STICKY: Windows 7 and the AAO751h

Hey Everyone,

I'm trying to create an up-to-date document providing information related to Windows 7 and the Acer Aspire One 751h. Please let me know if there's something that I've missed or might be wrong about so that we can keep it current.

Thanks,
-Josh


Updates

• 12 August 2009 - Updated Intel GMA500 .1006 drivers
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• 11 August 2009 - Added new question regarding "erasable" screen after login; updated instructions to install Intel GMA500 drivers
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• 10 August 2009 - Added Current Drivers + BIOS section; added Common Questions section; more to come![/*:m:171vih54]

Current Drivers + BIOS

Intel GMA500 Graphics Accelerator

• 
  7.14.10.1006 / 23 June 2009 (Most Recent)
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• Direct Download | Download from Intel Website
• To install, choose one of the following options (both work):
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• Unzip file, go into the Device Manager (Control Panel), find the video adapter, right click and select "Update Driver Software", choose the "Browse for driver software on your computer" option, then select the LPCO folder in the unzipped folder. Windows 7 will take it from there.
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• Unzip file, right click on Setup.exe, choose "Properties," click the "Compatibility" tab, check the box for "Run this program in compatibility mode for," then select "Windows Vista." You can then double click Setup.exe and install like normal.
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7.14.10.1005 / 21 May 2009 (OLD)

• Direct Download | Download from Intel Website
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• CRITICAL UPGRADE: These drivers improve performance significantly by making better use of chipset/processor hardware decoding.
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7.13.10.1095 / 18 December 2009 (OLD)

• These are old drivers! Upgrade! These are the drivers included by default with Windows 7. These are also the drivers currently on Acer's support site.
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Realtek HD Audio

• 
  16.0.1.5898 / 08 July 2009 (Most Recent)
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• Direct Download | Download from Realtek Website

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Realtek PCIe FE Family Controller 10/100 LAN

• 
  7.3.522.2009 / 22 May 2009 (Most Recent)
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• Direct Download | Download from Realtek Website

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Synaptics Touchpad

• 
  10.1.8.0 / 06 December 2008 (Most Recent)
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• Direct Download | Download from Synaptics Website

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Atheros AR5007EG Wireless Network Adapter

• 
  8.0.0.171 / 8 July 2009 (Most Recent)
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• These are the default Windows 7 drivers.

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Creative Webcam

• 
  1.0.3.720 / 18 July 2008 (Most Recent)
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• These are the default Windows 7 drivers. This will show up as "Integrated Webcam" in the Device Manager.

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BIOS

• 
  3206 / 01 July 2009 (Most Recent)
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• Direct Download | Download from Acer Website
• Users have stated that this fixes issues with bootable USB devices.
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3204 / 26 May 2009 (OLD)

• These is an old BIOS! Upgrade!
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Common Questions

Why am I having issues playing 720p HD videos? I thought this thing had processor/chipset based hardware decoding!
The AAO751h uses the Intel Atom Z-series processor and Poulsbo chipset which support accelerated hardware decoding of the MPEG-2, MPEG-4, WMV9/VC-1 and H.264 formats. To make use of this hardware decoding, you must have:

• Intel GMA500 video drivers version 7.14.10.1005 (or higher). Any driver older than this doesn't make use of the built-in hardware decoding.
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• Video filters/codecs that make use of hardware decoding. AAO forum user Bols recommends installing the Cyberlink PowerDVD 9 trial which includes most of the codecs needed. The trial will expire, but the codecs will not. (Hell, we don't have a DVD drive anyway...)
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• A video player that allows use of external filters/codecs. We recommend MPC-HC or KMplayer.[/*:m:171vih54]

More information regarding this can be found in this post.



My screen randomly blacks out, and I'm forced to manually restart. Is my jank broken?
If this is happening, try to test if the computer is frozen. There are two ways that I know how to do this. The first is to always have music playing, wait until it freezes, and if the music is still playing normally, your netbook is not frozen. Another method would be to turn the sound on and once it goes black, try to create an error "beep" by randomly clicking. If you can create the beep, the netbook is not frozen. If your AAO751h isn't locked up, I would recommend updating to the latest Intel GMA500 video drivers and install the most recent BIOS.

If you're computer is freezing, there's a good possibility the netbook has a hardware issue. I would recommend exchanging at the retailer in which you purchased the AAO. Remember that most retailers have a special policy to handle computer returns which is often shorter than their traditional returns policy. For instance, Walmart's policy states that they will exchange or refund a computer for up to fifteen days.



