i-Buddie 4 Desknote Review

[muntai]

Hey mgran!
I was going to post at your blog. Excellent guide! Thank you very much for your time. Great job!.
I've yet to decide if I'm more impressed by your guide or by the looks of that power cord plug in the last pic! It's not even funny.

I'm going to go the "new dc jack route" this time though. I found a cheaper EBay reseller too. (I think I remember the tech guy that soldered the pin telling me he had used silver too, not sure)

-Did you buy an entire new AC adapter or just the plug? Mine is slightly melted, don't know if it really needs replacing but I'm still curious about what you did to replace it. Ebay reseller tips would be welcome too

-About that Powerleap adapter, well I don't know about that, my Willamette is most likely not a socket 423 but one of the socket 478 Willamettes.
Actually the Desknote A928 is a socket 478 package with 400Mhz FSB , right?
And since the Pentium M I'm talking about is also a socket 478 - 400Mhz FSB, it makes me wonder if it would be a succesfull cpu swap.

 

[albroswift]

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

Would probably work, but why? I run a 2.8 @ 107% with no overheating problems, daily driver, although I have had my connector fixed by David Cai couple of years back. (So yes, I did have a problem at one time!)
Have you compaired all the specs? Check out the thermal spec, interesting...
http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SL6F8
http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SL7EY
I dont think the problem lies only with the processor, although 68W is a big part of it. Oh wait, I take that back, AC adapter is rated at 90W! A whole 22 watts to spare! I'm still using the same connector, must be rated for at least 90W or ECS would never of used it. (NOT)
Let us know how it works out.

 

[muntai]

Hi albroswift
-Well now I'm thinking that putting a Centrino ( 400MhzFSB and socket 478) in there would not work probably because it would need some kind of new BIOS, right? Latest BIOS for this machine was what, 5 years ago?
On the other hand I can't see why a Pentium 4 M would not work, so I might try a cheap used ebay one. (30W max power consumption, not as good as Centrino but still quite a reduction!)

Why? Because I remember I had my meltdown occur in the hottest summer days, while I was doing some stuff that required maxing out my CPU 100% for hours. My hands sweating from the laptop+room heat. So in my experienc heat is obviously a major issue. And less heat means less noise as well which is something I care about more and more...

-I'm also having second thoughts about ordering a brand new DC Power jack because they're still probably badly soldered by ECS, right? But here's another question. what if I still ordered that new DC jack and "applied a coating" of high quality silver solder on the back of the jack? Would it be of any use at all? Some kind of additional protection or is it just stupid? I've never yet soldered in my life, sorry, lol .

 

[mgran]

Hey mgran!
-Did you buy an entire new AC adapter or just the plug? Mine is slightly melted, don't know if it really needs replacing but I'm still curious about what you did to replace it. Ebay reseller tips would be welcome too

I just bought the cable+external plug without the ac adapter (you can buy a new complete ac adapter if you want as well for extra $), cut out the melted plug (the one you saw on the picture) and soldered the new cable at the tip of the wires of the original cable (I ended up with an extra long power cable). Just go to http://www.ebay.de and search for a929. My reseller had just one in stock, but this one has more for 1,99 euro: http://search.stores.ebay.co.uk/GNLA-Shop .They call the cable mickymouse because of the three holes You probably can find the cable on the usa ebay too.

Actually the Desknote A928 is a socket 478 package with 400Mhz FSB , right?
And since the Pentium M I'm talking about is also a socket 478 - 400Mhz FSB, it makes me wonder if it would be a succesfull cpu swap.

Yes, I think you're right. According to the above link the A928 uses Willamette/Northwind P4. I know that the P4-M is built on the Northwind core of the P4. So probably the P4-M would work as a replacement (obs: P4-M != Pentium M of Centrino).

Look at this old article: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_zdpcm/is_200308/ai_ziff45402

"
Currently the most popular mobile chip for notebooks, the Mobile Intel Pentium 4 Processor-M is built on the same Northwood core as the P4 desktop chip and has a 400-MHz FSB and 512K of L2 cache. The P4-M differs from the desktop version in that it includes Enhanced SpeedStep and Deeper Sleep and doesn't support Hyper-Threading. To keep power consumption and heat within acceptable limits, Intel restricted the P4-M's clock speed to 2.6 GHz. The chip typically uses about 35 watts. That's more than the PIII-M uses, though the battery life is still decent. Intel, however, is replacing the P4-M with other processors described in this story.

