The official P-7811FX lounge

There are days where i feel like punching myself in the head because of what i read on the internet and this is one of those days.

 

Apparently not, because if he had, he would have had multiple answers to his question. OP, I'm not trying to flame you, but this has been discussed many times and a quick search would have given you the answer you seek. In short. No. Until a BIOS update is released, It wont work.

 

tks dook, i wait for one bios update... tks very much!!

[]ss

 

See next post.

 

The problem has returned.

It may be related to the CPU, that was one of the last drivers I installed, also one of the Intel drivers mentioned something about "not meeting requirements" and wouldn't install. It was the UMA or something like that.

I'm wondering if it overheated due to the vent underneath it being covered by the tray table (although I read somewhere in this thread that it vents through the hard drive thing, which is uncovered)-or if it's just somehow faulty.

Before I installed all the drivers, everything was working pretty well, aside from the limited functionality...

Is there some kind of test I can run (that the computer would even let me run) to see if there's something wrong with the CPU?

Would a faulty CPU explain the symptoms I've been experiencing?

 

i was thinking that too djgamer but who knows......are you going to exchange yours?

 

Well what I'm doing right now is system restoring to just after I installed the network drivers and before I installed the CPU drivers, if I can do stuff fine (watching videos, maybe surfing the net-IE though seems to start not responding-might be a disadvantage of having no CPU drivers installed.

More than likely I'll once again transfer all my important stuff to the G drive, and just exchange the thing. I'd still need to know just how to get my reg keys and stuff back in place (everything that puts the games and such in the start menu, installed programs list, etc.)-in fact if I could know where those are likely located I could back those up from my old windows files.

Edit: Also, I was thinking-although this is incredibly unlikely to happen. What if they could take out the CPU from a second 7811 and just slap it in mine then like return the other one what whatever repairs or whatever...I don't know. There's probably some policy against that so more than likely the only alternative to a complete exchange would be actually sending the thing to the factory for repairs and waiting like a week or two for it to come back. Yeah, that would be absolutely lovely.

Oh, and it's been doing some odd graphical quirks sometimes, so it could also be GPU-related, or even purely GPU-related, in which case an exchange would certainly be the only solution given the soldered nature of the dang thing.

Currently, the thing's shutting down and not restarting...I'm hoping it's just taking unusually long since I fear the consequences of suddenly unplugging the thing as it shuts down.

Another update: Okay, it's restored and been working fine so far I'm not sure if the network thing is on there anymore, though-again though I'm not sure it would matter too much unless I wanted to back up my stuff to my desktop just to be sure. The restore point I used was the installation of the Intel Wireless driver.

 

Wow. The gibberish to english translator program must be on the fritz. He was trying to say that "the 7811FX doesn't have to attack him. Or, if it does attack him, he'll get with someone and decide that the head honcho needs to pop a cap in sumone's @SS.

Is this gonna be how it happens?

Thanks bro."

If I misunderstood, please correct me.

 

Lo and Behold! Something that I did not know! This is for installing Windows XP (32-bit Professional Edition in my case) on your P-7811FX laptop. For a long while I kept getting the BSOD while booting off the XP install disk.

A smug Gateway tech support rep kept telling me the problem was with the brand new retail XP disc I had. I hate them already, I was taking a soldering iron to my motherboard back when he was trying to figure out his left from his right!

Anyway, long story short, turns out that the laptop comes with the SATA controller in AHCI mode by default. To install XP on this laptop, you have to set the controller to IDE mode!

AHCI mode is bad, since Windows XP needs drivers to support this mode. Without those drivers, it doesn't properly access the hard drive, and BAM! BSOD! Hope this helps others out there.

 

I'm pretty sure the issue is from the CPU. Since I reverted to before I installed the CPU drivers, the only issues I've had are programs occasionally freezing up-but never the whole thing permanently locking up. This could have to do with just the fact that the CPU drivers aren't installed and/or the fact that the CPU's screwed-up to begin with.

