Acer Travelmate 4502Lmi 533MHz FSB support

[mr_bigmouth_502]

Hey everyone, I have an old Acer TravelMate 4502LMi laptop that I'd love to enable 533MHz FSB support on so I can use newer Pentium M processors in it at their full speed, but it's locked at a 400MHz FSB and there's no way to change it through the BIOS. If anyone could find a solution to this problem, that would be great.

Thanks in advance!

Here's a link to the latest BIOS, version 3A10: http://global-download.acer.com/GDFiles/BIOS/BIOS/BIOS_3A10%20(Intel).zip?acerid=633643239923931829&Step1=Notebook&Step2=TravelMate&Step3=TravelMate%204500&OS=X01&LC=en&BC=Acer&SC=PA_4

(this BIOS is actually for the Travelmate 4500, but the 4502LMi is in the 4500 series, and there wasn't a BIOS specifically for that model)

EDIT: If it helps at all, this laptop's motherboard has an Intel i855GM/GME chipset with an Intel 82801DB(ICH4-M) southbridge.

[mikemike097]

Correct me if I’m wrong but from what I’m know for a 855 chipset to run 533 fsb you need to have a clock generator with proper support for 533 fsb after which you need to short pins (permanent method) or by software, either way you need to open your lappy and identify the clock generator .

[edit]
links tha may help you out : http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=199572
http://www.notebookforums.com/t/185384/o...ith-photos

Cheers,
- mikemike097

[mr_bigmouth_502]

It's funny that you mention that, because I was actually just looking into software-based overclocking, and I'm trying to find our what model my PLL chip is. So far, I haven't been able to find any spec sheets online identifying which one my laptop uses, so it looks like I'll have to crack her open! XD

[mr_bigmouth_502]

Well, I found out the model of the PLL chip (it's a Cypress CY28346 variant), and I played around with some software overclocking tools (namely Clockgen, which I could only get working after messing around with RightMark CPU Clock Utility, and SetFSB which was less stubborn), but they both crashed my laptop when I set them to 133MHz (133MHz is the "real" fsb, but it gets multiplied by 4), despite my CPU being capable of handling it. I suspect this is because they also overclocked the other busses (such as the PCI bus) without applying any dividers. Would doing a hardware-based mod make a difference, or should I just give up and hunt down a faster 400MHz-based Dothan? I almost forgot to mention, the two links you posted were for laptops with the 855PM chipset. Mine only has an 855GM/GME chipset.

Also, I apologize in advance for the double-post.

[dellon122]

when using using setfsb did you also increase the current fsb? if not try setting the current fsb at 450 and then increase your fsb by 7 and click set fsb. Repeat this step until you hit 133.

[mikemike097]

what ram are you running ? Make sure your ram can handle oced speeds .your pll is perfectly armed with the right dividers for pci and agp . If you decided you make your laptop permanently set to 533 fsb via hardware then this can help you :www.notebookforums.com/t/185384/overclock-d600-1-6g-to-2-13g-hardware-modification-with-photos

[mikemike097]

Well, I found out the model of the PLL chip (it's a Cypress CY28346 variant), and I played around with some software overclocking tools (namely Clockgen, which I could only get working after messing around with RightMark CPU Clock Utility, and SetFSB which was less stubborn), but they both crashed my laptop when I set them to 133MHz (133MHz is the "real" fsb, but it gets multiplied by 4), despite my CPU being capable of handling it. I suspect this is because they also overclocked the other busses (such as the PCI bus) without applying any dividers. Would doing a hardware-based mod make a difference, or should I just give up and hunt down a faster 400MHz-based Dothan? I almost forgot to mention, the two links you posted were for laptops with the 855PM chipset. Mine only has an 855GM/GME chipset.

Also, I apologize in advance for the double-post.

Try it again with your ram flashed to run lower speeds eg ddr333 to ddr266 or try ocing to very low oc just to verify that you can change bus speed .the hardware mod wont work unless ram is preped to adapt to the new fsb since lappy's bioses
are set to use the fastest speed present in spd detection and this speed is directly proportional to bus speed .For example if your a running 266 ddr now setting it to 133 fsb will send your ram running at 350~354 mhz which most likely fail to run or be unstable .
use this to lower and loosen the timings of your ram then try running it again at 133 fsb :
http://www.techpowerup.com/spdtool/

i don't see why your laptop shouldn't be able to run 133 fsb being equiped with the cypress pll it has the proper dividers and running a 855 based chipset

[mr_bigmouth_502]

I don't know what the exact current speed of my RAM is, but I recently ordered two 1GB sticks of DDR400 for it and they should be coming in soon. (right now I have 2 256MB sticks of some slow OEM ram)

[mikemike097]

I don't know what the exact current speed of my RAM is, but I recently ordered two 1GB sticks of DDR400 for it and they should be coming in soon. (right now I have 2 256MB sticks of some slow OEM ram)

before using setfsb pls flash those ram so that they run at 266 fsb @stock speeds w/ the 400 mhz timings
so that at 133 fsb 266/100*133=353.8mhz

[mr_bigmouth_502]

Just wondering, but how would I go about doing that?