[Mod Blog] Dell M2010 never was a laptop - still isn't

[angerthosenear]

So I got a Dell M2010 that has a burnt up video card (like the rest of em) so I wanna re-purpose this behemoth using modern parts.

I already have it gutted down to the bare inner chassis, so now I'm just taking measurement and trying to determine what could fit in here.

I know that certainly I would like to use a desktop video card. And for battery life / wattage issues, the GTX 650 Ti seems to be the most reasonable: 110W (reference) and measuring in at 6" x 4.38" ( Newegg.com - Refurbished: EVGA SSC 02G-P4-3653-RX GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card ).

My current two largest issues:

1. Power.

I can find lots of DC-DC converters and whatnot, but usually the output current is heavily lacking.

OpenUPS

This is almost perfect. Hook up a battery (more on this later), and pretty much any laptop charger (~19V or so) and it will output a preset stable voltage. It will swap between the battery only power or when a DC source is plugged in, it will both charge the battery and output the voltage (in this case 12V). LOOKING FOR SOMETHING BETTER (hopefully)!

With the above, a LiPo battery would be superb (and it supports it!) Something like this:

Turnigy nano-tech 6000mah 4S 25~50C Lipo Pack

After my probably error ridden math, I got a result of 88.8 Wh. The stock Dell Li-ion battery is only 56 Wh!

Downside to that OpenUPS, max output current is only 6A (can peak to 10A). So this is only 72W.... which is good for only the mobo+lower-end CPU (leaning going with a desktop motherboard for simplicity of the power issue). I'm trying to figure out how to get one with around a 200W output. This (200W) would be suitable for this project.

picoPSU-160-XT, 160watt (200watt peak) , 12V input DC-DC ATX Power Supply

This would probably work since it has 200W peak. But now I have the issue of a UPS circuit (for battery/DC load balancing) and someway to report battery levels. And battery charging too. LiPo will be the way to go for this project since space will get tight rather quickly.

2. Mainboard.

I'm leaning toward a desktop mini ITX motherboard for this. Since these can come with Wifi + bluetooth, this is one less thing to worry about.

MSI Z77IA-E53 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS - Newegg.com

Like that (this board has a few issues however).

This is where the issue of using a desktop board comes into play. Height. The PSU plug on the mobo linked about could not be in a worse location. It would be at the thinnest part of the "laptop" body, don't think I would be able to plug anything in. The body is under 28mm at this point! The rear of the case is a more manageable 38mm.

Although, after measuring the 3 audio port stack on another computer, this was 45mm. Not sure what to do about that. This makes it rather tricky.

A decent laptop motherboard would also work, I could setup the video card as an internal eGPU and that would work fine. Was thinking of something like the Sony SVZ chassis since they appear to have smaller motherboards yet support a pretty solid CPU and have a Gen2 link over mPCIe. Looking for laptop mobo suggestions (hopefully cheap laptops).

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Minor issues (relative):

If desktop board, I'll need a PSU such as picoPSU-80 12V DC-DC ATX power supply this thing to power it, this is relatively really tall though and wouldn't work without modification. The form factor is superb though.

I'll also need a PCIe x16 extender cable such as the below to allow the GTX 650 Ti to lay flat in the shell:

PE-FLEX16-G2 PCI Express X16 Gen 2.0 Male to Female Extender Cable Orbit Micro

KZ-B23 Series (x16/x8/x4/x1) Flexible x16 PCI Express Extender (not sure on PCIe 1.0 or PCIe 2.0 on this one)

Driving the screen. As mentioned in the large DIY eGPU thread by matrix666, something like this would probably work (and allow me to use video input on this large screen):

M NT68676 2A HDMI DVI VGA Audio LCD LED Screen Controller Board DIY Monitor Kit | eBay

Keyboard. The M2010 keyboard is quite nice. I tested it with my other laptop, picked it up right away (KB is bluetooth), all works fine, no issues. However, I have not a single clue how I would charge this thing. I cannot figure out the pinouts at all for this dock connector thing. It probably has a SMBus Clock and Data pin, also a System Detect Pin to see if the keyboard is attached. Not really sure how to go about this (read: Help me here please.)

Bottom of the list:

Then I gotta wire this all up and hopefully integrate it nicely with some of the Dell stuffs (like the powered screen latches, the power buttons, DVD drive mechanism).