Whenever I try to boot from a bootable USB pen drive, I always get "Operating System Not Found." I know that this pen drive is bootable because I've tested it. What's up?
There is a bug in the 3204 BIOS, the most common version installed on the AAOs by default. Some users (including myself) have found that enabling "Network boot" in the BIOS will allow a successful boot from a USB drive when using the F12 boot menu. (Random, I know.) Other users have reported that this does not fix their issue.

The ultimate method to resolve this issue is to upgrade to BIOS version 3206 (or higher). This resolves the USB boot bug. Acer provides a utility to flash the BIOS using DOS or within Windows.



Can I overclock my 751h?
Yes, many users have been able to use SetFSB to achieve clock speeds of anywhere from 1400mhz to 1600mhz, depending on their processor. The most recent versions of SetFSB do not work with the AAO751h, but version 2.2.117.88 has been confirmed as working. The PLL to use is ICS9LPRS365BGLF.

To make the SetFSB clock speed permanent across reboots and unlocks, create a Scheduled Task (Control Panel > Administrative Tools) with the following settings:

• General: Check "Run with highest privileges" and check "Hidden"
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• Triggers: Create triggers for "At log on" and "On workstation unlock." Each time the lid of the AAO751h is shut, the SetFSB clock speed is reset. Using "On workstation unlock" as a trigger causes SetFSB to reinitialize each time the lid is opened.
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• Actions: Set "Start a program" to the SetFSB executable location. In the "Add arguments (optional)" textbox, type -w0 -s[SAFE_SETFSB_SPEED]. For instance, "-w0 -s1420" would set the SetFSB clock speed to 1420mhz.
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• Conditions: Under the "Power" section, uncheck all the boxes.[/*:m:171vih54]

After logging in or unlocking my AAO751h, all I see is the taskbar and blackness. I can then open a program and "erase" the screen to reveal the desktop. What's going on?
This is a bug in the Intel GMA500 drivers. I've read about it on multiple forums and currently there is not a true fix. It is possible to refresh the desktop (F5) immediately after logging in which resolves the issue. With this in mind, I've created a temporary "band-aid" which forces the desktop to refresh after logging in using the Task Scheduler.

To use this temporary fix:

• Download desktoprefresh.exe. (Instructions are also provided in the zip file.)
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• Copy desktoprefresh.exe to a permanent location.
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• Create a Scheduled Task (Control Panel > Administrative Tools) with the following settings:
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• General: "Run only when user is logged on," and check "Hidden" checkbox
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• Triggers: "At log on," "On workstation unlock"
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• Actions: "Start a Program" and find the desktoprefresh.exe file
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• Conditions: Uncheck all options underneath "Power"
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[/*:m:171vih54][*] Send me $1,000,000.[/*:m:171vih54][/list:u:171vih54]

 

thanks

 

Wow! Thanks a bunch!

 

Thanks. Just an FYI, the bundled EXE file for the video drivers gives and error that the OS is not Windows Vista. So I had to go to device drivers and manually update the drive by pointing to the unzipped folder.

Was hoping this would fix my 90 black screen that happens at boot up but it didn't. looks like I'll need to reinstall (again).

 

RLeary,

Thanks for letting me know. I updated the instructions for everyone else!

-Josh

 

Thanks, this is great!

 

FYI, these GMA500 drivers are causing my system to lock up.

 

Update: I had previously only used the Setup.exe file.

Used the manual install method (pointed Driver Update to folder with unzipped drivers) and the only lockup I'm having now is when I try to play a 1080p video (Step Into Liquid) with Windows Media Player. MPC HC doesn't seem to want to DXVA accelerate though...perhaps I should try a different file.

 

I've been researching the 751h for weeks and have not read of anyone having good results with anything above 720p.

 

Please note there is a new graphic driver posted as of 8/11/2009, version 7.14.10.1006.

I just downloaded it from Intel's website and no issues so far. I did a manual install as I read here of a couple people having issues with the .exe, and all is fine on my 751h.

 

Great sticky!!

There is a newer Touchpad Driver, but the older still works great with Win7.


Synaptics Touchpad W7

Version: 13.1.3.0
http://www.asustreiber.de/downloads/win ... ouchpad-w7

Greetings,
Felix

EDIT:

When using Win7, you should consider to move the new Taskbar to the left of your Desktop since there is no more text in it. Together with Google Chrome browser i got the maximum vertical space, plus the arrangement of tabs on top works really well.

