Laptop

A place to put info on LAPTOP REPAIRS at Free Geek

Laptop Class 1/14/2005

Ground Rules:

• Bringing personal laptops into the laptop repair area -- FORBIDDEN
• Removing parts from the laptop repair area -- FORBIDDEN

• Students are committing to:
  • spend 80 hours doing Freegeek laptop repair ONLY
  • students are committing to teach future laptop classes

Tools:

Hardware

• grounding strap
• magnifying glass
• set of tiny double headed screwdrivers (weiss sets include torx)
• dental pick
• penlight or small flashlight
• x-acto knife set
• security torx bits - aka tamper proof
• chip puller
• tiny tweezers
• power splitter
• tiny zipties
• ps/2 "Y" - for keyboard + mouse to 1 port on laptop
• jewler's saw
• caliper
• 3 1/2 inch -> 2 1/2 inch hard-drive adapter
• voltmeter (digital)
• fine emery boards
• alcohol pads
• q-tips & alcohol

Software Tools

• Download Knoppix

http://www.knoppix.net/get.php

• Laptop-HOWTO

http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Hardware-HOWTO/laptops.html

• Download MEPIS Linux MEPIS.org

http://www.mepis.org/book/view/1462

• Phoo's laptop floppies

http://www.lostboxen.net/laptopfloppies

TOOLS SOURCES:

• Winks hardware - 200 se stark
• Frys - wilsonville
• Wheeler dealer - 144th & se stark
• Andy & bax - 324 se grand
• Wacky willys surplus - 2374 nw vaughn
• Norvac Electronics - Progress
• United Radio Supply - NE 9th & Davis

ToDo:

• syllabus, repair howto(s) & triage charts, website to FG's store, wiki
• keeper tags showing:
  • clockspeed (pentium is a given?),
  • ram (slots?),
  • co-processor y/n,
  • hd size,
  • card slots
• standardize software load - "somebody start a sub-group" - instructor
• add more tool sources - also sources to AVOID

The Process

Evaluation:

1. note Printed material on laptop. MfG, MODEL, Serial
2. Google your laptop
3. Test your laptop
4. Document your laptop
   • FG Asset tags
   • Mfg
   • Model number
   • Proc speed / Mem size / Drive size
5. Repair your Laptop
6. Burn in your laptop.
7. QA someone Elses laptop.
8. Finish

Power & Batteries

General battery FAQ (large):

http://www.buchmann.ca/faq.asp

question from table author: is this useful here? takes up a lot of space, and tables are tricky to edit

Compaq Battery Chart

Mfg	Family	Model	Battery Model	Part#	Type	Volts	Output Amp Hr	Charge Current	Notes
Compaq
Compaq	Armada	7700 7800	Series 2891	220324-101 314939-001	Li Ion	14.4	2.7Ah
Compaq

Dell Battery Chart

Mfg	Family	Model	Battery Model	Part#	Type	Volts	Output Amp Hr	Charge Current	Notes
Dell
Dell	Inspiron	7500	BAT-30IL		LiI	14.8	5100 mAh	2.5A
Dell	Inspiron	8000	BAT-75UYF		LiI	14.8	3800mA	3.5A

Docks & Port Replicators

Whats the diff?

Port replicators just extend existing connectors. Docks give new functionality.

Links

Laptop Links

• Linux on Laptops

http://www.linux-laptop.net/

• TuxMobil Linux HOWTOs For Mobile Computers

http://www.tuxmobil.org/howtos.html

• Free laptop schematics

http://www.eserviceinfo.com/equipment_type/Notebooks_43.html

• IBM Service Manuals

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/product.do?doctypeind=8&template=%2Fproductselection%2Flandingpages%2FonlinePublicationsLandingPage.vm