Hi all - Acer TM 8101WLMi upgrade hopes

Hi All,

First off, I'm new here. Great to see a healthy, helpful laptop forum.

Down to business then...

I bought an Acer TM 8101WLMi in 2005 (Xmas) and it's served me very well. It still is. I take care of it, keep it on a flat clean surface, defrag-av-asw, fresh install every 9 months or so etc. Details are:

# Intel Pentium-M Centrino Processor (1.6GHz/533MHz FSB/2MB L2)
# 512MB DDR2 SDRAM (upgraded to 1gig)
# 60GB Hard Drive
# DVDRW Dual Layer Multi Drive
# 15.4" WSXGA+ Widescreen TFT Screen
# ATI Mobility Radeon X700 Pro PCI-E 128MB dedicated graphics
# Integrated gigabit LAN and wireless 802.11a/b/g LAN
# Integrated Bluetooth
# Integrated 5-in-1 card reader
# SoundBlaster Pro Compatible with Dolby support
# Operating System: Windows XP Professional Edition

I'm wanting to get better performance (as it could be quicker) for sound editing/recording (cpu intensive) but games run fairly well. Half-Life 2 episode 1 runs very well on 1280x768. I rarely get near to the peak physical memory but would 2 gig of ram make a difference?

I've had a bit of a look at upgrading the cpu and (I think) I have found a limit of 2.13 GHz in the "Pentium M Processor 770 SL7SL 2.13GHz 2MB 533MHz" as a straight chip swap so long as the cpu isn't soldered. Is this the highest clock speed I can go for with the existing motherboard/chipset? If so, what would I need to upgrade to get a multi core cpu? I'm after a cheap option really. Would a multi core be far quicker than the above?

After that, a much bigger hard disk is on the cards. what is my limit there?

Basically I went for the 8101 and now wish I had got better spec. I'm no stranger to pulling things apart & them working when I put them back together again and I've got the tools. Given that I've never pulled apart a laptop, what are my options & will it be easy?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Many thanks,

Dizmond82

 

Hi Dizmond, and welcome to the forums!

More RAM is always helpful, especially if you're going to be doing sound editing. Programs can sometimes recognize that there's more RAM available and begin to use it. Games, too.
And at the prices RAM are at right now, you'd be crazy NOT to upgrade to 2GB!

As for processor, you are indeed correct that the Pentium M 770 is as fast as you can go. I just did a quick search on eBay, and it looks like there's a few Buy It Nows in the $100US range. Unfortunately, your notebook is one generation too old to get a dual-core CPU.

Hard drive...you're on the PATA standard, so you'll be looking at a more limited selection than if your notebook was SATA (again, one or two generations later). Western Digital offers a 250GB drive at 5400rpm, Seagate's biggest is 160GB at 5400rpm, but Samsung's got the awesome 160GB HM160HC.

Oh, and enjoy taking apart almost your entire laptop to upgrade your CPU - the pre-Gemstone Acer models are not known for being very friendly in that respect (or at least my old TravelMate 3252WXMi wasn't).

 

Thanks for the welcome.

OMFG! I see what you mean. Memory IS cheap!

When it comes to laptop memory then, is memory just memory, or is there a recommended brand to go for? I know I need 533 MHz DDR2 SO-DIMM but do the "ballistic", "nitrous" powered sticks make a difference?

2 gig is the limit for me right? Is it better to have 1 x 2gig stick or 2 x 1gig sticks? In my old desktop (5 yrs ago?) I got a corsair value stick which helped corrupt my HD. After a new HD I got some nice Infineon sticks and have had no probs; similarly, in my 8100 I've had no probs with bigger Kingston sticks.

I posted this in the upgrade bit too as I didn't know how to move the thread. I'm quite tempted to (I'm highly suggestible) bridge the pins on an M725 to get the same results. All of a sudden I have cheap options for a quicker laptop.

Lastly, does the 8100 case not allow space for a new dual core accepting motherboard, or would I have to upgrade a lot more then cpu & board if I wanted a multi core chip?

All the best,

Dizmond

 

Dizmond,

The lower-latency modules (things like Kingston HyperX) will probably net you a teeny peformance upgrade, something like 5%. Go for standard modules that have a lifetime warranty.

2GB is indeed the limit, as per Acer's own specifications. Two 1GB modules is what you require.

