Acer Aspire 5740G Owners Lounge

Go to the health tab and press "copy information to the clipboard button".
That should copy all SMART data attributes.

 

All blank lol :O

 

That's another user with blank health tab. :/
If you don't mind spending 10min on this issue- could you test if Everest or HWinfo32 show SMART status?
I cannot really ask people to post any data if I can't provide them with software to do so.

 

Is 73c too hot for the ATI 5650 overclocked in heavy gaming? Furmark is 76c max.

 

Sure, just give me some minutes.

Edit: Ok, tell me what Everest info you need!

 

It's fine.

If you choose "storage" and then SMART. I would like all of that- copy it or attach a screenshot if it cannot be copied. Thanks.

 

01 Raw Read Error Rate 51 200 200 0 OK: Value is normal
03 Spinup Time 21 187 156 1650 OK: Value is normal
04 Start/Stop Count 0 98 98 2605 OK: Always passes
05 Reallocated Sector Count 140 200 200 0 OK: Value is normal
07 Seek Error Rate 0 100 253 0 OK: Always passes
09 Power-On Time Count 0 100 100 326 OK: Always passes
0A Spinup Retry Count 51 100 100 0 OK: Value is normal
0B Calibration Retry Count 0 100 100 0 OK: Always passes
0C Power Cycle Count 0 100 100 126 OK: Always passes
BF Mechanical Shock 0 37 37 63 OK: Always passes
C0 Power-Off Retract Count 0 200 200 29 OK: Always passes
C1 Load/Unload Cycle Count 0 188 188 38170 OK: Always passes
C2 Temperature 0 106 95 41 OK: Always passes
C4 Reallocation Event Count 0 200 200 0 OK: Always passes
C5 Current Pending Sector Count 0 200 200 0 OK: Always passes
C6 Offline Uncorrectable Sector Count 0 100 253 0 OK: Always passes
C7 Ultra ATA CRC Error Rate 0 200 200 0 OK: Always passes
C8 Write Error Rate 51 100 253 0 OK: Value is normal


Is this it?

 

09 Power-On Time Count 0 100 100 326 OK: Always passes
C1 Load/Unload Cycle Count 0 188 188 38170 OK: Always passes

Yes it is. Your HD parks its heads every 30 seconds on average. That’s compared to mine that does it every 8 minutes. Do you have any problems with freezing?

EDIT: Start/stop count is also very high 2605 times! That means your drive starts/stops every 8 minutes.

 

Nop, no freezing problems or whatever.

And I use it daily at work for 7+ hours.

 

Well to be fair I never noticed freezing until I played games myself. I haven't confirmed freezing for normal OS use, but I have during gaming.

 

You wouldn't notice it while working. What about gaming on it?

 

Maximum gaming time I've had was 1 hour and something (lack of time unfortunately ) in L4D2.

Nothing during that time.

Edit: If you want I can turn on a game, a windowed one like Guild Wars, and let it run in background for some time.

 

Well looking at these SMART attributes I gotta say it doesn't look like it's the load/unload count alone that causes these freezes but rather the fact that the entire HD stops spinning every 8 minutes or so.
Spin-up takes more time than just moving the heads hence the freeze.

Now we need more data especially from people who do the gaming and have experienced the problem.

EDIT: It's possible that you wouldn't notice it froze for a moment.
You did more than enough anyway.

 

Well, if there is anything else you need, info, tests, etc, feel free to ask!

 

downloads, what games are experiencing this problem? I've finished Mass Effect 2, played Dirt 2 and HL2 with no hick ups. I would gladly help with more info if I find any, my HDD is WD Caviar Blue 640GB.

PS Catalyst 10.4 is available for download at the AMD/ATI website, fixes 2D performance and load times for Bad Company 2 on mobility cards. Enjoy! And if you have some tests please upload them.

 

So ATI finally started updating Mobile cards drivers?!

