Hi,

I've had this convertible tablet for about half a year, and some
annoyances have developed that might be due to software. Maybe someone
has experienced these same annoyances and knows a fix?

System: XP SP2 TPC Edition 2005 and 2005 recognizer pack, Wacom tablet
drv's, all available "new" Acer drivers and tools (all date before
06/2004, *cough*) and v1.08 c302 bios, Intel's own centrino/wlan drivers
(acer's "newest" intel wlan drivers are old and buggy).

1) Minor prob: I've set the XP Start Menu (Properties=>Start Menu,
Customize) to display network connections as a "Connect to menu". The
menu shows only the icons for the bluetooth and wlan connection. The LAN
connection is missing from the list.
Any ideas how to make it visible in that list?
The reason it would be useful to have there: XP doesn't switch IP
traffic over to WLAN if the LAN port is still enabled yet the network
cable already unplugged. Despite XP's network settings that WLAN should
take precedence over LAN.

2) A larger annoyance is that when running off the battery in tablet
mode (and only in tablet mode...), for some reason XP randomly decides
to put the tablet into system standy / suspend.
Takes ~3s to bring it back up again. Earlier this sometimes happened at
close to 40% of battery charge left, but in the last month it seems to
happen randomly from 80% downwards. It's only in tablet and not in
laptop mode, and may happen even while I'm writing something on the TIP,
and happens despite System Standby being enabled _nowhere_ (nowhere in
XP's Power Options Properties, and the Acer tools don't have any special
control tool either that might allow to override these settings). XP's
Event Viewer displays nothing.

Any thoughts what program or setting might be causing this?

Are there any tools for ACPI debugging so I could see which program or
driver requests a system standy?

3) When in tablet mode (landscape or portrait) and I move the pen along
the screen edge where the acer logo and the tablet buttons are, the
cursor wobbles back and forth in a pulsed fashion (left/right in
portrait orientation) moving by ~5mm and at a low frequency of about 5Hz
or so, which looks really weird. This has been happening for a longer
time already, doesn't appear to get worse though. XP's calibration tool
doesn't help. In laptop mode the cursor position is rock solid at that
problem edge. All other screen edges are work fine.

Anyone found something similar?

Could this be a hardware problem, reason to send the c302 in?

(there are not many c302xmi's here in .FI to compare if they've the same
prob... and acer warranty repair service takes a whopping 1-2 weeks, i'm
told...)

Thanks!

- Jan

Jan, have you reinstalled your drivers since updating to Windows XP SP2 and
the Tablet PC Edition 2005? We've noted some driver-related issues where
the massive changes in XP SP2 to the Registry have affected the performance.

As for (1) Do you have the wireless turned on at the time you're looking in
Network Connections? Personally, I don't run ("enable") more than one
networking device at a time because I've seen two or more devices attempt to
"bridge." By this (and haven't seen it in XP SP2, with the improved
networking), I mean it used to be a sometimes seen issue where devices would
bridge with each other.

(2) I would contact the OEM support section on the battery issue. It
sounds as if it is no longer holding a full charge, thus triggering a
self-protection mode by shutting down the system. You may want to check in
the Acer settings. I seem to recall some OEM-specific settings, but don't
recall where they exist - perhaps off All Programs like a regular program
install.

One of the very good built-in troubleshooting tools is in Control
Panel/Administrative Tools/Event Viewer. If you tap Application or System
in the left pane, "events" will be revealed in the right pane where you can
look for either yellow triangles with black exclamation point or red circles
with white X's in them. Those can then be right-clicked with a selection of
Properties to reveal a portion of the error, then tracked down.

(3) This may be a issue with the digital recognizer on your unit, if it is
appearing on the same screen location, no matter the display orientation.
Again, that would be an item to talk with the OEM support folks about for a
solution.
--
Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
Tablet Creations - http://nicecreations.us/
Associate Expert
Expert Zone - www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone


