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The newest generation of the EliteBook 840 model. The EliteBook 840 G5 is a business-oriented laptop manufactured by HP in 2018.

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Is the battery look viable for reuse?

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READ: I PURCHASED THIS LAPTOP FOR THE MOTHERBOARD. IT IS GOING INTO A BIOS LOCKED i7 UNIT DESPITE THE CPU DIFFERENCE (i5-8250U vs i7-8650U). I DO NOT INTENDED TO REPAIR IT.

This is the machine the board is destined for if it passes:

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While I will not have 100% repair completion on this laptop with just a replacement motherboard as I need a screen, I have a source for the matched panel the donor uses (IVO privacy 120Hz 40-pin), this motherboard is a huge step in the green once it's validated as good. However, I am unsure if I should trust the battery from this machine as it is a softcell and the machine is pretty well destroyed. However, I am willing to use it as a spare if it looks okay and isn't compromised. But based on how smashed it is, how likely is it will be able to recover the battery?

Update (12/15/21)

The laptop came in and it's usable. No BIOS password :-). The screen also came in as well.

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Battery is in ehh shape:

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Update (12/16/21)

Ports all work :-). The Type C/TB3 port even works, but the USB-A daughterboard feels loose. Meh, it’s a modular thing so I do not care.

Update (12/17/21)

Well, the locked machine is stripped. My god this procedure is a PITA, but I got it done in 25 minutes.

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Time to part out the board from the other unit

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Swapping the board into the good chassis

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I think I have the rest of the story based on my post-surgery autopsy. The seller I bought this locked 840 from probably got it with a locked BIOS, tried to fix it and installed a new wireless card (it has a Lenovo FRU) and found out what I did - you’re hosed (without the right programmer - easily $50+, and you usually need to desolder the chip) … And never disclosed it on the listing hiding under “as-is”. I’m not calling the seller out by name, but if you see this, this should have been disclosed.

Update (3/12/22)

I've had this melting pot special for a while (I call it a "melting pot" because of the HP SureView LCD removal, a SureView keyboard w/o a SureView LCD, swapped motherboard and the bottom cover is engraved with the i7 board serial number BUT I have the matched cover -- I never moved it as it would look off being from the destroyed chassis). The keyboard issue is cosmetic at best; the hotkey "dies" when you remove the panel, and it switches to normal PWM). Other than those snags, it behaves like it was never bodged together out of multiple parts several ways to Sunday.

Do I stand behind my non-recommendation to buy a BIOS locked laptop (knowingly) and bothering with this? YEP. If you're dealing with an established bum G5 with a BIOS password and do not have the right programmer (it needs to support the 256MiB Windbound EEPROM flash as you cannot flash the 128MiB as that is the "clean backup", which will inherit the unlocked BIOS; $50+ and you're probably waiting on China to ship it) look elsewhere. Same as before; I'm not deep diving the procedure.
I am acknowledging the option, so anyone who sees this understands I know but I'm apprehensive to talk about it beyond an acknowledgement!

Beantwoord! Bekijk het antwoord Dit probleem heb ik ook

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Yes I know one can dump the BIOS and run it through a utility I will not be naming, but the 840 G5 has the 256MiB Winbound flash ROM (G3 uses 128MiB, G4 is probably the same), and you cannot get a $10 programmer to work with those 95% of the time - they need a $25-30 programmer in order to dump the flash ROM. It was faster for me to get a junk machine for the motherboard.

Besides the difference with the 8250U is minor compared to the 8650U. It's also better then seeing the system get crushed and to signal there is a market for "unfixable" systems with good motherboards. They do not get rebuilt traditionally, but live on to save other systems.

As to why I bought a unrepairable system for the board? It was cheaper then the bare board, especially with a matched CPU.

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Can you take pictures of the battery? Than I can tell you if it's ok. Also have you tested it's voltage?

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@stressmaster I haven't gotten the laptop just yet, so I pulled the listing photos. There are admittedly a few red flags like how the trackpad is lifted, but that could be due to how trashed it is.

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@nick yeah well if the battery is still flat and unbent & voltage us above 2.7v odds are it will be ok but that isn't a guaranty it will not have a lot of cycles and lost a lot of storage capacity.

