Acer Ethos AS8951G/AS5951G Owners Lounge

I second this. Also, how many discs does one need to burn to make the recovery disks, please?

 

Yeah, that's about how it goes.
Thanks for the pics, will give people more insight into replacing the memory under the keyboard.

And, are you happy with the memory boost?,
(--off course depending the use of programs/games..)
for me using Adobe CS5, Premiere Pro / Photoshop / After Effects it gives quite a boost, or when gaming, using the Intel HD graphics.

 

it needs 4 DVDs to burn

 

I'm getting a 404 error on the home theater download links. Is there another place to get the Dolby part?

 

My detachable touchpad has developed a nasty bulge or bubble on the back, so it now no longer fits into its slot. It still works, though.

Also the "pivot" on the right hand side of my screen is wobbly.

Going to have to take it in for a replacement!

Wonder what could be the cause ... surely not overheating?

Anyone else experienced this?

 

@pmbellis
Hi
THat's actually shocking how did u managed to do it?
where is bubble ???
oh dear maybe battery explode ?
no liquids been spilled on the laptop?
that's weird even on youtube guy saying that pivot is moving on the left if it's that what you mean that tube

 

Hmm you're correct, I knew they would eventually take it off line.. (as usual) and now it happened..
---if there is another place to get the Dolby Software?
I will look into that,.. and let you know if I find a place.

 

@RAY
got problem
everytime when I turn off laptop and turn back for example next day the bluetooth is messing around still is turning off and it pisses me of a bit
I am using bluetooth mouse so I need it still on
any ideas? thnx

 

When I play games or do simulations I normally take out the trackpad because it gets very hot in that loaction. I have a small aluminium block that I place there to help dissipate the heat. Its definetly the battery that swelled up. My laptop already came with the full version of the dolby. I guess they installed different stuff in germany compared to other places.

 

hmm,.. that seems strange, I know for once, that it should be able to start Bluetooth by auto. I haven't had any of those problems, but I do know that some buyers 'first' need to change some settings to get that Auto-start up actually working..

I'll look into that...

I also take out the trackpad, when gaming, cause it does get very hot underneath it. and since the trackpad is also a battery, it is wise to take it out, cause what happened to you, can happen when a battery is exposed for to long, to-much heat
----Don't manufacturers say, don't let photo/video-camera, (or any other battery-powered device) lay exposed to sun, or expose it to extended periods of heat?-- -----Exposing any batty-type of device to Heat is never really a good mix...

.....at least Acer should have checked/tested how hot it could become underneath the trackpad under heavy use
----this could become a problem overtime, causing more 5951/8951 users to end up getting failing trackpads-battery..

---------------
So your laptop already came with the full version of Dolby?... I have to blow up your bubble haha.. ..thinking in Germany they installed different stuff then in other places,... ....because well.... mine came from Germany also!

So far You are the 2nd person I know, who did get their laptop with the full Dolby Home Theater v4 Installed...

that makes me think, that Acer has corrected their mistake, and eventually the new factory installed models come with the full Dolby v4 version. (of which yours happens to be one..)

(hey?!...maybe they corrected their mistake by reading this forum-thread!! ... ha that would be nice!, thinking they actually hear us buyers.. !)

 

Does Acer CARE about their customer?! Why to CARE about customer that give 5 stars to laptop(AS8951G) have sooooo many problems?!!!
1.poor Quality Screen 2. Trackpad problem 3. bluetooth problem 4. heat so much that can explod trackpad battry 5. Second HDD bay is without adapter 6.problem with Turbo Boost and....!!!! BUT Nice design

 

Hi RAY
I just noticed that Rapid storage shows that this laptop has one more SATA port
It says it is EXTERNAL port so it is eSATA on left side of laptop ?
THnx

Hi
So what acer said to you? they wont replace it?
what's with touchpad? and
Bluetooth second HDD without adapter? what do you mean? even turbo bost problem?

 

Yes, there's an eSATA port on the left side, in front of the (blue) USB3 port. I use it all the time.

 

Yep that's the one.

wow,.. so your laptop has all those problems?

1: Poor quality screen (Depends with each person, on what they're high-standards are for a ' Good' screen.)

2: Trackpad is fine with me, (sure it is a bit over sensitive.. but works fine with me..)

3: Bluetooth problem? (...as to in what way?)

4: Heat underneath trackpad isn't very nice I agree, ....but we all should at least be smart enough to take it out when doing some intensive gaming/multitasking.. Could it explode?... It's only been said the battery swelled up.... or did yours explode?.. ...that would be ...ouch

5: no 2nd HDD bay adapter is normal in some models, but yeah it would have been nice to have it come with the laptop.. (saves us from a lot of hassle...)
--not to mention, that Acer (not the head manufacturer) seems to tell us with the 1-HDD model,... 'we can't put a 2nd HDD in it' !? which is just BS..

