V1J/P Owner's Lounge

Ah ok, i just needed help installing some apps.
I like the finger scanner as a novelty. People think i have some TOP SECRET work on it...

 

Heh, since they don't use enough points, it's surely not enough to definitively identify you with. Depending on the number of points, maybe you have the same fingerprint as tens of thousands of other people out there in the world rather than a few billion.

 

The device driver module used by the soundcard (snd-hda-intel) has some options, depending on what codec chip is actually used. In the V1JP its AD1986A, so you can try the following options when loading the module:

6stack 6-jack, separate surrounds (default)
3stack 3-stack, shared surrounds
laptop 2-channel only (FSC V2060, Samsung M50)
laptop-eapd 2-channel with EAPD (Samsung R65, ASUS A6J) .

The last one worked for me, but haven't tried the other ones yet.
Have a look into ALSA-Configuration.txt (kernel sources), there is some more information.

 

The fix for this problem is quite easy (copied from ubuntu forums):

-Put "options snd-hda-intel position_fix=1 model=3stack" to "/etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base".

 

Hello guys, can somebody tell me. I saw on internet, that V1JP can have up to 4 GB of RAM. I have 2 GB, so where to install additional 2 GB ?

Thanks.

 

It "should" but I haven't heard of anyone with that configuration yet. In order to have 4GB of RAM each of your RAM modules need to be 2GB.

 

You have 2x1024 MB modules, so for upgrading to 4 GB, you need 2 2GB modules, and throw out the older ones. Lotsa spare cash, I presume.

 

2GB DDR2 SODIMM modules are very expensive... Yes some websites say V1JP
supports upto 4GB. Im not very sure. mine is 2x1GB.. it is pretty cool.

 

Has anyone been playing Command and Conquer Tiberium Wars? The latest ATI drivers for V1JP from Asus prompts me of OutofMemory in my video card after playing it for 10 mins. The latest ATI drivers 7.3 gives me a Blue Screen Of Death after 5 minutes of playing. It points to the ATI driver as culprit due to infinite loop. I just bought this game, and I thought my V1Jp could run it perfectly without any problems

 

Did you try 7.4 ? .. may be worth a shot.

 

I too have had an out of memory issue. I'm playing the demo. I also had all the graphics cranked. I turned the AA off and turned down the graphics a bit (all still looks great) and no further issues. I'm running with the stock (as it came in the box) driver still. Here is the warning I had though when the game shut itself down...



When this happened. I restarted the computer, then ran the game, alt-tab out of the game and checked the memory use in the task manager. It was over the 1 Gb mark by just a bit, leading me to believe I ran out of physical ram memory, not gpu memory. I have a 1Gb module on order....

 

Yup, that is the error im getting also when using drivers from Asus. When I use the drivers from ATI(7.3), it gets worst, I get the Blue Screen Of Death. I already have a 2GB of RAM, and my pagefile memory is already 1.5GB-3GB which I let windows to handle to incrementally grow when needed. I was only running on Medium settings. I bought the collectors Kane Edition with free Razer Mantis mouse pad and T shirt. I guess I better turn my settings to LOW

 

I just got my V1JP a few days ago, and I'm very happy with it! I brought it to school twice and the only slight downside about it is that its on the heavy side for a 15.4 inch. But as a desktop replacement for college and a portable during the last months of my senior year its a good compromise.

 

Besides the Macbook Pro which ones are lighter?

 

That's true, the V1JP at 6.5lbs, which is roughly the same as the popular Asus Z70va and Z71v, they are on the heavier side of the 15.4" notebooks. But considering the power it has, quality, features and overall appeal it is definietly worth it.

Yes most other notebook with comparative specs and design are in the same weight range as this. The MacBook Pro physically has a smaller chassis all round, which brings down the weight.

