No >1 arrow key input? Aspire V3-772G

My hardware

- Aspire V3-772G-747a8G50Makk

My software

- I have all latest Windows and other products from Microsoft Update installed. Plus a little extra, the Windows 8.1 Preview.

- I have the latest DirectX version installed. Confirmed by dxdiag to be "DirectX 11" and by running the DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer.

- I have the latest NVIDIA drivers installed. Confirmed by the System Information window to be 326.01, and confirmed by the NVIDIA driver update option from the notification tray icon to be the latest driver version available.

My configuration/settings

I've tried to keep all settings on default.

My problems

I can not use two arrow keys at once. One by one, the keys work, but if I keep the first key pressed and then press a second arrow key, the input of the first one will be overwritten as if I'm only pressing the second arrow key, while I'm actually now pressing two keys at once.

I've tried this in multiple games with the same results. Using the default input settings which are usually arrow keys for racing games, the games are unplayable. I'd have to repress the up arrow every time after making a turn, because pressing two keys at once simply doesn't work.

Rebinding the keys to anything but the arrow keys does work, binding W to accelerate for instance (default is up arrow). You can then press W + one of the arrow keys to steer and the input will work but this is a pretty unacceptable solution for such a silly problem.

Second problem.

The Acer Live Updater that came with this laptop by default keeps showing "Reboot needed" while I've been using this laptop for a few weeks (so I've rebooted it multiple times) yet the message doesn't dissapear.

Accepted answers

All comments

tmonda53

Have the same problem man, let me know if you figure it out

Vince53

Nil, you answered one question for me: it is possible to install Windows 8.1 on a laptop without destroying it. You might have destroyed your drivers, but your rig is still running well. I intend to install 8.1 on my desktop, but not my laptop.

Your rig is telling you to reboot because the original operating system isn't booting up properly. That's because you got rid of it. With all the hassles that people are having after changing their operating system, you've gotten off easy. You can't get rid of the message without convincing your BIOS chip that 8.1 is now your operating system, plus you have to convince all your internal checks that there is no problem. So I would just ignore it, which is what you're doing anyway.

Nilsb7

tmonda53 wrote:
Have the same problem man, let me know if you figure it out
Will do.

Vince53 wrote:
Nil, you answered one question for me: it is possible to install Windows 8.1 on a laptop without destroying it. You might have destroyed your drivers, but your rig is still running well. I intend to install 8.1 on my desktop, but not my laptop.

Your rig is telling you to reboot because the original operating system isn't booting up properly. That's because you got rid of it. With all the hassles that people are having after changing their operating system, you've gotten off easy. You can't get rid of the message without convincing your BIOS chip that 8.1 is now your operating system, plus you have to convince all your internal checks that there is no problem. So I would just ignore it, which is what you're doing anyway.

The drivers are not destroyed, well they were, don't know if that's W8.1's fault as well, but the latest nvidia drivers installed without problems (Ok not quite, I just tried to check the driver version and notice that Nvidia tray icon had dissapeared again. Aparrently the only way to upgrade drivers is by uninstalling, rebooting, installing). But, its working now, I'm running 327.23.

I don't understand why (as you explained) 8.1 is supposed to be a completely new operating system, AFAIK it's just an update. Don't understand what the BIOS chip has to do with this either, or what internal checks you're talking about..

Thanks for the info anyways.

Vince53

Nil Old Buddy, Microsoft has labelled Windows 8.1 an update for tax purposes only. By itself, 8.1 is a complete operating system. It is similar to Windows 8, with most features being identical.

My first computer had Windows 3.11--it was a complete operating system, not an upodate.

Nilsb7

Oh I thought it was simply their new way of naming service packs.

Rando

Hello there!

I have an Acer Aspire V3 772G as well and a I'm having the same issue with arrow keys that u mentioned in your post. It sure looks like its keyboard ghosting and and if Acer really desinged the keyboard like this then there is probably no fixing it. But having such a keyboard for a gaming laptop sure sounds weird soo if anyone from Acer could confirm if it really is ment to act like this i would be grateful.

