i-Buddie 4 Desknote Review

[tp322328]

rmd-fdd boot mode

Dear All,

I have a problem in using flash drive to boot up in A928.

It doesn't boot into dos mode and the bios cannot recognise the flash drive as a hard drive when it was connected during power up process.

Can anyone give some information to solve this problesm

Thanks in advance,

I think it could be the bios problem any latest bios > 030820 for A928

LionG

 

[albroswift]

Dear All,

I have a problem in using flash drive to boot up in A928.

It doesn't boot into dos mode and the bios cannot recognise the flash drive as a hard drive when it was connected during power up process.

Can anyone give some information to solve this problesm

Thanks in advance,

I think it could be the bios problem any latest bios > 030820 for A928

LionG

Am I correct that you are trying to use the flash drive for the actual DOS boot disk? I have not had any success booting from external drives of any type with a A928, messed around with it a while back. It may not be possible to install a driver and use device from boot. Could be that flash drives are only usable in Windows. Interested to hear from some of the experts.

 

[albroswift]

Happy 2007, everyone!!!!!!

 

[umiwangu]

Probably BIOS

I am guessing that it is a limitation of the BIOS. I haven't done it myself, but some of my friends have been able to boot with thumbdrives on desktops. I have been able to boot the A928 with an external USB drive, but it was extremely slow.

You can go into the BIOS and see if the flash drive is recognized as a boot device (along with CD-ROM, HDD, Intel, etc.). If it's not there, then you prolly can't. Even if it is listed there, I doubt it would work.

Anyone else?

 

[jankais]

Hi!
When i turn on my i-buddie a928 only the fans starts, but it doesn't display anything on LCD...No BIOS, nothing. Started and stopped the computer several times and once it started. Please tell me how to run it again!

 

[albroswift]

Hi!
When i turn on my i-buddie a928 only the fans starts, but it doesn't display anything on LCD...No BIOS, nothing. Started and stopped the computer several times and once it started. Please tell me how to run it again!

Sounds like the dreaded melted pin problem. That's what keeps this thread alive. I'm sure David will post soon, he's the guy that a lot of us will vouch for. Or you could look up his contact info on multiple previous posts this thread.
Luck--
AL

 

[davinator]

A980 after pin melted

Hello again, I have seen that most people after dealing with melted pin, they sometimes use a wrong screw inside the warranty seal when mounting back the desknote and they destroy the bus.
Check under the keyboard, there is a hole for the warranty seal, there is a screw there, then unmount your desknote and check the mainboard under this hole, unmount the processor and the processor cooler support to see if the bus is not scratched (under the black plastics between
mainboard and cooler support). I scratched mine by mistake using a longer screw and the desknote had the same behaviour as you described . I also had a desknote from a person how saw my post, I checked his mainboard and the screw was forced, the mainboard cracked and the bus was totaly
destroyed, so his desknote couldn't be repaired. My desknote is still working excellent since I repaired the bus, by reconnecting the lines.
Good luck,
David(Romania)

 

[davinator]

A980 after pin melted

Hello again, I have seen that most people after dealing with melted pin, they sometimes use a wrong screw inside the warranty seal when mounting back the desknote and they destroy the bus, so the desknote starts only the fans.
Check under the keyboard, there is a hole for the warranty seal, there is a screw there, then unmount your desknote and check the mainboard under this hole, unmount the processor and the processor cooler support to see if the bus is not scratched (under the black plastics between
mainboard and cooler support). I scratched mine by mistake using a longer screw and the desknote had the same behaviour as you described . I also had a desknote from a person how saw my post, I checked his mainboard and the screw was forced, the mainboard cracked and the bus was totaly
destroyed, so his desknote couldn't be repaired. My desknote is still working excellent since I repaired the bus, by reconnecting the lines.
Good luck,
David(Romania)

 

[jankais]

But i don't want to send from Europe to Canada this peace of s.it and invest more money! I just want to know why it don't boot up. I'm already soldering melted pin (after read this thread) and after that my i-buddie don't boot!

 

[jankais]

Davinator! I check maybe you are right! And if it is so! What i mus to do to repair?

 

[mmastudios]

Anybody out there having issues with Desknote A928 CPU issue. My system will not function properly with an Intel 2.4 GHz, 533 processor. Sysrtem boots, but see processor as a 1.8 GHz CPU. CPU works in all other system fine. Please advise.

