N56VZ-DH71/RH71 Owners Lounge - N56VZ w/Windows 8

My Windows 8 N56VZ has arrived

Setting it up now - excited though to give it a try



First Impressions

It was interesting, it took me right into the Windows 8 settings from the BIOS screen without any sort of transition - the 'turning circle' effect started from there.

The touchpad feels very different from my previous N56VZ - that was a model built in May that I purchased a couple of weeks ago and returned two days ago as defective - it could be just my model, but it is much harder to press and just about impossible to press down on in the upper 1/3. Taps work from anywhere of course. The trackpad is properly depressed into the case.

Besides that it looks and feels pretty much the same on the outside as the Windows 7 model (N56VZ-DS71 for example).

It's very fast - it feels like I already installed the OS on my SSD. It's like a clean install - if there is as much bloatware as on the previous model, I don't feel it at all - the system is very responsive right out of the box. Also, the trackpad is well behaved, with the previous, it was jumping around all over the place whenever I typed - with this one, I can type easily without any problems or misclicks.

The subwoofer is making all sorts of noises, with the system still muted, it's growling continuously now that I've plugged it in. I'll have to investigate if there is some fix besides unplugging it when not in use (my previous N56VZ had an issue with the subwoofer making noise when there was activity, this one is doing it all the time, idle or active). It gets louder when there is on screen activity, such as tiles updating, windows loading, etc..

On my second boot, I found the subwoofer noise would start 12 seconds after hitting the button to turn on the system (there is no noise while in the BIOS screen, for example) - It took about 42 seconds to get to the Login screen (all with the default hardware). Third boot was much faster - just 14 seconds to login screen. Fourth boot and after, we're down to 10 seconds. This is all with the 7200rpm HDD - I didn't have speeds like that on Windows 7 even with my Vertex4 SSD - looking forward to upgrading to that again when I can (when I can download and install Windows 8 to it via USB and be sure I can grab all the drivers I have installed on this thing).

P4GearHybrid is now simpler than ever it seems to me - just two options - Performance or Battery Saving, nothing in between.

Looking forward to playing around with it more and will post some benches and impressions if people are interested.

Operating System Windows 8 64-bit
Processor Intel Core i7-3630QM (2.4GHz)
Chipset Intel® HM76 Express
Memory 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz SDRAM, 2 x SO-DIMM socket for expansion up to 8 GB SDRAM
Display 15.6" FHD 1920x1080 Wide View Angle LED Backlight
Graphics NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 650M with 2GB DDR3 VRAM

Storage 750GB 7200 RPM (ST9750420AS)
Optical Drive Blu-Ray DVD Combo
Card Reader 3 -in-1 card reader ( SD/ MS/ MS Pro/ MMC)

Camera HD camera
Wireless LAN 802.11 b/g/n - ATHEROS AR9485WB-EG
Ethernet 10/100/1000
Bluetooth Bluetooth 4.0

Interface 1 x Microphone-in jack
1 x Headphone-out jack
1 x VGA port/Mini D-sub 15-pin for external monitor
4 x USB 3.0 port(s)
1 x RJ45 LAN Jack for LAN insert
1 x HDMI
1 x SPIDIF speaker out
Audio Built-in Speakers And Microphone

Battery 6 Cell 5200 (5 Hours)
Power Adapter 120W AC adapter

Dimensions 38.0 x 25.5 x 2.73 ~3.40 cm
Weight 2.7 kg (with 6 cell battery)

Default Bios version 211
Default nVidia Driver version 305.46

Benchmarks (Previous model is just my own (now returned) N56VZ-DS71)

HyperPi - 1M 19.232s average on 8 cores (vs. 19.399s on previous model)
HyperPi - 1M 11.908s average on 1 core (vs. 12.910s on previous model)

3DMark11 - P2402 w/new 306.97 drivers - P2347 with 305.46 (vs. P2323 on previous model)

Peter

 

i was really considering a n56 for my new laptop, because i have owned a few asus laptops and they are very durable, but the DDR3 650m was a complete turn off. also the laptop is really hard to maintain

 

Interesting, I'm curious to know, what do you mean by "the laptop is really hard to maintain"?

Thanks,
Peter

 

there isnt a way to easily access the inside of the computer, i,e, a cover that can be easily unscrewed. to open up the n56 you would have to practically strip it down to the otherboard. I open my laptop up to repaste/upgrade etc. Also the CPU and GPU are soldered on to the board, so no future upgrade is possible

edit: CPU may be upgradeble, but GPU is not for sure

 

Looking forward to following this thread. It was a good idea to start a new one. (I would like to upgrade my DH71 (Scratch that -- DS71) to Win 8 around the turn of the year.)

