Acer Aspire 3620 Phoenix BIOS update

[tinkering]

This is my first post on bios-mods. I am not sure which forum I should use. Please feel free to move my thread to the appropriate forum.

When I run Everest on my Acer Aspire 3620 laptop, it says, "Problem No CPU L2 cache found. This may cause performance penalty." CPUz does not indicate any L2 Cache either. There should be 2 M of L2 Cache on this laptop.

I replaced the original Celeron M 1.6 GHz CPU with a Pentium M 1.8 GHz, hoping that the missing L2 Cache problem was inside the original CPU. The problem still exists with the replacement CPU.

I then wondered if the problem might be in the motherboard. Now I am wondering if the problem could be the BIOS. I ran the BiosAgent online scan which indicated there was a BIOS update available. I went to the Acer site but found only the original BIOS (Phoenix V1.06) which is for XP 32 bit. I am running Windows 7 32 bit.

I went to the Phoenix site to see if I could find this BIOS update but I was directed by a link back to the BiosAgent site.

Could my L2 Cache problem be the BIOS?
Where do I find this BIOS update (that BiosAgent refers to)?
How do I go about updating this BIOS?
Would unlocking the current BIOS help? I have never unlocked a BIOS; I don't know much about it.

Acer Aspire 3620
Intel Pentium M 745
Dothan
Socket 479 mPGA
Intel® Pentium® M Processor 1.8 GHz
L1 Cache Data 32 KB
L1 Cache Inst. 32 KB
L2 Cache 2 MB
2 GB DDR2 RAM
Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 32-bit
Service Pack 1

[Sml6397]

Hello tinkering,

I do not have too much experience in the area of this problem, but I would trust the Acer site over BIOS Agent. BIOS Agent can be a very useful service, especially for very old computers, but with BIOS upgrades for newer computers, you need to be careful.

I am going to move this thread to the "CPU Support Upgrades" forum where it can get help from people who deal with CPU Upgrades.

I will ask this question though. When you first turn on your notebook, could you press the key that takes you to the BIOS menu (This should be "F2" but it can could also be "Del" "F10" "F1" etc.)? Right before it takes you into the BIOS menu, it will display a screen of text telling you about your system. This text should contain CPU Cache information. Take a picture of this screen (you will have about 2-3 seconds to take the picture). This may tell you if CPU-z is somehow wrong. This is just my input. I am sure that people from the CPU Support forum will be able to better answer this issue.

You may also need to post a link to your BIOS.

~Steven

This is my first post on bios-mods. I am not sure which forum I should use. Please feel free to move my thread to the appropriate forum.

When I run Everest on my Acer Aspire 3620 laptop, it says, "Problem No CPU L2 cache found. This may cause performance penalty." CPUz does not indicate any L2 Cache either. There should be 2 M of L2 Cache on this laptop.

I replaced the original Celeron M 1.6 GHz CPU with a Pentium M 1.8 GHz, hoping that the missing L2 Cache problem was inside the original CPU. The problem still exists with the replacement CPU.

I then wondered if the problem might be in the motherboard. Now I am wondering if the problem could be the BIOS. I ran the BiosAgent online scan which indicated there was a BIOS update available. I went to the Acer site but found only the original BIOS (Phoenix V1.06) which is for XP 32 bit. I am running Windows 7 32 bit.

I went to the Phoenix site to see if I could find this BIOS update but I was directed by a link back to the BiosAgent site.

Could my L2 Cache problem be the BIOS?
Where do I find this BIOS update (that BiosAgent refers to)?
How do I go about updating this BIOS?
Would unlocking the current BIOS help? I have never unlocked a BIOS; I don't know much about it.

Acer Aspire 3620
Pentium M 1.8 GHz CPU
L1 Cache Data 32 KB
L1 Cache Inst. 32 KB
L2 Cache 2 MB
2 GB DDR2 RAM
Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 32-bit
Service Pack 1

[tinkering]

I will ask this question though. When you first turn on your notebook, could you press the key that takes you to the BIOS menu (This should be "F2" but it can could also be "Del" "F10" "F1" etc.)? Right before it takes you into the BIOS menu, it will display a screen of text telling you about your system. This text should contain CPU Cache information. Take a picture of this screen (you will have about 2-3 seconds to take the picture). This may tell you if CPU-z is somehow wrong. This is just my input. I am sure that people from the CPU Support forum will be able to better answer this issue.

You may also need to post a link to your BIOS.

~Steven


I'm glad I didn't cough up the $30 for the BiosAgent instant upgrades; the last thing I need to buy is a $30 brick.
There is no quick info screen just before I get into BIOS Setup via F2 but I went into Setup and disabled 'Quiet Boot'; then on boot up I get that quick info page instead of the 'Logo Screen'. That's good but I don't see any L2 Cache info on there (I don't have a camera here to snap a shot for you).

Acer Aspire 3620
Intel Pentium M 745
Dothan
Socket 479 mPGA
Intel® Pentium® M Processor 1.8 GHz
L1 Cache Data 32 KB
L1 Cache Inst. 32 KB
L2 Cache 2 MB
2 GB DDR2 RAM
Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 32-bit
Service Pack 1

[/quote]

[Sml6397]

Could you post the exact model of the CPU currently in your computer please? This would help people to provide you with more help.

[tinkering]

Here is the link to my BIOS:
http://global-download.acer.com/GDFiles/BIOS/BIOS/BIOS_v1.06.zip?acerid=633643232574019506&Step1=NOTEBOOK&Step2=ASPIRE&Step3=ASPIRE%203620&OS=ALL&LC=en&BC=ACER&SC=PA_6

[Sml6397]

Hello tinkering,

The link leads to the driver download page. I need the page for your exact BIOS version.

To post a link quickly, do the following:

1.) Go to the BIOS download page for your specific BIOS image.
2.) Select all of the text in the URL/Address bar of your web browser.
3.) Right click it and select "Copy".
4.) Go to bios-mods and make a new reply.
5.) Right click someplace within the reply area and select "paste". This will paste the full link address.

---

Never mind. I found the download link for your BIOS. I will take a look at it to see if there is anything that I can do to help you.

Here is the download link for your BIOS: http://global-download.acer.com/GDFiles/BIOS/BIOS/BIOS_v1.06.zip?acerid=633643232574019506&Step1=NOTEBOOK&Step2=ASPIRE&Step3=ASPIRE%203620&OS=ALL&LC=en&BC=ACER&SC=PA_6

I figured out why you were not able to post a direct link. You must right click the text that says "download", where you would click to download the BIOS image.

[tinkering]

Could you post the exact model of the CPU currently in your computer please? This would help people to provide you with more help.

Intel Pentium M 745
Dothan
Socket 479 mPGA
Intel® Pentium® M Processor 1.8 GHz

---

I figured out why you were not able to post a direct link. You must right click the text that says "download", where you would click to download the BIOS image.

Thanks. I entered the corrected link now.

[Sml6397]

Hello tinkering,

I was unable to find any BIOS options that could help to solve this issue. I am going to leave it to the CPU Support forum modders to help you as this exceeds my current knowledge.


~Steven

[tinkering]

Hello tinkering,

I was unable to find any BIOS options that could help to solve this issue. I am going to leave it to the CPU Support forum modders to help you as this exceeds my current knowledge.


~Steven

Thanks for that Steven. I am awaiting their input.