Acer Extensa 5620-6830, model MS2205 from eBay; several issues

Hi all,

This seems like a great resource, and now I need your help!

I bought an Acer 5620-6830 "barebones" from eBay. I got a great deal and there are even still some available as of 12/31/07. This thing was basically "new" and in the box, but no installed OS, no documentation, and no recovery partition. I did receive a Vista Home Premium license key (sticker on the bottom) but no install DVD and no interest in installing Vista at this time. Even still, wouldn't ya know, I've had some problems...

I was able to upgrade my BIOS (Phoenix TrustedCore) to v1.21 (didn't need v1.22), thanks to a Frankensteined Win98 boot "floppy" on USB stick. I needed to do this to enable the [SATA/IDE] BIOS option, otherwise TinyXP Platinum Ed. 2 was not going to see my HDD (used Hiren's 9.3 set a MBR and to format; NTFS v3.1, 512b clusters)...

It is my understanding that this stripped down version of XPSP2 has lots of integrated drivers, including SATA, but I received several fatal errors during the course of several installation attempts. (TinyXPs had always worked without a hitch...)

I quickly tired of that and played with nLite, making as complete an integration as possible from my full collection of "official" drivers (unpacked several to get at the .inf's using Universal Extractor). That didn't seem to help...

Next, I used my normal XPSP2 installation CD, tried and true on at least two older computers, to slipstream only the drivers that came from the acer-euro FTP support site.

I had some more trouble getting it to read the files on CD, with non-fatal copy errors, which finally plateau'd in a loop of BSOD or freezing when it came time to "install networking components." Re-read the forums. Archived the tutorials. Re-burned several incarnations of both nLite'd XP distros at slow speeds. Started again. Continued. Repeated ad nauseum...

After almost 3 days, I am about ready to give up, and I am of the geeky persuasion..! Can someone PLEASE provide me with:

1. An exact list of drivers necessary to install XP on my Acer 5620-6830 (only to install the OS bluescreen free; I'll fiddle with the other devices' compatibility later). Manufacturer, revision level, what it's for, and link, please.

2. An original set of backup media (eRecovery DVDs) specifically for this model? Model number of the Acer Extensa 5620 is MS2205, also identified as the model numbers of TravelMate 5310, TravelMate 5710 & TravelMate 5720 series (per Acer's Chinese and US/FCC Declarations of Conformity).

3. A self-made XP install CD with all the necessary drivers slipstreamed? This is a long shot, I know, but I can prove I am licensed if anyone feels especially generous...

Basically, what I need is a complete recipe for getting it to work (tell me how you did it). Other people have gotten it to work. Why cannot it work for me??? All I ever wanted to do is to install a minimal distribution of Windows XP, Service Pack 2 (3?) on my Acer 5620-6830.

What I know:
SATA drives aren't supported by vanilla XP installs.
BIOS needed to be updated to allow SATA/IDE toggling. Done.
Driver-integrated CDs are the only way to install XP on the Acer 5620.
Other people have done it. I have not.
Phoenix BIOS v1.2x does not allow for "disabling shadowing" as is recommended by Mr. Blue Screen.

If anyone needs more info, I can provide it. Just let me know. Also, see the attached eXPerience.nfo file from the TinyXP Platinum Ed. 2 for OS info.

 

Bump!:SLEEP:

I have done some further research. I did manage to get XP installed, but only in my cold kitchen. Weird...

Kept crashing hard, however. BSODs referencing everything from IRQ not less or equal, to page fault in a non paged area, to ntfs.sys.

I used Hiren's again, this time going for 5, 1, and 3; Memtest x86. I have two chips in here; one 1024MB Kingston, and one 512MB Samsung. Guess which one is bad???

So now, I have left a PM for my eBay seller, hoping for an exchange. I did also make a HUGE info compilation on DVD for this Acer 5620-6830, with everything a barebones buyer might need to install XP on his/her new laptop and so much more.

Let's hope I can use that for a bargaining chip. All else fails, I can offer to just exchange the RAM!