Personally, I like the multiple power4gear settings. Performance = gaming. Entertainment = at home. Quiet Office = at library. Battery Mode = on plane, train, or somewhere I need max battery life.

A curiousity not particular to the N56: I wonder if people will tend to use Start8 or similar ( Start8 for Windows® 8 - Bringing back the Windows Start menu ).

This isn't that bad for most purposes: http://cdn.mikesquarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/bottom.jpg

 

Agreed - I haven't opened mine up yet, but I expect it to be the same. The bottom is actually a bit cleaner than the Win7 model - no license key or other random stickers down there, practically just one that says "Windows 8", the serial # and the support #.

The only thing I'd worry about is not being able to clean out the dust, but it appears that spaying some compressed air in the vents is enough so I'm not too worried - someday maybe I'll upgrade the CPU but most likely not - by the time I'd want/need to, I'd probably want/need a new laptop (I know, I'm boring ). This one is close enough to top of the line for me that I'm hoping it'll last a good long while for my purposes .

Thank you, I think you probably have a DS71 - the DH is the model that comes with Windows 8 preinstalled (and the slightly faster CPU and 7200rpm HDD). I'll try to take a better pic sometime - I just wanted to grab a quick one to have something for now .

I hear you about the multiple P4G settings, I was surprised to see the change. I often would use High Performance, Quiet Office and Battery Saving in different situations - we still have 2 for battery and 2 for AC, but it's not as it was before. There is also no widget anymore (at least not by default).

I like the idea of Start8 - if it was free it would already be installed on my system right now after you pointed it out. I keep automatically going to use the Start Menu for so many different things - but I did add the Run command right away and at least that gives me some of the functionality free and easy - I may Start8 soon, but for now I'm good. This is my first experience with Win8 (I downloaded a beta but never had time to install it) so I'm giving it a chance. Have to admit having the manual in the box for all the gestures, corner info, etc.. was useful - it was included in all of English, Spanish and French. Kind of wish there was a Win8 install DVD, but I can set it up on my USB stick or SD card and that should work fine - there is still a Drivers CD, so maybe I actually will try re-installing on my SSD before Windows 8 is released using those drivers, since I don't think many of them are online yet until the release.

Thanks,
Peter

 

also the mSATA slot on the n56 is hidden somewhere, not sure where :S i like to clean out the fan and repaste the CPU/GPU every 4 or 5 month

 

I hear you on the repaste, though with the 2+1 year warranty (since I used Visa) I won't be doing it for some time. Where did you get the idea the N56 had an MSATA slot? The Y580 does, but I don't think the N56 does... I certainly wish it did though and I'd be happy to be corrected.

Thanks,
Peter

 

i am quite sure the N56 does, its just hidden, i think you would have to lift off the motherboard to find it. When you mention warranty, do you mean you send it to asus to get the repaste done? when i got my laptop i repasted right away because the manufacturers does a bad job most of the time since they have so many laptops to go through. also i dont like to ship my laptop back to manufacturer to have repasting done because its pain in bum, takes forever to ship and i have to worry about damage during shipping

edit: it might not have msata, but i am sure i saw a pic of the motherboard somewhere and it did have it.

 

I hear you about it sometimes being a lousy job - but I like having the warranty for that and the other components of the laptop, and almost always you have to void the warranty to do the repaste - that's why I typically would wait until the warranty had expired to do it, but now the warranties are so long the laptop is practically past it's usable life until it's expired so I don't know. If it is especially bad and the system is running too hot or noisy then it could be eligible for warranty coverage and you could get them to redo it - but for me I'm referring to anything with the notebook.

The nice thing for me is that I live a 12 minute or so drive away from the ASUS Service Center for all of Canada, so I can just drop it off and pick it up from there if it does need servicing (in the past I was able to get it done right away during my lunch hour, I don't know if that's still possible, but even this week I was able to take it in and test other subwoofers on my N56VZ-DS71 so the service is available and they were happy to help).

I thought maybe you were referring to some variants of the mobo having the slot - I'd be shocked though if no one has picked up on that by now and the fact there are no models that take advantage of it - I'd think it would be in their interest to market it in some cases or else they have it built in such a way it cannot be used or is not included for this series (even if the solder points otherwise exist).

Thanks,
Peter

 

check out sager, they allow you to do almost every modificatin to your laptop without voiding the warranty

 

Hi CCz_Cataphract, glad to hear about your new laptop!
Since you previously owned a Windows 7 version you can also compare the two.
Good!

About the subwoofer sound issue, have you alredy tried these fixes?

