Acer Aspire V5-122P Owners' thread

I have my V5-122p and the Dell Venue 8 Pro. Both have Windows 8 and both have touch screens. The Venue 8 Pro has the Atom CPU where obviously the V5-122p has the AMD A6 ULV CPU. I enjoy the V5-122p much better than the 8 inch tablet. By the time you buy a keyboard for the Venue 8 it costs as much as the V5-122p and has a smaller keyboard. I think the Atom is a little be snappier overall, but the system is limited to 32GB storage and 2GB RAM. My vote is for the V5. Good job Acer. So far it's been a great light portable media device.

 

I have acquired an Argos refurbished quad core 4gb (no-backlit keyboard version) for £249 UK which seemed a good price.
Opening the box it was in mint condition, then the fun & games starts updating the bios, then installing all the windows 8.0 updates before 8.1 (a good day to complete lol) as the laptop appeared to be very slow for it's specification.
Then I found out from windows task manager the 2GB of memory in the motherboard and 2.6gb is not available to use for windows leaving less than a giga byte free for apps after loading windows. This means that multitasking with only 4GB is going to slow apps to a sails pace as windows is forced to use hard disk virtual memory, it also makes the disk appear it is running slow when it is not although an ssd should help disguise it.

The bios has hardware reserved a massive 2619 GB and disabled bios F2 advanced options, CPUZ reports this little laptop as only 2 gb, in fact after booting 8.1 windows resource monitor reports the following after boot: Hardware reserve 2619 GB!! in use 885mb modified 17mb standby 227mb - only 345mb free for apps on what windows reports is a 4GB pc!

The amd apu needs only 512k allocated for video but I was unable to get into the advanced bios to change it, it looks like acer have some issues with the 2GB on board memory.

I am unable to confirm that the on-board 2Gb is even being used at all and would not consider this laptop as viable for use with less than 6 GB.
So if you got like me only the 4GB model it needs to be immediately upgraded to 6gb to give a normal 4gb laptop performance.

Apart from the lack of usable memory issue and the time it takes to get 8.1 working, this is quite a nice little laptop.
Avoid the 4gb versions and only buy the newer quad core A6 1450 6gb installed versions unless you get it at a discounted price and willing to upgrade the memory yourself.

Incidentally core temp reports the AMD cpu is virtually never a full load and thanks to the poster that said you have to put it to sleep and wake it up before getting 1.4mhz high performance locked.
I hope that there will be many more bios upgrades as I feel the true potential of this good AMD apu and cute laptop is not yet being fully used let down by the bad bios / inbuilt motherboard memory management.

 

Hello folks. My hard drive for my V5-122P-0649 has crapped out and was not covered in warranty. Would anyone have a downloadable recovery? Or would anyone be willing to transfer a file through FTP or IM services? It's 50 bucks for acer to send me a thumb drive with a recovery image. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Hey good stuff PCpod, thanks!


Is anyone using a Broadcom WLAN/BT card?
I'm thinking about switching my Qualcomm Atheros WLAN/BT card for a dual-antenna Broadcom card. It would probably be wise if i stuck with an Acer derivative to avoid OEM incompatibility issues.

For example:
Broadcom BCM943228HMB WiFi Wireless N Bluetooth 4 0 Wireless Mini PCI E Card | eBay

 

There will be no incompabilities. You can go for any card of your choosing apart from any card that's meant for Lenovo laptops.
Acer themselves don't use whitelisting.

 

Wow I just saw this and would love to enable the advanced bios options to improve memory timings and fixed allocation for the 8250 gpu to see what this laptop can do.
I'm a unix novice but have managed to boot it from usb stick for root commands but lost confidence to know how to do the copying to another stick or editing the 1's & 0's - old dos man myself.

Can anyone upload the edited unlocked advanced 09 efivars file with some simple dumb guide how to install it please?
This thread rocks btw.

 

I've heard that there is a recent bios update that can speed up the system. Does that help with the memory issue? Mine currently in the shop since my wife broke the display. But when I get it back, I will try the new bios. Also what kind of ram should I buy to update it to 6 GB?

 

Updated main post today - thanks for all the responses!
- Additional SSD models
- Linked to post on EFI advanced options unlock
- Added info on Acer converter port. I feel that it was a waste of money since it's only 10/100 and VGA. The only advantage it has over a USB3 network card and the free VGA cable is an extra USB2 port. You could buy a USB 3 hub for cheaper than this converter.

 

There's actually two things I would be concerned about:
- I'm not sure if the antenna design in this notebook can handle 5ghz dual band cards. It won't hurt anything, but the reception could be poor. I use a Broadcom 943225HMB in my desktop, which should work fine in the Acer if you want a single band card.
- The Atheros in this machine should be Miracast compatible on Windows 8.1. I haven't tried it yet, but Atheros does advertise it as compatible.

If we can find a dual band card and it works well, that would be ideal for Miracast. That way you can get full bandwidth using the 5ghz radio for Netflix or Vudu, and still have the 2.4ghz bandwidth needed for Miracast itself.

 

The latest 09 bios on acers support website does seem a bit faster, the memory should be standard laptop DDR3 Package: 204-pin SODIMM but there is only one slot, so to upgrade to 6gb you will need to replace the 2gb already in the slot with a 4gb. (ordered mine from ebay so still waiting for it's arrival)
General spec compatible example: DDR3 PC3-12800 • CL=11 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR3-1600 • 1.35V •

edit: the latest firmware is still reserving more than half of the 4gb exclusively for hardware, so it' really still only a 2gb laptop.


Well the ebay 4gb Sodimm arrived today and the installation was easy enough, 12 small philips headed screws (10 x short 2 x long) to remove, one under the rubber extra battery connector protector. Before removing the back with a credit card pull out the black plastic protector on the wide mm card slot on the left in front of the usb 3.0 blue port.

Bingo, now my bios is only hardware reserving 512k as you would expect so it looks like it didn't like the 2gb Kingston PC3 memory module it was shipped with. ref: ARC16D3LS1NGG/2G - Cpuz now reports my new 4GB as a Samsung total 6GB which it likes with much less hangs.

