chairman666

yeah so my mom just got a brand new Dell Inspiron 6000 (pentium M 730 1.6ghz, 512mb DDR2, 60gig, dvd burner, 15.4" widescreen) so i inherited her beat up old Toshiba 2410 (p4 M Northwood 2.0ghz, 256mb ddr266, 40gig, combo drive, 15" 4:3). i decided that i'm gonna fix it up and pimp it out.

the plans are:

-replace the stupid linksys wireless pcmcia card that sticks out the side with a mini pci card
-udgrade the RAM to 512mb
-replace the worn out battery
-fix the charging problem (dunno if its the charger or the socket yet)
-remove the unessessary floppy drive
-polish the scratches out of the screen
-as5 the HS
-paint it with krylon fusion (red with silver and black graphics

depending on how things go i may also:

-7200rpm hard drive
-change out the tray load drive for a slot loader
-change out the leds to blue or UV
-remove unnessessary parts to save weight (modem, pcmcia slots, speakers, media buttons, etc)
-improve cooling with an extra fan

earlier today i ordered the wireless card and RAM from newegg. i'll be ordering a new battery off ebay soon. i'll getcha some pics soon as well. well until next time.......

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Sparky

sweet new project! Maybe some el wire under the keys would look pimp too.

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Zer0s

Insp 6000 = teh pownage

I love those things, the only thing though, is that there is a 6000D version, which has a dedicated grap card = mobile 6800gt.

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chairman666

Quote: sweet new project! Maybe some el wire under the keys would look pimp too.

yeah i thought of that too but: 1. it would kill the battery life and 2. it prolly wouldn't fit under the low profile KB. i do plan to paint the keys and rescreen the letters though.

Quote: Insp 6000 = teh pownage I love those things, the only thing though, is that there is a 6000D version, which has a dedicated grap card = mobile 6800gt.

my moms comp has the dedicated x300 64mb graphics.........not quite a 6800gt but definately better than on-board.

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chairman666

ok so after about an hour of yelling and cursing i got the HD, RAM, and wireless card installed. the hd and ram was a snap but the wireless card was difficult. before putting it in the mini pci slot, u have to connect these damn stupid little tiny ittly bity microscopic stupid little retarded f***ing antenna wires that require an electron microscope and a jackhammer to connect!! ahhhhhhhhhh!.................well as u can tell it was frusturating but i finally got the card installed. sorry no pics yet. i was too worked up about getting the wifi card in to take pics.

tommorow i'll get to work on reformating this mofo and maybe i'll even get ya some pics. later.

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Dreyco

Dont get discouraged if you cant do all the things you were thinking, cause I know on my laptop I cant change out the LED's cause they are super small and built into the mobo... Also the CD drives maybe proprieitary...

Anyways as for taking the laptop apart make absolutly sure you remember where screws and things go. My suggestion is to tape them together and label them or draw a diagram on another piece of paper. Laptops have crazy ammounts and varieties of screws.

Im very interested in this project cause I've got an old Pavillion N5430 Duron 850mhz, 284mb RAM, my only beef with it is that it only has 3 workhours with new battery. I'd like to see how you hide the wireless card, floppy drive space, speakers, and media buttons. Cause I'd like to do the same... (who wants sh*tty ass speakers on a lappy when $20 will buy you decent headphones?)

EDIT: as for cooling AS5 did wonders on my lappy, not to mention cleaning out the dust bunnies in my hs/f. If I ever have time I think I might put my stock cooler from my 6800 it...

EDIT EDIT: Krylon fusion works wonders, I used the Red and Black in a Case a long time ago... They look great, not super glossy though..

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chairman666

thanks for the tips dreyco.

Quote: I'd like to see how you hide the wireless card, floppy drive space, speakers, and media buttons. Cause I'd like to do the same... (who wants sh*tty ass speakers on a lappy when $20 will buy you decent headphones?)

the wireless card actually has its own compartment so that was just a straight installation. as far as removing the floppy, speakers and buttons, i'm trying to figure out how to fill the holes without using bondo (fusion wouldn't stick to bondo very well). maybe pieces of arcrylic and some weldon 3 would do the trick but i'm still thinkin.

Quote: EDIT: as for cooling AS5 did wonders on my lappy, not to mention cleaning out the dust bunnies in my hs/f. If I ever have time I think I might put my stock cooler from my 6800 it...

i actually ordered some AS5 with all the other stuff from newegg, so i was thinkin the same thing. i'm hopin that i can add a slot blower fan somewhere to help cooling as well.

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chairman666

so yesterday i got the comp buttoned up and reformatted. i was very relieved that everything worked especially the wireless card. today i've been installing software and copying files. i am having a few issues though because i didn't use the recovery disk that originally came with the comp. for instance, the usb drivers are for usb 1.1 and i know this lappy has usb 2.0 and i can't find the right drivers at toshiba support. also, i'm pissed that my PowerDVD disc only works on Dell compys and i don't wanna pay 40 bucks for a new copy. as for the charging problems it seems that if u twist the plug the wrong way it loses contact with the socket. i'll have to wait till i take the comp apart to figure out exactly whats broken.

still no pics yet (i'm sorry please don't kill me). the next part of this project is to get a new battery.

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thedemonxanth

I've worked on a few Toshiba Laptops and actually have 2 of them. As far as the power socket goes, some of them are soldered right onto the motherboard and if the plug has a tendency to lose contact with the socket then the socket may just be worn out OR (and I've seen this alot) the socket has partially torn loose from the board and just needs to be resoldered, this usually happens when people develop the nasty habit of jamming their laptop back in the case with the cord plugged in. Some sockets (like mine) are actually plugged into a header on the board via a short pair of wires, I've seen these on ebay. If you want to fill in large holes and have the Krylon still stick try using two part plastic weld expoy, it just turns into plastic when it hardens, back it up with plain old wire screen and do some sanding. Should work pretty well. With the usb issue, find out the chipset (Probably intel) and check their site for the usb drivers as the controller would be integrated into the chipset.

thedemonxanth

There should be 4 more characters in the model number.


