Acer 5720Z - Sound and AHCI trouble after downgrade to XP

Hi there,
first time poster, but not a newbie on computers, though with notebooks.

I have to maintain/upgrade (downgrade) the Acer 5720Z for a friend of mine. Looks like I did all wrong from the get go.

After trying Vista for a while (few weeks) and not being nearly satisfied with how it performs (this notebook should in theory smoke my old AMD XP2200+ desktop system for breakfast, but does not), we decided to install Ubuntu first, but had trouble with AHCI, Sound and Graphics. OK, we decided to install WXP Pro then (I'm willing to give her my license, since I have changed OS to linux-based systems for myself).

I have a slipstreamed WXP Pro/SP2 install CD, and after the (now obvious) problems with AHCI, I was able to change the BIOS and install away.
I have downloaded all drivers, from diff. places and after a good 2.day job of driver hunting, bug squashing, problem solving, all seems to be fine and working. Though it would be too good to be true

All, except audio performance is good (besides the fact that I can't for the life of me figure how to install AHCI on this board):

Insert a DVD - stuttering audio
Insert an Audio CD - stuttering audio

It's not consistent, and appears at random. But when it happens, audio is slowing down (kinda) desyncing sound & picture in videos. I have tried changing drivers, searched the forums here (did not find a suitable fix), googled the hell outta my fingers, don't know what to do.

Initially I thought that this would be AHCI-related stuff, slowing down DVD/RW- and HD drives, but it seems not. After doing quite some research about this, it looks as if it doesn't really make a world of a difference if in IDE/ATA or AHCI mode.

Trying to restore the initial system (recovery DVD's created with eRecovery, NO MEDIA was delivered with this notebook, bummer) failed. It looks that my wiping of the hidden partition is to blame for that. Dunno.

So please, anybody in the know of a fix for this feckin' audio problem?

TIA
Raphael

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Acer 5720Z, Intel GM965 Express (X3100), 2GB RAM, Pentium Dual 1.6Ghz, HDA Realtek (it seems, drivers are working anyway), 160GB SATA HDD, Optiarc DVD/RW

 

What transfer mode is the Primary and Secondary IDE channels in?

 

They are in UDMA 5 and 2 (DVD/RW).
I've looked at the usual suspects in the first place, but didn't find any apparent anomalies. I've been messing with setting "System properties->advanced->optimize for background tasks" instead of 'programs'.
I'm a musician and know that on PC's optimised for recording/low latency VSTi use this makes quite a big diff.

I've also tried several memory block sizes from 4096 to 65536 through a program called "Xteq-X Setup".
It seems to lessen the problem to some extent, but doesn't solve it.

Cheers
Raphael

 

FYI, SATA(i.e. AHCI) needs to be installed as you install Windows. It's possible to do it after Windows has been installed, but it's a beastly process that I wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole. Usually, there's a brief period where the install process prompts you to press F6 if you want to install SATA drivers, but unless you want to get an external USB floppy drive, it's easier just to slipstream the SATA drivers into the installation.

Anyway, you have all the latest sound drivers installed I presume? Does the CPU usage spike when the audio stuttering happens? Does the Event Log record anything when it happens?

 

Is this problem happening always, or is it just DVD/CD related?

 

@Zoomastigophora:
Yes, I have all the latest drivers installed, fresh from the hardware manufacturers websites. So I guess I'll just have to slipstream another WinXP CD. (need more time, need more time, need more....)

@Van Capri:
I don't know, since it's not my notebook. I'll see her this afternoon normally, so I'll just try to copy a bunch of .wav & .mp3 files to the disk and see how it goes.
Will report back tonight.
Would it be possible maybe to do a repair install with my new slipstreamed CD? Because I already installed her a bunch of apps, done quite some individual configurations etc. I'd rather not do it all again.

Cheers
Raphael

 

I´ve read that it is possible to reinstall win xp with slipstremed driver´s when in bios switched to ahci mode. Although i think that it won´t solwe the problem. Try using CCleaner, select all the boxes and run it. It may help.
My audio stuttering issue was on all mp3´s, wav´s, win applications etc.