Still having some problems with performance test 8.0 free evaluation version, it was working fine until I updated the video drivers, now halts on the memory thread test. May have to do a factory reset to remove whatever caused it.
Despite the above and relatively slow performance, I'm still quite liking this quiet baby laptop, ideally suited to windows 8 touch..

 

I'm working on a solution to this but I'm having a little bit of trouble reconstructing the Recovery Drive from a blank FAT32 disk and the .RAR archive I've created (12GB approximately). It would be great if we v5-122p owners had this Recovery Drive in the OP as a downloadable file for emergencies such as this. I've got a Google Drive Account with 50GB of storage for 2 years that I'd be willing to use for this purpose. Otherwise I'm not sure on how to host such a large file. I suppose If you paid for a 16GB (minimum) USB 2.0/3.0 drive and its shipping to me and back to you, I could create a Recovery Drive for you. Otherwise, I'm not sure If we are breaking any forum rules here. Its just a Recovery Drive, so I would assume were okay but I just want to be safe.

Please PM me after you've acquired enough posts so that we may discuss this further.

So far I tried 3 WLAN cards:
Intel 7260 AC + BT
Intel 6230 BGN + BT
Broadcom BGN (I'm at work, I'll update the part numbers when I get back home later today)

Windows started without any issues but all the cards were showing that the wireless switch was in the OFF position. I tried switching the F3/WLAN/BT/Airplane Mode key which did not resolve the issue. I also ran the Windows troubleshooting guides and this did not resolve this issue. Next I would have to try removing all drivers of the Qualcomm Atheros WLAN card and install the corresponding new WLAN card drivers. Someone earlier in the thread mentioned a similar issue.

I've found a temporary fix to the BT mouse input lag I am having. Disabling and Enabling each radio separately seems to correct the issue temporarily, until the next time it comes back. This issues feels like its related to the WLAN+BT drivers. I'll report back on my finds. I hope Acer is following this thread as were basically testing their product for these bugs/errors/issues. Maybe we can submit bug reports to their engineers that way they at least know about these issues and can come up with fixes much quicker!

I'm trying to cure the intermittent Bluetooth lag input I experience with my Microsoft Windows 8 Sculpt Mouse. Maybe switching WLAN cards is not the way to go?

Sounds like there's more to uncovered than we bargained for. Any extra features and functions are always welcomed to get the most out of our investments.

 

***ATTENTION***
The guide is now completed and ready. I have tested and verified that it works on my v5-122p, the results are reproducible. Please let me know if there is any corrections that need to be made. I will be adding the section on how to edit the efivars file for those that want to learn but it's optional at this point. Have at it!

Hopefully I can help simplify the guide and make it easier to accomplish this mod. Using the two guides linked below I was able to enable AMD SVM (virtualization) and unlock the hidden options in the UEFI using HELIOKZ'S GUIDE. There are many steps but they are easy to follow and will help you accomplish this mod.


***WARNING: I take no responsibility if you damage or brick you PC in the process of this modification. Performing this modification means you are accepting all the risks involved. This guide is for educational purposes only!***


Acer Aspire V5-122p Enable SVM How-To by zuvieltext

HOW-TO ENABLE SVM AND EXPOSE HIDDEN PAGES in Acer Aspire V5-122P's 2.09 UEFI(BIOS) by heliokz

Credit: zuvieltext and heliokz

Items needed:
-AC adapter
- v5-122p UEFI version 2.09
- Edited v5-122p_efivars file (here is the original unedited v5-122p_efivars file)
-(2) x USB flash drives formatted in FAT32 (200 MB minimum each), one for the GParted Live USB and one empty for the edited efivars file
-a second PC, tablet or phone with internet access with this guide loaded


Open-source programs needed:
-gparted-live-0.16.2-11-amd64.iso
- tuxboot-0.6.exe
- Frhed 1.6.0


PC and open-source programs preparation:
1. Download, save and update your v5-122p to UEFI version 2.09 while using your AC adapter
2. Download and save the "edited v5-122p_efivars file"
3. Download and save the GParted Live .iso
4. Download and install Tuxboot .exe
5. This step is optional as we won't be editing the efivars file with Frhed. I've already done that for you, hence this guide but you may still want to learn how to edit the file for personal reference. Download and install Frhed .exe
6. You PC is now prepped and ready to go. Go onto the next section


First USB flash drive preparation:
1. Insert the first USB flash drive into the left-side USB 3.0 port
2. Format the USB flash drive to File system FAT32, Allocation unit size 4096 bytes, and Volume label "FAT32 GPL" and now the drive is ready
3. Open and Run Tuxboot 0.6, "Specify a disk image file to load, Pre Downloaded," "Select the disk image type, ISO," "Specify a CD image (ISO or ZIP) file to load," and click on "Select disk image file, ..."
4. Navigate to the directory where you saved your GParted Live .iso, select it and then click Open
5. Next, "Select the installation target type, USB Drive," "Select the target drive to install to, E:\" and click OK (CAUTION: your target drive letter may be different than mine so make sure you select the correct drive & letter)
6. If Tuxboot 0.6 finishes the installation without any problems, your GParted Live USB is now ready to use, click Exit to exit Tuxboot 0.6
7. Leave the first USB flash drive "FAT32 GPL" in the USB 3.0 port and go on to the next section


Second USB flash drive preparation:
1. Insert the second USB flash drive into the right-side USB 2.0 port
2. Format the USB flash drive to File system FAT32, Allocation unit size 4096 bytes, and Volume label "FAT32 EFI"
3. Copy and paste the "edited v5-122p_efivars file" into the root directory of the empty USB flash drive
4. Your second USB flash drive "FAT32 EFI" is now ready to use, leave it in the USB 2.0 port and go on to the next section


