Acer 5102 - system hangs

Hi,
I have the 5102 notebook with:
AMD Turion TL-50 X2
1GB of A-Data 533 Dual Chanel (2x512)
Ati Radeon X1100 (128 MB - shared)
100 GB HDD
Windows XP Prof. Sp2 (not from Acer)

This is my problem:
When I'm working with Windows everything is alwright except one thing - he is hanging sometimes (i can't do anything except power the notebook down).
I tryed a few diffirent drivers and every time is the same thing - (he hangs randomly - somethimes after windows started on desktop, sometimes after a few hour of work).
I tryed to check what's wrong - when i installed graphic drivers he starts to hanging, but when i start a game he is working propertly and eveything is ok (notebook never hang under a game only under windows).
What can i do to fix this problem ?????
The Acer Support said that this is the drivers compatibility problem, but i tryied instal Acer drivers and other from the Ati site and nothing ....
Help me if you could ... !!

 

I had similar problem because of a program - flextype. My computer stops responding for 15-20 mins, the cpu load is 100%. I removed it and everything seemed ok. Look for strange processes in the task manager.

 

But my system doesn't responding, i don't think thatt some service does that, this look like hanging or freeze system ....
Maybe this is fault of my DDR2 : A-Data 533 (2x512), i just don't know what can i do to stop this bug .... (

 

I have the same freeze problems, with some vertical lines when crashing especially when working on battery, and I can´t fix it

 

I was asking acer support but they say that they are working at thi problem and they don't know the cure for that wright now ..... so you mustbe patience - they says .....
Can someon resolved this graphic bug .. !!??

 

hi, i am with the same problem, but is casuality, not every time, i am worry because i dont have any idea what is the reason for this, if someone find the answer please send me a e-mail.. [email protected]

 

Any ideas guys about this fix ... ?? Maybe someon have the cure for that !!

 

Hello there,
Since I've bought my aspire 5101, I've been experiencing the same problem described in the posts above.
System hangs with theese vertical lines:



Theese vertical lines appeared no matter the BIOS was used, or video drivers, or settings, or what so ever.
Until yesterday, Everest Ultimate reported my longest UpTime as 6 hours and 25 minutes, or smth like that.
Yesterday I had to enable my LAN card, because I forgot my wireless router at the country side, so I just had to plug the internet cable directly into my laptop.
I saw the lap was running fine so I thought to leave it ON over night, to seed some torrents.
SURPRISE!! The system was still running in the morning, I'm writing from it right now. Everest Ultimate is reporting 19 hours and 37 minutes of system UpTime !!! That's a record for me and I'm very happy! )

Try to enable your LAN cards too, and let's see what's happening.
PLUS From Device Manager>"you LAN card">Properties>Power management, disable "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.". That should be all.
Now you have your LAN powered even if you aren't using it.
Until my laptop hangs again lol, good luck to you all.

P.S. My configuration:
Acer Aspire 5101 ANWLMI - BIOS 3.10
AMD Turion 64 MK-36
2x512 Corsair Value 667
Ati Radeon Xpress 1100
WinXP Pro

Last edit: UpTime 125883 sec (1 days, 10 hours, 58 min, 3 sec) and I have to shutdown my lappy right now. Cheers!

 

Sometimes when i play quake 3 or HL2 my laptop gets extremely hot underneath and dramatically drops the CPU level so that it can have a few second of rest spose ts my fault for putting AA and AF on .

The Only time i ever got a screen like that was when i tried to max out my cpu by turning it up to 1.95 GHZ (stupid i know) and then the screen when just like the above

 

It's not about overheating here, nor overclocking. My CPU temps are 30+/50+ *C in idle/load.

I come with an update: The LAN Controller has nothing to do with the hangs. I have still experienced them.

 

OK guys, I was eating my brains out before finding this out. I found the solution!!!
Since I found it, I know you all have in your laptops Broadcom Wireless Cards. Isn't it so?
Remove the WLAN cards [physically out of the Mini-PCI slot - easy thing to do] and you'll see the diference.
I haven't bought another Mini-PCI WLAN Card yet, to replace the one with the Broadcom chip, but I will. Right now I'm using an Asus WLAN Adaptor through an USB port.
My notebook is stable like a rock! Freedom at last!

Please reply to this message, all of you that are sharing this problem.
tgmaverick, Thief, saro1986, renannl, please reply.
Cheers!

 

Hi.

I am late to the party (my 5102 has just started to show unstable behavior) and I'll share my findings too.

To start with the wireless card in my 5102 is an Atheros, so if changing the Broadcom fixed the problem for you, good for you, it's not an option for me.

I have experienced this problem with Linux (Fedora 8 x86_64), I still have Windows XP but hardly use it so it has not shown the problem. Anyway I get those same vertical lines in the screen. Are you by any chance using the latest ATI drivers? I am using them in Fedora so that might be the common link between your problems and mine. Another reason Windows (in my side) might be invulnerable to the problems is because it has some older ATI drivers.

Another problem I've got in Fedora 8 is that sometimes, mostly when typing fast (it can occur for different reasons), the system starts to send error messages saying it can not write to the filesystem, forcing me to reboot. It also shows a kernel I/O error. Parallel to that in the Windows side (because this problem forced me to reinstall and even change the hard drive) I got BSOD (blue screens of death) whenever big programs were loaded.

Have you had more problems? I see that your last post on this thread dates back to April.

Thanks.
Joe.

 

My cousin has an Atheros WLAN card. He had the same vertical stripes for a month or so since he bought his notebook. And after that first month, the problem disappeared like a miracle.
I'm using some kind of modded video drivers, but trust me, the problem isn't caused by theese. I tried many different drivers before discovering the WLAN issue. Maybe you should try it too. You have nothing to lose.

For others there, here's the link to the "FixYa" problem related to those vertical lines.

 

Hello.

OK, I have more laptop 'symptoms' here. I discovered that if I move it around while turned on it is likely to hang. This is specially evident in Windows because it sends a BSOD (blue screen of death).

I remember that about a year ago I saw those vertical stripes once, but then I armed myself with courage, opened the laptop, went deep in it (the most I had done back then was to change the HDD), and removed the graphics chip (it is next to the processor behind the cooper bar). After a while of holding it (and examining it) I put carefully put it back and that solved the 'vertical stripes' problem until now. Unfortunately I am out of luck here because this January I took the machine to a certified Acer technical support place and I have just discovered the morons soldered the graphics chip to the motherboard.

I think there is some sort of physical problem there because if I had the machine (still) on top of a cooling base that keeps it at a certain angle, the thing was almost guaranteed to hang (add that to the moving problem). So I think I am left with only one solution: replace the motherboard.

Do you think it is worth it? Or are the problems likely to repeat themselves? On a side note to this I'll add that a local repairman sells me a new motherboard for about USD$230.

In my attempt to fix the laptop I completely took it apart and hence disconnected the antennae cables (or the wifi). Is it possible that I accidentally disconnected them from inside the LCD screen as well? (maybe by pulling too hard) I say this because the wireless reception seems to have faded somewhat (noticeable), and it really does not matter how I connect the two antennae cables in the PCI card itself. Could it be possible to connect them back inside the screen?

Thanks.
Joe.