ASUS U500vz/UX51vz Owners' Lounge!

I thank you for the answer guess this is my new laptop then.

 

Hey guys,

My apologies; didn't want to open a new thread, hoping someone here has run into a similar issue. My U500VZ (CN012H) has been turning off randomly ever since I bought it (factory settings - no new software installed; four unexpected shutdowns in 10 days). No BSOD, no memory dumps, just a 6008/41 event in Event Viewer. The first couple of times it happened, it turned off less than one minute after coming out of Sleep (while doing pretty much nothing), so I guess that rules out overheating (it happens both on battery and AC power). Sent it to the ASUS service center, but it passed the official functional and stress tests, so they claim the unit's not faulty.

Any help/tips would be much appreciated!

 

I had this happen once, but not since then. Have you got all the latest drivers?

 

Latest drivers and BIOS (happens with both v203 and v204).

 

Wow that's new? Never had that happen on me, ever. I put it too sleep and take it out sometimes 40 times a day, no problem.

 

Brand new. The worst part is I can't force it to reoccur - it appears to be random (the last two times it happened was after a few hours of surfing the Internet).

 

I take it you have the latest BIOS/EC you can?

 

That's not true, you can re-create the RAID array. You can boot from a Linux flash drive and re-create the array in Linux using mdadm or dmraid (mdadm is preferred). The way to do it is the following:

mdadm --create /dev/md/imsm /dev/sd[a-b] --raid-devices 2 --metadata=imsm
mdadm --create /dev/md/RAID0SYS /dev/md/imsm --raid-devices 2 --level 0

The above would create a RAID0 on the entire capacity of the hard drives. By default there is a second volume RAID0RST of 16GB which is un-partitioned. I don't know what this is for, maybe some hibernate-like functionality (asus instant-on?). Anyway, I prefer having the extra 16GB for storage, so I didn't recreate this volume and it worked just fine.

It's also possible to mix RAID0 and RAID1, you could create a RAID0 for the OS and a RAID1 for the important data you care about.

You could probably re-create the array under Windows as well with Intel Matrix Storage Manager, but I've never tried that as I wiped Windows and installed Kubuntu on my laptop (I tried re-creating the raid0 just to see if it can be done, I'm using Linux software raid now).

 

..........

 

Is there a thread/wiki/whatever covering how to get linux (ubuntu/kubuntu) up and running on the UX51vz?
marlusm, I see you've got it running: any resources for this? Specifically grub/Bumblebee issues...?

 

PLEASE HELP

Just got my U500VZ - Installed all updates at etc. Installed the BIOS FLASH tool for windows, and downloaded the BIOS listed on Asus/support. It seemed to flash just fine until i restarted my asus. ITS STUCK IN BIOS Please help my solve this problem

In the BOOT menu, theres no harddrive listed!

If I go to the "Advanced" tab and select "start easy flash" it wont let my update cause the bios version is the same as the installed one.
My harddrive is listed. So the SSD is no dead?!

Pictures:






Please help someone?

 

Hi everyone!
Have just bought u500vz. It came, among listed specs and features, with some issues built-in Here they are:
1. Once attached external display via HDMI, I cant duplicate output on both (ext+int) even thought each is 1080p. I have to go either for extension or show only one;
2. Second problem comes out of first one: if I only have image coming to external display (internal is a black screen), and then detach HDMI cable, internal display will remain black (i would expect it automatically switch to internal);
3. Last concern is related to in-game heavy load. If output goes to external display and laptop lid is closed, under heavy game load (cpu temp reaches 90+ C) system will eventually go to sleep. I wonder if this can be turned off as CPU spec allows it to run at up to 105 C. It seems like keeping lid opened fixes issue.

Any help/advice will be appreciated.

 

I can't help you for questions number 1 and 2, but they may be just windows 8 temporary limitations, don't know.
3) the problem is that the hot air coming from inside the laptop is exhausted by the fans to the top of the laptop, along the screen. Thus, if you close the lid you trap the hot air in there and cpu gets too hot. I believe this is the reason why the laptop goes to sleep, it is just a protection: 105°C is the junction temperature, if you reach it you can damage the CPU. If I were you I'd keep the lid open when the laptop is on and active

Sent from HTC HD2 with Tapatalk

 

I think something similar has been mentioned before in this thread, see solution in post #432.

