Acer Aspire 8942G Core i7 Owners Lounge

Yeah, I saw that... There are screw rubbers listed at the end of the manual with their part numbers: LCD screw rubber, CCD rubber-R, Upper case rubber, Base foot rubber long/short...
What I can't seem to find out is which part is upper and which one is lower pair of screw rubbers around the screen... CCD Rubber is who knows what, but this "Upper case rubber" might be the upper screw rubber while "LCD screw rubber" might be the lower pair. But that's just a guess, there's no photos associated with these parts so I've contacted Acer a few times but never got an answer...

 

Yeah, sorry, I must have missed the word "rubber" there.

 

Guyz does anyone know if we can configure raid 0?.I think i saw somewhere that its possible on the 8940G and not in the 8942G..

 

No RAID with HM55 chipset. Also my bios, unlocked by kizwan, doesn't show any option of this kind.
But I get a very nice performance with a second WD Scorpio Black 7200 rpm installed in the empty hdd bay.

 

I've been playing F.E.A.R. 2 and Modern Warfare 2, both maxed out, and Crysis Warhead (this one, of course, not maxed out ).

In all of them (and most often in F.E.A.R. 2), I've been getting annoying sort of stuttering when everything freezes for a second or so right before there is some voice clip to be played (like mission update or so).
What would that be? All those games are updated and ATi Catalyst is 10.10 (but I've had this problem with 10.8 and before). Otherwise games play well, frame rate is acceptable.
I blame it on HDD (but S.M.A.R.T. says it's ok).

Does anyone experience this too?

 

Those 5200r.p.m. HDD's are very slow,much slower than the 7200r.p.m. desktop drives.
I resently bought a Corsair Force Series F60 for my Desktop and it is going like crazy .
I think i will buy one 120GB SSD for my laptop since there is no RAID option.

 

So, those stutterings could be just normal occurrences due to HDD's rpm limits?
I'm also thinking of getting SSD drive, mainly because of that G-Sense errors I get in S.M.A.R.T. readings by just slightly moving the laptop. I have two massive 640 GB 5200 rpm drives and I really don't know what to do with that amount of free storage... I'm considering downloading the whole internet and then disconnecting myself for good.

 

Stuttering is specific to WD drives and is related to HD parking heard way too often. You can get around it using QuietHDD app and disabling APM (you have to make it run at startup though)
Some anti-virus suits detect QuietHDD as a trojan based on heuristics although none of the reputable ones. It wasn't detected as such few months ago even though the version hasn't changed- so it's most likely byproduct of some definition aimed at a different virus. It's clean anyway.
If you're running Western Digital drive(s) that's the sole reason for stuttering.

 

Those stuttering could be caused by the Wi-Fi or other drivers. They increase DPC Latency. You can check it using the DPC Latency Checker utility. When the latency to big the utility shows red bars.

Also check the laptop temperatures via HWMonitor utility.

 

Thanks to all for your suggestions!

I also noticed that if graphic details are lowered, stutterings are still there, but not that often. I think I could eliminate them if I really push details down, but that sort of graphics I can get on PS2 too. Also, seems like games stutter more often if GPU is overclocked to 700/1000, but stutterings will happen eventually anyway.
Then again, I don't get those stutterings in GTA IV (except for usual micro-stutterings due to game's optimization issues), Just Cause 2 or Unreal Tournament 3 and most racing games. But Crysis gives me hell... I assume HDD can't keep pace with that game's constant loading (but GTA IV can?!)...

I'll check for drivers (although they're all stock ones, except for ATi Catalyst). Temps are ok (CPU 78-83, GPU 67-70, HDDs 35-40°C).
And, yes, HDDs are Western Digital's Scorpio Blue, they spin up slowly and in Windows I can hear breathing-like sound every few seconds. If, for example, I try to open some folder in backup folder (non-OS HDD), there is a small pause because that drive parked its heads and went to sleep. Then it opens everything instantly for a while but if I access it in a few minutes, there's that pause again...

 

Always and interesting thread.

Seaman - was there a carrier/tray already in the spare HDD bay when you opened it up?