 

Good God!! 3 months after i bought my v1jp i finally figured out that under one of the options in the power plan settings, you can turn ATi performance setting from OPTIMAL BATTERY LIFE to OPTIMAL performance, no wonder all my games were running like crap.

for the first time im actually playing STALKER, Carbon, FEAR on high settings. San Andreas is maxed out on all settings including resolution.


awesome

 

Dear V1JP owners

I am seriously considering buying a V1JP. I am concerned, however, with some reports of processor overheating (~70-80º C). What is your experience ?

Thank you in advance

 

Normal operating range for the T7200 is up to 100C. 70 to 80C is very normal under load. The catastrophic shutdown temperature is not until 125C.

http://download.intel.com/design/mobile/datashts/31407803.pdf

 

Under normal use (internet, word processing, PPT, etc.) the heat is very manageable, with very little fan noise. When gaming it does get a bit hotter but nothing that will crash the computer or burn you.

 

I have just done some testing with the V1JP and some other laptops.

I am able to play C&C3 on High Graphics, I'm sure I can push more, I have been playing for 1 hour.

My CPU Temp is 75 and my HD Temp is 40.
My idle temps are CPU: 50-55 and HD Temp 38-40.
Overall it is decent to play on, the heat out of the right hand side vent is very warm, but i am able to play even though my mouse is only 3 inches away. So I don't think there's anything to worry about.

When I play this game on my desktop with any settings high and ultra high, the game crashes after 15 minutes. So I dropped the settings to low/medium and the game has also been playing for 1 hour.

It also appears many other have had crashing problems, for me and my testing some computers can run it on max graphics like my friends desktops but some can't and crash, it is just a luck of the draw.

 

The bottom line is that the unit is capable, but while the system has a higher heat tolerance, they rely too much on passive cooling and the CPU fan to try to dissipate all that heat that gets trapped inside. You take your chances if you run it to the upper limits.

If they made the cooling solution on the unit any bigger, the unit would probably be really bulky. That is the one major problem with laptop gaming - GPUs generate a lot of heat and laptops are really bad at dissipating. Many areas of the laptop will be much like "dead areas" as far as air circulation goes when compared to a desktop chassis.

For a gamer tower, ideally you'd have a bigger heatsink, a relatively decent power supply, two or more 120mm fans and a decent tower to mount them on and you have a lot of choices to choose from. With laptops, you can't really pick and choose and you have to rely largely on heatpipes and a single heatsink with lots of fins (it's really surface area you need) and a single small 50mm fan that doubles as a CPU and GPU fan.

The only way around it is to try to help increase the airflow with some sort of laptop cooler, or find a way to get the fan to run faster (not likely to be very effective, though).

Also, if you compare it to the G1, the specs are similar, but the G1 has a slightly bigger heatsink (but no dock, no Expresscard, no modular bay) and a bigger vent, though I don't think it's sufficient to deal with all the heat that the system is generating...

 

May I ask what version of video drivers you are using? I installed the latest drivers from Asus but when ever I put the settings to High or Medium, I have the same error as RacingNorths screen shot of out of memory after 15 minutes of playing. Now i'm stuck at Low settings for C&C 3. I also tried ATI mobility 7.3, but i get Blue Screen of Death at Medium and High settings

 

So what do all the V1Jp owners think of the new Santa Rosa platforms coming out soon?

I sort of wish I waited longer to get my Notebook now but I mean my V1 is already fast for what I'm doing..... at the same time I can run: Autocad, iTunes, download a video, run a virus scan/spyware scan. Now I think that is pretty good for my needs! I do wish though I had better gaming performance, but overall, the V1Jp works very well for me and gaming. The feel/ build quality is amazing. Overall I'm 100% satisfied with the V1Jp.

 

It has been one month now since I purchased my v1jp. This notebook has a great combination of features, performance and quality. It came with Vista Business installed. I had a few troubles running games with the current driver( I ended up installing the guru3d.com modified ATI Catalyst 7.3 since Asus is so slow at releasing updated video card drivers. I did have one other problem.

