Random Freezes with the 8130 and 8150

Has anyone checked the other manufacturers lounges to see if they are experiencing the same on their sb laptops?

 

I read some Asus owners having a similar issue with their new SB laptops. Haven't checked on that situation for a while.

 

I'm not sure why anyone would expect the recall of Cougar Point Chipset to fix the freezing issue. They have stated quite clearly what issue is known to exist and what was addressed with the new stepping.

I'm starting to think that people are having separate issues here. What works for some, doesn't for others. If the new motherboards do fix it, then Intel has some further explaining to do.

 

Trust me we are here to help, we have made earlier posts in this thread. When the recall begins anyone who has purchased from us can contact us direct to set it up or they are also welcome to contact Sager. We would be happy to help either way.

Since nothing has progressed since the shipments ceased there really is no added info until the recall starts.

 

I don want to jinx it, but I think installing the new Intel Rapid Storage Technology might have fixed the freezes. I haven't noticed any freezes in a day and a half now?

 

I was messing around with the nvidia system tuner, which adds a panel to the nvidia control panel allowing you to manually set the clock speed of your gpu, trying to set the minimum clock speed at a slightly higher value as some people have suggested in previous posts. I was able to increase the clock speed temporarily, but it would always fall back down to the lowest setting of 101 MHz for the processor clock and 135 MHz for memory clock.

However, I was able to produce a freeze that is very similar to the kind I'm experiencing (all symptoms except that the screen goes black instead of holding the last image) by setting the clock sliders to the highest possible setting. When I apply the settings the screen immediately flashes gray and then turns off after about a second, and the sound playing on my speaker starts to loop. Interestingly the first few times I tried to set the clocks at slightly lower than max values, Windows would recover and say that the nvidia driver had crashed and reloaded. At the max value, the system hangs and doesn't seem to come back.

I have no experience with overclocking, so I'm a little wary as to what this is doing to my gpu and don't feel comfortable experimenting more. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can explain whether this is expected behavior, or if it serves as evidence that the freezes we've been experiencing are related to the GPU clock?

 

Overclocking should be done carefully, as to find your maximum stable overclocks for your card..

You can't just scroll all the way to the right and expect the clocks to work..

Make estimates of what everyone else has shown as stable overclocks, and then increment by 10~20MHz and test extensively with furmark and vantage to test if it is stable.. When it crashes, just lower 20MHz and you should be good to go with that clock setting.

 

Just to clarify, my intention was never to overclock the GPU. I just wanted to see if I could reproduce the freeze by manipulating the clocks.

 

Hmm... in that case I don't think I can be of help..

I haven't experienced any freezes for a while..

 

Same for me. I had one freeze per day and nothing since I have updated (last week).

 

What does the recall have to do with this freezing issue? Has someone identified them to be interrelated problems or is it easy to just assume? I guess we'll all find out soon enough when the "fixed" laptops start shipping.

 

Like many have said, it is quite unlikely that it is related to the SB issue, unless there was something Intel didn't tell us.

To your point though, does anyone know if they will definitely be getting their laptops with revised chipsets soon, and would be kind enough to do some testing on the freezes?

 

I havent seen any freezing since my latest windows install either. (last thursday) Oddly enough, i used the older (1.0.0.1046) intel RST driver. Also of note, i used the Newest Intel management engine driver. (7.0.4.1197) Seems it was either one of those, or a hidden windows update that seems to have done the trick for me.

 

Sorry, I tried to type that question in a rhetorical tone, but failed. I'm fully aware that the recall should have nothing to do with the freezing issue. I asked again because that seems to be the canned answer from official sources as of now and it sounds like a blow-off answer to me unless they know something that we don't.

 

Ah, I see. Well, no biggie. Maybe I'm just slow too

I do agree that some might have inadvertently mentioned that this could be due to the SB issue, though it is not likely. But I guess, like you said, we probably won't know until someone gets a revised chipset machine.

 

I'm with you. The freezing issue seems to be ignored. No "we're looking into it" or "send us all available info" or whatever.

I don't have the issue so far but it's another thing on the back of my mind now. Granted it doesn't seem to be only Clevo notebooks affected, so not like you could buy another machine and avoid it altogether.

 

man this is really scaring me... I'm getting this new laptop because I'm freaked out my XPS might die in an exam but this makes it sound just as bad using the new one...

 

This is seriously making me re-consider my purchase as well. I may just go w/ an Alienware M17X R3 instead...

 

Well, like HTwingnut said, this issue is not isolated to just Clevo/Sager, and has been reported in other manufacturer's machines as well. So, you could just as well run into the same problem with the AW. If you are concerned enough to seriously doubt your purchase, then I think the best solution would be to wait until the issue (whatever it is, or if there even is a specific one) is resolved to make your purchase, instead of switching to another manufacturer immediately.

Also, to quell your concerns a little, do note that only a small portion of new notebook models/refreshes were shipped in January, due to reasons such as the shortage of vram, and the Intel incident. Additionally, people facing issues are more likely to visit forums than people who don't. All these factors can compound to make the issue appear more widespread than it truly is.

 

I thought I'd throw my hat into the ring.

