S96J Owners Lounge!!!

Turn off num lock?

 

ye lol. It was pissing me off when it happend so it interrupted my thinking progress. And the little EN key on the bot left confused me cuz it was the same color lol

 

Hi,
Im a newbie regarding laptops..and am about to order an asus s96j pretty soon. I am going to order the entire system frm a place an the hard drive (hitachi 2.5in 7200rpm) from another place. My question is how difficult is it to install the hard drive by myself? (I have some experience in assembling desktops) Also would it void my warranty if i install the hard drive by myself?? And if possible could somebody please give me a link on how to install a hard drive on asus s96j??
Thanks.

 

No it's really easy. No, it won't void your warranty as the s96j is meant to be assembled by the user. Ah...lets see, I'm quoting this from G2P Eddie's helpful assembly guide (don't worry the z96j is identical to the s96j):

"Asus z96j= www.sretup.com/geared2play/z96j/z96j.avi or for lower quality www.sretup.com/geared2play/z96j/z96j.wmv"

 

I'm getting my S96J within 2weeks at the most. I custom painted it yellow color( I think It looks cool). The processor is Core 2 Duo T7200 2.0 GHz 64Bit 4M 667.
Ram : 1GB DDR-2 667 SODIMM (1X1024). HD: Seagate Momentus 80GB 7200rpm S-ATA. An main 9-cell battery accessory.
Very Excited!! Well, this suppose to be my xmas gift, but It will not come any earlier than xmas, due to custom paint.
I hope I will not have any issues with the lappy like big keyboard flex, or the speaker problem ( when u disconnect the audio earphones the speakers won't go on,....)

 

Does anyone here with a S96J knows how to fix the speakers problem? My S96J sometimes play music when I pay songs on it but sometimes it doesn't. And when it doesn't I have to slap under the mouse pad until it works. How do I deal with this problem?? It's kind of annoying and make me mad and ashamed sometimes when I play songs in front of people.

 

You would send it back where you bough it from

 

On friday i got a message from the shop, where I ordered the S96J. They told me, that they only have with Core Duo processor, and unfortunatelly they don't have the Core 2 Duo equiped. It can be a stupid question, but is there any chance to replace the Core Duo to a Core2Duo later? Because I don't want to wait for a month to get mine if I can replace it later.

 

why dont you just buy it from a place that has c2d?

 

Can anyone suggest a solution to keyboard flex? I don't feel like sending it back and all (its brand new, i got it less then a week), but if there's no choice, I will. When I press the keys I can see the others go down, and can hear the keyboard itself hitting whatever's behind it. Just feels like it it's loose or something.....


Another question i have is about undervolting. I downloaded Notebook Hardware Control, changed some general settings(nothing specific) and now I'm running at 6x .95v. I have t7200. Right now I'm getting about 2:10 with just wifi on, no gaming/movies. Whats the best stable settings if someone is using this CPU?

Also is it normal for the cpu load% to jump around? Mine jumps from <15 to about 70 back and forth at idle.

 

@Geared2play.com: Cuz here in Hungary that's the only shop where i can buy it.

 

The keyboard is removable, you can watch some of those videos I linked from Eddie's thread to see how it's done. You can take it off and see if there's something underneath that's not quite right, from what it sounds like maybe the reseller didn't set it right or had some of the keys shifted.

Also, I've found out that undervolting doesn't really do anything for the Core 2 Duos. Yes, they are supposed to dynamically adjust their performance real time to match your demands. There's no reason for it to run at full power and full load if all you're running is Solitaire. That's why undervolting doesn't really help that much. I tried with NHC too and had no results with my T7200. I get apprx. 2 hours of battery life too, under similar conditions.

I would suggest one of the resellers you see here in the forums. However I think the international shipping rates and whatever taxes/tariffs may be in place would kill the deal. So yeah, my suggestion would be to get the unit with everything but a CPU (ask them for the option on the phone, the S96J does NOT come with a CPU---you put one in), then buy your own Core 2 Duo and put it in. Follow the instructions for flashing your bios to Core 2 Duo located in many posts on this forum, and you're good to go.

 

Thank you for the reply. I'll call them tomorrow.

 

Haha, Gatordude, we have pretty much the same stats. The only differences are the brands of the memory and hard drive. lol.

Thanks, so I guess I won't be able to get much better then what I got now, unless I get a 9 cell battery. Hmmm.

I'm a little sketchy on taking it apart just yet lol. I'll look over the videos once I get home and see. What's the dificulty level on that? I have some experience in desktops.

Thanks.

