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

Hey figured I could check in.

I believe you are correct on the 9800m GTX being the highest card available. But for some reason I feel like there was a 280m GTX released on the mxm 2.1 format. However those 280's are extremely rare. Also the quadro 3700m is an option if you want to run just a single card (lots of these are available for cheap on Ebay, exact same thing at the 9800m GTX but with more shaders I believe).

As far as price for that set-up, I couldn't tell you. I just gave my d901c away a couple weeks ago because I didn't want to have to ship it or deal with all the little things of trying to sell a used unit. Maybe check the price check forums and ask there.

All that being said, I only had a duo core in mine with a 3700m and it ran essentially everything quite well - when I say everything I am referring to programs not games, e.g. Revit, Cad, Photoshop, Illustrator.

In the end, great computers for the their day - outshined now though by a long ways.

 

Thanks for the info. I am glad somebody still checks this old forum.
Yeah I have a more powerful system for modern stuff, mostly these old systems are for fun and tinkering, I like seeing just how much these old things can do. Usually it can be pretty impressive even by modern standards. I originally posted in the price check, but now you need to have at least 100 posts regardless of how long you have been a member of this site. Since I am not the kind of person to spam my post count, it might be a while before I reach the 100 required.

So if I can find one cheap and it is in good shape I might pick one up. I would be interested in how well a maxed out system compares to a maxed out M1730.
Its just that M1730's are common and parts are plentiful. Not so much with the 9262, so it almost mandates that it has to be maxed out already when I buy.

 

Anybody else around to discuss these old machines?

Thanks

 

Clevo D901C / Sager NP9262 - Imgur

I have just decided to sell my D901C. I'm trying to figure out if I should sell it whole as-is or sell it for parts, and maybe make more money. I don't have enough NR Post points to sell here. Anyone looking for parts? The main reason I'm selling is that I'm sick and tired of putting the graphics card in the kitchen oven every month or two. Wife has some cash and wants to get me a " WOW" present for Valentine's (scam holiday). But, who am I to refuse? I'm going to post to eBay and see if I get any bites for selling it as a whole. Any place I can post here on NR about my eBay action and not get in trouble here?

 

How much are you looking to get out of it?

 

I know it's worth a lot more in parts, but I don't want to mess with having to post each and every piece, field questions, package, post office, deal with more questions and possibly returns. I would rather sell it someone who can either use or THEY can deal with the hassle of chop-shopping it. It's in perfect working condition, but with 4 issues:

1) As you know graphics card needs to be baked in the oven every so often.
2) LCD works great, except for 3 dead pixels. They aren't noticeable much, can't see them while gaming, but on a black screen you can see them.
3) From the photo album there is a nicked corner. Plays no role in operation
4) Some plastic cover piece got knocked loose from the hinge, but secures fine. Plays no role in operation.

Otherwise, you can upgrade that puppy! I cleaned it every few months by taking all the parts out, heat sinks, fans, coolers, etc. All the fans run great, LEDs, ports, keyboard, etc. I'll stand by it, because it's stood by me all these years. Wow, I'm getting kinda sad all of a sudden. We've some great p0rn together. But, follow the link to the gallery: Clevo D901C / Sager NP9262 - Imgur

I was going to post it on eBay, but I would like to get about $650? Make me an offer I can't refuse?

EDIT: Included components are the 4GB RAM, Q6600 CPU, 8800M gpu. Optional: 2 x 250 GB 7200 Hitachi hard drive. I'm keeping the 128 GB SSD and 750 GB hard drive.

 

I checked eBay, and the q9650 is the hightest cpu you get get for a NP9262 / D901C and they are going for around $150-$170. You find it cheaper. A replacement video card FX 3700m is around the same price, and some crazy person is selling a 9800m for like $500-$600. Crazy.

 

Well I don't want to turn this area into a market place but $650 is going to be too much for me. One just sold on Ebay the other day that I was watching for about $450 for the same specs but without the above mentioned defects, not that they matter much as you say.

