Inspiron 8100 IDE controller ?

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Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Howdy all,
My wife has a new Inspiron and I'm trying to get her older 8100 up and
running for myself. There are two problems with it, and the lesser of the
two is that the screen starts getting the fuzzies while you're working, but
that's easily fixed with a little tap. I know... I know... The second
problem is the one that I'm wondering about: The hard drive and CD will
occasionally go AWOL. They don't show up in the BIOS, and the machine
doesn't boot because it can't find a boot device. Some days it works, some
days it doesn't. It was working fine when I left it on overnight last
night, and when I got to the lab this morning, it had lost it's drives
again. On the face of it, it sounds like a thermal problem and I have to
tell you that my wife did NOT keep enough space around the fans when she was
using it, so I have to wonder if something is semi-fried in the IDE
circuitry. On the other hand, it could be a loose cable or something that
is only making contact at a certain temperature, and here is where you might
help me: Is the IDE circuitry built into the motherboard with drive
connections made via cable ? Or are the drive connectors hard-soldered onto
the MB ? I found a neat site online that had the disassemble manual for the
8100, but I was hoping to get opinions and facts before I went digging.
Anyone have any ideas on this ? Many thanks in advance for the kind answers
and comments.
 
B

BigJim

Distinguished
Apr 2, 2004
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18,980
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

sounds like the video cable is loose and it may need a new hard drive.
I would log onto the dell site and check the manual for the computer
you may be able to fix it yourself.
"Woof ! <pant> <pant>" <woofer@bay.org> wrote in message
news:H2l2e.4444$FN4.595@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com...
> Howdy all,
> My wife has a new Inspiron and I'm trying to get her older 8100 up and
> running for myself. There are two problems with it, and the lesser of the
> two is that the screen starts getting the fuzzies while you're working,
> but that's easily fixed with a little tap. I know... I know... The
> second problem is the one that I'm wondering about: The hard drive and CD
> will occasionally go AWOL. They don't show up in the BIOS, and the
> machine doesn't boot because it can't find a boot device. Some days it
> works, some days it doesn't. It was working fine when I left it on
> overnight last night, and when I got to the lab this morning, it had lost
> it's drives again. On the face of it, it sounds like a thermal problem
> and I have to tell you that my wife did NOT keep enough space around the
> fans when she was using it, so I have to wonder if something is semi-fried
> in the IDE circuitry. On the other hand, it could be a loose cable or
> something that is only making contact at a certain temperature, and here
> is where you might help me: Is the IDE circuitry built into the
> motherboard with drive connections made via cable ? Or are the drive
> connectors hard-soldered onto the MB ? I found a neat site online that
> had the disassemble manual for the 8100, but I was hoping to get opinions
> and facts before I went digging. Anyone have any ideas on this ? Many
> thanks in advance for the kind answers and comments.
>
>
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"BigJIm" <Jim10277@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:FMudneulT9_cqNffRVn-gA@comcast.com...
> sounds like the video cable is loose and it may need a new hard drive.
> I would log onto the dell site and check the manual for the computer
> you may be able to fix it yourself.

Yup, I see where you're going. Maybe a bit of history behind this laptop
would come in handy: We bought the laptop for my wife so that we could take
it when we travel when she's not using it at home. She took it to Africa
with her a couple of years ago, and told me six months afterwards <ahem>
that she had dropped it on the trip. Ever since that time, the screen
slowly got the fuzzies, she'd tap it on the side, and the image would
sharpen up again. Sort of like the TV in our house when I was a kid. So
that particular problem is probably just a loose connection. The drive
problem however, is another kettle of fish. When the drive first misbehaved
a while back, I changed it. So now the unit has a whole new drive, and it's
still malfunctioning. The reason I think it's the controller circuitry, is
because the CD ROM isn't recognized in the BIOS any more than the missing
drive. If it were just the hard drive, the CD should still show up. I
wasn't aware that I could access the repair manual on DELL's website. I'll
go looking for it but if you have a URL it would come in handy. Thanks.
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

all dell docs are to be found here;
http://support.dell.com/support/systemsinfo/documentation.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~cat=12

"Woof ! <pant> <pant>" <woofer@bay.org> wrote in message
news:fJA2e.4765$FN4.107@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com...
> "BigJIm" <Jim10277@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:FMudneulT9_cqNffRVn-gA@comcast.com...
>> sounds like the video cable is loose and it may need a new hard
>> drive.
>> I would log onto the dell site and check the manual for the computer
>> you may be able to fix it yourself.
>
> Yup, I see where you're going. Maybe a bit of history behind this
> laptop would come in handy: We bought the laptop for my wife so that
> we could take it when we travel when she's not using it at home. She
> took it to Africa with her a couple of years ago, and told me six
> months afterwards <ahem> that she had dropped it on the trip. Ever
> since that time, the screen slowly got the fuzzies, she'd tap it on
> the side, and the image would sharpen up again. Sort of like the TV
> in our house when I was a kid. So that particular problem is probably
> just a loose connection. The drive problem however, is another kettle
> of fish. When the drive first misbehaved a while back, I changed it.
> So now the unit has a whole new drive, and it's still malfunctioning.
> The reason I think it's the controller circuitry, is because the CD
> ROM isn't recognized in the BIOS any more than the missing drive. If
> it were just the hard drive, the CD should still show up. I wasn't
> aware that I could access the repair manual on DELL's website. I'll
> go looking for it but if you have a URL it would come in handy.
> Thanks.
>
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Well, the disassembly of the 8100 revealed at least one interesting thing...
the connector to the ALPS touchpad was loose, and that explains why it
didn't work no matter which driver set I loaded (duh). I reseated that
connector and reseated the LCD connector after reinstalling the screen. I
can't tell if the screen will still get the fuzzies after a period of
operation, because the BIOS still doesn't recognize the fixed DVD/CD reader
or hard drive. If this were a desktop, I would pop in an IDE controller in
one of the slots and give that a shot, but this isn't an option here. It
seems obvious that I'm going to have to call DELL support and get this thing
fixed after the warranty has run out. I'm used to calling their support and
getting good service for our units at work (I'm the SysAdmin for a mainly
DELL house) which are on warranty. I would like to know if anyone has any
advice or comments about DELL support for personal units being repaired
after warranty expiry. Was the cost alright ? Time ? Hassle ? Thanks.

Ed
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Woof ! <pant> <pant> wrote:
> "Pen" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote in message
> news:GcidnRlThfC_Q9ffRVn-gw@adelphia.com...
>
>>all dell docs are to be found here;
>>http://support.dell.com/support/systemsinfo/documentation.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~cat=12
>
>
> That is just plain cool. Many, Many thanks for this. It saves a lot of
> time digging. Zehr kool.

Indeed, many thanks!
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

This is very interesting!!! I have the same problem. My Inspiron 8100
was not able to boot some times. Eventually, two weeks ago my sister
left it switched on for a day and after that the laptop does not boot
at all. I have checked all IDE connection and they are OK.
Unfortunately, the IDE controller is on-board, so I have to look for
motherboard replacement. Note that both CD-RW and HDD are not
recognised from the motherboard. I tried to leave connected only one
at the time but it did not work. The laptop work fine if you try to
boot from floppy. Just before ordering the replacement I will buy a
2,5” to 3.5” HDD adaptor to make sure that the HDD works. All these
support my conclusion that the IDE is dead.
 
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