Acer Travelmate 8200 random restart.

Hey guys,

Recently, my laptop started restart randomly. It doesn't safely restart, it just restarts like I pressed a reset button. This only happens when I'm doing something on it, i.e. surfing the internet, messenger, etc. If I just leave it, it will not restart. I thought this would be a software problem, but I formatted my computer, and i still have the same problem.

Any ideas? I searched around, but couldn't find anything

Thanks

 

Have you tried cleaning the vents and making sure it's not getting too hot?

 

All the vents are fairly clean. I think it may be a hardware issue, but i'm not sure if i want to send it back to Acer cause my warranty is over.

 

My 8210 was having the same problem. A while after that, my graphics card broke down. While your desktop loads when you start windows, do you heard some "dong dong dong" sound (as in having some warning when windows run into a problem)? Check your system events log and see if there's any problems there.

You can get a free copy of BurnIn Test from Passmark. Use it to check your system. Acer uses that to diagnose their laptops.

 

hmm, i don't get any noises when i start windows. I tried the burnin test, but it says everything is okay.

 

Did you check the system events log to see if there are any errors?

What did you check for in the burnin test? Did you do a stress test? (ie. move the slider to 100)

Try singling out when it starts restarting. Since you tried the burnin test, I assume that it didn't restart your comp.

Did it restart you after your fresh format when you try to "do" things? Or was it after you install your softwares of choice?

 

Hello, I experience the exact same problems with my Acer 8204 laptop. I've yet to find a resolution however have made some progress narrowing down the problem.

There are a few possible sources for this problem, the battery, ram, power supply (charging unit), operating system, motherboard and hard disk. I know I know it sounds like nearly everything could contribute to the problem but I think these are the major ones.

To begin, I checked to see if the OS was at fault (possible driver conflicts or anything) and to do so I simply clean installed the system with Windows XP Professional & ServicePack2 and let it run but my laptop still restarted randomly. I also have Ubuntu dual boot but again, I get the same problem using ubuntu so I figured it was definately not a software related issue. I then checked if it could be one of the ram modules (2GB of ram via 2x1GB sticks) so I took one out and see if it gave me the same problem, which it did, and then put the other one in which I took out in place and I still got the same problem. I also tried putting in a stick of ram from a different laptop I had in the house but it turns out it was not the ram.
I then checked to see if it was the hard disk by using another laptop hard disk but again, this was not the issue.

[To test the ram, I also ran MemTest86+ for about 12hours]

Since I use this laptop for university, meaning the constant charge & discharge of the battery puts it through a lot of wear, I used a program to check the wear on my battery which I found to be at a pretty awful state; 80% of wear --at 80% charge I only get about 35mins of battery. With ubuntu you can see a lot of battery related information which I don't think is available in any Windows OS to date, at least without 3rd party software. To see if the battery was at fault, I ran my laptop without the battery (a direct A/C connection only). The battery was not at fault and since I could run the laptop without the A/C adapter connected and still get the same error, it was not the adapter's fault either.

This laptop is 2.25years old for the record and has been used heavily.

So till now, I believe the problem originates from the Motherboard,
if anyone has found a different origin of the problem or have any means of fixing the issue please let me know!

Hope my input helps out somehow,

thanks
-Kobhi.

-->I realize I did not mention anything about the graphics card being a contributor. I'm not sure how to test it but I think its worth mentioning that after I clean installed Windows XP Pro, I tested the system running without any drivers installed and also in safemode and still experienced the same issue.

 

Just to be sure, your laptop isn't overheating right?

 

Yep, it's definately not a heat issue. I did make sure of that.

Should I send my laptop for repairs?

 

I would say so. If it's not being caused by software, it's probably safer to send in for repair. Do backup your data though, the repair depot has a tendency to reformat.

 

Repair center guys sometimes format and clean install OS + Drivers or do a factory restore and send it back to the consumer. It happens all the time, some of them I guess do not have the propr knowledge base to pinpoint a problem and seek a speific solution or they are just lazy. It's often the case that following a clean install or factory restore; the computer will seem fine until of course you go back to your routine tasks and end up getting the problem again.

--There are some reasons for which the problem doesn't strike again immediately after the clean install/factory restore but I won't get into all that lest someone's interest--

The funny part is, even the repair center guys fall for it themselves sometimes, following a clean install; they do indeed test the system if the issue you sent it in for has gone and of course it'll appear as though it has and they would think so too but they obviously won't be able to evaluate the product through all your routine tasks whereas the issue really will arise.

The problem with my laptop is most likely to be the motherboard, I was wondering if anyone knew how much it'd cost to replace the motherboard?

Thanks,

--Kobhi

 

Hello there,

Is there any news with your problems? Over the last couple of days, my 8204 has begun to misbehave. It randomly crashes in vista, at the safe mode selection screen, and linux as well. I have tested the memory extensively with memtest and the whole system with BurnInTest, both while powered on the battery and the mains without being able to pinpoint the problem. I contacted Acer support this morning, so hopefully they might be able to shed some light on the issue... Has anyone managed to get to the bottom of this?

 

I came on here today to look if there was any mention of this problem and lo and behold here it is.

