E6540 Owners Thread

I've seen this problem when I have cloned a drive complete with signature which is meant to be a unique string and then booted with both the new and old drive connected. However, you say that you have cloned the C: partition but not the whole drive. Does the BIOS list both drives?

John

 

Hi everyone!

I know that this is an old thread, but I just picked up a E6540 for $60.00 on eBay. The seller was nice enough to send me the service tag before shipping and according to Dell.com it's a base model with a I5-4310M and no ATI graphics, (I'm not a fan of AMD/ATI, so that part isn't a problem for me). On the downside, it comes with the lower end 1366 x 768 screen. I have read several post's where people have upgraded their screens to a 1920 x 1080 WXGA HD LED. I found the screen with no problem, but no one gives any information about the upgraded video cable needed.

Does anyone have any information or links on this cable?

Thanks!

zog

 

At least according to parts-people.com, there aren't different cables for the two resolutions - it would be kind of (economically) pointless anyway, just to save on 2-4 hair-thin wires.

The greater differences seem to lie on whether the mainboard / display are LVDS (40-pin connector, on the back of the display) or eDP (30-pin).

https://www.parts-people.com/index.php?action=category&id=140&subid=453&refine=lcd+cable

 

Thanks KhronX,

I guess I'll just have to wait until it's delivered and see what I have! Although I did see it mentioned that I would need a thicker/heavier duty cable. I'll dig through the posts to find the comment.

 

So here the follow up to my question. My new unit arrived and when I say new, I mean "like new". There really doesn't seem to be much wear on it, there was no dust on the CPU fan on when I popped the bottom. There is no wear on the keyboard or touchpad. The only problem that I can find is the screen:



Looks like someone closed the lid with something still on the keyboard. However, since I was planning to upgrade the screen anyway...

Here's the quote about the dual channel cable:

My laptop has a 40 pin LVDS:



Will this be OK for a 1920 x 1080? I've been searching, but I can't find out anything about a "dual channel LVDS". Does anyone have a part number?

Thanks!

zog

 

Found this info at AMD's website relating to E6540/M2800 freezing during installation of the latest drivers here.

I followed this info to load the driver listed and was able to reduce my M2800's idle power consumption from ~7.8W to 4.5W. This has given substantial battery life improvements. Maybe E6540 owners can do the same?

Decreasing Dell E6540/M2800 with HD8790M/W4170M dGPU idle power consumption to under 5W by using a recent AMD driver with enableulps active

74Wh/75Wh 6-cell aftermarket batteries giving 50% more battery life

 

Late model Dell M2800s (probably E6540 too) with Ultrasharp 30-pin eDP IPS LCDs are awesome

Had three M2800s finding two with AUO panels and one with a Samsung panel. The Samsung panel is a surprise because the system's support tag lists an AUO panel. I preferred the whiter whites on the Samsung, but both give great colors and wide viewing angles. These are the LCDs in them:

- 15.6" FHD Ultrasharp LCD (1920 x 1080 , IPS WVA, 72% gamut, eDP Dell CRN6V - AUO B156HAN01.1, HW ID = AU011ED )
- 15.6" FHD Ultrasharp LCD (1920 x 1080 , IPS WVA, 72% gamut, eDP Dell FYTXT - Samsung LTN156HL02-001, HW ID = SDC4C48 )

The E6540/M2800 review sites seem to have earlier TN LVDS panels. It's our little secret

Together with my previous posted battery tweaks, the eDP E6540/M2800s are superb machines. Lighter & more contemporary looking that M4800, i7-48x0M CPU performance similar to a E5570/M3510's i7-6820HQ and costs a lot less. Expresscard slot giving a cheap eGPU option. They can be easily Hackintoshed too.


late-2015 M2800 came with a 2.5" 7mm SATA Samsung SM871 (equiv to a 850 Pro) SSD

Surprised it had such a speedy SSD. An early-2015 M2800 came with a slightly slower 840 Pro.


E6540/M2800 eDP connector is 40-pin. Could a 4K panel be retrofitted?

If can find a 40-pin cable, maybe someone wants to see if a 4K panel retrofit can be done? These system's use this model systemboard. A picture of the systemboard eDP connector is below.

