... even with xp I have noticed that some drivers, cannot be found in the same fashion, but when DP is slipstreamed, it will pick up the drivers...????  I wish I had enough time to sit here and figure this out, but I do a lot of reinstallls and don't have time to sit here and "play".

Re: [SLVD]Intel Extreme Graphics 855 GM on Dell inspiron 1150 -- epic fail

zerohimself wrote:

Oh, is there a vista/7 driver compatible with this chipset??

No.  You are out of luck on that old system.
http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/CS-030907.htm

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Re: [SLVD]Intel Extreme Graphics 855 GM on Dell inspiron 1150 -- epic fail

intel wrote:

"    Windows XP* Driver Model (XPDM).  XPDM drivers deliver an interface that visually resembles Windows XP, but these drivers do not support Windows 7 OS premium features such as Microsoft Aero* and only offer limited functionality on some computers.

Note     Intel has not tested XPDM graphics drivers on the Windows 7 operating system."

intel wrote:

"Note     Intel has only tested XPDM graphics drivers on Windows Vista for the following integrated graphics controllers: Intel 82865 Graphics Controller, Intel 82915G/82910GL Express Chipset family, and the Mobile Intel 915GM/GMS, 910GML Express Chipset family."
http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/CS-029325.htm

I can confirm that the latest XP driver worked well on a "Intel® 82915G/82910GL Express Chipset" on Win7_x86.  Aero support worked "tickety-boo" (DX9.0c PS2.0/VS2.0).  No sense running any graphically-intense games upon it, performance won't allow.  Will it play video at 1080p or greater?  I don't know.  I have not tried.  It seemed to function well enough for most web pages, including video.  Thankfully the monitor i was using didn't require a custom video mode.
Reference

  As for the i855G?  Good question.  If the XPDM driver works for you in 7x86, you could consider requesting it's addition to DriverPacks B nt6_x86.

Additionally, it appears that the i852GME had a 533MHz FSB available.  Consider downgrading the CPU if possible, applicable & relevant.

PS:  you can usually find the BIOS version using intel's control panel usually included with the driver.
PPS:  you can actually use an external monitor on most laptops without the built-in panel connected.
          Just ensure that both the panel LVDS cable & the inverter are disconnected from the motherboard.
          Sometimes it is best to completely remove the LCD-half of a laptop to prevent possible damage.

Edit:  Oh, backlight replacement;  tricky stuff.  Usually easier to replace the panel.  AKA "the Last Resort".
          -The plastic sheets inside must remain in the original configuration.
          -Dust & fingerprint contamination is a concern.
          -Reassembly requires patience to avoid damage to the panel.
          -Panels are as sharp as glass, maybe more-so.
          -Do not break insulation.
          -Backlight wiring is High-Voltage & although the currents are low,
            somewhat like Vogon Poetry it has the potential to kill, maim &/or torture. yikes
          -Like a garden-hose under pressure; if you don't pinch or puncture it, it shouldn't leak.
          -Bulbs contain mercury.  Broken bulbs are a nightmare, treat like asbestos; never use a vacuum to clean debris.

Last edited by TechDud (2012-06-02 20:25:27)

Re: [SLVD]Intel Extreme Graphics 855 GM on Dell inspiron 1150 -- epic fail

Well, the followup; after the new hdd, and a failed 7 installation; the XP with driverpacks installed without a problem. guess it was due to the corrupt harddrive that I was having problems with missing files.. As for the backlight, I am already committed, and am awaiting the CCFL in the mail. I'll post a followup and let you know how it went.

I gotta run right now, just successfully completed a PCB repair on a WD 500gb sata drive ;-P !!!! Went from a click-click-click to a successful spin-up!!!! smile

Re: [SLVD]Intel Extreme Graphics 855 GM on Dell inspiron 1150 -- epic fail

PCB repair?  I have a WD5000AAKS that has similar, if not the same, issue.  Should i be looking at the TVS Diodes?  Any thoughts on WD2500BEVT? (I'd like to recover my brother's wedding video - it ended up the only copy)

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You are not the only one!
  Standing upon the backs of the Giants here is what makes me look taller. smile

Last edited by TechDud (2012-06-09 02:27:41)

Re: [SLVD]Intel Extreme Graphics 855 GM on Dell inspiron 1150 -- epic fail

TechDud wrote:

PCB repair?  I have a WD5000AAKS that has similar, if not the same, issue.  Should i be looking at the TVS Diodes?

I would probably suspect the Marvel chip due to what I have read and seen... on all of my drives, the thermal insulation foam appears burnt around the chip.. even when the chip is in a different location, furthermore, I see evidence of excessive heat, on one side of the ram chip, and the plates and pins where the PCB connects to the drive housing.

