Aspire iDea 500

Got a little bit of hope for people with Windows 10 VFD problems - I let my iDea 510 do an in place upgrade from Windows 7 Ultimate to Windows 10 Pro (x86) and after the upgrade the VFD remained fully functional.

I'm guessing there is some WMC dependency that's carried over in the upgrade process that allows this, I'm looking into the issue at the moment to see if a fix can be found and hopefully allow the VFD to work on a fresh install.

VFD aside, Windows 10 is performing very well on my 510 :)
 
VFD Workaround

It's taken me a little while longer than expected to get around to looking at the VFD issue but I do now have a workaround. This has only been tested on Windows 10 x86 at the moment, I will try and check this with Windows 8 but the instructions are the same so if anyone wants to try it on Windows 8 please let me know your results. It's not a massive pain not to have the VFD working but I quite like it displaying the time :)

As I posted previously, if you install Windows 7 plus the VFD software and then do an in place upgrade to Windows 10 then the VFD will remain functional. I was convinced that some dependency was being carried over from Windows 7 during the upgrade process that allowed this to happen but it looks like I was wrong. This post will describe the steps I took to allow the VFD to work on a fresh Windows 10 install using just the normal VFD software.

Following a fresh Windows 10 installation and before you install the VFD software complete the following steps:

1. Open device manager and expand the "Universal Serial Bus Controllers" section.

2. You need to identify a specific one of three "USB Composite Device" that are listed.

3. You are looking for the device on "Port_#0001.Hub_#0006".
vfd1.png


3. Once identified right click on the device and click "Uninstall".
vfd2.png


4. Click "OK" to confirm device uninstall and wait for a moment for it to complete.
vfd3.png


5. Right click on the computer name at the top of the device manager tree, click "Scan for hardware changes" and wait for a moment for it to complete.
vfd4.png


6. Close device manager.

7. Install the Acer VFD software as you would on Windows 7 and below and follow the installers instructions including allowing the system to reboot at the end.

Enjoy your working VFD :) I'm not certain why this resolves the issue but I'm just happy that it works.

Antenna Upgrade

While I'm on the subject I picked up another Acer iDea 510 from eBay, it looked quite good in the pictures but it ended up being a bit of a pig that was badly packaged but it was salvageable. I've upgraded it to a similar specification to my existing unit but while I had it stripped down I did the extra antenna upgrade to go with an 802.11n card.

ant1.jpg

ant2.jpg
 
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HI all. For all upgrade to windows 10 i have a question. I try a fresh install of w10 all works great but i dont find the original drive of mobility radeon hd 2400. I have to download windows 8 version in compatibily mode? Or i have to use windows driver?
Thanks for your support.
 
HI all. For all upgrade to windows 10 i have a question. I try a fresh install of w10 all works great but i dont find the original drive of mobility radeon hd 2400. I have to download windows 8 version in compatibily mode? Or i have to use windows driver?
Thanks for your support.

I have let Windows 10 automatically grab the latest driver via Windows Update, these work perfectly.
 
Glad to see people still posting here, I haven't been here for a while, I think posted around page 19!

Well I still have my 510, I use it constantly, it has been rock solid and since I last fixed my PSU several years ago it's been fine. I have upgraded the WiFi card to 'n' but only using 1 antenna, so I may try the double antenna mod sometime, is there a parts list?

I am still running Win7 with MCE, quite happy with this so don't really have a need to change. I have noticed the system struggles a bit with 1080 content, so I was interesting in upgrading the CPU and GPU. In fact my reason for posting was I came across a T5750 CPU for a fiver so thought I would give that a go, but the system will not boot and I get nothing on either the HDMI or VGA output. Anyone know why this CPU won't work because its very similar to the stock T5500, see this list from Intel:

Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T5000 Series

Cheers,

Paul
 
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The second antenna upgrade is pretty straight forward but its worth noting I did this when I had the system fully disassembled, this was done to avoid any swarf from drilling the hole finding its way to somewhere vital. Be very careful removing the motherboard, it would be easy to damage a couple of surface mount components on the bottom of the board.

1 * U.FL IPX to RP-SMA cable
1 * SMA antenna
1 * 6mm Hole

Windows 7 is the best OS choice for a 510 with the original graphics card due to driver issues with newer versions of Windows, Windows 10 works great on a maxed out 510 but it requires a graphics card upgrade.

The T5750 is a Socket P processor, the Acer iDea is only compatible with Socket M processors. Both Socket P and M have 478 pins but they are not electrically compatible.

One of the most cost effective compatible CPU upgrades is the Core 2 Duo T7200 2GHz (SL9SF), these can be had for under £7.50 inc P&P most of the time on eBay. I never had any problems with 1080p when I ran with a T7200 but if you want to max it out there is always the Core 2 Duo T7600 2.33GHz (SL9SD), these have dropped to around £30 lately.