I use the Shure pth500 earphones which are very sensitive to noise and have very low power requirements. Even with the volume muted, there was a lot of noise. If I turned the volume up or down the noise would remain unchanged. When using a device such as external mouse or even the touchpad, there was a clicking/popping noise... almost sounded like chirping from crickets. I did a lot of digging on the net to find a solution to the problem. I eventually found a device designed to convert the optical digital output to stereo headphones (RCA SU-HD1). The device sounds quite good but actually doesn't sound as good in the low frequencies as the stereo output on the laptop. After all the digging I came to a concusion that the solution is really stupidly simple.

To reduce laptop soundcard noise
Bypass the windows volume controls, run at maximum volume setting and use an external volume control!

If you run the computer at maximum volume, it will have a better signal to noise ratio. Of course, running at maximum volume is extremely loud... so to fix that, use an external volume control! Turning the volume down externally virtually eliminates the noise, while bringing the audio output to acceptable levels.

Besides these 2 issues (which are not issues anymore) this laptop is wonderful! The sound is great as I cannot hear any noise with my Shure pth500. I ran a frequency sweep from 0 to 10kHz--I am very satisfied. The screen is great, backlight does not leak through on the edges when the screen is black, it is bright and colors are vibrant.

I highly recommend this notebook.

 

It's like my boss at the computer store says... tomorrow is always the best day to buy a product, but then you keep waiting forever because something better will come out the day after tomorrow.

Maybe people buying now will want to wait a bit, but I seriously doubt that it will come out any time earlier than late August. I waited since March of last year to get my V1J and while it's nice to have a T7200 + X1700 compared to a T2400 + X1600, fact of the matter is, it was always "it's coming out soon". I ended up getting a Z96Js, which I didn't quite like for a number of reasons because I had a number of problems with it, then ended up getting it only in February of this year.

Also, it's not guaranteed that the full Santa Rosa spec will be put into effect all at once. The first generation Centrinos came out with 855GME chipsets with 400MHz bus processors. Then they came out with 533MHz bus processors but used the original chipset until the 915GM chipset came out that took full advantage of the 533MHz bus processors.

There was a transition period while they were doing that. The same is happening with Core Duo to Core 2 Duo (made pin-compatible for direct update, but P-M to CD was not done that way). Santa Rosa calls for a Socket P to be used for the newer processors with the faster bus speed. The socket used in the current Centrino is Socket M (and it has been stated that they will NOT be pin-compatible). If they have stock shortages on the new processor, you cannot just use an existing processor in it and then upgrade -> delay.

It always looks interesting, but working in computer sales for so long, you see how fast stuff gets obsolete. Bottom line is, if you need it now, buy it now. If you don't need it now, wait a bit. If you're one of my customers, I'd (have to) say buy now.

 

Any system with a large degree of integrated peripherals will be much more susceptible to crosstalk and noise unless they have proper shielding/isolation.

Are you sure that wasn't line-out? Or maybe it's an adaptive set of headphones?

The equivalent of using line-out with an external amplifier. Shouldn't really have to do that, though. What kind of sensitivity requirement do you have, anyway?

Yes, but you might get clipping if it's maxing out the volume.

Another trick you can use to avoid noise is to use USB headphones, though might not fit well in some applications.

 

The noise is in the line-out port. When volume is muted, the noise is still present. With other less sensitive headphones, I could not hear the noise.

I installed a Shure inline volume control. It has no amplification. I am simply reducing the line-out volume with this device. I normally run the windows volume at about 10-20%, any louder and I would probably go deaf.

I have not experienced any clipping with the computer volume set to 100% and reducing the signal with my external control.

I believe the SoundMax HD Audio device to be quite good for a laptop. After using the inline control, I do not hear noise with my sensitive Shure headphones even when the levels are quite high.

 

I use a Shure PA235. It works great on all sorts of sources. It's just a passive attenuator.

 

Yes, thats the one I'm using. If you use your Shure without the PA235, do you also experience the clicking and popping noises on the v1jp?