- remove (or at least reconfigure) McAfee trial ( ASUSTeK Computer Inc.-Forum- Sound problem)
- this other fix: http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...k-sound-popping-high-pitched-tone-squeal.html
- this other fix (it's for a N76 but it could work on a N56 too): http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/670037-asus-n76vz-5.html#post8804181

 

Thanks for all those suggestions freesailor, I'll give them a try . I remember looking into it before I bought my first N56, but the last one didn't have McAfee since I did a fresh install onto my SSD - but since I might stick with this install for a few days anyway, I'll disable it as soon as I get home .

ASUS has finally introduced the model:
ASUS N56 Series and You. Incredible Together.

Though technically it's not the same since they advertise the V version which only has the GT635 - I'm glad this one has the 650 though, DDR3 or not, it can do plenty and with very little heat or noise .

It's cool having it so soon, I had thought there was an embargo on selling Windows 8 preinstalled systems until October 26 - but I'm glad to have mine now either way - the out of the box experience has been so much better than my old N56 which would lag like crazy and have all sorts of touchpad issues right away - this one has been fast and solid from the get-go - so far so good .

Peter

P.S. I realized now that my keyboard on the last model was defective, some of the keys in the lower left hand corner would make odd noises, but now having handled this new one I realized the keyboard on my unit of the old model had issues - this new one feels much, much better

 

@Peter I'm glad to hear you're now a happier N56VZ owner!

 

Thanks for those suggestions, removing McAfee completely got rid of the constant growling noise so thank you .

My issue is the same now as this guy:

That's the exact same issue I had with my previous N56VZ actually - mumbling/growling on computer activity (especially when displayed on screen) but at least now it does stop sometimes so it's an improvement on what it was on day 1.

If you have any suggestions on fixing the mumbling please let me know - I'd like to give them a try .

It was actually cheaper getting this laptop over the previous model - I saved just over $43 in the end - and that's not even counting the $14.99+tax I saved on not having to upgrade to Windows 8 and a faster processor and HDD - so all in all, a good deal

One other thing that is different from the previous model is the PSU - it is just about the same size and weight, but the area around the tip is a little slimmer and it now has a flat square blue LED on it instead of the round green one and the cable management tie was installed on it by default (there was none included in the package). Still 120W though - so no change there.

It does battery throttle in the same way as the previous model - playing Civ 5 at full HD and scrolling around the map I notice it will be fast, then slow, then fast, then slow in 5 second increments. Reducing the maximum Processor Speed helps, though it is more difficult now since P4GH does not have the shifters included anymore unfortunately. I'm finding myself really hoping ASUS will release a full W8 version of P4G soon - I'm not enjoying the 'simplified interface.'

Just trying to figure out when to install Windows 8 on the SSD - and I want to be careful because I don't have an external license key and I know I have to have one now with Windows 8 (there not being any OEM ones anymore) - will have to look into that further.

One difference I noticed between N56VZ and this system is that in the BIOS under Security it has "Key Management" which has a Platform Key and various other security keys which I can get (and which then load to a file system I don't seem to have access to). Could this be my Windows 8 Product Key?

Thanks,
Peter

P.S. One thing to keep in mind is this is Windows 8 only on this computer - it is NOT Windows 8 Pro which is what you would get through the $14.99 Upgrade program.

Update: I've just spent over an hour and 15 minutes now (and counting) asking ASUS about my Windows 8 Product Key - at first they told me they couldn't help me, that I should use some third party program that Microsoft could tell me about to get the key. Then I let them know that I'd tried many different key programs and none of them returned the correct key (they just returned the key given by Internet Explorer which does not match the key fragment displayed in my PK box). There is no Product key anywhere on the manuals, computer or box that I can see so I'm a bit stuck. ASUS told me I should call Microsoft, but I told them that in order to call Microsoft I need to enter a Product Key - and that's what I don't have! - so they put me on hold and have been talking to Microsoft for the past 30 minutes. Hoping to get this worked out soon - I couldn't be the only one who wants to know my PK for my Win8 system can I?

 

Peter, interesting that the battery throttling continues. Hopefully we'll eventually figure out a way to reduce power usage on battery to avoid triggering that limit.

Regarding the AC adapter/PSU, that's interesting you go the blue-light unit this time. With my first DS71, I got an adapter with a blue light (late Aug '12). With my second DS71 (my current notebook -- Mid Sept '12), I got the green light adapter. I prefer the green light because it's less bright. But with that said, the green-light adapter has a slight high-pitched coil whine noise when I'm plugged into the notebook while the battery is fully charged. That noise is about equally annoying as the blue light. So it's a wash. I love this laptop, but we definitley live in a world of trade-offs.