I'm sort-of thinking of using part of the $200 I get back from the thing to get a descent cooling pad, the thing is I'd have to order it online (since the only cooling decks Best Buy sells are pretty much the crappy Targus ones) plus I couldn't order it right away because the crediting back to my bank account will likely take two to three days (one time I heard them say it was instant, what a load of bull). It is really funny though that when they take money out it's instantaneous yet when they credit it back to you it takes forever in comparison.

However in the mean time the first thing I'd probably due is be sure to undervolt the CPU and maybe prop the thing up with some small boxes or something-actually it's a bit odd that they don't put like those little round things underneath the desktop to keep it held up a bit for when you set it on a solid surface.

 

Just take in rcpt and ask. Did it today. Remember assumption is since you are within the return period you could return and rebuy it. They have no choice but to price adjust.

Went through like buttah!

My only issue is I neglected to ask for and they didnt offer the free game. I will go back tomorrow and get that too. ****it!

 

...uh getting the free game will NOT be an issue for me. You need to remember their alternative is I will bring the lappy back and return it then buy another and get the game.

"..they said ok to price match...no to the free game..." BS!

Come on guys, are we mice or men?

This is basic business.

 

if i was a new buyer and saw your post(s), I would get nervous about getting this notebook j/k

I think gateway should have put all the drivers in the cd, instead of ppl seaching all over the net just to get their computer working like normal

 

true that seasalt... VERY basic business

 

When I needed an exchange I just bought another. Went home and traded drives (mine with progarms installed and bloatware removed, for theirs in the new unit set up from the factory). Then I returned the defective. They get a clean drive in a defective unit and I get a new computer with my original drive - no loss of my time and programs. Took thirty seconds. WIN WIN

 

People are totally tripping out about this friggin free game. You buy a $2000+ laptop for $1300 and you're worried about a $40 game. Yeesh.

 

NO ****! *** guys? I get less whining from my three year old. Gimme a break already (or a gun). This is a great machine. The 200.00 off makes it stupendous. Get off the hacks already and grow up.

BTW THERE IS NO RAID UNTIL A NEW BIOS IS ISSUED.

ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.

huh..my *** got asterisked by big brother ..that was supposed to read "*** guys?"

 

ok... it may be a bit offtopic but i would like to ask... is 3dmark06 set on loop a good way of stress testing the machine?

 

If I remember correctly, you can't loop the free version of 3DMark. Easiest thing is to buy a game and play it for a while. Something like UT3 would work great, if it's a game you would like, as you can play bot matches over and over. Otherwise, Crysis, or whatever free game you get will work...

 

ok... thanks for the heads up wtburnette but thing is i bought 3dmark already and i can loop it... i just want to know if that's a good way to test it. thanks in advance

 

Not ready to say more yet but my shiny new P-7811FX is flawless. I highly recommend those prayer beads. Just returned from the optometrist for retina burns from the two blue LED's on the front edge ... but flawless.

 

@ Syngensmyth, et. al.: Ok not to make your 7811 experience return to perfect too soon, (I mean clearly we all need something to complain about),but all the dash lights for this monster can be toggled on or off with a simple Fn+F1 keystroke. I do that AND use Fn+F8 to step the brightness down (or up), to extend batt life during extended periods of reading insightful and upbeat 7811 lounge posts (while untethered).

Saving people from physical injury (ie retinal burn) whenever possible, is what I do. Its how I roll, man.

(That's got to be worth a rep.)

 

Okay, I think the thing is pretty much ready to take back to Best Buy-although a few questions about returning first.

Do I need all of the original packaging and such because I'm not sure if I'll be able to find everything because much of it is kind of strewn across my extremely messy room?

That's actually...all, I think.

That and I have the second HDD wrapped in two layers of Kleenex for protection until I can install it in the new unit.

 

oh... there are leds? i never knew it had leds on the sides... lol!

 

Okay, here's my Best Buy story:

I took it to the Geek Squad area and they checked it out a little, and they started the process for me signing it in for a diagnostic-thankfully I realized what was happening before I signed the form. I was trying to tell them what was wrong but according to the logs on my computer there were no hardware failures since I-ah, I wonder if the system restore wiped that out!