I wrote up a quick upgrade summary a while back that I keep updated now and again - Aspire iDea Upgrades
 
Thanks John, I couldn't find anyone selling 6mm holes so guess I'll have to make one myself! ;-)

Found the other bits on amazon for the princely sum of £3.05. Also noticed an 802.11ac wifi card for 22 quid, so may try that at some point (Intel 7260.HMWWBR - Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics)

I didn't realise the T5750 was a different socket, I couldn't see anything on that list from Intel. Somewhat annoying but it was only a fiver.

I don't have any plans to upgrade Windows, I hear they dropped MCE from Windows 10 anyway.

Cheers,

Paul
 
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Yea, those 6mm holes can be elusive :) Since I posted the pic I've upgraded the antennas from the standard parts that shipped with Acer iDea's to some chunky looking 10dBi units to try and get the best signal I can.

The wireless card you linked to on amazon will not work in these systems as they only have Mini PCI slots, the card linked requires Mini PCI Express. I am not aware of any 802.11ac Mini PCI cards at the moment, I would be surprised if any will ever be produced.

There are adapters that will convert a Mini PCI slot to Mini PCI Express but I've never looked at them too seriously - Flexible MiniPCI to MiniPCI Express Adapter - Amfeltec

Yea, I noticed from the link you posted that Intel seem to have removed the socket information for the specification but it used to be there. I will update my summary with a compatibility list I think, the Socket P issue has come up before.
 
I am trying to source a UJ225S, but can only find "Panasonic UJ-225 Blu-Ray Burner Writer BD-RE Slot-in Slim Internal Drive G568C" on ebay. Does anyone know what the difference is?
 
I am trying to source a UJ225S, but can only find "Panasonic UJ-225 Blu-Ray Burner Writer BD-RE Slot-in Slim Internal Drive G568C" on ebay. Does anyone know what the difference is?

I would not read too much into the labelling, my drive label shows UJ-225 but in device manager it reports itself as a UJ-225S and as far as I know they are not separate models.

G568C is the Dell part number for a UJ-225 from what I can tell, various OEM's will have their own part numbers for what is essentially the same Matsh ita / Panasonic drive.

One thing to watch out for is a lot of UJ-225 drives on eBay come without a bezel and while its not visible you do need a drive with a bezel so the eject button will work correctly. There are sellers on eBay you can provide the bezel by itself if you end up buying a drive without one.
 
JohnAddison and great - thank you for your prompt and reassuring replies. I have ordered the UJ-225, and will verify the bezel issue. On my 510 I have replaced one blown PSU, upgraded hard disk, 3GB, Win10, waiting for UJ225 and 8600M deliveries. I will upgrade processor later.
 
I received video card part VG.8PG06.001, installed and no output to DVI for BIOS screen or windows. I let it run until Windows had loaded and after replacing the original video card I noticed that Windows update was loading an update "NVIDIA driver update for NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT".

Any ideas? Any BIOS setting requiring change?
 
Hey, so I just completed the "second antenna upgrade", this is awesome, my wifi throughput has tripled! You can read about it and see some pics here:

Adding a second wifi antenna to Acer Idea 500/510

Cheers,

Paul

Nice :) I got a similar increase in speed, overall its well worth doing. If my memory is right the factory 802.11g card had two antenna connections, it makes you wonder why Acer never bothered shipping with two antennas as standard.

I received video card part VG.8PG06.001, installed and no output to DVI for BIOS screen or windows. I let it run until Windows had loaded and after replacing the original video card I noticed that Windows update was loading an update "NVIDIA driver update for NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT".

Any ideas? Any BIOS setting requiring change?

No changes are required, VG.8PG06.001 is a drop in replacement. Was the part new or used? Genuinely new ones are thin on the ground these days, occasionally I've picked up used VG.8PG06.001 that had the graphics BIOS flashed with something other than what the card ships with (for use in another manufactures system etc.) which caused the same symptoms. The VG.8PG06.001 graphics BIOS used on the cards I tested successfully was I think 60.84.62.00.29.

If it was used it could be worth asking the previous owner what system it was pulled from and if the BIOS was ever flashed, it could also be DOA :(
 
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Nice :) I got a similar increase in speed, overall its well worth doing. If my memory is right the factory 802.11g card had two antenna connections, it makes you wonder why Acer never bothered shipping with two antennas as standard.



No changes are required, VG.8PG06.001 is a drop in replacement. Was the part new or used? Genuinely new ones are thin on the ground these days, occasionally I've picked up used VG.8PG06.001 that had the graphics BIOS flashed with something other than what the card ships with (for use in another manufactures system etc.) which caused the same symptoms. The VG.8PG06.001 graphics BIOS used on the cards I tested successfully was I think 60.84.62.00.29.

