TimelineX 3820T Acer OS

Can someone that havent done a clean install yet, post a picture of the system (click my computer, then properties)
Need it to send to Acer so they will help me with my PowerSmart button. They needed "proof" that my computer still have the acer OS...
And with the i3 pross, and do not scroll the system page all the way down, I just need the system OS info, not your Product-ID

Need a screenshot like this: Imageshack - system.png

 

Here is a screenshot. You just need to edit the system specs. haha.

 

I'm assuming you need this because you installed a non-Acer supplied OS? I would venture to guess that 90% of issues with the PowerSmart button are due to people loading a diff OS...

 

Aylafan: Thank you! That was just what I needed!

Acerinside: I did a clean install with Windows 7 Ultimate, should work the same as home premium, right?

 

I think he's suggesting ... not!

 

Make sure, you have Launch Manager and Acer's Power Manager tool installed. Both should be the versions from your drivers and applications DVD, you hopefully created. The version from Acer website for your computer model is often somewhat older.

Michael

 

I am in the same position - I did a clean install with my ssd and I cant get the Power Management tool to work with the launch manager..
I do have the original hard drive with the original image, I will try to see if i can get the LM and ePower versions from there tomorrow




***EDIT:***
I read some of your posts from the 3280TG lounge thread, you were talking about trying to activate PowerSmart with the P button. From what I recall before I replaced the original drive, the P button does not activate PowerSmart, it launches a program. However, PowerSmart is activated whenever I unplugged the power brick (a green launch manager like graphic). I cant get that to show now - ePower crashes instead

Will boot from original drive again tomorrow. Tell you what happens

 

Thanks for checking it out mate. Acer told me to install the launch and epower for 4820y. The pgrogram doesnt work, but atleast i didnt get a force close Hopefully I will get some help from Acer second line.

 

I too am planning on doing a clean install on a new drive. What is recco'd with the old drive in order to get the power tools on and working?

 

If I remember correctly, then all the tools are on the "drivers&applications" disc. You need to create it using Acer recovery tool.

Michael

 

I have been reading up on this issue in the Service Manual for the 3820T. There's a lot to digest but I think I'm starting to understand the issue .... more reading tonight.

Bronsky

 

Where'd you find the service manual? Or do you mean the user guide?

Wanted to partition my Momentus XP tonight and install the Windows on it, so curious, outside of backing up teh drivers if there was anything else that was needed

Do the Acer's still have those "hidden" partitions?

 

Yeah, it has the factory image. You can access it through Alt+F12 (i think) if you enable D2D recovery within the BIOS

Please share what you learn from that manual

eRecovery Management wants needs a blank dvd, but this machine doesnt have a drive! So after minutes wasted to hunt down a virtual dvd writer, I am creating a recovery disc now.

 

Is it necessary to create that same partition on a new drive? Or was it placed there to enable the creation of a system backup DVD only?

 

I think you can create backup recovery dvds, drivers and applications dvds or restore factory settings to the original ACER partition from the hidden partition. I am not sure about moving it to another drive though

*Edit*

I read your question wrong.. you dont have to create that partition on a new drive

 

Has anybody tried to set the default values in the bios? F9. The power management protocols are loaded by the bios.

 

Success!

I installed the ePower Management and Launch Manager from the recovery dvd, and PowerSmart seems to be back to original settings (enabled when unplugged, disabled while plugged). Battery life back to normal now

The P button still doesnt enable/disable PowerSmart though.

 

The programs from the website would not work on your clean install? You had to have the original ones generated from your own recovery disk?

I sent the trouble shooting check list. I don't think it will help on the power button, it is more of a field replacement check off to hunt down mechanical issues. You can test for a few of the other modes though to make sure they're working.

Bronksy

 

I tried the programs from the acer website (from first post in the 3820tg thread) but ePower.exe crashes whenever I plug/unplug the power brick. I uninstalled ePower and launch manager that I got from the website, replaced my ssd with the original drive, generated the recovery disk and then used the ones from there.

I don't know if its just my model, but the website ones didn't work.

 

I'll try them when I get mine. It should be here next week. I am curious if it is all of them or only certain ones that have the problem.

 

Thanks Bronsky for the checklist Unfortunately I don't think its the same issues though.

Maybe the 3820T doesn't have a PowerSmart button... see this from the quick start guide:

 

Okay. Thanks. Glad you have it working.