Well, anyway, since there were no logs and the drivers were not installed (I should've just quickly reinstalled them, then messed around until the issue popped up again-at least then there would've been a log on the friggin' thing, but I didn't know about the logging thing at the time so, yeah...stupid me), they were going to take the thing in for a one or two days in order to do a full diagnostic or what have you...

Well, I wouldn't have it-so what we decided on was to use the sales difference to cover the restocking fee and I'd just get a replacement unit (there was only one left in the little cage thing, too-so maybe it was a good thing). The process was a little complicated since as an in-store pickup it would normally revert to my credit/debit card and I'd have to wait 2-3 business days for it to show up and in the meantime once they charge me the restocking fee I'll have a negative balance.

So what they did is put it on a gift card, and what's more they waved $16 of the restocking fee to even it out with the exchange. I also got the free game-so at least I actually GAINED something from the whole ordeal.

So, to sum it all up, I was ripped off, but they were very courteous and nice and ultimately I'm pleased with the service-even if I ended up missing out on the $200 I could've gotten had I waited and Geek Squad determined the thing was unrepairable, AND if they still had a replacement on the shelf. I did see at least one customer checking out the display model while I was waiting forever for a sales guy to get the thing out of the cage.

Actually, funny thing-the display unit was showing a recovery screen while I was there. lol

If this unit poops out on me too I might end up either going with the diagnostic, or make sure the problem has occurred and been recorded at least once since any restorations or recoveries or what have you I end up doing trying to fix.

I was tempted to ask if after I do the exchange they run diagnostics and discover there actually is a problem if they'd refund me the restocking fee. lol

I also forgot to ask if they had any notebook hard drive screws lying around and about how I might get the games on my second hard drive re-registered on the system.

Lastly, I mentioned to them that I downloaded the drivers from here and they said something about how I should have downloaded them directly from the Intel website-but I did say it happened with the factory-installed drivers-I guess it's just a whole insurance thing or whatever. Kinda sucks.

Yeah, still came out ahead with a free game...I just didn't come out as far ahead as I would've liked to have been. $50 game ahead rather than $200 plus a $50 game ahead.

Oh yes, and it does say in the ad (in a footnote) that the game must be purchased on the SAME RECEIPT as the laptop. I was only able to get it because of the exchange. So that's good news for people with broken 7811s and bad news for people with laptops in perfect working order.

 

Good Luck with the replacement.

I have a perfectly working one and still managed to get $214 back on the
sale since I bought it last week. There was no mention of a game needing to
be purchased but I guess they saw I was irate as I was... and just gave me
the difference.

On a side note....after trying several Vista flavors. I found "Ultimate" to
run the best with my P-7811 FX with no crashes.

 

No, the game doesn't need to be bought to get the sale, you just need to buy the laptop to get the free game.

This is the first post I'm making through the replacement laptop, btw.

Interestingly enough, firefox remembers my tabs from the old one-probably because I backed-up the "AppData" folders.

Now I need to remember how to unparse the main hard drive.

I would've maybe gotten ultimate if I didn't have the restocking fee to deal with. The one thing I can't seem to do with the Home Premium version is use the "Remote Desktop" feature to have access to my desktop computer from my laptop-that would just be sweet if I could do that because it would mean I could possibly play games that only work on 32-bit Vista from my laptop.

 

Is the warranty international?

Can I goto the US and buy it there and once I'm back in Canada if something was to happen will Gateway still service the laptop?

 

After reading so many posts about various (unfortunate) people with problems with their 7811fx, I just thought I would say that I received mine about two weeks ago and it is completely flawless except for the fan doing the on/off routine. The screen is beautiful, runs all the games I've thrown at it beautifully (bioshock, mass effect, CoD4) . Also my idle temps are very low, 28C and I havn't seen my HD get past 40C.

I'm very sorry to hear about everyone's problems and hope that you all were able to get a refund or replacement.

I just want to make sure people know that not all of the 7811's are lemons. I'm just lucky I didn't get one because I would of been stuck with it since I'm currently out of country.

 

Mr. Salt you are a gentleman. +1 for saving my retinas!

I'm hung up on trying to get a virtual DVD burner (FREE) so I can burn an image of the recovery DVD's. I want the recovery program to write to the virtual drive and the virtual drive to make an ISO. Yes I could use DVD's but that's too easy.