Given that this thing is more expensive to upgrade than the M1730, I think I am better of finding one that is already maxed out, for the right price of course. The problem with the Np9262 is that they were not as well known as the m1730. Today that translates into more expensive parts since there were not as many made, and less demand since most people probably haven't heard of them. Its tough. That and a $600 unit outperforms these old buggers in every way. It gets hard to justify them.

 

Yeah, I don't know if we should be haggling in this discussion thread. I ran some numbers and it looks like I could get significantly more than I thought if I sold it in parts, but I don't know if there's a market for the parts. I might be willing to go as low as $450, but like you said, you saw the same thing on eBay with less defects. It looks like I'll be busy taking more pics and posting the pieces on eBay.

 

I would say do this, put a tag in there for M1730, then compare this system to that one, saying that it can use desktop processors, up to the xeon 3380, which puts it well ahead of the M1730 raw computing power. That way you can get some traffic from those looking for the M1730. Set your price at around $650 and see if you get any takers, and if not then you can part it out. The market for parts is not very good. People want the parts, but most people want to charge ridiculous amounts for them.

 

It might still be hard, since M1730's can be had for about the same price fully maxed out, but you never know what you might get.

 

What parts from the D901C / NP9262 are compatible with the M1730?

 

No parts would be, I meant as a whole unit. If you do decide to part it out, than you are kind of on your own.The M1730 uses a proprietary graphics card design and mobile processors unlike the clevo's desktop versions. Leaving the SSD might help you sell it too, at least to get the unit sold and then you could buy a new one.

 

Basically just build it up to be a great machine, which it is, potentially more powerful than the M1730's which are doing quite well on ebay right now.

 

Hi, Ive been running out of physical memory lately as my DAW software is getting more demanding over the years so I'm looking to upgrade my memory to 8GB.

I was wondering if there is much difference between the Crusial & Corsair DDR2 SODIMM modules?

My current installed memory is 4GB GEIL DDR2 SO-DIMM DUAL CHANNEL PC2-6400 DDR2 800MHz C5 SO-DIMM

These are the 2 compatible kit's I found so far;
Crusial CT2KIT51264AC800 - 8GB Kit (4GBx2), 200-pin SODIMM , DDR2 PC2-6400 from Crucial.com
Corsair 8GB DDR2 SODIMM Memory kit, 800MHz Corsair Memory

Thanks for any info,
Cheers

 

kazakore,
You mentioned gigging in the D901C Sager thread. I picked up a Sager NP9262 (D900C) for real cheap to perform live music with. If you could give me some experiences - tips, I'd appreciate it. (I tried to 'friend' you, but the 'confirm' button did not work).

Laptops are not the best for live music production, mainly due to throttling (EIST, etc.) and I can't turn off EIST, even with Throttle Stop (but it does stop the C state FSB throttling).
Anyway, I have just begun a search for the best drivers & maybe a bios update to use for a fresh Win 7 64 bit install on an SSD; I haven't seen any Win 7 drivers for the Sager NP9262 yet. Other white box manufacturers that use the Clevo D900C board have drivers, but advice based on experience would be better than a month of experimenting, (I have other work to do, yeah..)
Anyone?
Thanks in advance.

 

Hey, guys,

I've had my D901C now for close to five years, and it has always worked like a champ. I have it completely maxxed out to take advantage of its capabilities. But it looks like now my CMOS battery is going out. The computer works perfectly fine. It just won't keep date and time any more. But the real bear is trying to replace that blasted CMOS battery. I know this has been asked before on this thread in the past, but nobody seems to have been able to answer the question. Exactly what steps do you have to take to disassemble the computer to where you can get to the CMOS battery? The CMOS battery is located just to the left of the touchpad on top of the DVD drive bay enclosure. The frustrating thing is that I can't see how to disconnect the top panel enough to get to it. I have taken all of the screws out that hold the top panel to the bottom case, but it still is connected at some point just over the four jacks on the front. I cannot find any screw or catch that is holding the two parts together. I think if I can just free that part of the two casings away from each other, I can pry the panel up enough to get to the CMOS battery as I can just barely see it now. I'd rather find out how to simply take the whole computer apart sufficiently to do it properly. I called the Sager technicians, but they were no help at all. In fact I'm sure they actually had no idea how to do it. I was hoping that there was someone here who has already done it before me and tell me how step by step, how to do it. Thanks in advance.

