The Acer 5102 Thread

It didn't work for me when i tried to play Call of Duty.

 

are you using the last versions of BIOS and Catalyst? If possible start the game with lower resolution and resources and, if it starts ok, try changing one or two parametrs at once to reach the best possible performance.

 

I did it (upgrade bios -3.10- and driver -7.10-, but didnt fix the problem, dont matter what is the resolution settings, all the time the performance get stuck in 3-6 fps inside the game, outside (menu and options) it gets 100 or more fps. I use this notebook to play Guild wars, and I get 15-20 fps @ 1280x800 at high quality. so i think the problem is with the opengl suport.

 

Hey guys, sorry to be a newbie, but please could someone give me instructions as to how to safely download and install new updated ATI drivers? I have a couple of programmes that rely on the graphics so I will have to be careful installing ... but please could you show me the sections to go to find the correct drivers?
I have Acer Aspire 5102 WLMI without the camera, its the 1.6 ghz duel core and 120 hard drive variety if that helps.

Your help would be really appreciated as I rally want to fix some video issues where the video is really lagging behind the audio ... i've tried everything!

Oh I also have the heat issue that a lost of you get, my laptop crashed the other day in the middle of playing tracks on mediacenter and we had to wait 4 hours before it would start up properly again ... phewwww for now, but maybe I should try contacting Acer to see if they can give me a more relyable model? The computer does hang and freeze a lot more when it gets hot ... is it worth me sending it back to Acer or Comet online from where I bought it and be without it for 4 weeks or so, or would going out to buy a cooling pad for it would help? Do the fans on these models supposed to run constantly too? I know it does spend most of its time on mains, but i'm sure other laptops fans turn on and off as needed ... please could i have opppinions as to whether spending £30 on cooling mat or sending away to Acer would be better. I only have a few days left to decide as the guarentte runs out soon...

Anyway, thats the end of my rant for now,


Look forward to hearing your replies.

 

You can go directly to ATI website and select the driver for your video adapter (radeon xpress 1100, I suppose). download and install. It should be version 7.1

 

does anyone knows how to install the catalist control center? after I have installed the new drivers it no longer worked for me.

About the opengl suport, i read something about use old drivers, like 5.x or 6.x, because ATI lost the suport on new drivers, but i realized that old drivers don't support x200 or x1100 anymore.

 

install the full package at ATI website (last version is 7.11). CCC is part of the full package

 

Hi, Is it possible to upgrade RAM on this notebook to 2Gb?
thanks

 

Yes it is possible to upgrade the ram on the aspire 5100 series to 2Gb, my 5102 is using 2Gb right now. This model series supports up to 4Gb of memory .

However I should tell you that the 5100 series is known to be sometimes "picky" about the memory it uses so try to stick to the main brands like crucial,corsair,kingston,ocz etc.

 

Yes, it's possible. I had a 1GB module and got a Crucial # CT12864AC53E

Link: http://www.crucial.com/store/partspecs.aspx?imodule=ct12864ac53e&pid=1548159

It's stable and works great except for that for some unknown reason I get only single channel.

 

Hi,

I've been reading the older posts that mentioned opening up the bottom up of the laptop to clean the fan area/ to install ram memory... and I was wondering how?? I can't seem to open up a few of the screws. One of them won't budge at all - the one just outside of the main block, and two of them just keeps on turning. Is there a special way to open up the screws?

 

First I just want to make sure that you are opening the right panel. The one you should be opening is the thermal panel(biggest panel) on the bottom of the notebook.

Now on the screws issue; with my 5102 the screw driver I use only loosens the screws then all I have to do is turn the unit right-side up and they will fallout. If I keep on turning the screw driver the screws will just keep on turning, which sounds like what is happening to you.
Anyway after you get all four screws out the panel doesn't just drop off as it is still held in place by little plastic clips along it's inside edges. So what you need to do is look for the little indentation at the front of the panel and then use something to gently pry the panel off starting from that point. Go slowly and take your time.

 

Evolution - Thanks for the reply.

For one thing, I've been trying to remove a total of 5 screws. Apparently, I don't need to try to remove the one screw that won't budge at all. For the other four screws, I was able to take two off easily, and did exactly what you mentioned. But for the other two screws in the biggest panel, the mentioned method doesn't work... It doesn't seem to matter if I turn it right-side up. The screws just won't fall out... I guess it's just my laptop then? Hopefully I'll get it to fall out~!! I have some new RAM to put in...