6: So you are one of the unlucky ones with a Turbo Boost problem a.k.a. CPU-Throttling..?
I don't know how much people are affected with it.

Yet even-though Other manufacturers do also have laptop-models with Throttling problems...., I do find it a bit sloppy, that an 18" model with 'much' space in it, has it, while notebooks with a smaller case, can have the 2630QM working just fine without CPU-throttling...
Still, I don't know if this is a wide spread problem among the 5951G/8951G


If yours does have all of the (real) problems you've mentioned, then Acer should, at least give you the option for a replacement...
Even if its a ...Nice design! haha!

 

yes are you still using it? what speed uh have through that port?
thnx

 

I'm using it with a 2 gb fantom greendrive, I haven't clocked it but it seems speeds are pretty much the same as with the internal hard drives.

 

How did I manage to do that? err ... I was using my laptop as per normal! ... I bought a high-end laptop because I have have high-end needs ... surely that's a given, or does Acer only epexct us to use 5% of the CPU power?

The "bubble" is on the back of the trackpad, and no, no liquids or any such thing ... the trackpad still works.

 

I use the same external and sometimes if I change the file order it takes awhile but thats the drive and drive size and not the transfer rate. It has to do an index.

 

Some laptops can have CPU-throttling?,... ' a little bit - to a bit more' but yours....., 'epexct us to use 5% of the CPU power?'
---that sounds like its A LOT worse!!
---So how much CPU-Throttling do you have?
(can you give us some CineBench R10 / R11.5 run numbers...?)

About your trackpad,....that bubble could be meaning, you've got a defective one,... (even-though the heat normally isn't that good for any battery anyways...)
-----In the beginning I've used mine for some extended hours, (a few weeks long), with the heat building up underneath it, ...until I actually noticed it.. (luckily mine didn't had any bubble on it..


--For how long (hours..after each-other) did your trackpad got exposed to the heat underneath, before you started to notice the bubble?...

 

Hello GUYS !!!
Hello @RAY24

So I made it !!
I have replaced the Processor
Now in my Ethos running Intel Core i7 2820QM

 

Nice!, Very Nice!..
Guess you've been working some late hours

Did you run into any problems? (did it all fit .. re/pasting CPU sink.. etc )
and what about replacing the fan?, if replaced also, .. where did you replace it with?

But ....the biggest question (eventually) is...... how does it runn??
Can you (if you're ready to do so´) run some 'tasty!' Benchmarks for us,.....
so we can all go like WOW!!! ...or---- (i wish i could get that setup tooooo!!) haha!!

 

@RAY24
Hi
Yes , What I can do is show you some pictures for now and then I will show some benchmarks
I must say that I had to take apart WHOLE laptop!
And it's almost same disassembling as 8950 Ethos.
It's not like other laptops that you remove bottom cover .. Here is everything from top ,from keyboard to plastic chasis under to motherboard
Here are some pics :

 

Thanks for the pics,.. (looking forward to your test/Benchmark results..!)

wow, you truly are right saying you took the WHOLE laptop appart .. man!
--I guess there went some many hours of work in it..
looking at the pictures the disassembling does look to be a lot like the 8950G..
But as far as re-assembling, everything went okay then?
no ran into problems?..

 

Wow, I knew the Kingston PnP 1866, worked already very Nice with the 2630QM, but with the 2820QM, ...VERY NICE!! sure gives some extra speed.

 

Nope it doesn't... and yes, Its reception (outside of the house) isn't very good either.
That's why some people,.. (like myself) have replaced it with another one.


I'm not sure if the wifi card also has the Bluetooth on it,... (maybe you know?) if so, you'll need to get one that has Bluetooth on it as well...

(just to be sure I didn't lose Bluetooth connection..)
I put in the -- Intel® Centrino Advanced-N 6230, --with Bluetooth on it..
It has a much better reception!

If you can figure out if the Bluetooth is separate on the 8951G, then you could even go with the -- Intel® Centrino® Ultimate-N 6300

(if Bluetooth is separate?,... I might go for the Ultimate-N 6300 as well..)

 

Hi Friends!I like to know if have any sequense to instal drivers after clean windows install?

 

Hi,

I have just gotten my 8951g with two 750g hdd. As mentioned, I am thinking to replace the 1st hdd by a 120g SSD. Would like to seek for advice on how I can clone the data from the original hdd to this SSD and how I should arrange the data? E.g. Should I put THE Program files folder or my personal folder to the 2nd HDD?

