AOD250 D250 w/ Broadcom Crystal HD Decoder BCM70012 Success

Just wanted to post that I got this mod to work successfully thanks to reading bits and pieces on several boards. I installed the Broadcom Crystal HD BCM70012 module into my new AOD250-1633 the other day successfully. I am on windows 7 ultimate. Haven't found a specific post on the web stating much information on this mod for this model so I decided to post for all those thinking about purchasing. Really easy mod, took about 5 mins and did not have to sacrifice any features on the netbook due to the extra PCI-e slot on this model.

1. Take out Screw on the back and open the PCI-e expansion port.
2. Insert Card into slot and replace screw and backing.
3. Turn on PC and install drivers from the Broadcom website. http://www.broadcom.com/support/crystal_hd/

You are basically done. I updated flash to the newest version. Also run all my local content through wmp 12 which supports the chip natively. It works flawlessly and I have been able to watch 6-7hrs of HD content during a plane ride (ripped directly from cable via firewire) in .mpg or 264 format flawlessly without any hitches on a single battery charge. I have my netbook in powersaver mode with the clock frequency set at the lowest the entire time as well.

Only thing I noticed was that I didn't receive a mini pci-e screw with the card, but the slot was very compact so it seemed secure once the cover was back on.

 

Thanks for the report as this is something I've been thinking of doing! For the time though I've been waiting for the newer BCM70015 to come out first.

May I ask where you found the BCM70012 mini pci-e card? Ebay?

 

Thanks for your post. I am considering to do this basic mod. Would you please provide the following information?

First, which version is your BIOS? I have read in this forum that BIOS version matters.

Second, would you please tell us where you bought this? If not possible to post it here, can you PM me?

Thanks.

 

WHOA, the BCM70015 is the card to go for! If we can expect the same compatibility as the 12, I'm definitely grabbing that one. Support for Flash 10.1, along with Divx, xvid, etc -- SCORE!

 

the bcm70015 will most likely be an onboard chip thats shipped with the new pinetrail netbook boards. the pinetrail atom chips will have intergrated gma (all one chip) the bcm70015 will be shipped with those, most likely as an onboard chip. no new features have been listed for this chip, so its likely just the name for the onboard version of the bcm70012.

my bcm70012 came the day this thread was posted, and ive been loving it. it really does fix the major problem with netbooks.
one thing thats not mentioned in this thread is that you can change the decoder used in windows media center to use the broadcom card.
http://www.whittakermoore.com/MCDU.exe (Media Center Decoder Utility)

 

There are plenty of new features on this chip. I doubt its the same as the bcm70012:
http://www.broadcom.com/products/Consum ... s/BCM70015

 

i stand corrected. seems it will be adding mpg4(mp4, divx, xvid, etc) and avs support.

will come in both onboard and mini pci-e flavors.

any idea if these are out yet? i can't find them anywhere, yet on the broadcom drivers page its mentioned as though its readily available.

 

there are at least 2 threads here from as early as august dealing with this.... with some minor work, i can get low bitrate blu-ray playback (no dts-hd audio, as it start's to stutter real bad in parts) with both the hp arcasoft app and mediaplayer classic

a bcm70015 would be neat to play with.

 

I picked up this chip on fleabay for 21 shipped from Singapore. My Bios version states V1.14. Intel V1585

Thats good info regarding the choice of decoders in WMC. I tried using the arcsoft (oem) software for playback but had stuttering and crashing problems and found that WMP 12 played them back flawlessly.

 

i thought ive seen you mention in another post that you have the powerdvd thats bundled with the dell studio hybrid (pc that also comes with the broadcom as an option). does that version of powerdvd have the ability to playback blurays? i know a bluray player is an option on the studio hybrid, but i don't know if it requires an ati card to playback, or if the broadcom card is enough.

 

the studio hybrids use the broadcom (if you look at the driver page, the drivers are there, a much older set) but after my last reformat, it will not install at all.

 

So does anyone know if the BCM70015 made it into the Acer AO532h netbooks? I can't find any details for the hardware. I am itching to buy one, but I would like to know what all is there first.


Michael

 

i will have to say maybe... looking at the win xp drivers, there is a broadcom "Other Drivers - (Media Processor driver)" but not under the win7 drivers.

file size matches the 3.0 driver

update: the driver is the crystal hd driver version 3.0.52, sound like it may be there

 

That is strange...Is it possible Windows 7 has that driver built in?

I still would like to see some pictures of the bottom of the unit. Curious if they kept the same chassis design as the AOD250 with the ease of access to HD, memory and mini pci-e slot.
Also, I wonder if the broadcom card is in there, and is it pci-e form and in that "spare" slot or is it built into the mboard.

 

the bcm70015 supposidly is available as an on-board chip as well as a card.
win7 didn't have the 70012 drivers, so i doubt it has the 70015 drivers, but they can be had from broadcom's site....

and according the broadcom's readme, the driver works for xp, vista and 7.... acer even included the 64 bit drivers as well.

 

While it is possible that one of the many variants of the AO532h will end up coming with the Broadcom Crystal HD as indicated by this driver on their site, that does not mean that any and all AO532h's will. The base $299 model I know for a fact does not have it. Acer just list drivers for all part combinations on their site. Kinda like how there are drivers for other built in webcams and 3G etc.

So don't go blindly buying an AO532h thinking you're going to get the Broadcom Crystal HD. If the specific model you are looking at doesn't list it, it doesn't have it.

 

good point... kinda like the non-bluetooth versions of the netbooks.... but if acer is going with an on board solution, there's a better chance, but still not a guarantee

 

Good advise, but that is the thing, I don't see where (Amazon) they list any details about the hardware specifically related to the the Crystal HD card. I guess I can return it, but hate to go through that hassle if someone else here has already purchased a model and can verify that it is indeed there.