 

Hi, Voyager,

I don't know about the Corsair memory, but I will say the Crucial memory seems to have a compatability problems with the D901C and doesn't work. I've been using Patriot memory PC6400 DDR2 SoDIMM CL6, and it works fine.

On another note, and referring to my last text, I finally figured out how to replace the CMOS battery, but it is really weird. As it turns out, you just have to take off the four screws holding the upper case where the CMOS battery is located, then you carefully flex the case corner upward. The case appears to be so flexible that I was able to get the corner up a full inch off the bottom case without deforming or breaking it. Once propped open, and using surgical clamps, I had easy access to the CMOS battery and was able to replace it. Weird!

 

Eurocom may still host the service manual, if not search google for D901C service manual.

 

Hi jeriddian,

I have the same issue with the CMOS battery here, I can't seem to find the damn thing. As long as I don't power off the laptop while it's running on battery I'm fine. But as soon as I run out battery power and restart after I'm plugged in again I have to adjust my bios settings. A real PITA! Anyway thanks for your tip on finding the CMOS battery! I have to open up the system for cleaning in a bit and have another look at it..

As far as the 8G Corsair ram goes, they are not performing or improving my system performance as much as I hoped they would, on the other hand most system applications are still written to be 32bit programs so they don't access the available ram I guess. Like you mentioned the Crusial's didn't work at all so I had to return them to the shop as I couldn't get the system to start with these modules installed.

In a bit I will be buying 64 bit upgrades for some of my programs and see if the performance gets any better. At the moment I'm definitely not very thrilled about having the extra ram.

Currently I'm researching the option to ad an SSD drive as system drive to see if I can extend the life of this system a bit longer.... Although I don't know if SSD drives would work on in D901C and/or how to mount the drive in etc... cant find any good info about it so far.

It's amazing how far I have been already with this old DC901, the damn thing just passed the age of 7 years and is still working...

Cheers!

 

It's been a while since I've been here. Sorry, Voyager, I didn't see your post earlier. But I agree. Our D901C's are real beasts, great performers. I have more than one now. As you can see in my signature, SSD's work just fine in these computers. Same 2.5" form factor as spindle drives. The computers work wonderfully, even now after seven years plus. I've learned a lot on how to repair them, replace parts, update the BIOS, etc. along the way, however the one thing I have yet to figure out is how to completely disassemble one. The service manual does not address this at all. I've tried calling Sager and a couple of other manufacturers, but they were no help on this issue either. I actually tried to disassemble one of my units, but could not figure out how to do it. I was hoping that there is someone out there who knows how to completely disassemble one of these beats if I ever needed to replace the motherboard. I would appreciate that information and thank you in advance.

 

I used the manual I found at CLEVO D900C D901C Service Manual free download, schematics, eeprom, repair info for electronics and it worked well enough for me to partially disassemble mine while trying to figure out a graphics problem. It wasn't the exact model that mine was, but it seems that they are similar enough for this service manual to help guide me.

 

Hi Jeriddian, it's been a while indeed. After upgrading several things the past year like the Ram, SSD's, OS, baking my video cards this system is becoming my worst nightmare lately. Mainly caused by what's left over working from my GTX8800M video card. I get ton's of blue screens and drop outs on a daily basis while I'm waiting on my second GPU that I send out for reballing months ago. I received it back once but didn't work and now it's being re-chipped + reballed as well. Buying a new GPU like the GTX8800M or GTX9800M doesn't seem worth it anymore to me, video-cards that are know to fail and are 6/7 years old already still seem to be way overpriced at eurocom and other resellers IMHO + rare to find.

