Acer TravelMate 8100!!! - Page 79

Sorry I mean 1394A or 1394B...?

Typo I presume, but the laptop has the small, 4-pin, non-powered 1394, not the large-D shaped 6-pin powered port. The ezDock port replicator has 1 of each.

Thank you...

Sorry about the double post. But I think I posted my first message in the wrong forum.

Hi

I'm considering buying the travelmate 8104... even after reading about all the trouble people have had... but I have one reservation. Does it come with DDR-II 533 Mhz rated ram or does it come with DDR-II 400 Mhz ram?
If it comes with DDR-II 400 Mhz, then I might opt for the travelmate 8103 and upgrade the ram myself. To me, it makes better sense to be able to run at 533 Mhz and sacrifice the modest increase from 1.86 to 2.0 Ghz than vice versa, and I would save $100.

Cheers
zak

The RAM is definately 533 DDR II. Actually, if you think 1.86 is good enough. then you can save some money with the 8103 (US version ships with 1x512MB DIMM), you still comes out a few hundreds cheaper even after ordering another 512MB for it.

Ram is 533, but it doesn't run at that speed. I sent mine in for an RMA and one of the issues i reported to acer was memory speed is running at 400. Hopefully they will fix it.

You sent in your laptop for repair just because some 3rd party software told you the RAM is not running at 533, lol.

HHhhas anyone managed to get ATI's fglrx driver working properly under Linux ? I'm using Debian testing with XFree86 with the screent set to 1680x1050 (native resolution) with refresh rate 60Hz and VSync 50 to 180Hz.

The display appears and is accelerated, however there's a bunch of little "lines" or flicker in the image.

Has anyone ever seen this or know how to fix this ?

I have an Acer TM8104, but I also had the same problem with a Toshiba A70-00V00E with an ATI Radeon 9000IGP (which I returned to get the TM8104 instead).

I can post my XF86Config-4 as well as pictures of what happens on the screen if you wish.

Thanks,

Alex

Thanks for the info.
I also posted the question in the original 8100 review thread and got some nice answers to some of my other questions as well. I will be blunt and post the same thing here, as I can see there is a lot more activity in this thread. And because I wanted to hear some more opinions on the re-installation matter (can never hurt to get as much information as possible )

Here it goes:

I have another minor (big for me) question. This is my first laptop, so I don't have any experience with notebook hardware and so. Usually, I build my own desktop PCs from scratch and thus I install everything from a 'clean' harddrive. I really don't like all the gimmicks that usually comes with factory installed OS, so I would like to do a clean install on my laptop. But reading this post and the large 8104 post (>1500 posts ) - I get the feeling that it is not as straight forward as I would like it to be.
My questions are:
Is it tricky to do a reinstall? (compared to a desktop)?
Is it tricky to find the new drivers on websites ? (the travelmate 8100 US download section only lists 3 files??? - can you use the european section?)
Do you need to update chipset drivers for the sonoma platform?
Can you use drivers from the original manufacturer or is that not recommended for an acer machine?

I'm planning on using my own WinXP copy (slipstreamed with SP2) for the installation.
Delete all partitions and create one big one for XP.
Install catalyst 5.4 with DHmod 2.2(b?).
Install the necessary device drivers - which ones doesn't work or should be updated on top of a clean XP install?
Undervolt it with RMclock

Buy HL2 and WoW and enjoy my notebook.

I know that was a lot of questions - hopefully someone can answer a few of them.

Cheers
Zak

(Oups, sorry for the mega typo in the beginning of my previous message, I'm not used to this laptop's keyboard yet)

They have all the drivers on one of the CD's that come with it. However, their XP CD is just a restore disc that reloads all the crap that came with the notebook. However, you can just use a "normal" retail XP CD and re-install it using the serial number that's under your laptop. It worked for me.

Alex

Got my Acer 8104 the other day and have been fiddling with it a bit. It's a great laptop.

Anyway I have a question for DarthAcer. Seeing as he is the man in the know...

I noticed in one of your posts you removed ePowerManagement and just use inbuilt Windows with RMClock (And the older Launch Manager from the Acer 8000 series too).

When you said you can still disable devices you said to do it from safely remove hardware which is fine. But once you've say removed the firewire port to disable it and save power. How do you reenable it without rebooting the laptop? Is it even possible?

I'm just exploring options on what is the best way to configure my laptop. I have already reformated and set it up with a fresh install of XP.

Thanks for your time in advance,
James

I remember putting an answer to this question right there in the message. I'll repeat it here.

No easy way to reenable devices, except reboot. But then, I ususally do not need to fiddle with them like that. If I'm running on batteries and wish to turn devices off, that mode of operation will last till next reboot.

Actually, I have not used selective turning off of the devices yet.

Sorry if you did answer that question already. Thanks for the answer. I guess it doesn't make too much difference to the amount of power usage to disable these devices.

It bothers me that if in ePowerManagement you make changes to the default settings it'll let you but just doesn't bother to remember or apply them. It really could do with a bug fix. Or maybe I'll just edit the registry or get rid of it completely.

I wonder if it's gone completely if the LCD brightness changes when you remove the power or if it stays the same. I'll test this myself I think.

