Dell Latitude CPi-R CPU upgrade

[jkersenbr]

I've got an aging, but ever faithful Dell Latitude CPi-R P2/400. After some reading on the Dell Forums, it sounded like I should be able to upgrade as far as a P3/500 or Celeron/700 as long as I stay in the MMC-2 package.

Well, I got a P3/500 MMC-2 on fleabay and it doesn't boot up. All that happens is the battery light blinks briefly when the power button is pressed and then the whole thing goes dead until the battery is removed and reinserted. And yes, I've reassembled with my old CPU and I didn't break anything...

Are all the dudes on the Dell forums full of it? Or is the guy on fleabay that sold me a guaranteed processor full of it?

Anyone done this before? Any ideas on what to try?

 

[trungthiendo]

it might require more than just plug and play, i suggest asking for more information/walkthrough of how to install these processors and get it to work.

last resort would be to call up the dell and ask them if these are compatible...

 

[jkersenbr]

Installing the processor itself is covered in the service manual (which I have) and really isn't that hard. And one of the guys on the Dell forums that I have talked with is a Dell tech and he says they are compatible.

I'm wondering about a BIOS update before upgrading the CPU....might be trying that.

 

[buckmacuk]

Hi, as someone with a similar (CP-i D running at 266) I'd be very interested in upgrading if at all possible - the machine is in fine fettle - just a bit slow!!

Can you point me at the appropriate forums please?

TIA, regards, Chris B

 

[jkersenbr]

Buckmacuk:

Here is the Dell Latitude Upgrade Forum.

And here is Stonents Ultimate Dell Laptop Hack site. He is a current (or maybe former) Dell tech with lots of good info. However, his info on the CPi-D and CPi-R is erroneous :disgust:

Hope you have better luck than me.

 

[jkersenbr]

In case anyone tries to do this and digs up this thread looking for info, I'll add this post:

My upgrade was successful. The first CPU was defective, but I got the seller to send another and it works fine. The Latitude CPi-R 400GT can be upgraded to a Pentium 3 500. It gives a processor microcode warning on boot, but runs without issues.