no help or suggestions for atheros ar5b97 problems?

So what's wrong with your unit? I'll give the issue a go.

Biff, I'm pretty sure I know what's happening with your unit. I happen to have the same unit sitting next to me (a friends) and I see what you were describing with the drivers, but the device is working perfectly. I doubt very seriously you have a driver issue. Windows updates will only refuse to install sp1 for a very limited number of reasons. With that in mind, and with what you've described, it sounds a lot like your copy of Windows is corrupt. Essentially it ha sfiles that are causing the instabilities, and likely the playback problem as well. Because of these issues Windows update will not give the option to install the sp1. System instabilities can also cause wireless issues like you're desribing. There are a number of things that could cause this. It could be that the recovery partition just isn't set up right or has corrupt files. It could also be that your hard drive isn't working properly and is failing to read/write certain files. Another possibility is that you have a defective memory module and files are being corrupted as they pass through. If your tech did his job properly he would have tested the memory as well as the hdd, but there's always a chance that he missed something.

So here's what I suggest. Call Acer directly and tell them you are having issues with your recovery partition not copying files over properly. They will go over your options with you but really you just need some recovery disks. You can use the recovery disks to install a fresh copy of Windows without errors to your unit. Now that may very well solve the issue, but let's say it doesn't. That will confirm 100% that you have a hardware issue and your unit just needs either a new hdd or memory module. You have the option of having Acer send you replacement parts and doing it yourself or sending the unit in.

Hi Biff, it's no problem. I know how frustrating it can be to have issues with your computer and not having anyone who knows how to fix it haha. I'll first say that I too live in Canada, and I have dealt with Staples in the past. They do have their own repair center but from my experience (which is actually quite a bit with them) they are not even CLOSE to as tech savvy as Acer's own technicians. They do not use the Acer repair center. I found that out a long time ago. I had a client who bought a unit at Staples, and it had issues right from the start. So she brought the unit back to staples (after a day) and rather than exchange the device they said they would send it to Acer for repairs. What they actually did was send it to THEIR center. They did some repairs and sent the unit back. Not even two days after receiving the unit back it stopped working again. This happened three times before finally she asked me to deal with them. I called Acer for her and explained her situation, how it had been sent in three times and despite owning the unit for a month she had not even had a chance to use it. The Acer rep told me that Staples sent the unit to their center and Acer had never even been informed of the issue (later confirmed with Staples). Apparently he was able to see the repairs that were done, but because the device had never passed through the Acer facility they had to follow standard procedure and send it in for repairs. I had been upset as my client wanted a replacement, but what could I say? He was right, they had never had a chance to inspect the unit so why would they replace it? Long story short, Acer repaired the unit in something like 4 days, it came back with absolutlely no issues. Turns out the mainboard needed replacing, and Staples had replaced the HDD 3 times. So I have NOTHING nice to say about the competency of Staples techs....

As for your recovery disks, I really can't say if they will charge you or not. Acer systems ask the user to burn a copy of the disks the first time you use it. The issue is that a lot of retailers are doing the initial setup and therefore skip that screen. Again this sort of falls into the category of "Acer isn't at fault here". In Canada they charge roughly $20 for recovery disks to cover shipping, but you would have to contact Acer to find out for sure.

About the disks you burnt. If you have a corrupted copy of Windows in your backup partition, I can tell you that your disks won't work either. They are created using the image stored on the partition, so if there are corrupt files they would be copied over to the disks directly. You can try to use your disks if you like, and if they don't work I would bring that up to the Acer rep . 

I can assure you 100% that your brothers disks will not work. Systems with Windows preinstalled have a special Windows edition. Even using a copy for a different model of the same mark will usually not work. I would just call Acer, they're usually very reasonable. You just have to be a little patient with them from time to time.

As for how Windows can become corrupt. There are so many ways that it can happen it's ridiculous. It's unlikely that the image was copied to your disk with errors on it, Acer would have caught that long before you ever would have noticed it. So if it's on only certain units we can assume that either the HDD would have read/write problems and it messed up the files while copying them over in their facility. Another thing is that if you have memory issues your system could have corrupted the files while reading them during your initial setup. Another thing to keep in mind is that these units aren't made in Canada. That being said they have to be imported. And despite Canada not having the most strict borders in the world we do in fact do security checks on most imports. And the fact that they use sensors and magnets to check for contraband is worth noting. Last I checked hard drives don't like magnets very much haha.

There's something you should know about Acer though. You'll hear a lot of complaining about their products, but you don't have to look very hard to see a lot of complaining about any other mark either. There's a very simple reason for this. All the computers on the market today are made using the same parts. Now don't take that too literally, there are obviously different parts, but you'll find that Acer uses the same mainboard and processors as other manufacturers do on some of their machines. Simply put, Acer is a company that takes parts from companies like Intel, AMD, ATI, Crucial, Kingston, Realtek, AMI, Award, and so on and so fourth, and puts them into their casing. Just like every other manufacturer does. 90% of the time that something goes wrong with one of these systems its a Windows issue. If not, it'll be something like a wireless card made by another company, and that's used in HP systems, ASUS, Dell, Toshiba... The simple truth is that this issue could have happened "and likely is happening" with every other computer manufacturer.

The real difference is in warranties. Some people complain about Acer's warranty and say it's not as good as say HP's, or dell, whoever. They say things like, now that I'm out of warranty Acer won't help me. Well try and call HP out of warranty and see where that gets you. They offered to sell me a battery out of warranty for $220. Ridiculous. I would suggest just contacting Acer directly and discussing your situation with them.

And finally, you're very welcome Biff. It was a pleasure to help you. Keep in mind though that most of the users of this forum aren't the most technically inclined. They're here for help more than answers haha. If you need anything else feel free to post it on here and I'll try to help you out. And keep in mind that kudos button!

Here you go 800-816-2237. Not a stupid question at all, I know it's not easy finding their info. I don't really think it's that they're hiding, I think it's more that they want to promote the web contact. The more it gets used the more they get to develop it. Anyhow, call them up and see how it goes haha.

Take care,

ScottyC