9920G GPU Options?

anyone got any fixes on this yet ?

I found this page with a link to a BIOS to flash a replacement 8600m GT with but havent tried it yet

Acer 9920G MXM video restriction

 

Thanks Lockhart I'll give them a try a bit later as their server is throwing a wobbly at the moment.

 

Well given up and gone back to ATI HD 3650.

The 8600 was working in windows with the laptop screen working (proved it functions OK) but the hardware accelleration didn't work with a code 43 in device manager. I tried all the appropriate drivers but none would work fully. I'm assuming the baking didn't fix all the chips (probably didn't use enough flour ).

So now I'm back to a fully functional GPU but presumably because of the BIOS or VBIOS the 3650 can't use my 9920g screen.

At least my experiences listed here may stop users buying new screens when they probably don't need them.

I'll just have to hope a VBIOS God appears and comes up with a solution.

 

No surprise I suppose that baking the chip didn't fix the initial problem in it's entirety... I'm amazed you managed to fit the laptop in the oven at all... Do you have the link where you found that solution?

 

I think he just put the card in the oven.

Putting an entire laptop in an oven would be a BAD idea.

 

There are so many articles about baking Acers duff Nvidia chips that I can't remember where it came from.

However it did specify balancing the GPU (chipside down) on 4 cubes of cling foil before baking for 5 minutes at 400F and gave pictures of the procedure.

 

I haz fixed it!

My boss had the same problem with her 9920g - dead GPU. so i bought an 8600MGT from ebay for £70 and sure enough I got the external only display. Found a BIOS for the 9920MGT (acer version) and flashed the new card. W00t it worked !!!

it seems the link i posted to the bios i used in a previous post doesnt work so i can email it to anyone that wants it.

 

Well done have a rep on me.

The link does work, look near the bottom for the route to the rom file.

As I've gone for the ATI option, the rom is no good for me.

 

Nice one Universal, kudos to you So this is what the MXM boys do and charge 100 euros on top of the chip price to do it for you... hmmm

And Meaker....it was a joke

 

hello from germany,

so i have the same problem with my 9920. The vidocard is defect and i must by a new.

Please can you give me a tip which card i should by?

Can you tell me, how i can update the bios


thanks

andreas

 

...........................................................................................................
Please e-mail me the details of how to obtain the BIOS for the 9920G, which can be 'flashed' to a New 8600MGT Graphics Card. How is that data flashed to the Card?

 

just thought i'd drop a line to say i got my 9920g back from repairer and am pleased to say as good as new. i am writing this email from it.

went for the gpu repair and fan upgrade, all in all cost £120 plus carriage but you can send it yourself cheaper.

company is called ixtreme-repairs.co.uk

i am in no way associated with this firm but wanted to tell you as it has done the trick, the fan upgrade keeps the fan on for a few minutes after you close down so the gpu stands a better chance.

what i want to know while i'm here is whether i can upgrade the cpu upto the t7800 (2.6ghz) chip as at present my 9920 is outfitted with a t5450?

many thanks for everyone's help

roger ball

 

Hi,

Not sure how fast a chip can be used but my 9920G has a T770 2.4GHz which is the highest spec shown in the handbook.

 

Hi all!
is the 9600m gt,or quadro 770m working in this notebook?
Thanks

 

Can you send me the bios please, thanks

 

Well I've almost proved the old adage that if it ain't broke don't fix it! (It was half broke I suppose).

I got frustrated that my HD 3650 wouldn't run the display on my 9920G. After finding no way to fix it I thought I'll try the vBIOS from an 8600M GT and you guessed it didn't work

But it also now won't work at all even though I've blind flashed it back to the original Ati vBIOS.

Any ideas if I have a chance to resurrect the HD3650 or will I have to keep using my baked 8600M GT This works and runs the screen but accelleration is dead on it.

 

Well I hope this is the end of my GPU adventures.

I couldn't get my HD3650 to "uncorrupt" the vBIOS, so I've lashed out £65 on another HD3650 but this time with 256MB of DDR3 memory. According to Windows 7 the graphics rating has gone up from 5.1 to 5.9 about 15% improvement.

I won't be flashing the vBIOS anytime soon

 

Nice! For a midrange GPU like the Radeon HD 3650, having the additional memory bandwidth that GDDR3 offers can really help performance.
Post some screenshots, and I'll toss this into the Acer MXM Thread as a success story.

