Upgrade tale - long

[cpn]

Well I now have an A31 that should last me a few more years. I started with a 2652-PBU. 2.0 CPU, 512MB ram, 40GB HD. This is what I have done.

1. Upgraded CPU to 2.4
2. Added built-in WIFI antenna
3. Added USB 2.0 card.
4. Upgraded memory to 1GB
5. Upgraded HD to 7K100 80GB HD
6. Added Intel 2915 mini-pci WIFI card
7. Replaced modem CDC with Bluetooth/modem CDC.

I started with the CPU, because I got a good deal on it. It came from a local dealer that had a DELL C640 coming off lease because of a dead IDE port on the MB. I paid him $50 and my 2.0 CPU for it. I decided that since I was to have my laptop apart to put in the CPU that I would put in the WIFI antennas at the same time. So I ordered those from a parts place that had them fairly cheap. I downloaded the HMM and printed it. (No use having it on line if your PC is taken apart!) I also printed the pages from that link someone had posted in the past that shows the step by step instructions to install the antennas. So I took everything apart following the instructions and blew out the dust while I was at it. I Installed the antennas and then swapped the CPU. The only mistake I made was with the CPU. I put too much heat sink compound on it and it would start heating up quickly. I finally got that fixed and I was up and running with the 2.4 and ready for the future with the WIFI. I next upgraded the RAM to 1 GB. I went with 1 as I already had just a single 512 module and I didn't want to buy 2 pieces. I then bought an Apricon USB 2.0 card. I believe the IBM USB 2.0 card is the same card, just "re-branded". I like this card for a few reasons. First, it uses a dongle instead of a expanded end piece. This allowed me to use it at the same time with my then current Motorola WIFI card. The 2nd reason I like this card is that it has a 500ma port that I can plug my little 2.5inch USB drive into without using any other power source. Which was the main reason I bought the card. USB 1.1 and HD's are a Sloooow combination.

That was last year and was all I could afford for the moment. I also wasn't sure how long I would keep the laptop.

This year I decided there wasn't anything I was going to find to match my A31 and since MS was going to support XP until at least 2014, I decided to do a few more upgrades.

I started with the HD first. I got a 7K100 80GB and replaced my 40GB model. I don't use Rescue and Recovery, but instead I borrowed a 320GB USB drive and used MS's ASR backup instead. This does a full backup and creates a floppy disk with info needed to re-create the disk partitions and drivers. This went off without a hitch. Since I didn't have the recovery partition, it even extended the C drive to use the extra space when it created it on the new HD. It ended up taking me about 3.5 hours total between the backup and restore/rebuild to the new drive. I highly recommend this method.

I next bought an OEM Intel 2915 card. This was not the IBM part number, so I assumed I would need the no1802 program and I was right. That went off without a hitch and with the built-in antennas I see a lot more access points in my neighborhood then with my old Motorola PCMCIA card. I saw my friends Logitech Bluetooth mouse and decided I wanted one of them. So that meant I needed to add Bluetooth, and since I hate things hanging out the side I knew I needed to replace my CDC instead. I went looking for the either the 91P7319 or 93P3471 BMDC200B. I find instead the 27R1880. I see a picture and the module says it's a 200b, So I take a chance and buy it. It cames with an antenna also, not an A31 version but something I could stuff inside. So it comes and I install it and of course nothing happens. I start to think maybe I screwed up getting the 27R1880. So I go looking on the site here for some help and I get a few things to try. It's obvious I have to turn on the radio for it to be seen by the system. This is an A31 so the FN-F5 keystroke isn't going to work. I find out that the A31p's have a little button on the clear plate to turn on their radio, and I am thinking at this point that I may have to get a new inverter. Instead I find a post about using a program from access connections to turn it on instead. So I bite the bullet and download and install AC 3.83 (or whatever the last 3 version was) I find the tpfnf5.exe program and run it and lo and behold my bluetooth is seen and I am able to turn on the radio. Once I do that I am able to use the MS drivers and attach my mouse. Next was the bad news. It doesn't remember the setting through a boot, so at the login screen it's not turned on. I found a post about using the acfnf5.exe file instead and that ot supports command line options like /BTON. I figure out that that version comes with the 4.x AC so I download and install that instead. Now I was able to create a shortcut on my desktop to turn on the BT, but still nothing at the login prompt. I next found a post about using gpedit and setting a machine "Startup" script that runs at boot. I was able to add the acfnf5.exe /BTON to that and now I have a mouse at boot. That got me to thinking about using a button to also turn off and on the BT. So I downloaded and installed the web key agent software. There is only one of those key's that allows an executable and that is the top one labeled for mail. I changed that to run acfnf5.exe and now I have a button equivalent of FN-F5.

My machine is now at a point where I shouldn't have to upgrade it anytime in the future. Since it is a 15" XGA screen it only has 16MB video ram. I doubt I will even try to run Vista on it. So until they pry it from my hands, this will be my machine for the next 3-4 years.

Thanks for reading, and hopefully by my posting this someone will get some useful info for their own upgrades.

Craig

[dwhatfield]

Good job!

They sure get dirty on the inside, don't they? When I pulled apart my A31p to do my upgrades, I was amazed at the amount of dust, dustballs, etc. that had found their way inside.

I'm going to find one of those USB cards...I have one, but it will not power my two 2.5' portable hard drives. From what I have read about yours, it sounds like it will.