UEFI preparation:
1. Shut down your PC
2. Next, power ON your PC and begin pressing "F2" to get into the UEFI settings
3. Under the "Main" tab "Enable F12 Boot Menu" and then under the "Security" tab "Set Supervisor Password" in order to "Enable or Disable Secure Boot" (CAUTION: Do not forget your password, I suggest you write it down on paper for safe keeping)
4. After setting a supervisor password, "Disable Secure Boot"
5. Press "F10" to save these changes and exit or go to the "Exit" tab and select "Exit Saving Changes"
6. As soon as you exit, begin pressing "F12" to enter the "F12 Boot Menu"
7. At the Boot Manager Boot Option Menu, select "2. USB HDD: Generic USB..." (CAUTION: Your USB device may have a different name than mine, select your GParted Live USB we just made above)
8. If successful, you will now be greeted by the GNU GRUB version 2.00-19 OS boot menu, go onto the next section


GParted Live efivars file preparation:
1. At the GNU GRUB version 2.00-19 OS boot menu, select the very first "GParted Live (Default settings)" entry, let it do its thing
2. At the Configuration console-data menu, select "Don't touch keymap"
3. When it asks "Which language do you prefer ?" Just hit enter and proceed (CAUTION: For the purposes of this tutorial I am choosing English [33], you may choose something else but I only tested and can verify for English [33])
4. When it asks "Which mode do you prefer ?" Just hit enter and proceed
5. After a few moments you should now be at the desktop and GParted will automatically be opened, click and hold the button near the top right corner where it says "/dev/sda (894.25 GiB)," briefly notice the 3 storage devices (SSD, "FAT32 GPL" USB and "FAT32 EFI" USB) and their device names & capacities that are presently detected by GParted Live, minimize GParted
6. Right-click on the desktop to make the Fluxbox menu appear, move your mouse over "Terminals" and then select "lxterminal with root privileges," then in the LXTerminal type these commands:

Next, minimize the Terminal window
7. Right-click on the desktop to make the Fluxbox menu appear, select "File Manager" and navigate to the directory "sys/firmware/efi/efivars," now locate the file: "Setup-a04a27f4-df00-4d42-b552-39511302113d" (639 bytes) unknown
8. Right-click this file and select Rename. At the Rename File window, right-click the highlighted text and select Copy (CAUTION: Do not rename the file, leave it alone, simply Copy the text). We are doing this to ensure you have the exact correct spelling of the file for the next step. Now, hit Cancel to close the Rename File window, and minimize the File Manager
9. Maximize the LXTerminal window from earlier, and type in the following commands:

This is very important, the next command we are going to type, then paste the text, and then type the remainder of the command. Paste the copied file text from earlier into the LXTerminal window by right-clicking and selecting paste at the "sudo cp /mnt/usb/[PASTE TEXT HERE] /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/"

The edited efivars file has now been copied and pasted into the corresponding directory. Success!

The next command "sudo unmount /dev/sdc1" however results in a "sudo: unmount: command not found" error message. I was not able to resolve this problem but found it did not affect the UEFI mod results (please correct me if I'm wrong). Next type the "exit" command to close out of LXTerminal.

10. Go to the GParted Live desktop and double-click the Exit icon, select Shutdown and then click OK. GParted Live will now begin shutting down and ask you to "Please remove the USB flash drive ("FAT32 GPL") and press ENTER to continue:" The system Will Now Halt and Power Down but you might still need to press and hold the power button to force the PC OFF if it doesn't shut OFF.


UEFI wrap-up:
1. Power ON the PC and begin pressing the "F2" key to enter the UEFI, enter your Supervisor Password we created earlier
2. Once inside the UEFI, you should see the hidden menus now exposed as well as the AMD SVM virtualization option available. Before you go tinkering about, enable Secure Boot. If you want, remove the Supervisor Password too. Otherwise do not forget this password. If you want you can Disable F12 Boot Menu, or leave it Enabled.
3. Exit saving changes or hit "F10" to save the configurations and exit.
4. The UEFI mod is now completed and ready. You can go back into the UEFI by hitting "F2" and take a look around to see the changes. That's all folks, hope you like the mod and this guide!


CAUTION: "Load Setup Defaults" will erase the mod and set it back to "pre-mod condition" if in case you have to send in your v5-122p to Acer for service.

 

Just letting you know you can go ahead and add the SanDisk Ultra Plus SDSSDHP-256G-G25 2.5" (256GB) to the successful SSD conversion list for this platform. The drive swap was an absolute snap . . . especially on the 5th or so time I put it in.

All of my trouble came with my choice of cloning software, especially since I was going to a smaller destination drive. I eventually had success with Macrium's Reflect drive cloning software ( Macrium Reflect Backup and Hard Disk Imaging for Windows 7, Vista, XP and Server 2003/2008). The freeware version does the job.

Apricorn sells a USB 3.0 to SATA III adapter that comes with their cloning software (EZ GIG IV) that's also freeware but I couldn't get it to clone the drive without errors that, in the end, wouldn't even allow the drive to be seen by the BIOS during an F12 recovery attempt. That's what led to the drive going in and coming out so many times.

In the end, the performance gain was well worth it. The computer feels much snappier and the lag that's sort of been the norm with this device that comes after double clicking a program icon, toggling between the Start Screen and the Desktop, or even while browsing the net has all been significantly reduced. Although not the most important factor for me, the time to the lock screen from the button push after a FULL shutdown dropped from ~32 secs to ~17 secs. Still says something about the disk read/write performance gain that shouldn't surprise anyone.

The Drive can be found at Newegg: SanDisk Ultra Plus SDSSDHP-256G-G25 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) for Notebook - Newegg.com. Not the fastest by any account but got good reviews all around and was the cheapest 256 GB MLC at the time of purchase. For those of you looking to purchase an SSD, be sure to read up a little on the pros/cons of SLC, MLC, and TLC.

 

Hi. This has been a very useful thread for me - I have a problem with my young son's new V5 (quad core, 6GB), and I'd really, really appreciate some advice. We turned on the laptop for the first time yesterday, logged in and created an account for him. The next thing we did was to create, using Window 8's own tool, an emergency restore USB stick (on a 16GB stick). We left the original partition untouched.