Run HWMonitor and notice the GPU fan engages at approx. 46C. It starts with a high blast and then continues almost imperceptibly until GPU reaches 39C. This is not a flaw as I see it. I think the reviewers were wacky when they said the fan starts for no reason. The reason is HEAT!

If the fan were to run quietly always the on/off would not be needed. But laptop designers do things for battery preservation that screws up good cooling and reasonable fan operation. Common complaint by me, your humble user ... but what do I know.

 

I think the cooling in this laptop is great, considering the limited amount of airspace inside of the chassis. And anyone that complains about fans running, well.. turn off the AC, and all the fans, and close the windows in your house. Notice anything? It's quiet, but you're HOT as hell! How you think your computer would feel if you turned off the AC on it when it got hot? It wouldn't sweat, it would smoke.. and you would whine about how the fans never came on. So, sorry bout the tangent..
Just shhhhhhhhh...ut it.

 

Cooling on the 7811 is just plain stupendous. I'm uber impressed. (In case that got lost in translation)

 

Indeed go to Bestbuy and get the pricematch if you bought it originally for 1449.99. I just got back 200+, it has dropped to 1249.99. Try to do in the 14 return policy period. Also if you got the international warranty like I did, remember to get the 30 dollars back because the warranty is cheaper as well.

 

gateway p6831fx is on auction on ebay--bestbuyoutlet store.
not a bad sub if u got it cheap.

 

Can anyone tell me if from their experience the free game is a in store thing as well. I saw a link for it online. Has anyone that has gotten the price match money back been able to get the game. I so am getting the Orange Pack, go Team Fortress.

 

What is so great about the price match is I got the only one in my area from the only 2 Bestbuy stores that exist there. I am on a island and they still gave it to me with no issues. I would have just returned mine and bought mine again if they didn't. Ha ha good times.

 

I'll repeat again that on the add it says that the game must be purchased on the SAME RECEIPT as the laptop (that's a technical way of saying you have to purchase the game and laptop at the same time). If you look at the ad, it's the "4" footnote if I recall correctly. So unless your sales people are really nice or really don't pay attention to those little fine print details in the footnotes it's unlikely you'll get the free game as part of the price match.

 

I'm probably going to hell, because this is kinda like stealing.. But I figured I'd give it a try. I just exchanged the computer, for a new one..and had a game in my hand when I went back up to the customer service counter. The sales associate that assisted me in the comp department actually made the comment that the game I was carrying would be free 'cause of the promotion. I played dumb with him, and he carried the new laptop up to cust service where he informed them that the game was free. I continued to play dumb as though it were my lucky day.. Like "Woah, are you serious? So, this thing is on sale for $200 bucks less, I get a *free* game, and a working computer?! Man, what else is free today? I should play the lotto, and to think I was upset my computer broke on me. Thank you guys so much!" Yea, may have been a bit cheesy.. but aren't most dumb customers cheesy? Anyhow, thanks BestBuy, Gateway, and NBR.com, y'all rock.

 

Actually, it isn't stealing-in the case of an exchange you're basically:

#1: Getting your money back for the faulty computer.

Then-

#2: Using that money to buy a replacement.

So-

#3: With the purchase of the replacement you save $200 and because of the promotion get a free game.

That's pretty much what happened to me sans the $200 savings due to my idiocy and impatience leading to a restocking fee.

The fact is the replacement technically ends up on the same receipt as the game, hence the deal was completely legit, hence you have nothing to feel guilty about unless of course you were faking the problems with your first laptop-which by the way I'm not accusing you of-just using it as an example. lol

So, to set everything straight the deal works in these conditions:

#1: If you're buying the laptop.
#2: If you're exchanging a faulty laptop.

But not

#3: If you're doing a price-match for a laptop in perfect working condition.

 

Nothing shady going on here.. I may have had a hand in the laptop being faulty, but definately didn't fake anything. Oh, and didn't break anything either. Just "temporarily(sp?) disabled" in order to return.

