Iconia W-4 randomly restarts

Marshal
Marshal Member Posts: 8 New User
in 2014 Archives

Well, like the topic says the tablet just tandomly restarts itself. I've barely had it long enough to update Acer's drivers, uninstall the factory apps I'll never use, and update windows. Doing all of that helped stabilize it some, now it testarts every 20-30 minutes instead of every 10. I'm new to tablets and windows 8, so thats about all I know to do to gix the little booger and internet searches haven't shed any light on the topic. Anyone here have any suggestions?

Best Answer

  • Alan-London
    Alan-London ACE Posts: 793 Pioneer
    Answer ✓

    My reference to 'vanilla' means 'straight out of the box' - no updates, no additional software installed, nothing.
    If you can stand doing a complete and total factory restore to 'as shipped' state you will at least be able to see if the two drivers are having problems then. (You may wish to save any files, pictures or whatever first.) If you still have issues it may indicate a hardware or software problem. If so, you could contact Acer support for advice or perhaps have the unit exchanged by your supplier.

     

Answers

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,246 Trailblazer

    Do you get any error messages when the problem shows up? If not then the Event Log might have some clues...

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • Marshal
    Marshal Member Posts: 8 New User

    I'll have to check the event logs, didn't think to check there because there aren't any error messages. The tablet just reboots the same as it would if I brought up the settings and hit restart. It doesn't seem to have a specific trigger either, just restarts itself on it's own whim.

  • Alan-London
    Alan-London ACE Posts: 793 Pioneer

    A long shot but you may also like to check the task scheduler. Perhaps a task is still present that requires one of the removed apps. It shouldn't normally cause any issues as any non associated scheduled task should simply gracefully exit but you never know.

     

  • Marshal
    Marshal Member Posts: 8 New User

    Well, I've played with it a lot over the past couple of days. The errors in the event log are as follows:

     

    "The description from event ID 1 from source DptfpolicylpmService cannot be found. Either the companent that raises this event is not installed on your local computer or the installation is corrupted. You can install or repair the component on the local computer.

     

    If the event originated on another computer, the display information had to be saved with the event.

     

    The following information was included with the event:

     

    Dptfpolicylpmservice

    SeviceMain Thread: App specific mode was turned off, but timer was not running."

     

    and

     

    "Intel Trusted Execution Engine Interface driver has failed to perform handshake with the firmware."

     

    I tried recovery operations, a full system restore to reinstall any manufacturer apps I deleted that might have been important, and uninstalling the antivirus (Panda Antivirus) just to see if any of that was associated with the problem, but no joy. I can't seem to find these drivers online, so repairing and reinstalling them seems to be out of the question. I think this tablet might have to be returned for a replacement, because I'm officially at a dead end on this issue.

  • Alan-London
    Alan-London ACE Posts: 793 Pioneer

    Your DptfpolicylpmService error is probably not an issue (there are many errors that Microsoft say are not issues and can be safely ignored - Schannel for example). I first received the error 12 minutes after first power up. This would have been during initial setup. I have not experienced any reboots (or any problems) as a result of this error.

     

    While I have seen numerous reset warning messages for the Intel Trusted Execution Engine Interface, I have never had 'failed to perform handshake with the firmware'. My limited knowledge tells me that this process is performed at each and every power on to ensure authenticity of hardware and OS thus determining whether the environment can be trusted. As this does not appear to be succeeding, I suspect that elevated security capabilities are not being implemented. I would not have thought that having 'downgraded security' would cause continual reboots. There may of course be a further attempt that does succeed and consequently not be logged. I see no reason why this would cause a reboot issue. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable on the subject can shed some light.

     

    In the mean time, have you checked in Device Manager (under System devices) that the driver is shown as working properly?

     

  • Marshal
    Marshal Member Posts: 8 New User

    The only reason I mentioned dptfpolicy is that aside from "System shutdown unexpectedly" it was one of 2 possible culprits, but the least likely of them in my estimation as well.

     

    The Trusted Execution Engine Interface has the yellow warning triangle beside it in device manager, so it's having issues (as is one of the cameras apparently, but I don't particularly care about that). Apparently it's up to date, and for safety's sake I'm not gonna uninstall it just yet, though it's tempting to try and reinstall it and see if it was just a glitched install. I have it disabled, and the tablet is playing music. If it stops I'll know it reset and that isn't the culprit. If it doesn't stop that driver might find itself on the chopping block.

  • Marshal
    Marshal Member Posts: 8 New User

    Update: Either that isn't it, or having it disabled is no better than having it glitched.

  • Alan-London
    Alan-London ACE Posts: 793 Pioneer

    I raised the DptfpolicylpmService issue simply because it might allay fears that it could cause your reboot problem. The fact that a W4 (at least the one I have) straight out of the box also logs the error suggests that it isn't the culprit as I have no such problem.

     

    It is always possible that the TEEI failure is having a knock on effect. The logged error is quite likely the result of the driver failure. I assume the problem is still there. Clearly something as gone awry with the restore as you have a couple of driver issues. Have you tried the driver package (24/1/14) from the Acer download site since the restore?

     

    Are you getting anything logged immediately prior to the time of the reboot?

    Also, did the problem manifest with vanilla Win8 or only after you had installed other software?

     

  • Marshal
    Marshal Member Posts: 8 New User

    I did apply the new driver package after the restore. There are plenty of log entrys, but no errors or warnings immediately before it reboots. I can't blame the restore because the system wasn't stable out of the box. I just chalked it up to windows being 23+ updates behind, and the acer drivers being out of date.

     

    I haven't tried running it on a fresh factory reset with no windows updates. This one came loaded with 8.1, didn't have to upgrade from 8.0 which was a little surprising. It was my understanding they came vanilla and left it up o you to upgrade from there.

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,246 Trailblazer

    Which BIOS are you running? My W4 updated from 1.10 to 1.13 last week.

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • Marshal
    Marshal Member Posts: 8 New User

    Once I familiarized myself with Windows 8, the first thing I installed was all the software updates on Acer's website. So it's been on 1.13 since day 1.

  • Alan-London
    Alan-London ACE Posts: 793 Pioneer
    Answer ✓

    My reference to 'vanilla' means 'straight out of the box' - no updates, no additional software installed, nothing.
    If you can stand doing a complete and total factory restore to 'as shipped' state you will at least be able to see if the two drivers are having problems then. (You may wish to save any files, pictures or whatever first.) If you still have issues it may indicate a hardware or software problem. If so, you could contact Acer support for advice or perhaps have the unit exchanged by your supplier.

     

  • Marshal
    Marshal Member Posts: 8 New User

    I had already done a complete factory resore, had problems even in the vanilla state. It's good that the device had problems so early, I hadn't had enough time to really put anything on it. Just an antivirus program and a few wall papers, nothing I couldn't easily replace so the multiple factory resets were no big loss. No joy there unfortunately.

     

    I contacted the distributor, and they replaced the unit for me. It took less than 24 hours to arive (go Amazon!), and the new tablet is working perfectly. I'm just going to chalk this one up to hardware issues, because I did everything I could think of (and you guys could come up with!) to fix anything software related. If it IS a software problem, it's something that would need a complete wipe and reinstall, and I'm not even sure how that would occur on a tablet since the factory reset didn't cover the issue.

     

    Thanks for the suggestions guys, it really helped.

  • Alan-London
    Alan-London ACE Posts: 793 Pioneer

    Well, the main thing is it's sorted. Let's hope there are no issues with the replacement.
    For the record, Amazon have become my supplier of choice. Great prices and never any problem returning items. Smiley Happy

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