Hinge/crack fixing for the M17 / OCZ Whitebook?

I've been searching around to see if anyone has any advice for repairing hinges on an M17? Seems there are only threads related to the m15x model. In my case the hinge is cracked to the point that wires start poking out if I try to close the screen. I'd ended up leaving the screen open for a couple of months now since this issue began about a month after my warranty expired. I would just accept that it will have to stay permanantly open and use the laptop as my desktop pc, but I wanted to fit a 2nd hdd so I really would like to be able to close the laptop whilst fitting it.

I tried closing it now and it feels like the screen is about to snap off. Not very impressive for £2800, and I can't just blame alienware/dell if the chassis is designed by OCZ. I've found a few comment online about cracks in the casing of the m17, but no advice on fixing it. Would it be a similar approach to videos about fixing cracks/hinges on the m15x which I found on youtube posted by a forum member from here?

Note, I'd never even taken the notebook out of my house and it hadn't been dropped or anything.

Thanks

 

pic of it plz what part of the hinge cracked the plastic chasis or the metal hinge it self?

 

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately my family are away on holiday and have taken the camera with them. I have a camera on my HTC Universal but the quality wasn't enough to show much.

If you look at this link I will endeavour to explain:
Alienware M17 gaming notebook with ATI CrossFireX dual-graphics - SlashGear

It is the longer hinge on the left hand side which had the cracks. Looking at it now, the cracks are obscured. It is the plastic, not the metal part of the hinge. Also, the screen is now slanted so it leans to the left so there is little gap between the base and the screen on the far left and a large space between screen/case and the base which increases the further to the end you go.

The screen no longer closes which is what I used to do to show the cracks. It appears to me that due to the tilt, too much of the bottom of the plastic longer 'hinge' has slipped under. I am tempted to try slipping a flat screwdriver/ruler on the plastic and seeing if this allows me to close the screen so I can take a pic of the cracks. If I remember rightly, the wires were also exposed due to the cracks.

Any advice? Is there any reason to think that my screwdriver idea to get some useful pictures could make the screen snap clean off or something?

Thanks.

Edit:

Pictures uploaded:
Pictures of damaged m17 hinge/casing

Basically the bottom part of the plastic hinge (looking from the back) seems to slipped underneath too much and towards the front of the hinge/screen if that makes sense. Hopefully this will be noticable if you look at a picture of the long plastic hinge comparing the left hand side to the right (again, when looking from the back).

Sorry if this all sounds really ambiguous.

Update: I found a copy of the w840-di service manual which I assume is the same as the ocz whitebook/m17 here:
Manuals

However on searching for the word "hinge" in the pdf, the only references to them I can find involves taking apart the entire screen. I was thinking along this link since I thought maybe it was the screen/hinges being lopsided which has led to the cracks and now being unable to move the screen at all. So I thought maybe there was an easy way of re-alligning the screen to resolve it but it doesn't seen like it.

 

well i don,t see the damage in the actual picture (note i don't have my m17 to compare)

in the under part of your alienware there are 2 screw that allow you to remove the power button removing these 2 will reveal the hinges almost completely the only part they won't reveal is the one inside the screen

if you need to see these you need to remove the inside of the panel wich is only 6 screw away


edit is seem like you hinge is out of it's socket look to remove the power button panel i think you will see the solution there

 

Thanks for the advice Granyte. At least I now how to reveal the hinges so I can see what's going on without needing to worry about taking apart the entire screen as the service manual seems to imply if one needs to see the hinges.

I'll post updates once I make some progress.

 

Alienware : The Best Custom Built Gaming PC for the Ultimate PC Gamer!

here you go tutorial

the only diference is don,t mess with the one near the csmos (behind the under pannel it only hold the key board in place)
and don't remove the keyboard

 

Thanks for the link and advice granyte. The only problem is that I can't move the screen at all so it's going to be a bit fiddly since I can't close the lid and put it lid facing down on the table to work on it. Still, I'll take my time and hopefully do it right.

By the way, at the moment I have 256GB SSD drvie and was planning on fitting a 2nd 500gb hdd which is why this whole venture with fixing the screen/hinge needs to be done first.

I checked the internal temps and it is running at 75 degrees C. Would you (or anyone else) advise going with a cooler running 5400rpm hdd (probably the WD Scorpio Blue) rather than a 7200rpm hdd? Or would there be little difference to the overall internal temp of 75 degrees centigrade regardless of which hdd I decide to install?

Thanks

 

internal temps of what that depends on your build and wich component is reachign 75

also if your laptop is 1 year old you should clean the vents and maybe redo your thermal paste if you haven't yet

 

I managed to close the screen after removing the 2 screws on the back and one on the hinge. Below is a link to the pictures of the cracks on the hinge.

Cracked hinge/casing

2 pics shows inside the cracks, 1 shows where the crack gradually starts along the long plastic hinge and continues on into the smaller hinge which is split completely open.

