D901C / Sager 9260/9262 / Pro-Star 9191 Owners Thread

The Sager 9262 has one excellent thing... it runs VMware ESXi 5.0 natively.
Thanks to the inclusion of the Realtek RTL8139 driver on the ESXi 5.0 media.

Keep those Sager 9262 as they are the best mobile hypervisor platforms.
Even with a Q9550 and 8GB it's awesome as a portable lab.

 

I loved my Sager NP9262. It was a brute!
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So I have been gaming pretty hard with my D901c for the past few years Anyway I started getting some square/rectangular artifacts in lines on screen at random times. After using my computer a little bit I got several total failures of my graphics drivers where the screen went black and then went back to normal along with a little popup message in the lower right corner telling me what happened. First time was during a virus scan (got alot during the first part of the scan, but then it stopped) and I was also having a little bit of trouble with my antivirus at the time so I thought it was a virus.

So I reformatted using my recovery disc and started to reinstall my programs, as soon as I inserted the RW CD I got more artifacts. I tried reformatting a couple more times but kept getting the artifacts, once when I opened IE. Thinking the virus was still on my HD, I did a DBAN (Darik's Boot and Nuke) and reinstalled Vista again. Then I was in the process of restarting after installing my sound drivers and I got a whole bunch of artifacts right when I clicked restart, the computer crashed, and after I forced restart the screen doesnt work. When it first starts up it does light up a bit, from completely off and dark to I guess a backlit pitch black.

So I am thinking that it was not a virus and actually was my graphics card giving out. Is this what this seems like? Also, if it is, does anyone have the link to that guy's website that still sells the nvidia 260's to go in a D901c. Or am I wrong and is this something else? Thanks!

 

You can check here.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/com...agate-momentus-xt-msi-gt735-gpu-heatsink.html

 

Hello, I have been looking for a while for a nvidia 280m for my D901c, and all I have found is NVidia Quadro FX 3700M MXM 2.1 III Work as a GTX 280M | eBay that. Will that work in my computer as long as I flash the bios on it? Is that a hard thing to do? Thanks!

 

It is quite expensive and you need to ask the seller for actual pictures.

AFAIK, the only FX3700m that can be flashed to GTX280m is like this:
HP FX3700M with samsung memory.
HP 488125-001 nVidia Quadro FX 3700M 1GB MXM Card | eBay

Besides, check your motherboard revision first.

If you have a rev 5.x D901c, then your choice would be limited to those FX3700m that can be flashed to 260M/280M/9800MGT.

While rev 6.x D901c can use FX3700M that could be flashed to 260M/280M/9800MGT/9800MGTX/clevo version FX3700M.

 

OK, where would I go to find what motherboard version I have? Is it in device manager under computer? If so it was v6.0.6 something. I have vista btw.

Also, where would I get the bios file to flash to from and the software to do it? I read a little about it and know to save the current bios on the card.

 

The easiest place to check your motherboard and bios revisions is from the bios menu at boot (just hit the setup hotkey). Contact your retailer or check the Clevo site if you have a Clevo based laptop for the newest revisions.

 

If your D901C was shipped with 8800MGTX,9800MGT or 9800MGTX, it should be a rev6.x machine.
Or open the back plate to check the sticker on the RAM slot.

Spoiler

Spoiler

And you can get some info about FX3700M installed on D901C from this thread.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/558702-d900c-d901c-np9262-quadro-3700m-help.html

 

After 2 and a half years of use, the second graphics card in my Sager NP9262 has finally stopped working, around 4 months after than the first died out.

The cards were not 'perfect' ever since the first time that I got the machine, in order for the second to work at full speed, I would have to turn off SLi mode then back on after every restart.

After RMA'ing the machine twice for repairs to Sager before than the first card stopped working, no visible issues were found.

Severe artifacting that would show even during the 'Sager' boot-up screen as red, green and yellow lines all over the screen, plus a massive amount of errors shown in ATI Tool's 'Scan for Errors' screen was the last stage that the remaining video card showed.

To top it off, when the second video card begun to show artifacts, the third hard drive in my machine also showed signs of data corruption, and HD Tune confirmed this.