 

I assume it still doesn't run the laptop screen though?

 

No the laptop screen still doesn't fire up. Although I know it works OK.

So only a partial success I'm afraid.

 

Any joy with getting the screen to work on your 9920G after a failed video card?

Mine is behaving as yours did, I believe. Power on and I see the bluetooth and power LEDs illuminated, the HDD LED lights for a while and then goes out. No beeps, and nothing on the (internal) screen. Same behaviour if an external monitor is connected to the VGA port and the machine is powered up.

If I try to boot on a Linux CD, the lights are the same but I hear the ODD spin up, but still no screen output.

I would like to be able to be sure that my problem is the video card, any ideas on proving or disproving this?

My options appear to include:
Buy a new card and fit myself, e.g. Acer 9920G MXM Direct Buy link, but 180Euro is a bit steep for a 30 day warranty.

Buy a 2nd-hand card from eBay, hopefully for a lot less, and maybe have to flash the vBIOS.

Use a known fix service.
I've had email dialogues with Terry at Laptop Computer Repair GPU Repairs Ashford Kent UK and bgarepairs.co.uk. Terry won't offer more than 60 days' warranty for 120GBP + carriage + VAT, but he claims to have experience of dealing with the 9920G and I've picked his web site from a post by a satisfied customer.

Bgarepairs.co.uk will offer 12 months' warranty if I commit to have the fan/heatsink cleaned with compressed air minimum every 6 months to remove dust and fluff, and pay 190GBP, inc carriage, inc VAT.

Any other options would be great!

If I do get a replacement card, can anyone advise how I could augment the cooling to reduce the chances of the fault occuring again? I wonder if NIBTOR will allow me to change the threshold(s) so that the fan stays on all of the time, or maybe I could fit a better fan? If you've done either of these or any other mods, please share.
Thanks.

 

Hi Roger

Can you confirm that your 9920G is still going strong, and whether you hammer it 24x7 with heavy duty games or just use it at week-ends for light browsing or whatever, please?
Ta.

 

The way I confirmed it was the video card that had gone and not the RAM or CPU or motherboard, was by taking it out of the 9920G and booting up the laptop. Without the error message re the video card not working, the laptop should go all the way into Windows where the welcome music is heard.

Nope laptop display still not working, using as a desktop with a bigger monitor and the ATI is a better video card, so not too bad. The 17lb 9920G was never very portable anyway.

Best of luck.

 

Thanks Puddleduck, I'll give it a go...

BTW, Did you upgrade to Win7-64 bit from Vista-32 yourself? If so, did you get all the multimedia buttons working? Would you recommend Win7-64 on the 9920G?

Cheers

 

I did upgrade to Win 7 64Bit and think it's a big improvement on Vista. The 64 bit version allows you to use all of your RAM. ie 4GB in my case.

Not sure what you mean by the multimedia buttons.

 

Latest developments.

Yep the blue multimedia buttons do work with Win 7 64 bit.

Because I don't need to open the 9920G anymore with the screen in a sulk, I now boot the laptop with the supplied remote control! I'd not used it before.

I've also upgraded to a 60GB SSD drive which makes Windows fly especially on bootup.

 

Unfortunately my 9920 is now dead again, just keeps blowing the fuse in the plug and not sure what causing it..... real shame as it can still be upgraded and windows 7 defo breathes more life into the old dog.....

 

I have a few crazy suggestions for you all... first of all there is one way I am 100% certain of how to get this to work:
You can buy a converter board to convert DVI back into your LCD panel interface. Here the converter board has its own EEPROM you can flash that controls the LCD independently.
The boards are buy a company called njytouch Professional Touch Screen manufacture

If you are interested in doing it this way you should try to find the model of your LCD. Sometimes is is on the mounting frame so you only have to take off the bezel.

2nd idea is a bit of a hunch... Try a standard, 15.4" CCFL backlit WXGA LCD from another laptop.

maybe this card/vbios would work http://go.notebookreview.com/?id=52...om/acer/396320-acer-mxm-models-cards-126.html

3rd idea - i have to find the bookmark on my other laptop because i forget the model number... but there is a mPCI-E card (for wifi slots) that takes analog video as input and also controls LCD panel interface.
Its much smaller of course and would be more convenient but theres no reason to think it would actually work. Its for embedded systems.

 

Hi Lockhart,

you need to isolate the short. Does the laptop work OK on battery only?