 

My Acer 5102 crashed right before the start of 2008. The recovery method that Evolution suggested did not work. I inserted the backup disk that I made but it did not work. The Acer 5102 started to have problems that happened in the past. What should I do about this situation? Is it time to get a new laptop like a dell or some other laptop?

 

ATI catalyst display driver for x1100 7.12 released

 

Atheros 5005 wireless card doesn't work after driver update.

Simptoms:

- Wireless button in the notebook turned on
- Windows Zero Configuration service started
- A popup baloon on the taskbar informing that networks were in range
- Windows Zero Configuration could not find netorks in range error

Solution:

- start the eventlog service
- restart the Windows Zero Configuration service

Note: the eventlog service is NOT LISTED as dependence in Windows Zero Configuration service!

The Atheros driver installer, by some unknown reason, stops the eventlog service and changes it from "Automatic" to "Manual"
during the install and don't restart the service after finishing the install proccess.

Since the service was changed to "Manual" restarting the computer won't solve the problem, you must open the Administrative
Tools applet and open the Services tool, look for the eventlog entry and change it to Automatic and start it again. I restarted the
Windows Zero Configuration service too, but I don't know if it is really necessary.

 

hello is the ram upgrade to 2gb worth it and increasing the UMA graphics to 256mb worth it?

just wondering

 

More ram is always good . If you are still using XP 2Gb will seem like overkill on the 5102 but having more ram will not hurt. I upgraded from the 1Gb that came with my notebook, replaced it with 2Gb and I now never run out of memory.

As for increasing the UMA of the Xpress 1100 to 256mb; it is not worth it IMHO, as the xpress 1100 is an integrated card and just isn't powerful enough to really utilize 256mb (plus doing so is only stealing more ram).

 

thank you for reply i think you right, cause i am runnin 256mg UMA atm so i only have 768mb ram and i can notice difference in performance (slower system performance),

EDIT: I tried giving u reputation but apparently ive given out too much in the last 24 hours xD

 

hi i have to turn back my old bios vs 3.09 but i cant find it... version 3.10 is terrible for me.. i cant play games. my cpu deggree is too higher than when i have 3.09 bios pls help...

 

Sorry but the acer euro FTP only has version 3.05 before version 3.10 so there is no way to get version 3.09 that way. Perhaps you could contact acer technical support and ask them if it would be possible for them to send you version 3.09 for the aspire 5100 series.

 

My Acer 5102 does not work anymore. I had a computer expert check it out to see what was wrong. He suggested that I get a new hard drive. What hard drive should I get for this laptop? Any comments and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

Hi,

I'm looking for a RTC battery for my 5102. If anyone knows where to get one from or has a mobo for sale I would be very interested.
cheers

 

dessolde the original battery and look for the brand/model and buy a simmilar model. if you don't find the exact brand/model you can solder another model with simmilar charcteristics of voltage and current. check the polarity before soldering!

 

Hi,
I have one question. Have anybody try update acer 5102 wlmi to 4GB of RAM (2x2GB dual channel)??
I want do this upgrade. I must choose modules from this list:
1. Kingston SO-DIMM 2GB DDR2 533 MHz CL4
CL4, 533 MHz, 1.8V, DDR2, Non-ECC
2. SO-DIMM 2 GB DDR2 667 MHz GoodRAM
667 MHz, 1.8V, DDR2, Non-ECC
3. SO-DIMM 2 GB DDR2 667 MHz PQI
667 MHz, 1.8V, DDR2, Non-ECC

Any good advice??

 

The kingston memory would be my choice out of the brands you listed; I know the others are 667mhz but I have heard that some 5100s are very picky when it comes to memory so you might want to choose the kingston to be safe but this is up to you.

You will not have any problems placing 4Gb (2x2Gb) of ram in the 5100 as the mainboard supports a maximum of 4Gb of memory. However remember that unless you are using a 64bit operating system you will not be able to address(use) all 4Gb of memory as 32bit operating systems cannot use more than ~3.25-3.5Gb.

