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Studio 1558 Freezes SOLVED for 1 Owner, It's the eSata interface
I thought I would share the following, since I've seen no previous mention of a link between the Esata port and freezes. The following has solved all my freeze issues for the last 96 hours. Hopefully, this will help some of you and lead Dell to a solution. This is long, so bear with me.
I have a brand new 1558 with the I5-M520 chip, 5470 graphics, 1080p, Win 7 64bit and the new stock A06 bios. After a couple of weeks of use, the machine started the now familiar pattern of intermittent shutdowns to safe mode which changed to freezes after Dell Support suggested turning off the automatic reboot.
Symptoms and diagnostic are as follows:
- System freezes after a screen flash to blank and required a restart. Usually, when moving mouse or starting to key in data.
- Besides the usual bug checks and kernel events due to unexpected shutdowns, Event Manager reports several instances of the following events at different intervals often before a shutdown: "The speed of processor n in group 0 is being limited by system firmware." - A indication of CPU throttling.
- System also started to show the error message "Error 1310. Error writing to file: file name" during the installation of applications that previously installed without problem. This indicated that the Win 7 backward compatible junction points for the Temp directory was not accessible - a possible corruption of the NTFS directory.
- The system ran hot, usually at the touchpad, but the fan was not running on high for any extended periods.
Several restores to Factory State would stabilize the system for several hours but the freezes would return after restores of data files - yes, I used the Esata port with my backup drive.
Dell, after the standard support protocol, hardware diagnostic tests, found no errors, replaced the motherboard and heat sink and the freezes continued.
Giving it one last try, I noted that the freezes started occurring after I acquired a LaCie Rugged External HD with an Esata 3Gb port. The freezes would usually occur within 10 minutes after I disconnected the drive. So there was never a direct action with the drive associated to the timing of the freezes.
Scans of the Event Manager shows that Win 7 was trying to page to the external drive after disconnect, which was strange because I have a fixed pagefile set to the internal hard drive. Win should have never paged to the external HD.
Note: the LaCie uses the exact HD as the 1558 - Hitachi HTS725050A9A364. Win 7 assigns a different logical ID - calling it Disk1 vs. Disk0 for the fixed drive.
Several test and rebuilds later, I've confirm that using the LaCie with the Esata port and then disconnecting is the cause of the freezes. Possibly due to confusion with the fixed drive. Note that the tests included both quick disconnects and formal ejects through Win 7 - both caused the same problems.
Using the LaCie with my XPS 16 on Esata, or using the LaCie with the USB port on the 1558 does not result in any freezes or any of the above entries in the Event Manager. So the common factor to the freezes is the LaCie, Esata port and 1558 combination and not specific to the LaCie.
My guess is that there is a problem with the AHCI bios or chip set drivers of the 1558. The effect also corrupts the NTFS directories so that the Win 7 junction points no longer work. Note: Chkdsk did not solve the junction point problem.
The solution for me - restore to factory with a reformat of the C: partition, rebuild of all software installs, and STOP USING THE ESATA PORT. BTW using the Esata/USB combo port for any USB 2.0 device or the LaCie works fine.
I've been stable ever since. Temperature and Fan Speed were not an issue here. I've hit temps of 151F on Coretemp and still no crashes. I also believe that the Mobo and heat sink replacements were not a factor, since the freezes continued afterwards.
I hope Dell takes notice of this and finds a solution - the Esata speeds were nice.
sgrands99
4 Posts
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February 21st, 2011 08:00
I had been using the esata port for my printer and also to sync my phone. I stopped using the port altogether and have not had a single freeze in two weeks.
cem0030
3 Posts
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February 21st, 2011 16:00
Glad my thread helped someone.
I never heard from Dell about this. But a few weeks later, they posted a driver application call the Intel Rapid Storage Technology that applies to the eSata port. Haven't used it, because I'm still only using the port for USB. The app controls the ability to do hot swaps etc on the port and maybe the missing ingredient on making it work.
I would be interested in whether you had installed the app. If not, would you be interested in giving it a try and finding out whether this allows you to continue to use the eSata for printing - the app in on their drivers download site.
sgrands99
4 Posts
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February 22nd, 2011 14:00
Sure thing. I've been on the road. I'll be in the office tomorrow and will give it a go and let you know.
sgrands99
4 Posts
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February 24th, 2011 07:00
Installed yesterday. Printer has been on the esata port all morning. Will post back results after a day or two.
cem0030
3 Posts
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February 24th, 2011 17:00
Good luck. Hopes it holds. I suspect the driver/app should have been part of the build from the beginning. It was just one of things that slipped the QA process.
Neechy
1 Message
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September 1st, 2011 15:00
Thanks for the original post. Were you ever able to try out the driver fix?
sgrands99
4 Posts
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September 4th, 2011 09:00
Since posting, I tried many different things. Display drivers (multiple versions), USB drivers, etc. etc. All I can say is that something worked, because the problem ocurred less and less and I haven't had a freeze in several months. I seldom use the ESATA port, but when I do it doesn't crash. But again, I don't use it that much. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful. Just keep trying and hopefully you'll get luck like I did. If I think of anything else I will post it. Good luck.
piscean1977
1 Message
0
November 7th, 2011 14:00
System Dell Studio 1558
Windows 7 64 bit
This issues seems to be an issue with the Dell Support Center Update check that happens in the back ground.
I uninstalled this and the computer so far never hung. its been 1 month.
Charlie-Bob
1 Message
0
November 7th, 2011 15:00
I have exactly the same laptop 1558 & the same Lacie external hard drive. After my system freezes, it usually reboots with a Blue Screen error. I guess I'll try the two possible solutions listed below. The Intel solution is appealing as I am building a new rig where I will use the same solution. I'll also try uninstalling Dell Support Center as well.
I had traced the problem with connecting and/or disconnecting external devices. I believe I had also had problems using the Firewire connection. Unfortunately that small 500MB Lacie drive is no longer available. For the most part I keep it connected all the time. That limits, if not completely eliminates the problem.