Precision M6500 - Installed Logitech Unifying Receiver in mPCIe Slot!

Alrighty folks. This is a follow up to my thread previous posted here.

I'll go through this as detailed as possible in case any of you want to attempt the same thing. As the previous post stated, I did this sort of thing with my XPS M1710. I expected nothing less from the M6500. When I originally did this with the M1710, I used the Logitech Nano Receiver. It's the same size and shape, but it wasn't Unifying. I begged Logitech for years to release a receiver that can accept multiple devices and different pairings. The pitfall of having the Nano receiver installed was that it tied ONE mouse to this ONE laptop since it was not easy to remove. The Unifying receiver solves all of those problems. I later upgraded the M1710 to that receiver.

On the M6500, which I've had for all of two weeks now, I disassembled looking for usable USB headers. The last time I did this, I rendered one of six USB port unusable from the outside of the laptop. Since the M6500 only has 4 USB ports, I didn't want to do that. John Ratsey pointed reminded me that the mini PCIe has USB built-in. So, pursuing down that road, I discovered a mPCIe to USB/SATA card. It's cheap... at around $5-$10. See the links below.

Onbene.com. Mini PCI-Express USB & SATA Coverter Adapter Card
Focalprice.com offers Mini PCI-e PCI Express to SATA SSD + USB DIY Adapter (Green) ,discount Mini PCI-e PCI Express to SATA SSD + USB DIY Adapter (Green),Mini PCI-e PCI Express to SATA SSD + USB DIY Adapter (Green) products,low price Mini PCI-e PCI E

Other things you will need are the mouse and receiver. I am using the Logitech Anywhere Mouse MX with the Unifying Receiver. I think any mouse will work if it uses this receiver. You will need a USB extension cable or port. My mouse came with one. You will also need an extra M2X3 screw to secure down the mPCIe adapter card. You can get one or a bunch or a whole technician's kit of screws from here. You will also need to solder a little bit for this, unless you're willing to try it just by twisting wires together.

I ordered one. It came in today and it is exactly what it said it was. It essentially breaks out USB and SATA from the slot. You can use wire solder holes in the PCB or the wire header included. I could not find a product page from the manufacturer to determine what the original intent of this is for.

The first time I plugged it in before dressing it nicely, it didn't work. Testing showed that the card wasn't providing 5V from the 3.3V that is on the mPCIe slot. So looking at the PCB, it said that Pin 1 was +5V from motherboard. So, I guess it expects you to tap off of something else. But what?

I refused to solder anything to the motherboard of the laptop. I wanted to do this as non-destructive as possible. So, after some tampering around, I found that the fan that sits next to DIMM slots C&D is 5V. I unplugged it and found that the Red wire pin was indeed 5V, and it was there all the time, even when the fan was not running. Yay!

I stripped back some of the insulation without cutting the wire, then wrapped a 4" piece of wire around and soldered it in place. A little electrical tape for insulation. I may redo this with some heat shrink. This wire fished easily next to the fan to the bottom side of the laptop, right next to the WWAN slot.

The next trick was to figure out where to put the receive and how to route the cable. I took the USB port out of the extension cable that came with the mouse. I removed the chrome outer shell and found that the interior of the plug mates very securely with the Unifying receiver. Clearance is the key here. I had to shave down some plastic and molding . I routed the cable under the bottom case next to the dock connector. Then, just wired it up.

I snapped off the header for SATA from the card because for some reason, the card wouldn't lie down all the way. I think this card would have been much better off if they put the plastic headers on the other side of the card.

After everything was wired up, I booted and it works!

Pictures are below. I know this has been a vague description of what I did, so let me know if I can clarify anything.







If anyone has any thoughts on improving this procedure, let me know. I am curious as to if there is a better place to pull +5V from. You could also put the receiver under the keyboard in the DIMM C/D space if you don't have any chips there.

I also saw someone on the web pry the plastic off of the Logitech Nano receiver and it is even smaller. Not sure if the Unifying receiver is the same way.

 

Thanks for the update. I'm pleased to hear that it works. Even if you had to go and find a separate 5V supply.

John

 

That's pretty slick to not lose a USB port, though too much of a DIY for me and I don't really like wireless mice, though good job!

 

"Logitech Unifying Receiver"

So, this unifies Logitech cordless products only?

I thought Blue Tooth was for unity?

GK

 

Yes, and only newer Logitech products that use it. I love Logitech mice. I have to find a good, reliable Bluetooth mouse with a good set of customizable buttons and features. I love the scroll wheel on the Anywhere mouse.

 

What's wrong with wireless mice? I've found good wireless mice to be just as good as wired for almost all applications. I'm very fast with the cursor, so it should work well for games, although I don't play games much. Besides, this is mostly for being on the go. The less cables the better.

 

I just feel they are less responsive. And most of them are waaaay to small for my giant hands, and the big wireless mice I feel are too bulky. Though I maybe too used to my Razer Lachesis mouse...lol

And my workstation has a Razer Deathadder...I think gaming mice have clouded my mouse opinions...lol

 

Last I shopped, a decent Blue Tooth mouse was hard to find. I've bought a couple MS 5000s... they work, but are on the small side... which I figure is a fair compromise for a notebook mouse. MicroCenter had OEM black versions for cheap... the black looks better than the retail white/silver versions.

I like Logitech products, but they tend to OVERBUILD some of their mice. At the time, I could not find a decent BT version. But I have bought a few RX720s for desktops which are really slick cordless mice... simple, full-size symetrical grip, great 2.4GHz range, and batteries last for a year (auto power ON/OFF)... and black. Not sure they sell 'em anymore.

GK

 

Looks like a decent mouse. I'm quite addicted to the hyperfast scroll wheel in the Anywhere Mouse.

 

I have a Precision 4600 and I had the same issue of being bothered by the Logitech Unifying receiver sticking out. Actually, my problem was that I had a nice leather bag that fit my old 15" with a 1920x1200 display just fine, but the new 15" are wider, so, with the Unifying receiver, it does not fit...

I want to achieve the same goal as the original poster, but didn't want to go soldering inside the machine. I looked at a bunch of options:
- Same solution (but didn't want to solder)
- Similar solution, but with an external DC-DC converter (like the Sparfun http://www.sparkfun.com/products/8290). This looked like too much work (and needed to find space in the PC - not easy).
- I also found the perfect board, the MM2U, available at a couple of Taiwanese shops. It is a full-size mini-pcie card with a short mini-pcie adapter, a voltage booster, a SIM card reader and a USB port (http://www.hwtools.net/adapter/MM2U.html). After removing the adapter and the USB port, it may fit in a slot and has all the electronics needed. The downside is the price ($25) and long shipping, all the unsoldering and still the requirement to find free space.

Finally, I found another cheap and relatively easy solution: I bought a cheap Expresscard USB2 adapter (Amazon.com: ExpressCard/54 to USB 2.0 Adapter Up to 480Mbps 2 Port: Electronics) $10 from Amazon. I was hoping the USB ports were cabled, but it's actually a whole PCB. What I did was to remove one of the USB port. I pulled apart the Unifying receiver and kept just the PCB. Then, in the space left by the removed USB port, I put the Unifying receiver PCB. It just fit. I just had to solder 4 wires to go from the Unifying receiver PCB and the pads of the removed USB connector.

All in all it was fairly easy, cheap and reversible (expect for the Unifying receiver - $15 on EBay if needed).

If anybody is interested in the result or the disassembly of the Unifying receiver, I can add details. Unfortunately, I was so much in a hurry that I didn't take pictures...

Laurent