"Jan Wagner" <no_spam@thanks.net> wrote in message
news:u1lKb6L$EHA.4092@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> Hi,
>
> I've had this convertible tablet for about half a year, and some
> annoyances have developed that might be due to software. Maybe someone has
> experienced these same annoyances and knows a fix?
>
> System: XP SP2 TPC Edition 2005 and 2005 recognizer pack, Wacom tablet
> drv's, all available "new" Acer drivers and tools (all date before
> 06/2004, *cough*) and v1.08 c302 bios, Intel's own centrino/wlan drivers
> (acer's "newest" intel wlan drivers are old and buggy).
>
> 1) Minor prob: I've set the XP Start Menu (Properties=>Start Menu,
> Customize) to display network connections as a "Connect to menu". The menu
> shows only the icons for the bluetooth and wlan connection. The LAN
> connection is missing from the list.
> Any ideas how to make it visible in that list?
> The reason it would be useful to have there: XP doesn't switch IP traffic
> over to WLAN if the LAN port is still enabled yet the network cable
> already unplugged. Despite XP's network settings that WLAN should take
> precedence over LAN.
>
> 2) A larger annoyance is that when running off the battery in tablet mode
> (and only in tablet mode...), for some reason XP randomly decides to put
> the tablet into system standy / suspend.
> Takes ~3s to bring it back up again. Earlier this sometimes happened at
> close to 40% of battery charge left, but in the last month it seems to
> happen randomly from 80% downwards. It's only in tablet and not in laptop
> mode, and may happen even while I'm writing something on the TIP, and
> happens despite System Standby being enabled _nowhere_ (nowhere in XP's
> Power Options Properties, and the Acer tools don't have any special
> control tool either that might allow to override these settings). XP's
> Event Viewer displays nothing.
>
> Any thoughts what program or setting might be causing this?
>
> Are there any tools for ACPI debugging so I could see which program or
> driver requests a system standy?
>
> 3) When in tablet mode (landscape or portrait) and I move the pen along
> the screen edge where the acer logo and the tablet buttons are, the cursor
> wobbles back and forth in a pulsed fashion (left/right in portrait
> orientation) moving by ~5mm and at a low frequency of about 5Hz or so,
> which looks really weird. This has been happening for a longer time
> already, doesn't appear to get worse though. XP's calibration tool doesn't
> help. In laptop mode the cursor position is rock solid at that problem
> edge. All other screen edges are work fine.
>
> Anyone found something similar?
>
> Could this be a hardware problem, reason to send the c302 in?
>
> (there are not many c302xmi's here in .FI to compare if they've the same
> prob... and acer warranty repair service takes a whopping 1-2 weeks, i'm
> told...)
>
> Thanks!
>
> - Jan

Jan,

I don't know about the first question but here's a thought on the other two:

As for the random standby, if it only happens in tablet mode then I would
suspect a key is getting pressed on the keyboard that is engaging standby.
Try changing the function of the keyboard standby keys to hibernate. If the
unit starts hibernating instead of sleeping you found the problem and can
then change the key to do nothing. Acers have a switch (don't know where on
the 302) that can tell them the case is closed in laptop mode. If this
switch is bad and set to cause standby that could cause the problem too. You
can disable the action from the Power options so when you close the case it
does nothing.

The screen issue could be by design. The acer 110 series has a spot over the
speaker that has poor pen response due to the magnets in the speaker. If the
problem is only in tablet mode this is probably the issue and might get a
bit better with warrantee service...or might not.

Jeff

"Jan Wagner" <no_spam@thanks.net> wrote in message
news:u1lKb6L$EHA.4092@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> Hi,
>
> I've had this convertible tablet for about half a year, and some
> annoyances have developed that might be due to software. Maybe someone has
> experienced these same annoyances and knows a fix?
>
> System: XP SP2 TPC Edition 2005 and 2005 recognizer pack, Wacom tablet
> drv's, all available "new" Acer drivers and tools (all date before
> 06/2004, *cough*) and v1.08 c302 bios, Intel's own centrino/wlan drivers
> (acer's "newest" intel wlan drivers are old and buggy).
>
> 1) Minor prob: I've set the XP Start Menu (Properties=>Start Menu,
> Customize) to display network connections as a "Connect to menu". The menu
> shows only the icons for the bluetooth and wlan connection. The LAN
> connection is missing from the list.
> Any ideas how to make it visible in that list?
> The reason it would be useful to have there: XP doesn't switch IP traffic
> over to WLAN if the LAN port is still enabled yet the network cable
> already unplugged. Despite XP's network settings that WLAN should take
> precedence over LAN.
>
> 2) A larger annoyance is that when running off the battery in tablet mode
> (and only in tablet mode...), for some reason XP randomly decides to put
> the tablet into system standy / suspend.
> Takes ~3s to bring it back up again. Earlier this sometimes happened at
> close to 40% of battery charge left, but in the last month it seems to
> happen randomly from 80% downwards. It's only in tablet and not in laptop
> mode, and may happen even while I'm writing something on the TIP, and
> happens despite System Standby being enabled _nowhere_ (nowhere in XP's
> Power Options Properties, and the Acer tools don't have any special
> control tool either that might allow to override these settings). XP's
> Event Viewer displays nothing.
>
> Any thoughts what program or setting might be causing this?
>
> Are there any tools for ACPI debugging so I could see which program or
> driver requests a system standy?
>
> 3) When in tablet mode (landscape or portrait) and I move the pen along
> the screen edge where the acer logo and the tablet buttons are, the cursor
> wobbles back and forth in a pulsed fashion (left/right in portrait
> orientation) moving by ~5mm and at a low frequency of about 5Hz or so,
> which looks really weird. This has been happening for a longer time
> already, doesn't appear to get worse though. XP's calibration tool doesn't
> help. In laptop mode the cursor position is rock solid at that problem
> edge. All other screen edges are work fine.
>
> Anyone found something similar?
>
> Could this be a hardware problem, reason to send the c302 in?
>
> (there are not many c302xmi's here in .FI to compare if they've the same
> prob... and acer warranty repair service takes a whopping 1-2 weeks, i'm
> told...)
>
> Thanks!
>
> - Jan

