Acer R3610 Revo Freezing

[timby_65]

Note: Sorry if I posted this in the wrong place. This machine is a not a notebook, but the hardware specs are similar. I could not post it in the Systems forum as the sub-categories did not apply.

I recently purchased an Acer R3610 Revo and have been having problems with it right out of the box. Here's what I've noticed:
1. Initial set up of Windows 7 and included software took about 2 hours.
2. Froze 3-4 times during uninstall of included software (e.g. trial software).
3. It has froze a number of times since (maybe a total of 4 to 5 hours of usage).
4. It froze once at the login screen. I could not enter a password or use the keyboard. The mouse cursor moved, but the desktop was not responsive. This was the first time it was used in the day, so it does not appear to be an overheating issue.
5. I ran Prime95 and got a BSOD after about 15 minutes.

I could not find any related entries in the event viewer (other than for the BSOD). For symptoms, please see my post here:
http/www.tomshardware.com/forum/266033-30-ud3r-random-reboots#t1874833

Occasionally the system will slow down to a crawl (almost as if it were frozen). The mouse continues to work, but all applications will appear to be frozen and will only work for a second or two every minute or two (e.g. I try to scroll in google Chrome, it freezes, then 1 to 2 minutes later it scrolls, then freezes again for a minute or two, etc.). The hover state for icons on the desktop work until I click on one or on the desktop, at which point the desktop will be frozen. The same applies for the start menu. I can switch between running programs (Alt+Tab), but it is very slow. I have run the task manager a number of times when this happen (it takes a couple of minutes to start), and nothing is using much CPU.

The symptoms are very similar, even though it is a different machine. These issues started before I connected the R3610 to my network, so this issue cannot be related to a virus or other software.

I have tried to update the chipset drivers and video card drivers, but it has not helped.

I only have a week left to return the machine for a full refund, so I would like to have the issue resolved by then. I have contacted Acer technical support and will run some diagnostics for them. Can anyone give me some additional troubleshooting steps that may help me narrow down the cause of this issue? I was thinking of running Memtest86+. Are there any other diagnostic tools I can use for basic hardware testing? Any thoughts on what could be causing this issue?

Thanks!
Tim

 

[timby_65]

I thought I'd update this thread with my latest reply to Acer support.

I restored the factory image and am experiencing the same problem. The machine is currently frozen. The mouse cursor moves, but everything else is completely locked up. Ctrl+Alt+Del does nothing.

About 5 to 10 minutes later the machine became responsive again. I checked the event log and see one error and three warnings around the time it froze:
- Error: A timeout was reached (30000 milliseconds) while waiting for the windows error reporting service to connect.
- Warning: Reset to device, \Device\RaidPort0, was issued.
- Warning: wauaueng.dll (964) SUS20ClientDataStore: a request to write to the file "c:\windows\software distribution\datastore\logs\edb.log" at offset 197632(0x000000000030400) for 512 (0x00000200) bytes exceeded, but took it an abnormally long time (191 seconds) to be serviced by the OS. This problem is likely due to faulty hardware. Please contact your hardware vendor for further assistance diagnosing the problem.
- Warning: Reset to device, \Device\RaidPort0, was issued.

I did not connect the machine to any network after restoring the factory image, so it cannot be a virus or custom software.

Based on these results, it appears to be hardware related.

I promptly got a response back from Acer support suggesting to restore the factory image. Nice.

Anyway, I will likely return this machine to the store. I'm undecided if I should exchange or get a full refund. I'm not too impressed with the quality of support.

 

[Guest]

I thought I'd update this thread with my latest reply to Acer support.

I restored the factory image and am experiencing the same problem. The machine is currently frozen. The mouse cursor moves, but everything else is completely locked up. Ctrl+Alt+Del does nothing.

About 5 to 10 minutes later the machine became responsive again. I checked the event log and see one error and three warnings around the time it froze:
- Error: A timeout was reached (30000 milliseconds) while waiting for the windows error reporting service to connect.
- Warning: Reset to device, \Device\RaidPort0, was issued.
- Warning: wauaueng.dll (964) SUS20ClientDataStore: a request to write to the file "c:\windows\software distribution\datastore\logs\edb.log" at offset 197632(0x000000000030400) for 512 (0x00000200) bytes exceeded, but took it an abnormally long time (191 seconds) to be serviced by the OS. This problem is likely due to faulty hardware. Please contact your hardware vendor for further assistance diagnosing the problem.
- Warning: Reset to device, \Device\RaidPort0, was issued.

I did not connect the machine to any network after restoring the factory image, so it cannot be a virus or custom software.

Based on these results, it appears to be hardware related.

I promptly got a response back from Acer support suggesting to restore the factory image. Nice.

Anyway, I will likely return this machine to the store. I'm undecided if I should exchange or get a full refund. I'm not too impressed with the quality of support.

Hi there,

I've got the same computer as you and the same symptoms. Did you return your pc?

I am thinking what to do - it's such a pain to reinstall everything on the pc, that I am still considering that.

 

[timby_65]

I decided to send it in to Acer support after all. They received it a few days ago. Hopefully it won't be too long before they fix the problem.

I would have preferred to exchange it at the store, but they never got more in stock.

 

[slow_learner]

I decided to send it in to Acer support after all. They received it a few days ago. Hopefully it won't be too long before they fix the problem.

I would have preferred to exchange it at the store, but they never got more in stock.

Did you ever find out what the problem was?

 

[timby_65]

Yes, but not with any help from Acer. I sent it in 3 times and they did nothing. It turned out to be the NVidia SATA drivers. To workaround this problem, uninstall them and use the ones from Microsoft instead. I have been running it for 2 months now without issue.

You might have a problem uninstalling the drivers. It's possible, but I couldn't do it. I ended up doing a clean install of Windows 7 Ultimate 32 bit. I installed all other drivers, except this one. Not one freeze since then.

 

[slow_learner]

During the reinstall, when loading the chipset drivers, did it prompt you to do the SATA driver? I would think it would install automatically as part othe nforce chipset driver install.

 

[timby_65]

The SATA driver is optional. Just uncheck it before moving on.

 

[TheBeastFromOz]

We have a couple of these, same prob, I just uninstalled the nVidia driver and checked the box that asks if you want to remove the software from the system (otherwise windows just reinstalls the same driver with the next boot). Two reboots later and all is done, has the standard sata driver in there now...

 

[glenn_n]

Would someone kindly post details of how to uninstall nVidia SATA drivers? I went to HW management, found some nVidia driver dialogs, but wasn't sure which nVidia driver (there is more than one) to remove. And I didn't know how to get the alternative drivers. It seems to me that removing these drivers without having replacement in hand could brick the computer (in which case it would be a little less useful than it is now).

My 3610 has 2 GB RAM, would performance greatly improve with 4GB?

I tried Boxee as a Win7 application and XBMC bootable from USB drive. Neither of these satisified me.