 

evolution is right you may not see all of your update in fact with the shared graphics i dont even see 3gb , don't buy memory from e-bay like i did though cos it only lasts about 5mins then i get blue screen , stick to kingston or crucial , known trusted brands ,let me know how you get on with your upgrade please or if you have any probs

 

Hi, all

My first post in this group. First I'd like to express my thanks to all people sharing knowledge in this thread. I've read the whole thread at least 3 times.

I bought a 5103 for my girlfriend a month ago. Got it dead cheap because it was the last sample they had and it had been on display in the shop. The price was half of what it should be.

The puter has been working very well. No problems except those I have created myself when tweaking trying to squeeze the last inch of performance out of it rolleyes ... The only problem has been that I approx 2 out of 10 times have had to login twice. First I login, then message about loading preferences, then saving preferences and then on the second attempt everything goes OK. The OS is MCE with SP2. Then I found the solution here http://forums.techguy.org/windows-nt-2000-xp/544665-need-logon-twice-event-id.html
Problem is gone when I followed instructions.

Now - to the reason why I'm posting. I hope some of you are still watching this thread. I've noticed that my hard drive supports UDMA5 while the DVD-RAM only supports UDMA2. They are both connected to the same IDE controller - the Primary controller. This means that Windows adjusts the speed for this controller to the slowest of these two and the result is that the maximum speed for the hard drive is UDMA2 when it could have been UDMA5. In Device Manager I see Secondary IDE controller, but it is hidden. I don't know if this means it doesn't exist or if it's not in use and therefore is hidden. But I decided to pry the puter open and see if I could move the DVD-RAM to the Secondary IDE controller. This is the first laptop I've opened up so I got a little surprised when I saw it from inside. It was much more compact than I expected. I only removed a couple of covers from the bottom of the puter. I diden't dismantle it completely. But from what I could see, it could seem like the motherboard is tailormade and that maybe Unit 0 of Primary IDE controller is located at one end of the motherboard, near the hard drive, and that Unit 1 is located at the other end of the motherboard, near the DVD-RAM. So I then started thinking maybe the motherboard isn't fitted with any Secondary IDE controller at all? In many cases it doesn't make sence to spend money fitting the motherboard of a laptop with a Secondary IDE controller.

So what do you think guys? I know some of you have purchased the repair manual for this computer. Does the manual say anything about a Secondary IDE controller? I also know some of you have opened the computer to fit Bluetooth device inside. Have you noticed anything suggesting the precence of a Secondary IDE controller? Thanks for any input on this matter. Besides the 2x1Gb 667MHz Corsair RAM I've ordered, the UDMA issue is the last bit I've found with potential to squeeze out some more performance.

Thank you, and happy computing!

Regards
Ole Knut, Norway

 

Hi Ive been keeping an eye on this thread for a while now and have finally come across something that i need help with!.
Ive just installed an internal bluetooth module, and now the little slider and bluetooth light works on the front. All seems to be working fine, windows has installed its own drivers and its able to detect bluetooth devices, but its unable to show any services for them, i have a Belkin USB dongle i used to use and it picked up everything just the same but i was able to use all the services, like stereo audio, voice gateway and many others, but not getting any with the internal module and windows drivers.
Ive tried Widcomm and broadcom drivers and they do not detect the internal device.
Im running Win XP MCE 2005 sp2,
id like to get it working properly as the whole idea was to get away from using the usb dongle, but its no good unless i can get the services detected.
Has anyone else had a problem like this and is there a solution?.
Any help would be great !!

Andy

Acer Aspire 5102 WLMi: Bios V3.10.
AMD Turion64 x2 TL50 1.6 GHz, 2 GB DDR2 667, 120 GB HDD 5400 rpm, ATI Radeon xPress 1100, Internal Bluetooth.

 

hello, I was getting the white or black lines across the screen on my 5102WLMi when i changed the OS from Home to Pro & no fix. Even using the latest driver off acer's website, Chipset + VGA Driver ATI Ver.8.251 why this happens i don't know but I have put a clean install of XP Pro & used the new 8.5 driver off ATI's website that came out on the 21st of May '08. So far things seem OK.

I know want to replace the TL-50 with a TL-56. Somebody on this thread has done this & I was wondering if somebody can shed some light on this task & anything I should look out for. Any help is appreciated.