 

It never rains but it pours!

My new SSD drive died very suddenly.

Thankfully Ebuyer were very good, they collected the drive and sent a replacement a week later. Had remembered to back up system so not much data lost.

Hopefully I will now have a period without breakdowns.

The GPU is working well except for communicating with my built in LCD.

 

Hi Puddles, I'm going to spend some time looking at the old beast this week having consigned it to collect dust for a good while

I don't think it works on battery either but have to run some tests.

I trust yours is still going strong after the replacement SSD?

 

Hi, got to run a laptop screen?

 

If you guys can confirm you have the HP ddr3 card (check the vBIOS, vendor is 103C for HP) then there is a confirmed working vbios:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/compal/558282-question-about-3650m-gddr3-vbios-file.html

Can someone take a picture of a card installed for me please? I want to see something. Thanks.

 

@ Puddleduck, Privteer, Lockhart, Fufse, Rogerball, Dev/Null,

None of you have dead screens or faulty inverter cables, so don’t go spending monies fixing them. I was playing around with GPU’s in 9920 recently, and may be able to offer some info for you.

I learnt that the 8600M GT for the 9920 has a ‘specific’ vBIOS. (Video BIOS).
An 8600M GT with this BIOS will not work in other Acer 8600M GT laptops, and vice versa. (Another Acer laptop 8600M GT will not work in the 9920.)
The vBIOS for the 9920 is vBIOS version 60.84.62.00.39 and is found here http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/15055/Acer.8600MGT.512.071004.html

This is from the main page for vBIOS for Acer, here: techPowerUp! :: Video Bios Collection

Unusually the 9220 vBIOS page has not been labelled specific for the 9920.
To clarify what I mean look at this vBIOS for a 9500M GS for a Acer Aspire 8920G. It clearly says ‘aspire 8920G’, under the ‘Download now’ link.
techPowerUp! :: VGA Bios Collection: Acer 9500M GS 512 MB

I can verify these findings. I have recently looked at the 9920 8600M GT vBIOS version in GPU-Z, on a 9920, from the original GPU. Later, I swapped over the 9920 8600M GT, with an Acer 5920 8600M GT.
- In the 9920 with the 5920 8600M GT the result was exactly the same as your symptoms. No display on the internal screen, and display on an external monitor from windows boot onwards. (Exactly your symptoms.)
- The image on the 5920 with the 9920 8600M GT was a mess (clearly not compatible).
- This test in the Acer Aspire 5920 had been done using two 8600M GT’s from 9920’s; same result each time.
- Furthermore I tried and Acer Aspire 6920 9500M GS in the 9920. Same result - nothing on the internal screen, worked on external screen.

Be assured that as soon as the 9920 8600M GT was put back in the 9920, the internal screen displayed fine.

Incidentally, if you try to update the vBIOS on an Acer 5920 8600M GT working in a 5920, to 9920 vBIOS, the procedure will not work. There is an on screen message claiming the vBIOS is not compatible, and entering a ‘try anyway’ attempt, simply does not flash the vBIOS. I tried. Conclusive evidence.

Universalerror gave the answer in the post on the 08-26-2010, 05:29 AM. This all seems to conclude that the 8600M GT may be the only card which will ever be fully compatible with the 9920.

The answer seems be to buy an 8600M GT, and install into the 9920. Then using the external screen – flash to the correct vBIOS. I have not tried this and can not offer surety it will work. Universalerror said it works though, and it would be my first line of fixing if the 9920 8600M GT died. (After oven bake; of course). Or buy an 8600M GT with the specific 9920 vBios originally loaded. A genuine seller of a 9920 card would have no problem giving you that gaurantee.

I think the 9920 is worth the cost of a replacement 8600, since the machine is brilliant, which is due to the display. It's that staggeringly clear, that Crysis looks better in low settings on the 9920, than in mid settings on the 5920.

@ A123jgd and Rsure, have asked how to do the vBIOS flashing for an 8600M GT.

Read here.
Guide to Video BIOS flashing | techPowerUp


@ Rogerball

I think you would be fine to upgrade to the T7800, definitley as far as temperatures are concerned. Even the T7700 barely makes it into the 60’C's, under load playing Crysis. You'll only just hit 80'C running T7700 with a CPU test program, using the CPU for half an hour at 100%. The 9920 ‘must’ have a great cooling system.
Personally I think the 9920 is a candidate for the X7900 and then possibly overclocked. (Remember the X series CPU’s are Intel designed for overclocking if you can cool them). If the Penryn core is compatible with 9920 system BIOS then anything up to and including an X9000 OC’d. [I have a Penryn, I might test it sometime soon, and see if it works with the BIOS.]

