Two W4 Issues - Sleep and HDMI Out - No Fix For These?

Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk Member Posts: 23 New User

Have not found any real answer for these issues:

 

Goes into sleep mode and will not come out.  Have to press power for 10 seconds to shut down and then turn back on, every time.

 

Will not use "Duplicate" mode for connection to TV screen.  I try to "Charm Bar-Devices-Project-Duplicate" or "Control Panel/Appearence and Personalization/Display/Project To A Second Screen" but it will not go into Duplicate mode, only "PC Screen Only", Extend, and Second Screen Only" but not Duplicate.

 

Anyone have any ideas how to fix these two issues?  I have latest Bios installed.

 

Thanks

 

FYI, there's a PCWorld review of the W4 and they said they couldn't get Duplicate mode to work. 

 

http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/review/acer/iconia_w4/538938/

 

Here's a quote:

 

"The Iconia W4 tablet detected our TV, but it defaulted to extending the display on the TV, and would not allow us to duplicate the contents. On a tablet, extending a screen is not very useful since you can't drag content onto the second screen without having an external pointing device attached. We restored the tablet and re-updated it without any luck in getting this feature to work properly."

 

 

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Answers

  • Ryanrr
    Ryanrr Member Posts: 831 Practitioner WiFi Icon

    The sleep issue sounds like a setting issue in the power options or could be related to a program that was installed or running in the background that is not able to resume. This can cause the system to not wake from the hybrid sleep mode.

     

    HDMI should work but the TV must be able to display the same resolution as the tablet; default resolution is 1280 x 800 (HD).  I am able to connect our W4-820 to a monitor and an Acer TV and it duplicates the display.  Iit does not fill the entire screen and there is a black border around it but it still works.

     

    So if you are using a TV or display that will not support the default resolution of the W4, that may explain why you are unable to duplicate the display.

  • wpbear
    wpbear Member Posts: 2 New User

    I tried two different monitors and neither would allow duplicate either. Only extend or totally turn device screen off and show on external.  It is a little annoying. Wonder if the toshiba encore hdmi works correctly. Might consider returning and getting the toshiba. 

  • pkung
    pkung Member Posts: 4 New User

    Hi, I have a Toshiba encore as well. According to my experiments, Toshiba encore can not duplicate to the external display , either. Instead, it turned Toshiba encore screen off and show on the external display.

  • Cyberpunk
    Cyberpunk Member Posts: 23 New User

    Well, first, I have not installed any programs or apps of any kind.  I just uninstalled a few apps that came with the tablet that I didn't need.  There is no settings issues.  You either set the timer for when the tablet goes to sleep or set to never.  No matter what, it will not come out of sleep.  So I set to never sleep.  Guess what?  It goes to sleep anyway and won't come out.  I kept setting to never and it kept going to sleep after 15 minutes.  It keeps changing back to 15 minutes.  I finally realized that when you set the display to turn off in 15 minutes (or whatever time) it also changes the sleep setting!  What?  The display turn off and sleep are 2 different things!  How is it that setting the display turn off also sets the sleep to the same time???

     

    If you're saying the the TV has to be compatible with 1280x800 resolution then that just about negates the HDMI out function.  I have 3 LED TV's and none will allow "Duplicate" mode and after doing research I found that most current flat screen TV's do NOT have that resolution compatibility.  The whole point of HDMI out is to plug into your TV and it works!  It works with all 3 of my Android tablets and without a hitch!  So much for Acer's HDMI out function, I guess.

     

    I dunno', I'm just really tired of companies advertising features only to find out they only work if all the planets are lined up in perfect order.

  • Ryanrr
    Ryanrr Member Posts: 831 Practitioner WiFi Icon

    I can understand your frustration and apologize. I can only advise you of how our W4 works and it seems to have no problem with the HDMI out when trying to duplicate. If you are okay with it, I would suggest contacting our technical support in your region as they may be able to assist better or provide you a repair option and have our technicians look at the system.

     

    I know you are looking for an answer without having to ship off your product, but there is very little we can do if our W4 does not show the same symptoms.

  • Cyberpunk
    Cyberpunk Member Posts: 23 New User

    What about this:

     

    I updated the Bios but not the Driver set.  There is a Driver set to download for the W4 but how can I know if my unit already has these drivers or older ones and needs to be updated?

  • Ryanrr
    Ryanrr Member Posts: 831 Practitioner WiFi Icon

    The driver package we have available can be downloaded and installed over the current drivers. If the drivers are up to date, it will not hurt anything.

