Acer W4 bluetooth keyboard mouse issue workaround plus other known issues

hkstiong
hkstiong Member Posts: 21 New User

Hello, 

 

SInce the W4 is a recent issue, I thank the group for the info already shared.   Somehow the WLAN collaboration solution did not work for me.  

 

I turned off W4 wifi, and connect to the internet by bluetooth tether to a Samsung Note 1 that is on Wifi.  Mouse and Keyboard really work well now.

 

I also hope to get over other known issues.

 

W4 freezes/hangs as much as several times a day.  Have just reinstalled Win 8.1 with the recovery disc because the W4 would not boot anymore.  

 

WIll gladly check back for other people's solution. 

 

Thanks

Answers

  • xyzaid
    xyzaid Member Posts: 42 Troubleshooter

    hi

     

    i confirm that this acer w4 tablet has a unknown windows bug which make it freeze randomly...

     

    i've opened a case on the french acer support and they told me to reinstall from scratch...but i've a big doubt on this answer...however please tell us if your tablet still crashes after your full reinstall !

     

    regards

     

  • hkstiong
    hkstiong Member Posts: 21 New User

    xyzaid wrote:

    hi

     

    i confirm that this acer w4 tablet has a unknown windows bug which make it freeze randomly...

     

    i've opened a case on the french acer support and they told me to reinstall from scratch...but i've a big doubt on this answer...however please tell us if your tablet still crashes after your full reinstall !

     

    regards

     


     

    I did reinstall two days ago.  Thinking it will freeze again like first purchased, I went ahead with the Windows 8.1 April 2014 update and Acer Intel Jan 2014 system update.  It has frozen twice already after the updates. Keeping files in a separate SD card in case I need to reset Win 8.1 installation.

     

    At the next reset, I will try not updating the system to check if it will freeze again.

     

     

     

  • xyzaid
    xyzaid Member Posts: 42 Troubleshooter

    hi

     

    as the support told me, 

    i've reinstalled from scratch from the acer dvd

    and without applying any windows update

     

    so far no freeze...

     

    so i'm a bit skeptical : 

    should i apply all windows updates ?

    should i go one by one to find the failing update ? but that's a rather long and difficult way...

  • Angel17
    Angel17 Member Posts: 5 New User
    Hi, Not sure whether this information is useful or not, just sharing: For me, i set the broadcom WiFi settings to: 1) Bandwidth Capability = 11a20/40; 11bg 20MHz 2) bluetooth collaboration = Enabled 3) 20/40 Coexistence = Disabled 4) 40Mhz intolerant = Disabled 5) BT-AMP = Disabled (understand from the 'Net is bluetooth amplification over WiFi) Bluetooth devices that i am connected to my iconia W4-821: Microsoft Wedge Keyboard and Logitech M557 mouse. Earlier I had a cheapo no-brand bluetooth keyboard that is giving me grief in bluetooth and WiFi issues. Changed it to a Microsoft Wedge keyboard and so far it's working fine for the past three days. Hope the info helps.
  • xyzaid
    xyzaid Member Posts: 42 Troubleshooter

    also suspecting bt troubles, i'll go with your settings

    i just bough ms wedge keyboard and logitech t630 bt mouse

    i'll stress test them during the weekend Smiley Wink

  • xyzaid
    xyzaid Member Posts: 42 Troubleshooter

    gotcha. first tablet freeze after full reinstall like Acer told me....

    whow.... this tablet has a serious problem apparently ....

    please acer support help us !!!

     

  • xyzaid
    xyzaid Member Posts: 42 Troubleshooter

    for your information i didn't set Angel17 settings before my freeze

    i've just set them :

     

    1) Bandwidth Capability = 11a20/40; 11bg 20MHz

    2) bluetooth collaboration = Enabled

    3) 20/40 Coexistence = Disabled

    4) 40Mhz intolerant = Disabled

    5) BT-AMP = Disabled 

     

    i'll report if freeze situation disappear

     

  • yeahman45
    yeahman45 Member Posts: 2 New User

    Hi, i am interested in buying this tablet but can you keep us updated if the issues are solved. Thx. Is this a common issue or it's an isolated issue?

  • xyzaid
    xyzaid Member Posts: 42 Troubleshooter

    hi

     

    this is definitely not an isolated issue : doing a google search i find several cases with the same tablet freeze with no log so it is difficult to find the source...

    discussing with french acer support they just told me to reinstall from scratch...that's what i did and report to them but freeze still happens..waiting for another solution from them...

     

    i just hope it is not a hardware issue because except from that the tablet works beautifully. on my desk it is linked to an external hdmi monitor, then with bluetooth with a brand new microsoft wedge keyboard and a logitech bt mouse; and i added an additional 64GB microsd card to help the internal low 32GB SSD (10 GB left after full windows reinstall); only minor problem is the unique microUSB which is used to power the unit so when you need to plug an usb drive it is a little bit tricky...

     

    anyway for sure i'll report here in case of any progress in the good or bad direction Smiley Wink

     

  • xyzaid
    xyzaid Member Posts: 42 Troubleshooter

    just to confirm that Angel17 settings didn't solve the freeze issue..........

    i just got one again this morning.......

     

    i'm totally disapointed, thinking about a money back from the shop i bought it....what a pity...