 

i got my refund and with no restocking fee. I hope gateway finds out whats causing the freezing so other people don't have to go through all the hassle

 

Seen a few other people having laptop lock up issues with the p-7811fx.
been doing a fair bit of testing on mine to find out what makes it lock up more.
at first i thought it was over heating, then the videocard/cpu possibly having issues. then possbily driver stability issues (wich who knows it still might be).
but i found for mine (may not be the same for everyone of course)
that 3 things seemed to make it lock up.
1. new videocard drivers (Causes the heat to go up on the gpu by about 5-8'c no matter wich new driver i tried. and locked up during games and even idling along.
(175.80 = about 64'c max
177.89 = maxed it out at 78'c before fear of frying it lol
177.92 = 69'c
numerous others seemed to run hotter than the standard 175.80 so ive just keep running them(had less lock ups also) to find out what makes it lock up

2. running some games beyond what i think the laptop can handle...(possibly)
I had age of conan running with everything set to high, shadows, resoultion maxed.. even AAx16Q it would seem to lock up more frequently about there..
when i have AAx4 it seems to work fine though.(seen some desktops with q6600 8gb ram and 9800gtx card run a little less on he graphics side for age of conan)
3. i put a second HDD in and the temps soared up to about 68'c on the HDD

i ran orthos for about 14 hours for the ram/cpu ran Furmark and furture mark nemerous times and long periods. couldnt get the things to lock up at all...

so what im thinking is.. it could be an HDD related problem for some peoples P-7811FX (not everyones, im just going by info ive found out about mine).
the hotter the gpu the hotter the whole thing seems to get, even if it is just by a degree or 2, and for the HDD to be running in the 65'c + range. every little bit of heat counts. im still waiting on my cooling pad (lazy amazon.com, and im too cheap to pay out for a second one while im waiting.)
when my cooling pad gets here ill be testing it some more. and also in a week or 2 ill be formatting and trying vista 32bit and windows XP to see what else can be fixed up a little. so ill post more here as i muck around with it a little more.

3dmark06 scores seemed to be best with the 177.41 got it to around 8846.
(no over clocking envolved) but 175.80 seem to be running more stable but only hitting around 8650

one question with the p-7811fx if anyone had tried or knows.

has anyone tried intel turbo memory1g in it ?if so how much does it speed things up. only around $30 but curious to know if its even worth getting..
the second mini card slot seems that nothing else will fit but turbo memory. and as that saying goes.. "If theres a hole, fill it"

 

I also believe the hard drive is causing systems to lock up or the power supply. The power supply gets really hot and if people have them on the floor or where they can't get enough air, they can easily overheat and cause issues to the laptop.

It would be interesting if someone with lockup issues went and purchased a 3rd party power supply to see if it resolves their issues. If you have a heat issue try putting a small fan to blow cool air over the laptop surface and see if it resolves your issues.

 

Just curious but what hard drive does everyone have in their machines? I saw where someone had a hitachi drive in their system where mine has a Seagate model ST9200420AS. Max temp I have seen so far on it after playing Crysis is 54C.

 

Mine's a Western Digital if I remember correctly-only complaint so far about it is it didn't seem to come with screws.

Oh yes, and I should mention the Network Card BSOD is still an issue (one I hope will be resolved in a driver update), and I'm just now noticing the fan issue-it's not so noticeable if you're running an actual fan in the background but if you're in a room that's otherwise silent (I turned off the fan in my room since it's a cooler day), it sounds like someone's constantly turning on and off a blow-dryer. lol

 

Has anyone taken the temp readings with the HD door open?

I looked at mine, it's a Seagate too.

I also saw that the drive sits on a rubber pad (probably for sound control). Look at the drive holder on the empty bay to see what I mean. One would think that removing the rubber would make the drive louder but run cooler.

 

Might have been me with the Hitachi, but that's a transplant: the stock drive was the Seagate.