Read somewhere that they weren't supposed to do that because of some agree with vendors.

 

I don't have the freeze-problem myself.
You could upload your SMART status just like Chackan did- it may not help but it may also be helpful to compare it to what 500GB WD shows (that id someone decides to share this data )

As for the tests concerning Cats 10.4 I did a little comparison with 10.3 several posts ago.

Sony, Toshiba and Panasonic opted-out. Notebook driver are available starting from 10.3 meaning this is just the second update.

 

Yes, I reinstalled the game... No use..

 

Yep I saw it just now (the thread is growing faster than my speed of reading it). 10x for the tests! And I would mension also that 2D performance in Win7 is better.

 

Was about time! Yeah, I saw your comparison, too bad it isn't much different than 10.3 :|

 

How frequent exactly are the freezing problems that these ppl are encountering? If it is too frequent, the problem couldn't be caused by the hard-drive spindle parking(or even spin down) alone.
When you run a game, you are mostly accessing the system RAM(or the onboard RAM). The hard-disk isn't pushed too much (except if the system is accessing page file/virtual memory.)

 

Oh come on- 2fps for STALKER, 4fps for GTA Liberty City Stories.
What did you expect? That's a good increase.

----------
Another WD HDD that parks its heads every 21 seconds and stops completely every 17 minutes. Thanks for the data.

 

I agree about the increase and no problem for the data.

 

what AC Power is used for the laptop?
Acer 5740G with 5650 card

is it 65W or 90W or 120W?

thanks.

 

I know, i know, I'm always waiting for some kind of miracle that increases in 20% the framerate

 

90W (the typical one 19V, 4.74A)

 

I would say, for me, about three times in a 30 minute span, or somewhere around that. It seems very irregular though, and sometimes it is worse than others.

 

Here is my SMART info:

[ WDC WD5000BEVT-22A0RT0 (WD-WXJ0AC9M9836) ]

01 Raw Read Error Rate 51 200 200 0 OK: Value is normal
03 Spin Up Time 21 185 184 1725 OK: Value is normal
04 Start/Stop Count 0 99 99 1255 OK: Always passing
05 Reallocated Sector Count 140 200 200 0 OK: Value is normal
07 Seek Error Rate 0 100 253 0 OK: Always passing
09 Power-On Time Count 0 100 100 238 OK: Always passing
0A Spin Retry Count 51 100 100 0 OK: Value is normal
0B Calibration Retry Count 0 100 253 0 OK: Always passing
0C Power Cycle Count 0 100 100 39 OK: Always passing
BF G-Sense Error Rate 0 98 98 2 OK: Always passing
C0 Power-Off Retract Count 0 200 200 4 OK: Always passing
C1 Load/Unload Cycle Count 0 193 193 23203 OK: Always passing
C2 Temperature 0 112 100 35 OK: Always passing
C4 Reallocation Event Count 0 200 200 0 OK: Always passing
C5 Current Pending Sector Count 0 200 200 0 OK: Always passing
C6 Off-Line Uncorrectable Sector Count 0 100 253 0 OK: Always passing
C7 Ultra ATA CRC Error Rate 0 200 200 0 OK: Always passing
C8 Write Error Rate 51 100 253 0 OK: Value is normal

 

Anyone suggest good coolerpad for this laptop.. thanks..

 

Thanks Osiyo.

So the numbers are:

WD 640GB (no 1)
load/unload count every 21 sec
start/stop every 17 minutes

WD 640GB (no 2)
load/unload count every 30 sec
start/stop every 8 minutes

WD 500GB (no 1)
load/unload count every 37 sec
start/stop every 11 minutes

Pretty consistent although it suggests that both 640GB and 500GB WD HDDs would cause freezing.

To put that in perspective:

Hitachi 500GB (in my 5740G)
load/unload count every 490 sec
start/stop every 276 minutes

Also keep in mind that start/stop count should be very close to power cycle count. If it's not that means that your drive switches itself off more often than you switch off the computer.

