M51Sn: Review & Owners' Lounge

Or you can go to device manager, go to the properties of the Ethernet Controller and click on Details tab, tell us what the hardware ID is.

 

ASUS M51SN XP Install Guide

As I understand it, to install XP Pro, or any other XP version, you must do the following:

1) Go into bios at startup and change the IDE setting from enhanced to compatible.

2) While in bios select CD ROM as first source to boot from.

3) Save and exit the BIOS.

4) Insert the XP CD and reboot, hit any key to boot from CD and begin the install process.

5) Redo existing partitions as desired and finish a normal install.

6) Use the factory ASUS drivers and utilities CD that shipped with your notebook. I read that most of the Vista drivers will work for XP as per Ken Lee.

7) Download and install the following drivers to complete the fresh install as per Ken Lee:
VGA:
http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/...howtopic=17739

Realtek HD Audio Driver:
ftp://202.65.194.211/pc/audio/WDM_R189.exe
Note: For XP with SP3 it's required to download KB835221 hotfix otherwise the Audio will not work, thanks to thadeej for the information.

Wireless Lan:
http://downloadmirror.intel.com/1300...0_xDrivers.zip

Lan:
http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb/...sta_070808.rar

Bluetooth (thanks to Konohasaint) :
http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb/...a32_070912.zip

Power4Gear:
http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb/..._XP_060706.zip

8) Live long and prosper!

After reading through many posts this is what I understand to allow for a fully functional M51SN running XP just like it would if ASUS had done it themselves. If there is anything omitted or incorrect please make a note. I have several friends that wish to get this notebook but only if I can show them that XP Pro will work just like factory.

Thank you in advance, especially Ken Lee for all your excellent information.

David Hogan

 

PCI\VEN_1969&DEV_1048&SUBSYS_14E51043&REV_B0\4&41FE850&0&00E0

Thats the ID name for the Ethernet Controller

 

aah,that's the Attansic L1 Gigabit Ethernet. get it here:

http://www.station-drivers.com/telechargement/attansic/L1_2.4.7.11(www.station-drivers.com).exe

 

nice work guys...

 

Hey All! Thanks for all the help!

The link for the driver at station-drivers.com is dead, but anyone else that may need it can get it here:
http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/NE...bit-Ethernet-10-100-1000-driver-1437907.shtml

 

Hello

I did a clean XP Pro install following Kens suggestions to the tee. The only thing that has not worked is trying to install the eSATA drivers. I tried the factory disk
version and looked on ASUS website for any updated version as listed under the M51SN files.

The port works fine for any USB item I plug in but I wanted to get an external drive to use. Does anyone have a solution for my eSATA issue?

Thank you,
David

 

M51Sn does not have eSATA port, M51Sr does.

 

My mistake. I was under the impression there was a eSATA/USB combo port on this model.

Thanks for the correction Ken,
David

 

Hmmm Do you guys think that there is much improvement with XP versus vista with our model? What about DirectX 10 support with Vista. Will games in the near future only support Vista?

Thanks in advance...

 

I am no guru that is for certain. I found Vista to be cluttered and effort intensive to use. Then again I have always ran my systems with a minimalist approach. I only like to see and install what I actually use. I am not a what if or just in case kinda guy. After my XP conversion I am extremely happy. I do admit that a good part of it is just years of familiarization allowing me to blast through anything I need to do with XP. When I am forced to upgrade or change my OS I will take the time to learn something new.

As for DX10 time will tell. No one makes anything for DX8 anymore. It took time but eventually things get completely replaced. With DX10 being basically brand new, it will take many years for companies to stop producing DX9 compatible games.

Just my thoughts.
David

 

hmmm Thanks for that... I just might be makin the switch here shortly...

 

Is Windows XP Home edition compatible with this laptop or do I have to purchase more expensive Pro edition?

I'm losing my nerve with Vista it's absolutely terrible, nothing works like I want. That's why I'm moving to XP.

Do you have any hints for XP installation? I've already red this thread trough but just wanting to know if there's something else what I should know.

 

If you do just as Ken Lee suggests you should have no issues. I never got the EATA he lists to install so I ignored it. I cannot find anything that does not work. After I installed what Ken Lee listed I went to BlackViper.com and followed his XP guides and SAFE, let me say that again, SAFE services setup.

This laptop ZOOMS. Thank you Ken, BV and everyone else that helped in this post. You guys rock

 

Ok, many thanks.

PS. I'm ready to get rid of this piece of sh...

 

Hi all,

Does the m51sn support socket P?

I'm trying to figure that out. I did some research, and it seems T5550 is the default cpu, and as far as I can tell, that's a socket M. Socket M and P are incompatible. So if the m51sn supports socket P, one of my assumptions is wrong -- either the T5550 is not socket M, or socket M and P are compatible.

rant: It's amazing how difficult it is to find information on laptop motherboards. I even called up a guy as asus and he said his software wouldn't tell him the motherboard or socket. When I buy a desktop, I can very clearly see exactly what I'm getting with the motherboard and what it supports, but laptops are just a black box. I have tried lots of google searches and specs on the m51sn to try to figure out what the MB supports.. with no luck.. end rant.

