A few people have asked me about memory upgrades for the webbook, it comes with 512MB of RAM which isn’t bad when running Ubuntu, but some people (me for example) just can’t leave things alone and want to shovel in as much RAM as will fit. So this begs the question, “how much RAM will fit?” so I did some research to find out.
It turns out that the webbook has a single SO-DIMM slot in the little compartment on the base of the webbook, below the touchpad. The module it is fitted with is a 512MB 200pin SODIMM DDR2 PC-4200. Breaking this down, 512MB is the capacity of the module, half a gigabyte. It is a 200pin SODIMM which is the shape of the package and the number of little copper connectors (you don’t have to count them all). SODIMM modules can be DDR and DDR2 and the little notch is slightly different on each so you can’t fit the wrong type. You want DDR2 for the webbook. PC2-4200 relates to the speed of the memory. You can fit faster memory which might be labled PC2-5200 or PC2-6400 however the speed is limited by something called the frontside bus so the webbook will just treat it as PC2-4200. I tested a 1 GB PC2-5200 module but the memtest86 benchmark showed it running at the same speed as the original PC-4200 module. I have a 2GB module on order, which is apparently the maximum the webbook will support, but I am not sure if that is just because there don’t appear to be any 4GB SODIMM modules available yet.
RAM can be delicate so if you are going to change the memory first find a sensible place to work with no dust and no obvious sources of static. Unplug the webbook from the power and take out the battery, then just undo the two screws holding the RAM compartment shut. Carefully push out the shiny catches at each side then the RAM module will pop up. You can then slide it out. Pop in the new module and push it down against the springs until it clips into place. Don’t force it, if it doesn’t want to go then check that it is fully inserted. If the notch doesn’t seem to be in the right place then you have a DDR module which won’t work.
Once your memory is in, put the cover on and screw it back together, refit the battery and switch on. After the bios hit escape to get to the Grub menu. From here you should see the Memtest86 option. Go down and select that and let it test your memory. Let it run until your boredom threshold is reached and if there are no errors then hit escape to turn off and then you can boot up normally. If you do find an error then just send the memory back.
| Brand | Spec | Tested by | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Novatec | 1GB PC2-5300 | Alan Bell |  Works fine |
| Dane Elec (via eBay) | 2GB PC2-5300 | Craig Jump |  Graphics corruption (the graphics card shares 64MB of main memory) |
| Crucial | 1GB 200PIN DDR2 SODIMM 128MX64 PC2-5300 | Jonathan Kay | Works fine |
| Corsair | 2GB Corsair Value Select, DDR2 SO-DIMM PC2-5300 (667), 200 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5 | Stuart Taylor | only one GB recognised and used |
| Crucial | 2GB, DDR2 SO-DIMM PC2-4200, 200 Pin | Alan Bell | only one GB recognised and used |
how can i test if my web book is using its full memory? i have installed a 1gb module in it but when i have tried playing games sometimes it says there isnt enough memory available to create a new game, does this mean the ram or the hard drive memory, there is still lots of hard drive memory available? my web book has xp on it
I think if you look at the properties of my computer Windows usually tells you how much memory it can see. You could also have a play with the virtual memory settings, I think they are one one of the tabs of the My Computer properties dialog.
As Kevin has, I’ve finally got around to upgrading with the Kingston Value RAM. Works flawlessly.
On a side note its reassuring to have pulled some Samsung branded RAM out of the Webbook. Good quality parts.
Hi All
Just got off Ebay.
Corsair (Value Select) 1GB DDR2 533MHz PC2-4200 All mem recognised.
Works brill with XP.
A friend has just got one so I’ll be playing with one of these very soon. I want one (Ubuntu is a winner for me) but after owning a Nokia N800 2.5hrs battery sems a bit weak to me. Does anyone know if there is a 4 or 6 cell battery and where to buy it?
@Jon-Paul
no, there isn’t a 6 cell battery available, the catch that holds the battery into the slot takes up just a bit too much space inside the battery unit. I have seen some prototypes with the catch repositioned so that it will fit a 6 cell, but I am not sure if/when that would become a production feature.
I have tried a 320gb disk in my webbook, and although the BIOS recognises that it is installed, the webbook won’t boot from it
( Also, if you try and install windows it won’t recognise the disk during the installation. Looks like the max may be the 160gb.