With the P4-M so similar to the desktop Intel Pentium 4, it's not surprising that vendors would put the desktop chip into notebooks. The P4 appears only in large desktop replacement notebooks, because it needs the room to dissipate the heat. This processor uses lots of power (typically 82 watts), and battery life isn't very good, but such factors are adequate for a desktop replacement notebook. The P4 doesn't support SpeedStep or Deeper Sleep because it wasn't designed to be a mobile chip. What you gain is the ability to use Intel's fastest desktop processor, with 3.2 GHz, a 533- or 800-MHz FSB, and Hyper-Threading.

Intel, however, wasn't happy about notebook vendors using its fastest desktop processor in their systems and hopes to supplant the P4 with the Mobile Intel Pentium 4 (Mobile P4 for short; no M). Recently released, the Mobile P4 has the same Northwood core but adds SpeedStep and Deeper Sleep to help reduce power consumption and increase battery life. It uses a 533-MHz FSB (up from 400 MHz on the P4-M), as well as 333-MHz DDR SDRAM (up from the P4-M's 266 MHz). Still a hog at a typical 70 watts, the Mobile P4 bridges the gap between the desktop Pentium 4 and the Mobile Pentium 4-M.

Finally, there's the Intel Pentium M, the processor component of the new Intel Centrino mobile platform. (To use the Centrino name, a system must also include one of two new Intel chipsets and Intel's integrated wireless solution.) The Pentium M was built to maximize both performance and battery life. Its pipeline is not as deep as the Pentium 4's, so it is more efficient when handling branchy code that is typical in business applications. It also has better performance than the P4-M on a clock-for-clock basis. The Pentium M currently maxes out at 1.7 GHz, while the P4-M can reach 2.6 GHz.

The Pentium M's performance, however, is similar to a much faster P4-M. For example, the performance of a 1.4-GHz Pentium M is roughly similar to a Mobile P4 running at 2.4 GHz."

Keep us informed about what you do.
[]s,

 

[albroswift]

Hi albroswift
-Well now I'm thinking that putting a Centrino ( 400MhzFSB and socket 478) in there would not work probably because it would need some kind of new BIOS, right? Latest BIOS for this machine was what, 5 years ago?
On the other hand I can't see why a Pentium 4 M would not work, so I might try a cheap used ebay one. (30W max power consumption, not as good as Centrino but still quite a reduction!)

Why? Because I remember I had my meltdown occur in the hottest summer days, while I was doing some stuff that required maxing out my CPU 100% for hours. My hands sweating from the laptop+room heat. So in my experienc heat is obviously a major issue. And less heat means less noise as well which is something I care about more and more...

-I'm also having second thoughts about ordering a brand new DC Power jack because they're still probably badly soldered by ECS, right? But here's another question. what if I still ordered that new DC jack and "applied a coating" of high quality silver solder on the back of the jack? Would it be of any use at all? Some kind of additional protection or is it just stupid? I've never yet soldered in my life, sorry, lol .

Not sure about the bios, I have tried a lot of incompatible cpu's and all the 400 and 800 FSB's have worked, although the 800's run at 1/2 speed. can't get a 533 to boot up however. like to see someone smoketest a centrino. if I could get one for cheep, I'd try it myself. Love the smell of fried components. I think the jack, if soldered properly, will handle the load. I run mine in very hot weather and use it multiple apps running lots of graphics bla bla overclock bla bla and no problems. I do know how to solder, but sent it to David Cai just the same. Also, it's not the power adapter, but the connection to the board that is the weak link. Keep obstructions from underneath, and I also have been running a cheap cooling pad plugged into a powered USB hub for a while now.
Celeron processors also work well in A928's, and are dirt cheep. In the low 50 watt range powerwise.
These are good machines other then the POS melted pin problems, I have 2 been using one since they were new on the market, bought the second one used, put 2.8 cpu's, 1 gb rams, and big drives in both, had them both to David, no problems since. Cost me around $140.00 USD with shipping, don't know about from the UK, well worth it though.
Best of luck and keep us posted.

 

[muntai]

Look at this Toshiba DC jack replacement thread. Just what I was looking for
Except that I'm not going to go the external pigtail route, I'll do the coaxial DC jack thing ( msg 57 and 59 of that thread), which has to be mounted on a drilled hole right next to the original DC jack hole, just like in Mennie's pic at message 117, page 12 of this very thread right here. pic attached below.
It's kind of an internal pigtail solution and from the comments of that Toshiba thread, it works great and it's a very cheap solution! I think it's a more reliable and longlasting solution than resoldering the original DC jack and keeping it on the MB.
I still don't know if I better change the AC adapter all together (badly designed?) or if I'll just replace the plug with one of those ring plugs. I still have to do some more google research about which ring plug is compatible with which coaxial dc jack.
-The A928 AC adapter has a 19V output, 4,74 A, so I need to find an adapter plug and a dc jack that support those specs. Anyone has that kind of info to share?