I built my 8150 from parts via RJ and I reported since day #1 that mine would "pause" or "freeze" for 1-3 seconds in games at random times. It is very apparent in MMO's like WoW or Rift when there is a lot going on and it isn't due to frame lag or anything like that because the entire unit becomes unresponsive. I have never had the laptop just lockup on me completely or freeze to where I had to hard reboot it, but I get the pauses quite frequently. I believed this to be my Hitachi 7200RPM drive being overwhelmed so I picked up a Hybrid Seagate and it continues the behavior but only worse.

 

I'm not sure about how your system acts when outside of WoW and rift, but i do know that warcraft has had those kinds of periodic 1-3 second freezes every now and then for a while now. That's common to every one of the pc's i have the game installed on, (4 of them, including 2 desktop systems) leading me to believe that particular style of freeze is a software problem.

If those "pauses" happen outside of gaming use, some web hunting notes a lot of SSDs have the problem, usually relating to an AHCI/Raid Driver (in the case of the 8150, the intel RST driver.) It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility to see the problem spill over into the more standard hard drives, especially considering the Freshness of the systems. Standard fix was to get the newest appropriate drivers, and work from there.

 

As far as software generated pauses/freezes, I would try playing your game in windowed mode and see if that makes a difference.

 

Got another freeze, this time I was monitoring the GPU clocks via the Nvidia system monitor. They had been sitting stable at the lowest speeds for quite some time when the freeze occurred, so that rules out the downclocking theory. I also don't have flash installed, so that can't be the problem either. It's been 2 days since my last freeze.

 

Good news is that the new B3 stepping laptops are shipping very soon. Not too long before we will have the opportunity to call BS on this being related to the recall of Cougar Point. Then I guess this issue will gain more attention. Hang in there.

 

Should I assume that the people who were posting regularly on this thread have found solutions to the freezing issues or are just waiting for the new shipment of laptops to arrive to get more data? This infrequent posting is pointing towards what I just said.

 

Looking over the last 3 or so pages, looks like at least 3 folks (marvin, natediem, and myself) all have fixed the problem by getting the the intel raid drivers properly installed. (knock on wood)

Truth be told, the lengh of this thread surprises me. My guess is that the only problem that actually exists is that this particular set of hardware does not play nice with the windows standard AHCI driver.

 

Yep, a common issue. Microsoft drivers work, but aren't as compatible or as tuned as the Intel RST.

 

A few days later and I'm still freeze free. Getting the new Intel drivers seems to have fixed the problem. Only issue that remains is it sometimes wont come out of hibernate. This is very minor compared to the random freezes, and hopefully will fix itself as more things get updated.

To all of those that are skeptic about buying this machine because of the random freezes, take note that the majority of us have had the problem fixed by updated drivers.

 

So I've installed Intel RST and MEI, but it's not doing it for me. Do you have any specific advice about how to do the installation or how to check if it's correctly installed?

Also, from their signatures it seems like marvin and natediem have different models and different drive options (SSDs?). You're the only one with a 8130 and the standard 500 GB momentus drive that RST has fixed the problem for.

 

people need to specify what hard drive technology (SSD, hybrid, SATA II...) and configuration (non RIAD, RAID 0, RAID 1...) they possess before talking about what they did with the updates.

 

Same thing for me.
I use a C300(6g) 256gb, I have left the bios at default.
I used to have 1 to 3 freeze evening and I have not any after updating drivers.
I have a lot of games at my disposal and not any problem with any(almost 2 weeks now).
This week end I will probably use the notebook a lot, I ll write another update on Monday and say how it goes.

Thanks to HTWingnut for his great suggestion, I owe you one .

 

It seems reasonable to me that the freezing issue is related to the chipset recall, especially if some are seeing fixes when updating or installing the Intel RST driver. That driver is related to the HDD controllers. That seems like it would be related to SATA 2 ports 2 to 5.
Since these systems have the optical drive connected to one of the affected SATA2 ports as well as the esata port it could very well be that the system has lost contact to SATA2 port then gets stuck in a loop of redetecting for the port and it just gets stuck?

 

From what I understand, the chipset recall is due to a faulty transistor oxide gate that is not rated high enough for the current that is applied within the SATA controller. This particular connect has a proven 5% chance of degrading/failing over a period of 3 years heavy usage. If there is more to it then that, then Intel hasn't told us.

There are a couple of scenarios that could be true for this freezing issue:

1. It is related to the faulty SATA controller in Cougar Point and will be fixed with B3 stepping.
2. It is a matter of poorly optimized RAID/AHCI drivers from Microsoft that need to be replaced with the Intel RST.
3. It is a matter of current software not being optimized for Sandy Bridge to include Windows and Linux.
4. There is a common hardware problem amongst Sandy Bridge platforms that has yet to be identified.
5. All of the freezes are being over hyped and that they are isolated individual occurrences with differing problems that are only occurring because of improperly installed drivers/OS's/other software on a new platform.

Either way, you will find that the party line being towed by the industry is that the recall is to blame or that it doesn't exist because it can't be reproduced by OEM's. This obviously denies other possibilities that may require action or responsibility on their part. Don't be surprised if this gives you an unsavory taste in your mouth, especially if you're one of the people directly affected (this is a natural reaction).

