Vostro 3450 WWAN add mod

Hi All,

Great forum here, hope I can get help.

I found that my lap was WWan capable and got a Dell 5530 (Ericsson F3507G) wwan card and went to add the card, found the the HGYV2 IO daughter board did not have a sim slot and got one and soldered it in also added a 1uF capacitor to c232 per the schematic on the net.

put everything together and installed the latest drivers and dell broadband utility. Drivers installed fine including GPS but the dell utility says no sim. My research found a pic of the IO board that has a component covered by a tape, guess that this might be the problem and can some one kindly check what is under the tape if you ever open the lap? Sorry for the trouble.

thanks and best regards,

 

Hi all, see a lot of reads, appreciate if someone can kindly give me an answer.

/TYA
Os.

 

os10.
I don't understand your question. You have actually opened your laptop and you cannot see what there is in there?
I'd like to see your mod working but your question -as it is- make no sense to me.


Edit
On second thought, it could be that board on the picture is from a laptop that has the option installed from factory... or the problem lies in the card you are trying to add?
In the first case obviously (now) you need someone who has a V 3450 with the option and then with the skills to open it... I see.
Alternatively you may try to find where the traces come and go from in that board . It might be a jumper as well. uhmm

 

Hi Nspace,

Thanks for your response. Yes you are correct I am looking for someone who has opened the 3450 to find what is under the black tape on the Daughter IO board with USB 3 ports. The pic with the tape is of a factory board that has the SIM slot installed. Mine did not have the sim slot and I have added a slot and the capacitor per the schematic. Do you know anyone who has a 3450 opened?

best regards/
OS

 

Well, I did opened a friend's 3450 a couple of weeks ago and I do also have a 3450, however neither have the sim card socket option installed.
Hence I don't see how ours could be different from your laptop.

Upon the opening, I did notice the beautiful clean wwan socket, apparently mSata, and I am considering installing a SSD there for the system. Did my search at Dell forum and here, but I have yet to find someone to have attemped it with the 2011 Vostro line. Aren't you tempted at this?

 

I have the correct daughterboard, from here: DELL Vostro 3450 right back usb LAN module genuine | eBay

Has the regular mPCIe for WiFi, then the other full length mPCIe for WWAN/mSATA. I've tried an Intel 311 in another Vostro from IT at work and yes, mSATA drives are recognized with that port. With H67/QS67 that is a SATA port.

 

Excellent news H.A.L 9000 !! Thank you very much, this is first confirmation on this regard.
Besides, I believe Dell Vostros could better compete with Lenovo alikes if important features like this one would be widely known, particularly with the last months advancements on the mSata SSD supply front and their lowering prices.

I will assume that means bootable mSata. Thus, how is it actually implemented? Does the extra option just appears on the BIOS as a new boot choice, or just by selecting to boot from the net, works its magic?

 

On the daughterboard topic. I've read Dell is replacing -upon request- this precise board because of faulty USB 3.0 implementation. Just recently renesas released redesigned solution for this same task. Apparently the power stages were not 100% efficient or some problem with the logic was solved.
What do you know about this, and are there redesigned Vostro daughterboards on sight or possibly available as now, maybe the ones you are selling on Ebay?

 

No problem!

IDK about bootable, but the cache drive works perfectly with the Intel RST utility. When a drive is inserted into the mSATA port it shows in the BIOS as just another drive. I never tried to boot from it, since I wasn't using it as a boot drive, so IDK if it will actually function that way. I think Huron River was designed with the Intel 311 in mind, with it being a built in feature.

I haven't heard about that... mainly becuase I use eSATA instead of USB3.0. But those aren't mine on eBay, I just bought mine from them. Works like a charm.

 

Renesas newest controllers are: μPD720201 and μPD720202 ones.
According to this article Renesas launches two USB 3.0 controllers - The Inquirer

The same source states that these improved controllers were reaching mass production stage for first time back at September 2011.
Therefore most Vostro 3450s are shipped with previous renesas USB 3.0 ICs.
I do remember reading from Dell forum that (past that date) the company started shipping USB 3.0 daughterboards to those having persistent problems with this. However no info is shown there or elsewhere about an actual replacement of the Renesas controller utlized...