 

Depends a lot how you want to set up your hard drives. If you want to use them as separate hard drives or as linux raid the installer should just work. If you want to keep the Intel RAID and you windows installation and install linux on a separate partition the grub installation will likely fail. You can still install grub manually from the command line after the installer has finished. Found this page very helpful on how to install GRUB2 on an UEFI systems: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GRUB2#UEFI_systems_2

I didn't get to play with Bumblebee yet, I'll let you know how it goes when I end up doing that.

 

@mariusm

Thank you very much. You just made my day

 

Thank you. That was my first thought, but I'm pretty sure temp was kind of the same with opened lid. Looks like nasty plastic part connecting the bottom of screen with base designed to direct hot exhaust downwards when lid is closed. For this reason I have placed laptop to the table edge...

 

For those of you looking for a new ac adapater for the UX51V, ( 90 Watt AC Adapter ) ASUS estore finally has them up. Just in time, I ordered two bogus ones (minilaptopaccessories) that didn't work.

 

When power cord is plugged in my mouse jumps around?
If i 2 finger scroll on a page and keep my fingers on the touchpad, the page flicks up and down. Also when i just place 1 finger on the touchpad and just keep it there, the pointer is also jumping around.

I have tried uninstalling smartgesture driver, restart - still the same. The problem occurs on all the touchpad surface... Only way for it to stop is to unplugg the power cabel!

 

Thank you for the guide and especially the links for the missing drivers.

After installing all drivers under windows 7 as described (although I updated the pointing device to Elantech) I am left with two problems.

1. I get a device disconnected sound every few seconds for some minutes after each restart until windows apparently gives up whatever it is trying to do. During this the device manager refreshes shortly after every sound. Device manager shows no conflicts.

Edit: The culprit seems to have been the camera (which registers as a USB-device. Found it reconnecting using USBdeview and then reinstalled it. Seems solved.

2. The WLAN does not turn off when I press FN+F2. I tried reinstalling the ATKPackage and KB-filter to no avail. And the wireless-LED is off when I boot up windows, which does not reflect the actual status of anything. Is this just a ty implementation by ASUS and is there a way to get it working/alternative solution to get proper use out of the Wireless on/off button?

I also have a broken right speaker.

Is there a way to minimize ASUS instant on? And is the tool worth anything? Heard conflicting reports about that.

 

I haven't noticed issues 1 & 2, but I have all sounds off and I haven't really looked at the wireless light... so I'll try to do a little test later to see if I can reproduce these.

Instant On's silly pop-up window really bugged me when I was still running Win 8, so I never even considered re-installing it. Why would you keep something running all the time, just to spare .25 second when waking/rebooting? Booting is fast enough even under Win 7 for me.

EDIT: So I definitely do not have issue #1; no disconnect sounds or anything else is audible. As for #2, The WLAN thing does seem to be half-functional. The LED is off by default, but both Wifi and Bluetooth are operational anyway. If I press Fn+F2, an animated thingie appears saying all wireless devices are turned on, and the LED lights up. Nothing seems to change connection-wise though (Wifi still working). Turning the LED off again with Fn+F2 again doesn't change the actual connectivity.

Since we're using Win7-based Intel drivers, it does seem possible that this bug is due to the lack of proper interaction between those drivers and the Asus app that controls the keyboard. Oh well, at least it is something that doesn't really bother me.