 

[webtools]

Anybody out there having issues with Desknote A928 CPU issue. My system will not function properly with an Intel 2.4 GHz, 533 processor. Sysrtem boots, but see processor as a 1.8 GHz CPU. CPU works in all other system fine. Please advise.

Did you check the BIOS? You might need to tweak there.

 

[albroswift]

Anybody out there having issues with Desknote A928 CPU issue. My system will not function properly with an Intel 2.4 GHz, 533 processor. Sysrtem boots, but see processor as a 1.8 GHz CPU. CPU works in all other system fine. Please advise.

Stick with a 400MHz FSB. SL7EY (2.8 GHz) is the fastest available if you can find one. I've been clocking one day in and day out at 107% for over a year and getting a reliable 3.0 GHz.

 

[albroswift]

Did you check the BIOS? You might need to tweak there.

you could overclock your bios up to 150% and that chip would still be a dog. I've got 2 A928's and have "smoke tested" them every way imaginable.
PS hope that didn't come out too abrasive.

 

[jankais]

Thanks to davinator, i repair my i-budie! You are wright, i put wrong srew and damage my motherboar, but when i repair the line it boot up!

 

[albroswift]

Thanks to davinator, i repair my i-budie! You are wright, i put wrong srew and damage my motherboar, but when i repair the line it boot up!

About 3 pages doddel has a great disassembly/ reassembly post so the 43 different screws dont present such a problem.

 

[arusan]

hi to all

I had the plug problem on my A928, and my local service center replaced the plug with a 2-pin one, that worked kind of o.k. for quite some months. But a few weeks ago, the notebook stopped showing anything on LCD. External monitor doesn't seem to work either, at least when I boot and try to switch to external with the hot keys, there's no image. The notebook powers up and seems to go nicely....

Did anybody have the same problem - seems like a dead video... can it be fixed, can the video be changed?

I am in Europe, so sending it to Canada would be extreme...

Davinator, been trying to PM you, I am from RO also, can we get in touch? maybe I can solve my prob...


thanks!

 

[mgran]

ECS A929 Laptop Disassembly With Pictures

I have just ahd the final meltdown of the the plug, so I should solder a new one to the motherboard, also I should change the power adaptor's plug.

I would like to know wetehre there are problems and things to know before tryng to open the case to extract the motherboard.

I plan to have a new plug soldered to the motherboard by a professional electronic repairer but the disassembling and reassembling will be my job.

PS

Anybody has good sources for new high capacity hard disks in Europe?

Hello,
I fixed my A929 plug meltdown problem some time ago, and decided to post my solution (with pictures!) on the internet for those who might want to try it by themselves. You can find it on http://mgran.blogspot.com/2006/10/ecs-a929-laptop-disassembly.html
Drop me a comment at the blog so I can know how many of you used the hints over there.
[]s,
Marcus

 

[muntai]

Hi!

I've decided to give my "meltdown" A928 one more chance after almost 2 years in the closet. (I already had the infamous pin soldered, but it melted down again about 6 months after the repair. Then I moved on, bought a real Desktop, lol...)
But I just have feelings for this little thing

-So I'm going to order a new DC Power Jack , and have mine replaced with it. Anyone want to comment on that solution? Any one tried that yet?


- And I was wondering if it was possible to replace the stock Willamette P4 cpu with a Pentium M Centrino 1.4Ghz, 400FSB, 1MB L2 cache, "Banias", Voltage: 0.956/1.484 V, Model part: SL6F8 ??
Is it possible?
Max Power consumption is about 22W, a third of the Willamette I have in there!
It would be nice, so maybe I can have a third of the heat as well, lol.

-Btw, does anyone know the CFM and noise (db) specs of the Sunon GM0506PFV2-A fan?
I can't find the info regarding CFM and noise...


Thanks a lot in advance! And thanks for keeping this thread alive

 

[mgran]

Hi, muntai,

- I believe the pin meltdown is due to a loose contact in the dc jack ground pin because of physical stress (plug/unplug cycles), not because of cpu heat. (your solder point wasn't resistant enough mechanically).
- Depending on the state of your dc jack, you may want to buy a new one. But check my link above. My dc jack was pretty melted, and I put it together with two drops of a silver solder (more resistant then the lead ones). Make sure the solder holds the ground pin firmly back.
- upgrade: you might try using PowerLeap cpu adapters.
http://tomshardware.co.uk/2004/08/30/performance_injection/
[]s