In addition, I am thinking to create VM of Mac OSX lion by using VMWARE or Virtualbox. Anyone did it before? And how can I enable the VT-x? Thanks.

 

@ RAY24

Hey can you please upload that Dolby Home Theather v4 Setup somewhere? I have searched the web up and down and I couldn't find it anywhere.

Please ?

 

Any way to make the scroll works on the trackpad?

 

As iEthos suggested, you could try Acronis True Image, or many other options.. Even Win 7 provides a Cloning option.. --I've tested both, Acronis, and Win 7.. both work fine without problems.. What cloning software is the best depends on different things.

You can put the Program files folder onto a 2nd HDD, but you should only do so, if you're planning to re-install all of your software accordingly..
(unless you mean putting a copy of that folder onto the 2nd HDD.)

Moving the Program files folder (with installed software) from the C drive, to a 2nd HDD, will for sure cause many problems.

--again You don't want to do so... unless re-installing all the software (or just wanting to move a Copy of the Program files folder)


--About running OSX viritually on The Windows machine VMWARE and Virtualbox, both support running OSX.

All you need to check, is which one works best for you.
(I use Virtualbox)

Hey Vipeout,... sorry man, I almost forgot about your request!... I did look for the Dolby software..

Here is a working link!!

dolby_htv4_7270004_64.zip

 

I dont know if by some miracle we are suposed to know, but the dolby home theater v4 come packed with audio driver available at: Here


And it is also in the driver/app dvd (if you burn it).

Its a folder named PCEE4, if you open the dvd, its at:

"DRV\Realtek Audio Coded ALC669X\PCEE4"

 

Thanks Ray, that was very fast but in the meantime I have found it myself. But my Setup file is over 200mb? Anyways it works, have got full DHT here...
For reference: Dolby Home Theater v4 (Complete version) - nsane.forums


@ WarpOs: Is it also the full package or jusr the pre-installed one (with only 3 modes to select)

 

iEthos, Ray24,

Thanks a lot for your advice.

 

@ Vipeout; Ha.. I see I wasn't fast enough then! ,.. well the link you used are the Dolby Drivers, + The Dolby Software,
(the software is actually the only thing you needed since the Dolby Drivers itself, should already be Pre-installed on your Acer 8951G..)

--at one point In my install instructions, when installing the dolby drivers...you don't actually install the Dolby drivers,.. (forgot to tell that! ) the install exe, just placed/re-set them as Main audio-drivers, ..and installed the FULL Dolby-Software,..

So... simply said;
The problem we got on the Acer 8951G, was ,...we did had the Dolby drivers installed,.. but not the full Software to tweak the sound..

So the reason why your setup file is over 200mb, is simple.. It includes the Dolby Drivers..

Their install instructions are almost the same as my instructions, with the exception, that mine is actually for those (like us 8951G owners) who already have the Dolby 'drivers' pre-installed,..
whilst their install instructions are actually for those who don't have the Dolby drivers installed.. meaning a +200mb install file.


Also in my install instructions, (followed step by step) You don't have any problems with a Digital audio output..

Their install instructions are not really complete..., cause if you've got a digital audio-output problem, you need to updating the digital output device's driver MANUALLY in Device Manager

They make it a bit more difficult than it should, being that their install instructions aren't Complete...... cause (like in my instructions, and as should with theirs...) the Dolby drivers when installed just need some extra original audio-drivers... when installing those, The Dolby drivers are still there, even if you install some new audio drivers 'beside' them (solving the Digital audio-output problem)
--those extra original drivers only are there for your hardware..


Anyways,... (I talk to much ) how did your install go?,.. did your digital audio-Output work, or did you need to do the device's driver manually also?

How does the software look in the package you installed? --can you provide some screen-shots?

My instructions include using the Realteck Drivers..
so how the package you've installed, has the 'stand-alone Dolby Drivers ..right?

What do your Win audio preference-options say? (speakers..) if you open it, how do your speaker Properties look? ( Custom-Levels-Enhancements-Dolby-Advanced)
Like ..Under levels, can you / or not change the audio level for each speaker?..

 

@iEthos
Yes that's correct,.. only you've still got the full Dolby Drivers,.. yet not the Full Dolby Software.

 

Looks like it has been removed now also! DAMN! I can't get this damn thing happening. I tried some lenovo forums and downloaded their version of the dolby software but it didn't install because I wasn't using a lenovo

now downloading from WarpOs's link from the US Acer site but it isn't 150m and it doesn't mention any dolby comments in the link so here goes nothing!

 

Hey! have you tried my download link? on page 29.