Now, I am left wondering, whether I should attempt to find a replacement set of video cards and a hard drive, or give it the burial that it deserves (The laptop served me really well while it worked, and having a $4,900 (Original Cost) Paper-Weight just does not feel right) and purchase a new laptop.

 

I have a sager NP9262 myself, and I was wondering what do you mean by "it runs VmWare ESxi 5.0 natively"? I want to get the best use out of my pc as possible.

 

Anyone update the graphics card in the Sager NP 9260? Mine has a GTX 280, wondering what it can accept. Heard various reports that the GTX 485m works, also heard someone got the 550m to work. Can anyone speak to this?

 

thats wrong, d900f can use 485m but d900/901c cant
d900/901c is mxm 2.1 type he
so...........all "fermi" core based vga card cant install, bcz they are all mxm 3.0

 

My D901C has been having an issue with the backlight that I had been chasing down for over a year. I think I had the issue narrowed down to the 8800M GTX card because what was happening is the light wouldn't turn on unless I got the GPU temp up over 165 F (checked via HW Monitor), and I could replicate the issue by putting a load on it such as a game or CUDA prossessing and/or blocking the fan intake. It sounded odd because the only other times I heard of graphic cards failing involved artifacting and other image related issues, but I was able to find a service manual for the D900C/901C and there is a connection on the VGA slot labeled ENABKL that traces back to the light's power inverter on the schematics. There are other backlight related traces leading to the inverter, but their boards/chips are on the other side of the computer.

I opened up the back panel to remove the vid card and also one of the ram sticks to see what version MOBO I had because I had a 9800M GTS in another computer I was going to try swapping out with as a test. Only after I put everything back together, "The Beast" as I lovingly call mine, wont even post. When I turn it on, the power LED turns on and the HDD light flashes a spit second and goes out. The screen is completely dead with no image or light, when in the past there was always an image that I could view with a flashlight and the VGA output also still worked. I can hear something whirring inside when I put my ear to the case, and the FN+1 key will turn the fans on high but not back off.

I was thinking the card needed a reflow/baking to try and fix, but wasn't ready to go that far yet. Now I'm wondering if it's possible another solder came loose or something on the card. Would a totally dead card cause the computer not to post, much less boot up, or could I be looking at something much more serious?

As a side note, I did at least finally find the dang lid switch after getting the service manual. I'd asked before on the forums here when first digging in to this and no one was able to tell me where. If anyone is curious, it's a magnetic switch. It's an ant sized chip on the switch board that the power button is mounted on, just to the right of said button.

 

Post an actual picture of your 9800M GTS.
I suspect you bought an Asus 9800M GS other than 9800M GTS.
The seller might flash the 9800M GS to 9800M GTS by changing device ID.
But he didn't know that D901C would black screen when only changing device ID in vbios.

 

Let me clarify a couple things because I may not have been clear on the first post.

The 9800M GTS is from my Gateway FX series laptop that was bought new for my girlfriend from Best Buy. Though I don't plan to pull that card now. Long story short, I *THOUGHT* it was fried after having water spilled on it. Even had it inspected at a shop. I was about to open it up to compare the cards, but decided to see exactly what it was doing myself since I was away when it was drowned and it booted up to Windows. Been working fine, so that option is now pretty much out.

As I'm sure you've guessed by now, it's the 8800M GTX that's still in my Beast and is now not posting. The 9800M GTS was never in it.

 

Gateway FX series laptop don't use MXM.
You can't pull the 9800MGTS out and put it in D901C.

 

Ah, ok. Any idea what may have caused the lack of booting on mine then? I'm guessing something jarred loose on the card when I pulled it, but with that heat wrap around it (or whatever that is put on at the factory), there isn't much that could be knocked loose.

 

It is hard to tell.
Maybe you can buy another card to test.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/com...-fx-2700m-mxm-2-1-type-iii-he-512mb-card.html

At least you can ask miamiking75 to test it in his D901C to make sure it a D901C compatible card.

 

I have been having the same issue with my BEAST also. First, I replaced the inverter which was the cause of the initial problem. Then one day the backlight would not even come on. I was thinking it was the graphics cards being fried as I tried to hook it up to an external monitor and nothing was coming up.

If you ever figure it out please post as I would love to get my machine up and running again

 

I did actually get mine doing again. The lack of POST was my ram chip not being seated right or something when I put it back together that one time because I pulled it again and it booted fine without it, and then again after re-seating it.