We then started the process of reinstalling the windows, as advised many times in this thread, and this is where the problems began. We restarted the laptop with the USB stick inserted, and got as far as restore, when there was a message about a problem and unable to procede. Since then we have been completely unable to start windows. If we try to start the laptop without the USB stick, the laptop spends ages "trying to repair", and then announces there is a problem. I have tried all the various combinations of starting it with the USB stick in, and not, using restore, refresh, advanced tools. I have been in the bios and checked that the USB stick is at the top of the boot priority order.

The only possible extra clue I got was when I changed the bios for UEFI to legacy - the same problems did arise, but there was also a message about the recovery partition being locked.

I am at the point of trying to take the laptop back to the suppliers (or should I contact Acer support?), but won't be able to do that until early Jan, and I'd really like to get my sons laptop running sooner. Is there anything else I could do? Many thanks indeed for any advice anyone can give.

Thanks. (ps - I'll follow this thread closely for any answers, but will be out for a few hours this afternoon, so any further responses from me might take a few hours to be posted.)

 

Hi archie,unless you can boot or get into safe mode to find out what the problem is, you are left with a possible corrupt system software which can be recovered by using the built in acer app.
Personally I would leave this recovery app as supplied and not do a completely fresh install of windows 8 but each has their own preferences, the other acer apps can be removed from control panel uninstall.
Always worth running a C::scandisk but without further details or using a usb bootable stick there is not much we can do to help you. good luck.

Thanks David Richardo for your advanced bios instructions will be trying them soon.

 

Thanks, PCPod.The problem is, the corrupt system does NOT seem to be "recoverable using the built in acer app"! I do have a USB bootable stick - that was the first thing I created, and as far as I know there is no problem with it. But when I insert it, one just gets into an endless loop of selecting language and keyboard layout, and then being again presented a range of options (refresh, restore, advanced options), and whichever one choses one just goes back to the start point (with various error messages en route, such as "was unable to refresh your computer"). I did run chkdsk (was that what you meant?) but it didn't reveal anything. As I said, I did manage once to get this message when I told the bios to use a legacy rather than UEFI: The drive where Windows is installed is locked. Unlock the drive and try again. Is that a clue to something that can be fixed? I did search in google, and found lots of similar comments, but no solution which I understood!!

 

@archie159

I'm not an expert at this stuff but I'll try my best. Let's backtrack a bit.

Is this what you used? Did you leave the "Copy the recovery partition from the PC to the recovery drive." checked?

If so, that would've meant that if you used the recovery drive to recover your PC, it would've recovered it back to Factory Default with the Factory Default partition also recovered back to the hard drive. Like it says, this would allow you to refresh or reset your PC.

If you left it unchecked, the recovery drive could only be used to troubleshoot your PC in case it cannot start.

Again, depending on if you checked or unchecked "Copy the recovery partition from the PC to the recovery drive." the recovery drive you created will recover your PC back to Factory Default (plus help troubleshoot start up problems) OR serve as a troubleshooting disc only (to help with start up problems only). You mention that this is where the problem started and that you were unable to proceed so I'm going to assume you simply made a "start up troubleshooting" recovery drive. The drive only contains the information to help you get the computer to start up correctly, it is NOT for a clean installation of Windows. Checking the drive's capacity FREE and capacity USED would've told you this.

Technically there's no need to change the boot priority order from within the UEFI, there's an easier way. Power ON the PC and press "F2" to enter the UEFI, and then Enable "F12 BOOT MENU." Exit saving the changes, and as soon as the computer restarts (or when you power ON the PC), pressing "F12" would take you to the boot menu where you would then choose the device you wish to boot from. I'm not saying what you did was wrong, I'm just saying that it was not necessary and the F12 Boot Menu makes it easy to boot from a device other than the OS drive without the need to change boot priority order.

Now here is where you definitely went wrong. After having created the recovery drive (which is created in FAT32, UEFI and Secure Boot 'compatible'), you need not change the UEFI to Legacy setting unless you have a specific reason to do so, like you plan on installing Windows 7, Vista, XP or some form of Linux which does not support UEFI and or Secure Boot.

I will not get into the specifics of UEFI and Secure Boot here because that's another lesson in itself. I highly recommend researching these topics on your own to better understand their functions and purpose.

You may or may not be able to exchange the PC depending on how you state your claim. Technically you are at fault for whatever has happened so far, be really careful what you say to the supplier. I would not contact Acer, unless you want to buy a set of Recover Discs for $50 which will restore the computer back to Factory Default including the Factory Default Recovery Partition.


At this point I would do the following:
1. Change Legacy setting back to UEFI with Secure Boot Enabled and Enable F12 Boot Menu
2. Boot the recovery drive you made using F12 Boot Menu
3. Choose US keyboard layout, choose Troubleshoot, choose Advanced options, and finally choose Command Prompt
4. At the Command Prompt type "diskpart"
5. Type "list disk"
6. Type "select disk 0" (the OS drive)
7. Type "list partition" what does it say?
8. Type "list volume" what does it say?

The OS drive should contain 4 partitions (here's mine for example):

Partition # Type Size Offset
Partition 1 Recovery 400 MB 1024 KB
Partition 2 System 300 MB 401 MB
Partition 3 Reserved 128 MB 701 MB
Partition 4 Primary 879 GB 829 MB

This last one is my recovery drive:
Partition 5 Recovery 14 GB 880 GB


The OS drive should contain 4 volumes (here's mine for example):

Volume # Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info

 

I want to try beta Catalyst drivers but i am not sure which one i should install. Mobility version on normal version? Here is the link:

AMD Catalyst 13.11 Beta Driver for Windows

 

Hi davidricardo86. Many thanks indeed for your long and helpful answer. I'll try to keep my responses short so this doesn't get overly complicated to follow!