 

The original hdd in my p-7811fx is a seagate
and i also purchased a mini external hdd. popped it open it(maxtor 250 one touch mini (seagate inside) only runs at 5400rpm. but for $89 seemed cheaper then even trying to get a 7200rpm (wich are around $170-200 for a 320gb).
i havent used a thermomiter on the HDD bay area itself. But feeling the case (on the top where i rest my wrist. the temp cn get about as hot as the video card area to touch, wich feeling that through the solid part.. makes you wonder how hot it gets in there.
taken the HDD's out a few times to experiement and they get extremely hot, can only touch them for 2-3 seconds before it burns lol.

using the 5400 for back up and the 7200 to play games, day to day stuff etc. but there quite a rise in temp just having the second HDD in there.
got a small fan and have the laptop corners elevated with the fan blowing underneath.
current HDD temps just while on this webpage and a 2-3 files downloading in the backround.
seagate 7200 RPM = 53'c
seagate 5400 RPM = 48'c
GPU = 39'c
CPU 0 = 35'c
CPU 1 = 37'c

so the HDD are running pretty **** hot seeming they arent doing anything serious at the moment. im on vacation at the moment lol. but when i get home in a few weeks and format it and switch operating systems around.
ill also through crysis on and check a few other temps and check how it locks up compared to other games (also have bioshock/assassins creed/call of duty 4 to check out)
so far i really think its a mixture of heat and drivers
mainly heat hitting the HDD's causing the lock ups and the drivers being a little unstable and also contributing to the heat.
i dont have any other power supplies to try like the other guy said. but i have a few adpters and such, and when i get home (australia)
time will tell there as in the US i believe the average power point is 120v or so
and back home is 240. ive had a dell/hp and those power supplies got hot. the HP actually burned out and i had to call them for a repalcement. so will see how the different voltage affects them in a week or 2

 

I believe I may have found the resolution to the lockups and BSOD involving Vista on the 7811FX. I've found 3 webpages that reference the same problems which most of us are encountering. Not on the FX, but on Vista. If someone would be so kind as to go into their start button, type compmgmt and hit enter, then click event viewer, custom views, administrative events. Now, I've never had a vista comp show as many errors and such as this one does..seems to be a lot of internal software and hardware issues. Anyhow, after you expand the admin events.. does anyone else see a WMI error, that occured the same time your computer locked up? Event ID 10.. and details say something along the lines of - Event filter with query "SELECT * FROM __InstanceModificationEvent WITHIN 60 WHERE TargetInstance ISA "Win32_Processor" AND TargetInstance.LoadPercentage > 99" could not be reactivated in namespace "//./root/CIMV2" because of error 0x80041003. Events cannot be delivered through this filter until the problem is corrected.

Well.. I've found a couple of resolutions..and by the way, this is the error that everyone says is locking their computer when gaming, or just browsing the internet..some get BSOD, others just get a lockup without access to Task Manager.

Resolution 1) One person, and only one, says it was because of the RAM..the voltage and timings were slightly off and he was able to adjust those per the manufacturer...problem solved. Now, I can believe that is a possible solution with the 7811FX. Not sure if anyone has paid attention to the CPUZ shot of the RAM.. but the timings and such allow for one more stepping of the RAM to a higher speed. However, the MOBO and CPU aren't capable of reaching it on this computer. See pic for details..notice ram is CL8 and maxes @ 610MHz(x2=1220), where as the MOBO is 1066MHz, *maybe* the RAM is getting caught between a clock cycle and between frequencies sending errors and locking up the whole system. Has anyone tried replacing the RAM? Ok..this is theory. And I have a feeling it may be the issue.

Resolution 2) Another forum has a simple resolution.. and it seems to be more common than the RAM resolve.
Here is the fix. Open a command prompt as an admin and enter the following pressing the enter key after each line:

net stop winmgmt
DEL C:\Windows\System32\wbem\Repository\*.*

Now reboot and let the system idle for a few minutes. There will be a couple of WMI warnings in the event log, but thats alright for the moment. Reboot one more time and the error and warning will be resolved.
From: http://windowsforums.org/index.php?showtopic=392

Resolution 3) This is similar to 2..however a bit more in depth, and this is what I will attempt and post results. I can only do one method, obviously.. so good luck and hopefully this solves a lot of problems. Please let me know! And +rep if you're satisfied with results
http://www.msfn.org/board/Here-s-how-to-Fix-WMI-Event-ID-10-Ins-t114389.html
Please read post 1, and 3, as this is a two part process.

 

new bios released on support site.. fyi