 

so is it possible to change the
load/unload count
and
start/stop

by any software?

 

It's not about changing these values SMART status is merely a log of what happened.
All you guys with the freeze-problem should go for quietHDD and disable APM. That will result in the heads not being parked and if head is not parked the drive cannot spin down.
That should solve the problem.

EDIT: Credit for looking up quietHDD goes to Osiyo.

 

Question: Theres some optional updates for my Intel HD Media Accelerator and when it gets to updating them my screen goes black and theres a little line that flashes in the top left corner. I let it do that for all night and when I go to turn my computer on it just stops at "Windows is Starting". I then have to boot in safe mode and do a system recovery until before that driver update.


I've tried from both the Intel website itself (actually manually downloading the driver) and the automatic update that Windows 7 provides.

Any suggestions?

 

Ok, going to leave a game running for a couple of hours. Are the freezes apparent?

 

They aren't that apparent, most of the time they only last for a split second, sometimes 2-3 seconds. It's not a huge problem, but it is annoying.

 

Ok, 1hour and 30m passed, still everything normal.

 

Sorry a little late with the results. Just got the hang of HD Tune.

HD Tune Pro: WDC WD5000BEVT-22A0R Health

ID Current Worst ThresholdData Status
(01) Raw Read Error Rate 200 200 51 0 ok
(03) Spin Up Time 186 155 21 1700 ok
(04) Start/Stop Count 100 100 0 611 ok
(05) Reallocated Sector Count 200 200 140 0 ok
(07) Seek Error Rate 100 253 0 0 ok
(09) Power On Hours Count 100 100 0 88 ok
(0A) Spin Retry Count 100 100 51 0 ok
(0B) Calibration Retry Count 100 253 0 0 ok
(0C) Power Cycle Count 100 100 0 64 ok
(BF) G-sense Error Rate 94 94 0 6 ok
(C0) Power Off Retract Count 200 200 0 2 ok
(C1) Load Cycle Count 196 196 0 12433 ok
(C2) Temperature 110 98 0 37 ok
(C4) Reallocated Event Count 200 200 0 0 ok
(C5) Current Pending Sector 200 200 0 0 ok
(C6) Offline Uncorrectable 100 253 0 0 ok
(C7) Ultra DMA CRC Error Count 200 200 0 0 ok
(C8) Write Error Rate 100 253 51 0 ok

Health Status : ok​

 

Ok, 3 hours and nothing to declare! I guess I don't have those HDD freezing problems, which is nice lol!

 

WD 500GB (no 2)
load/unload count every 25 sec
start/stop every 7 minutes

It's pretty consistent data- can't be more than it already is due to different usage patterns. The drive clearly spins down too often and that causes problem.
First of all make sure that your Windows power management profile is set to never spin the HD down.

Second thing- all of you guys with problems should test quietHDD and use it to disable APM, those without the problem (640GB ones it seems) should consider the same thing as in my opinion unloading heads and spinning down the drive so often may result in reduced lifespan.

 

Have you done that? Are there any downsides?

 

I don't have to- my drive parks its heads and spins down some 13-15 times less often than Western Digitals.
It's just a recommendation- what I would do- but I realize it's your data and your hard drive.

No apparent downsides- one good thing is it should make the drive even more quiet- the heads will not load/unload which is audible (not that it's loud but some people complain about that)

 

Plugged in and on battery modes downloads?

All power managements plans?

 

I would change it only for plugged-in. It seems these freezes are not noticeable unless you are gaming (makes perfect sense) so unless you plan on gaming on battery don't change it for unplugged mode.
There are also some potential benefits from keeping it default for battery mode- both for power-saving and shock resistance (parked heads).

That said- how about someone with the problem sets on a mission and spends a few hours gaming with quietHDD enabled to confirm the freezing is gone. It’s probably the only chance to have some fun and later claim it was “testing and “public service”

 

Thank you very much.