If it was used it could be worth asking the previous owner what system it was pulled from and if the BIOS was ever flashed, it could also be DOA :(

Thanks Johm.

Sold by AliExpress -

Item Description: for Acer Aspire 4710G 6930G 7520G 7720G 9920G Laptop Graphics Video Card nVidia GeForce 8600M GT MXM II DDR2 512MB VG.8PG06.001

used, tested in fully work condition, with A-cer Bios

Is there anyway of checking/fixing the BIOS if that is the issue as opposed to DOA?
 
Well, its a small world. I had a bad experience buying an MXM card from Eeshops via their eBay store which is now closed/unused. Long story short they shipped me a dead card, I returned it but the various buyer protections failed me and they ended up with my money and the card. The card in question was actually a VG.8PG06.001 intended for an Acer 5920G belonging to a customer, the issue of being DOA aside I did have a small suspicion that it was not a genuine VG.8PG06.001.

Hopefully in your case it is just a BIOS issue, the iDea 510 is beyond picky when it comes to MXM cards and the graphics BIOS in use. It is possible to blind dump and flash the graphics BIOS using nvflash form DOS, I have done this before but I do not have the files to hand at the moment. I should be able to dig them up over the weekend, I'm sure I saved them.

Just out of curiosity, is your 510 running the latest system BIOS - Version R02-C2?
 
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Thanks John, yes I am using latest BIOS R02-C2. How would I blind flash? Set up a dos booting usb stick that flashes the card?
 
You will need an empty USB drive for this, if there is any data it will be erased. This will not flash your graphics BIOS, it will only do a blind backup of what is already there.

1. Download and extract the zip file attached this this post - nvflash.zip.
2. Connect target USB drive.
3. Run rufus-2.7p.exe extracted in step 1 - This program will write a floppy image to a USB drive.
4. Select the target USB drive under the "Device" heading.
5. Under format option change from the default selection of "FreeDOS" to "DD Image".
6. Click the icon of an optical drive next to the "DD Image" selection, navigate to the "nvflash.img" file extracted in step 1 and select it.
7. Press "Start" - It may take a few moments to write.

You should now have a bootable USB drive that when used will automatically write a backup of your existing graphics BIOS to a file called "backup.rom". To use it follow these steps:

1. After installing the 8600M, disconnect the SATA hard drive and IDE optical drive - the Acer iDea can be picky about booting from USB sometimes when there other bootable device available.
2. Insert the USB drive and power on the system, the backup will take place automatically.
3. Wait 5 minuets and shutdown - this is just a precaution, it will usually complete in a few seconds.

After following these steps you should have the file "backup.rom" on the USB drive, zip this file and attach it to a post here. Once you post the file I'll take a look at it and see if its a graphics BIOS issue.

If it is just a graphics BIOS issue I can send you an image file that will blind flash the card which will hopefully resolve the problem.
 

Attachments

  • nvflash.zip
    1.6 MB · Views: 183
You will need an empty USB drive for this, if there is any data it will be erased. This will not flash your graphics BIOS, it will only do a blind backup of what is already there.

1. Download and extract the zip file attached this this post - nvflash.zip.
2. Connect target USB drive.
3. Run rufus-2.7p.exe extracted in step 1 - This program will write a floppy image to a USB drive.
4. Select the target USB drive under the "Device" heading.
5. Under format option change from the default selection of "FreeDOS" to "DD Image".
6. Click the icon of an optical drive next to the "DD Image" selection, navigate to the "nvflash.img" file extracted in step 1 and select it.
7. Press "Start" - It may take a few moments to write.

You should now have a bootable USB drive that when used will automatically write a backup of your existing graphics BIOS to a file called "backup.rom". To use it follow these steps:

1. After installing the 8600M, disconnect the SATA hard drive and IDE optical drive - the Acer iDea can be picky about booting from USB sometimes when there other bootable device available.
2. Insert the USB drive and power on the system, the backup will take place automatically.
3. Wait 5 minuets and shutdown - this is just a precaution, it will usually complete in a few seconds.

After following these steps you should have the file "backup.rom" on the USB drive, zip this file and attach it to a post here. Once you post the file I'll take a look at it and see if its a graphics BIOS issue.

If it is just a graphics BIOS issue I can send you an image file that will blind flash the card which will hopefully resolve the problem.
Above and beyond, John. Thank you! I will try this over the weekend.
 
You will need an empty USB drive for this, if there is any data it will be erased. This will not flash your graphics BIOS, it will only do a blind backup of what is already there.

