The Dell OptiPlex BTX Trio ... Do they work??
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- Опубликовано: 24 окт 2023
- Your eyes are not tricking you!! That's right...you are seeing 3 Dell OptiPlex systems in the BTX form factor on the bench! These systems have been saved from E-Waste... what condition are they in? Will they Post? Let's find out!
#nostalgia #retropc #dell #optiplex #vintage #retropc #retro #intel #pentium #ewaste #pcrepair #btx #computer
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I worked at an office that used several generations of these machines. The reliability of them never impressed us while they were in service, and a few years after they were all replaced I went through the old computer pile testing which machines could be wiped and re-sold. All the AMD powered ones- Optiplex 740- still worked, but all of the Intel ones (760 and 780) were dead.
I never got to experience these systems so I can't comment on reliability. However simple little things I had to do to get them going again, could have been the reason they were tossed.
Some of them are pretty notorious for their unreliability. I particularly wasn't surprised to see the 745 @Karataus featured in this video to not work. All of them I encounter just don't work. I believe those came out around the same time as the precision 380 and they still suffer from capacitor plague. They tend to kill themselves from bad leaky caps leaking onto the CPU mosfets.
For sure. I'll definitely have a better idea as I expose the board and go from there.
@@TheRetroRecall They all had the Dell numbered error lights on in varying combinations, and I didn't test them beyond swapping the RAM.
I kept a 740 and even put a Phenom X4 in it since it was AM2.
You won't believe it, but I'm writing these very lines on an Optiplex 780 with Core2Duo because my current laptop is currently under repair.
I remember when these BTX Dell Optiplex systems where everywhere. I used to have a Dell Optiplex 745 with a Core 2 Duo. A great machine.
Damn I remember the hype around BTX in around 2004, then it just died down quietly and was practically used only in OEM systems.
For sure. It actually drove people to build more ATX systems haha!
The Restaurant I worked at threw a bunch of these out. I grabbed them slapped new SSD drives in them installed Linux and turned them into little media center PCs. Good thing about these old Dells they are usually pretty quiet, so they are perfect for that.
A few people have mentioned that they turned them into Media Center PC's, interesting. What distro of Linux did you use?
Glad to see you are back to videoing PCs. I really was thinking you had "lost your way" recently. ;)
Haha I'll take that as a compliment... Have to appeal to many different audiences for the channel to grow :)
Exactly. If I was always just three computers on a bench each video, I feel it would get a bit boring. Good to add variety :)
Just found your channel and I love it.
Thank you and welcome aboard!!
I agree with you in saying I’ve always like the style of this case!! Awesome video!
Thanks!
The 'Fire' cards were designed for CAD use and were generally lower powered versions of the gaming versions designed to work with CAD drivers with greater stability and cooler running.
Awesome. I'm going to get the adapter cable so I can use it. So we're they any good for any games at all? Must have been better than the onboard video at least?
@@TheRetroRecall Not a gaming card in the least. The FireMV 2250 uses the same RV615 core as the Radeon X1300. They were quite gutless for gaming.
Awesome, great to know and thank you!
Yes, I grew up with them. The ones I was exposed to were the GX620 and 755 (most of them are 755, only some of the teachers in the staff room were issued GX620). I remembered when these displaced the GX260/280s during the later part of my primary school days. They were much favored by both students and teachers alike.
Years later when I was pursuing my diploma between 2015-2018, never did I expect to encounter them again. I like them so much, I own a desktop form factor Optiplex 330 myself which I didn't expect it to really last to this very day(the PSUs on the deskop form factor tend to kill themselves more frequently).
Love hearing these memories.
Awesome!!!
@@The_Rebel934 I learnt how to use photoshop with the retiring GX260/280s and the 755 that replaced them.
very nice!! I hope you can get the dual-core system up and running as well. Also yeah as far for office/business PC's OptiPlex are very well built and easy to maintain.
For sure, I hope so too! I am not entirely sure what the issue is yet - I will know more when I get more access to the board. Yes - for business environments, they are amazing.
The business class computers from major OEMs are usually milspec tested and therefore usually more durable than their consumer equivalents. We are a HP shop and they promoted that they would use a similar chassis design across at least two generations so I am not surprised others did as well. One design choice, at least on the Dell SFF models, was that the front badge could be rotated so it could match whether it was used as a desktop (flat) or tower.
