Windows 7 on 603 Desktop

cship2
cship2 Member Posts: 2 New User

I purchased an Acer AXC-603-UR10 that contains a Pentium J2900 processor, which is a part of the Bay Trail-D family. Like many other people, I came to the Acer support forums seeking a BIOS update that will add CSM or "legacy" boot, enabling me to install non-UEFI operating systems, such as windows 7 or those in the BSD family.

In response to Acer customers' desire to use an operating system other than Windows 8, Acer support staff members have made numerous misleading posts, claiming that Bay Trail-D processors do not support "legacy" or CSM boot. Meanwhile, other computer manufactures are selling the same Bay Trail-D processors that Acer products contain, with CSM or legacy supported BIOS. Acer's staff are representing the inadequate, restrictive BIOS, which do not support "legacy" or CSM boot, as being fully featured, while blaming the lack of "legacy" or CSM support, on the processors themselves, which completely false.

Per Wikipedia-I would use a more academically credible source if I could find one-there are six Bay Trail-D processors. Four of those processors are the Celeron J1750, J1800, J1850, and J1900. The other two are the Pentium J2850 and J2900. There are numerous references to these processors supporting "legacy" or CSM boot.

Here are community efforts to solve the problem Acer created, when Acer decided not to include "legacy" or CSM boot in products containing Bay Trail-D processors. Guys are flashing to an earlier version of Acer BIOS, which supports "legacy" or CSM boot:
http://www.eightforums.com/installation-setup/41741-downgrade-8-7-acer-aspire-axc-603g-uw31-i-need-help-4.html#post390120
http://www.ripsawgroup.com/acer-aspire-xc-603-windows-7-bios-upgrade-howto/
https://slickdeals.net/f/7095248-acer-desktop-refurbished-celeron-j1900-quad-core-4gb-ddr3-1tb-hdd-hdmi-160-after-40-rebate-w-visa-checkout-free-shipping?v=1&p=69508746#post69508746

A telling review on New Egg from Steven C. regarding a Bay Trail-D Acer DT.SUVAA.002. Steven claims that the Acer Desktop he purchased, shipped with legacy or CSM support, but if someone upgrades the BIOS, they lose "legacy" or CSM support:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883103927

Gigabyte Bay Trail-D CSM supported motherboard:
http://www.gigabytenordic.com/wordpress/flash-update-bios-gigabyte-bay-trail-motherboards-j1800-j1900/

Gigabyte Bay Trail-D CSM supported motherboard:
http://community.futuremark.com/forum/showthread.php?180048-New-Bay-Trail-D-media-center

The Dell Vostro 20 All-in-One 3015 contains the exact same pentium J2900 processor the desktop I purchased from Acer contains, yet it supports "legacy" or CSM boot:
http://www.dell.com/support/home/hu/hu/hubsdt1/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=PPGC0&fileId=3389249128&osCode=W764&productCode=vostro-20-3015-aio&languageCode=HU&categoryId=BI

Page 35 of the Dell Vostro 20 All-in-One 3015 owners manual indicates "legacy" or CSM mode is supported for the exact same Bay Trail-D processors that the Acer 603 contain:
http://topics-cdn.dell.com/pdf/vostro-20-3015-aio_Owner%27s%20Manual_en-us.pdf

Again, Bay Trail-D processors, which can be seen in the product specs of the Dell Vostro 20 All-in-One 3015, Dell supports legacy or CSM boot:
http://www.dell.com/hk/en/business/p/vostro-20-3015-aio/fs

As the evidence posted above indicates, Bay Trail-D processors do in fact support "legacy" or CSM mode, despite the false representations of Acer's support staff. Acer customers should not be locked out of using the operating system of their choice and mislead to believe the processor they purchased does not support that operating system. Never once have I seen a computer company deceive its customers by blaming the inadequate BIOS they have released on a line of processors. Acer needs to stop lying to their customers and release an official BIOS update that supports "legacy" or CSM boot immediately.

Best Answer

Answers

  • Ryanrr
    Ryanrr Member Posts: 831 Practitioner WiFi Icon
    Answer ✓

    cship2,

     

    I would like to direct you to our response in regards to this issue and this model. Please visit:

     

    http://community.acer.com/t5/Desktops-All-In-Ones/Brand-New-Aspire-XC-603G-ACX-603G-UW31-Windows-7-will-not/td-p/222301/highlight/false/page/5

  • Ryanrr
    Ryanrr Member Posts: 831 Practitioner WiFi Icon

    I would like to announce we have released a BIOS update that supports the "Launch CSM" item in BIOS setup menu. Please visit http://www.acer.com/worldwide/ -> select your region -> click Support -> Drivers and Manuals -> Select your Product, and then download the BIOS version released on 9/15/2014 (or later).

     

    Please be advised due to hardware limitations when CSM mode is enabled you may experience some HDMI audio issues.

  • cship4
    cship4 Member Posts: 1 New User

    Thank you for addressing my request by releasing a BIOS update that supports CSM boot. This is a useful feature that is not yet obsolete. I personally have no need for HDMI audio so the down side to using CSM boot will not effect me. Sticking with Acer instead of returning the computer was the right choice. I will purchase your products in the future. I've been really happy with the Acer XC-603-UR10 hardware wise. Hopefully this BIOS update will meet the needs of the customers seeking CSM boot for the installation of Windows 7. I tried to install OpenBSD to meet my needs and while OpenBSD did boot, there was a kernel panic, which is something I've never seen before. Hopefully the OpenBSD mailing list will be able to advise me about the problem.

    Again, Acer Customer Support, thank you very much for responding to the demands of your customers.

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