ACPI\MTC0303 Driver and installation

People asked me for this driver , ACPI\MTC0303, from the information I've got, this refers to BIOS component for BIOS service device and also one of the Plug and Play component.

Copyright 2007 MiTAC Technology Corporation


Company: MITAC TECHNOLOGY CORP.
Driver Manufacturer: MiTAC Technology Corporation
Driver Class: Other Hardware
Driver Model: BIOS Service Provider
Driver Provider: MiTAC Technology Corporation
Version: 10.1.2.6
Version Date: 7/4/2007
(the version and version date refers to windows XP)

This is how you install it:

1. Download the Driver
First open this link using internet explorer (it does not work with firefox or chrome):
http://catalog.update.microsoft.com/v7/site/Search.aspx?q=acpi%5Cmtc0303%20

Download base on your Operating system, for Windows 7 use windows Vista driver. The download page would look like this:

Click add to basket, then click your basket, then select download.

2.  Extracting the driver file
The file would be in cabinet (.cab) file type, you need to install winrar to extract the driver file.  Remember the path of the extracted driver folder because we will need it later.

3. Installing the driver file.
Open the extracted driver folder, the right click on the inf file and select install.

If failed you can install it manually using device manager.
1. Open device manager, right click on the unknown device (refer to mtc0303) and select update driver software.
2. No to connect and select advance.
3. Now click browse and point to the extracted driver folder.
4. Continue installation until finish.

 For me personally this device is not important, you can right click and disable it unless you find that some of your laptop feature does not work properly. Does this affect laptop performance, I don't think so and from my experience this type of file does not.

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Fix Boot Device not Found, Please Install OS on your Hard Disk (3f0)

You can simply fix this problem by enable Legacy support on the BIOS.

1. Go to BIOS, for HP notebook simply press F10 upon power on.
2. Navigate to System Configuration and Look for legacy Support.
3. You should see the Legacy support is Disable, you need to enable it.
4. After that press F10 to save changes and exit BIOS.
5. It will aromatically reboot after saving changes and your notebook will boot normally.

However, this error may cause from Hard Disk Failure (hardware damage) so this method will not work and you will need to replace the HDD.

How to check your Hard Disk status (damage or healthy)
First make sure you already enable legacy support. If you are unable to boot normally to windows,  try to re-install the operating system (Windows 8 recommended). If you are unable to re-install the OS, run system diagnostic by upon power on press F4 to test your HDD.

In case the HDD failure you need to RMA (return Merchandise authorization) for HDD replacement. Normally the process will take less than 2 weeks. If your warranty already expired, you need to buy a new Hard Disk for replacement. You can ask the store for the replacement process if on;t want to do it yourself with a small fee, most of the time the hard disk replacement service is free.

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Fix "This device cannot find enough free resources that it can use" code 12

Most of the time this error cause by chipset driver conflict which cause certain devices fail to function properly. In most cases AMD PCI Express (3GIO) Filter driver was the culprit which causes Intel chipset or Intel graphic driver installation failed. Here is how to fix it :

1. Open your Device Manager.
2. Expand the system device from the list.
3. Right-click on the ATI PCI Express (3GIO) Filter Driver and select ‘Uninstall’.
4. Choose to delete the driver software for this device from your system.

Now you can re-install your chipset, or Graphic driver, remember to reboot before re-installing those drivers.

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Downgrade Windows 8 based PC to Windows 7

Most Windows 8 base PC such as HP Envy 15 notebook require BIOS/UEFI setup before you can downgrade it to Windows 7. Before we start I would like to point out important points:

For this tutorial :

• We use Internal DVD/CD- ROM as install disk. (change it base on your boot disk such as flash drive or external DVD/CD-ROM). 
• I strongly recommend to use Windows 7 SP1 because it is more stable and fix some bugs like remove pop-up notification about secure boot.

1.First step We need to access UEFI BIOS, here is how:

UEFI Firmware Setting on Windows 8

1. Press the Windows key + C, or swipe in from the right edge of the screen to open your Charms. 
2. Click Settings. Click Change PC Settings. In PC Settings, select General. 
3. Scroll down to the bottom and Under Advanced startup, click Restart now. 
4. In the boot menu, select Troubleshoot. 
5. In the Troubleshoot menu, select Advanced options.
6.  In the Advanced options menu, select UEFI Firmware Settings. 
7. Click Restart to restart the system and enter UEFI (BIOS). 
8. Make sure you already insert your windows 7 install disk before restart. 

 *UEFI/BIOS interface is different base on your notebook/PC


2.  Upon restart enter BIOS, make this changes:

The secure boot and Legacy support may located at different location base on your BIOS

• Legacy Boot or Legacy Support : Enable
• Secure Boot : Disable
• Boot order : Change the boot order by select your DVD/CD-rom as the first boot device. 

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• note 1 : if you are installing using DVD) - If you are using USB Drive, make the USB Drive as the first boot device. Or - you can also change this boot device later (step 4)
• note 2: you may need to press certain button to enter BIOS, example for HP 2000 you need to press F10
• note 3 : New Bios - such Fujitsu AMI BIOS, secure boot is located under security panel. For most HP product it is located under system configuration.

