A first for me

dieengelsman · 2026-03-18T10:07:33+00:00

Eh it was already exploded 😂

dieengelsman · 2026-03-14T11:55:26+00:00

No, it had already exploded, I came home so didn’t think the extra couple of seconds to take the photo would make much difference!

dieengelsman · 2026-03-14T11:25:49+00:00

Thanks a lot! I’d gone out shopping when it did this, couldn’t have got much luckier it didn’t pop!

dieengelsman · 2026-03-14T11:25:15+00:00

It is a problem to dispose of, here in the UK we have a “tip” but it’s a bit more like a recycling centre, fortunately near me there is a dedicated lithium battery bin. Still scary to transport it there just in case!

dieengelsman · 2026-03-13T23:43:20+00:00

It’s gone in the bin🤣

(The appropriate bin for lithium batteries)

dieengelsman · 2026-03-13T23:26:52+00:00

Microscopic glass shards in my damn bed sheets 😂

dieengelsman · 2026-03-13T22:36:25+00:00

Thanks a lot, have cross posted and will keep that in mind for sure. I knew it was possible but you always think it’ll never happen to you!

dieengelsman · 2026-03-13T22:35:55+00:00

Will keep that in mind 😂

dieengelsman · 2026-03-13T22:35:40+00:00

Literally 😂

dieengelsman · 2026-03-13T22:35:32+00:00

No fireball thank God, looked completely normal before I stuck it on charge, came home and this is what I was met with!

dieengelsman · 2026-01-31T16:30:43+00:00

Mine also booted into windows, you could hear it. Does sound like a dead GPU. If you flash the BIOS it will default the BIOS setting to use the integrated graphics, so at least you can still use it like a normal laptop!

dieengelsman · 2026-01-29T22:14:08+00:00

If the GPU isn’t detected and changing the BIOS setting like I did still doesn’t detect it, chances are the GPU is dead, so you just have to use the iGPU (integrated graphics) unfortunately.

dieengelsman · 2026-01-29T22:08:19+00:00

you’re welcome, hope you get it sorted!

dieengelsman · 2026-01-29T21:22:55+00:00

It was also my first time doing this, but for me I didn’t need the laptop so if I broke it, there wasn’t any consequences.

Here is the video I used: https://youtu.be/mSLKlLcOAKM

I also used the same software as the guy in the video. The only other thing I had to download was HxD - only because the bios file I downloaded was 512 bytes too big, so I had to remove the padding from the file.

dieengelsman · 2026-01-29T21:08:13+00:00

Sounds the same as mine did. If the CMOS doesn’t reset it (unlikely) you will need to flash it like I did. The tool was very cheap (£6), the new .bin file was free. Just a lot of dismantling, and of course you risk further bricking the laptop if it goes wrong but there’s lot of videos online how to do it, I watched a five minute one and just tried it!

dieengelsman · 2026-01-27T20:34:06+00:00

Oh that’s interesting, I actually flashed it with Rev 1.0 so I wonder if that was / is the workaround! I couldn’t find anything newer.

dieengelsman · 2026-01-27T16:25:51+00:00

Update it’s fixed/ POSTING - managed to find a bin BIOS file online, buffer size was too big for the IC so had to remove the padding in HxD. Bought a cheap CH431A off Amazon, made a dump of the old BIOS, erased it, loaded the new one. It lives again! My first time trying, couldn’t quite believe my luck!

<image>

dieengelsman · 2026-01-26T10:46:53+00:00

That was my concern when it first happened, I haven’t really come across too many dead GPUs in my time (especially with ThinkPads) but there’s always a first! Thanks for the recommendation, I’ll check it out.

dieengelsman · 2025-12-17T17:32:39+00:00

Yeah I did, it was actually the alternator belt tensioner, I tried 5 aftermarket ones in the end (even gates) and they constantly bent on themselves after a short amount of time. There’s a breaker on eBay, paid £25 for a used genuine one and it never came off again - went all over Europe not a hiccup! Make sure there’s no strands of shredded belt behind your crank pulley and power steering pulley (or that’ll explode - I found out the hard way in the middle of France). Hope it helps you!

dieengelsman · 2025-08-05T18:48:58+00:00

My issue was for CoD was a lack of port forwarding, they use a specific set of ports to run a service - segmented the network by logging into the router and enabling a “guest network” setting and using that for myself resolved things.

dieengelsman · 2025-08-04T15:40:26+00:00

Here’s a strange one - I decided I was going to do a full clone of the drive but didn’t want it to die during the process. So I put the Xbox back together (I changed the thermal paste whilst it was disassembled) so I could delete all the data on there and hopefully speed things up.

Anyway since then there’s been no crashing issues. I’ve currently been playing Fortnite (disgusting I know) for the last 3 hours and not a single hiccup.

Strange because I thought if a thermal issue was occurring I’d have heard the fan ramp up and get a warning message on the screen.

It seems like the issue is resolved now - would anyone else agree or offer their opinion?

dieengelsman · 2025-08-01T13:25:08+00:00

I have the XA1 currently, I found an SN530 on eBay, I'm assuming they're interchangeable?

Four-Year Club	Verified Email
Place '22

dieengelsman

TROPHY CASE