     

  • yeahman45
    yeahman45 Member Posts: 2 New User

    sorry to hear that... I might go for the toshiba encore myself as i found lots of reports of bluetooth not working properly and this freeze issue.

  • Angel17
    Angel17 Member Posts: 5 New User

    Hi Xyzaid,

     

    Sad to hear that it didn't work for you. 

     

    On the freezing, was the touchscreen operational? I experienced no bluetooth response once and I recovered it by using the touchscreen to switch the bluetooth off and on again.

     

    Did you install the version 1.03 driver package (dated 2014/1/24) from ACER support? 

     

    ACER W4-821

    3G SIM support

    64 GB internal

    64 GB MicroSD

    Microsoft Wedge bluetooth Keyboard

    Logitech M557 bluetooth mouse

  • xyzaid
    xyzaid Member Posts: 42 Troubleshooter

    hi Angel17,

     

    no, when the tablet freeze it is totally frozen, no button nor mouse works.

    so i think it is not the same case like you

     

    i didn't update the acer package as it told me i already have the last version. even the intel utility says that i've the current version. however it's easy to try : i've just installed acer 1.03 driver package and rebooted. let's see if it works better now Smiley Happy

     

    thanks for your help

    valar morghulis Smiley Wink

  • xyzaid
    xyzaid Member Posts: 42 Troubleshooter

    i'm back again ! ... after a tablet freeze Smiley Sad  so installing 1.03 acer driver package didn't help.....

     

    i'll try restoring from the DVD again, and not install any update....

    it's definitely not a good idea not to install updates but if it is the only solution to have a working device....

     

    stay tuned

     

  • hkstiong
    hkstiong Member Posts: 21 New User

    Thank you for this set of settings,  This set of config settings is worth trying.

  • hkstiong
    hkstiong Member Posts: 21 New User

    Sorry, didnt check the rest of the thread.  xyzaid has spent time and effort to help us. Thanks, 

     

    I've had freezes before any windowss or acer updates.  

     

    we'll keep ourselves alert for other solutions.  

  • xyzaid
    xyzaid Member Posts: 42 Troubleshooter

    oh...perhaps we don't have the same problem...it's rather strange....

    or the freeze are truely random i don't know...

    anyway i've continued my testings and i'll post them to the other thread :

    http://community.acer.com/t5/Windows-Tablets/W4-completelly-freeze/m-p/257412#U257412

     

  • Blayn-Acer
    Blayn-Acer Administrator Posts: 2,355 Community Administrator

    I have looked into this issue and have not been able to duplicate the behavior you are describing, and I checked with others in our engineering department who were not aware of the reports of freezing. My best recommendation would be to reload the tablet, and install any updates one at a time to see if an update is causing the problem. If no update can be identified that is causing the problem, my recommendation would be to contact technical support to set up a repair case, to see if we can duplicate and get the issue resolved.

  • xyzaid
    xyzaid Member Posts: 42 Troubleshooter

    dear acer-blayn,

     

    thank you for your research! what is rather strange is that the freeze occurs quickly if i put all windows updates right after reloading the tablet from scratch (from the acer dvd). so could it be a localized problem (my acer w4 has been bought in France) ?

     

    i've already tried to reload the tablem from scratch and apply updates not one by one but category by category. and freeze seems to happen around the big update of april (about 400MB) but not really sure...and it 'd be very difficult and long to apply update one by one then test for some days then apply one update and so on...

     

    anyway if you say that your tablet NEVER freeze i tend to think about a hardware problem (memory or cpu i don't know) which could occur in certain windows situation...after my holidays (!) if the tablet still freeze i'll have a RMA exchange from Acer France. I'll let you know if i go this way as for now the tablet didn't freeze since saturday when i uninstalled KB2887595 update...

     

    also please see my other thread

    http://community.acer.com/t5/Windows-Tablets/W4-completelly-freeze/td-p/257412/page/2

  • hkstiong
    hkstiong Member Posts: 21 New User

    Hi all,

     

    Reviving this thread because I would still like to use the W4 with a mouse, monitor and wifi.  the w4 I think is now stable as a tablet after some of the fixes discussed here

     

    http://community.acer.com/t5/Windows-Tablets/W4-completelly-freeze/td-p/257412/page/11

     

    Yesterday, the W4 froze again.  But I think this time it is not the same problem. The windows event viewer message before the freeze was repeatedly

     

    "Bluetooth HID device  either went out of range or became unresponsive."

     

    then, after restart, "Connection to the Windows Push Notification Service failed because of a failure to configure the connection to run properly in low-power states.  Please ensure all network drivers are up to date."

     

     

    I have installed a lenovo Broadcom SDIO 5.93.100.20 driver to replace my stock driver.  Unfortunately, it is the same experience as stock.  But before I roll back this driver, 

     

    Some variables to explore:

     

    Is it possible that the W4 will react poorly to a brand of BT mouse and cause a freeze?  The w4 wont connect to an A4TECH bt mouse, and connects with a generic brand BT mouse.   What do you think?  

     

    I learned from this Acer community there is an OTG cable that allows USB peripherals without the W4 losing charge.  anyone using standard wireless mouse with the w4 with this type of OTG cable?

     

    Thanks for your comments!

     

This discussion has been closed.