 

I'm pretty sure the flex in the keyboard in endemic to the S96J and getting rid of it won't be a matter of fixing something seated incorrectly. It will probably be a matter of modding he chassis to add support. One guy put two-sided tape under it which I wouldn't think would be the best solution.

You know, I pound the keys pretty hard as I'm not a touch typist, so I can easily reimagine the flex as dampening.

 

hmm, here's a thought
anyone here tried Linux on this machine?

I know that it's really an overkill for linux but XGL looks REALLY nice and runs on a fraction of what vista requires. Even partitioning the HD to run it to watch movies or something would save so much battery life.

Any thoughts?

 

Linux will work on this machine with the latest version of Ubuntu/Kubuntu thanks to the new kernel. Try it and let us know how it pans out.

 

does anyone here know how to remove scratches on laptops (S96J)

 

i havn't been on here in awhile, but i'm currently running ubuntu edgy 6.10 on this laptop and everything works fine. Beryl runs great with all the effects. Even our wireless light that doesn't work without the intel program in windows shows up in ubuntu.

You will have to install drivers for the video card and I had to for our wireless cards but it took less then 10 minutes to do both.

The only thing there is no support for is the webcam and the fn+volume buttons don't work.

 

Hi, all work fine but I got nothin when the cam is active. The driver version are 5.0.0.1 and no update with windows...
So RMA is on it's way with a new one S96J.
Thanks

 

Yahoo!! just get my new one from ASI and all work just fine!!
Get no display with cam but afther all Windows updates it's work perfectly
I get some update for xmas from me to me!!

My old hp nc 8230 can take some rest now!
Thanks everyone!!

 

Sorry guys my questions might not correlate with the thread topic. I need to ship back my S96J to fix some issues I have, and I need to ship it using fedex. My notebook should be shipped using an anti-static bag, with bubble wrap, and popcorn foams. Where can I get all of that stuff?

 

I have tons of it lying around.

Other than that, Staples and Office Depot sell bubble wrap for cheap. Or Fedex sells a "notebook" shipping box which suspends the notebook in a plastic bag inside the box. It's probably the safest way to ship a notebook and I believe costs $10 which is how much you'd spend on peanuts and bubble wrap anyway.

 

do they have the notebook shipping box on fedex kinko's?

 

Whoo! Soon to be in debt but proud of an ASUS notebook. I've heard there's this grain issue thing with the x1600. Is there a solution for it?

 

Yes, search on the intel site, there is a bios update that solves the problem.

 

hey, i've owned a S96J since august of last year and its been great. lately when I try to burn a DVD, the drive just spins really really fast, stops burning, and the computer doesnt freeze, it just stops working. I'm running win xp pro w/ sp2 and I've tried buring with Nero and CD Burner XP Pro. The strange this is that it works fine reading CD's and DVD's and can burn CD's normally too. Is there something wrong with my drive?

 

Double check if you have any P2P apps, I heard they can cause your CD/DVD drives to stop working correctly.

Other than that You could also attempt to uninstall the drive via the device manager, reboot Windows, and have it be detected and installed again.

 

Hey guys,
Going to go pick up my S96J from UPS in about an hour or so. I've browsed this thread a bit but it's so big! My question is what drivers/fixes should I D/L and have ready before installing Windows? I've never had a notebook before, or anything with an ATI card (X1600 in this).
Thanks all!

 

You will want to load your drivers AFTER you load Windows.

You will receive a drivers CD with your new S96J, but you can also go to http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scr...fessional&lang=eng&strOSs=44&submit=Go%21 to get the latest BIOS and drivers.

 

Ive had my s06j for awile now and its been great but two days ago I woke up to find that my power cable had broke. I don't think that it was my fault but it could have been. But it was under warrenty so I am good. But I was wondering where I could get a 9 cell battery for my laptop? the battery life on it is kinda starting to bug me a little bit

 

Perhaps I should have worded it differently. By 'before,' I meant that I like
to have my disc of junk all ready to go even before I start installing windows- that way I can get going as soon as the OS install is done.
Thanks for the link

 

I don't know where u got yours, but mine came with a cd that had all the bios on it. After instaling XP, it was very simple going down one-by-one (depending if i needed it). If yours doesn't come with the CD, I you can download them. I would have the wireless card//network driver ready so you can get online at least, then you can get whatever needed.

 

Okay, I'm installing from the driver CD that came w/ the notebook. Sorry, I should have specified... I meant updated drivers/whatever to get the camera to work (mine is just gray after driver install) and anything else for an 'issue' this laptop is known to have.. :-\

 

Sorry for my misinterpretation of what you were saying...upon re-reading what you wrote it is clear that you wanted the drivers/BIOS update before you started installing Windows, not that you were going to try to install them first.