VALA0 LA-9413P (eDP equipped Dell E6540/HD8790M or Dell M2800/W4170M - seems the VBIOS in the BIOS determines if you get a consumer HD8790M or professional W4170M - both with a 1002:6606 PCI ID)

 

Good review and internal photos of a M2800 from 51nb.com (Google translated frim Chinese)

---------
Precision M2800: Rugged, Reliable, Affordable Mobile Workstation


Dell's precision brand changed its previous form of m4x00+m6x00 in 2014. Four mobile workstations were released: m2800 m3800 m4800 m6800. The m4800 and m6800 inherited the design and positioning of previous generations, maintaining the absolute performance. Advantage; m3800 is clearly positioned, with a trendy appearance, thin body shape, good performance has made quite a good reputation; and as the final release of the m2800 has been relatively low-key, the outside world knows that in addition to a few parameters outside the parameters There is no more disclosure.
This article aims to unveil the m2800's mystery, reveal everyone's, and also my own mystery: m2800 as a breakthrough new design workstation, whether it can complete its assigned task
Appearance:
In contrast to the black-based tone, Dell used silver anodized aluminum to look fashionable.


The screen hook provided by the tank-class notebook, the 2800 is a small tank, so only one is provided, and there is a difference between the all-metal double hook of 4800 6800.


The appearance of a solid appearance, you can see the front there is a sd card reader, fingerprint, two-finger backlight keyboard are complete


Internal operation indicator is not omitted

Fast volume adjustment switch

Ubuntu system stickers, relative to the Windows Professional Edition system, the price is a huge advantage

The palm rest comes with a standard swiping fingerprint +nfc reader for secure encrypted identification

Feeling in general, better than no black spots

Small but well-used touchpad

The keyboard is exactly the same as the m4800 and m6800. It feels good to use, and the full keyboard supports strong general use.

As a traditional commercial book, 180° opening and closing is a must

Backlit keyboard, four adjustable, soft and uniform


150w small brick + blue light power

Due to the docking interface, external indicators are essential

Usb3.0, 3.5mm headset / mic interface is essential, as well as optical drive ec sc card slot professional (and of course tossing party) only need interface

Shutdown charging, rj45, must, even the basic vga interface has been retained, is completely in line with commercial positioning


Hdmi as a mainstream interface also provides support


In addition, the machine also provides quick-dismount optical drive: only need to press a switch on the optical drive panel, the entire optical drive can be quickly removed to facilitate access to hard drives or other devices


Structure
The title mentioned solid and reliable, according to just below
After removing the keyboard palm rest, you can see reinforced fixed buckles and drainage holes


With the palm rest, you can see that the position of the hard disk and the position of the optical drive are all very thick.
At the same time, it has the function of preventing discomfort caused by the sag of the flexible palm rest.


Backlit keyboard body, silver protrusion is the buttonhole/drain hole

6c battery to prevent protrusion from affecting appearance

The D surface after the cover is opened can be seen as a three-stage design, ensuring strength and maintainability.

In addition to covering the magnesium aluminum alloy cover plate, the entire d-plane is reinforced with a single block of roll cages. This effect is similar to the keel of automobiles and ships. When shocks and impacts are received, the energy can be distributed over the entire frame. Effectively prevent large deformation of the housing and internal parts damage.
This is an indispensable structure for traditional commercial machines and an important reason why they are heavy and expensive.
Of course, the new magnesium aluminum alloy technology has also made great progress in reducing weight.

Widgets such as NICs are well protected, and the next three slots are optional machines without wifi (business users, all kinds of magical needs)
Side-by-side vacant encryption accelerator card interface

The memory slot, the two protrusions on the upper part of the frame are convenient for the memory under the fingers, and the casting is slightly awkward. Fortunately, it does not affect the use.


Quick-disconnect the hard disk drive of the hard disk, you can see it is a "full armored bathtub", the thickness is reassuring

After the c-plane is emptied, you can see that the fan, optical drive, hard disk, and battery have separate isolation space. The 810g military standard test still requires certain design skills.
Huge motherboard design is also a distinctive feature of workstations, whether it is tower, rack or mobile station
It can be seen that the entire main board has a cover sheet to reduce the risk of short circuits due to ingress of water, debris, etc.

