Windows 10 update 1809 breaks my acer switch 11v SW5-173

BorisZX6R

Hi everyone,

a couple of months ago I received the 1809 update and immediately after install I noticed it broke my switch 11v. Upon startup the loading circle just stops after one revolution and does not move. The system never boots up. I have tried to start it up several times by hard restart and nothing worked. After a few attempts the system would attempt repair which also fails or I get presented with a blue screen DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION. The only time it would boot up is when entering the UEFI BIOS and making no changes but just exiting. I have tried fixing it but nothing helps. Even in booted up state I would after a while be presented with DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION blue screen and laptop would restart. I have tried resetting the system and completely erasing everything but the issue remains. Then I tried restoring from a recovery image I had created when the laptop was purchased. Voila works like a charm. Meanwhile the update was pulled by microsoft for wiping users data and all was fine for a while. Then a few nights ago the update appeared again and windows automatically updated to 1809 and I have the same problems again... I have loaded a windows 1803 image from scratch and disabled windows update but that is not a long term solution as all windows updates are disabled.

Is there anyone who had the same issue - I assume all switch 11v are affected. Is there any solution to this problem?

I assume it is either something BIOS related since it happens right away at startup or maybe even driver related...

Is there any way Acer will look into this problem ?

Found the same issue reported on a microsoft site. If you scroll down a bit you will see switch 11v mentioned and several people confirming the same issue on the same machine.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-update/unable-to-update-windows-10-to-v1809-freezing-at/df840327-db26-4fce-9394-303a0977fef9?messageId=d37db46a-d57f-4ce6-8653-35c1d895f4d5&auth=1&page=11

Regards,

BorisZX6R

billsey

I would think it more likely to be a disk space issue than something that affects all Switch 11v models. How much room do you have?

BorisZX6R

billsey said:

I would think it more likely to be a disk space issue than something that affects all Switch 11v models. How much room do you have?

Don't want to sound ignorant but I know a thing or two about computers and am certainly no noob.

This has nothing to do with disk space but for the sake of argument i have 90+ GB free.

Not sure how you even got to the conclusion that this is disk space related?!

Also if several users of the same exact model report the same exact behavior, that usually means that most if not all user will be affected.

I assure you this is 1809 update related since I have installed Windows 10 1803 from scratch and there are no problems, but as soon as the update to 1809 happens the problems start happening. Also I have installed Windos 10 1809 from scratch and the issue appears right away.

When I say installed from scratch I mean by using an official windows 10 installation image and installing it on blank SSD, all partitions removed prior to installation.

Regards,

BorisZX6R

billsey

The reason I lean toward disk space on these models is many of them ship with small SSDs, and often they have less that the 10-15GB needed to download and install the larger updates. If you have 90GB free, your model likely has the 128GB SSD and disk space shouldn't be an issue for the update.

Now, have you looked at the log files the update process generates? They often will give an insight into what's failing. I'm assuming you don't have peripherals connected that might be hanging things...

BorisZX6R

Initially I have not looked at the logs. Just for the sake of exercise and proving it would happen again I have performed the update again and all is fine even if restarted until I shut the computer down. Then on cold boot this is where the issue begins manifesting itself. I am not sure if it has anything to do with this constant on feature that is popular now where there is always low power in the unit showing battery status etc.
I have looked at the logs in the event viewer and as mostly with windows they are quite useless.
However I am happy to provide any logs for viewing.
So far from what I have seen, I can only assume a bios update is needed to fix this problem...From hard boot it gets stuck on the loading circle.
Once you enter uefi bios and exit discarding changes - it boots up just fine.
Almost like it needs power and then a delay and then boot explained in simple terms.

No, there are no peripherals connected whatsoever. And installed programs are at a minimum.

7-zip
firefox

billsey

Yeah, that's a weird one for sure. It sounds like the 1809 update itself is successful, so the update logs won't help much. It just that something is going wrong with the UEFI boot. What we're going to want to look at is the boot logs, and you have to turn them on before they'll be generated. Fire up msconfig.exe and in the System Configuration window, go to the Boot tab and check the with option Boot Log under Boot options to enable the Boot log feature. After a boot attempt that fails, do your UEFI trick and boot so you can look at the log. It'll be at C:\Windows\ntbtlog.txt.

BorisZX6R

Thank you for the input - that was a great idea. Sadly it seems inconclusive...

It does not seem like the logging even starts at this point....

It seems that only the successful boot is logged.

This is really frustrating...

I will check if there is a way to enable post messages like on older windows machines so it actually displays on-screen what is happening at that time.

I have included the boot log.

gosammy1971

Same for me

1809 clean install, after some time (windows updates?) it does no longer boot

Bios trick does help for fresh start from power off. Wakeup from power save sometimes ends with

black screen. Hard boot needed.