As for the camera driver:

1. Perform a clean installation of Windows XP SP2.

2. Install all current S96J drivers.

3. Browse to the Camera Folder on the S96J driver CD.

4. Browse to the BISON folder.

5. Run "setup.bat" to install webcam driver, and then reboot the machine.

Do not run the "2ksetup.exe" file that is in the same folder where you found the "setup.bat" file.

If you have already attempted to install the D-Max camera driver, Windows XP SP2 must be reinstalled.

 

Another tip, just in case you might need it:

If you are unable to get the Realtek 8169/8110 LAN Driver from the CD or from the Realtek Website to install, please follow this procedure:
1. Find unknown device, click update driver
2. Choose no, do not search Windows Update, click next
3. Choose Install from a lost or specific location (advanced), click next
4. Choose Do not search. I will choose the driver to install, click next
5. Choose Network adapter.
6. Choose Have Disk
7. Browse to the LAN folder on the driver CD
8. Choose the Windows XP folder
9. Choose the file NetrtOEM, click OK
10. Choose the Realtek RTL8169/8110 Family Gigabit Ethernet NIC
11. Click next
12. Click finished

 

Hey, no prob Paladin!
Thanks a bunch for the walkthrough on the cam. Got it working no probs. Everything on the notebook seems to be working great thus far, except for the fact that the wireless utility (Intel one) keeps popping up (telling me there are networks available) if I'm not connected to a network- even after I turned off alerts :-o

 

Did anyone play Rainbow Six Vegas or Test Drive Unlimited beta on this machine? If yes, on which resolution and how many fps? Were they playable?

 

I did install Rainbow Six Vegas and all I can say is that it was not the most pleasant of experiences. I remember playing it on the default options, which wasn't bad, but knowing what this game is capable of -- it was plain ugly

IMPORTANT

Hey guys, out of curiosity, I have a question concerning faulty RAM modules and Corsair.

I happened to have a faulty RAM. One of my two 1 GB modules was faulty and contained errors on every algorithm, when tested with Memtest 86. At first I didn't know what was the cause of the crashing of simple applications like Firefox to heavy games. Then I left only the working module inserted and everything was running fine. When performed a memory test with both modules inserted, Memtest was halting halfway through. When performing with the wrong one, it gave me lots of errors.

So I contacted Corsair and they allowed me to return the part, even though I don't reside currently in the US (Europe), replace it with a working one and ship it back to me. I successfully received the new module and have to test it this coming weekend (coz it's not around).

Point is, should you experience anything like this, do not hesitate to contact your manufacturer, like I did for 3-4 months

 

Thanks for the reply . So you say, that it was ugly (on minimum settings i think), but it was playable (not a slideshow or something). I would appreciate if you write about the exact options, resolution, fps, you have experienced.

 

Sure it was playable. Can't say for exact options and details coz I uninstalled it

 

All right . Thanks for reply (again )

 

Finally I've recieved my own S96J. My configuration is:
Core2Duo 1,8Ghz
Kingston 2GB 667Mhz
Samsung 160GB
Ati X1600
I'm really happy now!!!
Thank you all for the advices, helps, replies.

 

hey guys, wanted to say my specs, and 3dmark05 score just for kicks. I ordered this Christmas day (stupid idea, it took forever cause of that) and got it at the beginning of January. Sweet machine:

ASUS S96J (Z96Js)
Intel Core 2 Duo [email protected] GHz
1 GB DDR2 RAM (PC-5300) Corsair @ 667 MHz
ATi X1600 Mobility Radeon
Seagate Momentus 5400.2 HDD (80 GB)

I had some useful info for the driver for the X1600 - not sure if it's been mentioned, but you can upgrade to Catalyst 7.1 with driver 8.33.0 by visiting the site: here (cause if you try to upgrade anything but acer, dell, alienware, it says your notebook is not supported, but this link works. Anyways using ATI tray tool I was able to OC my X1600 to 560/445 and get a 3dmark05 score of 4728! This is compared to a stock score of just below 4000. pretty big difference.

 

Anybody tried to install Mac OS on this?

 

o look how cool we already has 100 pages . yeaah !!

@dashboardy101 ; can you tell me your original speeds of your X1600

 

Actually I'm gonna try OS x86 10.4.8 soon and report the results. Apparently I will be able to triple boot between xp/kubuntu/macos

 

yeah: 445/364

 

Are you stable with the mem clocks at 450?

I cant get past 420 without artifacts.

 

the cameras not dat nice. the brightness is worryin aswell