M14x/M17xR3/M18x - Wireless HD/SiBEAM discussion thread

[BatBoy]

Well, wait a sec.. which is it? You have a WirelessHD card installed or not? you mentioned the tech stated you need to purchase a netgear device for Intel WiDi. I would have stopped him right there as Intel WiDi and WirelessHD are two completely different things...

He was connected to your system for a few hours?

Sorry, no offense meant but I have to ask the following:

1. Did you open up your bottom panel and visually verify the card was installed?
2. On the Resource DVD, which driver did you install? Full driver name please and version# from resource DVD.
3. Please post a screenshot of the SIBEAM GUI window. Open the connection app and lets see what it reports for each tab.

Lets see what we can do here...

[Smooth_J]

I was looking at the new part list and it looks like to get the WirelessHD, you need to get the following for the m18x:

DNF7J LCD, W/PMMA+Frame+Bracket+WLAN & DMC Antenna

(display mini-card (DMC) modules)

YWXT1 SiBeam Antenna Cable

I think its the 5HT44 WiHD Card (DMC/SiBeam) for the m17xr3, and it should work for the m18x as well.

Parts chat has no idea and no eta as to when then will arrive. So right now you either get it POS, or you want a few months +/- to get it.

[Comrade Ynot]

Well, wait a sec.. which is it? You have a WirelessHD card installed or not

Yes, he was reading my purchase order, for some reason it says the following;

1 430-4103 Internal 60GHz WirelessHD Transmitter $99.00
1 469-0500 No Wireless HD Selected $0.00

Which is odd, but yes I do indeed have it installed.

you mentioned the tech stated you need to purchase a netgear device for Intel WiDi. I would have stopped him right there as Intel WiDi and WirelessHD are two completely different things...

Yes, I think, he thought I was talking about widi, even though I explained that it was wireless hd and I bought the package from Dell. He was very nice, but he wasnt listening to what I was saying. Originally he thought I was having trouble with wireless, then widi, and I finally explained to him it was wireless hd, which is completely different then widi. However that didnt stop him from messing with my intel widi settings and turning them off and on remotely.

He was connected to your system for a few hours?

I started the call at 3:30 pm est, finished at 7:30pm, we connected remotely about an hour in if I remember correctly.

1. Did you open up your bottom panel and visually verify the card was installed?

No, but I did see it on the device manager

2. On the Resource DVD, which driver did you install? Full driver name please and version# from resource DVD.

I just hit the driver, it was the only one, I will grab the cd later and get the exact driver for you listed.

3. Please post a screenshot of the SIBEAM GUI window. Open the connection app and lets see what it reports for each tab.

After his messing around I lost a few tabs that were reporting information, after he got done, it was all clear and reporting an associated number. After alot of messing around on my own today I finally got it to work. Now if it continues to work we will see.

How I got it to work, I hooked up my wifes M11x to the transmitter with the hdmi cable and was beaming her screen to the tv. After I did that I opened my computer and my associated tab had numbers in it again, so I tried to hit connect and bingo boingo, it worked. I have no real clue what I did different. But its working now and I am happy with it.

I did notice that having my two year old sitting in front of my computer will degrade the signal quality, anything in line of sight seems to mess up signal strength to reciever.

I think they really need more training in it, but I understand that they cant know everything, but they should at least know the difference between wireless hd and widi. They also said they would call back today, no call back, but thats not susprising, I never get techs to call me back.

[BatBoy]

I'm amazed you had a rep on the line for that long. Wow. Frustrations must have been high.

As long as you are up and running and happy =

Oh... one more thing... move the 2 year old out of the way - No need to expose the little one to weird signals.

[joecait]

Here's the other Wireless HD Transmitter/Receiver I mentioned on another forum post...

Amazon.com: ASUS WiCast EW2000 Wireless HD Video Transmitter and Receiver: Electronics

$134 current from AMZN and I've seen it as low as $99...

Would like to hear anyone's experience with this unit if anyone buys it.

[odysses]

I actually think the UK ones have the antenna in the screen already.. when they are mass producing them i think they just attach a screen regardless of your spec. I think the only thing they would do is put in the wireless HD card

Is anyone willing to take some pictures of there wireless HD system to help out the UK M14x customers ?!