Price:

What I have:

Laptop: free!

M2010 Mobo: -70$ (will try to sell for about 70$)

What is on the 'pretty much certain list' :

GTX 650 Ti: ~125$ (or whatever might be on sale)

OpenUPS: 120$

Turnigy nano-tech 6000mah 4S 25C LiPo battery: 65$

The Perhaps-Maybe-Potential list :

Desktop mini ITX mobo: 100-125$

CPU: 125$ (or more depending)

RAM: free (got some)

Total:

-70 + 125 + 120 + 65 + 125 + 125 = 490$

Holy asterisks. That turned out a lot more expensive than I would've expected .....

Accepting donations ;-;

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Please make any suggestions, comments, 'you missed this' , 'you are crazy' , etc.

(Hopefully that is readable, I wrote this as I was searching around)

-atn

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Questions I need answers to before continuing with this mod:

1. Laptop or desktop motherboard? If so, which?

Laptop must be 2nd-gen i-Series (6-series) or later. Desktop is a bit more flexible. I would like to have 3rd/4th gen i-Series if possible.

2. Suitable battery charger / power output. The OpenUPS is great if it wasn't 72W. Something similar would be superb.

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Everything will fall into place after these decisions are made. Then will just have to incorporate it into this case and wire it up so it looks stock. Need to figure out keyboard charging (hopefully with the help of triturbo this will happen soon-ish).

Welcoming more wiring schematics for the M2010. Latch assembly mainly. triturbo posted the one for the buttons/lights/ODD. Will have to figure out how the ODD mechanism works, but not worried about that for now.

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Picture~

[Arise]

TL;DR.

For a desktop mobo, you need a lot of desoldering/soldering back, you have to remove basically all ports high enough that won't fit, also you need to resolder the 24 pin and 4 pin connectors in 90 degrees. And the mobo must better have SODIMMs otherwise got no ideea how you will get the space even with low profiles.

Ok, first nasty problem, what are you going to do for the keyboard connector?

And then, second problem, what about the screen connector?

[angerthosenear]

TL;DR.

For a desktop mobo, you need a lot of desoldering/soldering back, you have to remove basically all ports high enough that won't fit, also you need to resolder the 24 pin and 4 pin connectors in 90 degrees. And the mobo must better have SODIMMs otherwise got no ideea how you will get the space even with low profiles.

Ok, first nasty problem, what are you going to do for the keyboard connector?

And then, second problem, what about the screen connector?

Keyboard is bluetooth only, that part is easy, but trying to charge the keyboard with the builtin connector is the difficult part.

Use something similar to this for the screen connector:

M NT68676 2A HDMI DVI VGA Audio LCD LED Screen Controller Board DIY Monitor Kit | eBay

(I mentioned this lol)

[triturbo]

Awesome machine and pretty awesome mod you got there!

Is this of any help? If the connector is 30 pin, it should be

[angerthosenear]

Awesome machine and pretty awesome mod you got there!

Is this of any help? If the connector is 30 pin, it should be

The media connector seems helpful.

They keyboard connector is 6pin. The keyboard connector ONLY charges. You can kinda sorta see it at the bottom of the picture I posted, the 6 little metal contacts. The keyboard is it's own detachable unit that communicates to the computer solely off of bluetooth.

Here is a much better picture:

http://img.tomshardware.com/de/2006/12/11/dell-xps-m2010-tragbarer-computer/dell-abgesetzt1big.jpg

I need to figure out what those 6points do. And how I can charge the keyboard. Obviously one would be positive, another negative. 1 might be a SMBus clock, another the SMBus data (charge level). 5th being a 'device connected' pin perhaps. 6th being not connected perhaps? Not sure. I'm just basing this on how some standard laptop batteries communicate to the system.

Maybe you could scrounge up a diagram for that! That and the latch electrical stuffs.

Thanks,

atn

[triturbo]

Here it is. You pretty much guessed them

[angerthosenear]

Here it is. You pretty much guessed them

[ATTACH=CONFIG]9617[/ATTACH]

Sweet! Where are you getting these from? I'll need quite a few of the diagrams. Thanks for the help so far!

