Stripping down the RM Slate 100

[Dos_Box]

Oh, I forgot to add, it IS the Pegatron Masterpad (I'm 99% sure at any rate), but considering Pegatron are an OEM manufacturer this comes as no surprise and as far as I can gather RM are the only people selling them. Also there is an enormous amount of positive press about the Masterpad from demo units sent out to the online press in the summer. Edited December 12, 2010 by Dos_Box

[jpaterson]

ur the man dos_box. we'll done. i ordered mine on Friday. looking forward to it getting here. In the other Slate thread, you mentioned that it did not have a BIOS. I'd imagine you've already had a go at this, but if not, have you tried plugging in a usb keyboard and molesting the usual function keys?

[Dos_Box]

It does have a BIOS. What I could not find was any hardware links within it to a 3G modem, which I'm 99% sure it does not have even though a SIM card slot is present.

[Dos_Box]

You can view the page at http://www.edugeek.net/content.php?r=224-Stripping-down-the-RM-Slate-100

[andyturpie]

I was at the RM tech seminar the week before last and the 3G has been canned in this release as to keep pricing competitive. A solid piece of kit which has apparently recieved some interest in the far east. Thats not to say that the next release will have 3G included. I am trying to get our head interested in purchasing.

[jpaterson]

OK, so my slate arrived just after 2pm today. Since Dos_Box was exceptionally kind enough to potentially sacrifice his slate and crack open it and show us the creamy gooiness inside, I thought I'd stand shoulder to shoulder with him, and go the stage further by having a peek at what is beyond the EM shield.

 

Before I continue, this RM Slate is an odd beast. The 3G connectivity, for me, would have been the ace in the hole for me. The O/S image even suggests that it is ready and should have the capability to go 3G...

 

Registry settings

 

Software

 

And this is right outta the box.

 

So, without further a doo, here's whats behind the 'iron curtain'...

 

The board

 

The SSD (soz about teh fuzziness, the macro function was warming up )

 

The Broadcom Crystal HD Card (The BT card is adjacent the fan. dunno where the wlan card is!)

 

The empty Mini PCI-e(?) slot

 

The back side of the EM shield

 

So, a bit of a disappointment on teh 3G front, but I'm sure we can get a card for it somewhere, right?

 

 

*** No RM Slate's were *seriously* harmed in the making of this post.

Edited December 17, 2010 by jpaterson

[jpaterson]

Oh, I forgot to add, it IS the Pegatron Masterpad (I'm 99% sure at any rate), but considering Pegatron are an OEM manufacturer this comes as no surprise and as far as I can gather RM are the only people selling them. Also there is an enormous amount of positive press about the Masterpad from demo units sent out to the online press in the summer.

 

Looks like zoostorm are doing them too...

 

Zoostorm: PC Systems, Laptop Computers and Netbooks

[Dos_Box]

And have you seen how much they are selling them for?

 

Zoostorm SL8 Tablet PC - Misco.co.uk

 

That's over £50 per unit (inc VAT) more than RM! I don't think anyone can claim RM is profiteering here, which is nice to see.

 

£528 vs £474

[allegro16]

Got a similar Slate last month, running Meego instead of W7 called the Wetab.

Has anyone managed to backup the bios though? I got a message: Error: BIOS is write-protected (AFUDOS tool)

Was planning to check if i could patch anything, but because of this i couldn't.

 

So, if you have any idea how to disable or circumvent this protection..

 

Or maybe an official bios and tool to flash?

 

I couldn't find a BIOS jumper on your pics and it's not a setting in the BIOS setup..

[Dos_Box]

There is a lot of sheilding covering most of the board components which I have not yet removed. However, I do know that they are OEM devices and RM as yet have no repair options for the slates. If it breaks it needs the wole device replacing, and my guess is that the whole production including HD image and BIOS is done in the far east before it reached RM. However, as the device is going to be used by many OEMs worldwide it may be that there will be some custom tools either leaked or developed over time.

