Dell Dimension 9100 - Motherboard Replacement

[madmatt]

OKay, I have a problem. I have a Dell Dimension 9100 here at work.

Back in early December I started having issues.

The device, \Device\Ide\IdePort0, did not respond within the timeout period.

I called Dell and a replacement hard drive was sent out. About a month later I started having the same problem. I called Dell again and they sent out a replacement drive.

Yesterday I get every thing squared away with the new drive and over night my PC reboots and gets stuck on a boot screen that says some thing along the lines as "No boot drive detected on port SATA-0". I shut the PC off and opened up the case. Made sure all connections were tight and then turned the PC back on. Booted up just fine.

However, I called Dell to report the new findings and they ordered a replacement motherboard.

I've never replaced a motherboard in a Dell system. I know they are proprietary to Dell and some times configured differently. Is there any thing special I will need to do?

Also, I know the motherboard is a major change in a system, but if it’s the same motherboard and revision will I have to reformat the system again?

Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

 

[kcnychief]

OKay, I have a problem. I have a Dell Dimension 9100 here at work.

Back in early December I started having issues.



I called Dell and a replacement hard drive was sent out. About a month later I started having the same problem. I called Dell again and they sent out a replacement drive.

Yesterday I get every thing squared away with the new drive and over night my PC reboots and gets stuck on a boot screen that says some thing along the lines as "No boot drive detected on port SATA-0". I shut the PC off and opened up the case. Made sure all connections were tight and then turned the PC back on. Booted up just fine.

However, I called Dell to report the new findings and they ordered a replacement motherboard.

I've never replaced a motherboard in a Dell system. I know they are proprietary to Dell and some times configured differently. Is there any thing special I will need to do?

Also, I know the motherboard is a major change in a system, but if it’s the same motherboard and revision will I have to reformat the system again?

Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

while I haven't worked with the 9100 specifically, dell motherboards are relatively straight-forward. They use spring mounted clips for the most part, and a lot also have mobo trays. But, besides all that, basic swap of CPU, RAM, etc. When replacing boards in the past, as long as it is the same model/revision number, I have never needed to reformat.

Hope it helps, and good luck to you.

 

[LeeJend]

If the MB is the same chipset maker as the old one reformat is not needed.

If the chipset is a different maker then you need to go into device mangler - system functions and uninstall the AGP, USB, Sound, and PCI drivers before installing the new MB. This will make the transition fairly easy since no fancy funcitons will be set up yet for the new MB.

 

[Sazar]

You still have warranty right?

If you have on-site service, they should probably be able come over and install it.

 

[madmatt]

Saz, I said I would take care of it. I don't know why, but I did. I really don't have an issue taking care of it, I just don't want to have to reformat for the third time in two months.

Thanks for the information Chief, Lee.

 

[kcnychief]

Just to re-itirate, if everything is the same you wont' have a problem.

To build off of what Lee had said, it may be easier to sysprep the machine if the chipset is different. That will kill everything unique, and save you the hassle of modifying and un-installing individual components.

Also, you should think about creating an image, this way the headache wouldn't exist

 

[zeke_mo]

I have the same laptop, and I have replaced the vidoe card with no problems before. Sometimes dell will send somebody out to do it for you, but if they do it yourself here is a step by step guide on how to remove it(with pictures too!)

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins9100/sm/sysboard.htm#1000473

Saz, I said I would take care of it. I don't know why, but I did. I really don't have an issue taking care of it, I just don't want to have to reformat for the third time in two months.

Thanks for the information Chief, Lee.

if you are only changing the motherboard you shouldnt need to format(if the motherboard really is the problem and not the hdd)

 

[Sazar]

Dimension == desktop.

There was an inspiron 9100 as well a while back but not anymore.

Matt, if you asked this in like 2 weeks time, I will be able to give you more assistance. I have been promoted to a position working with Federal entities rather than business to business transactions and I will have a lot more access to items like this and the sku's for them

I think

 

[kcnychief]

woo, congrats on the promotion Saz

I thought Dimension was a desktop, but when I tried to think, I came up dry.

Perhaps I am still hungover :s

 

[madmatt]

It is a desktop. The motherboard arrived today and it was a newer revision (motherboard and Intel chip) but the same chipset. It took about an hour to get every thing out and every thing back in. The only problem upon startup was the time/date being off (duh) and my DHCP lease (obviously because the MAC address changed).

Every thing seems to be working well. I flashed the BIOS to the latest version. I'll keep an eye on it and let you know how it works out.

 

[kcnychief]

Word son, glad it worked out well so far :smoker:

 

[Sazar]

Don't let kcny near it, he might try to carry it off coz he thinks its a notebook :smoker:

 

[madmatt]

Haha

 

[zeke_mo]

Dimension == desktop.

There was an inspiron 9100 as well a while back but not anymore.

Matt, if you asked this in like 2 weeks time, I will be able to give you more assistance. I have been promoted to a position working with Federal entities rather than business to business transactions and I will have a lot more access to items like this and the sku's for them

I think

lol, that was one of my early morning posts, you can usually just ingore those

 

[Sazar]

It's ok. I am so swamped right now I am taking a breather by posting on the forums lol.

I am usually a little better after a few redbulls in the morning

 

[Son Goku]

Don't let kcny near it, he might try to carry it off coz he thinks its a notebook :smoker:

Umph, forget stealing the thing. Don't let it anywhere nears some people I've gone to school with. Don't know who did it, but one of the networking lab computers looked like it was drop kicked... The case wouldn't go on anymore or anything, and when one of my classmates decided to take a look, he noticed the CPU was missing outa the thing. He joked (and well, knowing him it was more of a joke then serious) about releiving it of some RAM too, but never took.

I still, almost can't believe that the comp sitting in the back row looked like someone used it in lieu of a soccer ball or something...

 

[kcnychief]

Hey, a desktop can be carried off just as easy as a notebook, just need the right bag

 

[Son Goku]

Hey, a desktop can be carried off just as easy as a notebook, just need the right bag

Ditto, you just made his case

At least in your case however, it might be possible to recover a PC if it's lifted. In the case of the lab, recovering the CPU wouldn't have done them much good They had the PC alright, it just wasn't in the same number of pieces as when the student (we're assuming) started...

 

[madmatt]

Here's an update. The motherboard installation went fine.

Yesterday (Friday) morning I get into work and my computer is sitting on a black boot screen that says some thing along the lines as "No disk detected at SATA-0".

I call support (again). This time they suggest replacing the SATA cable. No problem. I replace it. Hopefully this will do the trick.

I attempt to connect remotely this morning (Saturday) and my computer doesn't respond. I ping it, no response. I check for it on the server and it's not active.

So, what could be wrong with this thing? I am on the third hard drive, a new motherboard, and now a new SATA cable.

Support has stated that this will be the last attempt to resolve the situation and that a replacement will be sent out (the call was escalated to advanced support because of the criticalness of the computer itself).

So we'll see what the computer says on Monday morning when I arrive at the office.

 

[kcnychief]

Regardless of the other issues, I have seen the SATA-0 issue before as well. Usually, it gets fixed after a reboot (not sure why), but I ended up replacing the CMOS battery and it fixed it long-term.

On another note, it sounds like this machine is possessed

Conventional wisdom may be out the window!