[Adrian]

There are 2 large thermal pads on top of the EMI shield, and another 2 smaller ones beneath it if you pry up the shield. I didn’t have time to re open mine as I’m busy with new baby in the house.

Make sure that the 2 small pads make good contact with the IC and the shield, and the 2 large grey pads on top make good contact with both the shield and the metal back cover.

I think that besides this thermal issue, there are some other power management issues involved. For my unit, if my battery is <50%, and I attach an external HDD, it shuts down. Sounds like OCP kicking in. I’m afraid I won’t have time to debug this, I’m going to put my gadgets aside for a few months and concentrate on being a dad.

If there are bios settings that control this OCP or UVP shutdown, I’m sure it can be tweaked via software. But I haven’t really delved into the bios that much.

One thing for sure is that for me, none of this happens in Android, so it may very well be possible to solve via some sort of BIOS/software tweak.

 

One more thing, if your tablet doesn’t have any display, check that the ribbon cable for the display is plugged in. I’ve seen a friend of mine had his unplugged…

[Adrian]

Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos when I opened up mine, but I’ll see what I can do tonight when I get back from work.

It is pretty simple to open up, you’ll have to remove 4 tiny Torx T4 sized screws on the for sides of the tablet, then use a guitar pick or some soft, flat wedge-like tool to open it up by releasing the plastic clips around the perimeter of the display assembly. I used takeaway bamboo chopsticks that I carved out with a pocket knife. Don’t use the pocket knife or you’ll damage the plastic and aluminum body.

Once its open you can’t miss it. There is only one printed circuit board staring at you with a silver coloured EMI shield stuck onto it.

Take caution though, the there are several small pieces that will fall out when you open it up, the power/volume rocker switch, and maybe the 4 magnets. The magnets have an orientation, so if they fall out, make sure they go back in the correct way, else when you try to attach the keyboard, the wrong orientation will repel the keyboard instead of sticking on.

[Adrian]

Its not a bios issue. I faced the same problem and have solved mine.

What you need to do is to open up the tablet. On the main board, there is an EMI shield that doubles as a heatsink. Ensure that the metal piece is fully in contact with the 2 thermal pads below, one on the Intel SoC and the other on the power management chip. Note that there are quite a few pieces of tiny clips around the perimeter of this EMI shield. The shield edges have to be inserted in between these clips all around, and the bottom edge of the shield should be flush against the PCA. Then make sure that the large grey thermal pads are in contact with both the EMI shield, and the back metal cover.

It is this PM chip that is overheating and cutting off power to everything. It is also the reason why plugged in it doesn’t shut off as the PM chip isn’t working when its plugged in.

Once that is done, your problem will be solved. Hope this helps.

[Author]

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