Repair may be a poor choice of words.. Cleaning would be better. however, I had 4 ( a WD5000AAJS, WD7500AAKS, a WD500AAKS, and (not sure model, but same line 1.0TB in size)) that all suffered from the 5-click, then spindown problem
It turned out to be corroded contacts where the PCB connects to the drive housing.

and a PCB replacement is almost pointless, there is either an 8-pin rom(or other flash device) or onboard storage on the marvel chip that stores drive specific data that is used to read/write to the disk... A board swap will fix the bad circuit, but the onboard controller REQUIRES the data from the old chip to access the drive. In order to swap the PCB if that is the problem, you need to either swap the flash/proccessor chip or get a data recovery company to adapt the new rom to your old data...

^ if the PCB even helps... I got lucky with my 4 drives ;-P

after you check the contacts CHECK OUT THIS FORUM!!!! (http://forum.hddguru.com)
In my case (4x different WDxxxxAAxS drives) the PCB had bad contact points to the drive...

I gently cleaned the contact pins and pads with a dry dish sponge(and GENTLY with the tip of my leatherman utility knife), and then cleaned them up more with 99% isopropyl alcohol and q-tips, and made sure it was dry before i reassembled. I was very careful to align and center the mounting tabs, and screw holes before tightening the screws.

BIG PIX!!!!
http://threeriverscomputerservice.com/pics/WDHDD/WD5000AAJS-pcb-front.jpg

http://threeriverscomputerservice.com/pics/WDHDD/WD5000AAJS-foam.jpg

http://threeriverscomputerservice.com/pics/WDHDD/WD5000AAJS-mounting.jpg

Last edited by zerohimself (2012-06-09 04:18:15)

Re: [SLVD]Intel Extreme Graphics 855 GM on Dell inspiron 1150 -- epic fail

Thank you for taking time to respond!  This forum sees so little feedback.

A board swap is pretty-much pointless without a controller like the PC-3000 or similar.
My drive had only slight discoloration of the Head-assembly pads & ground-pads.  An eraser cleaned them up, including the reverse-side, without risking the protective coating with 2000-grit (and an isopropyl 'rinse').  In my case, the hynix buffer chip seems discolored yet cleaned up well.  Any advise for jumper settings before power-up?  I think 5-6 limits the interface to SATA-I.  For now, i'm leave no jumpers set & ditching the foamy for testing.

A quick TVS diode-test with the digital meter yields 0.555V (- lead on striped-end - forward polarity) and only briefly measurable with reverse-polarity.
The other one is 0.676V forward & 1.60V with reverse-polarity.  Neither are shorted or open.

I hope your efforts are not in vain on that laptop.  Have you been able to get any info on battery capacity / battery wear-level?  LinuxMint's System Profiler & Hardware Info should yield this info.  CPUID has HWMonitor for Windows, if the Chipset/Charge Controllers are supported (sometimes you have to start it on battery-power only to have these figures displayed, depending upon version, IIRC).


Perhaps post #19 to #21 could be moved into the "Hardware" section of the forum, Mr. Admin, say under "HDD repair"? hmm

Last edited by TechDud (2012-06-09 13:49:21)

Re: [SLVD]Intel Extreme Graphics 855 GM on Dell inspiron 1150 -- epic fail

TechDud wrote:

Thank you for taking time to respond!  This forum sees so little feedback.

A board swap is pretty-much pointless without a controller like the PC-3000 or similar.
My drive had only slight discoloration of the Head-assembly pads & ground-pads.  An eraser cleaned them up, including the reverse-side, without risking the protective coating with 2000-grit (and an isopropyl 'rinse').  In my case, the hynix buffer chip seems discolored yet cleaned up well.  Any advise for jumper settings before power-up?  I think 5-6 limits the interface to SATA-I.  For now, i'm leave no jumpers set & ditching the foamy for testing.

A quick TVS diode-test with the digital meter yields 0.555V (- lead on striped-end - forward polarity) and only briefly measurable with reverse-polarity.
The other one is 0.676V forward & 1.60V with reverse-polarity.  Neither are shorted or open.

Don't know about the jumpers.., haven't had to dig that far into it yet, but I would have left them factory set. as for the diodes, unless you know what they are and can look up the specs, your guess is as good as mine, maybe you can find some schematics somewhere(or ask on that hddguru's forum i mentioned).  But I would leave the foam... It is either to prevent shorts or act as a heat sink or both.. my understanding is that those chips get WWWAAAYYY too hot, and that is usually what causes the problems with corrosion or the chip failing, from what I read, when the PCB board is at fault, it is usually due to that chip failing.. if you have some liquid noclean flux, you could flux everything up and either stick in a oven to reflow, or use a hot air rework station, but that is a whole other thread...(and may not fix anything, and could make things worse!!!)..

go check out that thread, I read a post about someone having trouble, and one of the guys helped him trouble shoot with a youtube video, and they eventually fixed it!!!, I know a little about a lot of stuff, but they know a lot more about HDD behaviors and symptoms  than I do.. I suspect I just got lucky with what my problem was...(well, I wouldn't quit until there was no more options... hehe )

I wish I could claim I was more of a HDD expert, but I'm not..(yet..) But I still hope my couple posts help someone!!