 

I don't hear clicking and popping but there is noticeable background noise independent of computer volume settings. However, this is through the dock which may be adding to the noise.

 

I've had my V1Jp since late december and I still like it, though I could have got the W2 now for about the same price from Newegg. Also, I am able to play Oblivion on almost max settings, 4X AA, 10##X### resolution, and I get decent frames. A little over 20 fps outside, anywhere from 30 to 60 inside. I've recently upgraded my HDD to a 100 gig 7200.1 seagate. I haven't noticed much difference in Oblivion, but the PC does seem to do things faster and my 3D screensaver runs at a higher FPS now. Also, I've played the C&C demo without the dreaded BSOD. I downloaded the modded video drivers files found somewhere on this forum.

Well, enough ranting. My question is this: I use the fingerprint reader all the time, but lately it keeps on telling me "Bad quality." Sometime it takes over 20 swips to work and sometimes it works on the first swip for a day. Is this a hardware issue or can I resolve this by getting better drivers somewhere? Or is there a tweak I can do to make it better? Thanks.

EDIT: The driver version I use is 8.342.0.0 I DO NOT use ATI catalyst.

 

Did you try creating new scans of your fingers?

Which ATI chip do you have?
I have x1700 and use the ATI Catalyst 7.4 (8.360.0.0) from Driver Heaven Downloads modified by ModTool
Everything has worked great so far.

 

Hi Guys,

I'm also a new owner of a V1JP. Its been awesome so far but I've been encountering some problems, wondering if you guys have any input.

Fyi, I'm running Windows Vista Business, and I have added an additional 1Gig of Kingston RAM.

1. The first time I put the machine on standbye, there is no problem. However, subsequently if I try to put the machine on Standby again, the entire Windows will hang..( the screen is off, but the power lights etc are still blinking...). This is pretty irritating...not sure if any of you peeps have experienced this. Any solutions ?

2. I've updated the Bios to the latest version ( if you run Vista, you need to upgrade your Bios to version 312 I believe to enable the fingerprint scanner )...when the system reboots, there something saying a CMOS Checksum error...any implications of this ? It only happens once when the Bios was first upgraded.

3. I've run the performance monitor under Vista, and I notice that the RAM memory is constantly utilized around 30-40%....I'm not sure if this is due to Vista, or could it be faulty RAM ? The memory level is always around this percentage...I believe it could be due to Vista allocating some space for it but am unsure...

Thanks to anyone for their input. Yeah, I know I shulda go to XP but I can't resist the Aero interface since the V1J can support it !

 

Guys I have few problems...

With XP. First I can't install Camera, it says Install Failed.
And now I can't install Bluetooth, it says Unable to get local address in Bluetooth (CP) software..

I tried to reinstall those drivers but nothing.

I had some problems during installation of drivers, and I found out there should be order how to install ..

Example: First ATK1000 driver, then Intel INF, then rest ..

I have new BIOS, anybody can help ? Thank.s

 

Did you do anything since the first time? Did you upgrade the RAM initially? or after you first tried standby?

When you first upgrade Bios, typically it is good to go into the bios and load defaults. The error is not an issue if it only occurs after an update.

Vista is very heavy in terms of RAM. My v1jp also has 2gb ram and runs about 30-40% as well. I wouldn't worry about it... but it is a good thing we upgraded to 2gb. I feel 2gb should be the minimum for this notebook or any PC running vista.

Also, I found that the fingerprint reader still worked despite the bios access error with the older bios and drivers...

 

You do not need 312 for the fingerprint reader to work in Vista. I used it with 308, 310 and now 311, and it works just fine. I will not upgrade to 312 as it lowers the video frequency.

You should go into BIOS (F2 while booting) after the BIOS is flashed and you reboot. Choose the option to restore the default settings. Then you will not get any checksum errors.