We too bought a few of those FireMV cards for dual and quad monitor setups and, at least before the mini DP models, required breakout cables.
Thanks for sharing this, I love hearing these experiences.
Another great video! I hope YOU are doing awesome. 👍 The first Optiplex is perplexing. I am going to guess that the CPU is dead? Nice job on the second Optiplex... I have yet to pull sticks of RAM out of a unit and find that to have been the issue. I hope two of those extra sticks work for you. The third Optiplex.. I gave that NO shot of working. It was so full of dirt and nastiness... but wow did she fire right up. I LOVE the fact it had FOUR GIGS of RAM installed. That was a lot back then.. my goodness. As for the cases in General, I agree that they look great! Ventilation wasn't big on many computers in the day, but Dell said YEAH it kind of is a big deal. If you can't get the first unit to work, are you considering harvesting the Floppy Drive and installing it on the third?? Great content. Thank you so much. 👍👍
Thanks so much for this comment!! I am doing awesome!! :). I hope I can get the first one working. I will know more once I remove the board and have better access for testing. If all else fails, it will become spare parts for everything else haha! Thanks for watching and for your support!
Watching while cleaning an Optiplex 755 :P. Looking forward to see more of your awesome videos :).
Haha no way!!!! That's awesome! You should partner with TheRetroRecall... I would do the overviews, you can do the cleaning LOL! Thanks for your support and for watching... good luck on the Dell!
@@TheRetroRecall haha cleaning computers can be fun but sometimes tedious but it's all about bringing new life to old computers 😋
Absolutely! I'm always on a mission of saving them. Now, I need to build more storage space lol.
@@TheRetroRecall lol that's the downside of saving computers 🤣 you need more and more space.
Haha! Yes for sure. I'm not in trouble at home yet lol.
as soon as i saw these in the thumbnail... the first thing that came to mind was blown caps. sad days right there.
Any system with blown / bad caps are sad days :(. Fortunately I am repairing any I see when I do the restorations. I just hope I am able to make a little impact to save these systems!
I had a Dell GX620 up until a few years ago. It ran very well and I used it to reach myself Linux many years ago. My organization used OptiPlex 745 up until a few years ago, but only to run legacy medical equipment.
Nice! What Linus distros did you use?
@@TheRetroRecallCenOS and FreeNAS. I still always tell comp sci students and new co-workers to throw Linux on an old laptop you were going to recycle to get more experience with it. :)
Absolutely!
Really enjoying your content! I know small RUclips production is brutal, but the hiss and pops on your audio is rough to listen through. Keep going, exploring salvage is always wonderful!
The good and bad all mixed into one comment :) . It's rough to listen to / get through? Not sure what to say outside of that I am working to get new audio equipment. Hopefully it will get easier for you to get through the videos the future. :). Thanks for watching!
@@TheRetroRecall If you're already working on getting new audio gear, please ignore me! The early part of your video has very harsh ssssss noises, but it sounds like you're way ahead of that. :)
Check out the new vid release - HP Pavilion... You should see a substantial difference and it's not the audio device... :)
@@TheRetroRecall Caught it earlier today but wasn't paying full attention. Watching it a second time actively listening, and it sounds so much better. Your mic is peaking at the hiss noises, but that is not at all problem with where they're cutting off. 👌
Very appreciated!
I'm right on the wrong edge of 30 and can still hear CRTs, so my high range might still be a bit sensitive.
I still need to fix the noise supression ... But the rest should be resolved.
For systems that power on by themselves like that, if I want control over that I find a simple inline switch on the power cord is super useful to have. I actually have one of those old Memorex Power Centers set up in my testing area with a short extension to bring a port back out front for plugging in devices to test. Replaced the switches in that a couple years back since the little bulbs inside the original switches had gone flickery and died from years of use. That was a satisfying project to finish haha
Oh! Also yeah, the cable for the graphics card. I believe it's a DMS-59 adapter you're looking for. I have both DVI and VGA versions of it since I ran across a bunch of those cards in workstations like this. Theres also a very similar but incompatible connector on some cards that doesn't have the pin missing which I've also run across, that one goes by LFH-60. I made sure to color code and label mine to make sure I don't mix them up when I grab one from the cable drawer.
