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[Tripdad]

Nithi,

I checked the knowledge base at Microsoft and this article seems to be talking about what your are describing...

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;295714

Hope it helps.

[frsupport]

We are school with 120 Acer Tablet 312s. We're having many users experience this same exact issue. We were able to send a unit to Acer tech support and they we're able to experience the problem once. When they put in their own "golden drive" ( a drive with only their standard software) they were unable to recreate the problem and said it most likely an issue with our personalized image. It nice to know we are not the only ones experiencing this issue and gives us more clout when we contact ACER and we're not the only ones. We're beginning to suspect the internal Intel wireless card or drivers for the card. After removing the Intel Proset wireless manager and software my unit has not frozen again. Removing it on others has had no effect. We're going to try external pcmicia wireless cards to see if this alleviates the problem. If so, We'll contact Acer with our results.

[Subah]

quote:Originally posted by frsupport

We are school with 120 Acer Tablet 312s

WoOoW what a transaction [:O]

[Subah]

Nithi,
It`s seems to me that you only the one that have a lot of problems with his C314 ?
Don`t you think ?

[philox]

OK, I've been having the same problem for about 6 months. I haven't sent it back yet because it is hard to reproduce the problem, and I need the machine. To avoid it I just try to avoid hitting the HD or sliding the computer too fast. Be careful when you put it on the table too-try to place the posterior part of the computer first. Please let me know if you find a permanent solution :)

[ADM]

For what it's worth, my friend and I each have a c314 and ours freeze regularly as well. We have conjectured that it might have something to do with insufficent airflow to the inlet underneith the machine, but we have no real significant evidence to support this. I hope to contact ACER in the next couple weeks to see what they say.

ADM

[ADM]

For what it's worth, my friend and I each have a c314 and ours freeze regularly as well. We have conjectured that it might have something to do with insufficent airflow to the inlet underneith the machine, but we have no real significant evidence to support this. I hope to contact ACER in the next couple weeks to see what they say.

ADM

[ADM]

For what it's worth, my friend and I each have a c314 and ours freeze regularly as well. We have conjectured that it might have something to do with insufficent airflow to the inlet underneith the machine, but we have no real significant evidence to support this. I hope to contact ACER in the next couple weeks to see what they say.

ADM

[ADM]

Sorry about all the posts--kept getting errors but I guess they posted anyway!

[txtrinitytiger]

I did not begin experiencing this problem with my most recent model until today... I've been dealing with Acer repair for about 6 months now on various issues and throughout the whole process I've experienced the same problems on all three models that they've exchanged for me (2 C312's and one C314). All three models woke up on their own, have the tablet/sensitivity mouse jump when the screen is closed then opened, and all lock-up with movement. Sounds like a mass engineering problem.

Anyone find a workaround for the lock ups?

[adretzios]

quote:Originally posted by Nithi Sothilingam

Okay, I've actually had this problem for a long while now, and I've just lived with it, but it has gotten worse over the last few days...

Sometimes, when I am working on either battery or AC, my TMC314 just freezes-up. Well, it doesn't exactly freeze, but it goes EXTREMELY slowly (it goes so slow that the cursor moves very jaggedly). When I open up task manager (and the action of right-clicking on the taskbar and selecting task manager, and then for it to load up takes about thirty-five seconds), I find that the "system" process is at 100%. I have never seen this behaviour before...especially from this process. Can anyone explain to me what the "System" process is, and why it might be freezing up? One of my theories is that there is something wrong with the DASP and it is too oversensitive, but if I try shaking it fairly agressively, it doesn't freeze-up at all. This is getting very annoying, and each and every time, I am forced to do a hard reboot...if it wasn't for Word's auto-recovery I would lose my work each time. Sometimes, it can happen about 5mins after restarting, and sometimes, it happens 4 hours after restarting. Please help!