Just seems a bit silly to have extra tools installed and running if they aren't doing much for me, especially as I'm working out my clock speeds and voltages using RMClock which I imagine would save much more power than just turning off things like the firewire ports, etc.

Bluetooth?

Does anyone have any idea which version of bluetooth the internal receiver is? I tried calling tech support but they couldn't figure out anything from their manuals, and i'm apparently going to get a call from them if their engineer knows (not promising).

I've got a bluetooth DiNovo keyboard/mouse setup that have an external bluetooth hub that hooks in via USB and works great, but according to Logitech, if my internal bluetooth is 1.2, it should function exactly the same as if I were using the external Logitech hub.

I've tried using the internal bluetooth, and it works fine as a basic keyboard/mouse combo, but it doesn't allow me to utilize any of the features of the setpoint software and the mediapad. Anyone have any advice?

Internal Bluetooth is version 1.2 You may need to remove external Logitech Bluetooth and reinstall SetPoint software with internal Bluetooth turned on. I understand that SetPoint registers itself with whatever active Bluetooth device you have during installation. I used MX900 Logitech mouse and SetPoint 2.22 with internal Bluetooth.

Internal speakers: busted or just not that great?

First of all, let me say thanks to everybody who has contributed to this thread, it’s been an essential read when considering buying a 8104. Since getting it some three weeks ago I haven’t had any major problems. My main issue is with the built-in speakers, the sound level is very low, which I could live with, but the *quality* is really bad too, with zero bass. I’ve compared it to some other laptops and the 8104 pales in comparison.

Now, it is possible that my speakers *should* be sounding better and that they are busted. Basically, I had uninstalled the Realtek sound manager (not needing the equaliser and effects). This led to weird problems where my sound properties wouldn’t let me select the internal mic as recording source. In the end I gave up messing around with it, but next morning, I powered up and suddenly heard an extremely loud and shrill sound, just like a household fire alarm, crazy loud (In fact I was up on the kitched chair, reaching for the fire alarm, then realised it came from the frozen-up computer). I started in safe mode and installed older drivers, same thing. Finally I reverted to “last known good configuration” during windows start up and I was fine. Later I realised that the mute box had been unchecked on the mic level under volume control - playback (why have a mic level in the *playback* properties anyway? I don’t understand this).

Anyway, I’m thinking that the speakers might be busted because of this. Does anyone know if I can test this? More importantly, would most of you agree that the sound quality from the built-in speakers is really bad to begin with? And just in general, would speakers of this type take a permanent beating from such a loud sound (even it’s a very very high-pitched loud sound)?

Also, a gripe I have (for any prospective buyers) is the built-in mic. It’s located right next to the speakers on the front. This means that if you want to use online telephony like skype you will need an external mic, or a headset. Both are inexpensive and can be bought anywhere, but when on the move I find it really nice to just whip out the laptop and start chatting. Now I found myself running to the other room to get the mic/headset when skype goes off…

Cheers and thanks for any feedback on the speakers!
Decage

I remember someone saying that there were issues with uninstalling Setpoint software (I do have 2.22) and removing the launchmanager program. Is there a workaround to this, or some way to reinstall the launchmanager? I frankly don't use the buttons, but I hate having non-functioning hardware, which I consider the buttons to be. I'll try reinstalling with just the stock card though, DarthAcer.

As far as the speakers, Decage, I personally haven't had any problems with volume output. I updated to the newest Realtek drivers for the HD soundcard, and cranked it up to 96khz and digital output only, and the sound is fine. I have a set of solid external speakers hooked up whenever I have my notebook at my desk, and anywhere else I use headphones for consideration for others. Frankly, I wouldn't expect speakers as tiny as the ones in notebooks to have any bass. I'd say try installing the realtek drivers and see how you come out. Try playing around with the different effects, and find one that's the closest to what you desire, then set it and forget it's ever there.

Edit: I tried uninstalling and then reinstalling with the Logitech USB hub disconnected with the internal Bluetooth on, and it's still not showing my mouse/keyboard/mediapad under the Setpoint settings control panel. I do get a message that tells me, essentially, that the installation detected that I have a touchpad, and that to get full features from my mouse that I will have to connect it to the USB port. My bluetooth desktop includes the MX900, so I don't know if you got the same messages DarthAcer. Does your mouse show up under the setpoint control panel when connected, and can you customize your various mouse-buttons etc?

Thanks mate,

I was looking for that Now I can finally customize my buttons.

Should make new own topic for that.. otherwise it will get lost in this gigantic thread =)

Thanks again,
Ouzo

*sigh* I think I might just be an idiot, but those settings didn't stick. I'm really beginning to hate Logitech/Bluetooth/Everything I rebooted to make sure the settings stuck, and everything went FUBAR again.

Any help? I think the issues are with the way the Logitech SetPoint software begins running before the internal bluetooth has a chance to get up and running. Also, for some reason, even though my keyboard and mouse are running through the internal bluetooth, they only show up in SetPoint when the USB hub is plugged into the notebook. And I mean only plugged in, not having the devices running through the external hub. It seems that the software is throwing a hissyfit because logitech's hub is nowhere to be found.

Please help!