I did decide to bake my graphics card, which fixed my problem. It's pretty much considered a last ditch effort to do, but when you have nothing to loose... The process softens the solder joints and re-melts any cracks together. Computer shops have workstations specifically to do this safely, as baking does have its risks. Also make sure the card is listed Rohs compliant lead free. I suggest reading up on the process, but here's the way I did it:

Remove any heat sinks, heat wrap, plastic connectors, etc from the card. Basically so it's stripped down to the bare board and chips. Using balls of aluminum foil, suspend the card at each corner on a stiff cookie sheet that won't flex during baking. This was a pain for me getting the card to stay up without the foil sliding out. If it falls in the oven, you can jar the chips loose! Also make sure the foil isn't touching any solder joints so nothing melts together. I pre-heated the oven to 385 F degrees and baked it 9 minutes. Then turn the oven off and let it cool about 20 mins with the door closed so it doesn't warp. Once completely cooled, re-assemble everything you took off and that will do it.

This only works for defective solder joints, so won't fix damaged chips and such. It's also suggested you exhaust all other attempts at repair before you resort to this. I've read people using different temps and baking times, and my choice was just kinda splitting the difference of what I read. The longevity of this "fix" has been mixed too. Many times it lasts 6 months to a year that I saw. If yours has the stick on heat wrap around the card like mine did, be gentle pulling it off because it sticks quite well from the factory.

Good luck if you try it.

 

I was thinking about baking the cards but that means I will have to do both of them and decided against it. I will check the RAM and make sure they are still good before before going that route. Have to admit overall cost on this laptop for me was about $50 for the new inverter but I can't seem to let it go since I got a taste of what it can do. Appreciate the quick reply will keep on trying.

 

You got off cheap. I paid $75 for my inverter when I thought that was the issue. I certainly know what you mean about not letting go, too.

 

Like (10 char)

 

I recently had to format the hard drive and reinstall XP. I have most of the drivers installed. What utility do I use to turn the WiFi on and off, and select the network to connect to?

 

Intel PROSet/Wireless Wifi Software

 

Thanks, my WiFi is working again. How to I recover the standby option when I hit start and shutdown?

 

Finally got my 901C back up running!!! Didn't know how much I missed it until I started playing games with it again. Had to bake the cards and it started right back up once it was done.

Just wondering if anyone know where I can download an updated BIOS. Also, has anyone loaded Win7 on their machine and have everything working including the camera? Currently running Windows XP Professional and would like to get the new OS on it.

 

The latest KBC and BIOS are here:
13N_22.zip

No problem installing Windows 7 x64 and drivers. I chose to install the Vista x64 Bison camera drivers and the newest Intel chipset drivers w/o any issues. Don't forget to change IDE to AHCI or RAID in BIOS before installing the OS.

 

Thanks alot. Unfortunately you are speaking to an amatuer computer geek and I mostly work on the hardware side. Can you please explain why I need to change the IDE to AHCI or RAID?

So, when you loaded Win7 you just installed the Vista drivers and the camera worked?

Last, I downloaded the new BIOS you linked and noticed there are two folders inside. I take it that it is dependant on which model D901C I have? If so, how do I determine which one to use?

 

IDE is old technology, AHCI was introduced around the time of Vista (maybe just before) and has a few added features such as Native Command Queuing and ability to allow hot swap devices (eSATA).
You can find more information about it here:
AHCI vs IDE ? Benchmark & Advantage Expertester
AHCI is designed more for the SATA interface though.

RAID is short for "Redundant Array of Inexpensive Drives" and is used if you are running multiple hard drives either in RAID 0 (combines 2 or more drives to create one giant drive but data is divided between the drives) and RAID 1 (mirrors same data between 2 or more drives, a sort of automated backup if you will). There is also a RAID 5 configuration or a RAID 0+1 (some refer to as RAID 10).

More than likely, if you are running Vista or later you would want to go with AHCI, but if you are still running XP you should probably stick with IDE.

 

Regarding the change to AHCI/RAID in BIOS it will give you more performance from your 3Gbps SATA II storage controller. You should do it followed by a fresh install of Windows 7 in order to avoid it become unstable.
Yes, the camera worked after the installation of the Vista (I used 64 version for both Win7 and Bison drivers).