 

Now that you say it, I think I've had the issues also on Windows logon once at least. Not sure anymore.
Will have a look and a poke around a bit. more.

 

If that is the case, this issue happens on many new model´s, mostly Gemstone. 7520G, 7720G, 5590G etc... Only sollution that i know is cleaning registry with CCleaner. Those cleanings with RegCure and Uniblue did not help much, and or Acer Empowering settings to max performance in every way should also help.

 

I didn't install Acer Empowering Software suite, since I think all these things can be done from XP itself (Power Management and such). And more ressourdce friendly IMHO.
Now the ALPS driver also stops working. No HID driver installed anymore or so.
Man, I'm so happy to NOT need a lappy, my desktop is flying along like nothing I've seen before (in the same ballpark hardware).

Raphael

 

lol,
notebooks sure are pain in the ***. acer empowering has some utility´s that are usefull and windows cannot offer (accept nhc and such). i also hate any running programs that are not critical so, dont have empowering installed.
you could find some more stuff about this issue in some of the earlyer threads.

 

I have a solution for the SATA. This only works for xp sp2 with all updates july 2007

1.Copy this - Intel Matrix Storage Manager Driver
U find it here par example http://www.megaupload.com/?d=11MM53F3
2. launch it and install
3. go C:\Drivers\WIN\IMSM\PREPARE\ and launch install.cmd
4.restart
5. go to bios and activate AHPI, continue booting
6. a screen will appear in win, select the location written above for the drivers
7. restart again
8. SATA works and you give me a beer

Sound works fine for me - I think u need a recent updated version of win XP

I also give you a beer for the next question < I cant Install acer empowering - a major error - blue screen appers and I cant boot to Windows XP anymore. I Had to reinstal windows
Anybody Knows a method to have a working Acer empower... on 5720z?
Sry for my english
THX

 

OK, solved the touchpad thingie-ma-jingie (Fn+F7 ). Sure helps to read at least the hardware manual which came with the lappy, even though it isn't mine.

Now for the sound isuue, I have found and dl'ed a newer driver from Realtek directly. For the moment things seem stable and correct (keep my fingers crossed).
Like I said, as this is not my notebook, I can't verify anytime I want to, but my friend will let know if it restarts.

@liviua12:
Thanks for the tip on AHCI, though your link seems to be dead.
I don't know how many drivers I've tried (Intel Storage Matrix, right?), but each time it tells me that I don't meet the hardware requirements to install it.

btw., my slipstreamed WXP/SP2 is up to date till august or september 2007.
Should be good enough I hope. I'm awaiting SP3 to recreate another CD. I have already created one with SP3 (rc2.something) for low latency audio/video editing/recording, where all but the very essential stuff has been wiped, and so far it's working great.

Raphael

 

If you managed to install Windows without installing the AHCI drivers then you've probably set the motherboard in Emulated PATA mode and also why the Intel Storage Matrix Driver refuses to install because it doesn't see anything that needs AHCI. Hence why I said it's easier to install the drivers as part of the Windows installation rather than after. If you need the AHCI drivers from the Intel Storage Matrix installer (for some reason Intel doesn't provide a zip file with just the drivers), you can run the installer from the command prompt with some command line arguments that will have the installer only extract the files and not run the installation procedure. I don't remember the command line arguments, but they're listed as you run through the installer normally in the instructions section.

I do hope that new sound drivers resolved the issue

 

The command line stuff and general how-to instructions were run through here (or here). It's my guide to the Extensa 5620, but it should be applicable.

 

Yup, I've set the BIOS to IDE, since it wouldn't let me install WinXP otherwise. I have already extracted the needed AHCI drivers, by the kindly provided method of CharredPC
I'm gonna slipstream another WinXP CD for my friend where I'll integrate the drivers. If I can update the drivers through a repair install, that would be great. Otherwise she's not in a hurry to restart all over with the installation process. And if the audio issues now stop for good, we're all happy.

@CharredPC:
Many thanks for your detailed post about this AHCI stuff btw.

Cheers
Raphael