Thinking of adding a 2nd HDD to for backup and a 2nd OS - cannot get some of my favourite game to play in 64bit Win7
Regards

Overtaxed

 

hello everyone

im new on the forum and my 8942G brought me here...sadly not for good reasons..

its strange when i see everyone saying that this laptop is great...even in reviews and test people show to the world..

i dont know why but mine just isn't like that..

sometimes i cant even play on 800*600 lower of lower setting because i have FPS breaks.. dont kno whats wrong i already updated graphic drivers...direct X...tried to disable the threading thing i saw on page 5 still dindt work...

i can play good withou break for like 2 to 5 minutes...then its a major FPS break down and i cant play even with lower settings...anyone have an ideia what could be the problem?

i have the Core I7 version...please im desperate...how could my older P with lowest hardware configuration be better than this powerfll laptop? =(

 

@bioz941,

What do you mean by FPS breaks? Do you mean after 5 minutes playing, FPS suddenly drops? Looks like graphic card is throttle down for some reason, maybe GPU high temp. Did you monitor the temperature? GPU-Z can record the temperature for you in the background while you playing games. Driver crashing also can be the reason of the behavior. Try look in the Event Viewer for any error messages regarding the GPU & the GPU driver. Have you tried formatting your computer? If you already tried reinstalling windows & still have this problem, look like your notebook is faulty. You need to send it for repair.

 

yep i re-instaled everything form factory ....second time doing it.. just finished it now...going to upgrade everything and try again and use GPU-Z to monitor everything...if this still continues i will send it to waranty nad HOPE acer gives me my laptop fully functional again!


1 question: i see alot of websites that say the CORE I7 version was only 640gb of HDD witch are splited in two...however i have 1TB and there are splited in two...quesiton is...is this HDD normal in this laptop version...and how the hell can i unslipt them?




edit: just used GPU-Z while playing a crappy windows game called heroes of helea or something like this and my Temperature of GPU went up to 68cº... im thinking 68cº for a crappy windows game is too much?! :S

 

Not good idea to re-installed from factory if you're going to troubleshoot your problem. It is not first time I experience buggy driver from factory installed or factory/restore partition. Fresh install will be good idea. Use up-to-date driver too.

1TB is normal nowadays. The type/size of the HDD you can use is not depend on the processor you use. I don't know any software can "join" two partition to one without destroying/erasing the content. The only solution is to format the whole disk.

Maybe just a spike. To be sure test with heavy game like shift or starcraft 2.

 

im going to test it with Call of Duty black ops but..to tell the truth that wasnt a peak...without doing nothing just looking at desktop i've got 90cº..

i think theres some problem with graphic cards i dont know...still im going to install the black ops and play for a few minutes maybe hour or two to see if this problem still's on...

i tought in a fresh install but the store i bought this laptop is kinda "thiefs" and they always get new ways to save themselfs...i prefer this to go to Acer and hope they fix this problem..

still thanks for the help...later i will post the performance on black ops...

i will play on full settings with 2x AA

 

That is very high. I think the thermal paste on the GPU is not properly applied or it already melt down. I have read somewhere in this forum, the owner have the same issue. Opening the laptop & the heatsink revealed that the thermal paste is not properly applied. Because of it there is a gap between the GPU & the heatsink. Thermal paste should fill the gap.

Yes, better engage with Acer directly.

 

ok i instaled and played like what? couple of minutes with 1920*1080 with AA*2 and guess what...breaks come back again...lowers the AA to off...after couple of seconds...breaking stars...lowered to 1280*785 (something like this) and still getting breaks..

while playing GPU-Z got 99Cº i think this really need to go to repair =(

 

That GPU is definitely overheating. Maybe it's throttling down clocks once it reaches too high temperature and then you see fps drops.
Mine goes up to 66°C and a few more degrees if overclocked in Modern Warfare 2 with the same settings.
Take it to Acer, they should fix it (at least if they're not clumsy and incompetent like they're in my country...).

 

i did the final test now...turn it off..after 2 hours turn it on... laptop pretty fresh ... 45 - 50 ºc ... played black ops for 10 minutes on 1920*1080 with AA*2 and GPU that was on 45 - 50 was now on 95 - 110 ºc

going to send him to waranty today...hope this gets fixed and that i get my laptop fixed soon...thank you all for your help i guess im just unlucky..

question: should i get a cooler...so when he comes back i dont have any problems at all or its no necessary?

