Official M-6862 & M-6864FX owners thread

Time for Gateway to replace my mobo.

The laptop will randomly completely freeze if I insert 1GB microSD cards, or 2GB Memory Stick Pro Duo cards in. It literally fully freezes, no response form anything. I have to hold the power button down for 5 seconds for it to shutoff. Then I can't turn the laptop on for 10 minutes. If I push the power button, the power lights come on, the fan blows and the cd rom light flashes, but nothing else. The LCD screen doesn't even light up.

I hope it'll also clear up the whining in the headphone port.

btw, has anybody had Gateway replace the mobo yet? How does this work? Do you have to pay for shipping to them?
I'd rather have them ship me the mobo and instructions so I can replace it. I want to find that bluetooth port.

 

Hi gecko,

Are you sure is your mobo. Have checked your RAM sticks .... trying swapping them or even just leave one in ...

BTW, how old is your laptop now?

Good thing I bought the 3 year BB plan!

G!

 

I seriously doubt its ram. Why would memory cards be connected to ram? Also why would the computer not even reach the POST screen when I turn it back on? I thought it maybe Vista, but that shouldn't lock up the entire laptop. Nothing but the power button works when it freezes. Software wouldn't explain the inability to boot correctly.
Btw, these memory cards work perfectly fine on my other laptops.

I almost picked up the SquareTrade warrenty plan, but decided against it since the laptop was so cheap.

 

Hi Gecko,

I suggested that RAM sticks ... becuase buddy of mine hada similar problem ... the laptop would not even boot up and long and behold was Bad RAM ... I guess the laptop wouldn't even initialize due to memory deal.

I almost not get the $129.99 three year Warranty myself either since I only paid less than $430 for it out the door ... so I couldn't see myself paying for a warranty costing me 30% of my laptop price.

But talking to the Gurus on NBR they talked me into getting it for a peace of mind. So, I psyched myself that the darn laptop actually cost me $560 ... which initally did cost me that much before I pulled the $100 HSI stunt and Match Price deal.

Anyway, please post back here your outcome ... I am sure other folks here be interested in this.

G!

 

Mine is working awesome. Ran a Vista Ultimate upgrade on it and blew out that D partition and joined it to the C so I have one contiguous drive.

I wonder who does Gateway tech support nowdays.

 

anyone have the webcam drivers for vista 64bit?

 

Hey guys, a quick question: what (free) program do you recommend me to eliminate de D:\ partition? I want to join it with my C:\ partition... and Acronis Disk Director doesn't work with Vista

 

I think this is it:
support.gateway.com/support/drivers/getFile.asp?id=21674&dscr=Webcam%20Driver%20Package%20Version:%20Webcam%20Driver%206.2.218.524,%20Camera%20Assistant%201.7.049.0927&uid=212975025

 

mirinda, why not run disk management in Vista? You are using vista, right? If so, go to start..type msconfig, then tools, and choose to launch computer management. Under Disk Management right click and delete D:, then right click and extend c:

 

Thanks a lot! I'll try that and post the results

 

it ways vista(32bit) but going to try eigheter way to see results
what program do you guys use for overclocking profiles.
I have tried both rivatuner and ati tray tools but both require driver signature

 

I'm thinking it could be the RAM. Remember almost everything that has to be processed ends up in the RAM at one point or another. I mean it may just read off the card but idk. That being said if they're going to replace the MoBo because that's what they think it is, who am I to disagree right?

As far as reaching post, I'm thinking it should reach/past the POST even with bad ram, but you said after 10 minutes it does past the POST so idk. Could be either or as far as I can see.

Could definitely be the mobo or a handful of other things.

 

Ok, I could succesfully delete the D:\ partition and was able to create a new, empty partition, but if I shrink it, I can't extend C:\ to the free space... any ideas?

 

I read in another forum that the problem may be fragmentation. I'll defrag my drive and try again.

 

Do this temps seem safe?
Laptop Gateway m-6862
Running t5750 x12@ 1.0500V and ati 2600HD(500/600) at 570/700

 

The only thing I could find that worked with Vista 64 bit and got it done was Acronis Disk Director Suite 10.

 

Hi Oscar,

Your MAX Temps look just fine!

Just out of curiosity what were you running when you got those Max Temps!?!?

G!

 

I had ran 3dmark06.
They cpu temps go up to 74 when doing 3+ hours of orthos though.

