Optimizing a R31

[vixgold]

Hello, I`ve just got my own thinpad R31 PIII 1.13GHz to have some fun with .


And I was wondering if anyone could help me to optimize It's performance. Those are my questions:

1- It seems that the brightness ajust doesn`t work (by the end and home function buttons). I want to lower the brightness, Does anyone knows what it could be?

2- I like to watch DVDs on it, but i think that the 730MHz minimum clock its still too high for that kind of application. Is there any way to lower it?(when i run the orthos once, it showed 532Mhz can i make it run at this clock?)

3- I woud like to undervolt the processor as it gets pretty hot when running heavy applications. Is there any way this would be possible?

4- (this is a software one) I can`t get my IBM battery information to work. I click on the icon in the thinkpad configuration manager and nothing happens. How can i get this to work ?

5- When I play grafics based aplications (Games ) The memory slot port gets REALY hot . How can i lower this temperature?


I give advande my Thanks for any help.

BTW: Its has 2 128MB RAM memory sticks, in the system it shows as 248MB . And the video graphics is an Intel 82830 integrated, with 48MB memory.

[Chris001]

Hello, I`ve just got my own thinpad R31 PIII 1.13GHz to have some fun with .




1- It seems that the brightness ajust doesn`t work (by the end and home function buttons). I want to lower the brightness, Does anyone knows what it could be?

2- I like to watch DVDs on it, but i think that the 730MHz minimum clock its still too high for that kind of application. Is there any way to lower it?(when i run the orthos once, it showed 532Mhz can i make it run at this clock?)

3- I woud like to undervolt the processor as it gets pretty hot when running heavy applications. Is there any way this would be possible?

4- (this is a software one) I can`t get my IBM battery information to work. I click on the icon in the thinkpad configuration manager and nothing happens. How can i get this to work ?

5- When I play grafics based aplications (Games ) The memory slot port gets REALY hot . How can i lower this temperature?


I give advande my Thanks for any help.

BTW: Its has 2 128MB RAM memory sticks, in the system it shows as 248MB . And the video graphics is an Intel 82830 integrated, with 48MB memory.

vixgold,

You don't mention if your laptop is running the factory software load or a clean install of Winx XP without the IBM software.

FYI - I worked on 2656-M2U R31 laptops for a long time.

First, go here an look around:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... ry=2656d5p

Second, go here and download and run the software updater 3.14:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-66956

As to your questions:

1. GO into the BIO (F1 at boot), hit F9 (restores BIOS to factory default settings), F10 (Save and exit). See if it works now.

2. It should play DVDs fine. shouldn't ave to mess around with the clock speeds.

3. Yes, they do get warm. No, you don't want to undervolt them. If you are handy with a screwdriver, check to make sure the fan assembly has a good amount of CPU grease between the fan and CPU. This model laptop had a small square patch of grease and it drys out over time. Once it is dry the CPU tends to run hot.

4. Update the IBM software. Check the battery via the Thinkpad configuration utility.

5. Get more RAM. The R31 uses the systm RAM as video RAM. Thats why you have 256MB of RAM and it only shows 248MB. The laptop reserves 8MB for video RAM to start with and as the need for video RAM increases, the laptop grabs more system RAM to use for video.

Take Care,
Chris

[vixgold]

Yeah, sorry I forgot to mention it: It has a clean win XP Pro install. There were no IBM software preloaded. Is this the cause of my problems?

I restored the factory configuration at the BIOS but it couldn`t help my brightness problem. The buttons seems to work as the green bars get lower and higher when I press them. Could it be another problem.

The thing with the DVD is that I want to maximize battery while watching.

Why wouldn`t I want to undervolt it?

The CPU gets 70C - 85C on full and about 40C on idle. Is this temperatures ok or should I change the cpu thermal cream?

I will see what I can do for the memory but 256MB serves me just good.

Thank you for the awnsers, I`m glad someone could help.

[Chris001]

There were no IBM software preloaded. Is this the cause of my problems?

Possibly. It wouldn't hurt to have the IBM drivers and software.

I restored the factory configuration at the BIOS but it couldn`t help my brightness problem. The buttons seems to work as the green bars get lower and higher when I press them. Could it be another problem.

Yes. I don't know the answer to this. Possibly it will work when you download all the updates from IBM???

The thing with the DVD is that I want to maximize battery while watching.

Check out this thread on the same subject:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... cfa2471b41

Why wouldn`t I want to undervolt it?

I don't think the IBM BIOS will let you. I don't remember the BIOS having options to do undevolting.

The CPU gets 70C - 85C on full and about 40C on idle. Is this temperatures ok or should I change the cpu thermal cream?

Sounds a bit high. I could be wrong though. Check the CPU thermal cream.

[vixgold]

Ok, I`m working on it. Thanks for all the tips.

Do you know if I can get anywhere in the internet a copy of the original IBM CD with the OS and drivers for my thinkpad? ( I know I will probably not find it but I`m just giving it a shot...)