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This page last updated
Oct 1, 2005
MP978
The MP978 was the first of several machines that all shared the same outer case and drive modules. The other machines in this string of laptops were the MP979, the MP989 plus the European-only MP999 which was PIII version of the MP989. The Micron NX was a modified MP989 and so is also in this family. Drive modules do swap in all cases.
Most later motherboards have a CMOS reset toggle switch (or jumper) which is mounted on the motherboard near the touchpad cable connector. You can clear CMOS setup data by moving this switch for a few seconds and then returning it to the original position. (Clears BIOS password too) Several MP978 motherboard revisions exist for the MP978. The use of Intel Tillamook 266 Mhz CPU's (Vcc = 1.9V) may require a special power adapter board on earlier motherboards. Later revision motherboards will support both all the Intel Socket 5 or AMD Socket seven CPU's voltages. The AMD K6-2 CPU's can run as fast as 400 MHz in many of these laptops.
The motherboards can be subdivided into two motherboard groups.
1) Earlier motherboards that came without an AMD jumper. You may be able to use an AMD CPU in these laptops but not all Vcc voltage will be available and it is possible that the early first motherboards may only support Intel CPU's.
2) AMD ready motherboards - they can use K6-2 CPU's up to 366 MHz. To achive 400 MHz with an AMD CPU you must use one that can convert a motherboard DIP switch setting for a lower multiplier into a 6Xsetting. AMD did not follow Intel's multiplier settings in some CPU's and so you can use 2X or 4X in these few CPU's to equal 6X for maximizing the MP978's speed at 66 MHz (FSB) times 6 = 400MHz. Most of the CPU's that can use this "trick" are in the 500 - 550 MHz rated range - limited to 400 MHz in the MP978.
The BIOS chip is in a socket and can be updated to add large hard drive support. (more details in hard drive section) and because the chip is in a socket it is possible to recover from a mis-flashed BIOS update without sending the laptop (or motherboard) to us. We do offer a BIOS updated service too.
Internal Modem
The internal modem is located under the palmrest on the left hand side (if installed) and the dongle passes through the palmrest (small knockout) - the dongle is very short and extremely hard to replace if damaged or lost.
hard drive is on the right side inside the metal box.
LCD's and Video Boards
The MP978 came with LCD's ranging from 12.1" to 14.1" diagonal size.
Of note: All the laptops in this case all suffer from a video flicker problem. The problem is cased by a poorly thought out video transfer board mounting design. There is a quick and simple method to restore the proper video operation before the video transfer board and/or motherboard is damaged. You need to lift the cover over the status LCD display (has the on/off switch button) and then press down on the video transfer board to reset the disrupted connectors. Please do this with the AC power removed and all batteries removed (except for CMOS backup battery)
However, stress from the video transfer board moving around will often crack the solder on the video board connectors or the motherboard mating connectors. This requires resoldering of the pins on the connectors to their board. Or you may replace the video transfer board and hope that the problem goes away. Replacement video transfer circuit board parts for these machines are in short supply. LCD inverters are also no longer available in many cases. So I will be selling both items on an exchange basis in the future.
RAM
The MP978 uses 144-pin EDO or SDRAM 3.3 volt SODIMM memory modules (RAM) and installed RAM must be all EDO or all SDRAM, with no intermixing of types. Modules of 128MB DO work in the MP978 - manuel was hopelessly out of date and so do not worry about installing larger modules. I have found a few 256 MB SDRAM modules that act as 2x128MB and so you could go to 512MB of RAM if you can find two of these expensive modules. I do have them as special order items.
RAM is located under the keyboard and is installed by opening the palmrest (the two latches on the front edge pull up) and then pulling the palmrest forward about half an inch (13 mm) and then tilting it up (like an auto's hood). Lift the keyboard up from the front side and the two memory sockets are seen on the right-hand side. Sometimes it takes some effort to get the palmrest to pull forward and the two latches are easily broken - replacemets are not available.
Batteries
The MP978 can use NiMH batteries or the optional Li Ion batteries - no modifications are necessary to use either battery type. Both have black labels. A second battery can be installed into the smaller drive bay (floppy bay) and this second battery is the same battery as the prmary battery - but it needs a special snap-on plastic cover to match the case of the MP978.
The early factory yellow label MP989 batteries do not work in the MP978, but the later production yellow label batteries (BP989)4800 mAHr battery will work in the MP978.
The CMOS battery is under the keyboard and it should be changed once a year to prevent loss of CMOS setup data. Cost is under $5.00 at most stores - battery type is CR1220.
Hard Drives
I have installed hard drives as large as 30 GB in a MP978 if you update the BIOS to the last Chicony version. Even larger drives may work, but I haven't tried them yet. The BIOS versions found in most of the MP978 laptops will limit the hard drive to 8.4GB unless you use an overlay program such as the OnTrack program. However the last BIOS produced by Chicony (version 1.27) does overcome this limit, but requires reformating ANY hard drive installed - including your existing drive. This will wipe out all data on the drive - IE clean start. So before you rush out and update your BIOS - understand that you WILL need to use FDISK to reformat the drive and you WILL lose any data stored on the drive. Make a backup of any data you need to save - data is not recoverable after you FDISK the drive. (well not unless you have deep pockets!)
Two styles of hard drive caddies exist, both are equally good.One has a plastic retainer and the other type uses a metal extention that has a screw. I can supply them in either type.
Other Drives
Floppy drives, LS120 drives and ZIP drives fit into the smaller bay. A second hard drive, in a special holder also can be installed into this smaller drive bay. A second battery can also fit into this bay and requires a special cover plate to match the case.
CD-ROM or DVD drive modules go into the larger bay.
were available in 2x and 4x DVD/CD. The DVD module works best if a Margi DVD-To-Go decoder card is installed in the ZV PCMCIA card slot. (Lower slot) This card offloads the video processing from the MP978's CPU. Video performance depends upon CPU speed without a Margi card and even the fastest CPU may still allow dropped frames. This card is necessary even with the fastest CPU's.
Note: an update to the latest video driver might also be required with Win 95 or Win 98 when you use zoom video.
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