The other issue that you raised, and rightly is that the 9920 only shipped with CPU up to 2.4GHz. The question is would the system be stable above 2.4, well I hope so. The chipset is PM965, and they are compatible. Many have increased their PM965 laptops to over 2.4GHz.

However – spend wisely. There is always the option to keep upgrade cash, and sell a 9920, then buy a newer laptop. Inversely the 9920 has the 20.1 screen, which is stunning.

-------------------------
EDIT: I'm really puzzled how Puddleduck and Lockhart are getting heating issues. My experience of the 9920 is the graphics fluctuates between about 45'C to 75'C (Overheating can cause shutdown too: the critical temp is usually 105'C.) The T7700 CPU in a 9920 runs cool for such a high speed Merom core. I use Speedfan for all temp monitoring. I have seen the CPU dip to 0'C after the 9920 has been left idle, and the monitor's gone to sleep.

 

You tried so many things, and yet you didn't try the most important - flash the 9920 vbios to another 8600m.

There are procedures, then there is ambition and experimentation.

I don't have a 9920, otherwise I would of course open it up and look myself. I believe there is enough space for up to a gtx 280m or ATI 4850.

Acer vBIOS are strange and specific, I know, but acer BIOS is not so much. The aspire 5720g runs the 9600m GT ddr3 perfectly with an unbranded 'MSI' vbios (I got it from the msi gx620, but the subvendor is nvidia). Also, if flashed to this vBIOS, HP quadro FX 770m cards will work the same - though still as 770m.

I think its highly likely the ati 3650 ddr3 will work at the very least.

There are also rebranded HP 8600m GT cards. They do not have an EEPROM, but they are extremely cheap. Look for fx 570m.
If you have some soldering skills, you can move the EEPROM from you dead card to the HP one, and it should work 100%.

 

@ niffcreature,

The 9920 is MXM II.

Where you said,
"You tried so many things, and yet you didn't try the most important - flash the 9920 vbios to another 8600m."

I covered that topic. (I did try it in a 5920 as a vBIOS upgrade, before I realised vBIOS version 60.84.69.00.39 is for 9920). I said that is most likely what to do in 9920, and Universalerror said it had been done. Neither do I need to try it yet in a 9920 because the GPU's I tested with are OK. (That is apparent.)

I gave this info for those who don't have ok GPU.

The principle is that their screens and cables are OK. Secondly that the Acer vBIOS version 60.84.69.00.39 (on 8600M GT), seems the only 'video basic input output system' that works in 9920. The HD 3650 is not completley compatible; Puddleduck and Privteers', posts say so.

 

Hi all,

My graphics card is still working fine albeit using an external monitor.

However my replacement SSD drive has fallen over again. Unlike before when the Vertex 2 disappeared from my BIOS and was replaced. This time I was able to restore windows 7 using a restore point. Everything seemed OK again for about 2 weeks and then no operating system again. I've restored the O/S again but my confidence in the drive has plummeted. I got most things back but progress in Divinity 2 suffered twice.

I've been searching for similar reported faults but no luck yet.

I'm doing frequent backups now to lessen the damage.

Has anybody got any tips on SSD drives on Widows 7? I've so far just used the default drivers and options offered by the O/S

 

Hi Lockhart,

How did your testing on your 9920G go?

 

u6b36ef:
The 9920g is MXM 2.1 and it comes with type II cards in it. That does not mean it cannot fit MXM 2.1 III cards like the ati 4850.

The msi gx620 came with a 9600m GT and can fit the 9800m GS and many more cards.

I did not think everyones screen was broken, I was simply suggesting they use another screen to see if it works.

When someone says "its been done" does that really tell you to stop experimenting? I didn't find your comments very helpful, mostly confusing, so you can't go around saying you've provided some great information.

I have got nothing from you posts, basically what you are telling them is that more or less 9600m GT with different vbios will work, we already know that! There are so many versions of the 9600m GT, would you really expect someone to find one for sale where they listed the vbios?

Testing should not stop here, whether the 3650 ddr3 is an HP card or not, there is another vBIOS you can flash it to, do not say "3650 is partially working, end of that story"

 

@ niffcreature,

My posts are self explanatory. None are in any way informationally self-gloryfying.