I personally hope that the new B3 stepping fixes the problem with new laptops being shipped and the recall laptops beings sent in. I think it would be just as good of an outcome if we find out that the issue isn't all that widespread once more people get their laptops. Only time will tell the outcome, but rest assured the day is coming soon and there very well may be some regrets and apologies in order from Sager if their convenient theory on the freezing turns out to be wrong.

I personally can't imagine with all of this "testing" going on within their factories how they can't reproduce this issue unless it doesn't really exist, or their "testing" methods are completely bogus or only a feigned advertising ploy. This is my first time purchasing one of these laptops, and how this plays out will largely determine if I'm a repeat customer.

 

I'm in the same boat, this is the only thing really troubling me as I wait to receive my machine. First time venturing into the Clevo world, in fact my first non-Apple laptop purchase in 3 years (The price gave me a good excuse) I'm really hoping this goes smoothly.

I think that when you're spending this kind of money on a laptop the experience should be as close to perfect as you can get, save for the reasonable issues. Just my opinion.

 

@ Mathis512

are an rigs from myth experiencing an issue? i dont recall seeing anyone with myth in their sigs chiming in..

 

I also had some random freezes but I figured those were flash related. I disabled hardware acceleration from flash and in the past few days I had no freezes.

To me it seems there is some incompatibility between flash and Nvidia drivers. Of course, this only applies to me and my laptop is over 2 years old.

 

I'm not sure if anyone on this forum received their laptop from Mythlogic pre-recall. I'm fairly certain no one with a Mythlogic laptop has commented as having experienced freezes on this thread. I don't think the 3rd Tier resellers have anything to worry about other than actively pushing concerns/issues to Sager and Clevo and not taking no for an answer. Since most, if not all of these laptops are being shipped from Sager in at least a barebones shell form, they all have the potential to exhibit similar symptoms. There was one person on here who assembled from a barebones from AVA Direct and had very similar problems. Therefore, it stands to reason that Mythlogic laptops could theoretically experience the issue if it is indeed a systemic problem.

 

I don't think Mythlogic managed to ship any machines before the recall happened.

 

good point.. ok guess time will tell.

not too much longer now

 

Morning guys,

We are working on this issue, can one of you nice guys who DOES have freezing when playing flash movies shoot me a PM or an email? We have a couple of theories that we want to give a go at.

thanks!

 

I have had multiple random freezes with my 8170 in which the only way I could get out of it is a hard reboot.

I have a 80GB Intel SSD, and I'm going to redownload the latest Intel RST, and other drivers. This occurs at anytime, when I'm gaming, when I'm surfing the web, etc.

In some cases the freeze happens and the sound stutters and holds.

 

When did you receive your laptop? I got mine this Friday and so far nothing of the sort had happened to me (crosses fingers).

 

I've had mine since February, and originally I thought I pinpointed it to my audio drivers because they would freeze and the whole computer would freeze.

Then I tried switching to IDE--then back to AHCI...

I've downloaded the new drivers and so far so good...let's hope it stays this way.

 

It sounds like you tried everything I tried on my 8130. I still have not successfully located the problem in Windows, but have since moved on to Arch Linux. I've had blank screen freezes in Ubuntu in the past after leaving it idle for a long time, but I think that was due to an Nvidia driver bug that has been fixed in the latest beta. I've been using Arch extensively for 3 days now, watching a lot of youtube, hulu, running virtual machines, compiling code, and have not had a freeze yet. Of course with this bug, 3 problem-free days is too few to confirm it's gone, but I'm hopeful. If this goes on for a week, then it's definitive evidence that the problem in Windows is a driver issue and not some unresolvable hardware issue.

It's kind of funny that Linux actually seems to have better hardware support than Windows in this case, and on a laptop with relatively new specs of all things.

 

I bought Clevo P170MH from mySN (Schenker Notebook) (with fixed faulty SATA controller in Cougar Point) and today morning i also experienced random freeze. It was first time after purchase. There was nothing working on high speed on the backgorund just surfing internet and random freeze arrived without bluescreen. I did hardreset and now its ok. Anybody know which drivers are newest or best for those random freezes. For this price this computer should be stable like a rock !! :/

 

Sounds like the flash freeze i got with my old 8690

 

get the intel rapid storage tech drivers. see if that helps

 

I have already installed Intel Rapid Storage Technology 10.1.0.1008 (iata_enu.exe) and Intel® Chipset Device Software 9.2.0.1025 from Intel official website and still I experience random freezes sometimes :/

I also found new BIOS for Clevo P170MH from mysn.de website but i don't have enough courage to update it
link: https://www.mysn.de/secure/userarea/download.asp?flag=getfile&file=QQXMG_P701QQBIOSQQP701_0202.zip

 

Anything newer on the freezes? My 8130 just entered the build stage, so am getting closer. 2-3 weeks or so

 

I have Seagate Momentus XT 500GB with firmware version SD23 after upgrading it to SD24 problems with freezing didn't disappeared. Maybe I change this Momentus XT for something different and I will see it helps or not :/