ADVENT 7116 BIOS flash ??

[scotishhaggis]

Hi there guys am new here so please bear with me lol

I have an ADVENT 7116 laptop its a great power house of features.

It does not like some linux distros tho as it always registers to have 8 cores instead of 2 this always makes the kernel panic. I have tried loads of different ways to get these it work. After looking on line for what seems an age i have discovered that the BIOS is at fault. I have been instructed to flash the BIOS to an earlier version. The issue is that the company that make my laptop ADVENT are sold only by pcworld (UK) they bu the laptops from Unwil/ecs


then repackage them as there own. Unwil/ECS make the laptop

http://www.uniwill.com/products/performance/x72ia/x72ia.php?HL=2&P=1

This the forum thread where i found that out

http://www.w00tw00t.co.uk/support/viewtopic.php?t=2786&highlight=

The BIOS i have on my own laptop is 1.06 branned DixonGroup (Guys who own pcworld) the BIOS these guys is 1.03 on there site which i have been told to use. when using there flash utilty i always get wrong ROM file size. i don't know if this is an issue with the ulity or what.

My spec are

EVEREST Ultimate Edition

Version EVEREST v4.00.976

Benchmark Module 2.1.184.0

Homepage http://www.lavalys.com/

Report Type Report Wizard

Computer MARTYN-0EE8564D

Generator Martyn

Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional 5.1.2600 (WinXP Retail)

Date 2007-09-30

Time 22:45

Summary

Computer:

Computer Type ACPI Multiprocessor PC (Mobile)

Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional

OS Service Pack Service Pack 2

Internet Explorer 6.0.2900.2180 (IE 6.0 SP2)

DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)

Computer Name MARTYN-0EE8564D

User Name Martyn

Logon Domain MARTYN-0EE8564D

Date / Time 2007-09-30 / 22:45

Motherboard:

CPU Type Mobile DualCore Intel Core 2 Duo T5200, 1600 MHz (12 x 133)

Motherboard Name Unknown

Motherboard Chipset Mobile Intel Calistoga i945PM

System Memory 1024 MB (DDR2-533 DDR2 SDRAM)

BIOS Type AMI (02/02/07)

Display:

Video Adapter ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 (256 MB)

Video Adapter ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 (256 MB)

3D Accelerator ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 (M56)

Monitor Generic Television

Monitor Plug and Play Monitor [NoDB]

Multimedia:

Audio Adapter Motorola Si3054 @ Intel 82801GBM ICH7-M - High Definition Audio Controller [B-0]

Storage:

IDE Controller Intel® 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7-M Family) Serial ATA Storage Controller - 27C4

Disk Drive TOSHIBA MK1032GSX (100 GB, 5400 RPM, SATA)

Optical Drive Slimtype DVDRW SSW-8015S (DVD+R9:4x, DVD-R9:4x, DVD+RW:8x/8x, DVD-RW:8x/6x, DVD-ROM:8x, CD:24x/24x/24x DVD+RW/DVD-RW)

SMART Hard Disks Status OK

Partitions:

C: (NTFS) 49999 MB (46451 MB free)

Total Size 48.8 GB (45.4 GB free)

Input:

Keyboard Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard

Mouse Synaptics PS/2 Port TouchPad

Network:

Primary IP Address 192.168.1.2

Primary MAC Address 00-18-DE-E1-E9-33

Network Adapter Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection (192.168.1.2)

Network Adapter Marvell Yukon 88E8055 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller

Modem Motorola SM56 Data Fax Modem

Peripherals:

FireWire Controller Texas Instruments TSB43AB22 1394A-2000 OHCI PHY/Link-Layer Controller (PHY: TI TSB41AB1/2)

USB1 Controller Intel 82801GBM ICH7-M - USB Universal Host Controller [B-0]

USB1 Controller Intel 82801GBM ICH7-M - USB Universal Host Controller [B-0]

USB1 Controller Intel 82801GBM ICH7-M - USB Universal Host Controller [B-0]

USB1 Controller Intel 82801GBM ICH7-M - USB Universal Host Controller [B-0]

USB2 Controller Intel 82801GBM ICH7-M - Enhanced USB2 Controller [B-0]

USB Device Generic Bluetooth Radio

Battery Microsoft AC Adapter

Battery Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery

DMI:

DMI BIOS Vendor American Megatrends Inc.

DMI BIOS Version 080012

DMI System Manufacturer DIXONSXP

DMI System Product DIXONSXP

DMI System Version

DMI System Serial Number

DMI System UUID 00020003-00040005-00060007-00080009

DMI Motherboard Manufacturer DIXONSXP

DMI Motherboard Product DIXONSXP

DMI Motherboard Version

DMI Motherboard Serial Number

DMI Chassis Manufacturer DIXONSXP

DMI Chassis Version

DMI Chassis Serial Number

DMI Chassis Asset Tag

DMI Chassis Type Notebook

DMI Total / Free Memory Sockets 4 / 3

DMI

Any ideas or am i just being thick


Edited - Fix minor typos and embedded link to prevent excessive page stretching. KW

[Sharedoc]

It is a bit dangerous to reflash thus kind of rebranded laptops, you may end up with a dead laptop if you get wrong information or misunderstand bios version compatibility.

I would not flash if there is absolute certainty (someone has done it succesfully).

Linux installation: you propably can hack around the problem of detecting too many cores.