 

Hi Oscar,

For 3dmarks06 ... and gaming if you are getting those Temps ... I say you are doing Great.

On Orthos ... I have NOT used it myself, but I believe supposed to really Stress the heck out of your CPU ... so!!! May be someone that has used this program will post a reply for you!

PS - Happy Halloween!

G!

 

Anybody call Gateway about the freezing problems?

I haven't yet but I might, considering how annoying it's getting to have to do a hard shutdown everytime I have the audacity to move from one room to another.

I still got my warranty to best buy to fall back on though I feel like I should be able to figure out why it's freezing.

 

Hey Justin,

Be careful ... BB folks told me they will take care of Hardware problems ... but if it is a "software" related issue then you are on oyur own ... so, I am not usre I would dual boot until you fix your "Freezing" problem ... assuming you would invoke your BB Warranty after using Gateway Tech support!

G!

 

wow sounds like you have that problem more often than not... I don't move my laptop much, but still I don't have the "freezes" as often as you.

And no, I haven't called Gateway. I'm also hoping to find out by myself before I try something else.

 

or maybe I should dual boot to see if it's a software problem or a hardware problem

 

Hi folks,

Just completed installing my Dell wireless 370 bluetooth card with the Hitachi bluetooth antenna on my Gateway M-6862.

I have few questions for the folks that have already installed this combo and got it working successfully.

Q1: When I turn on my button on the left side I get the "lighted" wireless icon on the bottom of my keypad area. Question is where is the "Bluetooth" icon??? Or there isn't any!?!?

Q2: Is there a way that Wireless can be Turned Off but leave the Bluetooth "ON"?

FYI, I tried the Fn+F6 key but I did not see any icons ... so I don't know if this function works.

I have not used the double-sided glue tape on my Antenna yet until I can make sure it is working properly.

The BT Antenna is laying in the space that is available between the Dell BT Card and the wall next to the Hard Drive enclosure.

The BT Antenna works fine ... I used my Cell Phone to locate the Dell 370 BT card ... has a great reception as long as you are in line of site and no partitions in between.

G!

 

Sorry folks ...

I have another "concern" ...

Does anyone else feel that their "Intel 4965" reception might be "WEAK"!?!? I mean this card has 3 Antennas connected to it ... I should receive some indication of Wireless around me.

My problem is my Wireless ICON stays X'ed out until I double click it and long andf behold there are 2 or 3 wireless around me with 2 to 3 bar strength. And when I double clcik on one of them I get connected.

Q1: So why do I get X'ed on my Icon!?!?

Q2: How can I verify that my Intel 4965 wireless card is not messed up?

Q3: Is there a way that I can BOOST my reception?

Thanks!

G!

 

Has anyone with the M-6864FX had any issues getting their printers to work?

I recently got the M-6864FX to replace my Gateway 7422GX which I loved but needed to get something newer to handle AVCHD video editing.

The 2 printers I had connected to my 7422GX were:

Epson Stylus Photo R280

Hewlett Packard PSC 2200 series All in one

The driver seems to install fine, no errors, for both but when I go to print, nothing happens. This was one of the main reasons (among others) I am trying to gather the necessary info to get the courage to downgrade to XP 64 bit.

Looking for advice on the printer issue or advice from someone who has successfully performed the downgrade to XP 64 bit.

Thanks,

Mike

 

Are the printers connected directly to your laptop or are they connected on another pc in your network? If it's on a network and you installed the drivers for a local installation then that may be the reason it won't print.

 

No, they are both locally connected via USB. I made sure I got the correct Vista drivers from the Epson/HP sites. Have un-installed and re-installed the drivers like 4 times before posting. The first couple times I waited to plug in the USB cable until prompted as I usually do, then the second 2 times I tried leaving it plugged in while installing drivers. In properties, it says the device is installed and working properly.

I also tried connecting both printers to my other XP machines and they worked fine which led me to believe it might be a Vista issue but still not 100% sure what is wrong.

This is really my first experience using Vista and I am not liking it very much.

 

Hmm. That's weird. I'd try getting in touch with the printer manufacturer's tech support. Definitely a driver issue though.

 

That thought crossed my mind, but then what are the odds that both companies (Epson and HP) have bad drivers? I also abandoned the thought that it was a driver issue due to the fact that it was not turning up on a google search. I figured a bad vista driver for both of these printers would arouse some attention.