Vince53

Nil and Rando, my Acer laptop is working fine. Yesterday I downloaded the free Parking Mania game from the Windows 8 store, and the kids at the orphanage (and one of the adult workers) love it. But the game requires you to use the arrow keys. And two arrows keys will not work at once (which makes parking your car pretty tough).

I have never heard of pressing two arrow keys at once, but these kids can beat several levels using one key at a time.

Rando

Well i still dont think its ment to do that since my brothers V3 771G is working fine. It*s kind of frustrating since i got this laptop 5 days ago and already ran into a problem. Probably gonna take it to the service since it stil has warranty. Nil I recommend you to do the same and Vince thanks for the quick reply and information u shared.

Nilsb7

I can't do that because I need my laptop for schoolwork pretty much every day of the week. I'll have to find some other ways to contact Acer Support. Currently lacking time though.

Vince53

Nil, I hope that you have a sense of humor. You can take your machine in while it is still under warranty. Then you buy a notebook for a couple of dollars. Then you buy an input device that is loaded with ink. Then you manually download the teacher's lecture into your notebook.

Believe me, that is a lot better than holding onto a defective laptop until after the warranty expires.

Nilsb7

I've installed Windows 8.1 (clean install) and the fault persists.

Nilsb7

bumpump

Rolf-Acer

The problem with the arrow-keys not registering properly on the V3-772 machines can be solved by updating your notebook to BIOS version 1.13.

Downloadlink here:

http://global-download.acer.com/GDFiles/BIOS/BIOS/BIOS_Acer_1.13_A_A.zip?acerid=635176841259416049&Step1=NOTEBOOK&Step2=ASPIRE&Step3=ASPIRE%20V3-772G&OS=ALL&LC=nl&BC=ACER&SC=EMEA_18

Make sure to have your notebook connected to power. Also, when starting the update, do not run any other programs and let the notebook do it's thing until it automatically reboots.

We had earlier notices of this complaint in October and this BIOS was specifically made to solve this problem (amongst other fixes).

Let me know how it works for you!

Nilsb7

Thanks for this. I'll give this a try and post my results ASAP.

Nilsb7

The BIOS update completed without problems.

My initial problem has been partially solved by updating the the v1.13 BIOS.

All 2 arrow combinations now work (yaay) but;

UP + DOWN + LEFT does not work

while

UP + DOWN + RIGHT does work

I wonder if this can be fixed through another BIOS update.

Sidenote:

Is there a way to get notified about new driver updates through an RSS feed for instance? That would be ideal.

I'm also looking for a changelog for any of these BIOS driver versions...

Rolf-Acer

Hello Nilsb7,

That is unfortunately true, three arrows simultaneously often don't work. This is a hardware-limitation of the keyboard. However, a triple-arrow combination is quite uncommon and does not work on many notebook keyboards.

I can imagine this is not very good news if you really need this combination. My advice: If you use this combination for a game, it's maybe a good idea to map the keys in the game to other then the arrows. For example, map them to the numpad, or to the WASD-keys or the IJKL keys. If that tip is useless, let me know what exactly you use it for. Maybe we can figure it out.

For your second question: You should be able to find the 'Acer Updater' tool on your PC. If you run this every once in a while you can get notified about all software updates on your notebook. You can also go into the settings of this tool and configure it to automatically check for you every day/week/month etc.

Let me know if this helps!

Rolf

Nilsb7

That is unfortunately true, three arrows simultaneously often don't work. This is a hardware-limitation of the keyboard.

This is a little dissapointing, I didn't expect a "gaming" laptop to have this limitation.

However, a triple-arrow combination is quite uncommon and does not work on many notebook keyboards.

I did not know that, oh well.

I can imagine this is not very good news if you really need this combination. My advice: If you use this combination for a game, it's maybe a good idea to map the keys in the game to other then the arrows. For example, map them to the numpad, or to the WASD-keys or the IJKL keys. If that tip is useless, let me know what exactly you use it for. Maybe we can figure it out.

I use it to make handbrake turns in Trackmania, but binding this to spacebar is easier anyways. That's all I would use it for though so it's not a big problem for me, I simply didn't expect the limitation as explained above.

For your second question: You should be able to find the 'Acer Updater' tool on your PC. If you run this every once in a while you can get notified about all software updates on your notebook. You can also go into the settings of this tool and configure it to automatically check for you every day/week/month etc.