The port was kinda good for getting two monitor outputs on a low profile card, a little silly on the full height ones sometimes, although it does mean you can just swap a bracket to use the card in different system form factors. That said there are some more interesting full height cards out there which used two DMS-59 connectors to drive four monitors at once, would love to run across one of those hah
Smart!!!
Yes, I looked this up... They are widely available which is nice as I can use this card.
4... Imagine!
my old school had a mix of these and the SFF versions
Nice!
proprietary pci not pcie riser cage except for the fact that you could use a pcie riser cable and install full height dual slot cards that way. there's videos out there of people doing that to their small form factor builds
Good to know!
So I had one of these cards on an xp era Dell since it had no x16 slot. It was fine for what it was but I eventually replaced it with a PCI based card and shockingly that worked way better. Was physically more stable too
Nice!
Dell computers have built in diagnostic lights. They are inside that shiny plastic part near the usb on the front panel on these models. They light up as 1 2 3 4 and each light combination + the static/blinking orange power light will tell you exactly what's the problem after checking the manual on Dell's site. They can even tell you if the board is dead so you don't waste time in case that's the problem
For sure.. I did see that and used it. The error was 1/3 on the front implying video ram (according to the manual) however the system ram was the problem. Unless of course because it is shared video memory?
@@TheRetroRecall Probably yes. When ram is failing it can cause graphics artifacts just like dedicated gpu does when it's dying so that error would make sense
I have a Pentium 4 GX620 and a Core 2 Duo Optiplex 755 Both Great Machines .Dell made millions of these systems and parts are everwhere. UXWBill has a bunch of videos on these on his channel. Best of luck with yours and Thanks for the Video
Thank you!!!!
These cases were so nicely built. A few of them got to have some extended service life as stools/steps/doorstops for quite a few years after they were pulled from regular production. I wouldn’t trust the later designs to hold all my weight while getting at a wireless AP 😂
I think you'd like a late 2000's/ early 2010's Precision workstation even more for that use. I have a T5500, which is one of the models that came with that case and it's almost unnecessarily rugged and a heavy bastard as a result. The mere side panel weighs a ton, like 2 - 3 times what you'd expect, and is made with double-layer sheet metal and has a couple of reinforcement bars in it like it needed to be protected from a side collision. I mean WTH, it's not a car door!! 🤣
@@BilisNegra oh yeah I have a T3500 in the basement, that thing is so much heavier than it looks. Built so solidly. The Optiplex were just more commonly available around the office, and a bit more wide and less tall so more stable.
Lol.
Haha it really is crazy to think how over engineered some of these systems were.
Like the old packard bell towers!
OMG.. I installed SOOO many of these.. thing is. these NEVER broke.. Last one I replace as far as I remember was in 2019.. no joke with a new Dell w/WinPro 10 Dell OptiPlex.. It was used at a printing facility.. Used Raid 1, 2 500GB 72K drives.
Agreed, they are tanks! I'm sure there are some running even today!
Forgot to mention, these systems are like vacuum cleaners, especially the older Pentium 4 ones. They have that giant fan right in the front, and the large grille which loves to suck in dirt and debris from the floor and the air and plug itself up. At which the fans have to run faster and then it gets even more dust and dirt in it.
Haha it's very evident that this is the case! So dirty. Will be great to get them restored.
hey!
with clover efi boot software, you can use that PCIe x16 slot for an bootable NVME SSD. well at least it work for me as i run a gentoo media box with one of these old Dells.
Thanks for the tip I will check it out!
Subscribed because I am an old dell freak!! I've got about 7 optiplex's, a vintage dimension L800R, dimension 5150 and many more that I admittingly have forgotten about! I found an Optiplex 745 in my garage, one that I didn't know I had. It booted up instantly after not being used for about 2 years. The optiplex models range from SFF to MT with different ages as well, but all the same era as the ones featured here. I think I have a GX520, x2 745s, 760, 380, 755 and the rest (which are yet to be found!!) I'm not too sure on.
You can tell I'm a bit of a hoarder....! And this is just my dell stuff 😂
Haha well welcome aboard!!! Great having you along for the ride! I have made quite a few videos with Dell's in them so I hope you enjoy them and the rest :)
@@TheRetroRecall I spent a good couple of hours watching some of your other dell videos! Been meaning to get myself a dimension like the ones you had. Currently considering a laptop which is a bit different for me, a Dell (of course) Latitude X200. Very cheap find from ebay so it’s got me tempted!!
