[Upgrade]

[?]How I can go about getting a BIOS upgrade? How crucial is it?
[-]Updating your BIOS is not crucial at all unless you made a major system change such as a giant hard drive that your  BIOS can't work with. 
Especially now, with no access to a manufacturer -- If your laptop works, Don't Mess With it!
The BIOS is a small operating system that configures all the components on the motherboard to communicate with all the other components on the motherboard, and some external components that are connected to the motherboard, like CDROM's, DVD's, FDD's, HDD's, LS-120, ZIP-drive, USB, printer and serial ports, and even keyboard connectors and TouchPad and your mouse connector.
So if everything works, don't worry about updating your BIOS.

[?]I'm changing to Win2000 do I need a BIOS upgrade?
[-]Assuming that you have the 'last available' BIOS, you may not need a BIOS upgrade with the 440BX chipset. I [one user] upgraded to Windows 2000 Professional on my Vivante SE with no problems at all.
The only reason to look for an updated  BIOS is to make yourself sure that ACPI features are stable, but 'previos' BIOS did have ACPI support, though not 'MS-certified'. Anyway your chances to get 'specific' BIOS are questionable, while results with  'generic' BIOS are not predictable... 

[!]For the information on the last BIOS BuildDate for you model: refer to Drivers section.

|upgrade:CPU|

[?]Does anyone know if the CPU on a Vivante SE 266 is a standard module that is available from Intel and can be upgraded by myself? ASE only has a 366 PII available for an upgrade if ASE does it, but I wanted to know if it is possible to do the work myself using a faster CPU. After taking out the keyboard and looking at the motherboard, it seems that the CPU is on a daughter board that plugs directly into the board atop the DVD module. Is this correct? If so, the daughter board looks like it may be a proprietary board that is available only through ASE. 
[-]The Intel mobile processors that Transmonde used in the XL, SE, and LS were standard products. They incorporated the MMC1 connector. The fastest processor available using the MMC1 connector is a Pentium-II 400MHz.
Pentium-III is not available in the MMC1 package - so don't even bother looking.
Also, if you have an MMX processor, you'll need the BIOS upgrade - which is only available from Transmonde - though I would suspect ASE has it since they're offering the upgrade.
Upgrading processors isn't too hard, provided you take the necessary precautions of grounding yourself with a grounding strap. The problem will be finding somewhere that will sell you a mobile processor. Don't bother trying to buy one at the local computer, you won't find it. Chances are they'll try to sell you a desktop processor (with no return policy), or they won't have any clue as to what you're talking about. Intel is very strict when it comes to reselling mobile processors.
[!]See also FAQ:Disassembling Notes.
[!]For more information on upgrade: check out Links .

|upgrade:RAM|

[?]What kind of RAM ( EDO/SODIMM) does my machine have?
[-]Vivante/Vibrant:Most of Transmonde notebooks accept 144-pin memory modules. The memory type: (SDRAM/EDO SODIMM) and maximum expandable size depends on your model and number of RAM slots available in your configuration.
[-]Vibrant: There were two different types of motherboards on the Vibrant. One used standard 144-pin EDO SODIMMs. The other used proprietary RAM cards. If you open the RAM access door under the computer, you'll either see one RAM slot or two. If you see two RAM slots, you have the newer motherboard support two 32MB EDO SODIMMs (64MB max total).
[-]Vibrant:All the Vibrant LS computers were shipped with SDRAM. There should be a sticker on the RAM module inside your computer.

[?]Can I put a 64 mb pc-100 sodim in my Vivante SE?
[-]Yes, PC100 RAM will work fine.

[?]Have EDO want change for SDRAM?
[?]When I originally bought my Vivante SE, it came with 1 144 pin 64MB  SODIMM. Classically, now that I've upgraded my Windows partition to Win2000 (which requires around 68 megs *just sitting there* by the way) I need more ram. I've now got the 366 mhz celeron with BX chipset instead of the old 233 MMX with TX chipset, so I should be able to cache more than 64MB.
So can I put SDRAM in at all, or are the RAM slots EDO only?
[-]Yes, SDRAM will work fine. Your old Pentium 233MMX shipped with EDO RAM because the TX chipset had some problems with SDRAM. Now that you've upgraded to a Celeron processor, SDRAM work work. One note, if you mix EDO and SDRAM, the
computer will act like they are both EDO. You probably won't notice a difference though. 

[?]After I installed the RAM, do I have to expand the suspend to disk partition? If not, would suspend to disk still work? What is the easiest non-destructive way to do it?
[-]Check your current non-DOS partition (you can see it by using FDISK - just be careful not to delete anything!). If you're non-DOS partition is less than 260MB, there's no way to increase it without wiping out your whole HDD and starting over.

[?]"Please run   0VMAKFIL..." message on boot.
[-]That message will appear (breifly) when the power management settings in BIOS are set to Suspend-to-Disk but either you don't have a non-DOS partition setup, or you have more RAM installed than the non-DOS partition. (The non-DOS partition is also known as the suspend-to-disk partition).
[!]For instrucions on reformatting your  HDD and preparation of your suspend-to-disk partition refer to the 'Reinstalling your OS' leaflett that came along with your User's Guide.

[!]For more information on upgrade: check out Links.

|upgrade:HDD|

[?]I recently puchased an upgrade hard drive for my notebook. Do I need to setup a suspend-to-disk partition?
[-]In order for your notebook being able to Suspend-to-Disk,  there should be set up a non-DOS partition on your hard-drive which should be greater or equal to amount of physical memory RAM installed. When you bought your notebook by default your original HDD came with  suspend-to-disk partition set accordingly to your memory configuration. If you going to use Suspend-to-Disk with your new hard-drive you need to set up this partition yourself.
[!]For instrucions on reformatting your  HDD and preparation of your suspend-to-disk partition refer to the 'Reinstalling your OS' leaflett that came along with your User's Guide.

[?]I was playing with the drives, repartitioning for linux, and other stuff, at some point the BIOS started giving me an error on bootup that says something like "Please run 0VMAKFIL..." It's only flashed for a few seconds and the performance of the computer isn't otherwise affected.
[-]That message will appear (breifly) when the power management settings in BIOS are set to Suspend-to-Disk but either you don't have a non-DOS partition setup, or you have more RAM installed than the non-DOS partition. (The non-DOS partition is also known as the suspend-to-disk partition).

|upgrade:General|

[?]Vivante 166-TMX: What is upgradeable?
[-]The Vivante (not SE or XL) supports up to 200MHz w/ MMX, so its  probably not worth upgrading the processor. The chipset (Intel MX) supports up to 64MB EDO RAM, so it would probably be beneficial to add another 32MB stick.
The Vivante is basically the same as the Vibrant, but with a 13.3" LCD instead of a 12.1". It had almost the identical motherboard, just laid out a little  different. 
Your BIOS is not crucial at all unless you made a major system 

[!]For more information on upgrade: check out Links.