1. Download and extract the zip file attached this this post - nvflash.zip.
2. Connect target USB drive.
3. Run rufus-2.7p.exe extracted in step 1 - This program will write a floppy image to a USB drive.
4. Select the target USB drive under the "Device" heading.
5. Under format option change from the default selection of "FreeDOS" to "DD Image".
6. Click the icon of an optical drive next to the "DD Image" selection, navigate to the "nvflash.img" file extracted in step 1 and select it.
7. Press "Start" - It may take a few moments to write.

You should now have a bootable USB drive that when used will automatically write a backup of your existing graphics BIOS to a file called "backup.rom". To use it follow these steps:

1. After installing the 8600M, disconnect the SATA hard drive and IDE optical drive - the Acer iDea can be picky about booting from USB sometimes when there other bootable device available.
2. Insert the USB drive and power on the system, the backup will take place automatically.
3. Wait 5 minuets and shutdown - this is just a precaution, it will usually complete in a few seconds.

After following these steps you should have the file "backup.rom" on the USB drive, zip this file and attach it to a post here. Once you post the file I'll take a look at it and see if its a graphics BIOS issue.

If it is just a graphics BIOS issue I can send you an image file that will blind flash the card which will hopefully resolve the problem.
Ok, I followed your directions.

Observations:
I tried the usb boot on my exiting 7600 card and include the backup.rom I received, attached as 7600.txt (rom extension not permitted).
After inserting the new card, and plugging in, the power led strip goes orange (not the normal blue).
I tried the usb boot procedure blind several times but got no backup.rom.
I did it one final time, pressed enter a few times, waited longer than previously and pulled the stick out before powering off and got the backup.rom attached here as backup.txt.
The power light has remained blue since the first time I installed the new card.

Any insight on what the backup.rom tells us would be appreciated.

Thanks
 

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  • 7600.TXT
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  • BACKUP.TXT
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Ok, I followed your directions.

Observations:
I tried the usb boot on my exiting 7600 card and include the backup.rom I received, attached as 7600.txt (rom extension not permitted).
After inserting the new card, and plugging in, the power led strip goes orange (not the normal blue).
I tried the usb boot procedure blind several times but got no backup.rom.
I did it one final time, pressed enter a few times, waited longer than previously and pulled the stick out before powering off and got the backup.rom attached here as backup.txt.
The power light has remained blue since the first time I installed the new card.

Any insight on what the backup.rom tells us would be appreciated.

Thanks
Just to clarify the power led strip, I installed the new card, and plugged in the 510. At this time the 510 is not powered on. The strip lights orange. I press the power switch to power on and the light turns blue and remains blue until I shutdown, at which time it has no light. At next power up the light goes blue and remains blue until shutdown. And this is the sequence for each subsequent power on.
 
The only time I saw the power LED orange on initial power up (outside of standby mode) was when I tested an incompatible graphics card, in my case it was an ATI HD4650.

The 7600 backup is as expected, the VG.8PG06.001 backup looks normal as well but it is an older graphics BIOS than the one I used when I had mine in use. Your VG.8PG06.001 graphics BIOS backup is dated 23rd April 2007 and mine is 31st July 2007, I cannot confirm that the BIOS being an older revision is preventing it from working though. Given my personal experience with the seller I half expected to see something a little more obvious.

What I can do is put together another image that will flash the VG.8PG06.001 card in the blind to the BIOS revision I had on mine, I'll put this up in the next 10-30 minutes or so but it would be used entirely at your own risk. I've done blind flashes before personally and it's never gone wrong for me but I'd rather you know it can be risky.
 
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Ok, I followed your directions.

Observations:
I tried the usb boot on my exiting 7600 card and include the backup.rom I received, attached as 7600.txt (rom extension not permitted).
After inserting the new card, and plugging in, the power led strip goes orange (not the normal blue).
I tried the usb boot procedure blind several times but got no backup.rom.
I did it one final time, pressed enter a few times, waited longer than previously and pulled the stick out before powering off and got the backup.rom attached here as backup.txt.
The power light has remained blue since the first time I installed the new card.

Any insight on what the backup.rom tells us would be appreciated.

Thanks

Okay, I've attached another file to this post that will blind flash your VG.8PG06.001 / 8600M GT to BIOS version 60.84.62.00.29 and then reboot the system once flashing is complete (hopefully with some display output). Same procedure as the backup only this time it will flash, it should not require any manual input.

If after 10 minutes there is no sign of auto reboot or display output press "Y" once, wait a minute then press "Y" again and wait for 10 minutes then power down and restart.

If you still get no display we will need to verify that the flash took place by doing another backup, if we verify the flash took place and we still have no output then I would have to say the card is dead. In this case I'll send a 3rd file to restore the card to its delivered state and you can try to RMA with the seller.

This is done entirely at your own risk, I cannot offer any guarantee.
 

Attachments

  • nvflash01.zip
    1.6 MB · Views: 105

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