 

Heh, I got a response from ACer support in Norway now. They said that ePower should not be used with Windows 7, because the function are already included in Windows 7. Then they closed my case.

 

That's some great service.

 

Atleast in Norway, they are a bunch of retards. I did a clean in stall when I got the PC, but I would like to go back to factory settings, like when I opened it the first time. How can I get those recoveryfiles? I guess I had them on my computer before I did a clean install,b ut they are for sure gone now.

 

If you by any chance still havent wipe the hidden recovery partition when you did your clean install, you still have a chance

 

Has anyone here installed Windows 7 from scratch (clean install, not from recovery discs) and been able to get their battery to perform the way it did out of the box?

With the pre-loaded copy of Windows 7 the battery ran 8 hours and after a clean install of Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit I'm getting 2-2.5 hours? I read through all 3 pages of this thread. I've tried the Acer PowerSmart Manager and LaunchManager from both the website and the Drivers and Applications disc that I burned from the recovery partition. I'm still getting an estimated 2-2.5 hours of battery life. Help please! What should I be doing to get my battery life back to estimated levels? I'd like to avoid having to do an installation from the recovery discs and downgrading back to Windows 7 Home Premium.

Thanks in advance!

 

umm did u install the ATI drivers from the Acer site which includes the drivers for the integrated intel gfx card?

u'll get 8 hours only with the integrated card

 

btw all the drivers and application files are on your harddrive, you dont need to create a recovery dvd, just put it on a flash drive. it is under c:\oem\Preload

 

How could Acer be so thoughtless as to include the ePower in the default setup and then tell us that it "shouldn't be used with Windows 7" when the machine comes with Windows 7? That really shakes my confidence in Acer. What a dumb move!

Thanks for posting that info, I'll un-install ePower right now.

EDIT: Sure enough, after uninstalling the Acer ePowermanagement software I still have the same power feature that it provides (stops charging on a fully charged battery). Yes, it is built into Windows 7. So Acer's program is totally unnecessary... it doesn't appear to offer any other functionality (except show you a little battery icon when you unplug your AC cord).

 

I have the same problem - clean install of W64 Ultimate - blew out all the partitions.. no recovery DVD (stupid, i know) and ~3 battery life now... Any help is appreciated!

 

Install the drivers for your computer. They are available on Acer support website.

Michael

 

I tried that, but I am not getting anywhere close to 8 hours - I am getting about 4 hours. I use an external screen and a cable for my internet connection so I thought I would get good battery life in this configuration.

Also, there are a number of drivers on the website, and I am not sure how to make sense of it. For example, for bluetooth, there are both Aethoeros and Broadcom drivers - which driver should I install? Same thing for Wireless LAN.

I used the intel utility to make sure the intel drivers were up to date. Since there is no graphics card, I did not install the ATI or AMD drivers, but maybe that is a mistake?

Any guidance is appreciated...

 

bump. i would also like to know which exact drivers to install.

 

The most reliable method is to go device manager and check the Vendor ID.


For example PCI\VEN_14E&DEV_167B...
You just google the "VEN_14E" which is the hex code for a particular hardware vendor and the Vendor name will pop up.
Then just find/download the relevant driver.

 

thanks, that helps. i will look into it.

as for epower...

i (perhaps stupidly) formatted my drive before making the backup disk with all the drivers, didn't realise it would be such a pain to find them all again.

can somebody post the link to the correct epower utility version? the one on the website is outdated and keeps crashing.

 

You can download the latest epower for Acer Aspire 4830, it is not model specific and will still work.

 

I prefer the W7 power profiles to ePower. I disabled it on my unit 9 months ago and never looked back.

Bronsky

 

I like it since it gives the illusion of longer battery life when you unplug the power cord for the first 30 seconds.

 

does epower actually give any increase in battery life?

just using W7 power managament, after using my new 3820T for a few days, it seems that with screen brightness at or below 50% i am looking at just under 5 hours battery life. does this sound about right to everyone here?

 

Yea. If I keep power low, turn off wifi, turn off BT and minimize background programs, I can get closer to 6 but I'm running minimal brightness as well. Your battery life sounds about right.

Bronsky

 

i'm just using the bog-standard W7 balanced power plan. glad to know it's holding up.

does anybody have any experience loading an SSD into these suckas? any increase in speed/battery life?