Have you looked here http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/t...ceghdgngdgnn.0

Toshibas website is ass and somewhat difficult to navigate.

chairman666

thanks thedemonxanth thats a lotta useful info.

Quote: I've worked on a few Toshiba Laptops and actually have 2 of them. As far as the power socket goes, some of them are soldered right onto the motherboard and if the plug has a tendency to lose contact with the socket then the socket may just be worn out OR (and I've seen this alot) the socket has partially torn loose from the board and just needs to be resoldered, this usually happens when people develop the nasty habit of jamming their laptop back in the case with the cord plugged in. Some sockets (like mine) are actually plugged into a header on the board via a short pair of wires, I've seen these on ebay.

my mom was very tough on this thing so its definately possible that the socket is loose like that. i'll pop off a few panels tomorrow and see if i can see whats goin on there.

Quote: If you want to fill in large holes and have the Krylon still stick try using two part plastic weld expoy, it just turns into plastic when it hardens, back it up with plain old wire screen and do some sanding. Should work pretty well.

awesome that would work perfectly

Quote: There should be 4 more characters in the model number.

this is a 2415-S205

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Dreyco

I have decided to do something similar with my gf lappy for her bday. Looked under the hood to see what was possible. P3 ~800mhz, 256mb ram, 20gig HDD and CD-RW

-6 bright blue LED's
-lap hs
-new fan (old one died)
-AS5
-remove all stickers, inside and out
-paint 2 tone metallic blue/black
-remove logo on back, repaint it wil stenciled name in chinese (she move here from Shanghai 6 years ago)

Then tweak the ever loving crap out of windows so it runs nice for a word/internet/chat/email rig

So as we work these we can give eachother hints...

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DavidVaini

Quote: Originally Posted by Dreyco I have decided to do something similar with my gf lappy for her bday. Looked under the hood to see what was possible. P3 ~800mhz, 256mb ram, 20gig HDD and CD-RW -6 bright blue LED's -lap hs -new fan (old one died) -AS5 -remove all stickers, inside and out -paint 2 tone metallic blue/black -remove logo on back, repaint it wil stenciled name in chinese (she move here from Shanghai 6 years ago) Then tweak the ever loving crap out of windows so it runs nice for a word/internet/chat/email rig So as we work these we can give eachother hints...

If its for a girl i would suggest pink or purple.. but then again i dont know her so yeah...

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Dreyco

Her favorite colors are blue and black... but whatever I dont mean to hijack the thread or take any wind out of chairman's sails. So any updates on your laptop?

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chairman666

so today i attempted to dismantel the laptop but i didn't get very far because:
1. half of the screws are too damn tight
2. i am not strong enough to loosen these screws that are too damn tight
3. my mom has arthritis in her hands so she can't loosen the too damn tight screws either
4. my screwdrivers are so crappy that they literally bend when u try to turn the too damn tight screws
i guess i'll have to get a new set of screw drivers and/or an electric screwdriver before i go any further.

but i do have good news though. i just saved a buncha money on my car insurance by switching to geico. well, ok maybe not but i was able to get the keyboard off and it looks like theres plenty of room inside for an extra fan. i also had this idea to replace the floppy drive with a usb card reader. not sure how i would connect it internally though.

ok thats all i got for u today.

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Dreyco

Sorry I forgot to tell you, laptop screws are usually lock-tited which is a brand of thread glue, it just makes it so the screws dont come out on their own. It should be like opening a jar of peanut butter, once you twist it a 1/4 turn, they are easy to come out. Anyways, becareful not to strip the screws with an electric screwdriver..

Best of luck

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thedemonxanth

Many laptop screws are nylon coated and this can make them hard to remove. Don't use small precision screwdrivers if you don't have to and please don't use a power driver unless you have to. Get a screwdriver with a nice fat rubber handle and interchangeable tips, Autozone and it's ilk have these pretty cheap. Use the biggest tip that will fit as this will grip better and you are less likely to strip the head. If all else fails try lubing the screw by dropping a drop of naptha(lighter fluid) in the hole with the screw. It's slippery stuff, wont hurt the electronics and will evaporate pretty quickly. I use it as a contact cleaner myself.



And for tweaking, Windows 2000 is awesome, there was even an article on Digg or Slashdot recently about it. You could get it running beautifully for the purposes you described on that machine.

chairman666

yesterday i bid on and won a slot load combo drive outa a mac mini. the only problem is that it doesn't include a front bezel, but for 50 dollars how can i complain. for a temp solution i'll make a bezel outa the end of a dvd case (perfect size). eventually i'll prolly have one made out of laser cut arcrylic.

i have a few new ideas for mods. first i'd like to add a pcmcia USB 2.0 card (for some reason i was convinced this craptop had usb 2 but i was wrong) and somehow internalize the ports that stick out the side. without seeing the inside of one offff these cards, i have no idea how i would do that. another thing i wanna do is mount a usb card reader in the 3.5" bay. this link depot 21 in1 is the thinest reader i've found at 15mm. without the case it should fit in the 12.7mm tall slot. its also narrow enough that i might be able to fit anotheeer usb port next to it. the reader would get wired up internally to the usb 2.0 card. however this is all just speculation until i see the actual parts.

something thats racking my brain right now is how t