Integrated motherboard and external interface
This design can greatly reduce flexible cable links, increasing reliability and aesthetics


Pga cpu power supply circuit, you can see m2800 is not for the flagship cpu build

W4170 (actually m4000) graphics card and gddr5 memory

Optical drive isolation area

Roll cage is very thick

The whole e-port interface is metal in addition to the body, and the surrounding protection frame is also made of all metal. It belongs to the roll cage design.

The back of cpu and gpu is also very thick metal stent protection

The all-copper cooling module that many people are concerned about is also the top priority of this test. The thickness is compared by a one-dollar coin.



Front two sets of 4 sound unit details

The back is fixed on the frame by screws + silicone brackets to prevent vibration conduction into the body

Some supplements for designing small details
It can be seen that the hard disk is a 500g thin disk, fast-release bracket + rubber fixed, with armored tub will have very good data protection capabilities
The ec card dust cover is designed as a multi-function module that can be used as a ruler, caliper, hole cutter, wire stripper, very user-friendly and intimate

Performance testing is no longer repeated, 4710mq performance is very clear, as w4170
http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-FirePro-W4170M.113867.0.html
The performance is quite strong, and the p2 points of the k2100m are similar
M2800 everyone is the most concerned about the heat, so we specifically look for the environment to do the next test, hit 30 degrees at room temperature, which is basically the normal use of the highest ambient temperature of the machine: 30 °
Then test heat dissipation in this more extreme environment
Attachment: original phase change grease
Cpu single roasted fpu, the machine is no pressure, 15 minutes throughout the frequency is not down


Dual-bake fpu+gpu, the machine has a more obvious cpu downclock - about 15-20%
It can be seen that the ambient temperature is 30, referenced by the side area51 desktop inlet air temperature detector

The noise of the whole machine is at an acceptable level
to sum up
In our entire test and dismantling research, m2800 demonstrated the consistent design level and comprehensive strength of Dell's high-performance notebooks. The overall performance is quite balanced: 2.5kg weight is inserted into high-end CPU and high-end professional gpu. Can maintain good operating stability, but also basically achieve the thermal limit under this volume and thickness, dual full load downclocking is a pity, but users with this demand, I am afraid m4800 is waving to you.
The advantages of this machine:
1、Comprehensive performance, especially for professional customers who do swg, maya and other opengl, is a balanced mobile tool
2,4710mq, 4810mq can be used at normal times without downswing, rendering ability is not bad, in the case of limited budget, it is a very good choice
3, cheap, but does not shrink performance and configuration, belonging to the so-called conscience goods
4, the structure is solid and reliable, suitable for working in harsh environments
5, matching 1080p panel, the display is quite good (This article tests this machine does not have an optional 1080p screen, the cost is limited, but the current 1080p ips screen and the 4800 is the same block, do not repeat them)
Local defects:
Basically only one, i7 quad-core configuration can not be fully loaded, but this demand, it is still more recommended to buy m4800/m6800



workstation
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I have a question, who else has an mSATA set as their main boot drive with the E6540? If yes, how did you do that. A few months back I tried installing Windows (tried both 7 and 10) on a Samsung Evo 860 but sadly the installer couldn't see the SDD.

 

Hi Simmytu,

I have an E6540 and a Precision M4800. I have boot set up with an mSATA as primary boot drives. The way I did it was I used WinToUSB Free: (https://www.easyuefi.com/wintousb/), to create a uEFI bootable USB stick. I then removed all drives except the mSATA. Then I booted into the BIOS with the USB stick in the laptop, (Dell's BIOS is really messed up compared to Lenovo when it come to uEFI). and set my boot to uEFI, then I set it to boot off of the USB first, then the mSATA. This part is important, because hitting F12 and selecting the USB stick will make the system boot into legacy mode. After that, it's just a normal Windows install.

One last note. If you haven't installed Windows 10 previously, you need to install Windows 7 first for the COA to work. Then verify that your copy of Windows is genuine, then upgrade to Windows 10. After Windows 10 is installed, once again verify that your copy of Windows is genuine. After that, Microsoft will recognize your system and you can do clean installs of Windows 10 without installing Windows 7 first.

Or just install Linux.... just saying!