Mitac 6120

Mitac 6120

The Mitac 6120 was resold by quite a few resellers. Most if not all resellers had their own name for this laptop, but most 6120 laptops should also have a Mitac label hidden under the slide off status LED panel.

Three sub-models of the 6120 exist:

6120

6120L

6120N

1) The original 6120 has 2MB video memory and is limited to using 466 MHz (or slower) Socket 370 Celeron CPU's. (Mitac clained only 433 MHz)

2) The updated 6120L which had nearly the same spec's as the 6120 except it had 4 MB of video RAM.

Note: One owner of a 6120L has told me that his "L" works well with a 500 MHz Celeron, so the CPU limits for 6120L may need some additional testing by me. Maybe any 66 MHz FSB CPU will run? Maybe Celerons only? (No P3's)

3) The 6120N which has 8 MB of video RAM and can use faster 100 Mhz FSB Socket 370 CPU's. The 6120N can support CPU's up to 850 MHz (Per Mitac) vs. the earlier 6120 or 6120L limits of 466 Mhz. This 6120N is nearly the same, in many respects, as the early version of the 7521 model.

If your 6120N came with a CPU that was less than 600 MHz when purchased then you may need to replace the CPU heatsink/fan assembly with the "greater than 600MHz" assembly. The major difference, that I can see, in these two heatsink assemblies appears to be the use of a copper plate surface vs. a thermal pad for conducting the heat out of the higher speed (higher heat output too) CPU's.

If you can't determine your 6120 sub-model type by looking at the OEM label on the lower case (often the case in laptops sold by companies such as AMS Tech) then you will need to release the plastic status LED panel and look for the Mitac label that's hidden under there. Press the release retainer on the right side (rear) to release this panel and slide panel towards the left to release. The panel should be able to be removed after a small amount of travel. There should be a white paper label (about 1" x 1/2") with a long string of digits and the first few digits will be 6120, 6120L or 6120N with some extra letters and numbers mixed in.

If you lift up the keyboard from the rear edge, after removing the above panel, you will find the two expansion memory module slots. All versions of the 6120 uses standard 144 pin SODIMM SDRAM modules. Earlier machines (6120, 6120L) need only PC66 modules, but the later 6120H may require PC100 modules. Max memory is 512 MB, I believe. More details as I learn more.

Sometimes you will need to update the BIOS to update to a faster CPU , however any Mitac BIOS update presents problems in getting the correct BIOS version plus flashing the chip correctly. If you screw up the BIOS update you will have major problems since the BIOS chip is soldered to the motherboard and can't be pulled and sent out for reflashing. At that point the laptop is dead unless you can use the Mitac emergency reflash device to restore a dead BIOS machine. Faster CPU's produce more heat than the original Socket 370 CPU's that first shipped in these machines. So Mitac introduced a second CPU heatsink assembly to cool the faster chips. You must use this newer heatsink if you upgrade the CPU to faster than 600 MHz. Note: This newer heatsink/fan unit can be used with the slower CPU's also.

Note also that the 6120 also has a programmable keyboard controller (for use with the many different country keyboards) and so the keyboard controller has its own BIOS. Again, reflashing to a newer version can cause problems because the keyboard controler is also soldered to the mainboard.

There is a CMOS backup battery located in a socket near the CPU. To replace this battery you must remove the heatsink assembly and then you can pry the CMOS battery out of its socket - do not try to pry the socket from the motherboard! This battery is a few dollar item at most electronics parts stores.

Most of these machines have 14.1" LCD's, but both 14.1" TFT and 13.3" TFT LCD sizes were available.

Several different LCD cables exist for the 14.1" LCDs and there's two different connectors that may be found on the motherboard - one for each style of cable. Some motherboards have just one one or the other connector and not both connectors. So be sure to know what cable you need before you order one. The 14.1" LCD inverter is no longer available from the factory, but in most cases I can repair your old inverter.

The floppy drive module is held in place by a single screw in the bottom side of the main case. The hard drive carrier is also part of the floppy drive module. So if you wish to update the hard drive - remove the floppy module to find the hard drive.

The CD-ROM or DVD drive module is also removed via a single screw on the lower side of the main case. If you aren't worried about plastic faceplate color then you can buy a black face DVD or CD-RW/DVD Combo drive that has the same faceplate size and install in place of a CD-ROM drive. Cost for factory Combo or DVD drives is a problem because the module cost is high if ordered from Mitac and used black faceplate drive modules are available.

Located on the bottom of the laptop are two removable plastic panels. The larger panel is the CPU fan cover plate. Two screw hold this panel in place and after removing them, you need to slide the panel towards the backside of the laptop to release several retainer fingers. The smaller panel is for the optional modem. A single screw holds this panel in place. I do not know if new modems are still available from Mitac.