That's strange about the Win 8 Product key. They'll get that straightened out for you I'm sure. Too bad they're wasting some of your time on the phone, though. Enthusiasts like us are willing to put in the effort, but the average joe gets pretty peeved about having to call for anything.

 

Have you checked the inside of the laptop (disk/RAM bay, battery bay ...) for a possible PK label?
I've read that in some cases (on notebooks, not specifically N56) the label is now attached inside and not outside as it was usual.

Talking about key finder tools, I've read that internal PK (created acter activation) is not the same of PK labels (which should be used for installation), at least for OEM Windows, but I' am not sure if that is true.

I've used these free tools to check PK on my Windows 7 laptop:
SterJo Key Finder
and
RJL Software - Software - Utility - Windows Product Key Viewer

Both products (which seem to work in Windows 8 too) returned a Product Key (and Product ID) different from PK in OEM attached label (on the bottom of my laptop).

 

Ok, so a bunch of updates

ASUS ended up disconnecting me last night after 1 hour and 35 minutes so I never did hear back from them about what Microsoft said.

What I did find though, when calling back, is that there is a "Create Recovery Drive" function in Windows 8 - the ASUS Tech Rep told me I could not use it to install Windows 8 to my SSD though. I decided to do it anyway, and it worked .

I used a 16GB SD card, selected to copy over the Recovery Partition, then put my SSD in the main drive bay. When I tried to boot to the SSD that contained Windows 7 from my previous N56VZ it wouldn't allow me to boot - it said "Signature Error" - and even if disabled Secure Boot it wouldn't boot - but that was ok, when they added the Keys for W8 they must not have included the W7 one in the BIOS - and I wanted Windows 8 on there anyway.

I booted to the Recovery Drive SD card and it detected that there was Windows 7 on the drive (which was correct) and I selected to do a full restore with that as the target. It took about 20 minutes, and after that it was as if my computer came with the SSD - I went through the installer just the same way I did on boot 0.

Now, this is how fast my N56VZ boots:



I like . About 5-6 seconds to the login screen from power button press .

Besides that though, I really dislike the 7200rpm 750GB Seagate drive. It's so loud. I found it was unbearably loud when I had it installed in the ODD bay with my adapter, so I moved it back to the main drive bay and put my SSD back in the ODD and the SSD is just as fast there and the Seagate is a little quieter in the main drive compartment. I really think though I'll probably get a nice quiet 5400rpm 1 or 1.5TB drive at some point and ditch the ST9750420AS - just too noisy. I had thought it was just the magnetic fan settling in, but this N56VZ is definitely louder than my previous one and I blame it entirely on the 7200rpm drive vs. the previous model with the 5400rpm one - with it off or disconnected the laptop itself is just about silent.

The only other issue I've had is that on one boot my keyboard wasn't working at all - my touchpad was fine but nothing from the KB at all, I couldn't even turn off the backlight. Rebooting though resolved it so I'm not sure what was going on there - possibly something to do with the Keyboard Device Filter in the ATK.

I had the green light model from my G51JX back in early 2010, I haven't noticed the noises but I meant to mention that might be a factor in the different AC units. I'd much rather the blue light than the noise though - I can just cover the blue light almost entirely with a peice of electrical tape - the noise is harder to deal with.

If I reduce the CPU max it does remove the slowdowns on battery - but I agree, it'd be nice if we can find a better way.

Thanks for the suggestion of checking inside for the PK, but no, it was not on the inside of the case, under the battery or the HDD/RAM/Wireless Card compartment. I'll give a try to those tools you mentioned - as it is right now, I don't know the PK and I didn't need it to do the Recovery. Now if I had done an entirely clean install maybe I would have needed it - though even in that case it may have been loaded from the BIOS - I'm ok with it for now, the Recovered copy is pretty clean and good for the next few weeks anyway, until others get this in their hands and it gets sorted out.

One other thing I have to report is that I told ASUS that this unit also has the grumbling noise on the subwoofer when there is a video playing or activity on the screen, etc... - I actually ended up talking to the exact same tech as last week when I called up - since I saw it on two seperate units and I let him know others were having the same issue, he escalated the issue and assured me I would get a "reasonable" reply within 48 hours from their team - hopefully they can repo it and we can get that fixed too.

I think that covers it - really liking Win 8 on the SSD - nice and fast .

Thanks all,
Peter

 

Nice!

Your way to install on SSD seems to me very smart but I have some questions, since I'm not sure I've understood all the details:

1) did you booted from the SD card onto which you copied the Recovery partition?
How did you managed to make SD card bootable?
Do you think that booting the Recovery partition from a bootable USB pendrive would have had the same result?