 

I hear exactly what your saying. My guess is that it's actually a usb driver problem, not a printer driver problem. I'd still start by contacting the manufacturer's tech support because they should be able to narrow it down and fix it. If not, then I'd try calling Gateway tech support. Maybe a re-install of the usb drivers or just an updated driver may do the trick.

A last resort option is to do a full recovery using the Gateway Recovery Center or a complete re-install of the OS. If all of these issues don't resolve the problem then it may be a hardware issue. Based on the fact that the driver install programs seemed to recognize the printer through the USB port I don't think this is the case, but it's still possible.

Post back what you find after calling tech support...

 

I sent an email to Epson's tech support, will probably hear back from them Monday.

When I bought my M-6864FX, the guy at best buy said the operating system install disk was not included but I could create recovery disks from the recovery partition. He said they will not contain the operating system though and that I would need to send away for it, is this correct?

For example, having already created my restore disk from the recovery partition, would I be able to format the entire hard drive, fresh install XP, test it out with the printers etc... and if I am not satisfied, use the restore disk I created to put the laptop back in the state it was in out of the box? If this is possible, then why did the BB guy tell me there was no operating system on the restore disks?

 

Just got my response from Epson. It would seem that a human did not read my question and that the answer was automated. They gave me solutions for print spooler errors. I said in my question that I was receiving no errors at all, it just won't print. I did however take their advise and check my print spooler service which was running fine... Back to square one I think my best bet is to find someone who has experienced the same issue and ask how they fixed it... Maybe I am the only one

 

Has anyone run Wow on their M-6862? If so what framerates are yall getting? I have v-sync turned off and still get under 20 at max settings.

 

Hi Collin,

I can't answer your Q ... but read this Thread and see if interested in OC'ing your card ...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=3833675

Post back if with your results!

G!

 

Hi all. My first visit to this forum, glad I found it. I bought my M-6862 from BB back at the end of August for 635 US, the store demo, with full warranty. It worked perfectly for two months and then one day I suddenly started getting BSODs, but with no driver errors indicated on the blue screen. The errors occurred whenever I tried to run any program even remotely related to networking. Also, I could not get a network connection, either via wireless or lan. I did a couple of restores with no effect, as I thought the Cyberlink DVD burning program might have gone awry, but again, no effect. I actually removed the program, no effect. I ran memtest with no errors, prime95, no errors, I ran ubuntu live disk and could not get a network connection, and also ran the ultimate boot disk, and again, no network connection. I could not get a network connection when running in safemode with networking. Please note that I could not get networking on either the wireless nor the lan. So I assumed that I had a hardware problem.

I took it back to BB, talked to an informed tech who agreed that it likely was hardware. He even removed the wireless card and tried the lan, no network connection and BSOD. So he agreed to send it in and indicated a likely mobo malfunction. However, the idiots at BB repair in California replaced the wireless card, and upon picking it up in the store, within 60 seconds (I'm not kidding), I was able to BSOD again. Nothing had changed. I'mm reluctant to call techs idiots, as I'm sure they work hard, but they obviously did not test the system very well before sending it back. So BB sent it back and now I'm waiting and crossing my fingers they replace the mobo. I suspect a bad southbridge controller, as that would account for why both network adapters are not working. And I have to assume a hardware issue given that neither Vista 64, Ubuntu, nor the ultimate boot disk allowed for any kind of network connection.

Any thoughts? Anyone deal with Gateway? BB sent it to their repair shop, which is I guess Gateway certified. But if it comes back unfixed again, I'm going to push for a new system. Too bad, because I really liked it.

Thanks for any input or suggestions.

marty

 

Hi folks,

Anybody running "Vista 32-bit" on Gateway M-6862 successfully!?!? With all the gadgets working ... "Top row Audio Shortcut keys", "VideoCam", ... etc.

Thanks,

G!

 

Am I the only one who has reverted to XP? I'm having some troubles with the DVD drive now, it won't play audio CDs in any audio program, but they would in Media Player Classic one track at a time. Also, DVD audio stutters like crazy no matter what program I use, making my dvd drive useless for watching movies.

 

Ah, it would seem that is the million dollar question.

I have been wanting to dump vista and get XP on my m6864fx for a while now but have not spoken with anyone who has done it, so I am too chicken to try it for fear of experiencing the kind of issues you are now enjoying

 

Hi dihnekis ... I have seen mixed reports on running XP 32-bit, XP64, Vista 32-bit on the M-6862 laptop. It appears that the darn thing really likes to have Vista X64. Sooooo!