Firstly, to answer some of your later points. I did not change the UEFI to legacy until much later in process, when all previous attempts had failed, so this is not the cause of the problems (and I changed it back to UEFI very soon afterwards, when it was apparant that it did not solve it).

Is this what you used? Did you leave the "Copy the recovery partition from the PC to the recovery drive." checked?
I used the windows own create recovery method as described here: Create a USB recovery drive - Microsoft Windows Help
Yes I did copy the recovery partition to the recovery drive (and also I did not delete it from the laptop). The USB stick has about 13.9GB used. I think therefore your next set of comments (after I'm going to assume you simply made a "start up troubleshooting" recovery drive) do not apply?

Now here is where you definitely went wrong. After having created the recovery drive (which is created in FAT32, UEFI and Secure Boot 'compatible'), you need not change the UEFI to Legacy setting unless you have a specific reason to do so, like you plan on installing Windows 7, Vista, XP or some form of Linux which does not support UEFI and or Secure Boot.
All noted, and thanks, but as I said above, I did not try this till way later in the day, long after all earlier attempts had failed.

Y ou may or may not be able to exchange the PC depending on how you state your claim. Technically you are at fault for whatever has happened so far, be really careful what you say to the supplier. I would not contact Acer, unless you want to buy a set of Recover Discs for $50 which will restore the computer back to Factory Default including the Factory Default Recovery Partition.
Again, all noted, but I would make clear to the supplier (or Acer, for that matter), that I don't believe that I have actually made any changes to the system whatsoever. All I have done is create a recovery USB, as advised by Acer (though maybe I should have used the Acer tool rather than Windows own one? But that, surely, shouldn't be necessary!), and tried to boot with that. All the error messages I have received have finished with "no changes have been made to your system" or similar. At no time has it given any indication of actually making any changes.

OK, I'll now try to follow your instructions below!

1. Change Legacy setting back to UEFI with Secure Boot Enabled and Enable F12 Boot Menu
2. Boot the recovery drive you made using F12 Boot Menu
3. Choose US keyboard layout, choose Troubleshoot, choose Advanced options, and finally choose Command Prompt
4. At the Command Prompt type "diskpart"
5. Type "list disk"
6. Type "select disk 0" (the OS drive)
7. Type "list partition" what does it say?
8. Type "list volume" what does it say?

Step 1 was not necessary, as it was put back to that setting a few days ago after my short diversion into legacy.
steps 2-6 OK.
After list partition I got:
partition 1 recovery size 400MB offset 1024kb
partition 2 system 300MB 401mb
partition 3 reserved 128mb 701mb
partition 4 primary 450gb 829mb
partition 5 recovery 14gb 450gb

After list volume I got:
volume 0 Ltr: C label: acer NTFS type: partition 450gb healthy
volume 1 recovery NTFS partition 400mb healthy hidden
volume 2 ESP FAT32 partition 300mb healthy hidden
volume 3 pushbutton NTFS partition 14gb healthy hidden
volume 4 Ltr: D RECOVERY FAT32 partition 14gb healthy

Do these reveal anything to you?
Once again, I'm really appreciative of your help. Thanks!

 

It might sound stupid but the locked normally invisible acer recovery hidden disk partition NTFS partition was put on your hard drive to work with the usb that was created with Acer's recovery app.
My guess is that the one you made with windows backup is having trouble accessing the locked partitions set up by acer, you may have to start with a new formatted clean hard disk drive if you want the Microsoft windows version to work.

 

You are right, it does sound stupid, but I see what you are saying. Though it should not stop me logging in normally, surely? Anyway, it sounds as if I will have no choice but to return it to the supplier when I get home next week... Unless anyone has any further ideas?! Thanks again...

 

Mobility version, please report back on any findings such as overclocking support. Thanks.

You make a valid point but I don't think it actually matters as it goes through the same "Recovery Drive" window to start the creation of the Recovery Drive, same check-box and everything. Then again, I did use the Acer Recovery Management program instead of going through the Control Panel so now I'm not sure. Might test that at a later time.

That is correct. Thanks.

Got it! Thanks.

If you would not mind, can you tell us the exact steps you are taking to get to these messages?

Thanks that's great! And no, sorry, everything "looks" normal from what I can tell. Hey the more information we have the better. I just wanted to see what the HDD partitions/volumes looked like at the moment.


The only other thing I can suggest at the moment is to go back into the UEFI and Enable D2D Recovery, then exit saving changes. As the PC saves and reboots, press "Alt+F10" together and use the recovery drive that came preinstalled on your HDD to recover the PC back to Factory Default. At this point I would just want to start from scratch and get the system back up and running. You could also try System File Checker How To Use SFC Scannow to Repair Windows System Files

As for a clean Windows 8 installation, you're going to need the .iso file from Microsoft, or get it elsewhere, and create a bootable USB installation disc. Remember to use a USB drive no larger than 32GB if you plan on using Windows 8 to format it to FAT32 for UEFI and Secure Boot compatibility. Windows will automatically activate using the product key in the UEFI. Save yourself some time and download the drivers beforehand too.

When I switched over to my M500 960GB SSD I used the Acer recovery drive from a USB to get my system up and running. I've left the recovery partition intact as well. I have not hat any issues and it was nice to have everything back up and running without minimal effort on my end. I immediately uninstalled programs I did not want and have been using Windows 8 for the time being. I want to update to 8.1 again but have not been in any rush to. I may do a clean installation at a later date if i keep having this annoying Bluetooth mouse lag issue I can't seem to pinpoint.