2) you wrote that the booted installation "detected that there was Windows 7 on the drive".
I don't know if you have elements of knowledge about this but did you feel that the installation would have been done even if the SSD would have been empty, i.e. is it also good for an installation from scratch? (I suppose yes but I'm not sure)

Congratulations for your new blazing fast machine! :thumbsup:

 

Thanks

In response:
1. I actually was using the SD card within a USB card reader - I meant to mention that, I remember having some difficulty getting it to boot to the SD Card directly in the past (that would be a nice feature to have) - the "Create Recovery Drive" made the SD Card (within the reader) bootable, so yes, a USB pendrive of 16GB should do the trick .

2. Yes, I think it would work even if there was no Windows 7 on the drive - that would probably be even preferable - but I can't confirm it since I haven't tried sorry (and from all my googling, it feels like no one has - that's the problem with having the final release of the OS over a week early ).

Peter

P.S. I tried all the different Key Finder utilities you recommended and they all gave the same incorrect key that Belarc and other such systems are giving - it's not a valid one. I wonder if there are any that give the correct one - I can confirm the ones it gives does not match the fragment that Windows shows me. Microsoft is making things difficult on me .

 

Bahhh, I was able to extract the Platform Key, Software Key and other database certificates from the BIOS as EFI Variables written out as files - however, I can't read the things - in Notepad++ I get a few readable characters such as "ASUSTeK Notebook PK Certificate" but the rest is gibberish. I spoke to Microsoft Support and they said they don't have phone support for Windows 8 yet and that even if they did, they wouldn't do the support but it would be ASUS instead - the same ASUS that told me to call them instead .

When activating I currently get the message "Activation error description not found" - I'm pretty sure it has to do with it not picking up the Product Key, and I know how to set it - I just need to know what it is

Peter

 

I suppose that you should ask the PK (or a replacement) to Asus, just as if it was worn off and unreadable.
OEM COA Certificate is there but product key code is worn off. Is - Microsoft Community

According to this FAQ, the code shown by key finder tools should be just a generic and "universal" OEM key
Windows License Questions: Your FAQs Answered | PCWorld
so it's not the PK you are looking for, in fact.
The true PK is probably encrypted somewhere on file system or registry, maybe the same thing you extracted.

Likely, since the OS hasn't already been officially launched, it's not the best time to ask for support for Windows 8 neither to Asus nor to Microsoft!
But I think that within few weeks from now things will change.

 

No kidding . There are no COA Cerficates written on the systems anymore with Windows 8 - and the key being returned is not the generic OEM one, it's just picking up Internet Explorer's key which is unique to my system, but not useful for activating Windows .

The PK is in the BIOS, but it is encrypted. Hey, it's not my fault I was sold a Windows 8 system before release day . All I knew is this system would have a newer CPU - it having W8 was a bonus - I'm not complaining but I am hoping now that I've gotten the issue escalated, that it can get addressed quickly.

Really enjoying the speed of the system with W8 especially with the SSD - there is very little that I can't do right now with the system before activation, but I'd like to get it activated soon. ASUS can't say that changing the HDD is unsupported (which one of the reps started to tell me) - the Windows 8 key is based on the hardware hash of the mobo, not all the components, else there would be some major issues with people upgrading or changing anything in the system and suddenly losing their license.

I'm hoping to get it resolved soon, if it takes some time then so be it - but that's why I got the ball rolling now . Plus it was kind of fun when they would take a double take and go "wait, you already have Windows 8???"

Peter

P.S. Btw the Instant On Widget so it has a "Performance/Battery Saving" toggle at the bottom of the widget which affects the amount of time on standby. Still no P4GH widget which would be useful.

 

Hi all,

To update you - ASUS called me yesterday and gave me the Product Key associated with the Serial Number (yay!). I guess on Monday one of the techs who knows this stuff got in and saw my case and was able to look it up in the database they had to have. Either way, hopefully this sets a precedent and everyone else can call up and get their PK's without a problem .

My local machine accepts the Product Key and recognizes it as the correct one - I get errors when it tries to actually go through the Activation process. I've posted a question on the Microsoft Support Forums to see if it can be worked out. I thought it might be an issue with the Recovery, but I did a Restore twice as well as another Recovery along with using the Windows 8 Enterprise Evaluation to do a fresh base install to restore from - and none of these solved this issue with Activation.

There is also one Windows Update that fails to install - and it loops through about a 25 minute process of trying to install, failing and rolling back changes and then reverting before it finally reboots - I don't know if that is related but I have a fresh image on there now so I might try to get that update and install it alone before anything else (it was a major one, the biggest since RTM).