Edit:

Date , GPU Core Clock [MHz] , GPU Memory Clock [MHz] , GPU Temperature [°C] , Fan Speed [%] , GPU Load [%] , Fan Speed [RPM] , GPU Temp. #1 [°C] , GPU Temp. #2 [°C] , GPU Temp. #3 [°C] , VDDC [V] ,

2010-11-13 17:18:56 , 625.0 , 799.9 , 53.0 , 30 , 0 , - , 51.0 , 49.0 , 53.0 , 1.000 ,

2010-11-13 17:18:58 , 625.0 , 799.9 , 53.0 , 30 , 0 , - , 51.0 , 49.5 , 53.0 , 1.000 ,

2010-11-13 17:18:59 , 500.0 , 799.9 , 53.0 , 30 , 6 , - , 51.0 , 49.5 , 53.0 , 0.900 ,

2010-11-13 17:19:00 , 200.0 , 200.0 , 52.0 , 30 , 1 , - , 51.0 , 49.0 , 53.0 , 0.900 ,

2010-11-13 17:19:01 , 200.0 , 200.0 , 53.0 , 30 , 0 , - , 51.0 , 49.5 , 53.0 , 0.900 ,

2010-11-13 17:19:02 , 200.0 , 200.0 , 53.0 , 30 , 0 , - , 51.0 , 49.0 , 53.0 , 0.900 ,

2010-11-13 17:19:03 , 200.0 , 200.0 , 53.0 , 30 , 12 , - , 51.0 , 49.5 , 53.0 , 0.900 ,

2010-11-13 17:39:28 , 200.0 , 200.0 , 96.0 , 100 , 0 , - , 96.5 , 91.5 , 96.0 , 0.900 ,

2010-11-13 17:39:29 , 200.0 , 200.0 , 96.0 , 100 , 2 , - , 96.0 , 91.5 , 96.0 , 0.900 ,

2010-11-13 17:39:30 , 200.0 , 200.0 , 96.0 , 100 , 0 , - , 96.0 , 91.0 , 95.5 , 0.900 ,

2010-11-13 17:39:31 , 200.0 , 200.0 , 96.0 , 100 , 0 , - , 96.0 , 91.0 , 95.5 , 0.900 ,

2010-11-13 17:39:32 , 200.0 , 200.0 , 95.0 , 30 , 0 , - , 95.5 , 91.0 , 95.0 , 0.900 ,

2010-11-13 17:39:33 , 200.0 , 200.0 , 95.0 , 30 , 0 , - , 95.5 , 90.5 , 95.0 , 0.900 ,

2010-11-13 17:39:34 , 200.0 , 200.0 , 95.0 , 30 , 0 , - , 95.0 , 90.5 , 95.0 , 0.900 ,

2010-11-13 17:39:35 , 200.0 , 200.0 , 95.0 , 30 , 1 , - , 95.0 , 90.5 , 94.5 , 0.900 ,


this is my last log from 55 to 95.5 in 20 min..^.

 

For some reason, your GPU downclocked to 200/200 - that is normal under "balanced" power scheme in Windows 7 while idling, but clocks should have gone to default 625/800 when needed. Maybe it's set to downclock in ATi Catalyst Manager, but it doesn't really matter because it's obviously faulty according to temps readings.

No, you should not get a cooler - this laptop doesn't get that hot at all. If they fix it properly (by replacing the GPU or even the whole motherboard), you'll rarely cross 70°C GPU temp even after a few hours of playing.
However, if you want notebook cooler (certainly won't hurt anything but your wallet ), I recommend Cooler Master NotePal U3.

 

I recommend you get a cooling pad. It is useful when you're playing games. I don't know which brand is good but Antec maybe. I'm using CoolerMaster Notepal but I'm not satisfied with it.

 

yeah i will get a cooler...better safe then sorry i think =P

now its time for Acer to fix this problem i still have it on waranty (only used this laptop for 2 months) if they dont fix it correctly and if i still get High Temps with cooler..i will demand a new laptop or a new motherboard with new components...i dont want a fix that will only last like 1 month then goes back to same thing...hope they do their job right ^^

as for the cooler i was thinking on Antec too...for some reason i dont like coolermaster notepal...my friend got one and for some reason i just dont like it =/ i dont know for now i just want my laptop fixed so i can play without problem and say that this laptop was money well spent =P

 

Why not? What model is it exactly?
I've been using NotePal U2 on my 15.6'' Toshiba and by properly positioning fans (fans on U2 and U3 models can be easily moved around), my temps were consistently lowered by at least 5 and sometimes up to 10°C.
This U3 model seems to be the same as U2 but larger (U2 is too small for 8942G).

 

Antec, zalmann and thermaltake are better choices in cooling pads i think...


Mjor off-topic to talk about cooling pads xD

once again thanks for all the help guys its hope to Acer now to fix this =P

 

Sorry for late replay - there is no hhd carrier in the second bay, but there is a piece of some elastic material on the cover wich keeps hdd pressed against case.

