Edit: the following in this post is NOT correct. Leaving it here for continuity, and I can’t figure out how to do strikethrough text.
One side effect of the change that I am still trying to sort out is that the post codes no longer happen. That is, the lights don’t blink out post codes on boot. If I hold down F2 to go into the BIOS, they do, but otherwise there are a couple of lights when powering on but not the typical post codes that I am used to. I could try pulling the substitute and reinstalling the battery, but I would rather not do so as the holder is extremely fragile. It doesn’t seem to affect anything in terms of the operation of the machine, but if something does go bad they are important when diagnosing things.
I have made the change on both machines, but one is on the 3.17 bios while the other is on the 3.19 version. No difference wrt presence of POST lights between the machines.
The POST and diagnostic codes are only displayed if the machine fails to boot beyond the firmware after ~15 seconds (source). This code hasn’t changed in about two years, and I do not believe that the RTC battery shim should have any effect on it.
FWIW: I have been running with the shim for a few months now (disclosure: I was one of the moderators mentioned above who tested this out) and have not observed a change in the diagnostic code behavior.
@DHowett - thank you for the clarification and education! I got used to seeing them as they would fire when I was entering my power-on password, which I never could do in time to head them off.
I’ll shut down the machine and see if they go off.
Edit to add - rebooted, and indeed the post code lights are firing when I don’t get my password entered in time. Apologies for the confusion.
Well, generally for soldering delicate electronics, you want a good, small soldering iron. if the iron is too large, you might apply too much heat or touch/damage things that you don’t want to touch. But if you don’t already have a suitable soldering iron (and practised with it), i definitely don’t recommend this rework.
You are not soldering to a ground plane or anything, so the Pinecil (or anything else with electronic temperature control) should be more than fine! I would recommend solder with lead and as thin as possible if you don’t have a lot of experience (just take care you are in a well ventilated room and breathe out while applying solder).
Edit: I misunderstood what you wrote. I don’t recommend buying “something” from Amazon. You are working on a 1000$ laptop. Don’t cheap out. TS101 or Pinecil would be the minimum.
Honestly, these points are tiny enough and there is enough that can go wrong throughout the entire process that I strongly suggest against attempting to do this unless you have previous soldering experience. Not the best idea to have your first rodeo with a thousand dollar laptop.
I have yet to receive any followup from support since my initial submission back on August 10th. Fingers crossed…
Johnathan, Well, I’m basically a writer, all my life… worked at CMP and ZD, among others along the way, do non-profit grant writing and gov consulting now in Brooklyn and Queens. I need this laptop on the road, as I spend a lot of my time traveling and off power plugs as I do this and that.
Can’t afford a new laptop at my age (I go back to teletype machines and punch cards and 360 computers), so I have little choice but to attempt this.
TS100 is the item that fathered the Pinecil. The idea of a usb powered electronically controlled soldering iron. TS101 is basically the upgraded version of TS100.
If you don’t feel comfortable maybe you can find a local repair shop that does board level repair. They should be more than capable to do it.
If you can’t afford a new laptop, do not attempt this without practicing first, until you gain confidence.
And you must practice with small SMD (surface mounted) components. Too much heat or leave the iron in place too long, and you can melt the solder on the other end of the capacitors. Then they will move, either bridging contacts (shorting contacts) or sliding right off. This is why you do not want an iron without accurate temperature control, it’s more forgiving when you don’t have much experience. A good iron, quality flux, quality solder.
I want to eventually apply this fix to two 11th gen laptops. My intended approach is to find an electronics repair business close-ish to where I live that’s willing to take this on, since my most recent soldering iron experience dates back to the 1980s.
If that goes ahead I plan on posting their info here in case others may benefit. Probably on a new thread.
Just got my RTC Substitute in the mail today. Fitted it in, soldered the wire. Didn’t burn the house down. Laptop didn’t burst into flame upon power on. It went through a memory test process as you would expect. Think it went well.
Now, for some reason, I received two RTC Substitute in two separate envelopes. I only need one. It’s probably cheaper and wastes less energy if someone in my hood needs the other one. PM me if you’re somewhere along a SkyTrain line.