-Lenard

 

I use Catalyst 7.3.1 beta that is available on asustreiber.de. But when I watch DVD movies with Windows Media Player I now get a grayish bar above and below the picture. And it flashes at 2-5sec intervals (goes black then gray again). I did not get it with earlier drivers. Do you have anything similar happening with 7.4?

 

I don't get anything like that when playing WMV/AVI videos under 7.4. I did not try any DVDs, however.

 

Does anyone know yet when the V1jp will be upgraded?

 

I have no troubles watching DVDs with Media Player Classic (version 6.4.9.0)

I am unable to test Windows Media Player as it says i don't have a compatible DVD decoder installed. I haven't installed any DVD Player software, I only use Media Player Classic which seems to have built-in support for DVD decoding.

It is possible the problem you are experiencing is due to the DVD decoder software you have installed (e.g. PowerDVD, etc)

 

I suggest you try VLC player.It's a very good media player.

 

I agree, use VLC and or Windows Media Player Classics.

The V1JP is has a rough time frame of mid June.

 

That's not bad! Any word on whether or not the battery issue will be fixed by then?

 

I actually tried the 7.4 drivers now (using that application to modify normal ATI drivers to work with Mobility chipsets). I get the same result. It seems to be connected somehow to subtitles. When subtitles are off, the parts of the screen that do not contain image (top and bottom for 16:9 movies) are gray. When subtitles are on, these parts are black when there actually is a subtitle visible in the movie, and gray otherwise - thus the flashing. I have no idea what it is, but solved the problem by using either Media Player Classic or sometimes VLC.

I have no other DVD playing software installed. I also tried removing the VSFilter (Direct Vobsub) plugin, but that did not change the situation (I do not know if that affects DVD subtitles at all, but tried removing it anyway). So it is not really a big problem because I can use other player software, it just seems to be strange

 

Ummm... application that modifies a Catalyst to become a Mobility Catalyst? Why not just use the normal Mobility Catalyst?

http://ati.amd.com/online/mobilecatalyst/

 

The link you posted is for Windows XP. AMD's website does not provide support for Radeon mobility x1700 for windows vista. Currently, we require the mobility modder to add the option to install for x1700.

 

Ah, then you take your chances, since Vista drivers seem to be really behind. Didn't see that Vista Ultimate in the tag. I believe the mods for that sort of thing usually involve altering the INF file so that the X1700 picks up as an X1600 or something to that effect.

 

Yes, just adds an entry for x1700 in the INF file. The x1600 and x1700 use the same driver anyways. I have had absolutely no difficulties running this driver on Windows Vista Business. I believe the main reason they don't provide x1700 support is due to business politics. Many notebook manufacturers don't want AMD supplying drivers as they don't want to provide support for the AMD generic drivers, only the drivers which they modify/test and release themselves.

 

Due to new security restrictions, I can no longer use my V1JP at work, consequently I'm selling it on ebay. If you're interested here's the link: http://cgi.ebay.com/Asus-V1JP-Notebook-with-Docking-Station_W0QQitemZ270122512288QQihZ017QQcategoryZ114205QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I've had it for about 5 months, and had the dealer upgrade it to 2GB of memory and a 100GB 7200RPM hard drive. The deal also includes the Asus docking station.

 

Dear V1Jp owners

My deadline to buy a new laptop will end next week.
I was considering buying a V1Jp because it seemed a good compromise between mobility/performance/business look. I am not a frequent gamer, so I am not bothered by the fact that the new DX10 GPUs are arriving.
I am concerned however with posts reporting poor battery lifetime of V1Jp, since I will need to use it in the University.
Two questions that probably you can answer based on your experience

1st question :
- with maximum mobility settings
(ATI PowerPlay on, ASUS powerGear in battery saving mode)
- running low demanding applications
(like web browser/word processor)
- and wireless on

what is the average power consumption of the laptop ?

2nd question :

For people that bought V1jp after February/March :
Do you still experience a quick increase of battery wear ?
If so, do you know if it is hardware or driver problem ?

Thank you in advance