SL410K - Fun Times Ahead!

[thealphaoverseer]

Hi everyone!
To fund the purchase of my school laptop, I (somewhat regretfully) sold my W530. Now I am using an old SL410k. Although it might not be much, it was my family's first laptop so it's special in its own way. It has a Pentium T4500, 2GB of RAM and 180GB SSD. I have just finished cleaning up the fan and heatsink system and swapped out the HDD for an SSD. Nonetheless, it's pretty miserable: https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/30238829
I don't think I'll be getting a new laptop for maybe 3 or so weeks, so does anyone have some cheap upgrade suggestions? Is the RAM DDR3L 1.6Mhz SODIMM? Is the CPU worth bothering with? Or should I just not bother?

Sent from my SL410k

[RealBlackStuff]

It needs ordinary DDR3-1066 (PC2-8500) RAM, up to 2 x 4GB = 8GB.
Don't waste any more money on it if another laptop is on its way.

[thealphaoverseer]

Hi,
I have spare RAM at home, so no money need be wasted. However, I don't know how to upgrade to a 64 bit version of Win 7 to take two 4GB sticks.

[axur-delmeria]

Hi,
I have spare RAM at home, so no money need be wasted. However, I don't know how to upgrade to a 64 bit version of Win 7 to take two 4GB sticks.

Upgrading from 32-bit to 64-bit Windows requires a complete reinstall. Wipe the HDD, boot the 64-bit installer. Of course, have backups of your important files, drivers, and installers (with product keys) before that.

[thealphaoverseer]

Oh no! It turns out that W530 RAM isn't compatible. Ah well. Do you know what the 'k' means? Is it better or worse than the standard SL series?

[thealphaoverseer]

Also, is Windows 10 possible? The user interface for Windows 7 looks terrible.

[TPFanatic]

10 will probably work, if you really want it.

Here is what an SL410K looks like. https://post.smzdm.com/p/aekzzkx3/ Still no idea what the K stands for though.

[thealphaoverseer]

Windows 10 isn't working. After selecting the installer from the boot menu, it just keeps flashing a dash in the top left corner. Do you know how this can be fixed?

[cadillacmike68]

How much RAM is in it? If you still only have 2GB and are trying to install W10 64bit, you might have issues. Or you might have a WH issue. Blinking cursor at top left is usually an indicator of an OS load issue with the HDD.

Why would the W530 RAM not work? Do both systems take DDR3 memory?

[TPFanatic]

The older memory controllers can be finnicky with RAM.

[RealBlackStuff]

W530 RAM might be too new, OP needs PC3-8500.

[cadillacmike68]

But according to Crucial PC3-12800 (or whatever) is backwards compatible:
https://www.crucial.com/support/memory- ... patability

Well, maybe not. It does not Explicitly say so like it says about DDR2 / PC2 RAM and DDR(1)

And the memory controller might be too picky. And then there is that locked / unlocked little EEPROM on the modules...

[thealphaoverseer]

Hi,
I have DDR3L RAM on my W530, not DDR3. So I guess it's not compatible.

[TPFanatic]

Sharing my experience:

I have successfully ran 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB sticks of PC3 8500s, PC3 10600s, and PC3 12800s in my Montevina laptops, which use the PM45 memory controller, and Arrandale laptops which use a similarly outdated memory controller. Regardless of the stick's capability, they all run at 1066 mhz (PC3 8500s). Higher capacity (2GB, 4GB) PC3 10600s and PC3 12800s are more plentiful than PC3 8500s, so most of my sticks in use are those. Most of my PC3 8500s are single 1GB sticks which should just be given to the metal recycler as they are not even worth their weight in gold.

Some of my T500s complain about using certain single rank (1rx8) 2GB PC3 10600s sticks while my other T500s use the same sticks just fine.

The only incompatibility I can reliably recreate is trying to use single rank (1rx8) 4GB sticks in a Montevina or Arrandale computer. The memory controllers refuse to use them. Most 4GB PC3 12800s and I think maybe all PC3L 12800s 4GB sticks are single rank (1rx8), however some examples of the former exist in dual rank (2rx8) and I've used them successfully to upgrade T500s to 8GB of RAM.

Sandy Bridge and up don't care if it's 1rx8 or 2rx8, PC3 or PC3L, they're happy. Only Ivy Bridge and up takes advantage of PC3L though.

I'm not sure about Sandy Bridge, but Ivy Bridge machines will refuse to use PC3 8500s.