Also, although I was able to lift up the quick-launch cover slightly after a struggle, I don't reallt get how in the image 7 of step 8 of the that guide shows the lcd screen-case completely removed from the hinges. Also the guide says that the panel can't be completely removed since there are wires attached underneath.

 

well you could disconect them but it does not mather on my system i can pull it far enough to reveal completely my hinges
it can be removed also as i recal the cable are not atached underneat but they still are ribon connector wich is a pain to reconnect


also from the new pic you uploaded it seem like you will need to take the lcd apart and change the back pannel you should take thepart of the panel that is on the side of the lcd off to see what are the dmg (maybe it's just that the screw loosened or something)

the screw are under the rubber part in fron of the pannel don,t worrie the glue they used will re stick them there when you'r donne (if you feel unsecure doing so without a tuto i need to tighten my hinges so i'll upload picture in later today when i'll have th time

 

Interestingly enough, i did actually remove the front panel around the lcd during that session. Forgot to upload those pictures. Here you go:

M17 with front lcd panel-frame removed

The picture of the small round object on the desk was something I found in the broken hinge when I removed the panel. It was sitting loose and scrapping against the wiring so I pried it out. On close inspection I could see it was originally attached to something with black plastic and had snapped off. Although, it could just be something to do with the screw on the panel around the lcd where the left hand hinge is since that screw no longer stays in.

Let me know if the new pics with the panel round the lcd provide any insights. I am beginning to think you are correct about needing to replace the back panel, however at least I can now close the screen when necessary (although it's still scary due to how pops open exposing the wiring) so I can fit the extra hdd.

About my internal temps, CPUID's Hardware Monitor shows that it's the CPU which is consistently at 60-70 degrees C. I'm guessing the current HDD will be cool since it's SSD. I think I will go for the WD Scorpio Black since it seems to offer good reliability and performance. I've never had a HD failure and most of the one's I've owned were Western Digitals so I'll stick with them for now. When I fit it, I'll follow your advice about cleaning the vents and redoing the thermal paste.

Thanks again for all your help. Although I've built a PC before, this is the first time I've ever opened up a notebook so it was a daunting perspective due to all the money I spent on the system and being worried about damaging it.

 

this seem like the part that allow the lcd and the hinge to be screwed together that died this is part of the back pannel and cannot really be replaced


i also sugest bending the hinge in the closed position permanently so that it won't pop the pannel up

what are your spec 60-70 is a little hot but if it's an extreme or a quad it might be normal also use Open Hardware Monitor | CPU Temperature, Fan Speed, Voltages, Clocks and More cause it can tell your gpu temps cause if you have issue with your cpu you likely have an heat issu with your gpu also

heheheehe you'r lucky it was the m17 then if it's your first laptop that one with the dell's i opened are the eseayest to open they almost seem to tell you how to do

don't worrie unless you cut the cable on purpace there should be no trouble with it remaining open many of us play with the back pannel open revealing the internal of the laptop completly i even accidentaly droped a screw in it while runing it made sound flashes and smoke but the laptop is still fine it can take a lot of pounding befor being at risk

 

Thanks for the reassurance and the link to Open HM - awesome program! CPU temp is averaging 60-70 still (mainly 60-65). it is an extreme quadcore (qx9300) although not overlocked or anything so it's at 2.53Ghz. Open HM showed my GPU was at 55 degrees c max and I have a ssd hd so it must just be the nature of the CPU to run hot in a notebook. I'll still do the vent & thermal paste maintenance that you advised and see if this lowers the temp slightly. Adding the WD Scorpio Black HDD running at 7200rpm might be too hot though? I only wanted to use a 2nd hdd for storing and playing my entire CD collection which was ripped to lossless format (400mb per album) so not sure if 7200 rpm is really necessary. I was going to use the SSD HD for my OS to make sure Windows 7 continues to boot up in under 30 secs.

Back to the cracks - I do recall that when the screen is closed, although I was worried due to some of the wiring touching the cracked portions and possibly scraping it, it was the heavily insulated wiring which doesn't show any damage as yet. Is the plastic on the hinge which has split/popped open flexible enough for me to bend it into place without snapping?

If you got any insights into running a 7200rpm hdd in the M17 with the cpu already at 65 degrees, let me know, cheers.

Also, my ram shows up as being 2 X ELPIDA 2GB DDR3 PC3-8500F running at only 532Mhz. I'm pretty sure that when I got the M17 in May 2009 I had requested 1033Mhz. Should I be worried? Or am I meant to be altering the timings myself? (currently at 532Mhz 1:2 7-7-7-20)

Update, apparently CPU-Z reports frequency rather than ram speed, so DDR3-1066 has Memory Clock: 133 MHz. Bus Clock: 533 MHz. Data Transfers/Sec.: 1,066,000,000. Module Name: PC3-8500.

