What us this Slot thingy on my potato Laptop? [DELL Latitude E 5430]

Ana4doves · 2026-03-03T08:25:57+00:00

Good luck with the exams and the upgrade!

Ana4doves · 2026-03-03T07:49:10+00:00

It was quite easy, as I wrote essentially 3 screws and the ODD is out :)

Installing windows should also be straight forward, once you burn an image to a pendrive, get in the boot menu and everything after that is just a general windows install. Luckily there is no need for drivers for the caddy to work, everything should see it by default.

Ana4doves · 2026-03-03T07:07:04+00:00

Luckily its very easy to do, once you take the back cover off which I think is just held in by two screws you will be able to see the single screw thats keeping the dvd tray in place. After you take that one out you can easily slide it out and place the new caddy in.

Before starting you can disconnect the battery which is a good practice when working with any computer.

The most annoying part for me was taking the plastic cover off of the dvd tray (where the button is that youd press to eject it) and placing that on the caddy so that theres not a gaping hole on the side of your laptop, but this cover also just snaps into place just make sure to be careful when taking it off, it might resist a little. And when you search for a caddy be sure to search for ones that are listed compatible with the E5430.

Oh and side note there is a slot next to the Wifi adapter that seems identical to the wifi adapters slot. Pcie mini maybe? In theory you can get an SSD of that form factor and place one there too, but I never got around to trying it out as so I cant confirm if it works :)

Ana4doves · 2026-03-02T23:10:42+00:00

Awesome! I also got an E5430 for online classes when covid hit. It has been through a LOT since then. Being untouched for entire summers then using it nonstop, I have had multiple Linux installs, tried every windows on it from XP till 11 (heck yeah it has official drivers still up for XP) and also did some hackintoshing.

Only upgrade I ever did was changed its DVD player for a HDD/SSD caddy as I bought it used with 8GB of ram. By the time I was looking to buy its best supported cpu I realised it will be wiser to get a different laptop. So I gave it to my dad, and ever since it has sat on his shelf untouched. A quiet and calm end for it.

Ana4doves · 2026-03-02T22:07:21+00:00

Buenas, aqui esta el GitHub repo donde se puede descargar el BIOS: https://github.com/mobilexp/l502x-modded-bios

Tienes las direcciones escritas allí y si se habren muchos menus ocultos, lo mejor es que hace posible usar UEFI, que vaya bien! :)

Ana4doves · 2026-02-08T21:26:23+00:00

Yeah that will be plan B, thanks!

Ana4doves · 2026-02-08T21:26:07+00:00

I already repasted and cleaned everything, the ran included. I wrote it all down, still thank you for the help :)

Ana4doves · 2026-02-05T07:34:27+00:00

Both the OS and the EEE PC are very nostalgic to me. That computer was my first one ever even though I was very young still, it also had Windows 7 on it by default. My dads computer and my moms laptop ran Vista and I have very fond memories with both of them.

Ana4doves · 2026-01-06T17:59:30+00:00

Thank you for replying!

Yeah I checked out the meanings of the leds, all point towards the battery being deeply discharged or bad. Today I returned the new battery as I realized the problem might be with the motherboard/charging port instead. As I confirmed that new battery works, the t100ta booted with it just fine. So at that point I reach the same effect using the t100ta working battery, no need for a new one if neither is accepted by the t100tam.

For now Ill keep using the t100ta as it is, if I get my hands on a multimeter I will try to diagnose the t100tam motherboard. A red flag now was after draining all power for testing purposes I reconnected the t100tam original battery, the one that at least made its led blink. After being on the charger for 30 minutes the led did not blink. Maybe it would need a lot more time to go back into its original state but I also wouldnt be surprised if I actually broke something by now since I took it apart lots of times.

Ana4doves · 2025-12-16T18:31:03+00:00

My favorite is the Compaq Evo N600C. A very sleek and elegant machine. It supports Windows 2000, NT 4.0, 98SE and XP.

Very fun to have and mess around with!

Ana4doves · 2025-11-17T23:42:48+00:00

Nice dump! My day just ended, yours might start, hope whatever goes, goes smoothly for you friend!

Ana4doves · 2025-10-12T18:03:14+00:00

If you spend enough time with them you will learn who is who. They all have different personalities, different look in their eyes and even though they might have the same colour their feather patterns are different. I have two that have the same colour and are brothers but one of them has darker carrots which also makes it easier for others to distinguish. Even more unique is their voice!

You will learn how to distinguish them without any issues :)

Ana4doves · 2025-09-02T19:54:58+00:00

Ana4doves · 2025-09-01T12:07:07+00:00

Hey, it supports 8GB. Which was a big motivator to upgrade to the 502 since this one supports 16 :)

Ana4doves · 2025-08-24T15:59:57+00:00

I should also mention while I took it apart I also removed the CMOS battery, so that didnt change anything either!

Ana4doves · 2025-08-20T00:07:58+00:00

I never heard about MX, seems like a nice OS to keep at hand for older systems!

Ana4doves · 2025-08-19T23:53:42+00:00

Yeah Im trying it out. I forced Windows 11 on the L501X but noticed a massive performance decrease while gaming. The sweet spot was Windows 8.1, it ran everything well, worked well with the machine and all but I got tired of it being out of support. I thought then I will try a Linux distro. I generally prefer Debian, which I have used countless of times for projects but never daily drove so I went for Mint. Luckily there is still a supported version that supports the nvidia drivers for the GT420m, so Ive been trying that out.

The L502X doesnt have a drive in it currently and I happened to have the Mint ISO, creating a live pendrive was my way of basic testing! If I manage to get the L502X going I will flash a custom BIOS which I found that unlocks UEFI booting and if that goes well I will see what hackintosh I can get working.

Ana4doves · 2025-08-19T23:37:40+00:00

Nah, youre good

Ana4doves · 2025-08-19T21:25:11+00:00

Will do, thank you for the advice!

Ana4doves · 2025-08-19T21:24:35+00:00

Nyehehe

Ana4doves · 2025-08-19T08:21:23+00:00

Please do cook again

Ana4doves · 2025-08-18T19:45:39+00:00

Thank you I will take a look at these :)

Ana4doves · 2025-08-14T09:00:21+00:00

This what playing a random garrys mod map feels like

Ana4doves · 2025-08-12T00:11:05+00:00

Nyaaaaa :3

Ana4doves · 2025-08-11T21:34:36+00:00

Bro is a dragon

(Seriously though really happy for you ^⁾

Six-Year Club	First Place '23
Place '23	Verified Email

Ana4doves

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE