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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : Repairing a modern laptop mainboard....
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Grogster Admin Group  Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9872 |
Quite interesting. Bad laptop mainboard repair... To be honest, I would never go to this much trouble. The user should have a backup process that would prevent needing to go this far. I would have just written off the laptop as being far too expensive to repair. BUT - having said that, this was really quite interesting to watch. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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Mixtel90 Guru  Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 8536 |
He's a brave bloke. lol I agree though, a proper backup should have been available if the data was that important. This will have been a pretty expensive repair. Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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Martin H. Guru Joined: 04/06/2022 Location: GermanyPosts: 1353 |
I used DELL laptops both privately and professionally, precisely because they are repairable. But I would reject that right away when buying. Then it's better to get a used Chromebook for a few £/€/$. It can do less, but it's just as "flexible". I Installed Linux on a $65 Chromebook - Here's What Happened Edited 2026-02-13 01:51 by Martin H. 'no comment |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9872 |
Interesting video!  I'm almost tempted to get a Chromebook and try this, just for the purposes of experimentation. If it is REASONABLY easy to bypass ChromeOS and put another Linux distro on them, they are indeed a very attractive price-point. I never went anywhere NEAR Chromebooks in the past, due to them being effectively locked to Google's ChromeOS. With no BIOS per-se', there is no EASY way to ever install anything else, and I guess that is the way that Google wanted it!  However, that video links to a bit of software that you can use to wipe out ChromeOS, and install a simple BIOS-like system, that WILL allow you to install another Linux distro. Might be something to tinker with when I have nothing else to do.  Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9872 |
Oh, what the Hell!!!!  I found a Dell Chromebook 11 3180 for sale for only NZ$24 + courier, so NZ$32 including delivery. That's $19.27 delivered in the greenback, for our American members.   Still working fine, but no charger. That's OK, as I have a whole bin full(literally!) of surplus laptop/notebook charger brick power supply things, so I am sure I can find something suitable.  This model IS supported by MrChromebox.tech, so I should be able to apply the update to the firmware, to essentially wipe out the ChromeOS system, and install a basic UEFI system and then be able to boot a standard Linux install. WORST CASE SCENARIO: It doesn't work or I brick it while playing around with it. Net loss - twenty bucks. Edited 2026-02-13 16:38 by Grogster Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 8536 |
I want to know where all these cheap Chromebooks are. We're lucky to find a working one of any sort for less than about £35 (they don't all include a battery at that price, never mind a charger). The rest are "for parts only" - someone's probably bricked them already or broken the screen hinge. I suspect that in the UK they get run and passed down until they die irretrievably. Anything with a decent spec is over about £80. You can get a reasonable NUC for less, although it's not laptop format of course. Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9872 |
Yes, it has to be stated that these Chromebooks......the CPU/RAM/SSD/WiFi etc.....ALL of those bits are soldered down to the mainboard and are therefore NOT replaceable or upgradable. That is one reason the Chromebooks are so cheap. But, having said that, they DO open themselves up to various experiments as I plan to do. ....so long as they still boot to ChromeOS, that is. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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