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IMPORTANT: This is arguably the worst way to get a computer - I am doing this to give a nice 840 G5 chassis with a BIOS locked board a second chance since it's not overly scratched and dented to the point it looks roached, like some I seen to replace this after I got the news about board cost :-(. If you want a viable project, get one with a bad screen you can cheaply replace or swap the previous panel for something attainable (EX: This IVO screen), or needing parts like an SSD. Only do this type of rebuild if you have the experience under you to make the right parts deals happen. Cosmetic issues do not scare me, but when there's a good dent in the corner or by the "latch (reed switch)", I'm turned off if it's bad enough, and the price doesn't match if I need to do major surgery.

I am using this thread to update on this rebuild as I wish to attach photos of my findings and what it took. I needed a screen - which I mildly downgraded from a SureView IPS non-touch LCD (IVO is the only company making these, and price accordingly). I found a 30-pin LCD assembly which can use a normal LCD for far, far less then the IVO panel went, raw (~$130-180+ for IVO, I paid $90 for my 60Hz IPS LCD assembly).

The problem with the IVO LCD is it's a middle finger to repair - the iDP connector is nonstandard :-(. Pins 1-30 use normal iDP signaling, but 31-40 are modified for the "SureView" panel so you can't use the cable for a 2K+ LCD, AFAIK. I'll still keep my good back cover if I try to match the panel later, but I'm not chasing that IVO panel down if I can avoid it.

My new screen assembly and junk laptop will arrive soon - we'll see which comes first. My hope is the laptop does first so I can quickly test it out and ensure it has a clean BIOS. Once I know the board is good I no longer care about that chassis other then odd parts that aren't destroyed. Yes, I paid more for mine but I got a tested board that if it passes, then I can drop it in and I'm good to go.

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@nick if you buy it for the motherboard you might be okay. As for the battery your guess will be as good as anybody elses. As you know voltages are not a prime indicator about the condition of the battery. In order to determine the health of the battery you would at least have to do a discharge tests, full cycling testing as well as battery management system monitoring. Voltage tests and Ohmic test are not effective for this type of battery. So, if it works for whatever long, consider it a bonus. Do not bank on it being any good at all.

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Yeah I'm going to use the known good battery for the chassis swap since I know this one is good, especially considering how bad the one I bought for the board is. As far as the screen goes I'll transfer the cables and webcam from the busted unit if need be to my good back cover and then that will fully rebuild it. Ironically, the FHD IPS Touch IVO panel is easier to get then the non-touch IVO part.

The trackpad may be fine as well as the other 840 daughter boards but the chassis is trashed.

The recipient system is way too nice to just waste which is why I held onto it until I got a replacement motherboard. I wish I could have gotten another 8650U board but the difference wasn't worth waiting and potentially missing out on a cheap board.

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Sounds like a decent plan.

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@oldturkey03 I'm trying to reuse as much as I can between the two, or at least recover as much as I can from the destroyed machine. Not only from a cost perspective, but also environmental. I usually do not swap motherboards due to cost, but I'm swapping it out this time because it's fairly recent and really nice.

I haven't bought from this seller since because the BIOS password wasn't disclosed - disclosure is non-negotiable so I know it's going to be expensive (and if there's multiple issues, run).

The bare board is at least $300 for the 8250U variant while the matched board is hard to come by and when it comes up, it comes from China and tends to be $400+ unless you get a good price on it. The destroyed system was $225, and I get extra parts to pick at - albeit not much, but I got more for the money with a junk laptop including RAM so I can just drop it in, and use it once I finish. I put the 8GB module this locked machine came with into another machine desperate for an upgrade.

The screen is settled. I opted against a exact replacement and went for a IPS non-touch 30-pin assembly (lacks the SureView privacy feature but it's not easy to find those, new or used). I'm not interested in dealing with that.

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@oldturkey03 Well, the junk system was shipped. I'll check it out first from the BIOS and as long as it passes I'm putting the board into this chassis after my screen shows up.

I would have liked to get a "like for like" screen but for $90 as a assembly and all I lose is SureView (aka parts sourcing nightmare) heh.

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@nick let us know how it worked out once you are done with :-)

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