 

I also want to buy the cooler master notepal u3,but unfortunately there is no one retailer to import it.. .So i have to buy it only from Germany or UK...

 

Be patient, it just started shipping... Takes time, but someone will eventually import it to your country. Right now I can only buy NotePal U2 but I assume same guys will be selling U3 as soon as they get it.

 

Thank you - i'll open it up later today for a look and think about what drive to add.

Are there any limitation on the disk size (GB not dimensions)?

On the site
Notebook Reparatur Shop: Notebook Akku, Netzteil, Notebook Display, Mainboard, Bios, Ersatzteil

They list all the usual Acer disks but I am interested in the WD 750GB and 1TB disks.

Regards

overtaxed

 

There is one 8942G have 1TB HDD. I think you can fit 1TB on your 8942G.

 

Hello

I have an Aspire 8942G-728G1280TWN, and have been very happy with it, but have noticed recently that sometimes my primary hard drive seems to continually spin very fast for very long periods of time and is quite noisy and I can feel the vibration on the keys, this happens while I'm just browsing the internet or sometimes doing nothing at all, and there seems to be constant hard disk activity as the blue light blinks all the time.

I have not noticed this before as the laptop always seemed very quite, even while gaming.

I have run spybot, ad-aware and McAfee and have come up with no viruses or trojans etc.. ? I've defragged, used CCcleaner etc looking for errors and have come up with nothing. I used task manager and from what i can tell it seems to be accessing the registry all the time, going through the same files over and over.

Before I reset to factory default and start over (urgh!) I thought I might see if anyone with the same laptop has this issue, or any idea what might be happening as having the hard drive spinning all the time can't be good for it, any help would be appreciated

Thanks

 

@Jboz:

I also notice constant HDD activity (led blinking), but it's not particularly noisy, feels more like ticking every five seconds or so. Run HDTune application, it has a lot of tools for HDD testing so you can eliminate or confirm possible HDD hardware failures.

To all:

Has anyone tested ATi Catalyst 10.11 yet? Is there anything noticeably improved? Next desktop Catalyst 10.12 is supposed to come out in december, but I don't know about mobile version...

 

catalyst 10.11

Metro 2033- same performance
Black ops - little bit smoother gameplay i think
Modern warfare - same performance


i think not much performance gain. maybe for others games

 

hi,

i want to improve my transfer speed of my hd, when i transfer a +-8gb file to mine external harddisc(mediaplayer). what do you guys recommend. i have a 5400rpm 500gb hd in mine 8942g.
my external hd(mediaplayer) is also 5400rp. Now the top transfer speed is starting @ 60mb and drops to around 18mbps, it is kinda frustrating when i want to transfer several large mkv files. it takes a large amount of time depending on the size file!
so what iam trying to tell you guys is, do i have 2 switch the 8942g hd for a faster 1 and also the external 1??
I heard that the seagate momentes xt is a good hd
What do you guys recommend for me

Sorry for my bad english, if there are questions tell me.

thnx

 

Hi,

Been absent for a while due to work commitments. Finally upgraded my memory (which I discussed all the way back on the 2nd page of this forum!). I replaced the Samsung 2gb chips with Gskill 4GB DDR3-8500 x2 bringing me up to 8GB of ram.

Amazing what a year made in terms of price. I got the 8gb for $120 CAD whereas last Dec when I bought this laptop it was more then twice the price.

The RAM portion of the windows experience jumped from 5.9 to 6.4 with the change. Actually not as much as I had hoped, but it does help.

@ seaman, thanks for the link to the manual. Very educational!

Question to all. The I5 prices have come down some (I am I3-330M), and i see on ebay their are many I5 mobile chips available. Some are marked socket PGA988 whereas when I run CPUZ it says I have socket 1156LGA. But I have the SM82-CP motherboard and HM55 chipset.

I thought all I3 and I5 mobile were compatible to this configuration. Could someone pls advise as I was very much interested in the I5-540M/560M/580M which would yield a big improvement in performance for me. Thoughts everyone??

Also, per above discussion - is it worthwhile to upgrade Catalyst? I still have the version with which the unit shipped - 2009.1123.1057.19591 whereas I see the latest version is 10.11.

ATI also shows 2 optional downloads Hydravision and Avivo - anyone have any experience with these?

Finally, if i wanted to replace my stock 5400 rpm drive with a 7200prm and it be something other then WD what would everyone suggest?