So anyways, that question up there is what I'm really trying to figure out. Thanks.

 

Yeah, motherboards tend to be black boxes since laptops don't focus too much on upgradeability (indeed upgrading the CPU will usually void warranty). Instead of upgrading, manufacturers prefer that you buy a new notebook from them

 

Hello, i'm new here and a little ignorant about stuff like this. I'm going to buy a m51sn, but i believe it's a bit different from what i see here. You talk about a t5450 and other specs, and mine has t8300 and is something like this http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Asus-M51SN-Mutimedia-Notebook.8452.0.html


So, my question is if i can put win xp on it as well with those steps you referred a few posts ago.

Sorry if my question has an obvious answer, but i heard stuff about new laptops being incompatible with win xp because they lack drivers or something, so i would like to know.

Thanks in advance.

 

If only the CPU is different then there will be no difference in the drivers that you need, as far as I can tell. I don't know the M51Sn config by heart, so if there are any other differences please list them. Other members might be able to help with the drivers for different components.

 

Anyone here know how long battery life is with the 9-cell?

 

Isn't it in the review? Even if it isn't, you just multiply the battery life on the 6-cell with 3/2 to get the number for the 9-cell...

 

Socket M(479 pin) and socket P(478 pin) is INCOMPATIBLE.

Indeed M51Sn is supporting ONLY socket P (478 pin). As you can see in the below screenshot.


The name is wrongly detected but the 'Specification' is correct, T5450.

Socket M is only supported in 'last generation' of Santa Rosa platform. Example are T5x00(where x is 2,3,4,5...) , T7x00 (where x is even number, 2,4,6,8).

Socket P processor: T5x50(x=even and odd), T7x00(x=odd number), T7250.

So M51Sn will also support the newer penryn processor namely T9500, T9300, T8100, T8300 and X9000(might overheat, not sure).

Actually you can know what kind of socket the motherboard is using by googling the processor model as there is virtually no single model number with different socket in notebook processor.

Yes, you can go ahead with those instrutions. The processor does not need driver(at least no user intervention is needed).

You can follow the previous post by using those drivers mentioned. Do notice that the one in the notebookcheck.com is a European model and might have slight difference like having extra TV tuner card or Intel Turbo Memory. Make sure you have those drivers as well. Other drivers are the same.

 

Hello again. I've installed XP and all the drivers now, but for some reason USB ports aren't working? In device manager it shows "!" next to USB ROOT HUB things. How do i fix this...

 

Chipset drivers perhaps?

 

Where do I find them? I thought i already installed all the drivers. I red carefully the xp install guide i found from this thread...

PS. I tried to instal chipset drivers again but it says they're already installed...

 

I just brought the M51Sn and put XP pro on. I have everything but the ATK Hotkeys working and an network controller with a detail ID of
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_4229&SUBSYS_11008086&REV_61\4&256298FB&0&00E1

Any help in finding these 2 drivers?

Thanks

 

I don't know it was only a suggestion... maybe Ken will be able to help further.

 

Ok, lets hope he knows. Thanks anyways.

 

Have you installed XP service pack 1/2? If I remember correctly, USB drivers are incorporated in SP1.

 

I would like to thank the author for the very usefull tips and tutorials to install windows xp on this notebook.

But I'm very curious. Can you please explain to me how did you find the correct drivers?

For example:

[Drivers/ACPI]
Asus ATK0100 ACPI Utility Driver 1043.2.15.62
Installation: Unzip ATK0100_XP_061027.zip and run 2KSETUP.EXE [reboot]

link: http://dlsvr01.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb/A6J/ATK0100_XP_061027.zip

Why did you decide to use the driver from the A6J?? I'm trying to do install XP on an Asus M51Sn and to make a similar tutorial, but I don't understand how did you select these very specific drivers. I already have graphic card (laptopvideo2go.com), Audio (Realtek), Wireless (Intel), Chipset (Intel), and the touchpad.

From this point on, I really can't figure out how to choose the correct drivers. I've found tutorials like this one for M51Sn, but they don't explain either how they find the drivers.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=222056&page=16
http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx...2213942&board_id=3&model=F3Sc&page=1&count=28

Thanks for your help

 

ATK0100 is just a utility, which is compatible with most ASUS models.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=62196

 

You can install all ATK drivers from the original drivers CD, the ATK0100, ATK Hotkey, ATK Media, ATK OSD, they all work on both Vista and XP.