EDIT 2: So, magically, after rebooting, the Fn+F2 thing does seem to work. The laptop booted without the wireless LED on, but now the actual connection were also disabled. When I pressed Fn+F2, they came back on. I'm not sure it is a very reliable function, because toggling it on and off now seems to cut off Bluetooth immediately, but an established WiFi connection just keeps going. Perhaps that's as intended? Anyway, now my LED is on... I suppose that was how it was meant to be. :S

 

hello people...

is anybody worrying about asus not selling a genuine battery? The two most worrying things thats stoping me to go for this rather marvelous ultrabook are the battery and the proprietary ssd availability atleast through PAYING to asus... there is just NO OPTIONS there is nowhere on its site anything related to purchasing these components once the 1 year warranty goes off.. specially for outside US customers as it doesnot extend warranty..

And i know that 3rd party sellers might come up with options .. but that risk is too much to take for a $2000+ ultrabook and even if they come up with options thoes wont be genuine..

what kind of a support asus is giving.. specially to "to be customers"?? I cant get even an email to confirm their plans on any such availability of parts in future..
They are like saying openly... "FIRST PURCHASE THEN THINK OF EVEN TALKING TO US"

I tried calling the asus center over phone,... no HUMAN ever picks up... what support they are going to give.. only GOD knows...

This is frustating...

 

You have asusparts.eu if you are outside of US, they sell alot of original ASUS parts. You can get SSDs there, and most probably also battery and other components in the future.

 

After installing the Elantech Drivers for the Touchpad can you still get the FN+F9 function key to disable the touchpad?
I know the Elantech Software has the option "disable when external USB poiting device plug in", but that just disables the touchpad for good even though my G500 is not connected.

 

EDIT: deleted post contents, solved my own problem.

p.s out of interest, did anyone get a u500 with a purple lid like the unit in the review by mike?
because most of the reviews seem to show it with a grey lid.

 

I just ordered one. How thick is this laptop? Engadget says 1.2 inches...but on asus website they claim 19.7mm which is under 1 inch.

 

I think measurement depends on considering the notebook's feet or not. Manufacturers tend to 'forget' the feet when they measure their products' heights.

 

Not in this case, in this case its a mistake on Engadgets behalf, asus says 19.7mm, Engadget says 30.5mm (1.2 inches), no way the feet are over 1cm thick.

 

Just did a quick measurement: 1.59 cm to palmrest level, 2.25 cm to screen level when folded. Seems Asus didn't include the feet however 1.2" thick it ain't

 

SO, just got my computer back..

I tried again and still the right fan was spinning. Then I enabled Nvida and suddenly it stopped. Strange, but now it works awesome!!


However, I am a little bit worried because the temperature always jumps around plus/minus 3-5 Celsius. Do you also notice this?

Furthermore, the fan only starts when the temperature is above 70 and then it really goes on full power..

EDIT: after a restart the right fan keeps on spinning up every few seconds

 

The temperature readings fluctuate constantly, yes. This is normal. I'm not sure what to think of that right fan of yours, but it may be related to the configuration (see below). Otherwise, the only thing I can think of is the polling interval, but you already said that adjusting it did not work...

The fact that your fans are only spinning up at 70C and then at full speed leads me to believe something is not configured right in NBFC. Can you show a screenshot of your settings?

 

There is a new BIOS update, 205, but just for the UX51VZ (without A) Version. The only change seems to be:

"Fix bug that WHCK boot time is longer than 2 seconds."

I never heard something about WHCK, which stands for Windows Hardware Certification Kit. Seems to be the new Win8 stuff..
So there doesn't seem to be an improvement in fan noise .. :-(

 

Soo.. What IS That A-version? Nobody here seems to have one and it always gets the BIOS updates before the version that everyone(?) seem to have...

 

The A-Version (UX51VZA) is the one everyone has (inlcuding me), as far as i know.

 

Yeah, the non-A one you mean. I've wondered the same thing. A Taiwanese (home market) version maybe?

 

first of all, thx for your effort, appreciate it
i don't know why the programm keeps on crashing when I try to change the polling intervall

could it be that I need to activate the fake temperature ?

 

Sorry, of course I mean without A as Terpen said below

 

YW. So the fake temperature is not enabled on my NBFC either, but my fan reset value differs from yours: mine is 2.

Can you show the program's main screen as well? The one showing the temperature thresholds-- perhaps something there is set incorrectly.

