MSI Wind wiki
From MSI WInd User wiki
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Welcome to MsiWind.net - where people come to help each other get the most out of their MSI Wind netbook.
The Forums are still the primary repository of our knowledge, but we are attempting to distill the good bits from there into this wiki. (Please feel free to create an account and help us with this project!) We also have an IRC chatroom on Freenode.
(When you do edit the Wiki, please make use of the Summary field to describe your changes, and also check the accompanying Discussion page. Further, consider entering information into the wiki, not just a link into the murky depths of the forum. We already have a forum index after all.)
About the MSI Wind Notebook
The MSI Wind (Wi-Fi Network Device) is a netbook designed by Taiwanese manufacturer Micro-Star International. Its debut was in August of 2008 - one of the first machines to use Intel's Atom processor.
We have a full list of the Wind (and relatives') specifications if you are after more detail. There are also link-pages full of off-site links covering News and reviews , as well as Pictures and videos of the Wind. And the obligatory link to the Wind's page on Wikipedia.
Finally, we offer links to MSI's official Wind page and their User Manual.
Before you start
Please back up your system AND have some bootable system (on USB) by hand. Even if you "only" upgrade from an older system. Be shure to have a system capable of reading your filesystem (e.g. if you have a bootable windows backup you need some software to read OSX/linux drives). If your wind comes without a XP-CD please make a CD or at least an iso with the included MSI Recovery Tool.
How-to
The bulk of this wiki contains how to tutorials and is continually a work in progress. The most current information will always be found in the MSIWind.net Forums. Though the forum suffers from the typical problem of noisiness and it may be difficult to find certain information, the forum does contain many gems of Wind related knowledge.
You can also make good use of the Search function of this wiki.
Below is a list of the more common tasks that you may want to take a look at.
Non-English speakers can find information here Tutorials in other languages.
BIOS upgrades
Upgrading your BIOS is typically straightforward - but it does have the potential to render your machine unbootable. In general, unless you have a specific requirement to upgrade your BIOS, you probably shouldn't bother.
The first thing you usually need to know is what BIOS version you have.
The second thing you should familiarise yourself with is how-to put the Wind into Rescue Mode in case you mung the BIOS upgrade process. Read this now, and prepare your backup plan before making any changes. (For non-Windows users, the Rescue Mode approach can also be used to update the BIOS.)
The third thing you should do is proceed with the BIOS upgrade. The following are a bunch of links, mostly in to the forums:
- Wind Bios 1.09 Download and step-by-step install guide
- Official advent 4211 bios update now downloadable
- How to update the BIOS
- Transmit This's post
- Cantisque's post
- Can't Overclock? FIX (Using Cantisque's post)
- Maso (new user at 2009-06-15) has shared a bootable image (4MB) that you can use to boot some variant of DOS (details not provided) to update your MSI Wind U100 BIOS. You can 'install it on an USB or SD card' <sic> It includes the original unpatched bioses from 1.09 til 1.0D. MD5-hash: cccbea8c0fbe42a0f54b2339bc8b72d0 (I hope this will not violate some Copyrights. If so please delete this <maso>)
Operating systems
Apple's OSX
- Generic-model Information
- Wind U100 Information
- Everything You Need to Get Leopard 10.5.6 Working on your Wind as Quickly as Possible [1]
- OS X post install tweaks and fixes
- Wind U123 Information
GNU/Linux distributions
Microsoft Windows
Sun's Opensolaris
- Opensolaris HCL
- Installation guide (please fix this - someone put a link to a forum thread on MS Windows 7)
- Opensolaris on SD
Dual or Multi-Boot Systems
- Multi-Boot Systems Covers the challenges of setting up the MSI Wind to boot into more than one operating system
- Triple_Boot_GPT_MBR Setting up a GPT/MBR triple boot
- Triple Boot Basic guide for installing Windows 7, OS X, and Ubuntu Linux using GRUB as the boot loader.
Hardware
- Audio
- Battery
- More portable travel charger (easy to break, though, so don't be rough on it)
- Battery calibration if it misreads the amount of power left
- Hard drive upgrade
- Local guide to upgrading the hard drive
- Guide by LAPTOP Magazine
- Guide by Damon Wynne
- Memory upgrade
- How to upgrade the RAM (may void the warranty in some countries)
- Pros and cons of adding an additional 1 GB to the supplied onboard vs. disabling the onboard and adding a whole 2GB in the empty slot
- Miscellaneous
- Touchpad mouse
- Disable "tap to click" on Windows
- Lower the sensitivity of "tap to click"
- Replace the Sentelic touchpad with a Synaptics touchpad
- [2] Disable tap to click on Linux
- Touchscreen modification
- Wireless
Software
Accessories
- Cases, Sleeves, Bags
- Case/Sleeve/Bag MSIWind.net forum thread
- Waterfield Designs Really well made and padded sleeve for the MSI Wind (a little pricey but worth it)
- Military Ops Alpha Large backpack with room for a DSLR and the MSI Wind
- Battery and Chargers
- Portable UK Plug to C5 Adapter (replaces bulky cable)
- Lion 4400mAh 6-cell battery
Troubleshooting
Gaming
- Windows games
- Linux games
- OSX games (including emulated Windows games)
