3820TG Owner's Lounge - Part Two

[zsero]

Everyone says that but I don't want to because it's bricked many motherboards, including one of my own motherboards (previous experience). DOS is the safest way, and so is programs like ASUS EZ Flash, but such things don't exist for this laptop.

I would strongly advice against BIOS flashing from windows, in general. And in the case of 3820TG it has never even worked for me.

Just use my HP flasher + DOS files, I have been using them for years and they are 100% sure to boot to DOS on the 3820TG.
request download ticket | ifile.it

If they don't boot, then it's the USB flash disk. Not every flash disk is bootable! Just try it with an other one.

[voltron1337]

I've been reading about this 3820TG for a few weeks because I need a new laptop under 13" that can handle games but the LCD on this series seems bad from reviews.

Samsung just released their 9 series 13.3" ultrathin laptop and apparently it has an awesome LCD with 400Nit and great contrast. Would it be possible to swap LCDs on these? I guess we will have to wait to get the exact model number from someone with the 9 series.

I'm probably going to get the 3820TG but I'm trying to hold out until the Alienware M11X R3 specs are revealed since that's probably the only other laptop that could trump the 3820TG in 3D performance.

It's such a shame that Acer ruined the 3830 with the single fan design

[amsjbr]

Hey folks,

I've got a 3820tg-3022 and I've been thinking about performing the mini-pcie mod and trying a compatible SSD card before replacing the HD for a SSD. I wonder whether has anyone tested a SSD such as the new CoreStore MV on this computer. Any feedback would be great greatly appreciated.

On another subject, I have been using a patched version of ATI's FGLRX driver, with VGA_SWITCHEROO, to get the best GPU performance possible while having the possibility to switch back to Intel's integrated graphics. Unfortunately, It is not possible to switch automatically for the ATI library searches for VBIOS ram signature at the same location used by Intel when both are activated. Therefore, I can only use the FGLRX driver with discrete mode activated via BIOS but whenever I need to use Intel , to save battery for instance, I just need to switch between xorg.confs tailored for each GPU and boot scripts switch off the discrete card power via VGA_SWITCHEROO.

I have been using Catalyst version 10.12 and the patch was found in a forum about the driver (not my authorship).

The script can be downloaded from ati_vgaswitcheroo.patch - download now for free. File sharing. Software file sharing. Free file hosting. File upload. FileFactory.com and applied manually.

I've obtained typically 60 fps running FlightGear. The typical performance measured using fg_glxgears and glxgears can be seen below.
fgl_glxgears
Using GLX_SGIX_pbuffer
4162 frames in 5.0 seconds = 832.400 FPS
4915 frames in 5.0 seconds = 983.000 FPS
4601 frames in 5.0 seconds = 920.200 FPS
4348 frames in 5.0 seconds = 869.600 FPS

glxgears
23264 frames in 5.0 seconds = 4652.655 FPS
23634 frames in 5.0 seconds = 4726.622 FPS
23559 frames in 5.0 seconds = 4711.769 FPS
23548 frames in 5.0 seconds = 4709.433 FPS

I have also just uploaded the results of a Linux-System test suite using Phoronix Test Suite. If anyone is interested in seeing the results, please follow Phoronix Global - Fedora 14 on Acer 3820tg-3022 Testing

Cheers

[aunmar]

Crazy problem with my WIN+P. After hibernation, once in a while the computer awakes with black screen. I tried different things, just to get to know what was wrong. Restart would solve it, but the other solution was easier and time saving.

WIN+P, two arrows left and enter. Bang, the computer now had disconnected the projector.

Why do the computer "attach" a projector in hibernation?

[PlatinuM195]

Crazy problem with my WIN+P. After hibernation, once in a while the computer awakes with black screen. I tried different things, just to get to know what was wrong. Restart would solve it, but the other solution was easier and time saving.

WIN+P, two arrows left and enter. Bang, the computer now had disconnected the projector.

Why do the computer "attach" a projector in hibernation?

I have a similar problem occasionally too. When waking from sleep OR hibernation though, I sometimes get a black screen. Closing the laptop lid and opening again seems to solve it though, so might not be the same problem as yours :P

[Wally33]

Hey folks,

I've got a 3820tg-3022 and I've been thinking about performing the mini-pcie mod and trying a compatible SSD card before replacing the HD for a SSD. I wonder whether has anyone tested a SSD such as the new CoreStore MV on this computer. Any feedback would be great greatly appreciated.


Cheers

Unless the m-pcie card is designed to specifically work through the mini pcie channels it will not function in the slot as it does not have sata channels. there was talk of there being a second set of sata pads somewhere on the MOBO but you'd be getting into some serious modding there.

If the SSD is designed to work with a standard m-pcie slot I can see no problems other than the fact that I don't think the 3820TG will boot from m-pcie cards

Tom

[mdott]

That sounds very tempting! I wish there was a way to make the switchable graphics application stop auto-switching to discrete graphics when I plugged into mains power though.

Rebooting each time I want different graphics sounds ok though, boot times are much quicker with my new SSD

Upon plugging/unplugging to/from a power source windows pops up with the screen that asks me if I'd like to switch. I'll search around to see if there's a method to change this, but I'm guessing at one point you selected Change AND "don't ask me again", and I don't believe you can undo that.
I remember before my clean install it used to do it automatically, really annoying when you shut the computer down plugged in, and rebooted it unplugged, or vice versa, and it just flickered a few times upon loading.

[prikolchik]

...I just need to switch between xorg.confs tailored for each GPU and boot scripts switch off the discrete card power via VGA_SWITCHEROO.

Sounds like exactly what I was looking for. Can you tell me what you did to make it work? A short guide would be just perfect! Then I could actually make use of ATI card.

If you do want to write a guide, please post it here

I have been using Catalyst version 10.12 and the patch was found in a forum about the driver (not my authorship).

The script can be downloaded from ati_vgaswitcheroo.patch and applied manually.

So what exactly does this patch do? Could you post a link to the forum where you found it? Do I apply it against flgrx driver from ATI website?

It took forever to download that patch from FileFactory, so I am uploading it as an attachment.

If you want to continue this discussion please do so in 3820TG mod thread

[geokilla]

I would strongly advice against BIOS flashing from windows, in general. And in the case of 3820TG it has never even worked for me.

Just use my HP flasher + DOS files, I have been using them for years and they are 100% sure to boot to DOS on the 3820TG.
request download ticket | ifile.it

If they don't boot, then it's the USB flash disk. Not every flash disk is bootable! Just try it with an other one.

I'll give it a try again then. The first time I did it, I was able to boot up into DOS but no matter what I did, DOS couldn't read the BIOS file or something. I followed the instructions right to the dot too.

Acer TimelineX 3820TG Owners Lounge. Info, benchmarks, tweaks, mods and upgrades

[zsero]

I'll give it a try again then. The first time I did it, I was able to boot up into DOS but no matter what I did, DOS couldn't read the BIOS file or something. I followed the instructions right to the dot too.

Acer TimelineX 3820TG Owners Lounge. Info, benchmarks, tweaks, mods and upgrades

Just copy all the files to the root of the USB disk, then you can just type: flash.bat. Tell us what happens.