[darnok44]

If You are lookin for suitable mini itx motherboard, check thin series. That's kind of new low profile mini itx standard. Its only 25mm hight and with sodimm. Power is delivered by laptop style brick not by standard 24 pin connector, up to 2 mini pci-e connectors, LVDS connector. That's the way to go I think. Eg. : GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket 1155 - GA-B75TN (rev. 1.1), GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket 1155 - GA-H77TN (rev. 1.1), https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Q87T/, ASRock > Z77TM-ITX.

[Akuma No Shi]

Hi @angerthosenear ! I just signed up a few moments ago, just to speak to you. I found your thread on Google, when I was searching for M2010 Mods. My vid card is about to crap out on me AGAIN so I was searching to see if anyone came up with a fix or mod for a different card and in that search, I found you and this killer thread; however, as you can imagine, I am dismayed that the thread abruptly end, with no accolades of your success.

So how did your venture, with the modding of the M2010, go?

And to all others, I apologize for Neco'ing a dead thread.

[Akuma No Shi]

Just bumping this to get a follow up, on my question, above.

[angerthosenear]

Hi @angerthosenear ! I just signed up a few moments ago, just to speak to you. I found your thread on Google, when I was searching for M2010 Mods. My vid card is about to crap out on me AGAIN so I was searching to see if anyone came up with a fix or mod for a different card and in that search, I found you and this killer thread; however, as you can imagine, I am dismayed that the thread abruptly end, with no accolades of your success.

So how did your venture, with the modding of the M2010, go?

And to all others, I apologize for Neco'ing a dead thread.

Just bumping this to get a follow up, on my question, above.

Whoops, didn't see the first message. My GPU died on me again too. So I got rid of a lot of the random internal stuff. I still have all the chassis / screen to continue this but....

Overall of why I didn't continue:

1. Integrating all the random hinge latch electronics

2. Keyboard plug, couldn't figure that one out

3. UPS system to swap from battery to plug that can support the current needed

4. GPU -> display interconnect

5. Sheer amount of time for this to get the above working

6. Funding it

7. My miniITX build in signature (for now ) + monitor is smaller and way better than this could ever hope to turn out sadly.

It's mainly interfacing with the chassis that messes a lot of things up. Power supply being the other huge factor. If these two are resolved, it would actually go rather smoothly. Perhaps in the future, since this would be really fun to haul around.

[Akuma No Shi]

Well this is very disconcerting, to read. From the thread, it sounded like you were on a roll, full steam ahead. Sorry, for the both of us, to hear that it didn't go as planed.

I must sadly admit, that I am no PC modder; I just wish I was, lol... so unfortunately I can't offer any help. But let me ask you this... You mentioned "ntegrating all the random hinge latch electronics" ... what do you mean by this? The latches are spring loaded, they are not, in any way, electrically operated.

An friend of mine is a DELL PC repair tech, in fact, that's how we became friends... my video card kept burning out and DELL kept sending him out to fix it, lol... But He might have the schematics of the m2010, I can ask him.

I can also help fund the project with a few $$$, if that would help.

[angerthosenear]

Well this is very disconcerting, to read. From the thread, it sounded like you were on a roll, full steam ahead. Sorry, for the both of us, to hear that it didn't go as planed.

I must sadly admit, that I am no PC modder; I just wish I was, lol... so unfortunately I can't offer any help. But let me ask you this... You mentioned "ntegrating all the random hinge latch electronics" ... what do you mean by this? The latches are spring loaded, they are not, in any way, electrically operated.

An friend of mine is a DELL PC repair tech, in fact, that's how we became friends... my video card kept burning out and DELL kept sending him out to fix it, lol... But He might have the schematics of the m2010, I can ask him.

I can also help fund the project with a few $$$, if that would help.

There are two electric linear actuators on each side of the display bezel to deploy/retract the little hooks that keep the lid closed. Yes there are springs, but that's only to keep them closed or keep them open, to deply/retract is done with the actuators. Same kinda thing on the lower hinge arm if I remember right.

I already have all the electrical schematics and have the M2010 full disassembled.

[Akuma No Shi]

Hmmm,,, I was not aware of this actuator. I need to ask my buddy about those. I was always under the impression they were controlled by springs. The only wires I ever saw, going through the hing, was for the speakers and screen.

[Casowen]

Wow, this is one epic looking piece of art. its really a shame this wasnt continued on. I would imagine you could replace the mother board and screen to accommodate newer architecture and such. OEM thermal paste is notoriously bad, so that would have to be changed.