Ram Upgrade
I just upgraded the RAM in my laptop. I had to trawl the web to find some instructions; there weren’t any in the manual. So for anyone else out there who has a Medion Akoya LS, SIM 2010 or the equivalent MSI Megabook S260 or any of its derivatives, here is how I did it. I offer this for documentary purposes only, if you open your laptop, you do so AT YOUR OWN RISK.
I ordered the replacement RAM from Crucial’s UK site. This was cheaper than paying in Euros because the tax was higher in France. I had to select “other manufacturer” from the drop-down list to get a list that included Medion, then my model was listed by its model number SIM 2010, not by its model name “Akoya LS”. I had to call them to verify that I wanted it delivered to France but I was paying with a UK credit card. Then they sent it to me by UPS.
I shut down and removed the battery. Then pressed the power button for a while to remove any charge in capacitors. Then let it stand for a while and then did it again to be sure.
Underneath there are 6 screws that hold the palm-rest in place. They are labeled on my follow the ink to the flickr page to se them labeled. I took those out with a good quality cross-head screwdriver.
I removed the PCMCIA and SD card blanks. The palm-rest won’t come off with them in.
By raising the back of the palm-rest, near the keyboard, I was able to lift it and find the four clips that hold it in place: two are on the sides near the left USB slot and the modem socket. Two more are on the front between the fire-wire and the mic sockets on the left and in the same place on the right. By flexing and lifting the palm-rest I was able to get it free.
I lifted the palm-rest forward carefully because there was a short ribbon-cable connecting the touch-pad and I didn’t want to put any tension on that.
Once the palm-rest is out of the way, the keyboard slides forward a few millimeters. Then, to get the keyboard out I had to lift it in the middle so it bowed up in a curve because there were four little clips on the sides that kept it in place. It came free of these with some lifting and gentle flexing.
The keyboard is attached by another ribbon cable but this one is longer and folded so the keyboard can rotate and rest o the body. Under it there was a metal plate just to the left of the processor fan. This was attached by one screw and some small clips. I removed the screw and gently lifted out the plate. The plate was looped over the keyboard ribbon-cable so I had to slide it up and under the keyboard rather than remove it completely.
Once the keyboard and the metal plate were stowed well clear, the RAM modules were visible. There were two 256MB modules. There were small clips on the sides of the two RAM slots, I pressed these gently until the RAM modules popped up, then I lifted them out.
Next I opened the anti-static bags with my new SODIMMs in from Crucial. At this point I took some superstitious steps to make sure I wasn’t carrying any additional static charge. I lifted the new modules out of their bags, avoiding touching the contacts, and put them into the empty sots in the laptop. Then pressed down gently on them until the clips engaged.
I reassembled the case: replacing the metal plate and its screw, the keyboard (which took some careful flexing to get it back under its clips and then some gentle nudging back into place) and the palm rest which I clipped down; but I did not replace the screws at this point in case I had to go back and adjust anything.
So with the screws still out I reconnected the power cable (but not the battery), switched on and hit F2 to enter the BIOS screen to make sure that the memory was visible to the system (and that the F2 key was working!).
Next I booted my favorite operating system and tested all the keys on the keyboard and the touch-pad. Since they were alll working I shut down, replaced the screws, inserted the battery pack and then restarted.
Loads-a-mem’ry!
Steve Says:
Hey Mark,
I think I prefer the laptops where you can just unscrew a single panel and slot in the new memory chip! Glad you’re steaming ahead with a pile of memory now after taking most of your machine apart
It was great to hear from you and this time to have a link to be able to follow to find you, I tried searching for you last time you left a message and it seemed you were still at DMU so I sent an e-mail to your address there but never heard a reply. What was weird was that I’d just thought about you a couple of days before you left that first comment. I was disappointed to have no reply and was just thinking about you again just the other day and who should drop another comment but your good self! Thanks for getting back in touch.
If you send me an e-mail we can then send you a longer e-mail back and bring you up to date with what we’ve been doing and are currently doing!
Take care and God bless,
May 9th, 2007 at 5:03 pmSteve (and H)
Russell Says:
Hi, I have a similar model laptop, a Medion MD96400 which looks pretty similar to the one you have. Mine has 512MB built in RAM but after the Graphics Card has taken its share, it is only left with about 448MB, which is pretty rubbish! I am going to whack it up to 2GB as you did with Crucial (total of £108) and will be following your steps which look to be quite useful! Saves me buying a new laptop, as my one is so small and light with the same features as you would get on a newer laptop nowdays, and mine’s a year old! A 2GB of RAM would make it one of the better 12″ notebooks out there! Thanks alot for your help.
September 20th, 2007 at 2:21 amMark Says:
I’m sitting here grinning, Russell, your comment has made me very happy. It was a while ago I did this and to my knowledge you are the second person who has consulted this page and actually done or intends to do the upgrade. Its you guys for whom I did this. Thanks for taking the trouble to tell me.
September 21st, 2007 at 7:11 pmRussell Says:
That’s ok, glad I made you smile! I am returning to University on Monday and I have decided that a 2GB RAM upgrade will be very handy. I will try and upgrade it following your instructions and let you know how I get on!
September 22nd, 2007 at 1:52 pmRussell Says:
Hi, before upgrading the RAM on my laptop, it has developed a hardware fault with the hinge, the speakers do not work when the laptop is open, only closed and half closed! Therefore I am selling my laptop for £150 to my mother, and am buying a fantastic new one from Rizeon.com! Sorry to disappoint!
October 8th, 2007 at 3:48 pmEm Says:
Thanks! This was super helpful as my husband tried to fix my Medion’s power supply jack >> No way could he have gotten it apart on his own. Its not fixed, but at least we’re 90% sure what the problem is. Thanks again!
April 14th, 2008 at 1:34 amMark Says:
LOL Well I hope he fixes it ok! Glad you were able to get some value from my photos. Good luck with your Medion project
April 14th, 2008 at 2:43 pmDave Walker Says:
Thanks for this really useful post. I used it to add more memry to my MD 96400. There’s no way I’d have worked it out myself. The only difference with the MD 96400 model is that there is no metal plate covering the memeory chips… its just some sticky back foil that you have to peel back.
I can’t believe I put up with the crummy 512Mb RAM for so long. Now I’ve got 2 Gb of memory I might actually be able to do stuff like open a PowrPoint file in less than 10 minutes.
Cheers!
May 21st, 2008 at 9:38 amap Says:
Thanks alot! really usefull.
as Dave Walker says, the 96400 model hides the ram in a wierd bag of foil, but the ram slots is not placed like in the msi, but its easymode to figure out
thanks a lot for this very helpfull post (and for using ubuntu :P)
July 7th, 2008 at 11:55 amAlex Says:
Excellent, just ordered some RAM on ebay, have bookmarked your instructions. Thanks for publishing!
October 4th, 2008 at 3:35 pmGordian Says:
I have an MSI Megabook S270 and with this instructions I might be able to do the RAM upgrade, right? I was searching or an hour yesterday and then finally someone has posted the instructions. I hpe I can get it work. Thanks!
November 1st, 2008 at 8:16 am