There is no space for MXM III dimensions in 9920.

It's quite obvious how a seller can gaurantee the 9920 VBIOS is on a card.
The 9920 VBIOS will be there if the 8600M GT is from a 9920.

It would be tricky to buy a HD3650 and know it came from an HP unless the vendor likewise specified. The Acer system makes HP, and many other cards look Acer subvendor in GPU-Z.
Also since HD3650's swap between many models, because of compatibility (with basically the same) vBIOS, your 'argument' has no merit. Plus there has never been a case of a HD3650 GDDR3 working in a machine where the HD3650 DDR2 does not. Therefor don't tell me what I can say.

Why don't your read my posts before complaining. I have found myself re-typing info or re-explaining ideas, because you seem to have missed what I have written before. If other 9920 owners don't appreciate my effort, so be it.

When have Acer VBIOS been 'strange and specific' as you say. Usually an 8600M GT/8400M/9300M etc will work in any MXM II or III machine. This is one of the seemingly rare occasions where it doesn't. Moreover Acer vBIOS works in many other manufacturers' machines, and vice-versa.

Also the 9920 screen socket cable will not fit a 15.4 screen (for example).
WARNING ALL USERS: Be advised that using another screen to test you laptop output is not a good idea. I have killed a 15.6" screen and a 17" having used a 15.4" laptop to test them on.

 

Hey there,

seems like it still works fine, but..... think the main cpu is now the cause of problems with overheating, causing the machine to sutdown. So time to remove and redo the thermal paste/pad to see if that fixes it. Happy days if it does. I imagine I probably botched it last time I replaced the graphics chip.... might go for a pad this time to have a better chance of heat transfer without too much/too little paste... any thoughts?

Oh and I have SSD drives in my sony laptop and works with no problems using intel drivers. Are there any manufacturer specific drivers around for yours? (not trying to teach granny to suck eggs... )

 

Hmm... I have an idea.

The problem with 9920G is that the SBIOS doesn't return an MXM structure at all.
But what if we mod the VBIOS so that instead of calling INT 15h to get the MXM structure, it reads a hardcoded structure embedded in the VBIOS image? I'm pretty sure it's doable.

 

Glad to hear your 9920 is back in the land of the living

I've had no heat problems since I raised the back of the laptop on two puzzle bricks about 2 inches high.

Since my last SSD problem I've downloaded newer motherboard drivers from Intel, touch wood they've sorted the problem, only time will tell. Backups regularly till my confidence improves.

 

Yeah I had been standing mine with the lid slightly open with the back of the machine at the top to keep the air flow at optimum and just using remote desktop but the cpu is just getting too hot now, spikes to 100 degrees and shuts down. Once I sort that I think my media server will be back in action

Good news on the ssd front.

 

Fingers stilled crossed but no further problems with my SSD.

 

Just to add my two cents. I also ordered a HD3650 DDR2 512MB to replace my faulty Nvidia. Just as with Puddleduck, only image on an external screen. No love on the lcd. If anyone has a solution in the form of a modified BIOS or some other way I would be so happy to hear. I feel a bit hussled for buying this card, while it doesn't work properly.

 

I've made a modified BIOS for the 9920G, that adds an MXM structure and corresponding interrupt handlers. If I've done everything right, this should improve compatibility with many MXM cards.

However, be aware that this BIOS is completely untested - I don't have a 9920G myself. So, have a working crisis recovery disk at hand before trying this BIOS.

If you are brave, you can get the modded BIOS here: request download ticket | ifile.it

Please report any issues/results either here or in the x920G vs. 9600M GT topic.

Use Phlash16 or WinPhlash from an official BIOS update to flash. And I can't stress it enough - have a working and preferably tested crisis recovery disk ready! No warranties provided for this BIOS.

 

This sounds scary, I already lost one card which wouldn't reset to the original BIOS through my own experimentation.

I suppose I've got used to my external monitor.


If someone else has any success I'd be real interested to here the details.

 

@Puddleduck: This is a SBIOS for your motherboard, not a VBIOS for the MXM card. It will not destroy the MXM card for sure. However, have a tested Phoenix crisis disk ready with the official BIOS for your motherboard.

 

Thanks Netrolller, a year ago I would have tried it out but my 9920 is now my only PC and has been turned into a desktop with all the bits hanging off of it