 

Hi iv'e just given my 5102 a good overhaul and its running like a dream, and it was'nt that expensive either.
Upgrading was'nt a problem and it was all fairly straight forward apart from the internal bluetooth module.
The tl-64 2.2 made quite a bit of difference, ive not found many people that have upgraded, and it saved buying a whole new uptodate laptop.
Worth doing!

Andy

 

congrats on the upgrades

and enjoy the new speeds

 

Hello. I've also upgraded my proc from tl-50 to tl-62. Does the BIOS correctly identifies the CPU type and model? Mine says AMD processor model unknown. Thanks.

 

I had a virus on my computer so i am planning to buy a brand new hd, but i was wondering after i install the new hard drive with nothing in it what is my first to get everything working again?

 

Do you have any OS disc ?

(Cloning the previous HDD is out, since that would clone the infected files as well..)

 

i guess that you either don't have the factory restore disks..

if you have the disks then that is the EASY option...

 

My 5102 has been giving me problems in the last month. The problem I was experiencing since early 2007 (that sometimes when I turned it on it didn't recognize the hard drive right away, forcing me to reboot until it was recognized) is showing up in a daily basis. Furthermore I experience random 'hangs' when using it.

It seems to be something 'mechanical' with the motherboard/integrated video because some of the 'hangs' occur when I am either typing very fast, or when I move the laptop while turned on. Other way in which the hang shows up is by screwing up the screen with many parallel vertical lines (like in a TV with no signal), and then I have to reboot; this does not require movement to occur, it can happen if I leave the laptop for a while. Furthermore, I had to disconnect and remove a 'laptop base' which supported it in a certain angle because there the 'hang' was almost guaranteed.

Needless to say that I have replaced the hard drive (in fact the problem has happened with three different ones) and the RAM memory, so the only other possibility I spot is the motherboard.

Have anyone of you, 5102 owners, experienced something like this? Or is it just that I have moved my laptop around too much? I got my 5102 almost when it was launched.

Thanks.
Joe.

 

I have done some upgrades to my Acer as well,
-4GB RAM (BIOS rev 3.13 made 3GB usable in WinXP 32bit + 256MB for Video)
-250GB HDD
-Major overhall to the recovery partition
I am running WinXP SP3 with Pro, MCE and TabletPC functionality (reg hack)
I am able to test all my devices (drivers) and run diagnostic software + ghost from my "ALT+F10 Recovery Partition"

I was wondering were did you get your TL-64 proc?

 

klickyjoe,

I had the same symptoms a few months ago.

I remember that was something related to network folders.

try to delete network connections, mapped drives, network prints, etc.

I think that my problem was caused due a network mapping that I did at work that wasn't available, of course, when I was using the notebook at home.

hth

 

I know this is an old question, but my computer was actually in the shop when you posted this. My computer suddenly started having problems recognizing the HD sometime in mid-June, and within a week was not recognizing it at all. My 1-year warranty was up, so I did a quick check to make sure all the connections were good and the fan wasn't clogged. Nothing. My repairs were still covered by the credit-card warranty-doubling, so I just took it in to MicroCenter.

They first replaced the motherboard, and the system worked fine for a week. Then it happened again, but this time they said the hard drive was trashed. They replaced the hard drive for me, and the new one lasted a week. Then they said they replaced a bad HD controller, and the computer has worked fine since getting it back. I don't know if my experience helps you at all, or what you found your solution to be.

My computer seems OK now, but it took so long that it almost made me wish I had just spent the money and bought a new computer (plus everyone I knew was criticizing me for putting-up with the months of repairs).

I had already had Acer repair problems with the DVD drive and the LCD monitor in the first 6 months with this computer...

Not sure what else is left to fail... Could this all be related to overheating? I have the AMD CPU drivers installed, but they are being over-ridden by the Acer stuff. I think I asked this a year ago, but has anyone found a convenient way to shut-off the LAN and CardBus to save power without using the ePower Management? A program like that, combined with the AMD drivers, seems like the best way to minimize power consumption and heat production. Then I wouldn't worry so much about things dying in my computer.

 

Hi,

I've just upgraded to 4GB of Ramm....my BIOS is showing that i have 4GB installed but windows is only showing 2.5GB.....is there software i need to upgrade?