Hahaha that sounds awesome!!! Excited to hear how it goes
@@TheRetroRecall I’ll keep you updated!! Let me know when you restore these, or any of your sells for that matter lol, the GX620 is the oldest out of those 3, only a few slight differences but one that is quite noticeable when against the other 2 is that the actual plastic colour was a different shade to the newer ones! Also the fact your GX620 has an old style intel sticker compared to the newer ones on most Dells!
You really are a Dell specialist haha! I have quite a few more Dell's I haven't show on the channel yet as well :)
I have an Optiplex 360 I got from my Grandfather. It had a Pentium dual core E5300 in it when I got it and a 1tb hard drive. Right now it has a core 2 duo e8600 and an R7-350. I used it as my first gaming desktop for a few months to replace my AMD A6 Laptop. Back then it had the r7-350(I went through a few different ones since then) and a Q6700 with 4gb of DDR2. *EDIT* these dells have diagnostic LEDs on the front between the USB and audio jacks. Try to see what code that the 745 is giving.
Ah good point, I checked the front codes on the second machine but not the first! I will take a look at that prior to disassembling it! Thanks!
Front panel of those Dell systems from this era had a set of lights for diagnostics. The manual should give some codes. The light being amber, makes me wonder if someone tried a CPU upgrade without a BIOS update. Or they put in an incompatible CPU.
I will check that and yes, not coming out of reset, something is definitely up.
@@TheRetroRecall I've also seen these motherboard act strange with a flaky power supply.
Smart thinking.
Knoppix is one of the first live CD distros, if not the first. Installing is seems somehow... wrong... since it's designed to run live... but it is possible. Used to be a pain to actually install it, but my last experience with Knoppix is from the early days of it, so it may be easier these days. I'll have to check out a more modern version of it.
Thanks for this info - I know nothing about it but used it as per the recommendation of some viewers! :)
have the desktop version of the Optiplex 745. Bought another riser card to allow installing a PCIe graphics card. Installed a linux distro besides Windows Vista and used it as a media PC.
Awesome, sounds like a great machine. Is it still in use today?
@@TheRetroRecallIn storage. Should still be working. I need to retrieve at some time and dust it off. I have limited space at home.
Small addendum. The needs for what i wanted it to do outgrew the machine. Like 4k playback or even Full HD encoded in h265 or VP9. VP9 was not too much of a problem but the rise of 6 FPS videos on youtube was sometimes a struggle.
Dell and HP are my favorite computers all ways have....I stil looking for the XPS i think the name of it where there are light that blink in the front it is a giant big chassi
Yes, I think I know what you are referring to. I'll have to go take a look through the collection and see. Was it black or a beige case?
It was the black/silver..it is so strange a long time ago here in sweden you could find them and other parts etc easy but now it is like they are all gone or people keep them....
For sure, send me an email and I can let you know :)
The dell optiplex I use for everything is a 7020… i5, 16gb ram and it is a beast and does everything I want and got it for free 🥳
Free - awesome!!
Two out of three is okay!👍👍 It will be interesting to find out what the problem is with the core 2 duo pc..
For sure, I need to do much more testing to see why the CPU isn't coming out of reset.
Yeah, as much as I like saving things from the era of things that nobody thinks to save yet, and these certainly are; I just don't see much appeal in these systems. For the most part they are reliable. The 745s occasionally have issues with the motherboard and capacitors, and the 760s and 780s have power supply issues, other than that they are pretty solid machines. I personally just see them as boring though. Me and my friend have a business buying computers from surplus in bulk (normally around 200 or so per load) and taking them apart and selling parts out of them. We see a ton of optiplexes. At this point that style optiplex is too old to really sell anything from, and we still get them mixed in with the newer stuff a lot. I like to save a lot of the older stuff that we aren't going to sell, but those have lost any appeal to me. We probably scrap around 20 or so of those on a weekly basis, and while it is a waste, sadly people just don't want them and I have to save my room for more interesting items.
Definitely shows what appeals to some doesn't appeal to others - makes sense!
Great that you have "found" Knoppix. Will make testing systems much easier than installing an OS on a HDD.
Agreed. Great suggestions from TheRetroRecall viewers like you! Thanks for watching :)
My first pc was an optiplex 755. I remember thinking that the sticker which said "Core 2 vpro" was better than my school's 755 which had a "Core 2 Duo" sticker.