I expect a patch by Microsoft or Driver/BIOS update by Acer, depending on the root cause of this problem.

When its an acer problem and they dont deliver patches/updates, then they end on my black list.

billsey

Yeah, the bootlog is not showing the UEFI portion of the boot, just what happens when Windows starts to load. What that does tell us is that the failures are happening before Windows even tries to load, so either a BIOS or UEFI issue. You might try some of the normal boot repair options by booting from install media and then doing the sfc, dism and bootrec repairs from the command line. I'm leaning toward something corrupted in the UEFI partition, but that will be rebuilt as part of the repair process.

gosammy1971

I dont think that this is a installation problem,
i have clean reinstalled 1803 and updated to 1809 with updates ... problem exists
i have clean installed 1809, after windows updates ... problem exists

sfc/dism/bootrec can only fix problems of a specific installation, the problem exists with clean installations (remove all partitions before)

With Fast Boot disabled the problem only exists whit shutdown or longer standby .. reboot windows works.
I think this is something with power save features in Win or UEFI

BorisZX6R

Hmmm the thing is this is not during UEFI part (I can always boot to UEFI just fine) - it is during the windows boot part. The acer logo is displayed and the windows loading circle is displayed and that is where the circle freezes and the boot does not continue. I also clean installed windows 1809 from the Microsoft windows image and the issue is apparent right away. If I install a clean 1803 also from a Microsoft image - everything works just fine... Frustrating...

goSammy

@ answers.microsoft.com i have read that a Switch 11v user got an answer from Acer: "not supported OS, not our problem"

--> my conclusion: never buy acer again

BorisZX6R

goSammy said:

@ answers.microsoft.com i have read that a Switch 11v user got an answer from Acer: "not supported OS, not our problem"

--> my conclusion: never buy acer again

I have read the same before and I hope that is not true because that would really suck and would definitely steer me away from anything Acer in the future...

Also it is Windows 10 that shipped with the machine, so just an update should not cause the system to become unusable.

I wonder how many of these Switch 11v models were sold and what happened to them ?! I am sure all of them are experiencing the same symptoms if updated to 1809...

Matkitos1

Exactmy same issues here with same model. Only solution so far: not to update and hope for quick action from Acer to solve it...

Sha_Chan

I have exactly same issue with same model I have.   Acer needs to be fixed this problem for the user of this machie.

goSammy

The support send  me a mail how to install a gpu driver update with a link to a new intel driver that ist for newer chipsets than skylake and not for broadwell

And gpu driver does not fix the boot problem, maybe it can fix the blue screen when the system is booted.

goSammy

Now they want me to install the driver : Intel_VGA_20.19.15.4703_W10x64_BA.zip
from ftp://ftp.acer-euro.com/Software/Driver/VGA/

but no success, cant install the driver

My current installed version is 20.19.15.4531

And i dont think, that the support people understand that the main problem is the boot problem,

not the bluescreen when the system is charging or not fully charged.

Silurian

Same issue on my Acer Switch 11v.

I think it is related to the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controller. It appears that the 1809 update reverts the IDE controller back to a basic/default one and not the Intel SATA one.

I installed the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (Intel® RST) User Interface and Driver to see if that will fix the issue. After installing, the device manager shows the correct INTEL SATA controller. So far, it seems to be working.

Intel Download: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/26759/Intel-Rapid-Storage-Technology-Intel-RST-User-Interface-and-Driver?product=55005

File: SetupRST.exe

BorisZX6R

Silurian said:

Same issue on my Acer Switch 11v.

I think it is related to the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controller. It appears that the 1809 update reverts the IDE controller back to a basic/default one and not the Intel SATA one.

I installed the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (Intel® RST) User Interface and Driver to see if that will fix the issue. After installing, the device manager shows the correct INTEL SATA controller. So far, it seems to be working.

Intel Download: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/26759/Intel-Rapid-Storage-Technology-Intel-RST-User-Interface-and-Driver?product=55005

File: SetupRST.exe

That is great news!

I have reverted to 1803 on my device and set the connection to metered so it does not download the updates automatically... but if this is an actual fix that is awesome! Maybe I can update to 1809 some time just to test...

Please report back if there are any issues, especially after performing several shut downs and cold boots.

The issue, if it persists should become apparent right away I guess....

goSammy

Does not help, from complete power off it does not boot

RmcgPhoto

I have the exact same problem as BorisZX6R. Updated to 1809 and boot stops after "Acer explore beyond limits message" and dot circle does partial rotation, then freezes. If I keep trying, I get message "Preparing Automatic Repair", which also freezes. Since this first happened, it actually did boot successfully once - just long enough to recover my data - and now it no longer boots again.

If anyone can suggest a work around so I can boot and roll back to pre 1809 I'd be grateful.