 

Hello team UX51/U500

I recently joined the club and got my own device and Ive read tons of pages in this thread, so many thanks to everyone.
Im sure some of u guys have replaced the 4GB ram with an 8GB, Im willing to do so myself.
Any recommendations on a suitable 8GB for our laptop ? I dont have much options due to my country not being technology-friendly.

Another thing, please dont kill me, but its the fan issue.
Ive contaced ASUS but response yet, is there any program that might help with idle noise ?

I apologize if the questions are repeated and im sure they are.
Thanks in Advance

 

unfortunately I apparently also can't change the reset value (program crashes)..

anyway, here is the screenshot from the main screen:


@ TalalTango
hi!
search for "notebook fan control" in this thread

 

@StevenSteel
Thanks a lot, my fan is put to silence.

But it seems that another problem popped out, ive tried searching in the thread and found nothing.
Whenever I try to open any of the .jps pictures in the 3D VIsion preview pack, a error shows up saying "Primary display's adapter does not support NVIDIA 3D VISION".
My brother told me that he messed around with the NVIDIA control panel but ive reset everything back to default but the problem still exists.
Has anyone faced this kinda thing ?

 

Alright, now we are getting somewhere, it seems.

The configuration that you have there is not set right, in any case. The main thing is that you have to press that button "Enable Auto Fan Control"! Then NBFC will take over. I think it now just uses your manual setting of 0%, and then goes into critical hand-off mode when the temperature climbs past the critical threshold.

As an aside, I'd aim for the 14% setting as the first step up, there is no need to ramp up to the higher speed immediately. I also found that I can handle light loads without fans at a level of 55C (so your 50 there may be a bit too low for that).

 

I'm a bit confused, what makes you think the screen supports 3D? At best red/blue anaglyphic 3D would be possible but I don't know if nVidia supports that nowadays.

 

where is the cheapest place to get the 256gb w/ touchscreen in the USA?

 

@Megol

I`m not saying that it fully supports 3D.
Ok allow me to explain better, I haven't downloaded the .jps files, actually they came with the laptop since day one.
The folder contains 3D captures of the current NVIDIA we have on some games like tomb raider,burnout paradise,devil may cry 4 and others and its located here C:\Users\Public\Pictures\NVIDIA Corporation\3D Vision Experience\3D Vision preview pack 1. You most probably should have it too.

A while ago everything seemed to work fine, the pictures were accessible through NVIDIA 3D vision photo viewer on default with no error what so ever.
Now it says that the adapter doesn't support it ! and I can only access the .jps files through Windows photo viewer.

I think some updates had something to do with it but I don't feel like going back to a restore point and lose updates especially with my poor internet connection.
I just hope I can find an alternative way to fix this.

 

Yeah, I kow this has to be enabled, I probably disabled it while rying different settings. So I don't think this was the reason why it did not work. However, after a restart (with Windows updates being installed) everything works fine. It is dead silent. !!! awesome really. Thanks again for your effort!!!

Another thing, can you tell me how long your laptop runs on battery when only surfing?

 

Great!

Battery thingie says 7 hours with just Chrome open with a couple of tabs. I guess your mileage may vary, as always, though.

 

Today, I wanted to upgrade Windows 8 to Pro, but the upgrade process failed. I have to remove Intel PROSet/Wireless Software for Bluetooth, but I can't. It appears the keys in the registry are blocked. I haven't done anything much with the laptop since I've got it. Installed only a few applications.

I've read somewhere that the installation of the Intel bluetooth driver messes with the ownership of certain keys in the registry.

Can anyone confirm if their registry is not corrupted?
It's HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\BTHPORT\Parameters\UnsupportedServices

 

Have you tried to remove the devices from device manager?

 

Doesn't work. And now I cannot get it to start again...

Fortunately I remembered that I didn't have to upgrade from Windows 8 to Pro from the setup on CD, but that I could simply get more features and input the product key. That worked and I can now use the features from Windows 8 Pro.

I'm still open to any suggestions on how to fix the permissions of the Intel driver in the registry.