Assuming Bus Clock of 533MHz = DRAM 532 MHz, it should follow that my Ram is actually running at 1067Mhz

 

the qx9300 runs at only 60-65 they it's perfectly fine as this is both an extreme and a quad thier higher speed and aditional cores makes them run hotter

i myself posses a quad a q9000 wich runs at lower speed and it took me weeks to figure how to get it's temps under 60 i had to remove the crapy thing AW put in the air intakes, clean the fans, replace the thermal paste, undervolt and modify the demande based underclocking values.

i was talking about the metal part of the hinge if you removed the front plastic there shoul be nothing in fron of the hing so putting it in closed position should present no issue while having it remain in open position might put more strain on the back pannel wich in therm could en killing it befor you can get a new one

the HDD ares in a separate enclosure and unless they them self build up to much heat (wich they should not if they are laptop hdd) you should see no issue i myself run 2 7200 RPM drives and i rarely see then get to hot and the drive alienware gave me is the one running the hotest wwhile the other one runs 10 lower


as you told in your update this is DDR wich mean double data rate so it send 2 set of data per clock cycle hence the 1066 even if the frequency is 532

 

Thanks for the quick tek on how to lower the temps and clarifying the hinge fix. Hopefully this will help to prevent my CPU fan spinning at 75%-100% most the time, even when I'm just browsing online or listening to music.

By the way, which make and model did you decide on for the 2nd hdd which you added yourself? I'm stuck between the 500gb Seagate 7200.4, 320gb WD Scorpio Black (7200) and the 500gb WE Scropio Blue (5400). I've read pretty much every decent test and review I can find.

If memory serves, Alienware probably fitted the Seagate 7200.4 for your 1st drive. If you got a different make and/or model for the 2nd bay, do you have preference between the two?

Also, does the M17 hdd cage include extra screws for mounting of an additional drive? The service manual implies not. I doubt the OEM hdd I order will come with any and I just gave away my last obsolete pc tower (which had already been mostly stripped down over the yrs) which would have had some spare screws rattling away inside.

Cheers,
Ill

 

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this is the one alienware stufed in my bay 1

Allstarshop.com - Hitachi 0A72333 Travelstar 7K500 HTS725032A9A364 2.5" 320GB 7200RPM 16MB SATA HDD (Drive only)

this is the one i fitted mysel it rates high in hdd benches perhaps higher then the seagate AW stufed in

no mather what i will soon replace both with 2 500 gb hitachi and setup a raid

no it does not include aditional screw but the whay it's done unless you plan on removeing and readding them all day long you can as well use 2 screw per drive untill you find more

 

Nice dude. I've heard good things about the 5th gen hitachi hdds which came out this year.. I think I recall someone saying that they are the finest mechanical HDDs on the market! Are you going with Raid 0 or 1?

I got lucky and my order for the 320gb scorpio black failed at the checkout and then I found out that after 2 years, WD finally released a 500gb model last month so I ordered that instead. Only cost me £3 more for an extra 180gb and reassurance that they will hopefully have picked up on some of the issues users have had with their scorpio black drives (most notibly the rattling/vibrating, noise and occasional clicking noise) and resolved it for this release. The new drive should also have the latest firmware

Cheers for the info about the screws. I think I might be able to salvage some from a massive ancient caddy I have with a couple of drives installed which I will use in a hot swap single caddy instead (went with the Sharkoon quickport combo which works with 2.5/3.5" sata drives and IDE drives too which is a good way of recycling the older hdds via esata connection to the m17.)

 

Raid 0 of course speed and space all the way no need for datasecuity i'll be getting a dock in wich i can slide my actual drives for safe storage and i screww my window install faster then you can say raid aray corupt....
my actual one is dieing cause of lack of love adrealy LOL but i installed it only as a temporary install when my last one died and i know i was getting a new HDD

nice WD got a 500 GB a 7200 rpm i could not find one

 

I was thinking about raid 0 however considering how much debt I got into getting the 256gb ssd drive (had to go via alienware's ripoff price since they gave the 1yr's interest free credit for me to save up for it) but I can't risk the raid array dying and frying both drives.

I don't know where you are but in UK I found a few retailers either stocking the 500gb 7200rpm scorpio blacks or "awaiting delivery". Just trying googling "wd5000bekt" for your country if you want to get one to go with your new hitachi drive when you upgrade.

Could be interesting to compare the two since the hitachi drive is often used in benchmarks for new 7200rpm 2.5" drives but you do get a 5yr warranty with the WD.

Hopefully I won't get too much of a loss in performance in using my ssd hdd for the system/program files etc and the 7200 hdd for data (mainly music and music videos) with no raid set up, just one set as master and another as slave. Still got to be better than now since I consistently only have 1-5gb free on my hdd and it's seriously effecting the performance.

 

i don,t think a raid can die and damage the drive

i know i can easyli lose data on it how ever

if you'r ssd is fast it can be equal or faster then my raid