 

As to the question "how did you find out this will work", I think it's about the particular type of hardware. If for instance, if the M51Sn uses the same type of SD card controller as the A6J, then you can interchange the card reader drivers between them. (this is just an example, in actual fact many if not all ASUS laptops have the same Ricoh controller for the SD card)

 

I've seen a few tutorials online about installing Windows XP on a Asus M51Sn, but none totally left me satisfied because I couldn't really understand where those drivers were found, and then how to find newer updated versions of those drivers.

So I've written myself a tutorial, not adding much to the ones I've found, only explaining how to obtain the drivers yourself so you can find the most recent versions.

This tutorial is for the Asus M51Sn, but based on it, you can surely find the drivers for your particular model. Just follow the idea behind what I did, and you can find the drivers for your model. It took me a while to figure it out, and to find everything.

Here it is:
http://synthank.blogspot.com/2008/05/install-windows-xp-on-asus-m51sn.html

I hope it helps someone.

Allen Hobby

 

done a review for the model quite a while ago. but the Andrew (the forum owner) is not responding, where else it could be posted?

 

@ Ken

Can you do a 9 cell battery run down for m51sn and M50sv?
Thanks!

 

i got xp installed on mine, and got everything working except for the bluetooth. the link in that one post was broken. (not actually broken, but REALLY slow. under 1kb/sec) i actually noticed that with quite a few of those drivers. if you guys want, i can take all the drivers and host them all as 1 zip file. (be warned tho, my hosting plan only gives me 250gb a month transfer)

 

Got mine 2 weeks ago, nice laptop, already install Vista Ultimate and Ubuntu 8.04.

 

Hey everyone. I purchased the M51Sn-B1 a little over a month ago and i was thinking of doing a little upgrading.

The B1 sports a 1.8Ghz processor and 3 gigs of ram, i was thinking; what if i added an extra gig of RAM and upgraded the processor to 3.0Ghz and added vista ultimate? How much of a boost would i see for gaming? Would it be significant enough to justifty the extra $200-$300 investment?

Compaired to the "3DMark06 4149 driver 174.16 overclocked @ 561/1122/451" how many points do you think it'll add to the score? Thanks.

 

There's no 3.0ghz mobile CPU. The fastest mobile CPU is the C2D extreme X9000 2.8ghz which the M51 doesn't support. The fastest CPU that the m51 will support is the T9500 (2.6ghz) which will cost $500-$600.
4gb of ram will need a 64bit OS. For gaming purposes, you won't need the extra 1gb.
I'd say stick with what you have. upgrading your CPU will void all warranties and 3dmark06 scores are more GPU dependent than CPU.

 

Are you really sure that the x9000 can't be used? Cause AFAIK the x9000 and t9500 both are using socket P (478pin).
X9000 is definately supported in xps 1530 and t9500 as well ---> both are using the same socket.
The only thing is that the TDP of x9000 is 44W which might cause overheating. Can you give me the source how you know? Cause I'm planning to upgrade to x9000. Thanks.

As for the price, it's dropping. You can easily get engineering sample(ES) from ebay for as low as 600USD for x9000 and 400USD for t9500.

 

Yes, the X9000 uses socket P, but you'll also need the bios to support that CPU as well. AFAIK, Asus usually doesn't release a bios that supports the X9000 CPU unless they specifically says it does on the spec sheet. You're also right about the heating issue. The bios would need a separate code for the fan controls if the X9000 is used.

 

Sorry to bring this up again but I just got a M51Sn and was planning on installing XP on it to run it as a dual boot with Vista.

I have created a new partition to install XP on and have booted from the XP CD after setting the IDE drive to compatible mode. However when I try to setup XP, I keep getting to a blue error screen saying that setup encountered an error and has shut down my PC?

I'm basically lost as to what to do? I've followed the guides and have all the necessary drivers ready but I can't even install XP in the first place? Just wondering if anyone else has had this issue and how to get around it?

I've read in another post that it could be that my XP CD is too old? Does that mean I may have to get my hands on a newer XP CD with SP2 on it?

I'm not exactly great with computers so any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

Yes it's your XP disk too old, it's missing PCI.sys, you'll need to slipstream service pack to your XP disk.

 

I'm not sure if X9000 needs a BIOS update in order to be used. Afterall, its just a high end Penryn CPU, that's no different than other T9xxxs.

 

Thanks for your help Ken. I've got a XP CD with SP3 on it so I'll try it again tonight and hopefully it'll work.

 

If you have SP3 then you'll need KB835221 hotfix before install audio driver:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/835221

 

Thanks again Ken! I've got the XP SP3 CD now and will probably try to install it on the weekend. I also want to make sure that I have all the drivers that I need and have them all extracted on a USB drive so I can easily update all the required drivers after installing XP.

I'll be following the guide you posted previously so hopefully it'll all go through and work without any problems.

Thanks!

 

Never mind, I asked the question in the Undervolting guide thread, seems more in place there.

 

Please post a link.
I want to learn what it all about
Is is something like
'undervolting vs overclocking'?