Just got the new R835-P50X

I guess the class action lawsuit thing is really a go?

 

Fuggin POS this thing is now going threw a usb connect/disconect cylce for the past 5 mintues and just refreshed my dam reply...
IM really getting POd at toshiba..

DL prime95 and extract to its own folder its a SImple self run cpu load
Prime95 (64bit) - 25.11 Download - EXTREME Overclocking

then DL and install
cpuz
CPUID - System & hardware benchmark, monitoring, reporting
i dont like its self run file..

and dl and install cpuid hardware monitor and run it.
ftp://ftp.cpuid.com/hwmonitor/hwmonitor_1.18-setup.exe

run and start prime95 and then run cpuz then run cpuid hardware and have all three on screen let run for a bit then take snapshot.
take screen shot and post here.. and have your date time up on the bottom..
then stop prime and exit from bottom right task manger... and see your cpu speed and then start prime again and see if different..

that way we can see your cpu speed, temps, and know its runing both. also if you can post ambient room temp from thermomnter

 

......................................

 

I have a 56x (i5 2410m) and although I didn't take a screen shot, here's what I came up with. Using Prime95 v26 64bit, CPUID, and Intel's CPU Identifier.

ECO mode ON
No Prime95 running.
Intel shows reported 2.09Ghz, 83Mhz, expected 2.3Ghz, 100Mhz.
CPUID shows 798Mhz, x8, 99.8Mhz.

Running Prime95 (blend).
Intel shows 1.09Ghz, 22Mhz.
CPUID shows 1097Ghz, x11, 99.8Mhz.

ECO mode OFF
No Prime95 running.
Intel shows reported 2.69Ghz, 100Mhz, expected 2.3Ghz, 100Mhz.
CPUID shows 798Mhz, x8, 99.8Mhz.

Running Prime95 (blend).
Intel shows 2.69Ghz, 100Mhz.
CPUID shows 2694Mhz, x27, 99.8Mhz.

 

Lately I've been running into a CPU-stuck-at-25% problem again. I can tell it's happening when the fan picks up speed. Happened twice the other day, and once today, usually shortly after I attach peripherals. (USB mouse/keyboard, HDMI monitor.) Alternatively, it may be due to switching from battery to plugged-in.

Fortunately it does not block me from Sleep/Hibernate/Shutdown. If I Sleep and wake, the problem's gone. (But yesterday it came back a few minutes later, so I had to Sleep-and-wake it again. After that, it didn't come back again.)

When it happens, the Task Manager status bar shows 25% CPU usage, but System Idle Process is still 90+%. (Process Explorer is better, since it shows Interrupts taking up 25% under System.)

This time the xperf trace suggests ACPI.sys is the problem. That's not replaceable, so I'm not sure how to fix that, or why it didn't have problems before (It's not corrupt, either. Already ran the system file checker.)

 

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incase i didnt mention it already
DOWNLOAD THE LATEST UPDATED DRIVERS FOR ALL APPS>>
Decide Later what you dont want and uninstall...

there where a bunch up udpates as of 08/01/2011 so like a 2 weeks ago..


Model Content Page


This will make a difference in your notebook


Im doing a clean install with only the new drivers. and the non updated as i dont like updating a driver especaily a whole bunch..

 

so you definitely recommend people with this laptop to download those updates. Were there any specific improvements that were important?

 

3.10 BIOS now available.

 

After closer observation, it looks like it's triggered by plugging peripherals into the left-side USB ports under certain circumstances. (When it happened today, it'd go away when I put the computer to Sleep and woke it back up, but then it'd come back as soon as I plugged a peripheral back in. It does not happen if I plug into the right-side USB 3.0 port.)

My drivers are up-to-date AFAICT. We'll see if the 3.10 BIOS update does anything, once it becomes available for 64-bit.

 

MechR, BIOS firmwares are not specific for 32bit or 64bit.

 

You are correct, but the previous poster was confused because the installation program was described in the Toshiba page as 32-bit. Indeed it is 32-bit but it will run on 64-bit Windows and only needs to run once so who cares.

 

Yeah, when I filter for "Windows 7 64-bit" updates, it disappears from the list. Thanks to you both for clarifying!

Usually I fetch BIOS updates through Toshiba's Service Station software. I kinda wish it'd offer updates for their other software/drivers too, since checking/downloading/installing manually isn't as convenient. Seems kind of a waste to have a Toshiba-branded updater that ONLY checks for BIOS updates.

