At end of my Acer 8920G rope

Hey guys,

About 5 days ago I collected my Acer 8920G. On what I thought was going to be the start of a beautiful friendship. Sadly, after 30 minutes it froze.

So I uninstalled the Virus Scanner, removed aero, etc like any good self respecting Techie would. It's fine for 4 hours... then it freezes...

I try and desperately work out the problem, but I can't ever get into the task manager (Failure - Security Options) as this error comes up over and over.

I get the bright idea to just have the task manager running ready for the next freeze... it seems like this process "dgaudio" is using the whole CPU and causing the freezes...

But now I'm not so sure, the freezes are getting faster and faster... now every 20 min and driving me bonkers. I've basically asked to send it back and a courier is coming to get it in 2 days unless anyone has any idea what I can try to get this thing running. I really like the laptop... but this problem is an absolute deal breaker.

It even froze when I clicked to register here >_<

I am not a happy bunny.

 

probably related to some of the crapware they put on it. Format it and put a fresh copy of just Windows only on it, problem solved

 

I don't have a clean copy of Vista, only the copy that came with the laptop.

I do have XP, but I don't want to basically kiss goodbye to half the laptops features due to a driver nightmare.

Personnally, I think the issue may be heat or some sort of driver problem.

Just fed up with the stupid thing >_<

Edit: It even crashed in safe mode, it's gotta be the hardware. Surely.

 

At that point, it sounds like it.
Audiodg.exe is part of Windows Vista's audio system - if the process is ended, the system crashes.

And as long as you have your OEM Vista key on the bottom of your system, couldn't you use the Vista Anytime Upgrade disc to perform a clean install?

 

It would be good to check the hardware out.

Do you have access to a CD/DVD burner on another machine?

If you go to http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ , you should be able to download an iso file which you can burn to CD and use as a boot disc to stress test your basic hardware.

The utilities that will be loaded and run under linux can test your memory, processor and disc and perform intense load testing on the basic components.

Good luck .

 

I'll give this a try before I ship the nightmare in a box back to Dabs. At least if anything it'll prove there is a problem and thus I have something to throw at dabs should they say theres nothing wrong with this brick.

 

Its always handy to have around for the next time when you (or someone you know ) says that their computer keeps crashing as its very quick to check out the basics. You usually find that its Windows causing the problem of course .

I've found Dabs to be excellent on returns, their online return system is very slick and pain free as you book a collection online.

If the laptop is faulty they pay for the shipping, if you want to return an item under the distance selling regs (no quibbles) you pay for the shipping.

 

i'll be buying this laptop very soon, i'm gonna have to cross my fingers and hope i don't get a faulty unit

 

Run! Run while you still can!

 

i can't really find another laptop that will do even that much in gaming for that price

 

Can i ask how old is this self respecting Techie ?


LKR123 Go for it .
I just got, one two years old laptop , and still blows the dust well .
Also , not all people use their laptops properly .

Plus ... get a nice little cooling base with fans on it , USB powered .
Help it, to help you ... this is the golden rule.

 

Same here, I thought it was a great price for the features. Especially with bluray, 17'', 4GB ram all thrown in.

I really don't want to have to find another laptop, but, I don't know if I really can trust acer to not deliver me another failure in a box

Edit:
I'm 23 .
Have myself an Honours Degree in computer games technology. Currently work as an OMC techie and as the manager of two online games ( www.mech.vg and www.konoblemen.net).

 

i've had no problems with my unit maybe im one of the lucky ones?

 

Well... I ran most of the tests I could find, they all checked out ok.

I factory defaulted the laptop again (for the 3rd time) just to kill time until I send it back. It's been 3 hours and I've not had a crash yet.

That said, it did sometimes go for 3-4 hours before without crashing... since I could never really work out what the problem was in the first place... I now find myself wondering:

1) I've organised to send it back the day after tomorrow... so if it doesn't crash tomorrow do I keep it?
2) If I keep it, then it starts crashing all over again... dabs are not going to like that.
3) What if I send it back, now having (somehow) fixed it and then moan at me for sending it back without a fault?

People wonder why I stick to desktops >_>.

Going to see what tomorrow brings, but this just gets weirder and weirder.

 

Nothing seems to be wrong with the base components, which was always unlikely unless your stress testing had revealed a load/temperature related problem which had slipped through QA.

