Help! Lenovo z41-70 + MSI NVidia GTX 970, Windows 10, Internal LCD [Shanghai]

[ShanghaiOhMy]

Current Status: HELP NEEDED!

• mPCIe port actually micro PCIe, not sure if I can convert it or if this is a lost cause

 

Materials:

• bPlus PE4C V3.0 Adapter (mPCIe connector version)
• MSI NVidia GTX 970
• a PSU (this is still in the mail from a friend so I don't remember the model)
• USB Wireless Adapter (I bought this one but it's being terrible)
• (optional) mPCIe flexible extender cable (I use this to help keep the laptop mobile)

 

Sections:

Part 1: Open the laptop

Part 2: Remove the WiFi card

Part 3: Connect the extender (or the bPlus board if you're not using the extender)

Part 4: Connect the graphics card and PSU

Part 5: Software and integration

 

Part 1: Opening the laptop

1. Unplug your laptop and power it down. Place it upside-down in front of you so that the labels are upright. 
2. Starting from the top left, unscrew the screws around the outside of the case.
3. Move to the three on the inside, saving the middle one for last.
4. Note that the middle screw will not unscrew all the way. Just unscrew it until it's loose; you'll push it out from the other side in a moment.
5. Insert a long, thin object such as an unbent paperclip into the indicated screw holes. This will pop the keyboard off the front of the laptop.
6. Gently pull up the rest of the keyboard.
7. The keyboard will be connected by two wires. You can choose to disconnect these, but leaving them attached is fine and less annoying.
8. Lift the keyboard out of the way to find the middle hole with the screw that doesn't unscrew all the way. 
9. Using your long object, poke the screw out.
10. At this point, the disk drive (or placeholder if you don't have one) will be loose, so if you're going to remove it (like I did), feel free to slide it out.
11. Starting from the disk drive hole or a corner, pull the cover off the back of the laptop. You will hear it click as it goes.

 

Part 2: Removing the WiFi card

1. Now that the laptop is open, locate the mPCIe slot.
2. Gently disconnect the two antenna wires by pulling them out at their heads. If you want to preserve the internal wireless card for later use, be very careful with this step; I accidentally crushed one of the wire terminals without even trying.
3. Remove the screw which holds the card in place. Unfortunately, the people at Lenovo made this screw out of reconstituted sewage instead of metal, so chances are it will become 100% stripped the moment you touch it. 

[more to come eventually, including picture embedding]

 

Help I need right now:

Can I convert my cables or am I done for? (see reply below for image)

Edited November 10, 2016 by ShanghaiOhMy
updates

[DaCM]

These small wireless adapters have tiny (basically no) antennas, so unless you have no walls between your router and laptop, they will yield shitty speeds. I have personally tried one and had a network speed drop of 90% with 2 walls separating my laptop from the router. I suggest you buy one with proper antennas, those will work much better. I use an ASUS USB-N14 and I'm able to max out my internet just like with the original mPCIe wifi card.

[ShanghaiOhMy]

I actually managed to the wireless dongle working right - the issue was just drivers, not technical limitations. I am still totally stumped by this stripped screw though!! I took my laptop to some lovely friends with a lot of tools and even after we tried everything we had, we still couldn't get a hold on it.

[ShanghaiOhMy]

Long overdue update: I managed to get the stripped screw out, but now I have a worse problem. It seems that my mPCIe port isn't an mPCIe port; it's a micro PCIe port.

Can this be converted? or do I need to give up?

[Psyrecx]

On 11/10/2016 at 0:09 AM, ShanghaiOhMy said:

Long overdue update: I managed to get the stripped screw out, but now I have a worse problem. It seems that my mPCIe port isn't an mPCIe port; it's a micro PCIe port.

Can this be converted? or do I need to give up?

Yo lappytoppins has a m.2 port there...

Specifically, the m.2 key e

This is what you need, the v4.1 with the m.2 adapter.

 

Edited November 16, 2016 by Psyrecx

[ShanghaiOhMy]

Oh shit, well that makes a lot more sense. Guess I'll sell the one I got and use the proceeds to buy the correct one. Thanks!