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Full Version: Help with Acer Aspire 1640 battery support for Vista/7 (links for existing mods)
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I have an Acer Aspire 1680 with a modded BIOS where the battery was changed from "Smart Battery" to "Control Method Battery". This mod was made by Geert Jan Laanstra, and he posted it on his own web page, along with practically all the instructions and tools. The purpose of his mod is to allow the battery to be seen by Windows Vista/7.

I would like to do the same to an Acer Aspire 1640 BIOS, the problem is that I don't know jack about modding BIOS. I tried to follow his instructions, but when I got to step 4 where I needed to modify ACPI0.ASL by comparing 2 ACPI0.ASL from another original and modded BIOS, I didn't even know where to begin with. I tried emailing him some days ago, but he hasn't replied. Maybe he doesn't check this e-mail anymore (page was last updated 4 years ago). He based his mod on a similar mod for a Toshiba L10 BIOS that I can't find anywhere, but his mods should be "easy" to follow for those with more expertise.

There is also another step in case the BIOS doesn't correctly report the battery level, but that can be done later (it needs a HOLE2/3.ROM file from a similar laptop with the same platform/architecture and Vista/7 battery support, meaning I might need to do a scavenger hunt for service manuals...).

Acer Aspire 1680, Travelmate 4000/4500 original and modded BIOS (ATI)
Acer Aspire 1680, Travelmate 4000/4500 original and modded BIOS (Intel)
Acer Travelmate 2300 original and modded BIOS (Intel)

Acer Aspire 1640 original BIOS (3A06, Intel), this is the one I would like to mod.

There is also a "newer" BIOS for Acer Aspire 1640 supposedly for Vista (3B05), but it only removed the 64MB option video memory option from the 64MB/128MB/MaxDVMT list, and I couldn't boot from my Kingston USB pens with it. Oh, and the battery still wasn't detected...

Please, please help me!
Just found a ATAPI->HDD sATA caddy so now I can replace the old IDE HDD for a newer sATA model. All it's missing now is the battery mod so I can fully upgrade the outdated laptop to Windows 7. Can anyone help with the battery mod? I know how to recover from brick in case of failure, so feel free to try Wink