G!

 

Hi alex ... Have you got your laptop back yet!?!? And has it been fixed? How did they fixed it?

If not fixed and still having Crash ... take close look at the NET drivers and xxxx.sys.

G!

 

I was wondering if anyone has successfully hooked their M-6862 up to a 1080p hdtv through HDMI. I tried VGA and it works excellent, but with the HDMI cable I get a letterbox arround the immage and text looks awful. I've also tried using power strip which will make the image occupy the whole screen, using the same 1920 x 1080 resolution at 60hz...
Any ideas would be welcome, I was anxious to use this as a monitor and have sound go out digitally but it seems as though I'll be stuck with VGA.
The TV is a Samsung 500 1080p btw,
Thanks, Jack

 

I got 6862 what Anti-spyware and Anti-Virus and firewall do you guys use??..

 

Hi CompUG ... look at this Thread Below ... gives you the BEST Freeware Solution ...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=190538

I personally have the following and am happy with it ...

- Avira; Comodo Firewall Protection + Defence; MAM; SAS and Leave Windows Defender as is and update it regularly.

Hope this was some help!

G!

 

Thanks gonwk. I just got it back yesterday. BB had replaced the mobo. I'm amazed they did that, as I would think the cost of doing so would be greater than just giving me a new laptop. Anyway, it came back on Thursday, the hardware seemed fine (I was finally getting a network connection, which I couldn't get before either wireless or lan and with either Vista or Ubuntu), but Vista froze up. The tech thought that perhaps the hardware failure might have corrupted the OS, and I tended to agree, so BB agreed to reinstall the OS again for free. I could have done it, but I let them do it, without all the bloatware. Anyway, I picked it up last night and so far so good. It's running well.

I'm encouraged that others here are not reporting mobo failures. My fear was that this was a systemic problem, but hopefully mine was just a fluke. I really do like this laptop.

marty

 

i was wondering if any of you have tryed overclocking you're m-6862 and if so how high and with what tools?

 

I've just joined this forum, but it looks like there are some references and suggestions buried in here. I'm interested myself though I'm inclined to leave well enough alone given the temps that this chip jumps to when running, and at its current speed and the needs I have for it, the speed is fine. I'll probably leave ocing to the systems I build, but I am curious.

marty

 

I think most peoples problems are caused by the poor heat design of this laptop. Firs I used rm clock to undervolt then I did this which is a pain in the but it lowered my max temps after undervolting by 11 degrees celsius. First I bought some copper from lowes which turned out not to be copper after cutting it. Then I found some pennies 1980 and earlier(Newer ones are zinc/copperplate.) Strong sissors/tin snips to cut' em into the shape of the bridge and gpu, sanded with course grain then fine grain. (Reverse wrapping my finger with tape made it much easier for grip.) There is a screw under the left palm rest which I loosened because after sanding flat it was still a bit to wide, to release pressure on the chips.

 

Hi escjunkmail ... since you are such a gutsy fella ... you might even want to drill the "covers" under the laptop to get a little more "Air Circulation:.

@ alex6 ... THANKS for your post after you got your Laptop from Repair. I all along was suspecting your problem more of a "Software" problem rather than Hardware! I am glad it is working for you.

BTW, was all this work done under your "Regular" Warranty or had you bought a GeekSquad Warranty!?!?

Oh, also ... notice I always refer to you as "alex6" and not 666 ... because I don't want to Jinx You or Myself! Dude, you need a little different Handle!!!

@ Stephen ... if you use the Search Button in the top right hand side you get a ton of Threads ... but here are some good ones in no special order ...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=299593

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=271427

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=285426

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=286854

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=124420

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=56272

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=124420&page=3

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=169694

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=3000755#post3000755

A ton of reading ... I am sure you won't be bored ... but if you do try the OverClocking ... then please post your Step-by-Step guide and Tools used and Results here for the next person!

Hope this was of some Help!

G!

 

gonwk, it was the regular BB warranty. It was still covered as it was within the 90 days. Yes, so far, so good with it. And I've used alex666 for so long now. Drives my wife nuts. It's a long story how I chose this handle, but it's one I've stuck with. Hell, I'm a mod over at PC Per forums and use this handle. But we're all crazy over there. :laugh:

marty