Thanks everyone.

 

CPU-Z reading can be inaccurate sometime. You can double check at Intel website for accurate information. Based on the information on the Intel website (sockets supported), you can upgrade from i3 to i5. However, you maybe will get "unsupported processor" (or similar like this - "02F0: CPU ID: 55 No Microcode Update Loaded for Alternate Processor") message during POST if you upgrade to i5-560M or i5-580M since the processor is newer (release Q3,2010) than your BIOS. (Read here) I think you can upgrade from i3 to i5 & i7. For example, i3-330M support BGA1288 & PGA988, i5-580M support BGA1288 & PGA988 & i7-720QM support PGA988.

It is worthwhile for ATI Mobility 5XXX series.

Just download the Individual Downloads (70.1MB)

Seagate Momentus maybe. Several article said it is slightly better than WD Scorpio Black. Overall performance almost similar for both HDD.

 

Thanks Kizwan (gave you some rep)!

I actually had surfed some of the intel pages, and I guess it was so late (my recreational surfing typically occurs after midnight on a good day!) that I missed the Sockets Supported line under Package Specifications indicating that it supports both BGA1288 & PGA988.

Something I have never done is upgraded a bios. I know it can be tricky. I will have to read up on that.

On the Hydravision & Avivo, question is has anyone "already" downloaded and what is the benefit? Of course I can download them anytime.

I read on this very forum that several people have been having problems with the WD drives which is why I was asking about the alternate. I will look at the Seagates. Thanks.

I purchased my 8942G for 1K CAD in Dec 2009. Want I am looking to do now is very cost effective upgrades. So 8gb ram for $120 is good (and i sold my old chips for $25 each so net cost was only $70). I can get a 7200 rpm drive for $50-$70. I can get some I5 chips for $75-$125. These seem to be cost effective upgrades which extend life and performance.

If anyone else has other suggestions please don't hesitate to come forward with opinions. I welcome all.

I have not had any issues whatsoever with my 8942G and it has seen a hard year of use often on 18 hrs a day. Still operates perfectly. My colleagues all still drool when they get their hands on it. The webcam is wonderful, we use it for conferencing all the time. I have never regretted this purchase.

 

If your notebook already have latest BIOS version (3109), you don't have to flash BIOS again. The latest BIOS is released on 11 January 2010 which is older than i5-560M & i5-580M (released Q3,2010). It is possible that microcode update for those two processor are not included in the latest BIOS. Good news is it still can work (according to several testimony on different Acer notebooks), just need to press F1 at POST because of the microcode update error message I mentioned earlier at previous post.

Anyway, just an advice, don't flash BIOS if it is not necessary. Just upgrade the hardware first & from there see whether BIOS update is necessary or not.

Yeah, my friend's WD HDD (notebook) just died & it is just less than a year I think.

 

Am I the only one that is still experiencing error messages and failure when trying to sync an ipod touch with this laptop, I posted in April but after several updates to itunes and to the ipod touch firmware the problem still remains. My emails to Acer support never received a response, quite honestly I would not buy another Acer after this issue.

 

I upgraded the hardrive. I ended up going with the WD Caviar Black 500gb 7200rpm as it had exceptional reviews. I did look at the Seagate XT with the combo SSD but the tech looks like it is still having issues, so I will wait for it to get a little more mature. Paid $70 CAD for the drive.

I did not clone the old drive over, rather I did a clean install of a copy of Windows 7 professional I had received in the past which was just sitting on the shelf unused.

The improvement in speed was signficant. Tasks seem to load much more quickly, and my total startup time is down to 50 seconds from about 1:30 previously.

The odd thing is that the Windows Experience score for the primary hard disk hardly changed, it is now reading 5.9 vs the old score of 5.7.

I had a few problems with reinstalling some of the drivers from the Acer site. I called Acer to get some info, and they were useless - they only support the hardware, and if you want software assistance, you are directed to a 3rd party vendor they have contracted who offers paid phone support.

Since my main questions were about the order to reload the drivers, and about a couple of drivers I figured I did not need since I am a lowly I3 330M, I just deduced it on my own.

@ Kizwan - my bios is version .3109 dated 12/9/2009 according to my system information.

Seems to run just fine so I guess I probably don't need to change it as you indicated this version is the latest.

I am now hunting a better processor in the I5 or I7 range, but on a very limited budget, lol.

Thanks to everyone for their upgrade stories in this thread. Really helped me out a lot.

