TravelMate 8103WLMi and Vista

I installed Windows Vista Business on my new TM8103WLMi and I noticed that there are several issues with it. They are as follows:

* At the Windows Boot screen my screen will start slowly fading in to different colours. Goes from black and fades to white, etc. Sometimes it fades to green as well. Then the system locks up and when I restart it says Hardware Could not be Initialized then asks for Safe Mode, Boot Normally, etc.

* Whenever I close my laptop lid and open it, the screen will flicker continuously and struggle to reload the desktop or windows or whatever I was doing on the computer. It will flicker on and off several times before finally stabilizing itself.

Despite this laptop being old, it does run Aero very well and I really want to use Vista on this.

I did find two BIOS updates on the Acer Support page.
* Bios for MS Windows XP/Vista - BIOS Ver. 3C22 for PATA HDD only.zip - F1263C22.WPH
* Bios for MS Windows Vista - BIOS.zip - ZF1A3F07.WPH

Now I did try to upgrade using Bios for MS Windows Vista but the program returned the error BIOS not flashable

I was wondering if anyone knows what is wrong and how to fix. I don't want to try the other BIOS update file listed until I am sure that it works. Also it would be good if anyone who has a TM8103WLMi and has these issues can help.

My current BIOS is: 3C19

Edit: Screens

 

Alright, going to bump this one last time, this time I have added some screens that I have found that show my problem.

 

That is quite strange that the notebook is telling you that it cannot be flashed to the latest BIOS for vista I never seen that.

The color screen issue might have a fix in that BIOS update but you cannot flash to it. Perhaps you should email acer and ask a question, as it doesn't make sense that the notebook is telling you it cannot flash the BIOS.

 

My best guess is that the PATA version of the TM8103 only accepts the BIOS that starts with 3C, anything else then its for the SATA version.

I emailed Acer about it though, going to be waiting forever for a reply, and I'm expecting the usual "we do not support non-OEM operating systems"

 

I have had a TM 810x (8104 to be exactly) myself.
I experienced several problems with my videocard (Ati X700) and the screenshot you took looks very very simular.

Several times I called the Acer helpdesk to pickup my lappie for a repair.
Laptop comes back, they changed the motherboard, everything seems fine..
But, after a couple of hours, the same thing
They changed everything: motherboard, memory, screen, even the hard disk

Final solution: since 2 weeks I got a brand new laptop from Acer.
It's a Acer TravelMate 6463 WLMi.
Opened the box: screen was 1280 x somewhat
Called back, and they replaced the screen with a 1680x1050 at no charge...

Conclusion:
It's a hardware error, and you'll have to send it back to Acer. I hope you will not get the mess I got. In total, the laptop was out of service for about 7 months

 

Upon further searching I have discovered this: http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=191832

There it has a modified 3C22 BIOS that has the graphics update of the SATA version of the TM8100 added to it. Apparently it does work but you do lose some things like CPU temperature readings. I'm not really a fan of hacked BIOS's. I can only imagine Acer's reaction if I brick this laptop in after less than 2 weeks of owning it.

Near the end it confirms the existence of the S3C23 BIOS which solves all Vista compatibility problems. Apparently that is not on Acer's support site.

 

Anyways I did a BIOS update with the modified 3C22. Its working great. I don't have that problem anymore. Now, onto Vista compatibility issues.