AcerNote Light 370BX / Maxdata Artist Cambridge BIOS-Update

sgfcrax

Hi guys,
I hope this is the right forum to post this:

I've got an old notebook, to be more precise: AcerNote Light 370BX, which is identical to a Maxdata Artist Cambridge (as I was able to find out). The specs are there:

P1 133
32 MB RAM (has been upgraded 2 years ago)
2 GB HD (has been upgraded 2 years ago)
Bios rev. 2.0 (Award)
Mainboard: Obviously a Protech, but I don't know yet which one

Now my questions:
- does anyone know if there is a new BIOS for this Notebook and yes, then where I can get it?
- Maxdata doesn't have any support for this notebook anymore
- On the Acer-Website the recent BIOS is v 2.0
- I tried to acces the proview Bios-Page but I can't log in.
- can I upgrade the processor w/o damaging the mainboard? I still have a p1 233 mmx laying around somewhere and it looks like it would fit.

if anyone has an idea - let me know! thanks a lot!

ajzchips · Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2002 1:40 pm Post subject:

If you have an ACER BIOS, please post its BIOS ID string. It's a forum rule, and only people with dead motherboards are exempted from abiding by it, only if they've never managed to write it down.
_________________
<betaBIOS> <okBIOS> <Utils> <MyJob>

sgfcrax · Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2002 1:52 pm Post subject:

I'm sorry that I forgot, here it comes:

ACR21E00-M0C-961118-R01-C7

by the way: I let a programm called ctbios run over the system, here the information it gave me - it might help you...

Notebook Bios:
Bios Datum: 01/01/94
PCI-BIOS: v.02.10
ACER-Bios: 18.11.96
Board-ID: ACR21E00-M0C
Bios Datum/Version: 961118-R01-C7

ALi M1521 Aladdin III 586 Chipset

sgfcrax

ajzchips · Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2002 2:31 pm Post subject:

I found version R01-C8 (you have R01-C7) here:
ftp://ftp.acer-euro.com/notebook/NoteLight_370/

Please make sure the Notelight 370BX and plain 370 are the same laptop.
_________________
<betaBIOS> <okBIOS> <Utils> <MyJob>

sgfcrax · Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2002 8:12 pm Post subject:

it worked perfectly! thanks a lot!

about the other questions I posted above: any ideas? Do you think, the 233 MHZ-processor will work on my motherboard? There are no settings in the BIOS concerning the processor at all. Nothing about the memory. Nothing.

thank you!

sgfcrax

ajzchips · Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2002 8:38 pm Post subject:

Most probably then, you need to jumper your board for that processor, although there is no guarantee it has dual voltage support for the 233MMX.
Try downloading the manual from the ACER site. It may be more generic and/or uptodate than yours, and may possibly include the jumper settings you require.
_________________
<betaBIOS> <okBIOS> <Utils> <MyJob>

sgfcrax · Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2002 10:15 pm Post subject:

I downloaded the manual from:
ftp://ftp.support.acer-euro.com/notebook/NoteLight_370/manual/
but I didn't find anything in it that could help me. The problem is, that I don't have all of the BIOS-pages listed in the manual: For example, I have only one "advanced system configuration"-page.
There are four DIP-switches under the memory. One of them says "enable OEM support". I tried all kinds of combinations of those switches but it never changed a thing. Theses switches are not mentioned in the manual, the four more swichtes w/o any description close to the processor aren't either.
The only thing the display shows after booting is "32 MB RAM....press F2 to enter setup" and nothing else. After that, it boots the OS.

ajzchips · Posted: Sat Oct 26, 2002 1:52 am Post subject:

How about sending Acer an email?
_________________
<betaBIOS> <okBIOS> <Utils> <MyJob>

sgfcrax · Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2002 1:56 pm Post subject:

well, finally, after one week I got a respond from Acer. Since it is in German, I won't post it here but conclude it:

"Thank you for your e-mail....yadayadaya....the only think we can give you is the link to the manual....yadayadaya....if you have another question concerning your notebook, please reply to this mail and send this message attached to it". Duh...that's great help.

By the way: I was able to get 2x64 MB of memory from ebay (the memory was actually for some Toshiba notebook) and it works perfectly.
But still, that doesn't solve my problem with the processor.

I'd be very happy if you have another idea, by the way: Thank you for everything you've done already!