Ice-Tea Posted March 15, 2006 Report Share Posted March 15, 2006 (edited) Hello all, As some of you may remember, I have been trying to break open the MXM market, and I am happy to report that I have ordered two MXM samples. 1 x 6600 128MB Type I 1 x 6600 256MB Type II I am looking for a person to test them. So this is a call to a arms for someone who... * Has a x600SE or 6200, MXM based laptop * Is well respected in this community (feedback from other members appreciated) * Is knowledgeable over a wide range of computer topics. * Who isn't scared to play around with different settings/drivers/bioses. * Who is handy enough to open and close his laptop. * WHO UNDERSTANDS THAT HE IS ACTING ON HIS OWN RESPONSABILITY. Such a person can drop me a line at xxx The deal that I propose is the following... * I send the MXM card of his choice, free of charge. * At his own risk, the person installs the card in his laptop. * The person documents the entire process, both verbally and with pictures, every step he takes, be it software, mechanical, ... 3Dmark scores before and after.All picture should be transferred to me and will be used as I please. * If no immediate succes is booked, the person is willing to work together with me to find an answer and solution. Upon completion of this task, the tester is left with two options: return the card or buy it. In case you buy it, the price will be 100?, which will burn a hughe hole in my pocket. To compensate, the original card is returned to me. Any takers? Please be kind enough to post your application in this thread, so your peers may review it. Kind regards, Ice-Tea MXM Upgrade Edited July 11, 2007 by Ice-Tea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice-Tea Posted March 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2006 The Type I card has been promised. The Type II card is still available (or at least when I get it myself) but is no longer offered under evaluation. In case someone wants to test it according to the above described procedure: I am willing to offer a sharp price, but this time as a purchase, not as an evaluation with purchase option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest perlsite Posted March 15, 2006 Report Share Posted March 15, 2006 I've just bought a Toshiba Tecra S3 with Go 6600 (with 128 mb). I don't know which type it is, but I hope you guys will succeed with test and we could see in future a lot of MxM cards on reasonable prices :) :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice-Tea Posted March 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2006 I've just bought a Toshiba Tecra S3 with Go 6600 (with 128 mb). I don't know which type it is, but I hope you guys will succeed with test and we could see in future a lot of MxM cards on reasonable prices :) :) Hi Perlsite, I went to CEBIT Tuesday, and I was told by the nice people at the Toshiba boot that the S3 is not MXM. In fact, according to him, there are no MXM 's in Toshiba's product range. Sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted March 17, 2006 Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 what notebooks currently offer mxm? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice-Tea Posted March 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 what notebooks currently offer mxm? You can find the table right here. It's been updated with CEBIT info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted March 17, 2006 Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Just want to give my support to this awesome thread! I have an amilo3438g so im looking forward to updating the graphics card soon (this isnt an app cos no way do i fulfil the requirements :) ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice-Tea Posted March 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Just want to give my support to this awesome thread! I have an amilo3438g so im looking forward to updating the graphics card soon (this isnt an app cos no way do i fulfil the requirements :) ) Well, FSC has announced a x1800, so one day... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest perlsite Posted March 17, 2006 Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Hm.. before week I had Fujitsu-Siemens AMILO M1437G, but I'm not sure that it is MXM compatible. I didn't had chance to verify it, because it has some defects (that's why I returned and bought Toshiba Tecra). But I have a copy of my FSC BIOS.. so I can take a look on it for any signs... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice-Tea Posted March 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 (edited) Hm.. before week I had Fujitsu-Siemens AMILO M1437G, but I'm not sure that it is MXM compatible. I didn't had chance to verify it, because it has some defects (that's why I returned and bought Toshiba Tecra). But I have a copy of my FSC BIOS.. so I can take a look on it for any signs... I have the vbios of a 1439. It says MXM. The 14391437 should also be MXM. Edited March 17, 2006 by ®®® Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest perlsite Posted March 17, 2006 Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 I've checked my copy of BIOS, but I wasn't able to find anything related to MXM. Please send me a copy of your BIOS with MXM.. I would to check some things...! perlsite ^at^ mail.bg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice-Tea Posted March 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 I've checked my copy of BIOS, but I wasn't able to find anything related to MXM.Please send me a copy of your BIOS with MXM.. I would to check some things...! perlsite ^at^ mail.bg Emailed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted March 19, 2006 Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 Thank's for the e-mail. This Video BIOS is very interesting :) :P Here is what I found in .rom file when I've searched for some binary data: 0000d413h: 66 60 32 D2 E8 BE DB 72 16 80 E1 03 80 F9 03 75 