acer aspire z3100 noisy

TonyW1967
TonyW1967 Member Posts: 10 New User
in 2015 Archives

I've had my all-in-one pc for about 3 years now (from new) and it has always had noisy fans. I take care of my pc, regularly clearing out stuff not needed, putting it on external hard drives, cleaning up and defragmenting the disc and even restoring back to factory settings.... but it never really makes any difference.

 

Is there anything I can do about this, or is this an inherrent problem?

 

I was wondering whether there were any upgrades available that would reduce the fan noise, or whether there were any ultra-silnet fans that could be retrofitted into this pc.

Answers

  • laurent_14
    laurent_14 ACE Posts: 10,320 Trailblazer

    Hello,

     

    Which processor do you have? AMD ...

    France
  • TonyW1967
    TonyW1967 Member Posts: 10 New User

    Yes, it's an AMD Athlon(tm) II X2 250 Processor 3.00 GHz

  • laurent_14
    laurent_14 ACE Posts: 10,320 Trailblazer

    Hello,

     

    First you can check the fan speed and the cpu temperature (max 74°C) with this little tool HWMonitor (Choose the zip version no installation).

     

    Your heatsink is a Cooler Master and the Acer part number is:

     

    HI.10800.079COOLER.CPU.AMD.LGA775

     

    You'll see it on this video. May be the fan "bearing" is defective since the beginning.

    France
  • TonyW1967
    TonyW1967 Member Posts: 10 New User

    Many thanks, I do not know which temperature is relevant, so I attached a screenshot of the read-out.Temp.JPG

  • laurent_14
    laurent_14 ACE Posts: 10,320 Trailblazer

    Hello Tony,

     

    I need more information:

     

    1- Have you used the right version of HWMonitor (HWMonitor_x32 --> Windows 32 bits and HWMonitor_x64 -->

        Windows 64 bits)?

    2- What's the temperature (°C)  of the room where you use your "desktop"?

    3- What use are you (office, web, game etc)?

    4- I don't see the HDD...

     

    About the first results:

    The fans speed is 3900rpm (next to the maxi speed).

    The CPU temperature is 55°C (minimum).

    The GPU graphic board temperature is 83°C.

    France
  • TonyW1967
    TonyW1967 Member Posts: 10 New User

    Thanks, yes I did use the 64 bits version, that's what it says in my control panel system info.

     

    Temp of the room varies between 22 and 24 degrees.

     

    PC used for internet and a little office stuff, and the occasional download.

     

    HDD - Do you mean C Drive? If so, I have 224GB Capacity with 76GB used, and nothing used at all in D Drive (224GB Capacity). I have 2 external drives connected.

  • laurent_14
    laurent_14 ACE Posts: 10,320 Trailblazer

    Do you kown the version of the nvidia chipset driver and the bios version?

    About HDD, which is the temperature?

     

    France
  • TonyW1967
    TonyW1967 Member Posts: 10 New User

    Looking at the Nvidia control panel, it shows 2 different version numbers, Version 2.7.120.04 for the Nvidia control panel and 7.03.01.07314 for the Nvidia networking driver. Is that what you were looking for? I don't know where to get the info for the BIOS Version though.... and regarding the HDD Temperature, how do I find that? Didn't it show on the attachment I pasted, from the earlier check?

  • laurent_14
    laurent_14 ACE Posts: 10,320 Trailblazer

    Hello,

     

    1- You have the last Nvidia chipset driver (2010/09/09) because you own your AIO for 3 years: 

    ChipsetNVIDIAChipset Driver14.0.0.162151.7 MB2010/09/09

     

    2- About the bios version, you'll find it like this (the third line). In the same time note the version of the display

        driver.

     

    3- "Regarding the HDD Temperature, how do I find that? Didn't it show on the attachment I pasted, from the earlier check?"

         Normally, we see it between the cpu and the gpu on HWMonitor.

     

    France
  • TonyW1967
    TonyW1967 Member Posts: 10 New User

    Many thanks Laurent,

     

    The BIOS Version/Date is American Megatrends Inc. P01-A2, 19/07/2010

     

    I don't know how to get the HDD Temp, I followed your instructions....

  • laurent_14
    laurent_14 ACE Posts: 10,320 Trailblazer

    You have an old version. It would be interesting to flash a more recent version:

     

    BIOSAcerBIOSP01.B21.5 MB2011/07/11 
    BIOSAcerBIOS for LinuxP01.B1L833.9 KB2011/06/27 
    BIOSAcerUpdates Fan curveP01.B02.0 MB2011/03/14 

     

    I'll give you the instructions tomorrow. Don't worry about HDD.