I reinstalled (I had to completely reinstall W8.1 because I used the W8.1 PREVIEW before) the Live Updater (it seems to be called Acer Updater in the installation zip itself, which is weird) but this application seems to be having the same fault as I posted here (yea sorry about the wall of text.) once before. It shows 0 available updates and always shows a "Reboot needed" near the bottom which doesn't dissapear after rebooting, or shutting down and starting again...

So no changelog for the BIOS driver? Smiley Sad

Thanks for all the helpful info and advice Smiley Happy

Acer Live Updater.png

Rolf-Acer

It's a shame of the keyboard, I agree, but if there is only 1 game this key-combo is used in, I can imagine you don't really think of it as a big deal. I think it will also be really hard to find another game in wich you need 3-arrow combo's. The handbrake turns make sense, though. Well, since you use spacebar, allow me to count that part as 'solved' ;-)

For the updater, theres a few things to notice. First, the 'Reboot needed' message is often interpreted wrong. This message does not mean a reboot is needed right now. When you get updates available in your Updater, some updates can have the little orange icon behind them. The message at the bottom of the window is just an explanation that this orange icon means 'Reboot needed'. Hope this makes sense, I find it quite difficult to explain in English.

What is a problem though, is that it does not find any updates. True: It may be so that there aren't any updates from our side yet. But just to be sure, I'd advise you to deinstall Live Updater and then download and install the latest version again: http://global-download.acer.com/FilesDownload/ALU/LiveUpdater.exe

Hope this works out, let me know.

Nilsb7

It's a shame of the keyboard, I agree, but if there is only 1 game this key-combo is used in, I can imagine you don't really think of it as a big deal. I think it will also be really hard to find another game in wich you need 3-arrow combo's. The handbrake turns make sense, though. Well, since you use spacebar, allow me to count that part as 'solved' ;-)

Yep.

For the updater, theres a few things to notice. First, the 'Reboot needed' message is often interpreted wrong. This message does not mean a reboot is needed right now. When you get updates available in your Updater, some updates can have the little orange icon behind them. The message at the bottom of the window is just an explanation that this orange icon means 'Reboot needed'. Hope this makes sense, I find it quite difficult to explain in English.

Ah yes I understand it now. That's a weird way of doing it...

What is a problem though, is that it does not find any updates. True: It may be so that there aren't any updates from our side yet. But just to be sure, I'd advise you to deinstall Live Updater and then download and install the latest version again: http://global-download.acer.com/FilesDownload/ALU/LiveUpdater.exe

I had already installed the latest version that I found through http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/drivers . The latest version there is 2.00.3010. This seems to differ from the version that you send me, at least the installer is completely different.

Aha, your link installed the Acer Updater, so I now have the Acer Updater and the Live Updater installed. They both can't find any updates, then again I don't know if they should, the BIOS (which I updated already) and the Acer Updater / Live Updater are the only stock Acer things that I've got installed.

According to my installed programs list in windows;

Acer Updater Version 1.02.3502

Live Updater Version 2.00.3010

Which makes me wonder wether the Live updater is an updated version of the Acer updater and if so, why you send me a link to an outdated version? and if it's not an outdated version, why is there an outdated version on this http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/drivers page?

I see you've dodged my changelog question 2 times already. Smiley Indifferent

Thanks for all the info.

Rolf-Acer

Ok, let's first take the changelog question first: Sorry I did not answer it before, that was not on purpose. I jussed missed the question completely!

I do not have the changelog for the BIOS unfortunately. They are commonly not released outside our HQ. I'm sorry, that's as far as I can get with that request.

For the Liveupdater.. I think I might have given you the wrong link. The Live Updater you use is indeed the latest one and the best version. Apologies. If you have installed the latest version and it can still not find any drivers, I wonder if there are updates at all.

I suggest you check some of the drivers you currently have (for example lets say your wifi driver) and check on our downloadpage if the driver offered there is the same one. You can see the version of your current driver via 'Device Manager' wich you can access by pressing the Windowskey + X simultaneously in the Live Tiles startscreen.

Awaiting your info.

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