lab:unclenuc_lab
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Table of Contents
UncleNUC Lab
Repair, Renew and Repurpose
- Working NUCs
- Various SO-DIMM RAM sticks for the different devices
- DDR4-2400 1.2V SO-DIMM
- DDR4-2666 1.2V SO-DIMM (10i7)
- Various 19V power supplies (link)
- 5.5mm x 2.5mm x 15mm barrel connector
- 65W (19V * 3.42A) is the most common for older NUCs (example generic power supply)
- 90W, 120W for 10i7 and similar
- 230W power supply for some NUCs has a different for factor
- NUC9 series have discrete video adapters and have an integrated power supply
- Power powerful NUCs need higher wattage power supply
- 19V power supply with connector to plug into “internal power supply” 2 pin connector
- A NUC “internal” power supply is hard to come by
- Or make an adapter from the barrel connector to the molex connection
- Velleman CD017-1 DC Jack to Screw Terminal, 2.5 mm x 5.5 mm
- 5557-02R Molex receptacle
- Spare CR2032 batteries with molex connector to replace CMOS battery (these last 5-7 years)
- Various SSDs
- Wired USB keyboard and mouse (optionally use a wireless USB mouse)
- USB to Ethernet adapter for NUCs with no LAN
- Wireless cards
- Intel Dell Wireless-N 7260 Mini PCI-E WiFi Bluetooth card 300Mbps 7260 HMW Y74H6
- Display cables and adapters
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- Windows 10 installation USB stick
- Ubuntu 20.10 desktop installation USB stick
- BIOS recovery USB stick (many NUCs share the same .bio file)
- Cleaning supplies
- Canned air or blower
- Screws
- NUC screws to replace missing screws (notebook screw kit works fine)
- M2x3 ???? for M2 SSDs
- M2.5 * 3 for mSATA SSDs (M2.5 * 4 works)
- M2.5 * 5 for motherboard
- M3 * 5 for 2.5“ SSD and HDD
- magnetic small Philipps screwdriver (I use this kit)
- Multi-meter
- Check CMOS 3V battery residual voltage (new 3.3 volt; drops down to 2.8-2.7V it is considered dead; 10% than nominal voltage should be replaced)
- Check power on board
NUC arrives as fully "Working" (no missing parts)
- Inventory the device against vs Expected Specifications
- Use provided power adapter or compatible bench power adapter
- Upgrade RAM as needed (my minimum is 4GB for Windows 10, preferred 8GB)
- Install wireless card and/or antennas as needed
- Reset or reload OS
- Performance test
- If power adapter was provided, be sure it is tested
- If no power adapter was provided, add a power adapter
- Post-test reset or reload OS
- Write up status card
NUC arrives as "Working" but missing parts (RAM, storage)
- Inventory vs Expected Specs
- Remove RAM and storage that arrived with unit and install pre-tested RAM and storage
- Use provided power adapter or compatible bench power adapter
- Upgrade RAM as needed (I generally recommend 8GB)
- Install wireless card and/or antennas as needed
- Install M2 mSATA 32GB minimum, 64GB or more recommended
- Reset or reload OS
- Performance test
- If power adapter was provided, be sure it is tested
- If no power adapter was provided, add a power adapter
- Post-test reset or reload OS
- Write up status card
NUC arrives as "Working" but intermittent issues
- Inventory vs Expected Specs
- Remove RAM and storage that arrived with unit and install pre-tested RAM and storage
- Remove Wifi card, if any
- Use provided power adapter or compatible bench power adapter
- Reset BIOS settings (F2, F9)
- CMOS battery failure message, CMOS battery low message, or loss of date/time means the CMOS battery has failed
- Replace the battery - https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000006787/intel-nuc.html
- Example of replacement batteries I use: CR2032 batteries with molex connector
- Reset BIOS to defaults
- Update firmware / Update BIOS (F7)
- Re-test with original RAM, if any
- Re-test with original storage, if any
- Re-test with original wifi-card, if any
- Reset or reload OS
- Performance test (hardware diagnostics/performance, winsat score, other benchmark)
- Test if original issues are still occuring
- If power adapter was provided, be sure it is tested
- If no power adapter was provided, add a power adapter
- Post-test reset or reload OS
- Write up status card
NUC arrives as "Does not Boot"
- Inventory vs Expected Specs
- After cleaning, the RAM, storage and any wifi card 1) should be removed. Install a known working compatible RAM SO-DIMM (testing a RAM SODIM: https://www.memtest86.com/downloads/memtest86-usb.zip)
- Connect video, wired keyboard, and compatible lab bench power supply
- Power the device on
- Review Intel NUC boot troubleshooting documentation
Lab Projects
Hands-on learning works great together with Intel NUCs.
1)
when I receive NUCs the wifi card is usually “missing”
lab/unclenuc_lab.1682286184.txt.gz · Last modified: 2023/04/23 21:43 by user