That's where I'm at now - still really enjoying the laptop - once I get this worked out - and it may be child's play on Friday - I think it's all set .

Thanks,
Peter

P.S. Nothing back about the subwoofer issue yet - hopefully they'll contact me soon - if not I'll give them a call back since it was an escalation on the same case number as the Product Key issue, it may have crossed a wire somewhere.

 

How are you supposed to replace the wireless card?

 

Supposedly it's not too hard. It's near the RAM, I think? Behind it? I paid XoticPC to do it.

 

It shouldn't be difficult as Kourosh said. I haven't done it yet myself, but where the screws would be is visible as well as the antenna connections and it should just slide out past the plastic. A bit award, but doable imho.

Peter

 

Is it awful the U500VZ launch failure is giving me some small measure of satisfaction? I was torn about waiting for that notebook over the N56. I ultimately decided there was too much up in the air with the U500, and that I needed a newer laptop a.s.a.p. for work and school. It was also more affordable to stick with the N56 and upgrade it than to get the stock U500 with the same specs.

One other thought is that the newly announced touch-screen option for the U500 seems pretty neat, but it's not something I need at all.. It's main benefit is showing off such a new device, and I would rather have a smudge-free, matte screen, anyway.

Of course, by the way, I actually do hope Asus delivers with a great U500 that competes with the rMBP in the Windows space, but I'm just glad for selfish reasons that it's looking like a better decision for me, personally, to have gone ahead with the N56.

 

I've got the win7 N56VZ which I have upgraded with a SSD and installed windows 8 to, I'm pretty happy with it but I would still like to know if I should try sell it to get this version, is there something big worth the effort and cost to get this one?

Thanks

 

Dang, I wrote a nice long reply, but then it went to Advanced and it was all gone and I copied an empty message - here goes again.

I agree, I was watching the U500 thread for over a month, but I'm happy I went with the N56 in the end - the U500/UX51 wasn't for me.

Except for the slightly faster CPU and HDD (and the latter is even a con for me because of the noise) then no - except, how fast does your system boot?

Take a look at the video I have near the start of the thread - I found that with UEFI Fast Boot enabled the system boots in 5-6 seconds with SSD - but without it, it takes 10+ on the legacy/CSM system.

I've been working on getting my USB to be UEFI bootable now - it's been a pain and I've been up all night, but the end is in sight I hope. I had thought I had it finished when I installed the system while on Legacy, but if you do that and then set it for Fast Boot/CSM off it won't boot anymore - so not a solution .


By the way, are any of you guys hearing the subwoofer grumbling issue when playing a full screen video on mute or having other on screen activity (alt+tab etc...). I think it's an issue affecting many N56s personally and people are not hearing it because they are not in a quiet enough environment - if you're able to put it up to your ear to check with those things happening that would be great thanks - both my units have had it the same, Windows 8 and Windows 7 both - if we can get them to recognize it as a known issue with more than just my machine then they will investigate and fix it.

Thanks,
Peter

 

Did you manage to solve the Activation issue on SSD?

 

Yes, thanks for asking - finally... finally I have it working the way I want it to.

What I ended up doing in the end:

I had acquired a Windows 8 DVD from an acquaintance (since I don't have another system I want to update to Windows 8 right at the moment and I don't want to deal with the Upgrade Assistant) - however it would not boot through UEFI because it was a combined x32/x64 disc. So I ended up giving up on that (I may use it for my x32 disc, but it's not what I need for x64 on the N56VZ - not with UEFI enabled anyway and you definitely, definitely want that for the super fast boot).

I then realized that I have access to the MSDNAA for free through my brother who is still studying. I let him keep his key, but I burned that disc and I used it to do a clean install.

I had tried to make a UEFI USB device over and over and over again - but for some reason the N56VZ Bios would not pick it up and it wouldn't offer it as a boot option - the only way I managed to make it bootable in UEFI was by making it a Recovery Drive with the Windows 8 System App - nothing else worked with this ASUS UEFI system from my many attempts - no tool worked either and just copying the files over to the FAT32 16GB USB stick was no good - it may be a bug in ASUS' recognition system.

On doing the clean install on the MSDNAA RTM disc, it recognized what edition to install (Windows 8 - not Pro, Ent, etc - I may just call it x64 Core from now on for simplicity) and it installed and activated automatically when I plugged in the internet cable for the first time (within about a second or two of connecting).