(BTW, I am typing this on my tablet right now, and it hasn't frozen...yet...oh, and the new pen is working wonderfully, I love it so much better than the old one; it is very comfortable, and easier to use, and the eraser actually works ^_^)

[vcuhokiefan]

We have 14 of the C314s and have the exact same problem. I just installed the 1.07 BIOS update today (http://support.acer-euro.com/drivers/notebook/tm_c310.html) to give it a try. We'll see how that goes. The problems seems to lessen when I removed Acer ePowerManagement and stopped all power saving settings but it still happens frequently. One thing that I keep hearing reported that it relates to jumping back and forth from powered as a laptop and on battery as a tablet.

I'll post any results I get. I'm so glad to see more people with this problem. We're a medical practice and it's effecting our productivity with our X-ray system. Acer just wants us to send them the laptops - not exactly an option.:(

[Bhaltair]

Has anyone fixed this problem yet??

My wife brought one of these Acer Travelmate C312XCi's home and BLAM it has been frozen for over 50 minutes. CTRL ALT DEL won't do anything, and I don't see a reset switch on it. What gives?
How do you guys get it to reboot?

I see a class action lawsuit coming if I've ever seen one with this many unsatisfied customers...

[WNewquay]

You can reboot most machines by holding the power switch for 5 seconds.

Does that help?

[Bhaltair]

Yes, thank you. We figured out the solution to rebooting later that evening.

[Subah]

quote:Originally posted by Nithi Sothilingam

Well, any luck?

Apparently Acer has released a new BIOS flash for the C310, but I'm not too keen on trying it. Does anyone know if it fixes the DASP problem?

Thanks!



LooooooL :D do you afraid Nithi from losing your date :P

[hbarchini]

HI! I live in Paraguay South America, My first TPC Was a M200 and now I have a HP TC4200 and in both TPC I have the same problem, it freeze any time at any moment of the day when is in use with Word Outlook or any aplication after a few seconds (about 20) it cames to live again. I think is a problem with de SO not with de HW. [cry]

thanks

[dougwells]

I'm just about to pull the trigger on buying a C314 .... would this issue be a deal killer for any of you? Do the Toshiba M4 have similar issues....

Thanks - Doug

[Bhaltair]

I think our acer freezes due to network wireless issues, but I'm not sure. It's happened less since I updated the machine, but it still happens. It doesn't totally freeze, but everything gets super slow, the mouse moves slow, it won't close any programs or anything else.

[Subah]

Bhaltair,
Do you update the bios flash and the problem still happens ?!

[vcuhokiefan]

Post the BIOS update, little difference. Though I have a few of the 14 who rarely get it and some who get it constantly. The only almost thing I can follow is the constant power/battery switching that the guys that have it happen the most do as they go in and out of patient exam rooms.

[vcuhokiefan]

With little or no change so far I found a patch tonight:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c4eebb54-14e3-408e-8c63-0a382e8d9239&displaylang=en

I'm going to try installing tomorrow. I read in another forum about this being a fix for someone with a C314.

Has anyone else tried this?

[rls]

We are a tablet school experiencing the exact same problem. We have over 200 Acer Tablet C312XCi and 200 Acer Tablet C301XCi units from last year. Last year they were great except now the 301 hinges are starting to fail. Fortunately we have warrantys. The 312 freezing problem is a nightmare for us. We have sent several units to Acer but they can never reproduce the problem. We experience the problem with several dozen units but not with all units which makes it more difficult to diagnose. We have replaced, the BIOS with the most recent versions, played with updating the Wireless drivers, even getting the latest from Intel, played with virtual memory settings all with limited success. The problem is so intermittent. The symptoms are always the same - the SYSTEM process is pegged at 100%. I had one yesterday that I got to freeze on the tech bench for 1.5 hours then spontaneously let go of the process and was operating just fine. ARGGGGHHH! Yes, I believe this is an Acer issue, not a software issue but rather something with the hardware and settings or drivers associated with the hardware. We should all work together to make this a force of many rather than site by site if we are going to get anywhere with this. I am happy to lead the drive if you want to send me email I will gather your site information and number of units.