Re: [SLVD]Intel Extreme Graphics 855 GM on Dell inspiron 1150 -- epic fail

and as for the laptop, the battery held up at idle (maybe doing updates) for about an hour... I'm not concerned with it, and the owner isn't either, I think he is just more concerned about having a portable get-me-on-the net machine.. I offered to do the backlight for free as a "this is now personal" issue with the laptop.(i know, i'm going to regret that one lol).

I quoted him for a inverter, and it has taken a while for the parts(and the inverter didn't do it!!), and at this point I am aiming for a happy customer.

too bad that most people aren't as nice and don't care as much as I do... I would like to believe that some day it will pay off!

Re: [SLVD]Intel Extreme Graphics 855 GM on Dell inspiron 1150 -- epic fail

TechDud wrote:

A quick TVS diode-test with the digital meter yields 0.555V (- lead on striped-end - forward polarity) and only briefly measurable with reverse-polarity.
The other one is 0.676V forward & 1.60V with reverse-polarity.  Neither are shorted or open.

see here http://hddscan.com/doc/HDD_from_inside.html

Another protection device called Transient Voltage Suppression diode or TVS diode. It protects PCB from power surges from external power supply. When TVS diode detects power surge it fries itself and creates short circuit between power connector and ground.

another article http://forums.seagate.com/t5/Barracuda- … m-p/118908

4/ What are the symptoms of a shorted TVS diode?

A shorted TVS diode that is connected directly across a +12V or +5V supply rail, without any series connected protection devices (eg fuse, polyswitch, inductor, zero-ohm resistor), will cause the external power supply (PSU) to go into overcurrent protection mode and shut down.

The usual symptom for a PC PSU is a single kick of the fan after pressing the on/off button, followed by immediate shutdown.

A typical symptom for an external hard drive may be a rapidly flashing LED.

If the drive has additional protection devices, then these may go open circuit as a consequence of diode failure. One example would be an open fuse, usually 2 amp or 4 amp. Other examples are burnt inductors in some Seagate models, and open zero-ohm resistors in Western Digital models. In such cases the drive will not shut down the PSU, but it will not spin up or be detected by BIOS.

5/ How do I test a TVS diode?

A TVS diode can be tested on the diode test range of a digital multimeter. It will have a low resistance in the forward direction, and a high resistance in the reverse direction.

However, an in-circuit test will be complicated by the fact that the diode is connected directly across a particular supply rail. This means that the meter will be measuring the resistance of everything connected to that supply. In reality, all we are interested in is whether the diode is shorted or not, so I would suggest that the 200 ohms range could be used in preference to the diode test. On this range the meter outputs a lower test current at a lower test voltage, which means that its reading is less likely to be affected by nearby devices (ie PN junctions).

If the meter reads close to 0.0 ohms, then the diode is most probably bad. There could be a shorted component elsewhere on the PCB, but you won't know this until you eliminate the most likely suspect.

Hope it helps!!

EDIT:: don't know if this applies to your PCB or not
http://forum.hddguru.com/noise-related- … t7986.html

PLEASE DON'T DO WHAT THIS GUY DID!!!! http://forum.hddguru.com/wd5000aaks-00t … 15491.html

Last edited by zerohimself (2012-06-09 18:05:57)

Re: [SLVD]Intel Extreme Graphics 855 GM on Dell inspiron 1150 -- epic fail

I always wondered what those components labelled as "SK1" or similar were.
http://hddscan.com/doc/HDD_from_inside.html
That page shows it as a shock sensor.  I had a drive that complained of this, successfully updated it's firmware (from Fujitsu to IBM - had to hack to make possible), yet it still complained of excessive shock.  This after a few hours of waiting for the drive to be zeroed, then for it to run the advanced scan.
Learn something new every day.


Some info you might find useful from ONsemi (former division of Motorola):
TVS/Zener Diode Theory

Soldering and Mounting Techniques - Reference Manual

pg88 wrote:

"This is a very important step to ensure the board, surrounding components and the targeted components are not damaged in the rework/replacement process. Before the rework or removal can take place all residual moisture inherent in the assembly should be eliminated using a dry bake process."
...
" a general rule of thumb is to perform a 24-hour bake at 125°C. Be aware that some parts on the application board may not be able to withstand the peak temperature of 125°C."
..
"In the event of potential damage at 125°C, an alternate lower temperature process is 96 hours at 50°C/10%RH."

See page 86 for an example of "popcorning".
I find a 24hr bake at 80°C most helpful to avoid this phenomenon.

Low-melt solder for removal intrigues me.  http://www.zeph.com/lowmelt.htm
(Note:  I have no ties present or past to that company; this is not a recommendation, only information.)

Last edited by TechDud (2012-06-10 16:47:07)