Advent 5471 Laptop

Specification

Drivers

Your laptop should have been supplied with a "Utility and Driver CD" which contains a backup copy of all the drivers.

The 5471 is basically a rebadged Gericom Overdose2-3100C (you should see 3100C printed on the underside of the laptop) so you can also download the drivers and user manual from the Gericom website.

You can also download the Service Manual for the Gericom 3100C from the Acomp Website.

Upgrading the Memory

The memory slots on this laptop are accessed by removing the keyboard. To do this -

1. Turn the system power off
2. Press the two keyboard latches to elevate the keyboard from it normal position
3. Carefully lift the keyboard assembly out so that the mainboard is exposed. You should see the memory slots in the middle.

The maximum according to the manual is 256MB though I have heard from an owner who says it will take 256MB modules which would make the maximum 512MB.

Adding RAM is the most cost effective way to boost your computer's performance.

Bottom of Laptop

Function Keys

Fn+F3 - Expand LCD display
Fn+F6 - Toggle CRT/LCD/LCD+CRT/TV/CRT+TV
Fn+F9 - Decrease LCD brightness
Fn+F10 - Increase LCD brightness
Fn+F11 - Decrease audio volume
Fn+F12 - Increase audio volume
Fn+Z - Toggle audio mute on/off
Fn+Esc - Suspend/resume

In the Box

Disks Supplied

• Recovery boot floppy disk
• Recovery CD ROM
• Supervoice CD
• DVD ROM and suspend driver floppy disk

Items Supplied

• Advent 5471 notebook
• Mains power adapter
• Mains power cable
• UK modem cable
• S-Video cable

Documentation Supplied

• Advent notebook user's manual
• User guide for fax modem
• Freeserve leaflet

Recovery

Warning: this process will erase all files from your computer. It is important that you save any personal files to disk before you begin.

A bootable recovery CD is supplied with these machines. To recover the system:-

• Insert CD (and floppy disk if supplied) into the drive.
• Reboot the PC.
• A warning message prompting you to backup data before proceeding.
• Press Y to continue.
• A final warning that all data will be erased is displayed.
• Press Y to continue.
• Finally a message "Remove CD-ROM when prompted" is displayed.
• Press Y to continue.
• The image file will load. Once complete you will be prompted to remove the CD and press CTRL + ALT + DEL to restart.

Useful Links

Repairs and Spares

All official service and support is handled by Knowhow (basically "The Tech Guys" under a new name), their website is http://www.knowhow.com/. If you laptop is covered under warranty then you need to contact them for repairs.

There are also plenty of other companies that do repairs or supply spare parts, here is a selection -

TechnoMart - http://www.techno-mart.co.uk
DriveMyLaptop (replacement drives) - http://www.drivemylaptop.co.uk
Laptop Solutions UK - http://www.laptopsolutionsuk.co.uk
PartMaster (spare parts) - http://www.partmaster.co.uk

FAQ

Blank screen or EMM386 error after recovery

Once the recovery has completed the screen goes blank or an EMM386 error message is dispalayed. This happens because the laptop is having problems displaying the message to remove the CD and restart. Simply remove the CD from the drive and restart the laptop, first time setup will begin as normal.

Getting Hold of the Service Manual

The Advent 5471 is also known as the Gericom 3100C, this should be printed underneath the laptop. You can download the service manual for the 3100C from here - http://www.acomp.hu/pub/gericom/Notebook/Manuals/Service/Service%20Manuals/