 

Hi Davidricardo, many thanks again! I'll try the second part of your suggestion later this evening if I have time (and I am travelling the next 36 hours, so if I dont do it tonight, I will try when I get home!), but to answer your first question, it roughly went like this:
-1. start without usb stick, message shown saying system being analysed, long wait while system attempts to repair, eventually message put up saying unable to repair, and offered advanced options, which take me into steps describe below.
-2. alternatively, boot with USB stick, rapidly get asked language and keyboard, then to window with various options. select use a device, select uefi usb. seems to restart, select language and keyboard, then back to same point as before! this can go on and on for ever, seemingly.
-3. if i dont select device, but select troubleshoot, get 3 options (refresh, reset, advanced). Either of the first 2 go as follow: accept warning, select Win8 (only option shown), wait a short while, see error message saying there was a problem refreshing/resetting your pc, no changes made, click cancel, taken back to first 3 options.
-4. Now try 3rd option (advanced)...
-5. advanced option allows system restore, recovery image, automatic repair, command prompt, uefi firmware settings:
-6. restore or recovery image says no restore points found.
-7. auto repair takes one back to the long wait as if one was starting without the usb stick (diagnosing, checking disk for errors, attempting repairs), and then the same unable to fix message and back to point 2 above.
8. command prompt does exacty that.

Anything here help?!

I will try the enable d2d option you mentioned later if possible and report back (is it obvious what to do when you say "use the recovery drive..."?). But if that does not work, I think I will then leave it till I can speak to the supplier and see if they can arrange to get it fixed!

 

OK, tried that. D2D was already enabled (I might have enabled it previously, having done a lot of reading before I turned to this forum). Alt F10 simply took me (after selecting language/keyboard) to the options Continue(exit to win 8), troubleshoot or turn off. If I try troubleshoot, I get back to step 5 as I described before, none of which work!

I think my next option must be to take the laptop back to the supplier and try to get them to sort this! I dont want to go down the route of a completely new installation unless I really have to. I am new to Win8, and have never done a fresh install of any windows version since Win98, so am a bit nervous about all this!! Thanks again for all your help.

 

Archie, it looks like your laptop hard drive is ok which means the recovery partition is still in-tact.
What happened from the info you have given is now preventing you from using the step 5 advanced options like simple command prompt after booting your usb stick.
So what I would suspect is wrong is first the memory or the bios settings. The bios can easily be set back to default in F2, you could try removing the installed sod dim stick and try again using the 2gb built in.

My Acer 122p only worked correctly after replacing the Kingston 2gb stick with a Samsung 4gb and using the advanced bios options as described in this thread to enable virtualisation.
Also I solved my performance test memory failure by going into run msconfig / boot tab advanced options and removing the tick in the "number of processors" & "maximum memory"
Of course you can not do this until it's fixed but it may be useful for others who read this thread.

As info for all, I only use this laptop for non critical information or games, so I have uninstalled the MacAfee antivirus to work faster with the windows built in defender & with drive indexing disabled to speed up the disk.
I'm now constantly hitting 750 overall score in Performance test 8 and everything is now working fine, the overall responsiveness now with windows 8.1 is the difference between night and day to when I first used it, I have even dropped it off a table and it recovered without a mark and only had to clip the screen surround back on. (phew! lucky)
The trouble is that those that that don't have the patience or knowledge to get this laptop running fast without hangs might be disappointed but I'm now more than happy with it thanks to this thread and all the good advice.
It does run the full windows without fuss, not some cut down version and it does it fairly well.

 

So I got one of these on what appeared to be a big sale at the store but then i realised its not that good and the thing can't even run LoL above 20fps and FPS's at 25 fps witch is not impressive at all.

Mine has an AMD A4-1240 dual core 1ghz, when most have an A6 quad core @ 1.4ghz

Does anyone know if the Acer Aspire V5 122p's CPU is soldered or can be upgraded ?

I have been looking on ebay and all i've found is AMD QUAD CORE A8-4500M SERIES PROCESSOR AM4500DEC44HJ 1.9GHZ LAPTOP CPU (CP19) and AMD laptop processor APU QUAD CORE A10-4600M 2.3Ghz/Socket FS1 (FS1r2) TURBO 3.2

For very very decent prices, these are A series so it should be possible, unless the BIOS is limited, if it is maybe it could be hacked, and if the APU gets too hot then I could underclock it right?

I may look for myself tomorrow if no one replies

 

Hi again! Do you know if the UK model NX.M8WEK.007 has the backlit keyboard? Does anyone have it? It is the one on amazon uk.

 

OK, thanks again. I'm now back home, and called the suppliers this morning - they've asked me to bring the laptop in later today, which I'll do, and hopefully they'll get it fixed for me... Thanks for everyone's help - I really appreciate it.

 

Yes the latest motherboards have all soldered AMD APU chips, their size is too small to unsolder and replace, the current bios has no manual clock options - would love to know how to change memory timings.
The only way to upgrade to quad core would be to replace the complete motherboard, beware there are a lot of different versions for this laptop so getting the right part number is essential.

As far as I know Acer is keeping the UK in the dark with this model, none of their V5 122p UK models have backlit keyboards yet.

 

Just bought mine on a German website: V5-122P-61454G50nss (NX.M91EG.004)
I hope it arrives soon! It has been very difficult finding it. In very few stores in Italy there were only A4 models for 399€ and nowhere online! I had to find a German version on a German website (with, of course, a German keyboard). I hope it's worth it
Do you know why it's so difficult to find this model? Is it too old or too new?
My next purchases will be a samsung 840 pro (128 or 256gb) and 4gb 1600 or 1333 @1.35v (I want to check the installed ones first)

 

I noticed it says on Newegg that the controller is by Marvell (same as my M500), but it doesn't state which specific controller model it is. I also downloaded the datasheet from Sandisk and it doesn't even mention the controller information. Do you know which controller your SSD uses?

I also was wondering why your SSD's MTBF is 2,000,000 hours and mines is 1,200,000 hours. I'm guessing the difference comes from the NAND size (M500 uses 20nm Micron MLC NAND)? Both have 3 year limited warranty though.

Sent from my XT1049 using Tapatalk

 

The SanDisk SSD uses a Marvell 88SS9175 "Van Gogh Lite" 4 channel controller. Can't say I know too much more about controllers except that a 4 channel pulls significantly less power than a traditional 8 channel. I'm sure there are cons to go along with 4 channel controllers but I was intrigued by the potential power consumption benefit.