The only thing I didn't like is that I installed Windows 8 on my SSD which is in the ODD Bay because the 7200 rpm HDD is quieter in the base bay then it is there. By doing that though, it put the Boot Manager for both on the HDD - I don't want that - so I opened it up again and I popped out the HDD and I'm installing one last time without it. I started the install process after I started writing this post and I finished it long before. It probably only took about 10 minutes or so to install Windows 8 to the SSD cleanly, even though I was installing from the external BR/DVD drive. At the end of the process, I now can switch between booting to the ASUS original system and my clean install by just changing the boot order through ESC on reboot - which can be useful for debugging and figuring out if issues are my fault or existed in the original - and I can switch either drive out independently without affecting the other in any way.

The clean install boots in about 5.9 seconds - roughly identical to what my youtube video with the ASUS stock - and within the margin of error of me testing it. If I don't have the stock HDD installed it is almost silent - having the stock HDD in there may add up to a second and a half to the boot time over what it is without it.

Here's some other things I've found with this laptop system:

- ASUS Metro Apps do not update their display if you are cloning them on a Projector (the Projected image always looks like it did when you first loaded it, with your mouse moving around but doing nothing, while your main display shows things properly).

- You can't get to the BIOS with Fast Boot enabled unless you do a Restart - it doesn't matter how many times you hit Esc it will not work. Also note that it's when rebooting that Windows 8 tries to install Updates - so it might take awhile - but about 1 or 2 minutes into it, it will reboot and that's your chance to get in.

- If you need to install the major 169MB early October update, do it separately from the other updates or the others may fail.

- The only hardware issue I've had is the case under the SD slot was sticking out at one point when everything was otherwise clicked together. I had to bend that corner very slightly and work at getting it inserted first to correct it, and since it's been perfect

Besides that, I'm happy - I just wish I'd remembered about my free MSDNAA access earlier - but as it is, I learned a heck of a lot about UEFI and hopefully that will help someone - and I know my PK - maybe that'll come in handy too someday.

Thanks,
Peter

 

Hi,

I recently did a fresh install with Windows 8 on my N56VZ. Everything is working for me except for the FN+F2 (wireless switch). I installed Wireless Console 3 v3.0.35, ATK package v1.0.0.23, and atheros wlan v1.0.0.77.

Also I am getting 1 unknown device: "ACPI\VEN_ATK&DEV_4001" I tried searching everywhere but could not find anything

Please if anyone has a fix I would really appreciate it

 

Hi anyone!

I’ve read the Supranium’s post #283 on “ Asus N56VZ-DS71 first impressions” thread where he wrote:

It seems that he is the only one who makes such a test.

Peter, did you experience some kind of CPU/GPU throttling?

 

You can get around CPU throttling by running Throttlestep. This issue is present in Sager laptops as well.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...arket-upgrades/531329-throttlestop-guide.html

On a side note, I jumped ship and upgraded my N56VZ-DH71 (Windows 7 version) to Windows 8 and it seems that I am having sleep issues. When I wake up my computer from sleep, the keyboard stops working. The backlit lights are on but you can't type in anything. I have to put it to sleep again before I am able to type in my password. Pretty weird. On the Asus website, there are no ATK hotkey drivers available for Windows 8 yet (for my particular model anyways). I installed the Windows 7 ATK drivers and my function keys work but I am unable to "wake up" on sleep on the first try.

 

I noticed I had the same issue with the Wireless Button not working (F2) - I didn't install the Wireless Console, but I noticed in the ASUS Install Wizard there was a "Wireless Switch" (or Wireless Toggle Button or something like that, it disappeared after I installed it) and after a reboot it works now - it goes to Airplane mode on and off (so I assume both BT and Wifi off/on).

As for the "ACPI\VEN_ATK&DEV_4001", I don't see that - every device was identified on my system after a fresh install of Windows 8. I installed only the ASUS Drivers/Software I knew I would need from the Installation Wizard - maybe it's one of those are are missing? Or it could be the difference between the DS71 and the DH71 possibly. Is there a way for me to easily find the device by that id as opposed to the other way around?

Peter

 

Cool about Throttlestop, I remember needing to use that on my G51JX a long time ago, haven't tried it on these.

That's one thing I meant to post! I've noticed it a lot over the past week and a half I've had my N56VZ-DH71 - The keyboard will randomly not work and I will need to put it to sleep to get it to do so - it sometimes happens after a restart. It's happened to me about 5 times - I thought at first it was from my pounding Esc trying to get to the BIOS, but there are many times I didn't touch the keyboard and it did this. It doesn't happen every time for me, but when it does it's definitely annoying.

I'm using the ATK drivers from my Windows 8 drivers disc that came with the system - not sure if they are a different version but I have the same kb issue so - I also have the Keyboard Filter installed now (I thought before it might be because I didn't, but I do now and still see the issue occasionally). I will make sure it happens again now that I have everything installed and will report back if so.