Then If you follow the instructions I did on page 8,... you'll be up and running with the FULL Dolby Home Theater v4 also.

 

Downloading it now. However, now I have just installed the (supposed dolby/realtek) update from the Acer US site.

I don't know if it worked, I can't see any dobly software installed...

Sorry I didn't trust your other link I just thought the file size was meant to be around 200meg thats all.

Should I go ahead and uninstall my realtek drivers again before loading your new installer?
**edit**

My bad I realize you said that already. Cheers ill let you know how it goes.

 

The Acer Audio Drivers update, just involves updating the drivers,.. no software change..
When following my drivers instructions, don't forget you still need also some new Realtek drivers to install afterwards from the link I provided on The install instructions

--Follow the instructions I made step-by-step and You should be fine

 

@Ray24

Ok finally used your Dolby Theatre v4 link from page 29 after uninstalling Realtek.

Reinstalled latest realtek and all seems awesome. I can't wait to bust out a really loud blockbuster on the stereo to check it out.

Thanks very much!

 

I would also like to note that I got my Acer Aspire 5951g from Taipei, Taiwan for 1,253.90 USD

Hope this helps anyone living near there to grab one of these beautiful machines.

 

Well, actually the only thing I did use from that bigger package is the same file you provided (forgot the name ).
I uninstalled the realtek driver, then ran the DHT Setup and the finally installed the newest Realtek drivers for the soundcard.
My audio preference-options look exactly the same like yours, and I can adjust the levels for each speaker.
Since I didn't use the other files in the 200mb+ Package, I guess we have the exact same thing now.

 

Hey guys!!

Amazing work on the refit of the CPU! Would really like to do that in the future. Did you have to do any soldering? Have any of you had any problems with the fingerprint scanner? It keeps firing randomnly without my hand being even close!

 

Sorry my fingerprint scanner is working perfectly...

Does anyone know how to set user and pass for online bank logins etc.
Thinking maybe a different login for each finger?

 

Did you try to update Drivers for the Scanner?
I wonder if you can switch out the GPU.

 

Hi Ray24,

I've tried to use win 7 to clone my HDD TO SSD, bit in vain. I am not sure if it is due to the different size of MY HDD and SSD. Would you please advise if there is any special step when you clone yours using window 7 backup program? Thanks.

 

Hey Testhanstest, I'll have to look into that, but one thing I know, you're right about it having to do with the difference in your original HDD and the SSD you want to clone to.
I'll have to check if Cloning through Win 7 backup, gives you ways to work around your HDD/SSD size difference..

Hey iEthos, ..thats correct. The one from the Acer website is indeed the Dolby drivers Mixed with the Realtek, but... (just like the update) they don't include the Dolby software, a.k.a. 'profile creator'

We (as you probably also) have installed the Dolby Profile Creator (a.k.a. the FULL Dolby software) from a separate place...

The Acer 'update' is just an update to the Audio-drivers,.. so Yes, its just like you said, there doesn't change anything...software-wise.. for us already having the FULL dolby Software..

As in Vipeout's situation,... he didn't have the FULL Dolby Software (Profile-creator) yet..
And he, when installing,didn't use the one from the Acer website...
but rather a download from the link provided on - nsane.forums
--That's the one that does/did provide the FULL software..
---So His' Dolby Installation .. did change to FULL..

For us and everyone else already having the FULL Dolby software, nothing will change with Acers Update, except an update to the Audio-card drivers...

 

and ..Wow?!--- So Acer Finally' did Update the software!... (adding the Profiler)


Their first driver on their website, didn't had the Profiler in it... (i installed it a few times back then -hoping- it would give me the full Dolby software... which it didn't) so I know' their first driver did Not have the Profiler in it...

With this new Acer' audio-driver update, At first I thought they still didn't had it... (tried it... but probably not correct then )

Seeing your picture (with the Acer LOGO/text) forces me to re-wright my comment on their Driver update....

So again (forgive me for asking... Need to clear things up in my mind. ..)
when/where? did you- got the FULL dolby software, (a.k.a. Dolby-profiler)?
--the one you say you already had -'before'- installing the Acer update...
Or did I understand it correctly, that you also (like some others) got it from the start on your 8951G ?.. --in that case you got very lucky

 

My 5951G came like that already, including the profiler.

 

Since about a month ago, I started to hear of people, just like you who did got their 5951G or 8951G with the profiler already pre-installed on it.

Acer didn't do that originally from the start...
It was only at a later stage they decided to do so, thats why there are FIRST-buyers who didn't had the Profiler on their laptop, (like me) and had to find/install it themselves..

--You can count yourself as one of the lucky ones! who already had it!