Nice!!
Might be a dual link DMS -59 DVI kinda adapter.
You are correct :)
I am currently using an Optiplex 755 as my main rig. It does what I need it too just fine.
Edit: These Dell systems have diagnostic lights on the front and Dell has a table on their website that shows each code and explains what it means.
See - a reason for older tech!
I had a GX620. I gave it to a friend and he said it ate up one of his hard drives somehow.
Interesting, never heard of a system doing that before. I would guess the HDD was already on its last legs.
I still have my Optiplex 780 with my Core2Quad Q9400, had a 580 with an AMD Opteron but ended up selling it. I thought the BTX was better for cooling, though Dell had some layout issues. You couldn't use a dual slot GPU with the intel version but you could with AMD.
I've had a number of cheaper GPU's with that pinout. I have a dual DVI and a Dual VGA breakout, but I kinna need them too for the cards they go with. You're looking for a DMS-59 connection.
Awesome and thank you!!
Trylen
Is it Intel Express G41 ?
I'm able to run Windows 10 on it in 1080p, modern games on GTX 1080
I worked on tons of these throughout my early career back in the day. So many of the GX620's and even some early 745's were plagued by bad/cheap capacitors. I lost count of how many small form factor GX620's that I replaced over the years due to faulty capacitors. (Of course, after their warranty had expired) TBH, I am glad Dell moved away from this form factor and started shrinking them down. These things were hulks for as little as they had inside of them. So much wasted space!
I never thought about that before - definitely and interesting perspective regarding the wasted space inside them. I guess I've always appreciated the space for more hardware lol. Although the SFF or Mini PC's today are quite sleek. I will say the systems of the day were quite hefty. As for the warranty... Isnt that always the way?? Lol.
I've been working in public education since 2011. We had all three of these models. We replaced SO many 745 boards and some GX620 boards for bad capacitors. Went through quite a few power supplies too. The 390s were fairly reliable for us.
i just picked up one of these about a month ago
Awesome! Hopefully you are getting some good use out of it. Curious - what OS did you use?
I want the M-disc DVD burner
Haha. Yeah, I haven't seen too many of them.
in my experience when that happens and the fans ramp up to full throttle and stay there, then the cpu is usually dead.
Yeah the CPU isn't coming out of reset. I'm going to do a deeper dive and see what I can find out :)
The ram might not be bad,sometimes taking it out and putting it back in fixes it.
Oh for sure. When I go to restore these systems much more work will be done :)
System No 1 sounded like an old car that wont start! 😂 Maybe it's the missing CMOS battery?
Hahah or a carburetor tune up?? :). I tried a battery and unfortunately that didn't work :(.
im trying to help best as i can to help a reverend at a local church to keep his dell going i know it has a core 2 quad but it has some power issues if i ever get to speak with him again im gonna try to replace the thermal paste hopefully that stops it wanting to reboot at times but forcing a non dell psu in it did make things a little easier though i have 2 dell boards i do not know if they work however its just like the one in the video if i remember correctly....othat one bport i think itscalled a dms59 if i remember correctly
Your awesome!! I think you are right - I just looked it up and amazon has them :). Thank you!
Hope you will be able to 'reset' System 1 to working order! 😉
I do too!
i use a pentium 380 as my main pc, its slow but i want to upgrade this instead of buying a new one because this thing is swpecial to me and its very reliable
That's awesome. I think we all have a special system in our hearts. It's great that you are able to keep it upgraded and use it today :)
Looks like the last one can accept Core 2, seems people have it running with quad. The middle one doesn't, max is Pentium D dual core
Thanks!
I think the cooling advantage of BTX wasn't really there. HP had the same wind tunnel design with ATX form factor with their dc5700 and dc7900 line and many off-the-shelf cases allowed for different orientations for ATX. I suspect Dell just wanted to stay proprietary.
I think there were definitely others than Dell who had taken on this format, however ultimately ATX won the (vcr/beta) battle :)
Alright chief, I’m gonna need a link to that post card
Haha deal!!! One sec :)
www.amazon.ca/Diagnostic-Measuring-Computer-Motherboard-Diagnostics/dp/B08QRCDR9D/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=BC26P7EO7CEW&keywords=Post+analyzer+card&qid=1698528940&sprefix=post+analyzer+card%2Caps%2C128&sr=8-3
@@TheRetroRecall Thanks fam! I ordered one on Temu a while back, and they sold out right before they fulfilled my order. Hopefully Amazon won’t do the same lol
I received mine pretty darn quick and it works perfectly!