Peter

P.S. The DS71 is Win7 model, DH71 is Windows 8

 

@NitrousX

Thanks for the link and for the tip!

I’m well aware with this magnificent piece of software. ThrottleStop is a valuable tool for me and I’m glad that Unclewebb is a part from the forum.

The issues you have are drivers related. The W8 ATK driver soon will be available. There are models coming with W8 and it is just matter of time to have it for download.

 

The DH71 is the W8 model of the N56VZ. The ATK driver I have from my Windows 8 Drivers Disc is "XP32_Vista32_Vista64_Win7_32_Win7_64_Win8_32_Win8_64_1.0.0022" - so that's newer than the one posted for the N56VZ on the website which is 1.0.0020.

I still have the kb issue though . And the subwoofer one...

It's interesting, this would affect the old model N56VZs upgrading to Windows 8 without a clean install:

I've never seen them post a warning like that before - interesting. Worth keeping in mind if upgrading.

Peter

 

Glad to see that I'm not the only one having the keyboard issue. Hopefully Asus will release an updated Windows 8 ATK hotkey driver soon.

On a side note, I did a clean install of Windows 8 not an upgrade. Forgot to mention that in my original post above.

 

I've been eying this notebook for a while now. Anyone know where I can get this notebook online with windows 8 preinstalled? I would like to get it with the bios updated along with the new OS rather than dealing with two license keys.

Any suggestions? I've checked amazon and newegg.

Also, how do you update the bios for this laptop? If I ever need to do so, I hope its not much of an issue, my old MSI laptop was kind of a bith with that.

 

It depends what country you are in I guess I'm in Canada and the Canadian Amazon and NewEgg both have it - I got it myself from CENDirect because it was the lowest at the time (and one of the few selling it before they should have ).

ASUS N56VZ-DH71 i7-3630QM - Price Comparison - Canada - Laptops lists a lot of places in Canada that have it.

In the US it is the N56VZ-RH71 I think:

Amazon.com: ASUS N56VZ-RH71 2.40-3.40GHz i7-3630QM 8GB Blu-Ray ROM 750GB 7200RPM HDD 2GB nVidia GT 650M 1080p: Computers & Accessories

Looking it up in many places, that's what it is according to the specs. It'd be good if I could change the title of the thread to that - N56VZ-DH71/RH71 - I might try to ask a Mod if they can. I ordered before it was released/announced so I was just going with what details I had - but DH71 looks to be the Canadian version and RH71 is the US one I think.

Peter

 

here is the picture of N56VZ mainboard:

 

Many thanks GenTechPC, it's the same for all N56VZ line?
Athought it's too early it's interesting for fan cleaning if opening is easy or not.

 

Is there a 17" version of this device? I've been only seeing gt 635m and 1600x900 screen variants lately.

 

Yes all N56VZ mainboard are the same.

disassemble N56VZ series is quite difficult and complicated, the mainboard are mount with top case and keyboard.

There is: N76VZ and N76VJ.

 

Hey guys, I'm looking at getting a new N56VZ-DH71 and it comes pre-installed with Windows 8. Wondering if there's an easy way to install windows 7 back on it without a cd(just the serial code). I have a program that I need to use for work which is not compatible with windows 8 yet.

 

Ignore that - on doing some more research, I found that only applies to the Pro OEM version - we have just the Core OEM so it will not work. You would need to have a product key for Windows 7 to be able to use it - the OEM Code for ASUS Windows 7 may not be included in the BIOS - you could try flashing an older BIOS to get it, but that's at your own risk.

Are you sure the software is not compatible, or is it just that it has not been confirmed as compatible?

The only thing I've found annoying about Windows 8 is the nVidia drivers don't seem to be working quite right - it keeps going back to Extended Display whenever I plug in my HDMI projector and I have to set it to Clone every single time. The way of enabling Clone mode through Windows 8 doesn't work, you have to do it through the nVidia control panel, and if the display goes to sleep sometimes you need to reconnect or reset things. Besides that though, everything has worked and been nice and quick .

Peter

 

Ordered an RH71 on Amazon. Should be here in the next few days, and I'm looking forwards to having a laptop with a good CPU after having my 11in Air for a few years. My only concerns about this purchase are the heat output and comfort of the keyboard since I'll be using it for video editing, web development, and a bit of gaming.

 

Thanks for the reply. I have a usb stick that is a key for one of my work programs and they haven't fully tested it out on windows 8 yet. My friend was telling me I could use my windows 7 serial code from the back of my current laptop to install windows 7 on the DH71, just wanted to know if this was plausible.