 

For those that have swapped out the 5400 RPM drive for an SSD, are there still issues trying to update the BIOS without the original drive? Any workaround?

 

I don't remember if I did the update to 3.00 with SSD or original HDD but I do believe I updated to 3.1 when I had the SSD.

 

I upgraded to current BIOS with SSD as C: drive, running the installation from the SSD. There is no problem; it must have been something else.

The installation can also be run from "diskette" (presumably from optical drive) so I can't imagine why it would care about the storage hardware.

 

Thanks Ryoko & Chuckles.

Chuckles: I wouldn't be able to imagine why it would matter either, but I got worried when I read this thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/toshiba/608808-r835-p56x-bios-problem.html


You can see my reason for concern - although maybe this was just an isolated issue or something totally unrelated.

 

Yes, that's what I meant by "It must have been something else". People make false connections between causes and effects. Maybe it was a glitch of some kind.

 

Alas, the 3.10 BIOS does not help

 

Have you tried running Prime95 and have this issue come up as well? How about whether the Toshiba Eco Utility is on or off?

 

Usually I turn on the Eco Utility while on battery, and turn it off right before or after plugging in the power. (It's usually off by the time I start plugging in USB peripherals.) Haven't tested its possible influence too thoroughly yet.

How would Prime95 help?

 

Prime95 stress tests the processor. Where are you seeing the 25% lock? Is it in the Windows Task Manager where it shows the CPU usage bar?

 

Yes; one of the four threads(?) maxes out. The CPU Usage % in the Task Manager's status bar also shows 25%.

In the Processes list, System starts showing ~10%, but the other ~90% is still in System Idle Process.

It looks like the mouse doesn't always trigger the problem when plugging into the upper (USB/eSATA) port, but always does with the lower (USB) port.

The keyboard seems to always trigger with both ports, though I need to test that a few more times.

If the keyboard is already plugged into the lower port (and I do a Sleep/Wake cycle to make the problem go away), subsequently plugging the mouse into the upper port seems to always trigger the problem.

Also, I can still trigger the bug while running on battery.

I'm not sure the problem resides in a place Prime95 will reach, but I guess I can try it out if I run out of clues.

 

guys,
been a while..
can peeple run hardware monitor and log some of there temps and say what Load % it was at..



also confirm if you have b2 or b3 stepping the b2 is recalled and the X was suposed to say it was fixed version but all tests come back to the r825-p50x being shipped with B2 Defective Chipsets..

instructions on how to hard check..
How to Find Out If Your Sandy Bridge Motherboard Is Affected by Intel's SATA Bug - Softpedia

should get responce like this. (also what you type is shown)
wmic idecontroller get deviceid


Image comment: The wmic idecontroller get deviceid returned REV_04 meaning the motherboard is based on the B2 version of the chipset
Image credits: heise.de




It is here where you need to type the "wmic idecontroller get deviceid" command which will return the PCI ID of the chipset that contains the storage controller, unless additional IDE or SATA controller are installed.

The wmic idecontroller get deviceid returned REV_04 meaning the motherboard is based on the B2 version of the chipset
Enlarge picture
The result should be something similar to the image on the left.

Although it looks rather cryptic at first sight, we are only interested in the revision number of the chipset, the “REV_xx” field.

If this reads “REV_04” as in the provided example, then your motherboard is based on the B2 revision of the Cougar Point chipset and is affected by the SATA 3Gbps bug, otherwise you are in the clear.

 

Well crap, mine really does say REV_04. (I get two lines back when I run the command, and both include REV_04.)

My unit is a R835-P55X. (Weren't the X models supposed to fix this?)

Edit: This Intel support page says,

So I dunno.

 

ya i just opened it again and snaped this shot..
my chipset is claiming a b3 according to .
Intel® 6 Series Chipset, Intel® C200 Series Chipset: Spec Update

as the chipset says
SLJ4P BD82HM65

so why is all the software reporting it incorectly even if you concider they each read it a different way..

 

The USA R830 series are not affected by the Sandy Bridge bug, it was confirmed by Toshiba. Outside of US, I don't know, but within the USA, we are good. Let me look and dig up the Toshiba post(s).

 

I found the Toshiba post in their support forums. The posting was buried in a thread by posters complaining to Tosh about the SATA transfer rates.

Jim is a Administrator there and posted this.

Re: R835 - Limited to SATA II Transfer Rate (3 Gb/... - Page 3 - Toshiba Forums

Here is the support bulletin on products impacted.