Oh and i'm using windows XP service pack 3
Thanks

Andy

 

You need to upgrade to a 64bit version of windows inorder for windows to recognize all 4Gb of memory.

 

I had the same problem upgrade your BIOS to the latest version "Bios 3.13.zip"
ftp://ftp.support.acer-euro.com/notebook/aspire_5100/bios/
You will see 3GB (32Bit Windows limit) plus up to 256MB on your video card
there are ramdisk utilities that you can use to create a 768MB ramdrive,
I use one for my temp folders, it automatically get cleaned every time I reboot.

 

Hi,

I have had an Acer Aspire 5012 for more than two years now.
I upgraded the RAM from 1GB to 4GB late last year.

The issue now is, as of last night:

The laptop fails to boot. No BIOS screen, nothing.
I press the power button. The fan starts working. I don't feel the HDD spinning like always. The HDD indicator light is lit solid for 10 seconds or so before disappearing, and then the fan stops. The only thing that tells me the computer is on after that point is the Power indicator light.

I swapped my old memory back in to see if it was a memory problem. Didn't work. I figured it was a HDD problem. I don't have the proper screwdriver to disassemble the HDD. The BIOS screen should come up after starting it up. It would just say that there is no hard drive or something to that effect, can't remember exactly.

But then after consulting with a friend who is very knowledgeable about computers, we figured it might be a motherboard problem.


I can't send it in for repairs as my extended warranty ended last September.
If it was a HDD problem, I could have bought a new one and just put that in, but if its a mobo problem, then things could get ugly.

Did anyone have any similar experiences?
Does anyone have a clue as to what could be the problem?

 

What you are explaining sounds exactly like a dead or malfunctioning mainboard. This is a very common problem on the aspire 5100 and 3100 series (luckily for me my 5102 is still working), however if your warranty has expired then it isn't worth trying to replace the mainboard, it is time to look for a new notebook.

There is one other final thing you can try however, remove the battery and AC power cord, then press and hold down the power button for a few seconds, this will allow any built up static electricity to be discharged. Then put back in the battery and plug the AC plug back in, of it doesn't come on then you have a malfunctioning mainboard.

 

Hi Evolution,

I have tried doing that after your advice, but it didn't work either.

So my mobo is gone and now I have to buy an IDE adapter to connect my laptop HDD to my desktop so I can recover my files.

I guess this will be my last time on this particular thread.

Thanks for your help evolution.

 

Hi a74martel,
I was just browsing the thread again and saw on your wish list about the TL64.
First i saw it on ebay but i was really hesitant to get it from there so i shopped around for months with no luck. I eventually contacted the seller on ebay and it seemed good enough and ive not regretted it. its still running great, only thing now, there is not much else i can do to upgrade it lol. I also got the bluetooth adapter from ebay too, it was fairly cheap but had to take the whole laptop apart to fit it.
The plug on the motherboard is behind the bluetooth switch on the front panel.
Ive recently been playing with Powerstrip to boost the x1100 and its now running smoothly at 401 mhz, so from what it started out as. Its not the same machine! just thinking of getting it sprayed now!.

All the best
Andy

 

Have owned this machine for approaching 3 years now and never had a single problem. Excellent piece of kit.

Does anybody know of any 7200rpm 2.5" drives for the 5102? The only 7200rpm drives I can find on the market are SATA which is no use.

I upgraded the RAM in mine to 4GB Kingston PC2-5300 but would like to put a bigger and better hard drive in it as well.

Also, with having 4GB of RAM is it beneficial to upgrade the BIOS and up the graphics from 128MB to 256MB or do you not see much difference?

Cheers,

Graeme

 

Hi.

I am afraid you are out of luck for the hard drive (last time I checked only SATA's got 7200RPM). I upgraded the 4200RPM drive of my 5102 for a 5400RPM and got a nice performance boost.

I didn't really see a difference after 'upgrading' the graphics card from 128MB to 256MB, but I am not into gaming so...

Good luck.
Joe.

 

Hello, my question is about the empty mini-pcie slot inside the 5102wlmi. I plugged in a sprint novatel e725 wwan card, but windows doesn't detect anything. Any ideas?