I'll take the core 2duo lol....always called boards that have a mixture of ide and sata tweener boards lol
Haha! Need to get that one fixed! Tweener boards - never heard of them called that before lol! New nick name I have to call them now haha.
@@TheRetroRecall yeh between ide and the move to sata only..in between
i like these old dell systems. not the newer models.
Agreed. I would even say older than these as well.
Here is an idea for the first one, when you get it running why not Windows FLP SP3 or Server 2003
Anythings a possibility once it gets going haha! That's going to be the first challenge to overcome. Never heard of Windows FLP until today :) thanks!
@@TheRetroRecall It is a modified or lite version of XP, minus the game stuff and a few other features.
Awesome thank you!!! And thanks for the message!
enough spare parts. All socket 775?
I believe they are, I'd have to confirm.
We have a Dell down!
Hahaha!!! Yes.... Send Help!!!
how hard can it be.. trying to ts a pc with built in diag.. just look at the god dang front light / rear light depending on model ;D
Haha. All part of the fun and let's be honest... Not all diag function correctly!
Built on > Built in!
I refer to it as built on (as many do) :).
Potayto potahto
100%!!!
i have a i3 and i5 both run windows 11
Nice!
4:47 Me too, buy a case that supports ATX.
LOL Yes! I mean it seems like the obvious choice!
The Optiplex 360 should take a core 2 duo e8400, e8500 no problem if you want a cpu upgrade too this machine, core 2 quads are unfortunately not supported unless you upgrade the heatsink & powersupply.
The Optiplex 745 on the other hand takes 1066 mhz fsb core 2 quads so cpus like the q6600 & q6700 should work fine here.
Awesome, thank you for this info!
Mini
It supports up to q9650
only the G41 express chips set is corrupted by DELL
Only used smaller Optiplex systems.
My general experience with OptiPlex are the newer mini-pc's - quite nice.
I fixed a Vostro 230 today at work that had one of the giant PSU's, the same one these had. The other tech had cut one of the sides off the chassis of the power supply, and it was weakly screwed in, with about two inch recess at the back....just swapped it with a cheap used one that fits. Whoever else worked on it was a HACK
Hahah!! I have seen so many of this hacks... Trying to git stuff into cases. Idea - how about getting a different case?? Lol.
@@TheRetroRecall right? Any cheap atx power supply works fine in it fits like a glove. Unplugged a 4 port usb 3.0 card that they weren’t using (sata power didn’t reach) the new power supply is way less wattage and it worked out lovely
Nice!
Ah yes the Dell computers, probably the brand that looks so identical but never is the same inside.
That reminds me of a painful story I recently had to endure. So I had this Dell Pentium 2 laptop for a long time, I got this in a very poor condition back in the days of old. it had a cracked frame for the screen with broken hinges, bad hard drive, blown speakers, broken CD drive. dead battery. dead bios battery. well dead everything actually, not even the CPU fan would run on it. it could for some miracle boot but that was pretty much all it did.
So I have my Toshiba P1 laptop and I needed it for moving files and because it loves to make me mad it always freeze when trying to use a USB drive for some reason and I wanted to install some files to my CF card. story short I tried everything nothing will make that work.
My thoughts went to the old P2 laptop and that I kinda wanted to fix this broken misery so that I could use this for moving files instead. but everything is broken on it so how do I go about this? I scouted the auction site and managed to find an identical model type laptop in broken state, it had many issues but it had a 100mhz faster cpu. and it came with a floppy drive. I thought excellent I can use it for parts so I got this.
my work began to start testing what worked on the stuff I bought, it came without a hard drive and no power brick so I had to use my old stuff, here we go. ok so the bios won´t save so that battery was dead, I can see it is a multicell nimh battery on wires. I can probably make a solution. but the case was all broken, the screen hinges broken, the frame broken, keyboard somewhat broken. well the speakers did sound better at least and it did boot so my plan to use it as parts was good to go.
I took it apart and then I could see the "new" motherboard had damage from the nihm battery leaking onto the board, ok so I just move the CPU to my old one, same with the screen it was bad, and it has a nice blue pixel shining like the sun in the very middle field of the screen, I just use my old instead.