No one seems willing to do this :/

We just need to compare the UK version to the US version, please can someone help

I work for a company that does repairs on Dell and Alienware systems. Part of my ever expanding responsibilities, is to go over each new unit Dell is launching before it comes out. If a laptop has a special feature like this, I setup what's required for our techs to test it, in case a customer has an issue with it.

Before the unit launches, I get my hands on it and I go through an entire process to make sure we can support it. But, with special features like this, it isn't really a priority so they usually get done last.

But, today I'm gathering all of the information I need, in order to be able to test this. So, if you like, I'll be more than happy to attach some photos later.

What's nice is that I'm able to completely disassembly and reassemble pretty much any unit all the way down to the motherboard. So I can take pictures of whatever you like, as long as the model as already released of course. I can also get any part I need for testing in just a few minutes time.

I'm working with the M14X today, but it should be fairly similar across each model.

So if I'm not mistaken, you just want pictures of how the card and antenna fit into the notebook?

[Paddon]

Hello Odysses.

It would be fantastic if you could take some pictures for me

I basically need to know if there is an antenna in the screen already or if i need to put my own in

Where the Wireless HD card is and how the antenna is connected.

My main concern is taking the screen apart :S sounds like a very hard thing to do so if your going to be taking that apart it would be amazing to see some pictures of that.

I am not very confident when it comes to taking my laptop apart so your pictures would be incredibly helpful to me because i could almost put myself together a guide with your pictures as to how i would fit the wireless HD


Thanks !


Jon

[odysses]

Hello Odysses.

It would be fantastic if you could take some pictures for me

I basically need to know if there is an antenna in the screen already or if i need to put my own in

Where the Wireless HD card is and how the antenna is connected.

My main concern is taking the screen apart :S sounds like a very hard thing to do so if your going to be taking that apart it would be amazing to see some pictures of that.

I am not very confident when it comes to taking my laptop apart so your pictures would be incredibly helpful to me because i could almost put myself together a guide with your pictures as to how i would fit the wireless HD


Thanks !


Jon

Hey Jon,

Sorry it's taken me so long to get back with you. Today's been a pretty crazy day. I've only just now been able to look into this.

If you're determined to do this, then I'm more than willing to help you. But, please know that I'm a certified engineering technician. I disassemble and reassembly tons of units every week and if I ever make a mistake, I can just easily get a replacement part. But if you mess up, it won't be so easy. So please, remember to be careful when disassembling and reassembling your unit.

With that out of the way, let me give you some additional information before I get to the disassembly.

First, these LCDs are what we call Hinge Up Displays, or HUDs for short. This particular one is also an "Edge-To-Edge" display. The latter means there isn't a typical bezel that pops off. Well, there is, but it's not the same as the others. The former means that we typically just have the technicians order the entire display. This HUD will contain all the required components.

This method is ideal, but definitely the most expensive. Here are the parts for the HUD:


Don't really worry too much about the numbers at the moment. If you really want to go this route, just supply me the service tag of your unit and I'll tell you exactly which one you'd need to order.

If you don't want to go this route, then I'll supply the steps to disassemble the unit. I've already disassembled it and it's really not all that hard, you just have to be cautious.

I'll create another post in a little while with a PDF detailing the steps and the correct part numbers for this model.

[odysses]

Boy, that was annoying and time consuming :P

For those interested, I made a short walkthrough detailing the steps required to disassemble and install the card+cable. I've also included the part number for both parts. The cable listed in the very first thread only applies to the Alienware M17XR3. The ends of the cables have the transmitter, which is different sizes for each model.

Take a look at the document on Scribd. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me anything.

Alienware M14X WiHD Card Installation Walk Through

[Paddon]

Thank you so much Odysses !

Just a few quick questions

Do you need to pry up the white peice of plastic holding the ODD rybon cable ?

When i did this before i just pulled the rybon cable up and out of the white peice of plastic and it slided out easily without lifting up the white plastic thing at all. Seems many people are snapping peices of this and if you can just do it the way i did then you aviod this

also i am having a problem making out the last picture, is that what the bottom left of the screen looks like from inside ?

Will the UK version be compatible with this ?

the list of HUDS you mentioned is that so i can order a new display rather than take it apart or is it to see if mine is already compatible with this upgrade.

Do you have a steam account by any chance ?

Thanks again !

+ rep