It must be some more subtle interaction between non base components and the OS.

In testing and trying to make it work you have already gone far beyond what any user (including all of us on the forum) should need to do on a brand new machine. Will you ever really trust it again, eg on a 2 week trip where you must rely on it?

The return sounds like a good option.

 

I spoke too soon anyway, it crashed again last night.

It's going back, prehaps they can work out what the problem is, because for the first time ever I'm stumped. I would still, in my gut, think the problem was heat, but prehaps something is overheating that doesn't overheat during stress tests but does during full-on gaming (a combination of HD, CPU + RAM being all stressed at once? Resistance being increased in a cable somewhere?) and/or just using it generally. Thats my guess as someone whos done desktop support.

You are totally correct through, it's a new machine and I've had enough .

Back it goes ^^;

 

Hi !

I have the same problem as yours with my brand new acer aspire 8920g.

It rarely freezes when i am websurfing or listening to music but that happens (about 1 freeze every 5 hours, so it's not grave) but the big problem is that when i (try to) play games, about 10 minutes after lauching games it freezes for few seconds and after game runs very slow.

I tried many things such as updating/downgrading driver of my GPU, downclocking my video card, trying several tricks in registery, disabling devices to see if it's a conflict hardware problem and so on ... but nothing changes .

I don't even know if it's a hardware or a software problem but i am getting mad with that. I think i am gonna sent it back to ACER support but before i do can you just tell me (when ure gonna have it back from support) if problem is fixed and if yes what was the problem . Because maybe problem comes from vista or conflict with this video card and i don't wanna pay acer support if they don't find any hardware problem !

Thanks for reading me and good luck (excuse my english mistakes i am french ...)

 

I got Aspire 8920 at work It seem be great little machine

have you try update bios and runing good memory checking program one i got does,nt seem to freezeing at all

 

Hi guys, there is a fix for the audiodg problem, I found it after a hell of a lot of web browsing.

I have the aspire 6920g and have also encountered this problem, though my system never completely froze but it mayaswell have done! I could be playing a game from a random amount of time 5-30 mins the game would be working fine getting from 30-70 fps, then all of a sudden BOOM fps drops from that to about 3-7 fps and would therefore render the game unplayable untill I reboot the system.

Anyway give this fix a go, whille its not completely ideal it should sholve your issues.

*go to start menu then search for msconfig
*click then go to the start up tab
*un tick any sound related programs from the list....realtek or other
*reboot
*move arow over the speaker icon in the tray then right click then go to playback devices
* click speakers then move to the advanced tab and uncheck both of the exclusive mode options then go to the enhancements tab and tick the box that says dissable all sound effects also if you have a dolby tab un check the boxes in there too, then aply the changes (btw by doing this mysellf I realy have'nt noticed any difference in sound quality)
*then in the sound window move to the recording tab, this is the bit that you realy wont like, right click microphone and dissable and then apply the changes.
*reboot again, then your done.

Now when you go to task manager then show proccesses for all users, the audiodg procces will not be taking up ANY usage.

Like I said it not completely ideal, but it works for me and I hope this will help others to. give it a go and let me know if it works for you.

Regards
Baz

 

thanks for your tip DaRush, it seems i have the same problem as yours, i 'll try your tip asap i get home, hope this will work for me too !

 

No problem mate, I hope it works for you too. Its a nightmare of a problem to have!

 

I didn't have time to really play but i tried yesterday demo of PURE and i was able to play 20 minutes without any freeze or fps drop.

I hope that works ! But i can't conclude now cuz sometimes fps drop came after 30 minutes, sometimes after 5 minutes, doesn't seems to have a logic in this ...

Anyway tonight i am gonna play for 1 hour to be sure problem is fixed, i'll keep in touch ...

EDIT : i was able to play c&c 3 for 1 hour yesterday, no bug, no fps drop, i thinik now it works fine !!! Thank you so much Darush i was looking for a solution for about 3 weeks

 

Sorry to bump and old thread

Hi kanjah, im glad the ''fix'' worked for you that's great news. I hope it continues to work for you and happy gaming sir

 

Glad the problem got fixed.
Although I personally would have wiped clean the system.
Drivers for XP are relatively easy to find on the manufacturers websites so you wouldn't really lose anything.
Or simply buy a Vista DVD if you are keen on the OS and install it through that.

It's the best way of resolving numerous 'out of the box issues'.