 

Ok, I also have 5740 (Non G version). I also did experience freezing and was looking for the culprit. In my case when I move mouse sometimes on the task bar the task bar preview would freeze sometime mouse pointer itself will freeze for 1 - 2 secs. The freeze is visble only when you are using mouse otherwise cannot notice it. It is more noticeable in gaming as the action with mouse keyboard and display is always on.

Here are my smart reading for WD Scorpio Blue 320 GB HDD.

HD Tune: WDC WD3200BEVT-22A23T0 Health

ID Current Worst ThresholdData Status
(01) Raw Read Error Rate 200 200 51 0 Ok
(03) Spin Up Time 153 141 21 1333 Ok
(04) Start/Stop Count 100 100 0 429 Ok
(05) Reallocated Sector Count 200 200 140 0 Ok
(07) Seek Error Rate 100 253 0 0 Ok
(09) Power On Hours Count 100 100 0 299 Ok
(0A) Spin Retry Count 100 100 0 0 Ok
(0B) Calibration Retry Count 100 100 0 0 Ok
(0C) Power Cycle Count 100 100 0 230 Ok
(BF) G-sense Error Rate 1 1 0 169 Ok
(C0) Power Off Retract Count 200 200 0 54 Ok
(C1) Load Cycle Count 198 198 0 8335 Ok
(C2) Temperature 95 89 0 48 Ok
(C4) Reallocated Event Count 200 200 0 0 Ok
(C5) Current Pending Sector 200 200 0 0 Ok
(C6) Offline Uncorrectable 100 253 0 0 Ok
(C7) Ultra DMA CRC Error Count 200 200 0 0 Ok
(C8) Write Error Rate 100 253 0 0 Ok

Power On Time : 299
Health Status : Ok

 

I have downloaded QuietHDD and ran the program, How do I know if it's disabled.?

 

I couldn't copy to clipboard so instead I took a screenshot of HD Tunes. It says I have a Hitachi hdd.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

As far as I know your Load/Unload Cycle will not increase, which was previously increasing by 1 every 75 secs.

 

OK. Thanks for all the data and cooperation on this.
One last summary with a few comments.

WD 640GB (no 1)
load/unload count every 21 sec
start/stop every 17 minutes

WD 640GB (no 2)
load/unload count every 30 sec
start/stop every 8 minutes

WD 500GB (no 1)
load/unload count every 37 sec
start/stop every 11 minutes

WD 500GB (no 2)
load/unload count every 25 sec
start/stop every 7 minutes

WD 320GB
load/unload count every 129 sec
start/stop every 41 minutes

Comment: This drive doesn't seem to have the same problem so your problem rmittal may be related to sth else like touchpad drivers (does it occur with both touchpad and USB mouse?) or may be related to video driver- try updating it. I'd test quietHDD just to exclude it but it may not be it.

Hitachi 500GB (in my 5740G)
load/unload count every 490 sec
start/stop every 276 minutes

As for your new drive UksRene there's no point in averaging the numbers after just 14 hours of use (sample isn't big enough) but if you look at power cycle count and start/stop count these numbers are identical meaning your drive does stop only when you switch off the computer (another words doesn't ever spin down when your computer is on)
This numbers (power cycle count and start stop count) should remain pretty close in the long run- not identical but definitely in the same league. In my case it is respectively 148 and 167 whereas in one of the WD 500GB cases (RayValdez's) start stop count is 611 while power cycle count is only 64.

I think we are done analyzing SMART attributes and it seems we have pretty good idea what the problem is. Now time to use quietHDD disable APM and test it. Post your result when you feel you've done enough gaming to confirm (or deny) that the problem is gone.

 

downloads,

For gaming I've been told for extending gaming sessions I should get a cooling fan. Are there any suggested or recommended kits for the 5740?