A good, thorough review of the this particular SSD can be found HERE

With regard to MTBF, although I don't think it's discussed in the review I pointed to above, I remember reading somewhere about the way SanDisk's controller allocates info around the drive. A total noob with this stuff - the bottom line is the SanDisk SSD is an MLC but the drive's controller tries to reduce the number of write cycles in each NAND cell by treating it like an SLC whenever it can by keeping track of write cycles in one particular part of the array. I don't think that's unique to SanDisk drives by the way but since a NAND cell's life is a function of the number of write cycles it sees, I'm guessing the quoted MTBF takes credit for spreading write cycles out across the whole drive. Frankly there's not really much difference to me between 1.2 M vs 2.0 M cycles. I do a good job of backing up regularly and expect to have retired this machine for some Jetsons capable stuff well before I see either.

 

Hello all.

I thought i'd add my experience so far with the Acer V5122P I got as a Christmas present from my wife.

I actually picked it and went with her to buy it as I work in I.T and she didnt have the first idea what to buy. I do general I.T stuff such as software support, network configuration etc as well as a heavy chunk of Visual Basic and ABAP programming.

The Dual Core version has taken quite a battering on here but im going to defend it! lol.

I bought the dual core version, 4gb RAM, 500GB Hard drive on offer at £299. The quad core was £100 extra at the time and financial contraints meant this was a bridge too far. However, i wasnt so concerned as I wanted a lightweight, portable notebook that I could easily take with me when away from home. Im not a gamer (Apart from Football Manager now and again, but this doesnt require a great PC to run) and generally browse, shop online and now and again do a little website design in my time using Dreamweaver/Fireworks.

The first day i left the notebook downloading and installing updates and after a few re-starts it was up to date and ready for the Windows 8.1 upgrade. This completed relatively quickly and with no problems. Ive now got it fully patched up, minus 3 optional updates that I am yet to complete. Ive installed MS Office 2010, AVG Free Anti Virus, C Cleaner as well as numerous apps for me to play with.

Ive been on it everyday for the last 8 days and I have to say, its performed very well. I was a little worried when I found this thread after I had bought the notebook, given the negative reports of the dual core version. Apps start up quickly, IE works efficiently and switching has been effortless. Ive got a number of High Definition movies and ive watched these with no problems. Everything is smooth and there is no jerking whatsoever.Ok, i know its only 8 days of use and Im saving up some cash to buy a Samsung 120GB SSD at some point as I would like to do this anyway, but im very happy so far. All the patches are on and using C Cleaner on a regular basis to trap out unwanted startup routines creeping in is always something i have done and stand by when it comes to keeping your notebook efficient and quick.

Ok, if your into games and used to very quick, top end machines your probably going to be disappointed. However, for £299 I cant complain one bit. For someone like me who uses their notebook for browsing, shopping and smaller CPU/Graphics needy software its perfect.

 

hello again.
Since I was thinking to buy an SSD to obtin better performances, I was wondering which kind of SATA this laptop has.
Is it SATA II or III?
I don't want to spend so much money for a SATA3 when it is not used.
Thanks
P.S. Here is the mainboard

 

The V5-122p is SATA III.

 

Just a reminder to all,

If you are experiencing any issues with your V5-122P, please let Acer chat support know about it. I submitted the issue I am having with my Bluetooth mouse and WLAN card. I will also let them know my USB 2.0 port has dead spot. Let them know you would like to submit bug reports so that their engineers may release fixes for said issues. The more bug reports we submit, the quicker they may be able to respond with software and hardware fixes. These may includes UEFI and driver updates as well as hardware revisions or even recalls for defective hardware. This can benefit all of us so that we may get the most out of our investments.

Thanks,
David

 

Hi all - first time here so go easy
thought i would share my issues with this fine little laptop - i decided i would like to change the hdd to an ssd.....so i read the excellent first post and sort of followed the instructions

first mistake was deleting the recovery partition after i had made the recovery usb stick
second mistake was not checking that it worked, as it didn't...
anyway swapped the hdd for a samsung evo ssd and tried to use recovery usb - laptop didn't seem to recognise it and kept saying 'no system image found' and i got stuck in the loop some earlier posters described.

i tried a fresh win8 install but 'product key didn't match install' (i mistakenly used win8pro install and it wouldn't accept the oem key in the bios
i sourced an oem win8 install (the one you want is called 'en_windows_8_x64_dvd_915440.iso') and successfully installed it from usb using the win7 usb dvd download tool. great i thought until i looked at the windows activation status which said my key was already in use (as it was on the original hdd from when i bought the laptop). you apparently can transfer full version win8 keys from 1 iinstall to another, but not oem keys

plan b - used easeUS partition tool on hdd in laptop to shrink the disk partition down smaller than my ssd capacity
used 'easeUS todo' disk tool and inserted both hdd and ssd into my main rig and cloned hdd onto ssd - this took around 15 mins

inserted ssd into laptop and tried to bootup. or not as the case would be - lots of errors .efi files missing etc etc and seemingly no way to fix things via the bios
almost contemplated giving up at this stage
fiddled around with boot devices and stuck in the original usb recovery stick i had made and managed to boot into the recovery menu and selected the command prompt from the advanced settings bit

Typed the following.
1. bootrec /fixmbr
2. bootrec /fixboot
3. bootrec /scanos
4. bootrec /rebuildbcd
and restarted the computer.

AND IT WORKED!! - booted into the cloned image of the original hdd on the newly installed ssd - as it was a clone, windows is activated
around 8hrs of stress, tiny screws and lots of unnecessary win8 iso downloads to get it sorted
worst thing i did was to delete the recovery partition way back initially when given the option. It would be really useful if someone could make an image/torrent of this available somewhere as posters have mentioned earlier in the thread as this would have potentially saved me alot of stress if i had been able to use this via a properly working 16Gb usb stick

hopefully my ramblings above will help some others avoid the mistakes i made

 

RE: IPS display

Looking at the V5 122P tonight. Great display, so I checked online and saw Acer makes 15!! models of the V5 122P, alone, and even the MSRPs can differ. I was checking out the 122P-637. It, the 643 and 681 are the only ones featuring "in-plane switching", or IPS. The others (408, 467, 468, 607...) appear not to. This doesn't have to mean 12, of the 15, do not feature an IPS display, but that is what it suggests to me.