-Someone also mentionned here that he had added a couple of components to the A928 MB for added reliability... years old message though, but I'd love to hear from someone with that kind of knowledge

That Toshiba DC jack replacement thread has so much information! Check it out!

 

[albroswift]

That's one way to go, looks kinda mickey mouse but should work. Still have to solder to motherboard no matter what the fix. Try to find a plug that is rated higher then the 90W A928 spec and you should have good luck. If you are also using battery watch out for the wiring, battery cable wired different. Cable swaps 2 wires from one end to other. Careful with the soldering.
keep us tosted...

 

[doddel]

repairing the A928 power supply

Instructions on how to correct the design flaw in the A928's power supply circuit you can find here:
https://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=8829769&postcount=360
I managed to revive several units that way but you need to be handy with electronics and a soldering iron fir to do SMD components under a magnifying glass.

It turns out that the power supply receptacle and plug have no need to conduct many amperes of current when the circuit is corrected. That original high current, enough to melt the plug, never reaches the actual computing electronics but gets dissipated by the supply circuit. Correction turns a A928 into a cool and low-noise machine with modest power consumption. The problem seems to have to do with ageing of the electrolytic capacitors that have been used and the PCB lay out; insufficient decoupling in the switchted mode power supply electronics then causes instability and at times turns a push-pull circuit into a short-circuit, drawing many amperes. In fact it is lucky that the receptacle melts because the electronics are more difficult to repair than a plug.
Repair of the receptacle:
I've had success repairing a few receptacles by using the pin of the end of a multi-meter cable. Those measurement pins have a sharp point and are made of hard material and have the proper diameter. Perhaps needless to say but i.m.h.o. it doesn't make sense just to repair the plug without removing the cause, i.e. correcting the power supply circuit. The plug is just the symptom.

Also always replace the cmos battery and flash the bios to the latest.
Because the A928 has no built-in battery the cmos battery gets much more to do than in notebooks. So after a couple of years it will need replacement and given the amount of work to open the unit it is better done when open anyway.

Also make sure there is good thermal contact between the P4 processor and the heatsink with a thin film of heat conducting paste. Move the heatsink around a little bit pressing it until you feel the paste has been distributed and the heatsink sticks to it, then fix the 4 screws. With poor thermal contact the processor will report a higher temperature and the fans will be making more noise as they are controlled by the software in reaction to a temperature sensor in the P4.

Another design flaw: the little metal cylindrical parts on the PCB with inner screwthreads. They most of the time have not been soldered properly onto the board in the PCB reflow process and will come loose when tightening the screws. Heat them up with a soldering iron and apply a bit of solder where they meet the PCB and make the solder flow into the joint. Them being loose causes poor thermal contact from power transistors in the powersupply and from the bridge IC to the secondary heatsink with small fan.

 

[meinoder]

Hello,
I'm new with the (as I read) old ECS melt problem.
My power suply cable was melted last week, and I've found in internet a MickyMouse connector which seems to be the apropiate to relpace the old one.
But even the conector has 3 pins, there are only 2 cables, and the third, that melted, seems to have no cable connection.
Is this right?, or should I search for a three pin connector with a 3 cable cable?
Can you please tell me something about this option?
Thank you!

 

[doddel]

good luck !

 

[yefim]

Yefim

Hello,
I got my i-buddy4 from 2002 and it was working without any problem for couple years/ till power plug melted - I resoldered it, but it was broken again and ibuddy was dead for couple month - it was laying in pieces in the garbage back, ready to go out..... But there is one man who can return it to life, even from garbage. I sent that bag to him (I even didn't assembled it together) and ... I get back working computer for very reasonable price. He is profeccional in A928, so you can ask him about yours problem.
Send him email with your problem and get professional reply

David Cai
Tel: (416) 788-6788
(e-mail address removed)

Hope it will help you to solve any problem with A928

 

[claudio_toronto]

I would like to thank to David Cai from Toronto, he did an awesome job repairing the plug/ connection melted down pin and the power board part on my ibuddy 928, in 2 hours i was able to enjoy my notebook again. Very good service, i would not hesitate to call him for this well known problem.

