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Apologies if this is off-topic; I in no way consider myself a Superuser but it seems to tick the "Specific issues with [...] hardware" box and I can't find a better-suited SE.
I am helping a friend by repairing the broken screen on their Dell E4200. The display assembly is also broken so I bought a salvaged one and need to disconnect the old display assembly and reconnect the new one.
My problem is that while it's fairly obvious how to reconnect the display cable itself (which emerges from the left of the display assembly), the right-hand side also includes the WLAN and WWAN cables (and possibly the radio switch board cables?); there are five cables to reconnect in total (one bundle of two and one bundle of three), with no labels, and to even reach the relevant connectors I need to remove the right I/O board ribbon cable first (having removed the keyboard). I'm not sure which of the five connects to which, how to find out, what would happen if I simply used trial and error, or if there are any specific tips when disconnecting/reconnecting the ribbon cable that's in the way. I have looked up the service manual but it simply says (p73):
- Route the wireless (WLAN and WWAN) cables and radio switch board cables (if applicable) under each tab in the routing channel and then under the right I/O board ribbon cable.
I also checked around for video tutorials but they're all for slightly different models (E4300 etc) with, frankly, easier-looking layouts. Can anyone either walk me through this or (preferably) explain how I should find this out for myself?
tardigrade
Posted 2018-10-01T16:07:06.847
Reputation: 101
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I think this is a fine SE group (but what do I know haha). This video seems to say that the mini card you connect them to is color coded. I think she seems to know what she is doing and the video seems thorough. https://youtu.be/MlQRZ0BEYng?t=547
– BobtheMagicMoose – 2018-10-01T16:25:55.317@BobtheMagicMoose Thanks for the reply - unfortunately that's one of the E4300 ones I already checked, and the E4200 has a different (and more awkward) internal layout - see here (the connectors are beneath the ribbon cable, as far as I can tell, and not colour-coded),
– tardigrade – 2018-10-02T08:16:05.697That stinks, well there are only 120 ways to plug them in... guess away! (Though this will likely break something, it might be worth the risk to save you a lot of time) – BobtheMagicMoose – 2018-10-02T12:25:08.317
@BobtheMagicMoose That's a key part of the question really - will it actually break anything if I connect WLAN/WWAN cables wrong, or will they just not work? If it's just a matter of time 'm happy to get started. – tardigrade – 2018-10-02T12:56:59.357
1I am no expert, but I believe the cables are just for the antennae. There are 3 for WiFi and 2 for WWAN. They should be interchangeable (so the pair can go in any order and the triplet can go in any order). You can even start with just one and leave the rest unplugged and see what happens. I don't think there's any risk of damaging anything. – BobtheMagicMoose – 2018-10-02T13:39:16.560
1https://www.dell.com/community/Laptops-General-Read-Only/dell-e4200-mini-card-Internet-help/td-p/4402964 The pictures on the bottom may be useful – BobtheMagicMoose – 2018-10-02T13:39:30.393
@BobtheMagicMoose absolutely - thanks. If you merge these all together and post it as an answer I can probably accept it. – tardigrade – 2018-10-03T07:56:44.963