Older versions of Windows XP don’t include drivers for SATA apparently. Google for xp sata install and there will be loads of stuff about it. I would be a bit surprised if there was a maximum size, if the bios recognises it then it should work.
It’s an XP SP2 disk. I have also tried to run the Ubuntu live CD (8.04 and 8.10) from an external DVD Drive and get errors when booting with a hard drive installed – regardless of size (tried 160gb and 320gb). Do you think there could be something wrong with my webbook? Is it worth taking back to CPW? Any help with this would be great, I love this little laptop but am struggling to get it working with a bigger hard drive.
I don’t have a bigger drive to test with. I have used a 320 and 500GB external USB drive without issue.
Just fitted a 1G upgrade frome here on eBay 360099471754. £11 including shipping and we’re going like a rocket now. Upped the virtual memory to 1344MB and this little beauty is leaving 2 towers and the 3 laptops at home standing. Magic!!!!!!!!!
Tried a 240Gb SATA, machine eventually went into the setup screen but found no Hard Drive, looks like it’s a 160 for me
I have just put in an old 80gb hard drive from a Mac and the webbook works fine with it. It’ll get into the BIOS in a couple of seconds and when installing XP and Ubuntu, there are no problems. When I then swap the disk for the 160gb or 320gb, it can take upto 5 or 6 min to get into the BIOS and I can’t install anything onto them – doesn’t recognise the drives are installed during installation. Both hard drives are working perfectly in other laptops and I have no problems using them in external hard drive enclosures. Is anyone else having problems like this? Any ideas on what the problem could be?
I can hardly believe it but there would appear to be a limit of 137GB to the drive size, something to do with 28bit LBA apparently. More information can be found here http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?act=ST&f=8&t=65206 here http://www.wimsbios.com/phpBB2/topic6219.html and here http://www.48bitlba.com/ I have no idea if this is something that can be theoretically improved upon.
I have recently installed a 160GB Western Digital Scorpio Blue hard drive in my webbook & it works fine.
Model number – WD1600BEVS
can you go to a terminal and type
dfand paste the results in here please, I want to see if it is reports a size larger than the 137GB. It may have nothing to do with LBA but until I read that I didn’t realise that there was a potential issue with large disks.Kingston KY9530-HYC 1Gb PC2 5300S (Hynix Chips) passes memtest86 but unstable in use and causes random restarts. I gained two of these when I upgraded my main laptop to 4Gb. I’ve tried both SO-DIMMs and with the same result.
DLINK DBT-120 Bluetooth Dongle on the other hand works perfectly with my Webbook.
Would it be possible for someone to dump the BIOS from their machine? I was playing around with the memory init code trying to get a 2GB module working, and somewhere along the line seem to have scrambled the keymap on what was supposed to be the clean copy…
The machine is still working with a USB keyboard, but it’s a pain…
sure, how do I do that? I know that partimage can get the bios settings, but I am not sure that is quite what you want.
Probably the easiest way is to boot into DOS from a USB stick and use the AMI AFUDOS program – I had some difficulty in finding a version that would work with the VX700 chipset in the Webbook, but 4.23 seems to work OK.
AFUDOS webbook.rom /O
Will save the current BIOS image into a file called webbook.rom – it should be 512KiB in size.
There are two complete (but disabled) menu trees in the BIOS that let you play with the registers in the north and south bridges of the VX700, and VIA just released the documentation on the chip – I have had a look at the PCB, and the S1# and ODT1 lines are connected at the socket so there is apparently no hardware reason why the machine can’t work with a 2GB dual-rank DIMM.
Excellent performance still and I’m really impressed but decided to append a dvd drive as well. I considered the Freecom 30496 which is bus driven for read cd/dvd but requires an external mains power supply for writing. I was browsing around the shelves in PC World this morning and saw a huge stack of LG External GSA E-50N 8x USB2.0 DVD-RW Portable Slim line Drives selling at £58. Had a chat with the teckie bod to see if it was OK for the Webbook and lo and behold he was actually using one behind the screens/workbench. Had a good look at it and BINGO – bus driven for read cd/dvd PLUS bus driven for write cd/dvd and Lightscribe. Admittedly, if you want to burn a disc or copy to disc from your hard drive you do need to plug the “write” power source into one of your precious 3 USB sockets but that’s a small price to pay for total portability in my opinion. Mains free with a 3 broadband dongle – bliss!!!!!!!
