Many thx !!! I will give that a try.

https://www.avforums.com/threads/aspire-idea-500.364344/page-28#post-22980896

http://www.avforums.com/threads/aspire-idea-500.364344/page-26#post-20992143

Nie ma problemu, moj polsku jest barzo gle tech 😉

1/ I would suggest you to reset your bios to the default settings first.

2/ Next, if such a reset does not fix the problem, I would suggest you to check the memories.

For that purpose, boot on a usb key to run MemTest86+. It’s a free software that test memories
You can download MemTest86+ from here: http://www.memtest.org/download/5.01/memtest86+-5.01.usb.installer.zip
It will install itself automatically on a usb key.

Here a description of MemTest86+ in polish: http://www.dobreprogramy.pl/Memtest86,Program,Windows,12492.html

Let Memtest86+ run for a few hours… you could discover that one of your memories is failing.
I had such an issue last month with a brand new G.Skill Ripjaws :/

Ok, audio via HDMI works fine if I use an older nvidia Drivers such as the version 174.13 that can be found here => http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/17587-v17413-vista-32bit-nvidia/

– Unzip the package
– Override the inf in the package with the one to be downloaded from the page mentioned above.
– Run the setup (I had no need to run it as admin in a compatibility mode with Vista SP2).
– Restart to PC
– As a Playback Device, select the Digital Audio (S/PDIF).
– In Windows Media Center’s setup, Configure:
– the video connection type = HDMI
– the speaker connection type = HDMI/DisplayPort (digital) and the number of speakers = 7.1

Notice: I have no Realtek drivers installed anymore! (I did remove the Realtek drivers I did install for testing purpose). Instead, I am using the native Windows 8’s drivers => I see 2 playback devices named “Speakers” in addition to one named “Digital Audio (S/PDIF)”.

DTS and Dolby are both enabled in the supported format… as well as all the rates available. They are well supported by my soundbar Yamaha YSP-3300.

I notice however new issues: among other the Start Screen of Windows 8.1 does not appear (it disappears after a few seconds). I have to press “Windows-E” to start a Windows Explorer and switch therefore to the Desktop. “CTRL-ALT-DEL” can also do the trick by starting the Task Manager (but option “always on top” must be off).

I will try more recent versions of the drivers to see if I can keep the audio via HDMI but solve the display issue. But this issue is not a blocking one for me as I mainly use my Acer with the Windows Media Center as a shell replacement => I don’t access the “Start Screen” and MCE runs fine with sound via HDMI!

All versions of the drivers are available from here: http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/31-archived-releases. I am going to try various NVIDIA versions targeting Vista x86.

——————————-
[EDIT] Taking some times tonight to try various versions of the drivers.

– I did first upgrade to 179.67 and had no display issue anymore but no audio via HDMI either…
– I did downgrade to 169.61 and this was working fine.
– Upgraded to 174.93. No display issue, but no sound.
– Downgrade to 171.12. Sound via HDMI is ok. But Start Screen disappears.
– Upgrade to 173.90. Restart does not work. Sound via HDMI is ok. But I still have issues with the display of the Start Screen.
– Tried version 307.68. No display issue. Restart works fine. But no audio via HDMI although there is now a clear option to enable/disable HDMI in the nVIDIA Control Panel!?

I tried to force an upgrade to Windows 8.1 by loading the AppStore via IE. This can be made by navigating to ms-windows-store:WindowsUpgrade. But it didn’t work as the AppStore is not only accessed but also displayed as a tile and the display issues is with the Start Screen. I would like to upgrade as I presume this could clean the mess I made on my PC by installing/uninstalling so many drivers. I don’t want to reinstall the PC but feel that some issues could be solved if I could restart from a clean situation…

However, if I uninstall the NVidia video drivers, I have no issue anymore with the display of the Start Screen. So, I was next able to start the upgrade to “Windows 8.1 Pro with Media…” via the AppStore accessible on the Start Screen.

Unfortunately, nothing solved after the upgrade to Windows 8.1. Only notice that Windows 8.1 will download automatically the version 307.68 if none is installed and that one comes with a quite complete Control Panel including the option to enable/disable sound via HDMI. But it does not work :/

I did test next the nVidia drivers 174.12, 174.13 and 174.16. They all come with audio via HDMI but the Start Screen still fails to display. The versions I did test without success are: 174.74, 174.93, 179.28, 179.67, 180.70, 180.82, 186.82, 186.91, 192.62, 310.33. (Notice: installing 174.16 after 174.74 results in error messages. But I did install it after 174.13 and audio via HDMI works now fine)

I wanted finally to install the Realtek High Definition Audio Drivers R2.73 in combination to nVIDIA drivers 174.16. I saw one “Speaker” and the “Realtek Digital Output” in the list of Playback Device and did select the “Digital Output”. But I didn’t get any audio anymore via the HDMI… So, I did downgrade from 174.16 to 174.13, then to 174.12 and finally to 173.90. Audio via HDMI only works with Realtek Drivers and that version 173.90. Those Realtek Drivers have an added value as they offer various enhancements.