Anyway that said, just like you I learned a lot about repairing this system in order to keep it going, it's like the Harley's among the laptops! In order to keep it going I broke parts as well recently, I actually could write an essay on how something stupid like replacing a bios battery ended up in a bureaucratic journey but will try to keep it short, alright?

After I finally figured out how to reach the bios battery section the backside of the bottom + top casing where ruined, on top of that the 3pins battery connector broke in several peaces while pulling it out. So figuring out how to surgically remove the remains left inside of the 3pins holder was the next step, eventually that worked. Yet ruined my plan to solder an intact 3pin connector & wire to a new 3volt battery since I couldn't find an assembled 3pin bios battery at the local electro stores around here... and that led to the next phase of the journey. (btw, as an experiment I tried to solder on to the battery anyway but didn't work out)

So I ordered an original battery at MMC, figuring I might order a new top & bottom case as well to keep the casing tight again. Ordering and checking out was the easy part, but getting my goods delivered was something else... apparently our local customs where holding my goods for over 3 weeks since the shipper (MCC) mentioned a 5usd value on the shipping note instead of the real value. 79usd on products + 59usd shipping has cost me another 50euro in fines, tax & handling costs (about another 70usd) + a dozen of phone calls and getting treated like a criminal by the postal service customer department and emails later I finally received the frikking battery. Then when opening the shipping box I found out that the bottom case was not new at all but used, scratched & worn out... the backside is intact though!! Yay..!

Anyway, to conclude my little rant I'm in the same ballpark as you right now as I need to figure out how to disassemble the laptop in order to replace the top & bottom casing. I will probably try to take as much out in one assembled piece, unscrew everything that connects to the casing an transfer that to the other one. Getting my hands on a better bios + video bios would be nice as I'm stuck with what I can find in the clevo bios thread here. I hope it works out well... cheers!

 

Thanks, Voyager,

I think I can help you out. Recently I bought an NP9262 that I thought was a working model, only to discover the computer was almost completely trashed out. (I certainly paid enough that it should have been a completely working model). In addition, it was also shipped to me very poorly and not properly connected and the screen had been physically disconnected from the main body of the computer. The inside screen bevel was broken in several places. The latches were also damaged and destroyed, also nonfunctional. It almost seems like the guy literally ripped the computer apart with his bare hands before he shipped it to me. The top case was so damaged that it would no longer support holding the screen up without replacement parts. This computer should have been toast.

However, I was able to get a replacement inside screen bevel, I pulled out the keyboard, which was also damaged, and the supporting metal plate directly underneath it, then lifted the button cover strip that goes directly above the keyboard. This exposes all the connections to the screen and the antennas going into it. This way I was able to completely separate the screen from the main body and put it aside. The biggest problem I had then was that the top case was so broken on the rear corners where the screen hinges must insert into the main body that there was no way the top case could hold the screen any more, which of course just made the laptop useless. Latches I could find, and the bevel, and even a bottom case can be found, but I could not find a top case for sale anywhere. I was stuck with having to find a way to repair the top case,

This is where I can help you, because I figured out how to completely remove the top case off of the main body of the computer. It is rather involved, and I will have to do this later as pictures are going to be required. There are a lot of screws in different places you don't expect. To be brief, I was able to remove the top case. Once you do that it's easy to see how to remove the motherboard altogether from the bottom should that ever be required. I then took the top case, and over a period of two weeks I was able to recast the rear corner slots needed to securely and strongly hold the hinges to the screen with a substance we have here in the states called "JB WELD". Very tough stuff, goes on like thick epoxy,as hard and as strong as metal when it dries, sandable with a dremel tool. I was able to maintain the actual cavity slots into which to insert the screen hinges using a small dowel covered in cellophane scotch tape, to which JB WELD will not adhere at all. I had to keep slowly adding small amounts, layer after layer until I was able to build the corner up enough to support the screen. Then I sanded it down to fit the case. Once that was done, I replaced the top case on the main body of the computer and put the screws back in. With the rear corners reconstructed, the screen hinges went in very nicely and were screwed into place normally. The hinge covers were missing and I had to get replacements, and these were then put in after the button cover was replaced along with the metal plate. The last thing to go back in then was a replacement keyboard I had procured with the other parts I needed.