[rls]

Had 5 tablets here that were all exhibiting the freezing problem simultaneously. We have found a common thread and a simple solution for the units that do exhibit these symptoms. We noticed that the problem was more frequent if the tablet had been moved, slid, pushed or elevated. We realized that pushing on the right side of the unit was when it froze most often. Further investigation revealed that the memory stick blank is the culprit!. Of all things ---- if you jiggle or push on the blank a little - which happens when lifting or pushing the unit - the system process will jump to 100% - if you jiggle it some more or take in and out it will unfreeze. This is easily reproducible.

[Subah]

Nithi,
because of you i`am thinking to change my mind of the C314 and i will turn my dream to the M4 :P

[RossNavySailor]

Maybe I'm way offkey here but I also own a C314xmi and this

(http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c4eebb54-14e3-408e-8c63-0a382e8d9239&displaylang=en).

fixed the whole thing. Some guy in another forum directed me. But maybe im off here.

Ross

[Subah]

Thank you Ross for trying help but the batch is fixed another issue.

[philox]

Yeah this is not the issue. I had a significant improvement in this problem after I updated the wireless driver. It seems like I get the problem much less frequently, but it may be just an impression.

[jmmurray84]

After doing some extensive digging, I think I have found the culprit in the Acer c31x freeze-ups.

When the computer freezes, the System process goes to almost 100% CPU usage. I did some digging and found that the Windows kernel was consuming the CPU (not much help there) and that the specific library involved was a file called tifm21.sys - Ah-Ha!

This file is the Texas Instruments flash card manager that supports the little smart card slot on the side of the computer. When something is inserted in that slot, the flash card manager starts up and tries to read it. For some reason, when the little plastic smart card like placeholder is inserted, the CPU goes to 100% and the system freezes.

I have not figured out how to fix the software or disable the smart card reader, but simply removing that placeholder and leaving the slot empty seems to have solved the problem. I removed the placeholder a few days ago and have not had a single freeze-up since then.

Your millage may vary...Hope this helps...

[philox]

I did what you suggested, but still no improvement. Although it seems less sensitive after I updated the wireless drivers, it still slows down dramatically after small "traumas" like sliding it fast or leaving it on the table. Maybe the wireless doesn't have anything to do with it, and the effect was just an impression. I am almost convinced this problem has origin in the disk anti shock protection system. I think the definitive solution is to make the DASP less sensitive. I don't know whether this has to be done in a BIOS update or whatever, but they should come up with a solution fast. I will send my computer back to acer to see what happens before my 1yr warranty ends.

[stefanko]

The same freezing problem here. I am sending mine back and will never get ACER again. Guys, be good citizens and write reviews on C310, C312, C314 in zdnet, epinions, etc. ACER should not get away with producing lemons!

[acermate]

Hi! I recently bought an Acer Travelmate C312xci and love it generally, but I also have the freeze ups whenever I'm doing a lot of graphics design work; sometimes it's just like a real slow bottleneck and frees up again, but after 20 minutes of waiting!! (especially with several Adobe products open), but other times, it just freezes and I have to reboot the system. I also noticed it slows down as soon as I place it on the table or move about with it -- not good eh?

One of the error messages said the virtual memory setting is too low, but mine is on the recommended minimum setting of 768 MB.

Is this a common problem for all the C312xci's out there tho; should I even bother to try and get a new machine from my supplier, who was only willing to give me another unit if the problem continues?

I'm also calling Acer to refer them to this Web site -- obviously they have to look into this problem.

Thanks!

[acermate]

Ok, further to my posting today, I saw Rls's suggestion of pressing the MS blank on the right of the notebook and voila! my cursor started to go crazy slow on me! Tried it twice now after rebooting the system, and it freezes up each time that blank is pressed.

However, jiggling it again or pushing the blank in an out didn't free up the problem for me; it stayed crazy, forcing me to reboot. I think I'll just go to my supplier and see if their other tablets do the same thing.