I am in the middle of installing my precious TinyXP again onto D:\, and oh yeah... it's the Kingston!

Doin' just fine over here,
-Bombenhagel

 

Okay... so...

I have one of these same models, the extensa 5620-6830, coming off of ebay (probably from the same seller.) Like the first poster, I have a windows vista key, etc... However, I'm having a slightly different problem. When I try to load windows Vista Home Premium, it is essentially saying that it can't find the HDD - Although it sees the C drive, it says that it cannot format it because of either driver issues or read-only issues. I'm also having trouble getting the bios flashed because I can't seem to get it to boot, to DOS, windows, anything. I was able to get to a dos command prompt via a roundabout way using the DVD drive, but I can't get the actual program downloaded from their support files for the 1.25 bios to work.

I'm tearing my hair out here - can someone give me a basic rundown of what might work? Something? I will have to do this remotely because I am headed back up to college tomorrow and I will have to walk someone through it, so, yeah. Thanks in advance.

 

I am not alone! I also bought a similar laptop & had the same problems. I got it to run Ubuntu very well except it didn't work wireless
Then I went ahead & ordered the recovery DVDs from Acer... I finally got the laptop to recognize the hdd. However I can't seem to update the BIOS. I want to down/up grade to XP. I keep getting the blue screen in Vista unless it is at 800 * 600 resolution. Even then it hangs up on me.... How do you make a boot flash drive to update the bios?

 

okay guys, my name is michael and i can help you out with the probs you've been having with your acer 4620, 5620, and 5420's. first off and this is something that acer doesnt tell you is that they have their laptops configured in a such a way that you cannot successfully install xp onto either of the laptops mentioned, which is the reason so many of you are having problems which is to no fault of your own. ACER UNITS WILL ONLY ACCEPT THE VISTA OPERATING SYSTEM

As for the people that are trying to install vista, but vista setup cannot find the harddrive, you will need to go to http://www.acerpanam.com/synapse/forms/webpage.cfm?siteid=7293&areaid=7&website=AcerPanAm.com/us

then click eRecovery CD Purchase
https://secure3.tx.acer.com/RCD/Main.aspx

you then will be prompted to enter your s/n for your laptop. i think the recovery cd's are like $20 or $30, i chose ground shipping and it arrived within days. If you guys need anymore help, please let me know

 

I also purchased one of these and was able to get XP successfully installed with no issues. I first of all had to go into the bios and set the sata up for ide so that the xp install would see the hard drive then after the xp install i went to intels site and downloaded the graphics and wireless drivers at the links below
http://downloadmirror.intel.com/13002/eng/11.5.0.0_x32.exe
http://downloadmirror.intel.com/15282/a08/win2k_xp14323.exe
then i got the rest of the drivers from acers europe site at the link listed below

ftp://ftp.support.acer-euro.com/notebook/extensa_5620/driver/
the only thing that it doesn't like is the bluetooth i can't get it to recognise it the driver and app install fine but it doesn't recognise the hardware

 

Because you probably don't have bluetooth, the 5620-6830 does not have a bluetooth module, just the switch on front. You have to add an acer module, an aftermarket module, or craft your own as I did in this thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=223556

 

Hey guys noob here, and I also purchased the same laptop off ebay. Minus the software and AC adapter. Quick call to Acer, and both are on the way as being covered under warranty, no charge, cant beat that! Also was nice to have an English speaking person on the other end!

I do have a question though, and I am totally new to laptops so this may be a simple thing, but the Wireless ABG card for some reason cannot see my wireless A network. I have a desktop with a Linksys A+G card, and a Linksys A+G access point, those work well together. The laptop sees the G wireless but not A, any ideas? Running Vista 64 Ultimate if that helps. I tried the drivers for the wireless card both from the Acer site and Intel, same result.

 

I also bought a the same lap top from ebay and they are in the process of shipping it to me right now. I have a couple of questions. I am also new to the laptop world... Can anybody tell me what AC adapter i should get for the Acer Extensa 5620-6830? Where i could find one. Also i want to put more RAM into my laptop, what type of RAM would you recommend for this laptop?
Thanks