It worked perfectly. The screen is well anchored into place, probably even strongly than it was originally. I fired the thing up and worked as expected. Q9550S, 8GB RAM, 9800M GT video card.. Now I just have to get the SSD's.

However the main thing is, now I know how to remove the top case. I will try to put together a pictorial on this.

UPDATE: I have created a pictorial on how to remove the top case to this beast. It is a PDF. If you are interested, email me and I will send it along to you. It's too big to post on this web site unfortunately.

 

Hi Jeriddian, a week or two ago I managed to do a total top & bottom replacement with the parts that were shipped to me, also replaced the CMOS battery and received my re-chipped & reballed gtx8800m card back.
Dismantling & putting the system back together took me about 4 hours, it took pictures (poorly) just as a reminder while putting things back in place. Near the end I had a few screws left and had to think hard where they came from to put them back but eventually figured it out. The video card seemed to be working at first for a few hours, yet still gave me blue screens and power shutdowns at random. So I figured it might be OS related and tried all troubleshoots I could possibly think off but eventually did a win 7 repair, then after a day or two a fresh install. Still the card didn't work, showing 0 ddr ram in the GPU'z screens and when installed along with my other card their spec where totally different, from ddr ram up to the shaders they contain.. So after trying every possible thing I gave up on my 8800m card and I'm shopping for replacements at the moment.

Maybe you or somebody else know if these cards are compatible? As there's a whole bunch on eBay but they don't seem to mention what MXM type/version they are so I figured I better ask first.
nVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTX G92 740 A2 1GB DDR3 MXM,

Since I already figured it out to do the body replacement your tutorial might be useful for others in need since the service manual isn't very useful, I just had to dive in along with some notes and pictures as a helping hand to reassemble it. ;-) Glad to read you could fully restore your system though, that was pretty inventive IMHO ;-)

You mentioned the SSD's, even though I notice a improvement in drive speed of 110% compared to the original HD's they do not perform at their full potential due to the fact that the system doesn't support SATA 6 Gb's (Sata 3) ports. Not sure what it all means but that's what Samsung magician says!

Cheers!

 

Hi, does anyone know where I could find 2 nVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTX cards that are compatible with a d901c? I almost bought 2 of these on ebay today NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTX G92 740 A2 1GB DDR3 MXM VGA Graphic Card | eBay yet luckily I double checked and figured they are the same cards except from the fact that they don't have thermal foil around them and no screw holes to mount the Clevo GPU heat-sinks. I have giving up on endlessly repairing my gtx8800m cards, re-balling didn't work and so was re-chipping as the fault seemed to be in the ddr3 chips.
Thanks

 

The fault is actually the solder between the die and the package that goes onto the MXM card, so you could replace the die with another one and that would work. But at this point is it really worth putting it on life support?

 

Hi, I'm aware of the solder die problem, although they have been reballed with lead holding solder, chips replaced, had re-flows as well... anyway it's not worth-it to keep on trying, it's been dragging on for way to long now.
Finding replacements in the form of 2 gtx9800m is my best option, yet I can't seem to find them for a reasonable price. In the eurocom upgrade list they still go for 1900usd, bonkers imho!
I almost won a bid last night on a Sager NP9262 containing all the parts I needed, but got outbid on the last second due to the lack off eBay experience I guess. Time to try the NBR again...