Btw, stupid acer instructions for removing the hard drive were not even correct. I was trying to use the plastic tab to remove the drive (first time I had ever seen anything like that anyways as part of a hard drive setup) and it was not budging no matter how hard I pulled. Now I had noticed the two screws for the hard drive bracket, but the maintenance pdf (thanks again Seaman!!) made no mention of removing them so I figured maybe they were not bracket screws or it was some sort of slide mechanism, given the plastic tab, and they did not need to be taken out. WRONG! The pdf just missed that step. Stupid buggers.

 

Don't worry ajstefan.............
You're not the only one of us!

Mine has been a bloody nightmare since I upgraded from my old Dell Inspiron 1720. Yes it plays Warcraft beautifully (which was one of my prime reasons for getting it) but it just sits there and ignores my iPhone 3GS and my iPad quite happily. It'll sync them occasionally, but then insists they're a new device and tries to restore them from a backup.

I'm just in the process of rebuilding my iTunes folder on a new hard drive that I installed in the spare bay with a completely clean install (admittedly I've had a pod of some variation for 11 years now and my iTunes folder has been moved around a lot!). If it still misbehaves there will be a very nice Acer 8942g up for sale on eBay soon and I'll buy a Mac.........

I can't help staring enviously at my wifes MacBook Pro 13 that just works........no faffing, no constant surfing to find work arounds.......it just damn well works!

 

Well as an experiment I wiped my iPad and reset it to factory defaults.

I then synced it with my entirely clean installation of iTunes (old one wiped via Ccleaner, and new installation on my completely clean brand new 500gb WD drive) using the left hand USB ports............

Result?


Refuses to sync my clean iPad at all.......took nearly an hour of constant plugging and unplugging for it finally, begrudgingly, re-sync so I could put my apps and films back on my iPad.
If it's a clean install of iTunes, a clean iPad, and hardly any songs in iTunes yet then I can only assume that it's the hardware.
Considering there's posts on German forums and others around the world I get the feeling we're not alone on this one.

Doesn't help when the wife smugly syncs her iPhone 3GS in seconds to her MacBook Pro and sits there grinning at me!

 

@jonesy76
Did you consider blaming iTunes Windows software for your problems with IPhone ?
I also have an 3GS and iTunes sync whatever it wants - and this happens in 3-4 different laptops I own.

@Umbreon1960
The 8942G pdf is not entirely exact - and the biggest missinformation is that it shows an MXM card for this laptop, wich I am not aware to be true.

 

Considering I had no problems what-so-ever with my iTunes and my old Dell Inspiron 1720, and even uploading my iTunes onto my friends Sony Viao gave no sync problems then NO!

Google PM55 Chipset and iTunes..........
It's a known problem, and has affected HP, Dell, Lenovo, Asus, Toshiba, and Acer laptops running the Chipset over the last year. the only difference being that all the over manufacturers (with the exception of a couple of models from HP) have released BIOS updates to resolve the issue. Acer refuse to acknowledge the issue.
I've spent a whole year pulling my hair out over this issue, and even completely rebuilding my iTunes folder just to find that the problem is hardware rather than software.

Mentioned the problem to one of the Genius Bar operatives in the Apple Store in Norwich the other day and his comment was..........
"What laptop you got? HP or Acer

 

@seaman
Just noticed why you don't have the problem........you're on the core i5 and not the core i7 version of the 8942g. It's us core i7 users who have the PM55 Chipset whereas the core i5 got the HM55 Chipset.

 

Well, I didn't know, the i7 version comes with PM55 - I thought all 8942G have HM55. Otherwise I said that I do have problems with sync even with this laptop. And I suspect the fault lies with ITunes for Windows x64 version.
But, let me understand, how did you get to the conclusion that your laptop has PM55 chipset? Because I highly doubt it .

 

I can confirm this is not the cause of the problem.

The same problem occurred on Dell Studio 1557 while ago (earlier 2010). It only got resolved after BIOS update (released March 2010).

 

Hello , i have bought the Acer Aspire 8942G Core i7 before 7 months from Greece , as i seen the new catalyst 10.12 are out , but i cant install them , anyone to help me ?

 

as far i know, there isn't a i7 8942g with intel pm55?! mine is a hm55 also..in the beginning i had also allot of problems with itunes but after several updates of itunes it works perfect.. never had any problems again

 

OK a really odd question - does anyone know of a source of XP drivers for this beast?

(I want to dual boot but have a problem with BSOD and need the SATA driver)