Hello all, I acquired this interesting "desktop replacement" laptop from 2004 featuring a Pentium 4 and GeForce FX Go5600. I have tried many different SATA to IDE adapters however all of them when booting the laptop, the AMIBIOS will always detect them as UDMA2, meanwhile the original 60GB HDD is detected as UDMA5. I have tried mSata to IDE, M.2 to IDE and 2.5" SATA to IDE, the last one being a pricey one featuring the Marvell chip used in the red Startech adapters for desktops. But basically none of these will give me the full speed of UDMA5.
A sort of workaround I have managed is using HDAT2 in DOS. Boot into Windows 98, reboot into MS-DOS, set it to UDMA5, exit back to Windows. Unfortunately the UDMA5 from this only applies to read speed and not write, you can see what's happening in this video:
https://youtu.be/yvGIDjjjxTI
But as soon as you fully reboot or power off/back on and it goes through the initial AMIBIOS splash screen, it resets to UDMA2.
I've even tried using AMIBCP to force UDMA5 however that doesn't work because it redetects it as "maximum UDMA2". Also there aren't any hidden menus in here.
On an unrelated note, these laptops also allow you to remove the GPU module, and there are a few modules that fit this laptop
GeForce FX Go5600 (the one it came with)
GeForce FX Go5700
ATI Radeon Mobility 9000
ATI Radeon Mobility 9600
ATI Radeon Mobility 9700
When switching to an alternative module however, the laptop will not post, it does power on and the modules get hotter etc. but there will be just a black screen, I'm wondering if there is some white list in the bios to stop it booting with them or it's something in the vBios' on the modules themselves. Anyway I've attached the latest AMIBIOS for this laptop if anyone cares to look, thanks.
A sort of workaround I have managed is using HDAT2 in DOS. Boot into Windows 98, reboot into MS-DOS, set it to UDMA5, exit back to Windows. Unfortunately the UDMA5 from this only applies to read speed and not write, you can see what's happening in this video:
https://youtu.be/yvGIDjjjxTI
But as soon as you fully reboot or power off/back on and it goes through the initial AMIBIOS splash screen, it resets to UDMA2.
I've even tried using AMIBCP to force UDMA5 however that doesn't work because it redetects it as "maximum UDMA2". Also there aren't any hidden menus in here.
On an unrelated note, these laptops also allow you to remove the GPU module, and there are a few modules that fit this laptop
GeForce FX Go5600 (the one it came with)
GeForce FX Go5700
ATI Radeon Mobility 9000
ATI Radeon Mobility 9600
ATI Radeon Mobility 9700
When switching to an alternative module however, the laptop will not post, it does power on and the modules get hotter etc. but there will be just a black screen, I'm wondering if there is some white list in the bios to stop it booting with them or it's something in the vBios' on the modules themselves. Anyway I've attached the latest AMIBIOS for this laptop if anyone cares to look, thanks.