Cheers

 

But all cards you get have the same issue, I mean is the machine as a whole worth saving?

 

I'm aware of the the fact that these cards crap out soon, that's why I don't get it why they are still overpriced ... saving the machine is my only option atm.. no budget for a new system right now...

Update: I just figured I could go ahead with those GTX9800m cards on ebay and transfer the MXM X- Brackets from the old cards on it... should have thought about this much sooner!

Cheers

 

So long as the cards are cheap enough then it should be ok for some time, good luck

 

So far so good, the cards arrived last week and I transferred the brackets + the heat-foil from the old ones and installed them in SLI configuration. My temp's in stationary mode are 48°C/118°F on the left card and 57°C/134°F on the right card (middle of the laptop) and with the fans on full speed 40°C/102°F (left) 44°C/111°F (right). The only issue I have is during Win7 Boot, It always hangs a few times after boot diagnostics & before the Win boot-loader with a black screen and small line on top left. After a few attempt's it loads... almost seems like either it needs more power or just need to heat up for some time...

Cheers

 

Have you tried a fresh install?

 

It's a fresh install from a few weeks ago, doing it again will only decrease my ssd performance again and cost me about a week to tweak the OS up to spec's again in order to get it running for audio as I use the system as Audio and Video workstation. Ill keep digging into it to see what's causing the issue... might be as simple as turning off SLI though.

Cheers

 

Check the SLI cable is seated right.

 

Yep, seated perfectly! Cheers

 

Maybe the boot issues are to do with the tweaks you have done? You could try looking at devices being plugged in holding up the boot.

 

Hi, a few months down the line now, after swapping the GPU's from place and reseating the CPU the booth issues were gone and working quite well so far..

Cheers!

 

Good to hear, hopefully it does not come back

 

Hi again,

Recently I had to change my Q6700 CPU to the relatively newer Q9650 CPU in order to be compatible with a piece of software that needed the SSE4.1 instructions. No big deal I would say as I found a good deal for it and discovered this CPU is still high in demand amongst tweakers & overclockers. Apart from the performance increase I'm noticing a stunning difference in temperatures. The Q6700 would run around 60°C up to 71°C in stationary mode while the Q9650 is running way cooler around 35°C and 45°C in stationary mode. This alone made my system run much smoother already... anyway, just thought to chime in real quick to mention!

Cheers!

 

Yes the die shrink (65nm to 45nm) massively helped the core 2 quad series! I think they also tweaked things like core to core communication.

 

I have had to disassemble this laptop once in order to replace a motherboard, it took me literally 10 hours+ of continuous work until I put everything back in place. I think I have started in the evening and finished around 6AM. I guess you can be more productive if you do it more than once.

What I have to mention is that if you ever have to do this task it helps to have a lot of mini zip plastic bags with labels on them in order to place all the screws (grouped by category and functionality) you will have to take off in order to remember where to put them back. You will have to place both motherboards in front of you simultaneously in order to compare things off. Without this you will end up quickly in a bad situation. My only regret after this work was that because I have overlook to take off one little screw from the "new" motherboard to be placed in and because I wasn't aware of it I have forced things a little bit too much when reassembling the case and I ended up with a minor crack in the case. You may need the D901C Service Manual to be useful.

 

A large work area with places to keep screws (little plastic trays work too and they are easier to reach into than bags) is always good advice no matter what the machine.

 

My D901C has just been profiled at the airport a few days ago, delaying me about 10-15 minutes until they called for their IT guru. "We have never seen anything like this before, such cooling system. It doesn't look like any other laptop". Answer: It is supposed to be that way,. It's a Clevo

 

Priceless! And they probably wondered why anyone would still carry along a 7 to 8 year old laptop ;-) "well uhm Sir, it's still rocking the crap out of most other desktop replacements!!!"

 

My P570WM raised a few eyebrows at the airport when I took it out and put it in the tray but it got scanned and cleared.