[axur-delmeria]

I'm not sure about Sandy Bridge, but Ivy Bridge machines will refuse to use PC3 8500s.

PC3 8500 works on Sandy Bridge just fine. I've used a few 1GB and 2GB PC3 8500 sticks on our family's X220's.

[thealphaoverseer]

Hi everyone!
My wifi is dropping out randomly. Strangely, it doesn't drop out during continuous usage, such as multiplayer online games, however, sometimes when web browsing, when it require internet connection every now and then. I have a centrino wireless - n 1000. Should I replace the wifi card or is it a driver issue?

[TPFanatic]

That's a pretty basic wireless card, it should work but it's not uncommon for any card to develop issues.

Replacing a wireless card can be a bit of a hassle because unless it's a specific Lenovo FRU of a few specific models, the stock BIOS won't accept it. I'd imagine by this point Lenovo was using Intel 6200 and Intel 6300 cards but I don't actually know. The HMM might be helpful.

If you can find a "no whitelist" mod BIOS for SL410 then you can throw in just about any wireless card.

[RealBlackStuff]

BIOS with Slic2.1 and whitelist removed, check the last post here: https://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thread- ... val-Solved
Pay attention to this:

Modified Bios:

$0A6J000.FL1 - for PC with bios ID TP-6J
$0A8K000.FL1 for PC with bios ID TP-8K

That BIOS also works on an SL410. (forget about that silly K)

[thealphaoverseer]

Thanks! So the wireless card does require replacing after all? Which one should I get?

[RealBlackStuff]

- Intel 6300N, up to 450 Mbps (can use it, even if you only have 2 antenna wires)
- Intel AC-7260, up to 867 Mbps
However, I wouldn't spend anything on that SL heap, unless you can also use those parts in another machine.

[thealphaoverseer]

Ok, I probably won't buy anything. Would an ethernet cable work?

[RealBlackStuff]

Yup.

[cadillacmike68]

Hi,
I have DDR3L RAM on my W530, not DDR3. So I guess it's not compatible.

Well, geez, I might be screwed too. I took out 2 4GGB PC3L 12800S modules from my W530 hoping to use them in my T500 machines which have PC3 8500S modules.

So the PC3L modules cannot be used in a system that takes PC3 (without the "L")??

[TPFanatic]

No that's not true. Sandy Bridge systems use PC3L just fine although they don't take advantage of the power savings, as they run it at 1.5V like regular RAM.

What determines if the 4GB sticks will work in older systems (Arrandale and Montevina) is whether they are 2rx8 or 1rx8. They'll accept 2rx8 but not 1rx8 4GB sticks. PC3L I don't think has anything to do with it, except that PC3L is commonly found in the 1rx8 format.

Here is a picture of a 4GB 2rx8 PC3L-12800S. I bet this would work in a T500.

[cadillacmike68]

The two I have are Samsung, but they don't say 2xr8 or 1xr8. 4 chips on each side. They are Lenovo FRU # 03X6561.

[Screamer]

4 RAM chips on each side of the module, would roughly translate to 2Rx16 (1 rank = 4 RAM chips, unlikely) or 1Rx8 (1 rank = 8 RAM chips, very likely).

That would be exactly eight 512 MB RAM chips in either case, which would mean that it cannot be used in your T500. After all, nearly every memory controller made for the Core 2 microarchitecture, were all restricted to 256 MB chips as the highest possible density. The only exception to this, were the workstation/server memory controllers (but they typically make use of DDR2, not DDR3 modules).

[ThreeIguanasPerSecond]

it has to be 1Rx8, it can't be 2Rx8 or 2Rx16. i'm positive 4 GiB DDR3(L) SO-DIMMs never had a 2Rx16 configuration either, that's just stupid and nonsensical.

[TPFanatic]

Well, in my last post I linked an image of a 2rx8 PC3L 12800s 4GB. They do exist.

4 chips on each side is 1rx8.

8 chips on each side is 2rx8.

This is not hard.

[thealphaoverseer]

Yay! I swapped the Pentium out for a Core 2 Duo T9600, which came in the mail today. Much faster! I've heard of ways to further improve a CPU's performance - undervolting and overclocking. Apparently, the latter requires a modified bios, or something similar. Can someone explain these two techniques in further detail please? Thanks!

[axur-delmeria]

Undervolting is not done to improve performance-- it's to reduce power consumption and lower the CPU temperature.