Gateway P7811 FX (possible) Freeze Fix

w00t!

I just got a p7811 off ebay and have been really pleased with its performance. Unfortunately, it suffers from the hard freeze problem where it would randomly freeze anytime--from minutes after a cold boot to an hour or so of use. The freeze would lock the mouse, any playing sounds would loop (about 0.5 second loop), the keyboard became unresponsive (num lock, ctrl+alt+del, etc.), and the only solution was a hard shutdown via the power button.

Well, I've been pouring over forums like crazy and there's a great deal of talk about drivers, dust removal, and such but none of that solved my problem. A few posts mentioned using eventvwr.msc to diagnose issues. I used this tool and found one common error each time a crash occurred. "The Ethernet device suddenly disappeared without notifying the system" (or something along those lines). Quite simply, I went into the device manager and just disabled the ethernet adapter (Marvell Yukon 88E8057 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller). Since then (2 days ago) I've had zero freezes! I can't say this is a fix for sure nor can I say it's a good solution, but it has worked thus far.

Interestingly, I checked the installed driver versus the latest available driver on Gateway's product support website and the installed driver appears to be a newer version. I found this very odd. I'm going to try to completely uninstall the driver and install the one available from Gateway and see what happens.

Other things I have done that may have culminated to stop the freezing: downloaded all windows updates, got the latest nvidia drivers from nvidia.com, altered advanced power settings (PCI Express/Link State Power Man. is now OFF on both battery and plugged in), and I did NOT install the HD audio driver that comes with the nvidia driver package but I will soon to see what happens.

Please, let the community know if this does or doesn't work for you.

Gateway P-7811 FX
P8400
4GB DDR3
Windows Vista 64bit
Nvidia driver 8.16.11.8681
Don't know the serial number (can't find one on the bottom--I bought it used--maybe it was destroyed?) but the model number is MS2252 if that helps...

 

Okay, I just got done posting links to this thread on various other threads so we can get an adequate sample to test if this works or not.

Keep your fingers crossed.

 

Dont SPAM post other threads. Its great if you have a fix for this issue, but posting it on every thread ever made is excessive.

I hope your fix works for everyone though

 

*shame

I hate to be that guy. Sorry for committing the n00bism.

 

No worries mate, it happens to the best of us at time.

Still i'm curious as to if your fix works so hopefully 7811 owners have some options.

Currently Moral Hazard has fixed the 98degree stutter/lock up with an upgraded TSZ0 code so the more ways to fix the problems the better

 

The TZS0 problem wasn't known to cause lockups. I don't think it was anyway. It was known to cause throttling. The problem you describe, dr niz, sounds like the hdd idling problem. When the hdd idles, it will turn off to save power. When it turns back on, CPU usage spikes, and it locks the computer for about .5 seconds, with the stutter just as you described. But it isn't known to freeze the entire computer. This seems like a different problem, but not one I've seen before. Thanks for posting your solutions.

 

Ah.... I thought this freeze was the popular one everyone was talking about. The threads I was reading in order to fix my laptop all seemed to suggest the similar problem (there may be others):

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=297754 (largest post)
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=292348
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=319308
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=299476
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=288453

I think it's even brought up in this website's review of the p7811:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=3963745

 

I guess you're right. I just didn't remember any of those threads. That problem must not have been one I was really very involved in.

 

10 days in a zero freezes! I'm 99.9% sure it's cured.

2 days ago I upgraded to Windows 7 Ultimate and the OS installed new drivers for the ethernet adapter and windows update automatically installed the Nvidia audio drivers. Everything is up to speed and running very smoothly.

Oddly, I had to uninstall my Intel Pro set wireless software and Zone alarm in order to install Win 7 but the OS updated the wireless software after the install.

Nice.

 

Yeah I just installed Windows 7 Ultimate as well and turned off the PCI Express\Link State Manager. I do need the ethernet port available as I link up to ports where there is no wireless available. I'll update after playing some Arkham Asylum, which by the way, plays BUTTER SMOOTH using Windows 7!!!

 

Well no change in lockups for me. Guess this fix doesn't work for everyone. Need a BIOS update for this...

 

WOW, Thanks so much. Been to Best Buy, they said overheating based on previous complaints but did not seem right to me. I went to the website and downloaded a new driver for the ethernet controller and thus far (fingers crossed) its been a week and no lockups. I was having several a day based on how much I played. This has been the only issue with my 7811 and I have had it a little over a year now. I LOVE mine, its been a great laptop and resolving this issue was a huge relive.

 

OK I downloaded the updated BIOS driver as well as Marvell Yukon ethernet controller driver 10.70.3.3 - I'm playing Arkham Asylum (Plays smooth on Ultra- High settings but freezes all the time) on a Windows 7 setup. I will update with results...

 

I have never had my p7811 freeze.. ever.. BUT i recently installed and have been playing "Aion" and im experiencing random freezes. 1 time in 7 hours, or 5 times in 20 min. freezes averything just as OP explains. =(

 

Well no luck with this fix. I believe the 7811 has a multitude of problems and there is no one fix for any issue people have. I thought an external hard drive would fix my overworked internal hard drives and as such would cool it down. But then I realized that it's not just that but also the GPU which heats up big time. I even bought a cooler thinking that would fix the problem but I don't think I bought one that would correctly hit the spot where the gpu rests on the laptop.