Jessup Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Hello guys,</SPAN></SPAN> This is a sad panda here, something bad happen, I think, during a memory upgrade that I made on my M17x R3, I was careful but while taking off a screw it slipped and fell on a board near the edge where my fingers could not reach, I used a little tweezer to reach it (yes I touched the metal interior of the back that I took off before, and…oh the horrors…I saw a tiny little spark : / </SPAN></SPAN> I went on, depress as I was, and finish the job, restart the laptop, memory was detected and everything seemed fine, then I lost my wireless connection, wireless adapter had an exclamation point in manager, then the laptop hanged, nothing I could do but a hard reset, restart and everything happened again… /cry</SPAN> </SPAN> I will put back the original memory when I am able to approach the laptop without crying, that being said, did that little spark messed up the laptop that bad or could it be that one memory stick is defective!? </SPAN></SPAN> Any help, tips and comments are welcome. </SPAN></SPAN> Thank you </SPAN> </SPAN>Signed: panda at the brink of a nervous breakdown </SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Founder StamatisX Posted December 12, 2011 Founder Share Posted December 12, 2011 Sorry to hear that @Jessup but static most of the times is lethal to the motherboard... probably that part was short-circuited. You can try to replace the memory but I doubt it has something to do with the wireless adapter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svl7 Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Seriously, a spark? Sorry to hear this.... you might've killed a component or two... Did you unplug your AC adapter and battery before doing this? Just for future reference... always remove the battery, AC adapter and do a proper power drain (press and hold down the power button for about 20 seconds) before doing anything inside your system.And I really recommend using ESD-protectiond (wristband and ESD-mat) when doing such stuff. Better safe than sorry.It's not very likely that you killed a memory stick, but it's possible... but you might have as well killed a different component. If there really was a spark then it's not a good omen, not at all. You can still try to do a power drain and use the old memory sticks, but I'm afraid it won't help.A dead Wlan card wouldn't be the worst thing possible, are you still covered by the Dell warranty? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessup Posted December 12, 2011 Author Share Posted December 12, 2011 Thanks guy's,Yes, battery and ac adapter were removed but I did not know about the power drain, I am still covered under warranty but will they repair it ''under warranty'' or will they suspect something and charge for it?I will put back the original memory and send it back to Dell, any of you have experience with Dell support, is it smooth?Thanks again guy's and yes, I learned my lesson big time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unreal25 Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 I wouldn't call it "smooth", rather "completely disorganized but somewhat functional". Sorry it happened, for future reference just ground yourself before you touch anything on the motherboard (I usually just touch my metal sink just in case, even though I never had static electricity problems in this apartment). Also yes, battery goes out is a MUST, since part of the motherboard can still be powered even with laptop off. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmskate13 Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 Also, to explain further what Svl said, the ESD equipment looks like this: All you have to do is clip it to something metal and the charge will get grounded. It works the same to touch the metal object with your hands every now and then. The ESD mats are just a mat the computer goes on that absorbs the static electricity. If you dont want to buy one, a Rec center nearby might have these, if not check local community colleges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unreal25 Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 That's too fancy for me. I just touch something metal with my fingernails since places with high curvatures will have high charge density (physics for the win?) and works like a charm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svl7 Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 I am still covered under warranty but will they repair it ''under warranty'' or will they suspect something and charge for it?I will put back the original memory and send it back to Dell, any of you have experience with Dell support, is it smooth?No need to send it back, you should have next business day on-site service, just call and tell them what doesn't work anymore, say you tried reinstalling the drivers etc. and it still won't work, then they'll send you a tech and get you the stuff replaced. RAM is user replaceable, you might have messed up a bit, but this happens to a lot users. Just call them and say what isn't working and you should get it repaired. No need to get into details. You don't really need to put the other RAM back for the service, unless you have to send in your system. The tech guy won't care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Founder Brian Posted December 13, 2011 Founder Share Posted December 13, 2011 Dell will take care of you with nbd service. You should be up and running again in no time. Just keep an eye on the technician and make sure he isn't rough with the computer. Don't be afraid to stop him if you suspect he might be improperly handling it.Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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