I have an older Inspiron 17R. The motherboard is toast. Would it be possible to retrofit the Framework motherboard into the case and use it to power the 17" LCD?
An electronics guy I am not.
Thoughts?
Mike.
I would say it’s impossible, however, the power of engineers should never be underestimated. For example, I would never think it would be possible to jerry-rig your own USB-C port onto an iPhone, but this guy was able to do it.
All that being said, to put a Framework motherboard in your current laptop’s chassis, you would also need to be able to connect the display, keyboard, trackpad, and battery of the laptop to the new motherboard. Out of all of these components, I think only the screen would be easily doable since it uses a standard 40-pin connector. As for what connectors the other parts use, I have no idea, so it may be a bit more difficult to get those connected.
The video below from @CJ_Elevated says that the Framework battery and battery connector are proprietary designs, so if you’d want to have the laptop run on battery power, you’d likely need to purchase a battery from Framework as well.
So at this point, maybe you can get a display connected to the motherboard, and you would more than likely need to purchase a motherboard together with a battery since your current one won’t be able to plug and play into the new motherboard. And after all that, there is still no guarantee that you have a a keyboard or trackpad connected. This is by no means a super technical take, just my theoretical opinion.
All excellent points. Way above my pay grade and knowledge level.
Thank you.
Mike.
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