0000d423h: 0E B8 80 5F B3 01 CD 15 If I use one of my favourite tools :) D:\WINDOWS>debug -a 0B96:0100 db 66,60,32,D2,E8,BE,DB,72,16,80,E1,03,80,F9,03,75 0B96:0110 db 0E,B8,80,5F,B3,01,CD,15 0B96:0118 -u 100 0B96:0100 66 DB 66 0B96:0101 60 DB 60 0B96:0102 32D2 XOR DL,DL 0B96:0104 E8BEDB CALL DCC5 0B96:0107 7216 JB 011F 0B96:0109 80E103 AND CL,03 0B96:010C 80F903 CMP CL,03 0B96:010F 750E JNZ 011F 0B96:0111 B8805F MOV AX,5F80 0B96:0114 B301 MOV BL,01 0B96:0116 CD15 INT 15 I.e. above machine code can be converted into assembler code... and guess what :( ..it contain calling to MXM function 1: Function 1 ? Return a Pointer to the MXM StructureThis function will return a pointer to the MXM structure, which is stored in the system BIOS ROM area or some other memory location which is accessible in real mode during video POST. Entry: AX = 5F80h BL = 01h Return: AX = 005Fh to indicate that the system bios supports this function ES:DI = Pointer to the MXM structure in real mode memory (< 1MB) This is definetely MXM video BIOS :( and we can be sure that we can detect MXM using for example this MXM function! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teraphy Posted March 19, 2006 Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 Anything about function 0? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest perlsite Posted March 19, 2006 Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 Yes :) Look at this sample: 0000afe0h: 0F B8 80 5F B3 00 CD 15 83 F8 5F 75 03 F8 EB 01 D:\WINDOWS>debug -a 0B96:0100 db 0F,B8,80,5F,B3,00,CD,15,83,F8,5F,75,03,F8,EB,01 0B96:0110 -u 0B96:0100 0F DB 0F 0B96:0101 B8805F MOV AX,5F80 0B96:0104 B300 MOV BL,00 0B96:0106 CD15 INT 15 Of course we can't search directly for binary match because this code can look different on different VBIOS manufatures, but we can check for MXM using 15h interrup.. at least this will work 100% under pure DOS. To run this directly under Windows we will need VXD-like driver... and I don't know which will write such thing :) So unless it will work under DOS.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teraphy Posted March 19, 2006 Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 Nice, I've never really explored debug. This is interesting :) 0F DB 0F B8805F MOV AX,5F80 B300 MOV BL,00 CD15 INT 15 83F85F CMP AX,+5F 7503 JNZ 0110 F8 CLC EB01 JMP 0111 0000 ADD [bX+SI],AL 0000 ADD [bX+SI],AL 0000 ADD [bX+SI],AL 0000 ADD [bX+SI],AL 0000 ADD [bX+SI],AL 0000 ADD [bX+SI],AL 3400 XOR AL,00 96 XCHG SI,AX 1300 ADC AX,[bX+SI] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice-Tea Posted March 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 (edited) Of course we can't search directly for binary match because this code can look different on different VBIOS manufatures, but we can check for MXM using 15h interrup.. at least this will work 100% under pure DOS.To run this directly under Windows we will need VXD-like driver... and I don't know which will write such thing :) So unless it will work under DOS.. :) Yay! But it would work when booting from a DOS disk/key, right? Also: got a ATI bios here, too. Any takers? Edited March 19, 2006 by Ice-Tea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
®®® Posted March 19, 2006 Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 Mavke was able to correctly dump VideoBIOS without need of booting to DOS, maybe he can help out. Don't know if he's able to code a .SYS (VXD was used in Win 95/98 times) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Perlsite Posted March 19, 2006 Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 Ice-Tea: Send it to me and yes MXM should be detected under DOS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teraphy Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 Mavke does have a sys. Though it was the ATITool guy that helped him get the BIOS. :) I don't know about SYS files either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n4v1n Posted April 1, 2006 Report Share Posted April 1, 2006 The reps at cebit dont have a clue as to what types of mxm modules are in a notebook, or for that atter, anything beyond what they have been briefed on, in 80% of cases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoomy942 Posted April 4, 2006 Report Share Posted April 4, 2006 howdy! i currently have an MXM 6600 128MB in my particular KN1-PM. I'd be more than happy to help you out as I would LOVE a breakout company in the MXM market! email me at pzimmerman@tng-boi.com if i can help at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitetigerx7 Posted April 8, 2006 Report Share Posted April 8, 2006 I have a MXM Type-II in my Alienware Area-51 m5500. I'd love to be able to upgrade to a Generic 256mb 6600 MXM sometime. You open a market here in the states and you'll get a lot of customers including me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice-Tea Posted April 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2006 Hi There, Tanks a lot for the kind words! We have decided not to ship a 6600 256MB for a rather trivial upgrade such as 128MB -> 256MB We'd prefer x600 -> 6600 or 6200 ->6600. That said: no worries, your time will come. The new gen cards have been announced and I should be getting them relatively soon. That gives me a bit time to set up a way to ship to the US. Small warning in advance: if and when I ship to the US it won't be cheap. You guys are pretty pampered with your HW prices, the dollar is pretty low and shipping costs an enormous amount of money. But stay tuned :) Ice-Tea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoomy942 Posted April 12, 2006 Report Share Posted April 12, 2006 ill pay whatever is needed to help mxm's get into the consumer market more than the curent state of them. it sickens me that they tout it as an upgradable interface and then make it so impossible for us to utilize them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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