I have had this problem 3 times within a year on my 8210. It has had 2 motherboard replacements and is about to go back again. The previous two times it has worked for a couple of months (of light use) before happening again.

It does the multiple 'dings' when the desktop opens - I didn't realise this was a symptom until I read it above.

Clearly there is a design fault in this laptop, there is no way it could have the motherboard replaced twice only for the same fault to occur again. I should add this laptop is the biggest pice of junk I have ever come across, definitely not what I would expect for the price. Personally I would never touch an acer laptop again.

What I have noticed is that if pressure is applied along the left side of the case(ie picking up while griping left side only), the laptop will turn off, and if pressure is applied to the case to the left of the mouse pad(finger press), it resets.

So standard fix for this by Acer is to replace the motherboard, as to whoever asked about the cost, I suspect unless you are under warranty it is not going to be worth it.

 

Hey,

I am aware this thread is over a month old but I just came accross this discussion after searching through google.

I am an owner of an Acer 8204. Currently two years old thus out of warrenty. My issue is that the laptop would randomly restart itself when I used the keyboard (no particular key) over a random period of time. It has also restarted itself when I've used the bluetooth/wireless lan switches (would not always restart) and even when I hit the "e" button once (near the power button). Because of this I have elminated the possibiity of it being a short on the keyboard as the switches and "e" button lie on a different board. As previously tested by other posters, it occurs when both my primary and secondary (media bay) battery are out, and when they are in and AC is unplugged thus is not a battery problem. I have run memtest86 for an entire night via bootable cd with no errors thus have eliminated the ram issue. I have already opened up the laptop (I have the 100+ page service manual for my laptop) and could not find any problems or loose wires. I have performed a complete system restore via the factory recovery and the issues still continue. I have actually performed a BIOS flash with the latest BIOS from Acer (released in 2006) because some how it got corrupted and stopped me from booting off of cds. That eliminates the BIOS and kind of eliminates the hard drive.

This leads me to believe it is either the Graphics Card, Power Board or the Main Board. As it is unlikely to be the graphics card (ATI x1600) as nothing has gone wrong with the display, I have removed that as one of the possible problems.

When I contacted Acer to ask about replacement parts, they told me they don't sell motherboards to out of warrenty notebook owners and that I should contact their 3rd party distributor.

Grand Tech
www.grandtech.ca
1-800-567-0586

I just got off of the phone with Grand Tech and I asked him about the main board for my laptop. He looked on the system and told me the motherboard for this laptop is "out of stock" (Acer inventory as they would order directly form Acer) and he estimated the cost of the motherboard itself would be around $300-$379 (CDN). They offer a flat fee of $125 to check and diagnose my laptop within 48 hours of dropping it off. In terms of getting it checked I will probably persue that but if the motherboard is actually $300+ dollars, I will probably just buy a new laptop and turn this one into a server.

Off Topic: I used to hear a buzzing noise when I used headphones or plugged in external speakers, whenever I used the keyboard. This went away when I updated to the very latest Realtek Audio Drivers offered on their site.

Personally I found the fact that I would have had to pay $3/minute to talk to their service department beacuse I was out of warrenty a complete JOKE. No I did not actually talk to them as my experience in the past with any service department has been that they don't know anything and are just reading from scripts.

I will update this if I do pursue the Grand Tech support. Sorry if I killed your day by having to read this long post.

 

Since making the post above, I received my laptop back, and it would not even boot up. They had left it booting off an external drive but changing it back to c:\ it still would not get past the windows startup screen.

So I sent it back and they replaced the motherboard AGAIN (4th one), the case surrounding the keyboard, bottom case, hard drive, plus several other parts I can't remember off the top of head. Essentially over the last 2 or 3 times it hqas been in they have replaced they entire laptop except the keyboard, screen and top casing. It has been in for warranty repair 5 or 6 times, I have lost count.

It's getting little use but somehow I don't think it will be too long before it dies again, and it is now out of warranty.

acer = junk

 

Hey,

I have the exact same problem as battleghost with my acer8204. The only work around till now is to use an external USB keyboard so that i'm not pressing any of the keys on the laptop's keyboard. Whenever i'm using an external usb keyboard the laptop never restarts on its own. I've been having this problem for many months now. My laptop is out of warranty and would cost me over $250 to fix i'd assume.

If you have a solution give me a shout please & ty!!

-kobhi

 

Unfortunately what I ended up doing was swapping for a new motherboard. It cost me about $450 after tax through Acer. The reason it is so expensive is don't forget you're also re-buying the graphics card as it is apart of the motherboard. You can get a local shop to install it for you, or if you're tech savvy, I have the service manual for this laptop which will tell you step by step (with pictures) how to dis-assemble the laptop.

I haven't extensively used it, but it has yet to restart on me since I've replaced the motherboard.

Just to emphasive though, the only reason I suspected the motherboard was through a process of elimination. I determined all of the other parts were working perfectly thus it lead me to the mobo. I found no actual proof it was the motherboard as I have no ways to test the motherboard.

As I paid about $2700 when the laptop first came out, I felt it was a waste to just scrap the laptop especially since I had just bought the media bay battery. I guess the cheapest solution would be to buy a portable usb keyboard and use that instead of the onboard, or even a bluetooth keybaord.