  • Cyberpunk
    Cyberpunk Member Posts: 23 New User

    Wellllll, I down'd and installed the driver package and now I have an Intel HD Graphics Control Panel on my taskbar with a bunch of settings and options.  I can now change to "Duplicate" screen or "Clone" screen setting and it now "Clones" the screen like it should!  Works perfectly!  When I do that with my TV a message pops up on the tablet letting me know the TV is not set to the optimal 1280x800 screen setting but that it will work with reduced display experience.  No problem as I just use the "zoom" setting on the TV to fill up the screen.  Played an HD YouTube video and it's good HD quality on the TV filling the screen with the TV's "zoom" setting.  FIXED! 

     

    Therefore, the TV does not have to be 1280x800 resolution compatible, just the proper updated drivers on the tablet to make this feature work like it should.  Cool! 

     

    The only thing now: 

     

    The display turn off timer still changes the "Sleep" timer.  I would like the screen to turn off after 15 minutes but not go to sleep because it won't come out of sleep.  Have to push power button for 10 seconds every time it goes to sleep, to shut down and start up again.  I really don't think it's a tablet issue.  It has to be a software driver issue of some kind.

     

     

  • jhutcheon
    jhutcheon Member Posts: 17 New User

    I'm having similar issues with the W511, we have over 1000 of them in our agency and about 30-40 have developed this issue.

    There are other threads in this forum where we discuss it.  We have sent two units back to Acer Sydney and are still awaiting advice.  

     

    I'd be interested in trying the HD software you installed, if you could point me in the right direction

  • Cyberpunk
    Cyberpunk Member Posts: 23 New User

    To "jhutcheon"                    

    Bro, go to the main Acer home page and click on "Support" then on the link below for "Drivers And Manuals".  Input your tablet model number and you'll get the links for Driver Package, Bios, etc.

     

     

  • jhutcheon
    jhutcheon Member Posts: 17 New User

    Yeah no worries, tried all these.  I thought the task bar control panel was something different.

     

  • Dcwt2010
    Dcwt2010 Member Posts: 7

    Tinkerer

    It seems IE in tablet mode can cause it to not come out of sleep. Is Acer working on a fix or is it a Windows issue?
  • Cyberpunk
    Cyberpunk Member Posts: 23 New User

    Go back and scroll down to my post "Sleep Problem Fixed".

  • Dcwt2010
    Dcwt2010 Member Posts: 7

    Tinkerer

    Sorry friend, I am feeling a bit stupid today. Which part specifically do you refer to that "fixes" this? By disabling sleep?

  • Cyberpunk
    Cyberpunk Member Posts: 23 New User

    Bro, follow these instructions which will eliminate deep hybernate sleep:

     

    In desktop mode bottom left corner Windows logo hold finger down a couple seconds and lift for pop up menu.  Choose Command Promp (Admin) and type:

     

    powercfg.exe /hibernate off

     

    Hit enter.  Done.  Tablet will regular sleep and easily wake but not deep hybernate sleep.

     

    If you want to go back to allowing deep sleep hybernate feature then pull up the Command Prompt (Admin) again and type:

     

    powercfg.exe /hibernate on

  • Dcwt2010
    Dcwt2010 Member Posts: 7

    Tinkerer

    I'll have to try it later as it's not with me right now. So you think it's hibernate which is the cause of the issue? So is a Win 8 or Acer firmware problem? Thanks for the advice.

  • Cyberpunk
    Cyberpunk Member Posts: 23 New User

    I'm not sure if it's a Win 8 prob or an Acer firmware prob.  All I know is my tablet can sleep all day now and wake up without a glitch.  I never used the Windows Hybernate feature on my PC's or Laptops in years past because deep sleep Hybernate feature always seemed to have issues.  I'm leaning toward it's a Win 8 issue as I've read on other tablet forums (Asus, Toshiba, etc.) similar complaints with waking from sleep problems.  Besides, without Hybernate feature it only slows boot up and shut down by a few seconds and you don't lose a precious 1-2 GB of drive space by having the hyberfil.sys file on the root of C drive.  Who needs it?  Not me!  My W4 has been functioning flawlessly since I turned off the Hybernate feature.  I love this tablet!

  • Dcwt2010
    Dcwt2010 Member Posts: 7

    Tinkerer

    I will disable hibernate anyway to recover that 1-2GB of space. Maybe MS will short something out the mean time...

  • Dcwt2010
    Dcwt2010 Member Posts: 7

    Tinkerer

    Hmm, hibernate seems to be already have been off and the sleep issue is still persistent. Is Acer aware of this issue and will there be a fix?

  • Cyberpunk
    Cyberpunk Member Posts: 23 New User

    If you didn't follow the step I listed above using the command prompt then Hybernate is not properly and completely disabled.