I've been hunting for the cheapest win7/win8 units that feature a screen similar to the beautiful Microsoft Surface Pro's Sub-pixel rendering, high viewing angles, low reflections and very good contrast. It is amazing how, in person, many of the HP/toshiba units aren't that good, while the Dell XPS, some lenovos and a few other of the Windows notebooks have the blacks and bright colors that look really nice, IMO.

 

Interesting. It looks like product info data sheets for a number of the 122p sub models are no longer on the Acer web site: the 0600, 0857, 0863 and others aren't listed any longer. Could these variations be discontinued already???

 

I'm sorry to insist but there is still something I don't understand...
The stated supported memory is 1066mhz LowVoltage (1.35V) but there is no such memory, the only ones are 1333mhz and 1600mhz but, reading on some deep review, the soldered memory should be @1066 whereas the additional is a kingston @1600 (probably LV).
Well, if the system supports only to 1066mhz, then 1600 is useless and forced to work @1066. Isn't then the same thing buying memories @1333? Do 1066mhz 1.35V SoDimm memories exist? Which and how much ram should someone buy for this notebook? I've also read on this thread that someone had experienced memory misreadings and also someone else going to 10gbs. I need some clarification
Thank you very much for your help!

P.S. Would it be better buying memories @1066mhz but 1.5V instead of @1600mhz 1.35v?

 

Well you are right, currently the motherboard memory appears to be only 1066mhz so any new faster 1600mhz So-dim will only run at 1066 in this laptop
It is compatible with both 1.5volt DDR3 or 1.35 volt DDR3L So-Dim 204 pin sticks up to 1600mhz so it's just a question of price.

I have no idea why they didn't use the faster memory on the motherboard unless it was to be compatible with older CPU's but all Amd A4/A6 mobile apus should support 1600mhz.
It appears that the design is more for power saving / low heat than for performance but in future all small amd laptops should be able to run the faster memory without problem.

All I know is that mine came supplied with a Kingston 2GB module in the single m/b slot and it was not being used as the bios hardware reserved it for no reason!
The best upgrade would be to change the 2 gb stick for a 4gb one, giving 6gb total which is more than sufficient for most multi-tasks (10gb is over the top imo).

The only other gripe or bug I now have is having to put the laptop to sleep and wake it up to lock the 1.4 core speed, in all other respects it works fine.

 

Hi, could you explain this comment, please. I've seen it mentioned before, but frankly don't quite understand what the point of this is (something to do with fixing the laptop onto its most powerful setting??). Also, assuming this process is important, can you explain (in simple language!) what the exact steps are? And do you need to do it just once, or every time you use the laptop?

many thanks!

 

OK I'll give it a try:

So for example to run benchmarks, battlefield 4 or a demanding Xbox game on this laptop you want to fix or lock your A6-1450 core to the max 1.4 GHZ or you will be lagging with frame rates and those essential cycles that make it feel very nippy.
The only way to do it within windows 8.1 is a trick, shut down using the sleep option (orange led below display will slowly flash) and then wake it up by tapping any key, this appears to lock the cpu to 1.4mhz but there are some apps that can unlock it like 3dmark so it's best to keep an eye on it by running a free monitoring app like Cpuid CPU-Z.
As I have only got the quad apu I'm not sure how the A4-1250 (122p) or newer budget E1-2100 (V5 123) -lower spec than 122- dual core versions are effected but for normal browser - e-mail- or Microsoft word use the difference is only small.

As already mentioned Acer appear to be releasing a new model almost every month, they all look externally the same so check before you buy - some stores are discounting the older versions, the quad core 6gb 122p is still the best in my opinion with up to 100$ premium, it is now faster at browsing and playing videos than my A10 5800k win 7 desktop so it's often being used for convenience instead.

 

Hi,

Please elaborate on the CPU power issue; are you certain that it still exists, even when using the lastest Catalyst driver? I have noticed that Task Manager reports the Maximum Frequency as 1.00 GHz, but the Current Freqency as around 1.4 GHz. I have set the option to "lock" the CPU at 1000 MHz in Catalyst Control Panel when plugged in.

 

I have a Aspire V5-122P-0889 notebook and my daughters spilled coke on the keyboard. I took the notebook apart believing I could take the keyboard out to clean it, but I can't see where I can take the keyboard out. The motherboard is connected to the keyboard and it looks like there were plastic pegs melted to the keyboard and motherboard housing to keep you from removing it from the notebook. Has anyone tried to remove the keyboard from this notebook and could you tell me how I can remove it?
Thanks,
Mary

 

I "accidentally" upgraded the bios with the 2.09 official version... I didn't realise that I had 2.10!!! now my wifi isn't working, it is installed but I cannot enable it since it is greyed out... does someone have the 2.10 version of the bios? or do you know which version make the wifi working with win 8.1? thanks!

 

Yes it's not possible to lock the quad core at max 1.4ghz using the catalyst control, mine is set up the same as yours but after re-booting with the power plugged in it still throttles back.
There is sometimes an option in the bios to disable all throttling back but not so with the 122p so we have to do the sleep/wake up trick which is a little annoying but better than nothing. Acer might fix it in a later bios.

 

FYI Acer support was very helpful, they sent the BIOS v2.10 to me, since it was already on my machine. The problem was solved!!! Thank God, I couldn´t be happier! They also sent me the release note

1. Update AMD PI reference code to 1.0.0.9
2. Add 2 connectors wifi+BT modules support
3. Fix Network is disabled in SCU but still can boot from LAN under legacy mode.

If you want it I can send it to you but at your own risk!

 

I have the same problem, can you sent me the 2,10 bios file?
Thanks

 

I have uploaded the file here: http://www.filedropper.com/sobi0210