[allegro16]

Hi, was able to backup the BIOS by using the updated AFUDOS for Aption!

Though, tools to edit it are unavailable as of yet (AMIBCP for Aptio, MMTool, DMIEdit, Change Logo, Ami Flashers), so i guess i have to wait.

Also, i haven't found a single official bios flasher for anythe Pegatron based Slates (ExoPc, WeTab, RM Slate 100, etc)..

An official BIOS and flasher would be best for editing, etc. So, if you or someone else has a copy: i'm interested!

 

Allegro16

--

WeTab Meego Slate

 

Bios Information:

 

BIOS Vendor: American Megatrends

Core Version: 4.6.4.0

Compliency: UEFI 2.0

BIOS Version: Lucid-MWE-0125

Build Date and Time: 09/03/2010 18.17

EC Version: 000915

[AD2K3]

And have you seen how much they are selling them for?

 

Zoostorm SL8 Tablet PC - Misco.co.uk

 

That's over £50 per unit (inc VAT) more than RM! I don't think anyone can claim RM is profiteering here, which is nice to see.

 

£528 vs £474

 

But it does come with Windows 7 Professional! So i would imagine most of the £50 is made up of the licence!

[jpaterson]

Some tweaks and observations...

 

## Problems with A2DP quality? (choppy output)

The slate seems to have a combined BT/WLan card, driven in part by a unified driver. I have noticed that A2DP playback was choppy, so after much faffing, discovered that changing the "802.11 Bluetooth High Speed" setting to DISABLED, with improve audio quality on you BT Audio device. The setting can be found on the advanced tab of the WLAN NIC Properties sheet.

 

## Improve Touch response

The laggy issues described earlier in the thread seem similar to a non-responsive system. since there's no hdd drive light to tell if there's activity, the only place to get info about current activity is the task mgr or perf monitor. these themselves can be resource intensive at times. nonetheless, i have found that the Windows Aero setvice can be intermittently demanding. Disabling Windows Aero themes via the Personalisation settings can help improve touch interface response.

 

More info as i figure it out folks.

[TheDynamo]

Hi, I have just purchased the Zoostorm SL8 tablet which i presume is the same as this tablet as it pretty much opens up exactly the same. It has windows 7 installed on it and so far i am happy with the device.

 

My only issue seems to be the responsiveness of they touch screen which sometimes works absolutely fine and then fails to register touches etc which can be really annoying at time.

 

I have also managed to use my iphone as a wifi mouse which works very well lol.

 

I ran CPU-Z on the tablet and noticed that when i selected memory it shows 2 slots (the second slot being empty) and one slot having HYMP125S64CP8-S6 (serial number for memory) I have not fully opened the device but does this mean that there is indeed another slot free in the device to add another 2 gig?

 

I understand window 7 32 bit can see a maximum of 4 gig

[jpaterson]

My only issue seems to be the responsiveness of they touch screen which sometimes works absolutely fine and then fails to register touches etc which can be really annoying at time.

 

You have a look at my post above?

[Dos_Box]

It looks like the same beast, which is actually a rebranded Pegatron Megapad. I have not seen a second RAM slot inside, however, due to time constraints with BETT and LWF I've not removed the compnent sheilding off large parts of the motherboard. Oh, and if you are to take a look inside, be very carful sliding the chassis apart as their are 2 delicate ribbon cables inside which require disconnecting before you seperate the 2 halfs. These control wireless\bluetooth and the touchscreen interface.

As for responsiveness, I can't say I've encountered any issues, however I can't belive that ZooStorm sell them for £510 (Ebuyer) when RM sell them for £470 (inc VAT). However it does come with W7 Pro.

[TheDynamo]

I will try when i get home.