The build quality is typical LG high quality and with a motorised drawer (with emergncy release) rather than the clamshell type it feels very solid. At not much larger than than the disc itself it can easily slip into your jacket pocket, although the surface finish is high gloss just like the LG Chocolate phone and is susceptible to finger marks. It really was just a case of plug’n'play. The Webbook recognised the drive components straight away and in a few minutes I was uploading the software from the accompanying disc. The broadband connection was on and it immediately sought out any upgrades and installed them. Reboot then we were off. Need to get some Lightscribe discs to try it and I imagine it won’t be the fastest I’ve ever seen but hey, it’s truly portable and now it’s easy peasy if I want to install any software from disc.
Sorry i never did reply regarding the memory in mine
Both the 4200 and 5300 chips were from Crucial, I just noticed that the original memory i the Webbook was 4200 so it seems strange that a crucial 4200 would not work, but the 5300 was fine.
Managed to convince my brother to use the 4200 in his Sony Viao
I have successfully put a 250Gb hard drive in mine.
I did get the XP version but also put Ubuntu 8.04.1 on successfully using Wubi.
Works fine.
just got my missis a web book for xmas & got her a transcend ddr-2 800 2gb jetram stick which i was told would work ok with it.
i fitted it but she came home while i was messing about with it so i had to wrap it straight away without tryin it.
better keep the 512 handy on xmas morning just incase with what i’m hearing on here.
has anyone any info on this memory.
thanks & merry xmas.
not sure where to post this but will try here,has anyone had a problem with the webbook overheating at all.mine does it now and again then shuts down i have to wait for it to cool down before it lets me restart it.i do not use it on my knee only on a desk.any help would be appreciated.
thanks for reading.
I did, I put it in the neoprene case without checking it had fully suspended. It had a bit of trouble recognising the hard disk for a while afterwards.
anyone got a 320GB HD working yet? I want to fit one but will make do with a 250GB if necessary.
ive managed to fit 2gb of samsung memory into my webbook and it works fine. ive also got 320gb hard drive to work properly, this is a maxtor one.
that sounds good, is it actually using all 2GB of ram?
that’s great news, thanks Glynn. Did you have to “help” the webbook recognise the drive or was it automatic?
Also great to have the blog back. I missed it!
How did you get the drive working Glynn? I have a 320 sat in an external housing because it wasn’t recognised when I tried to install it.
Are there any sites covering the webbook hardware apart from this one, or did you solve it from scratch?
The 2G memory would be interesting too
I thought i was the only one. Installed Speedfan which could not detect a fan although I can see it therefore I assume its dud. Is this a DIY replacement, if so any idea from where, the hassle of sending it back after a full backup does not appeal. As this was faulty soon after purchase if not from any idea why it failed ?
I suggest you give the Elonex support line a call if the fan never spins and it gets hot. It might be possible to send it back but keep the HDD. I shouldn’t think the fan would be a particularly fun DIY job, and it might be the controller or something rather than the fan itself.
Thanks for your thoughts, I’ll see what they say
when i try and install certain things such as flash player and a game the web book the web book tells me that there isnt enough memory to complete it but i know there is enough, can you suggest anything? i have xp on my web book
i would like to connect my web book to my tv, can you recommend the best cable to do this?
it will take more than just a cable, unless your TV has a vga input. If it does then any old VGA cable will work fine, just boot with it all plugged in.
my tv doesnt have a vga input, can you do it without this, ie. through scart?
hi i have ordered Corsair 1GB DDR2 667MHz/PC2 5300 SODIMM will this work for me on my webbook coz i love my webbook but the memory is the only problem for me because im a big gamer thanks.
Hi,
So 1gb is the max for memory but how about the cpu? The new Nano chip is out soon and has been said to be compatible with the old chips footprint. anyone know what chipset the webbook uses and if the new cpu will be possible?
Tried using PC5300 Corsair Value Select SODIMM 1GB and it only shows 448MB available in BIOS, that’s 51MB minus 64MB shared graphics RAM. Are there different models out there or something? Also updated to Ubuntu 9.04 and now I have a screen resolution which is too big for the monitor so I can’t see anything to change settings.
So has anyone managed to get a 2GB of RAM working yet?