TP21 replace MB

[Dabbler]

I have a TP21 (2647-9BU) which won't start, power issue.

I was given a working (but really beat up) 2647-4AU, could I use the MB from that unit for my 8BU? Seems the differences are 9BU - 850Mhz PIII, SXGA, 20GB ... 4AU - 800Mhz PIII, XGA, 30GB so the big difference is a loss in speed and display resolution.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[truk]

I think your biggest concern should be testing the inverter and screen. Other than that, usually a motherboard swap is not a big deal. You also may be able to swap the processors, I know you can on the T30, but the T21 I'm not entirely versed in. If you know what you're doing, and you have another computer to use for troubleshooting (don't be me and take it apart while using it, some day I'm gonna break something,) I'd say go for it.

P.S.-make sure you know what you need for drivers

Hope this helps!
Truk

[rkawakami]

The motherboard in the 4AU has the S3 Savage IX8 video chip while the 9BU has an S3 Savage IX8+ chip. What's the difference? I don't know . It appears that the video memory is the same (8MB) from the information I've seen online. I do know that the 5xx and 9xx versions of the T21 came with a different motherboard FRU than the other T21s, which have XGA screens.

I would imagine that you could swap the motherboard from the 4AU with your problem 9BU and then simply plug in your existing 900Mhz CPU and see what happens. At the moment I only have a single T21 in operating condition (a 9BU like yours) so I can't try the SXGA+ swap into an S3 Savage IX8 system.