 

[kewel]

HI all.
I got another a928 just put a p4 3.06 (533 FSB) on it and it works fine except of no HT.
Have raised the timming to 133 Mhz on bios and it works
My MB (i think) it's 2.0 and can't flash any new bios, amiflash tells me no possible flashing for my bios...
Please anyone help out ;P

 

[jociri]

a928 keyboard malfunction

I dissembled my i-Buddie in order to change the melted DC jack, after desoldering the old one (very difficult) and soldering a new DC jack to my A928 motherboard, I turned on my i-Buddie and it begun to work as the first day, the only problem is that the keyboard is not working properly, so I tried with an USB keyboard and the laptop now runs OK, but this is temporarily, because a Notebook needs to work with it´s own keyboard.
I don´t have an explanation for this malfunction, before I dissembled my laptop, the keyboard was working OK. I don´t know if the problem is the keyboard, the ribbon cable or something else. A new keyboard is not so expensive, at eBay a used one costs between 15$ and 30 $.
I´m wondering if somebody can support me with a more technical explanation.
Thanks, Jose
Caracas, Venezuela

 

[albroswift]

I dissembled my i-Buddie in order to change the melted DC jack, after desoldering the old one (very difficult) and soldering a new DC jack to my A928 motherboard, I turned on my i-Buddie and it begun to work as the first day, the only problem is that the keyboard is not working properly, so I tried with an USB keyboard and the laptop now runs OK, but this is temporarily, because a Notebook needs to work with it´s own keyboard.
I don´t have an explanation for this malfunction, before I dissembled my laptop, the keyboard was working OK. I don´t know if the problem is the keyboard, the ribbon cable or something else. A new keyboard is not so expensive, at eBay a used one costs between 15$ and 30 $.
I´m wondering if somebody can support me with a more technical explanation.
Thanks, Jose
Caracas, Venezuela

Most likely the ribbon tape is not seated properly. take 'er back apart and check that first. hopefully not damaged from disassembly/ reassembly.
Luck

 

[albroswift]

HI all.
I got another a928 just put a p4 3.06 (533 FSB) on it and it works fine except of no HT.
Have raised the timming to 133 Mhz on bios and it works
My MB (i think) it's 2.0 and can't flash any new bios, amiflash tells me no possible flashing for my bios...
Please anyone help out ;P

Similar results with a 800 fsb ht.
Overclocking that much would make for a very unstable system. Probably notice sticky boot up and slow operations. stick with 400 fsb chips. You can get up to 3 GHz with small amount of overclock.
AMI does not support/ flash/ upgrade any laptop bios, they refer you to factory.
Luck

 

[jociri]

Thanks a lot friend, I have allready done that several times without success, seems to be a sector of the keyboard. I'm ordering a new one, hope to resolve. In any case to what type of damage do you mean when disassembling / reassembling, to the MB or the KB ?

 

[chryse]

hi... i too have an A928... i had it since 2004 and luckily i have no prblems so far considering our climate here in the Philippines (Tropical)... i am using my desknote almost 16 hours/ day... anyway just would like to share the spec of my A928:

Intel Celeron 2.6ghz, 400mhz SL6VV
512 mb DDR400, PC3200 RAM
20GB HDD
DVD ROM, CD R+W
120gb External USB 2.0 HDD w/ enclosure

Heating problems?... hmm i compared it to other laptops running on pentium 4's with any brand its has the same temp...(maybe of the kind of processor?... i really dunno..

)

Its running pretty quite well... its not bad nor very good product... i rate it good because of some missing usefull peripherals like wireless lan and bluetooth which is very usefull nowadays...

@all

do you have any idea how much and where could i get a Procie Intel Pentium 4 2.8 ghz, 400mhz, 512mb cache, SL7EY... i could not find any here in my country.

cheers

 

[albroswift]

hi... i too have an A928... i had it since 2004 and luckily i have no prblems so far considering our climate here in the Philippines (Tropical)... i am using my desknote almost 16 hours/ day... anyway just would like to share the spec of my A928:

Intel Celeron 2.6ghz, 400mhz SL6VV
512 mb DDR400, PC3200 RAM
20GB HDD
DVD ROM, CD R+W
120gb External USB 2.0 HDD w/ enclosure

Heating problems?... hmm i compared it to other laptops running on pentium 4's with any brand its has the same temp...(maybe of the kind of processor?... i really dunno..

)

Its running pretty quite well... its not bad nor very good product... i rate it good because of some missing usefull peripherals like wireless lan and bluetooth which is very usefull nowadays...

@all

do you have any idea how much and where could i get a Procie Intel Pentium 4 2.8 ghz, 400mhz, 512mb cache, SL7EY... i could not find any here in my country.

cheers

I got my last one at newegg.com, but I don't see them anymore. There are 2 right now on evil Bay

 

[albroswift]

Thanks a lot friend, I have allready done that several times without success, seems to be a sector of the keyboard. I'm ordering a new one, hope to resolve. In any case to what type of damage do you mean when disassembling / reassembling, to the MB or the KB ?

The flat cables are fragile at the hard points, and the keyboard cable crosses under one of the "pry up" points on disassembly.
New KB should be easy fix
Luck