 

I am also going to attempt to install ubuntu 10.10 netbook edition and install 3rd party touch screen drivers on an SD Card when i get the opportunity. Already tested Ubuntu live to see compatability with devices on laptop and all seemed fine so fingers crossed i can get it dual booting.

 

I always end up trying to install OSX Snow Leopard on most machines i build, purchase so that should be interesting....

 

[TheDynamo]

Well the good news is that i successfully installed ubuntu 10.10 net edition on the slate with everything working - i.e.

 

wifi

sd cards

soundwebcam

 

and best of all the touchscreen! with minimal editing of the grub file. there is an on screen keyboard but it needs to be modified so that it shows at logon etc, but i read that they will be making a decent version of one soon.

 

if anyone wants instructions send me a pvt message

[TheDynamo]

oh, one last thing. I noticed that the touch responsiveness in Ubuntu is much better

[jpaterson]

I'm using my Slate as fitness training computer with Windows 7. However, I quite fancy dual booting with Ubuntu. I'll give you a shout for some instructions, if you don't mind?

[allegro16]

Hi,

 

Managed to flash it a few times with the help of Pegatron and ExoPC.

No problem.

Last time i flashed though, something went wrong and now i don't get any image at boot.. (It DOES still boot, indicated by the power-button and the led on my usb flash drive.)

They thought it would be possible to reflash, because it seems to access my usb stick.. But, even when forced, it doesn't. (I have a boot stick with recovery bios, etc)

 

All what's left is trying to RMA the WeTab (losing all my data, etc) or try to hot flash it using another Pegatron tablet..

I DO have an ExoPC available, so i could try that.. As long as i know which chip on the PCB is the actual BIOS chip. I need to be 100% sure..

 

So, does anyone know? Maybe under the tape near the dock connector? Could be a BIOS chip..

Or is it elsewhere located? Where?

 

Thanks,

 

Allegro16.

[Ranger2000]

Hi

 

First off thanks for the great post, it was just what i was looking for! I too am interested in the 3G connectivity as at presnt there is not a 3G version avalible in the UK!

 

I have two questions that i am hoping that some one may be able to answer:-

 

1. Are there any aerial connections at the spare Mini PCI-E slot? (I have a Dell 5530 card which i want to plug in)

 

2. On the non 3G models is the sim card reader present? (i know the slot is present but i don't know if the electronics for it are present)

 

Any help or more pictures would be great!

 

Thanks

 

Ranger2000

 

PS: One last thing has anyone tried a single 4Gb DDR2 module?

Edited February 26, 2011 by Ranger2000

[mhe010653]

I would love to replace the SSD with something more than 32GB. Has anyone been successful wit this?

[Kensaldo]

OK, so my slate arrived just after 2pm today. Since Dos_Box was exceptionally kind enough to potentially sacrifice his slate and crack open it and show us the creamy gooiness inside, I thought I'd stand shoulder to shoulder with him, and go the stage further by having a peek at what is beyond the EM shield.

 

Before I continue, this RM Slate is an odd beast. The 3G connectivity, for me, would have been the ace in the hole for me. The O/S image even suggests that it is ready and should have the capability to go 3G...

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]8961[/ATTACH]

Registry settings

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]8962[/ATTACH]

Software

 

And this is right outta the box.

 

So, without further a doo, here's whats behind the 'iron curtain'...

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]8960[/ATTACH]

The board

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]8959[/ATTACH]

The SSD (soz about teh fuzziness, the macro function was warming up )

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]8958[/ATTACH]

The Broadcom Crystal HD Card (The BT card is adjacent the fan. dunno where the wlan card is!)

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]8956[/ATTACH]

The empty Mini PCI-e(?) slot

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]8957[/ATTACH]

The back side of the EM shield

 

So, a bit of a disappointment on teh 3G front, but I'm sure we can get a card for it somewhere, right?

 

 

*** No RM Slate's were *seriously* harmed in the making of this post.

 

is it possible to increase the ssd size to say 64gb?