The pinmod sounds like a good idea, as people have done it before.
Putting in another whole motherboard just to get dual-core...not so much. I'm not even sure that possible!
And if you're really set on getting a dual-core system, you could probably buy a whole new laptop for only a bit more cash than you're spending on the upgrades.

 

Cheers for the help. I'm considering my options for now. On the pinmod, The 725 and 770 seem to be going for similar prices. Hard drive is still a high priority though. 60Gb just doesn't cut it any more! The Samsung 160HT thing looks perfect.

 

Scratch that, I just got out-bid on an M770. £67!

I'm doing the pin mod. To hell with the x bit!

 

What am I doing wrong?

I've got 2 gig (2 sticks) of ram but the laptop won't boot when it's installed.
I bought 2 x SO-DIMM DDR2 PC4200/4300 533MHz and when I try to boot, the screen does nothing, while the fans start, the hard drive has a short bit of activity, and the hard drive flashes a few times. other than that, that is all that happens.
I've swapped the sticks back, tried each new stick in each slot on it's own, but it won't work.

Could it be a bios problem? I presume the 8101 can absolutely definitely take 2 gig of ram.

Any thoughts to the problem anyone?

Chris

 

NB. When I swap the sticks back, everything works normally, I'm typing on it now.

 

Congrats for the upgrade, Dizmond!
How's she handling now?

 

Hi there, exactly the same as before, that's the problem...
The ram didn't take. I've gone back to the 2 x 512MB sticks.

It's booting fine with the orig. ram. Is there something I need to do before it'll accept 2 gig?

I've also got the new CPU which I'll fit soon (pinmodding the 1.6). It's smaller than I thought!!!

Chris

 

Yeah, those mobile CPUs are itty-bitty.
Make sure you get some new thermal paste to apply to it!

As for the RAM, I don't know why it's not working. For all intents and purposes, it should.
(must've misread earlier posts)

 

I presume this is the kind of kit to go for?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Arctic-Silver-Ceramique-Thermal-Paste-Plus-ArctiClean_W0QQitemZ180304892069QQcmdZViewItemQQptZComputing_ComputerComponents_Fans_Heatsinks_SR?hash=item180304892069&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1300|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

And yes, the RAMs doing my head in... Any thoughts anyone?

 

is the sticker still on the original ram ? check the cl code i think you may have cl2 fitted (original).
and you just tried to run cl4.
if so it won't work.
cant remember the ram code for your laptop but of the top of my head i think its ct32m64s******
i think you have the wrong ram.

just a thought
Phil

hey TehSuigi how are you mate.

 

Hey hoggie! Doin' alright, you?

Dizmond, it's possible (though hard to believe) that you got two defective RAM sticks. Hopefully, you purchased a brand that had a lifetime limited warranty. Test them in a friend's system just to check.

As for the thermal paste, Ceramique works, but I prefer Arctic Silver 5.

 

all ok here mate.

was looking at the age of this laptop and found it never used ddr2 until 2006.
so if he puts ddr2 in his/her laptop it will not work.
ddr is CL2...ddr2 is CL4

 

Well, hang on - the TM 8100 Series user guide says it uses DDR2.
DDR2 itself debuted in late 2003, and became mainstream in 2004.

And plus, the DDR2 RAM wouldn't even FIT in his notebook if it had DDR1 slots!
And if he got faster RAM, it should downclock to the proper speed.

 

It's definately DDR2 I bought that for my upgrade from 512 to 1024.

* Performance:
Intel Dothan processor 730,740,750,760,770
Intel® 915PM Express chipset
256/512 MB of DDRII 533 standard, upgradeable to 2GB* with dual soDimm modules
60/80 GB and above high-capacity, Enhanced-IDE hard disk

* Taken from service manual.

I bought it late '05 and went for the Dothan & DDR2 as features (Should've waited for dual core ).

The new RAM is "SAMSUNG 1GB PC2-4200 4300 DDR2 SODIMM 533MHZ LAPTOP RAM 1 GB 200 PIN CL 4.0"

I've emailed my supplier with spec & symptoms, so should hopefully replace no probs.

So CL2 is DDR1 then & nothing to concern me?

Is Articlean 1&2 the recommended fluids for cleaning the cpu? There are packs on ebay combining it with AS5.