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3.Now press F10 to exit and save changes.

4. If you already set your first boot device (in step 2), skip this step, if not, upon restart - press ESC and press F9 to select your boot device.

Press F9 to select your boot device (windows 7 installation disk)

5. Select your boot device using the arrow key and press enter.(in this tutorial we use DVD/CD-Rom).

The Boot interface may look different base on your Notebook/PC

6. All Done, Windows 7 will start to install right away, (tutorial to install windows 7).


Partition Setup During Installation :

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During Windows 7 installation, it will ask which partition you want to install windows 7. If you get the message:

"Windows can't be installed on drive 0 partition x " , 

you need to delete all partition and create a new partition before installing windows 7.
You can still create multiple partition later on by using disk management in Windows 7, for now just create one partition for Windows 7 Installation as your C drive). 


Additional Notes.

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1. Not all Notebook/PC require this setup to downgrade to Windows 7, try to install Windows 7 normally first and if there is an error mean you do need  to setup the BIOS/UEFI.
2. Windows 8 base PC - Refer to  PC/Notebook/Desktop design specifically for per-installed with Windows 8. 
3. If you have the USB 3.0 option on your BIOS, go to "System Configuration", "USB 3.0 Config in Pre-OS" and set to "Auto".
4. If you are using USB Flash Drive as the boot device (Windows 7 install disk) - Make sure to format it as FAT 32 and use with USB 2.0 slot, do not use USB 3.0 slot.
5. If you are Using SDD (mSATA drive) - Change the Sata otion to AHCI (we actually want to disable Intel Smart Response Technology).
6. Each computer use different key to enter BIOS, check your manual for this or Google it. Here is some reference: 

• Asus : F8
• Sony : F2
• Gateway : F10
• Gigabyte : F12
• Dell : Del/F12
• HP/Compaq : F2/ESC
• Acer : F2/F12
• eMachines : F10
• Toshiba : F12
• Fujitsu : F12

If you have problems do let me know in the comment section below.

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Setting BIOS for Windows Installation

 SETTING BIOS - PART 1 - PART 2 

This post will show how to set up your bios to install any windows for your PC/Notebook. The purpose is to change the BIOS setting to boot from CD/DVD so after you restart your system your PC/DVD automatically detect the Windows CD/DVD you inserted in the CD/DVD ROM.

BIOS is differ from one model to another model, so here is some example.


HOW TO CHANGE BOOT ORDER

image from: http://www.password-reset.com

when you start you laptop you will see the post screen, notice the picture above, Press F2 to Enter Setup, mean you have to press F2 to open BIOS. In other machine for example my desktop i have to press DEL(delete) to enter BIOS.

Ten a screen like picture below will appear:

Now, on top you should have a menu, or multiple menu, on the picture above show that only boot menu, just find the boot menu, in some other machine, it menu may differ such as BOOT CONFIGURATION , BOOT PRIORITY, and others, here just change the 1st boot is set to DVD-ROM, in the picture above notice that the DVD is in the third boot device label with [ATAPI: CD-ROM], change it to the 1st boot order.

Then press F10 to save and hit enter to save the configuration.

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BIOS recovery method for Compaq

There are two special keys Windows Key+B or up key+down key+left key+right key
to use for this recovery processes.

Below are the step by step procedures to perform the recovery

1) Make sure power is off

2) Make sure AC Adapter is plugged in.

3) Plug in a USB floppy drive with floppy disk that contains only one binary file (for example: 68ytt.bin for nx6125/nx6115, 68tt2.bin for nx6325/nx6315, or the correct binary file for your series of HP Compaq Commercial notebook ).

4) Press Windows Key+B (or all 4 directional keys)

5) Press power button (to power on the system)

6) Don't release the Windows key+B (or 4 directional keys) until floppy is turning and running for a period of time.

7) If floppy is turning and running for a period of time then you can release the keys and it must be doing the recovery already.

8) When it is doing the recovery, you'll notice that num-lock LED is constantly flashing.

9) When it is finished flashing the bios, the system will reboot itself.

10)Don't do anything right now and wait until HP logo shows up because it will do several reboot to update KBC ( Key Board Controller )....

11)Voila! you've got your system updated with newest BIOS.... when see HP logo press F10--restore to default--check the system info for BIOS version.

If system cannot be resurrected, it means that the BB ( Boot Block ) inside the ROM chip has been destroyed. The only way to reflash the BIOS is to remove the ROM chip from the motherboard and use an external BIOS ROM programmer to program the BIOS content again.

How to get the System BIOS binary file.
The easiest ways is to get a ROMPaq version of the System BIOS for your notebook and following the steps below;

1. Double click the downloaded SPXXXxx.exe file.

2. File Download – Security Warning window pops up and then Click Save.

3. Select the location where you want to save this ROMpaq file.

4. After download complete, select Open Folder

5. Double click SPXXXXX.exe to bring up Open File – Security Warning window and then select Run.

6. Follow the on-screen instructions to generate a folder to hold all the files.

7. Open this folder and locate a WinZip file. Inside this zip file, you need to extract all the files and the Rom.bin is the binary file you need for this recovery process.

compile by: Clinton Tam

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