Acer TravelMate 8204WLMi frequently drops DSL Connection

I just discovered this site... hope to learn a lot and be helpful here if I can. I have the TravelMate 8204WLMi and it is useless for internet as it will not hold the DSL line. Have just sent it to Acer Service for repair with the following problem diecription:

The complete story: I have an older Compac Presario that, while it has many hardware and software problems, it connects to and holds the DSL line with no problems or dropouts. When I disconnect the DSL modem cable from this computer and connect it to the TravelMate, it may or may not connect... and even when it does, it drops out frequently. Having some electronics experience, it looks to me like there is some kind of signal threshold required to maintain the DSL line and it is on ragged edge with this TravelMate. In short, this computer is completely unusable on the Internet.

Hope to have it back soon with full functionality. I also asked them:

I also have a couple of questions on the availability of the Windows Vista OS for Acer TravelMate:
Will there be a customized version of Vista, with proper drivers, etc made available for TravelMate computers?
If so, could I have Vista installed while this unit is in for repair?


Any comments/suggestions appreciated.

TexasLad

 

I have had my 8204 for a little over a year (one of the earliest builds) and i have never had a problem with it keeping a DSL connection. Hold on... at the very beginning these did have a problem with Ethernet connectivity. It would barely connect either to a DSL modem or other machines on a network. This was addressed by a patch for the EEPROM in the Intel ethernet card. This patch became available quite quickly and once i applied it, never a problem since. What is the build date of your machine? If it is an early one like mine, did you never use it's hardwire network connection before?

As for Vista, I like to wait for at least a year or more before migrating to a new OS. Let everybody else deal with its early problems, let drivers become available and debugged and let some apps arrive that work well in this new environment. Given this machine's performance with XP, I would like to maintain that with Vista. Before I'd switch over, I'd fully update the bios, drop in a Merom in place of it's present Yonah, and put 4GB of RAM into it.

Why the hurry? Relax and enjoy the machine and hassle free usage, That is once you get the network problem solved.

Have fun
Y

 

Yea, Yellow11 hit it on the head. The TM8204's NIC has an EEPROM issue where it won't hold an ethernet based connection at all. I can't remember where I found the patch but Google TM8204 NIC problem and you should find the right resources. FYI, do not upgrade the ethernet adapter's drivers. The patch flashes the EEPROM and requires a part of the original drivers installed with the TM8204. The newer drivers replace this part with an updated version, which the patch won't recognize. If you've already updated the drivers, simply open Device Manager and do a driver rollback. Good luck

 

I know you have sent your machine away to have this dealt with. I have the patch if you need it. PM me and I'll get it to you. Interesting, I didn't know that the patch needed the original NIC drivers. Good to know.

Y

 

Many thanks to All who replied. Have heard from the repair service that they have received it, but nothing further... did try to email them about the software update... also, no response. Yellow11, thank You... did manage to track down your site and d/l the update. You also said "I'd fully update the bios, drop in a Merom in place of it's present Yonah, and put 4GB of RAM into it." Would be most interested in hearing more about this... the computer is out of warrenty, anyway, and could be seriously interested in doing this. Any further info would be most appreciated.

Thank You
Elderop

 

Update: 05/19/07

When I finally called Acer to see what was taking so long, I found out they had shipped unit back a week before and hadn't bothered to email me... unit sat in my apt managers office for a week. Grrrrr!! They said they replaced the wireless card (?!!!) , but still won't hold the DSL line. Guess I will have to do the ether net card patch. Yellow11, if U read this, could U point me to the thread on that, and/or your page for d/l please? Also any info on Merom replacement... not sure I want to open up this Beast. I did check prices on upgrading to 4 Gig of ram... $800.00..Whew!! Not any time soon. Sure would like to get this thing running on internet.

Thanks,
TexasLad

 

Tex..

I just sent you a PM about the above fix.

Regarding Processor replacement (core duo Yonah to core2duo Merom) I haven't done it yet and probably won't for some time. It could probably be done by only removing the RAM cover on the bottom and then removing all the thermal hardware. This is something you may not want to do yourself. Anti-static protection, proper handling of new parts and knowledge on how to properly deal with thermal hardware is needed. You also need to bring your BIOS up to date.

As for 4GB RAM, aparently WinXP will only recognize a little over 3GB. Vista should see the full 4GB. There is no point in adding RAM unless you are using Vista..

Y

 

Hi, Yellow11,
Thank You for your reply... Sure appreciate your help. I don't plan to do any hardware updates for some time... I do want to do the firmware updates... both the NIC firmware and Bios Update. I found the TM8200_Intel_EEPROM.zip I d/l previously, I think from your site. I think I can do it... As to the Bios update, I checked both the ftp.support.acer-euro.com and www.support.acer-euro.com URL"s and both were no longer active, or, at least not available at the time I checked. I will search here for more recent 8200 Bios info.

Wonder where you are, Yellow11.. just generally... I am in SE Texas, myself. Thank you for all your help.

TexasLad

 

05/20/07 06:00

Attempt to UpDate NIC EEPROM:

I copied files to external Thumb Drive F: I ran install.bat and it said it installed. Then from Start > Run I ran eeupdate.exe. Blue window goes by quicky, but could tell it was empty. I remembered that I always have to enable the Local Area Connection after a boot (and it always says "Firewalled" ... have no idea what that means, but it usually works after enable) I enabled it and reran eeupdate.exe and it still goes by too fast to read, but could tell, this time that there was at least one line of text. Have any idea what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks,
TexasLad (exasperated)

 

Hey tex..

From here i have not much else to say. I did that update over a year ago and don't remember what the process was like. You do inded have the right file. Did you read through the threads in the links i sent? Those contain everything i did when i updated mine and the complete history of the issue. That is about the only other advice i can give. Does the network work better now? you didn't really say in your post. Do you have the right driver version installed?

As for bios: ftp.support.acer-euro.com is indeed the address that i still use for BIOS and driver updates. But in the last couple of days i have not been able to connect to it. Not sure if there is something amiss with the site or it is just the public WiFi that i use. Keep trying. I now have 3319 BIOS in mine. I believe that that is the latest version for this machine. There used to be some other odd numbered versions that were apparently for the 8210. Some may have had success applying to their 8204s but i just wanted to go with versions that were specifically intended for the 8204.

Good luck..

As for where.. In Canada, right smack in the middle of southern Manitoba. For now anyway.

y

 

Like I posted way earlier, the EEPROM flasher needs the original version of drivers that Acer has by default. Otherwise, it will blue screen with a kernel fault. The repair guys may have changed drivers. Get the ethernet drivers from the US Acer support site as it's less updated than its European counterpart.

 

Howdy Folk,

UDATE: Still have not been able to update firmware. However, I bought a Belkin N1 Vision Wireless Router (mainly for the display) (cable connected to the old computer) and decided to try my 8204 Wireless on that. Worked like a charm!! I do get the ocassional drop out, but usually easily re-acquired. So I am in the process of moving everything over to this computer. Have not updated any drivers yet... any recommendations as to which ones are necessary or desireable?

Thanks for any response,
TexasLad

 

Forget about Vista on the 8204. It's slow as a dog. I installed the BIOS and all that but I suspect there are some driver or other issues that make Vista really slow. I have Vista Ultimate and tried it for a week or so before going back to XP. I could deal with the many Vista annoyances such as UAC (can be turned off) and seemingly senseless user interface changes, but in the end it just ran very slowly.

The bottom line is, stick with XP, enjoy how fast it is, and "upgrade" to Vista only when buying a new machine.

Also, the 3GB limitation comes from the mainboard, so if you stick in 4GB you will only have 3 of those in Vista.