So, I keep 173.90 and I have configured windows to go directly to the desktop after login instead of going to the start screen. A good how-to can be found here: http://www.gottabemobile.com/2013/10/06/disable-start-screen-windows-8-1/

——————————-
[EDIT] I just noticed another issue with those drivers supporting Audio via HDMI but resulting in an issue with the Start Screen: IE 11 is flashing/flickering when browsing pages… I have the feeling that both issues are related… Looking for reason why this can occur, I found that it’s indeed usually due to the graphic drivers. Settings the advanced option of IE to use software rendering instead of GPU can solve it. It’s also recommended to fully uninstall the drivers and reinstall them… Trying to do that, I found that I had various parts of various versions of the nVIDIA Drivers. Ex.: update software from one version, physX from another one, etc… So, I did a full cleanup of that mess (using REVO uninstaller). Next, I did restart in “Safe Mode” to reinstall the drivers: Type ‘msconfig’ in a console and tick the option ‘Safe Boot’ + ‘network’ in the tab Boot, then ‘Apply’. Doing so, I noticed that the display was only possible via the VGA connector and not via HDMI anymore. Once back into Windows (in safe mode) I was unable to run the nVIDIA drivers setup. It didn’t detect the hardware?! So I did reboot now in normal mode. As I had both the HDMI and VGA connected between the Acer and the TV, Windows did install itself automatically the nVIDIA drivers 307.68 and switched to a dual display. This was really confusing as I had actually only one screen and thought there was yet something else wrong…

As I have still not audio via HDMI with 307.68, I did run the setup of 173.90. But I was next back in the situation where IE 11 was flickering… So, again, I wanted to uninstall the remaining parts of 173.90: the “NVIDIA Update” Version 1.10.8 (works fine) and the “Graphic Driver” 307.68. Unfortunately, once that driver removed and the PC rebooted, I have no display anymore (black screen :/). To solve that, I did connect remotely (remote desktop command: mstsc) and did upgrade to version 174.12*. The display went back but I loose the audio (as I have Realtek Drivers installed). But once the display was back, I was able to reinstall the version 173.90. Disappointment: IE 11 is still flickering :/
The only solution that works for me is to go to “Internet Options” > “Advanced” > “Accelerated graphics” and tick the option “Use software rendering instead of GPU rendering”. It took effect immediately (without even rebooting as mentioned in IE ?!).

* I tried first to reinstall 173.90 but the setup told that the drivers were already up-to-date (although the device appeared with a yellow exclamation mark in the device manager).

Remaining issues are now: Start Screen fails to display. Quite annoying as I need it to “search” for apps and commands.

Attention, if Windows install all updates by default, it will automatically reinstall the drivers version 307.68! I have disabled the automatic update otherwise I have to reinstall 173.90 everyday 🙁
Also, Windows 8.1 had updated my network drivers and the PC was not staying in stand-by mode anymore. I had to go into the advanced tab of the Ethernet Controller to enable support of WOL only for magic packets

Realtek Drivers are required to get a better sound and the Surround effect in my case…

DTS and Dolby are both supported by my Soundbar Yamaha YSP 3300 but not Microsoft WMA. Supported Sample Rates are 44.1, 48.0 and 96.0 Khz.

Additional parameters for ehsheel.exe: /nostartupanimation /entrypoint:{CE32C570-4BEC-4aeb-AD1D-CF47B91DE0B2}{FC9ABCCC-36CB-47ac-8BAB-03E8EF5F6F22}

Alas, no 🙁

No, I don’t use HDMI for sound… I am using my surround system instead of the TV.

But I remember I had such an issue (get the sound via HDMI) when using Media Center on this Acer with Vista and later Win7. I think the nvidia drivers were disabling the sound via HDMI (it’s weird but it’s indeed a video setting)…

I am sure you found on Google that you can try to use the SPDIF device and go to Control Panel > Sound, click the Properties of your sound device, Supported Formats tab, and uncheck “DTS Audio” & “Dolby Digital” formats ?