Regarding the BIOS update be careful before you it: the two folders correspond to different things which you should update in a certain sequence in order to avoid bricking your laptop. The D90C_H813N folder corresponds to the 1.00.13 keyboard firmware, also referred as KBC/EC, and it should be flashed before the system BIOS found in the other folder named D900C_22.
After you flash the keyboard/KBC/EC firmware you need to reboot and flash the 1.00.22 system BIOS found in the D900C_22 folder. Reboot again.

Warning: If you flash the system BIOS before the KBC/EC firmware you brick your motherboard. There are guidelines around this forum on how to flash the KBC/EC and BIOS, make sure you understand the procedure before starting:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/556299-clevo-bios-older-models.html

 

Ok, here is the issue I am having. I cannot power up my D901C but all indications is that there is a short with the power button preventing it from turning on. What I see when the AC power is connected is that the battery is getting charged and it shows that AC power is applied to the computer. When I depress the power button to turn it on the lights all go off and the computer does not turn on. Was wondering if anyone has seen this problem with their PC and might have a solution.

 

Search eBay for D901C parts. Occasionally, there are available used power pcb boards that you could use for replacement.

 

After a little more troubleshooting I found that the GPU's were the cause of it not turning on. I guess they finally died. When I took them out the PC turned on with no issues and of course there was nothing to see; not even the bios boot screen. I saw on Ebay a reseller selling some 8800M GTX for $175 a piece and was wondering if it is worth the effort or just reinvest the $325 on a newer PC and retire the old warhorse.

 

After dealing with my 8800M GTX and lots of troubleshooting research, my guess is those Ebay cards are not likely to last long, assuming they work at all now. If you don't mind a little extra work, some people on here suggested looking into the 295M line I think. It's a little faster, but stable with a bios change. When I priced them on Ebay, they were about the same price as the 8800's. Otherwise, I guess your decision would come down to how much you would want to get a new computer anyway even if this one was still working. Compared to ours, you can get some really nice ones for $1000-1500 that perform better. If I had the money, that's what I'd do, but thankfully my card just causes the backlight to go out and can get it to come back on so it's usable.

Whatever your choice, a lot of people have had some success baking the 8800's and getting them to work again. How well and how long it works varies. It worked for a couple months before mine acted up again, but some people have got over a year out of that.

 

Yeah I already baked it once and it lasted for about six weeks under daily use. I priced (2) refurbished 8800M on Ebay for about $340. I think I will be going that route and then order a new computer from Malibal too. Thanks for your thoughts on this issue.

 

I would keep it.

 

Does anyone have the latest D901C bios and KBC bios. I have version 14 of the KBC drivers and I am still getting the annoying 6 beeps all the time. The link further up on this page seems to have expired. Thanks.

 

Are you talking about the random series of beeps that sound like an alarm clock trying to wake you up? I don't get it very often, but every once in a while I will get something like that. Any idea what the cause is?

 

See my first post on this page: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/556299-clevo-bios-older-models-6.html
Flash first the KBC under the D90C_H813N folder and thereafter the system BIOS under D900C_22 folder.

 

feel like sharing it again... the mediafire link is toast

I'll post it up on my server after... a "forever" link to these files that are so hard to find.

 

mediafire still works

 

not for me...

 

Same problem here, mmarchid. Your file is set to private and we cannot download it. Would you mind setting it public and allow us to get it, please?

Thanks.

 

I have made the link public, I don't remember if / when / why I had made it private, most probably by mistake. Here is the direct link: 13N_22.zip

 

Anyone know if the following GPU will work in a D901C?
Nvidia 9800m GT GDDR3 MXM 2.1 type IV/HE
As far as I know as long as it is MXM 2.1 it should be
compatible, right?

 

Greetings all, I have been an M1730 user for a while, and have been looking into possibly of picking up an NP9262 to play around with. So I would like to pick your brains for a while
What can you all share about its performance and longevity.
What are they worth these days for say the q9650 and the dual 9800m gtx?
Are the 9800m GTX the highest cards available for the unit?

 

Nobody around here anymore?

 

Well, if anyone does happen to check this thread and wants to answer my question let me know as I will probably still be looking for information.