Thanks Chris and Jeff!

I've now asked Acer support about these issues (pointer developing
wiggle, battery charge/sudden standy), let's see what they respond, hope
it qualifies for a warranty repair... plus those worn out keys on the
keyboard...

Chris H. wrote:
> Jan, have you reinstalled your drivers since updating to Windows XP SP2 and
> the Tablet PC Edition 2005? We've noted some driver-related issues where
> the massive changes in XP SP2 to the Registry have affected the performance.

I now installed the newest wacom drivers from december 04, but it didn't
help => hardware issue...

> As for (1) Do you have the wireless turned on at the time you're looking in
> Network Connections? Personally, I don't run ("enable") more than one
> networking device at a time because I've seen two or more devices attempt to
> "bridge." By this (and haven't seen it in XP SP2, with the improved
> networking), I mean it used to be a sometimes seen issue where devices would
> bridge with each other.

In XP I think you'd have to manually enable briding in network settings
somewhere, so it's a bit "safer". Still, I do the same as you, disable
one and enable the other. Safes a bit of battery power.

Anyway, I just updated to the newest Broadcom drivers for the LAN, after
noticing that the drivers that Acer provided are lagging behind for ~3
release versions. Now it appears to work properly - when I unplug the
LAN cable, then enable WLAN, traffic over WLAN works (which it didn't,
before :)

thanks!
- Jan

Hope everything works out, Jan.
--
Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
Tablet Creations - http://nicecreations.us/
Associate Expert
Expert Zone - www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone


"Jan Wagner" <no_spam@thanks.net> wrote in message
news:%23SdGoeX$EHA.1524@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
>
> Thanks Chris and Jeff!
>
> I've now asked Acer support about these issues (pointer developing wiggle,
> battery charge/sudden standy), let's see what they respond, hope it
> qualifies for a warranty repair... plus those worn out keys on the
> keyboard...
>
> Chris H. wrote:
>> Jan, have you reinstalled your drivers since updating to Windows XP SP2
>> and the Tablet PC Edition 2005? We've noted some driver-related issues
>> where the massive changes in XP SP2 to the Registry have affected the
>> performance.
>
> I now installed the newest wacom drivers from december 04, but it didn't
> help => hardware issue...
>
>> As for (1) Do you have the wireless turned on at the time you're looking
>> in Network Connections? Personally, I don't run ("enable") more than one
>> networking device at a time because I've seen two or more devices attempt
>> to "bridge." By this (and haven't seen it in XP SP2, with the improved
>> networking), I mean it used to be a sometimes seen issue where devices
>> would bridge with each other.
>
> In XP I think you'd have to manually enable briding in network settings
> somewhere, so it's a bit "safer". Still, I do the same as you, disable one
> and enable the other. Safes a bit of battery power.
>
> Anyway, I just updated to the newest Broadcom drivers for the LAN, after
> noticing that the drivers that Acer provided are lagging behind for ~3
> release versions. Now it appears to work properly - when I unplug the LAN
> cable, then enable WLAN, traffic over WLAN works (which it didn't, before
> :)
>
> thanks!
> - Jan