Gateway FX6801-09h. Weird problem after upgrading to Windows 7

[baldguy]

Hi, this is the first time I've asked a question here, though I've found answers to other questions I've had in the past by reading problems and solutions others were having.

Here is the computer I have, I bought it August 2009. I am a gamer through and through and aside from browsing, gaming is the main function of this computer.

Gateway FX 6801-09h Specifications

- Intel Core i7 920 with 2.66 GHz D0 processor
- Gateway X58 Motherboard
- 12GB 1333Mhz DDR3 Triple Channel Memory capable to 24GB DDR3 Triple Channel Memory
- Built-in Memory card reader
- Creative X-Fi MB Supported Sound (Software)
- nVidia GeForce GTX 285 1GB, the fastest single-GPU video cards on the planet
- DVD-Super multi Writer/Reader drive with LabelFlash
- Multi-in-one Digital Media with digital control screen on tower
- 1TB(1000GB) 16MB SATA2 Hard Drive
- Gateway easy button Backup
- 750 Watt power supply
- Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit SP2. It had the free Windows 7 upgrade option. The upgrade arrived in December 2009.

It's been running fine until last week when I upgraded to Windows 7.

After the upgrade, I have an annoying issue that pops up now and then. The USB ports (front and back) suddenly cease to function. They won't read anything inserted in them. iPod, Flash Memory stick, nothing. Funny thing is, my mouse functions fine. It is a usb mouse, and it is plugged in behind. But nothing new will take. It will not appear under drives listed under Computer. When I attempt to shutdown or restart the computer, it hangs. I have to do a hard shutdown. After I restart it, though, the USB ports function fine.

This seems to occur most commonly after playing Mass Effect 2 (retail disk, not steam).

I've scoured all over for days trying to see if someone else has had this problem, to no avail. I've gone to Gateway, and updated the drivers they listed (not BIOS yet, I'm scared of that one).

Any idea as to what is going on and how to fix it? I'd really appreciate any assistance.

 

[eidunet]

i know on some gateway computers there was a downloadable patch for the free windows 7 upgrade did you check to see if your computer was one of them

the newest bios released for the computer was on 12/23/2009 and thats BIOS Update Version 842P181G

hope this helps

 

[baldguy]

I updated the bios. I also updated the video driver, as the problem seems to pop up most (or only - not totally sure) after playing Mass Effect 2.

I'll post an update whether it's alleviated the problem (oh god please) or no change.

eidunet - Thanks for letting me know about the free windows 7 upgrade patch. My model of computer was not one of the ones get this patch, though.

 

[baldguy]

Just an update,

Even after updating the bios and nvidia driver, I'm still having this issue. It doesn't occur all the time, as I was playing Mass Effect 2 last night, and the usb ports worked fine. After this afternoon, however... usb ports stopped working and at shutdown, the computer hangs.

It's not the selective suspend setting, I don't think, as I already changed that to "disabled", and it had no effect on this problem.

It's very frustrating. Next step is to contact Gateway Support. I'll update if I somehow get this issue resolved. If someone else has had this problem and was able to resolve it, I'd really appreciate any advice or direction I can get.

 

[baldguy]

So, I believe the problem is with Realtek's Card Reader driver. I've attempted to upgrade the driver from Realtek's website, but after upgrading, Windows 7 is forced to do a restore. I guess there is something it doesn't like.

After attempting to remove the current driver in SAFE mode, and failing to do so (it just hangs while uninstalling), and a few restores after attempting this...the computer seems to work ok now. I'm not having the USB issues and I'm not having the shutdown/restart hang. There is a triangled "!" in front of USB2.0-CRW under devices, but seeing as the computer is actually running fine now, I'm just going to leave everything as is.

It's no longer broke (not functionally anyway), so I ain't gonna fix it.

 

[envyNecro]

I have the same exact problem.. except it was happening in Vista 64 as well. Still don't know how to fix it :/ Under device manager I would have HID-Compliant device with the yellow exclamation point. I just disabled it and it seems to be working atm not sure tho.

 

[envyNecro]

Well disabling it didn't help. Still blue screen'd on shutdown

 

[envyNecro]

Also quick question, does your media control touch screen panel on the front go off by itself? Mines keeps activating even if i don't touch it

 

[baldguy]

No. To be honest, I've hardly paid any attention to the media touch screen. I have not ever noticed it going off by itself. I don't think it has, but I'll certainly pay more attention to it now to see if it correlates with the issue I've been noticing.

 

[dairou18]

Anything new about this? I am also having this problem, Vista or 7.

 

[baldguy]

Anything new about this? I am also having this problem, Vista or 7.

I updated the Wireless network driver, the X-fi MB driver, and the Realtek audio driver. I found these at Gateway's Support site after entering my PC's serial number at www.gateway.com

I also updated the BIOS.

After doing all this (I had some trouble with the X-fi MB driver - had to do 1 restore and try again), the problem is....alleviated. The PC no longer goes into a hang after playing games. I do hear the device connect chime from time to time while playing games. I don't know what this is indicative of.

The bottom line for me is, aside from the occasional chime (which I turned off in control panel), my computer pretty much functions fine.

I hope this helps.