Extensa 5620 with 2003 server

Just got one of these beauties, amazing solid build quality.
Installed 2003 server onto it, not a fan of XP or vista.
Thought i would share my experiences, and tips and tricks on doing it for those interested.

Most of the XP drivers work fine, however there are several issues.
1. Webcam. Install the software, reboot, then uninstall the software.
the camera keeps working, but you wont get the problem with hanging on shutdown.

2. Card reader. Windows 2k3 doesnt have support for the SDHC standard as default. When you isntall the card reader software you are left with one "PCI device" in device manager. What you need to do is point it towards the INF section of a windows XP installation over a network. It will then find the drivers, and install the xpsp2 SDHC drivers. That gives you full card reader support.

3. Wireless, i just downloaded the latest intel proset wireless drivers from the intel website.

4. ATI video (mine has ati 2400xt onboard) i used catalyst 8.4 and then used mobilitynet driver modder to modify the INF to install it.

At this point, all devices are installed and working fine.

Current Issues:
The lcd panel wont keep its brightness settings. You can adjust it, but as soon as the panel turns off due to power saving, and then turns back on again, it reverts to full brightness. On battery it goes to half brightness, with the same issue though. No matter what you set it, as soon as you close the lid, or the screen goes into standby, it reverts.

Battery life is around 3 and a half hours, on XP its around 4 hours. As far as i can tell this is due to the fact that you cant install Epower on 2k3.

The battery life, cpu speed, and LCD panel brightness are all fixable if i could find someway to install epower. I have tried to isntall it with compatability options, but no luck.
I have tried copying over the files and settings from an XP setup on the same laptop, but no luck.
Acer seemed to have used some specific controls to access power settings, and i cant work out a way of controlling it.

Unless i can find a way of forcing epower to install, that particular part im willing to put up with for the moment.

Does anyone know of a third party utulity to control LCD brightness?
I can control CPU speed easily enough.

Also is there a utility to let you control the power savings mode of the onboard radeon 2400XT?

If anyone has questions involving server 2k3 on this laptop, please ask.
I have done 4 installs now chasing down all the oddities.

 

You know they problay some services that need to be start like multi media on server and hardware excell turn on on maybe that why stuff not working right

 

I reformatted the laptop after some issues, and it solved the screen brightness problem.
Now when it suspends and returns, the screen brightness stays the same.
I have enabled all the multimedia and acceleration functions, i have been using 2k3 as a desktop OS for about 4 years now, and know all of its oddities and strangeness.

At this point everything works perfectly, and getting the same battery life as i get on XP.

I use chipset and wireless drivers from the intel website, and the latest
catalyst drivers from ATI. Plays serious sam 2 really well.

 

Oh.. DO NOT INSTALL RMCLOCK 2.35
its what causes the problem with the lcd brightness.