Content Details

I hope this is ok and I'm not breaking any rules of the forum. I just want everyone to be aware of the facts regarding the bug and the R830.

 

New BIOS update:

Version 3.40 - 2011-11-22
Implemented the Intel specification for Intel Chipsets to improve stability. (Note: After updating to BIOS 3.40, downgrading to earlier versions will not be possible.)
Improved: Control of TPM on Intel TXT enabled systems.
Implemented a countermeasure for an issue where the BIOS password cannot be entered on a USB Keyboard when the USB Keyboard and Wireless USB Mouse are connected and the system is docked.
Improved: Dock power control while powered off to improve stability.
Improved: Boot up LOGO screen for Japan models.
Fixed: If the computer is undocked while shifting to a sleep (Sx) state then re-docked, the computer cannot detect the docker when powered back on.

Let's see if this one fixes my 25%-CPU issue...

 

Make sure you want that BIOS, it also says you can't downgrade once you go 3.40

 

Aaand nope, still broken. Hopeless

 

ya i saw there is a bios update. LOL im scared to update it cause i get full cpu right now under the most recent bios (not the 11 2011) one..
and we cant go back any gunies wana try it out for us.
THis thing has so many fups. LOL

 

this thread is 8 months old WOW Toshiba you got Watched on this one..

 

Bit more info my 25%-CPU problem: according to Process Explorer, about 5% of it is ACPI.sys+0x1af7c, while the other 20% is Hardware Interrupts and DPCs.

I've looked at xperf minidumps with the Win7 SDK's Performance Analyzer, but symbols refuse to load no matter what I do, so I can't get much more info out of it.

 

I am thinking of getting a Portege R830 because it has the following features which are important to me:13.3" screen, TPM security chip, lightweight, long battery life, large hard drive.

My one concern is that it might be a bit noisy - which I find quite irritating, especially in meeting environments. A couple of reviews from summer 2011 reported that it is notably audible even when the machine is idle or with low loads, and it gets very noisy when under heavy load.

However, summer 2011 was a while ago and any noise issues may have been resolved by now through driver updates.

Therefore I'd appreciate peoples opinions and experiences of the noise level of this laptop.

 

No noise has been fixed via drivers AFAIK
However I'm sure there is something you can do about it. There is an "eco mode". If you keep the CPU cool enough, the fan wont be as loud, so a repaste and underclocking the CPU could help.

I'll give it a try and see if I can't get it to quiet down.

 

What sort of idle temperatures should I expect on this? I am installing some Windows Updates and it is currently at 60-65 degrees C and even peaked to 89 degrees Celsius.

This is definitely not normal.... When I first turn on my computer, it starts idling at around 50-55 degrees....

 

sounds spot on to me, exactly how my R700 behaves i'd say

 

I will have to see. I remember getting idle temperatures of high 30s, low 40s degrees Celsius on other laptops.

 

i have 55 degrees on mine right now as i type this and thats with itunes, 5 inet tabs and hwmon running and thats its, so essentially idle. and its sat at that constantly, no issues

 

I have the same problem with my Satellite R830-181.
Even with all the things you mentioned disabled, the battery still loses power when off.
There must be something in the laptop that's draining power even when switched off.
Have you tried removing the battery and seeing if that makes a difference?

 

That's a heck of a drain! As to what bbsix said, also, what happens if you DO use sleep mode? I will have to try this on my x775, my ul30 will sleep for 2 or 3 days then hibernate.


I left my X775 unplugged when out of town for four weeks.

Battery dead, 0 percent when booted yesterday. The battery came back to 100% but I'm now at 11% wear in overall capacity.

This may be a function of the Sleep and Charge port both these models have?

 

Seems to be a new BIOS update that may addresses the issue:
ACPI Flash BIOS version 3.70 for Portege R830

**EDIT**
It's also supposed to fix USB 3.0 problems, confirmed above and here: http://forums.toshiba.com/t5/Windows-7/Portege-R835-USB-port-problem-wireless-mouse-amp-keyboard/m-p/297672#M9619

 

I figured out why I couldn't load symbols (i.e., function names): the output file was not being created successfully in C:\, even when xperf is run as admin. For a while I thought the output was kernel.etl, but apparently it's just an intermediate working file that misses out on some postprocessing. Writing the output to my document directory worked better.

Still can't figure out how to fix the bug though, sigh. Changing power plans doesn't help, and this registry tweak doesn't help.

 

Bro, you have both laptops, can you tell me their real weight, I mean people says that R835 is heavier than R700, is it truth?