I took my plan into action as both laptops was hopelessly broken in their own way, I had to use the best plastic details from both computers to make a somewhat good chassis. which I did, then I removed the cpus and was about to swap them.
wait what? they have different connectors? oh yes they do and it did not fit. Oh boy here we go, and I wanted to use the faster one. so what, I just have to repair the damage on the new board and use this. I got this fixed and made a battery pack for use as a bios battery. I had the stuff lose and scattered all over my bench and floor but made sure the computer was booting up as it should.
next step was to replace the broken screen and repair the snapped hinges and broken frame. well Dell had the ingenious idea to glue the LCD to the frame with this holding lose parts together with tape even for the backlight.
sigh, Ok i just have to swap over the whole assembly from my old computer and repair those hinges and cracks instead. I eventually did and had it nicely mounted to the laptop. I push the power button and. Ok so I push the power button again and??
Ok so I made sure to summon the mighty button pushing spirit in my right arm and made sure that stupid button was absolutely positively pushed down and?? nothing. completely dead. I could measure all voltages on the board but nooo, it went all in on the I gonna mess with your life road for sure. But I had this running just a while ago what was wrong?? so I back track what I did. I swap the screen which is Identical, is that shorting out or something, I took the connector off and push the button and it woke up, what? I hooked up the other board with the new screen and tried that too, It was also dead. for real?
so is this a two time failure? ha ha ha no. I took the new screen and hocked it back up with the newer board and Yes, it boot and got picture. So Dell had the best idea in the world and had MARRIED that bloody screen to the motherboards or somehing. my patience had started to fade at this point. I went to bed and all I could think of was how mad I was because I had to use the screen with the broken pixel because of this.
Next day I was ready, I had to repair the new screen as I did with the other because, yep same computer same broken stuff.
I also had to repair the left click button because it was broken on the pad that had the better less broken frame. I got it done quite peacefully.
I proceeded to assemble the computer and was at the point to finish it, right the keys was broken on the new board, I just grab my old and use that instead and it made a perfect fit into my rebuilt computer. I booted it up and? ok what is it now??
it won´t work again? mother of all ****. I had the thought of a married screen, have they really married the keybboard too?
You damn right they did!! Dell for the love of why the frick you do this to me?? siiiigh. Ok I had to fix the keys and use the newer one anyway. So basically the only things I could use was the speakers, the hard drive and bay and some plastic details.
fantastic I just wasted all this effort to just make my old laptop even more broken and the newer slightly less.
I still had to fix the floppy drive, the eject button was broken off, I managed to build a new using a cable shoe of all things with a heat shrink, worked pretty good.
And the CD drive? yes it was broken enough this gonna have to be a story of it´s own
But I at least managed to make a "somewhat" working computer out of it in the end, But I gonna remember what it did to me for a long time to come!
Hahahah first off - love this story. When I saw the length of it, I went and made myself some tea like I would when I want to sit down with a good book. Achievement unlocked!! Ever think about narrating Audiobooks??
Now that that is out of the way - sounds like you had a positive experience with Dell overall 😂. Think about how much you learned through this process - see... SEE!!! A positive!! lol!
Thanks again for another great read and for being a part of the channel!
@@TheRetroRecall Glad you like it :) I am happy I got a computer to use when I need it :)
I never really thought about writing or making audio books, however it can be fun writing a good story sometime. maybe I should encourage it more than I have in the past.
@@TheRetroRecall btw, I did not say that I don´t like to read or write in any way or mean to offend in any way. I absolutely encourage people to read, and I like to write stories that people enjoy reading. I guess I said it the wrong way, sorry for that
Hahaha no no, all good!!!! Sorry, I just didn't see your reply lol. Keep them stories coming!!!
@@TheRetroRecall that’s good :) I left a story for you earlier in your latest video about the capacitor plague too. Not as long but a true story too but a true one too
Try upgrading to Windows 10
I'm sure these systems would support it for sure. SSD may be required.
Dell was annoying type of brand model, I have the mordern type with run DDR4. Now use as personal server or backup part. I miss the 1.44 floppy, the reason i wont use dell again because the BIOS problem, so I use Lenovo or Fujitsu etc BIOS is feel better.
Did the BIOS cause you the ram issue or other CPU issues?