ACER 6290 Freezing

Help, I m at loss.
My problem is that every time I boot up to Vista. It freezes about booting up Vista. This problem is when I connect to AC Adapter.

Without AC Adapter, it does not freezes.

It also doesnot freeze at SAFE mode.

Is there anyone have a solution or advice I can try.

How can I flash the bios in SAFE MODE. I cant do it in NORMAL MODE cos it needs me to connect the AC Adapter and then It will hang.


Thanks

 

@.@???
Have you try to do a CLEAN installation of OS(vista) and test it?
A clean installation of OS means without all Laptop Manufacturer(acer) junks, crapwares, bloatware and so on.
By the way, why do you want to flash the BIOS? It is not recommended to flash the BIOS because a bad flash can lead to a dead MOBO.
AS6920G freeze when AC plug-in, LOL. Mine got freeze when AC plug-out when I am on Windows 7. But it seems my problem gone now. After some tweaking and Windows Updates.

 

Thanks for the Reply. I m running out ideas and time to get this up.

I dont have a original Vista cd. I tried using a clean install with a WIN XP Performance Edn.

But the notebook still freezes on desktop when Windows XP boots up when the ac adapter is plug in. I can only use the notebook in battery mode for Vista and Xp

But if no ac adapter, the system appears fine with normal boot but need to test. I have to install the Vista Recovery disks on battery to get it up. but I was able to install the Windows Xp with ac adapter (if I switch the mode to IDE instead of AHCI)

I thinking of changing hard disk. But I have been installing and unstalling the Vista Recovery and Win Xp discs. There was no problem, so maybe hard disk may not be a problem but I strongly suspect the AHCI is culprit thats why I suspect the present hard disk is not AHCI compliant.

Any more advice.
Once again, Thanks

 

After I tried to install LAN Network driver on XP. Now It also hangs wo ac adapter. I suspect Win XP may not be a ideal os for the acer 6920.

Is there a way to confirm the motherboard is the problem? Then I can just chuck this away.

This is my first time encountering such a machine

 

I smell the 3 culprits here.
1st, Motherboard
2nd, Motherboard BIOS
3th, AC Cord(got problem)

Have you tried installing the Intel Chipset yet?
Go to intel official website and download the Intel Chipset Driver(latest).

 

Could be RAM related.

Did you upgrade it? How much RAM do you have currently in your machine?
Try to pull out the stick(s) then put it(them) back in. If you have 2 sticks try with one stick only.

It might be missing/corrputed ACPI(not AHCI) drivers. If this is the case reinstalling should solve the problem.

 

Thank you all for the wonderful feedbacks.
1. Ram I have resit and even changed - Problem still the same. Guess not.
2. I suspect Motherboard BIOS but I cannot reflash it cos I can only do it in BATTERY and SAFE mode. The flash program only does if ac adapter is plugged
3. I am actually using another AC adapter from my other ACER machine. So shouldnot be this.

4. Biggest WORRY is if it is motherboard. Then this laptop goes to retirement.
5. So now I can look into BIOS or ACPI drivers, Intel Chipset.
But is there a way to do flash the bios in dos before vista boots up. How?
6. Funny if AC adapter is the problem, but the machine does not have any freeze or crash in SAFE mode. Maybe there is something to do with the power management in VISTA. ANY ideas guys.

Thanks again

 

Super Complicated Solution(HACK ACPI):
When installing an OS(windows), the ACPI stuffs will be derived from BIOS into the OS. So, if the BIOS is faulty, it will continue even with different OSes. The fix will be installing an OS, either Vista or 7. Hack the ACPI, the problem here is we don't know which codes are causing the problem. Basically, we will modify the codes and apply/replace the faulty ACPI. After that, check it the problem still exist. If OK already, start the BIOS(official) flashing that you desired.

Complicated Solution(flash the BIOS using USB flash drive):
This will no require AC Cord I think. Because it didn't boot up to Windows. So, the Windows didn't know if the AC Cord is present.
However, this solution is very hard and can be deadly.

Easy Solution before doing anything more advance:
a.) Try Windows 7.
b.) Try Latest Intel Chipset

Personal advise, do not use XP. It sucks.

 

So if you turn on the laptop in battery and then when you are logged in to Windows, can you plug the AC adaptor without problems?
Try that, it might work.
Or you can change the power plan in Vista to Power Saver and check if the laptop is working fine with the adaptor. If it is, you might be able to do a BIOS update

 

Some 6920 had problems with Intel's AHCI drivers, the laptop would freeze without any visible reason. Since then Intel has released varios versions and I haven't seen this problem in awhile so maybe you're using old drivers? Try to install the newest from Intel.

As I said, a simple reinstall - using your recovery disks - could solve your problem. I'm not sure if you can reinstall ACPI.

 

Guys don't convert this in another XP vs Vista vs Whatever thread. Consider yourself warned.

Some posts have been deleted.

 

Thanks for all the feedback.
The 6920 was set to factory settings using the recovery disk
The problems still exist. So I suspect a hardware problem.

Since I cant really run in AC. If I left it to charge up, and then bootup normally with battery, it still crashes or freeze.
If I switch it to SAFE mode, the system boots up normally and if I switch ie restart to normal mode. The freezing stops
If I plug in the ac adaptor, it will just reboot and it will freeze on reboot.
I m convinced there is some problem with the hardware related to power. (not ac adapter though)
Sending it to ACER Service Centre for a quotation.

If a motherboard issue, then this notebook will b sold as scrap later.
Need to pray hard. I really like this machine.
Thanks again everyone. I will post to feedback once I get a reply back fm Service Centre.

 

OK! I think it is confirmed that it is not Software/Driver problem.
The problem left will be BIOS problem or Hardware problem.
If you still have the warranty, then, you don't need to sell it. Acer will replace a new motherboard for you.

 

I had the same problem with an aspire 3630 tried pretty much everything already suggested in this thread and then found the most unlikely of solutions on another forum. Boot into safe mode and in the Device Manager, under Batteries, disable the Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery.

Reboot and presto! At least it worked for me.

Luck!