My setup looks like this actually:

 

OK, got 1080p working using DXVA checker using a 1080p Transformers trailer. The only one I could use was the Microsoft DTV-DVD decoder for some reason; Media Foundation filters fail. Manually prefered the DTV-DVD decoder in MPC HC and it played fine. Going to investigate more.

 

Cool, Felix! How does 7 run on your 751? What OS did you have before and how does 7 compare to it?

 

Just upgraded video driver to .1006 (released yesterday). I set my theme to Aero again and so far no black screen. FYI, I tried to do the update driver install method and it said 'best drivers already installed' so I used the compatibility method. Slowing down a bit with Aero, so I'll probablly go back to Basic. Am downloading RTM now, so I'll check it out again on that version.

Update: Spoke too soon on blacking screen; still happens on .1006

 

Hey Everyone - Thanks for the updates. I'm at work now, but I'll update the stick as soon as I get home with the new drivers. I'm hoping the black screen after login/unlock is gone!

 

Hum, it's interesting to look at Intel's release notes. BTW, "SN" stands for "sighting number."


Issues Resolved in .1006 Release

Video (SN: 1894162)
Defected display while some H264 file playback



Issues Resolved in .1005 Release

Display (SN: 1893933/1893938)
A white screen flickers while resuming from S3

Display (SN: 1893996/1893941)
Artifacts can be seen on the desktop while dragging folders

Video (SN: 1894002)
Corruption can be seen with Chocolate H264 video clip

Display (SN: 1893935)
Connector type info in COPP is incorrect.

Display (SN: 1893933/1893938)
A white screen flickers while resuming from S3

Display (SN: 1893996/1893941)
Artifacts can be seen on the desktop while dragging folders

Video (SN: 1894002)
Corruption can be seen with Chocolate H264 video clip

Display (SN: 1893935)
Connector type info in COPP is incorrect.



Known Issues

2D/3D (SN: 1892250)
Winsat WDMAssessment scores are too high.

2D/3D (SN: 1892374)
3DMark06/3Mark05 terminates in loop mode

2D/3D (SN: 1892610)
Blue screen error can sometimes be seen when energy screen saver is running in preview mode

Video (SN: 1892887)
Frame drops noticeable in certain DVDs titles

Video (SN: 1893641)
Tearing and frame drops when playing video with YouTube*

Video (SN: 1893640)
Tearing and frame drops when playing video with Hulu*



Sources

Release Notes for Intel GMA500, version 7.14.10.1006
Release Notes for Intel GMA500, version 7.14.10.1005

 

Windows 7 runs really good on the Acer 751. I have a dual-boot setup with the original XP, which i barely use Even with my RC (7100) everything works, and looks better. Mostly due the bigger icons, plus i got better battery-life in Win7. There are better energy settings, like darken your screen after some minutes of inactivity.

What movies are you using for HD-playback test? The Windows Media Player 12 plays everything i tested just out-of-the-box! Quicktime HD from Appletrailers, MP4´s, downloaded YouTube HD clips in 720p (.avi) or DivxHD in .mkv. In my opinion there is no need for any third-party player (PowerDVD) or codecs. The WMP12 plays everthing i tested so far.

For DivxHD (.mkv) you may need to install this: http://labs.divx.com/mkvwin7preview but thats all i did.

 

I just picked up an AO751h with 2gb ram, running Vista. Not a big fan of Vista, but I installed Win7 on an older computer with worse specs than this and it runs great, so I'd like to put it on here as well. But I have a couple of (probably) dumb questions if anyone is willing to humor me.

1) What is the best way to install Windows 7 - off of a USB flash drive, or an external USB CD/DVD-R?
2) Fullscreen video playback is SO choppy on this thing - is that pretty much fixed following the instructions of this post?
3) I prefer the 1366x768 resolution, is that available in Win7 as well?
4) Is there anyway to upgrade to 3 or 4gb of ram? Would that make a difference at all anyway?

Thanks!

 

I installed from a USB pen drive. I used UltraISO to write the ISO to the drive without having to do any (real) work.

If you install the latest Intel GMA500 drivers and use the codec and media player mentioned in the post, video should work fine at full screen. (I haven't had any issues.)

Yeah, it's full supported.

The Poulsbo chipset only supports 2GB, so that is the max.



Hope this helps!

 

Josh would you consider specifying exactly what and how you set up your media player and driver and whatnot?
I can get the video acceleration working with DXVA Checker but only intermittently anywhere else.
I wonder if I should reformat and try again; I've tried several drivers, both manual update and the setup.exe, and none of it is working.
Also, what video files you are using to test so I can replicate. It might be I'm using a video with some obscure codec or something.