    Do you find the version of the display driver?

     

    Note:

    I'm french.

    France
  • TonyW1967
    TonyW1967 Member Posts: 10 New User

    Many thanks.... regarding the display driver, if you mean the sub category in System Information valled 'Components' and then 'Display', it shows the driver version as 8.711.0.0

  • laurent_14
    laurent_14 ACE Posts: 10,320 Trailblazer

    Hello Tony,

     

    You also have the last display driver:

    VGAAMDVGA Driver8.711.0.0129.3 MB2010/09/09

     

    Procedure to flash your bios under MS-DOS (Aspire Z3100 - Bios P01-B2):

    (Don't flash the bios under windows)

     

    To flash the bios with MS-DOS:

    1- Make a MS-DOS Bootable USB Flash Drive (see note) with FlashBoot (Demo) or HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool

    2- Download P01-B2.zip and unzip it.

    3- Copy the folders DOS and ROM on the USB flash drive.

    4- In the boot menu, boot on the USB flash drive (see the note).

    5- When you are on MS-DOS, type the command CD DOS

    6- When you are on \DOS> type the command BIOS_1M.BAT

    7- If it's flashing successfully, reboot your system (normally, it reboot automatically).

    8- In the bios setup utility, press [F9] "Load default settings". Press [F10] "Save and Exit".

     

    --- If you have a doubt, do not hesitate to ask me questions ---

     

    Note:

    USB Flash Drive size: 2Gb maxi

    Flashboot: Map to A: selected --> you'll see it like a FDD or USB FDD

                   Map to C: selected --> You'll see it like a HDD or USB HDD

    HP: By default, Letter C --> you'll see it like a HDD or USB HDD

     

    It exists a portable version of Flashboot Demo 2.2e (no installation).

    France
  • TonyW1967
    TonyW1967 Member Posts: 10 New User

    Thanks Laurent, I followed the steps, but when I restart and access the boot menu I see 3 options to select - Int HDD, CD&DVD and the USB:easy stick which is the 1GB memory stick I created from the FlashBoot programme.... and when I selected the USB, the boot failed and I was asked to reboot, where I went to Windows.... The error code was 000303333.

     

    I tried the same with a 2GB SD Card in a card reader and got the same error.

     

    FYI, in the FlashBoot process Map to A was shown, but in the boot process I did not see FDD or USB FDD.

     

    I believe that I included all info on the USB, the contents show the DOS and ROM  Files I copied from the P01-B2 download, plus the 'vc' folder and 'KERNEL.SYS' from the FlashBoot process.

  • laurent_14
    laurent_14 ACE Posts: 10,320 Trailblazer

    Sometimes Flashboot doesn't work with a bios update. Try the HP tool and only a USB Flash drive. The SD card doesn't work.

    France
  • TonyW1967
    TonyW1967 Member Posts: 10 New User

    Well, I tried it. Almost the exact issue, first it asked me to remove any other media or drives which I did, then it asked to press any key to restart, which I did, then I tried it again, and the same message came up but only the USB stick the keyboard and mouse were connected and when I selected the USB stick it immediately restarted in Windows. I tried the other selection showing (after another restart) which was the (I presume) internal HDD and the same thing happened - it went immediately to windows when I selected it.

     

    So, I can't get it to stay in DOS.

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer

    FIrst of all, check in BIOS if any UEFI/Legacy and  secure boot settings are available.

    switch from UEFI to Legacy and disable secure boot, then try Rufus to create a bootable USB DOS pen.

     

    http://rufus.akeo.ie/?locale=en_US

     

    on Rufus, select FAT32 as file system

    check create a bootable disk and select MS-DOS (not free DOS)

     

    once you did it, copy your BIOS file and flasher.

    I'm not an Acer employee.
  • laurent_14
    laurent_14 ACE Posts: 10,320 Trailblazer

    Hello IronFly,

     

    Thanks for your advise. We have the same diagnostic.  HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool also use MS-DOS (Windows 98).

     

    Thanks again

    Laurent

    France
  • TonyW1967
    TonyW1967 Member Posts: 10 New User

    Well, I guess we are stuck then, I tried the same processes several times, same result.

  • laurent_14
    laurent_14 ACE Posts: 10,320 Trailblazer

    Hello Tony,

     

    Have you found the UEFI/Legacy and Secure boot settings in the bios setup utility as IronFly has indicated?

    France

Categories