 

Dizmond,
Good call. The RAM looks proper to me.
CL2 is indeed DDR1, nothing to worry about.

Articlean 1 & 2 are the preferred fluids, but isopropyl alcohol works just as well (it's what I used). If you don't wanna spend the scratch, just grab some from the drugstore.

 

This is a concern...

In the service manual is this:

Memory controller Intel 915PM
Memory size 0MB (no on-board memory)
DIMM socket number 2 sockets
Supports memory size per socket 512MB
Supports maximum memory size 1G (by two 512MB SO-DIMM module)
Supports DIMM type DDRII SODIMM
Supports DIMM Speed 533 MHz
Supports DIMM voltage +1.8VSUS
Supports DIMM package 200 pin
Memory module combinations You can install memory modules in any combinations as long as they
match the above specifications.

Then underneath it says:

Slot 1 Slot 2 Total Memory
0MB 128MB 128MB
0MB 256MB 256MB
0MB 512MB 512MB
0MB 1024MB 1024MB
128MB 128MB 256MB
128MB 256MB 384MB
128MB 512MB 640MB
128MB 1024MB 1152MB
256MB 128MB 384MB
256MB 256MB 512MB
256MB 512MB 768MB
256MB 1024MB 1280MB
512MB 128MB 640MB
512MB 256MB 768MB
512MB 512MB 1024MB
512MB 1024MB 1536MB
1024MB 0MB 1024MB
1024MB 128MB 1125MB
1024MB 256MB 1280MB
1024MB 512MB 1536MB
1024MB 1024MB 2048MB

NOTE: Above table lists some system memory configurations. You may combine DIMMs with various
capacities to form other combinations. On above table, the configuration of slot 1 and slot 2 could be
reversed. Please note that the 1GB is still under testing.

I highlighted the red bits.

Could this be a bios issue or are there any other bits which could cause problems?

Cheers,

Dizmond

 

tehsuigi have you tried the service code ?

Diz there is a sticker on the ram slots give us the code on that sticker.
this will tell us what the max ram is,what cpu you can fit.plus loads of other stuff.

 

Hi Hoggie/Tehsuigi,

I'll check it tomorrow (today now) & let you know.

Cheers.

 

Hi there,

Right, the number is LBT720600151210978EM11.

How do I go about flashing/updating the bios on an older laptop like this? Would the current Acer bios CD update take my model into account, or do I need a 3rd party updater like Uniflash? Is there a thread on here about this?

Cheers,

Dizmond

 

Bump. Any thoughts?

 

I've got an aged and ailing TM8104 so I'm curious about what other upgrades are possible to give this thing some longer legs. Battey life is still good, pretty sure I haven't fried the mobo yet, so wondering how much of an impact 2gb of ram would be (and newest drivers, etc). Also, probably going to try the newest BIOS recommended by Acer.

 

Hi Zmatin,

I'm in a similar boat but have slower stock parts with a bit more headroom. I've done some research though...

Looks like if you want to go for an extra 0.13GHz you can pinmod an SL89T 1.6 400MHz or get a Pentium M780 2.26 GHz as was in the top spec 8100s. I'm gonna get the Samsung 160Gb HD everyones raving about, but again I only have a 60 GB right now.

I've recently flashed the bios to 3c22 and it's running fine. There is also a 3c25 but I can't get hold of it yet. Both these seem to be for PATA systems so if you have SATA I think the bios version is 3f07 or something. You may want to confirm this though.

I also want to get 2 gig of RAM but the parts I bought (2 x SAMSUNG 1GB PC2-4200 4300 DDR2 SODIMM 533MHZ LAPTOP RAM 1 GB 200 PIN CL 4.0) aren't working. That's why I updated the bios on my supplier's suggestion. Still doesn't work. I'm going to send it back and hopefully they were just faulty. We shall see.

As Hoggle & TehSuigi said above, some programs/games may utilise more memory if it's there, so I want to give this a try. I want CPU increase, Ram increase & better HD. Should give me a jump in performance.

Basically I've got some headroom for upgrading. While it seems you do too if your 8104 is stock, it may be a small performance increase for the money you'd spend. But hey, I'm here for advice too, so second opinions count.

All the best,

Dizmond

PS. Hoggie & TehSuigi - I've found the number, what can you deduce from it?

 

I got stumped. PM Hoggie for what he can find out. Sorry, Dizmond!