Thanks rls for identifying the problem!

[acermate]

Ok -- FINAL posting (for the day) on this matter :D

I tried taking the MS bank cover in and out again, and pushed it in real hard this time, and it freed up the temporary freeze, so that does work after all -- but it's a real trial and error affair!!

I reckon when using in tablet mode, the right side where the ms bank is will naturally be sitting on my fat tummy, so it pushes that cover somehow and all the freezing problems occur. Ditto when holding the unit with both hands on either side, I unknowingly push the ms bank cover -- it's just too darned sensitive!!

Of course, my hubby reckons I just remove that cover altogether and there's no problem to deal with; now I just have to jump around with the tablet to see if it freezes up again sans the ms bank cover.

I'm still going to my supplier to see if his other machines have the same problem -- and this is definitely an Acer problem; I'll be writing them; they probably know already anyway but can't figure how to fix the darned thing, so blame it on our software instead!!

Final final word: I LOVE THIS FORUM!! Thanks all!

[vcuhokiefan]

It is definitely the culprit! We have 14 C314s all doing the same thing. As soon as I mess with that blank filler on the SD card slot I reproduce my random problem. I removed the cards out of the laptop and have had NO furhter problems today.

In a weird coincidence, I was at a shop picking up a replacement pen for one of my C314s and they had a C314 on the bench they were looking at. Had the same problem. It was running in that super slow mode while I was there. I walked up, pulled the SD card filler out, and the problem stopped instantly.

Ladies and Gentleman - This forum has the answer to this STUPID ANNOYING problem keeping this perfect tablet from being perfect.

[philox]

I agree. I tried doing it before, but for some stupid reason I was messing with the wrong filler (the pcmcia one). I don't know what in thw world made me do that. I did it on the correct one this time and could reproduce the problem easily. Before, I thought I could reproduce the problem by tapping below the computer. After I removed the blank filler, I can't reproduce it anymore by tapping below the computer. So, probably it's not the DASP and it is indeed the blank filler. I think while tapping I was holding the computer by the right side with my right hand and messing up with the texas instruments memory card port, causing the problem. Also, I had the same problem during powerpoint presentations, when holding the tablet at the same place. The seconds it takes to restart seem to be an eternity during a presentation, not to talk about the embarassment. Thanks a lot for this forum for finally solving the problem!!!
The guys in acer should be notified about this. It's such a stupid thing, they probably can fix that easily. Any volunteers?

r.

[RussH]

Not the blank filler for me :(

[stockrt]

Hey, dudes, has anyone tried another OS on the Tablet? I mean, has anyone tried using Linux instead Windows? May this help the things works right, the driver for cards would not crash the system afterall.

Has anyone? Maybe some of you an try a LiveCD and do some tests?
I an post th link here for a ISO to burn a CD with a Live OS (Linux) running directly from the CD, no needs install to HD and makes no hange in your Windows.
Can anyone try this out?

[stockrt]

Hey, dudes, has anyone tried another OS on the Tablet? I mean, has anyone tried using Linux instead Windows? May this help the things to work right, the driver for cards would not crash the system afterall.

Has anyone? Maybe some of you can try a LiveCD and do some tests?

I can post the link here for a ISO to burn a CD with a Live OS (Linux) running directly from the CD, no needs install to HD and makes no change in your Windows.

Can anyone try this out?

(sorry for double post, my keyboard fails)

[mpprice]

Well I am so Excited.

We purchased 8 C310s of which 4 have been experiencing the 100% utilization / hang problems. Erratically! Previously hard if not impossible to recreate.

After reading this thread, I tried the “remove the SD mem blank” trick and it caused the problem to happen – 100% CPU Usage. I rebooted and the system and it came up just fine (without the blank in place), until I re-inserted it into the slot. Bang – 100% again. Only this time I removed the blank and replaced it with a real SD 1G card and the system went instantly to 0% CPU Usage. Sweet! ! ! !

Blank in = BAD!
Empty or real SD card in = GooD!!!