Z96 Owners Lounge!

indeed. i've secured my laptop with many software barries, if someone steals it, they now have a paper weight (4 passwords to get theough to get to windows/linux log on screens,, and then another there )

hopefully they like $1600 paperweights

 

Yeah. I've done the same. But there is one problem. There are, of course, multiple ways around these. I myself know a few. I know enough to turn it from a paperweight to a working computer, but I probably wouldn't be able to get at any of your info. I'm sure if I tried, though, I could.

 

It would be easy enough to plop your HD out and place another one in.

 

How much battery would the laptop waste if I used a BT mouse?

 

Which ATI driver should I download off ATIs site? People were saying the regular catalysts but some said the mobile ones.

 

You might as well use the drivers that came with it on the driver cd. No performance difference, or any differences whatsoever to tell you the truth.

If you must intall ATI drivers(I have them installed myself right now) you need to use the direct link to the file on the ATI website. Going the conventional way will not work on an Asus laptop. You can find the download link in one of the stickies on the forum that deals with graphics cards.

 

While it's true that the Z96J does not have DVI out, as others have said the difference between DVI and VGA is really minimal. However if you are like me I like to see that small difference There is an interesting thread here's the link:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=71438
it talks about adapters for VGA to DVI and one guy quoted the following site as having the best solution:
http://www2.dvigear.com/vgatodvicosc.html
I ordered it recently I hope to receive it tomorrow. Will give an update here if I see the adapter is worth it. My current setup at home involves a Sony 23" widescreen LCD monitor I tried to connect a regular VGA to VGA connection and result was horrible, had a blurry screen effect wherein I had to play with the wire to get the best picture even then I saw a big difference between it and my desktop that was connected with a DVI to DVI connection. So I hope to see a difference when I get the adaptor

 

I agree with JPZ, if you check the begining of the Z96 owner thread I had a similar question and ended up trying both stock (the ones that came with the laptop), catalyst, and omega drivers (which I have on right now). No difference! I posted my 3dmark05/06 scores before and after check it out.

 

Hey fellow Z96j owners, I need your help regarding a small issue. When I try to watch a DVD movie, the playback is a little choppy. It isn't as smooth as watching it on a tv. I've tried using VLC player and InterActual player and different movies, but it is still kind of laggy especially the sound. Is this a software or hardware problem? Thanks

 

First off, what video drivers are you using?

Second, does this occur running from battery, on AC, or both?

Do you have powerplay enabled, and what is it set to?

What do you mean by the sound being laggy?

Do you have P4G installed? What about the audio drivers?

Did you install the cpu drivers, and what speed is your cpu OPERATING at.(different from what it is designed to run at- meaning what is your actual current cpu freq?)

And of course, pc dvd playback is going to be different from a tv. Different formats, refresh rates, types or screens, etc.

 

Can someone point me in the right direction to posts about installing a hard drive?

Thanks
Derek

 

Hey JPZ

What I mean by laggy is that when I'm watching the movie, the video seems to run fine, but the audio seems slow. It's like if the people were talking on slow motion.

I'm using the video drivers that were on the Asus cd that came with the notebook.

I've only tried to watch a movie with the AC plugged in so performance should be at max, right?

Could you explain what powerplay is?

P4G is installed but it isn't on when I'm plugged to the power outlet. The audio driver is also the one from the cd.

I've installed everything on the driver cd from top to bottom and I haven't used any other.

By CPU driver, do u mean the hotfix on the cd? Could you tell me how to check the speed the CPU is operating at?

Thanks for your help!

 

First off, powerplay is ATI's power saving technology. It underclocks your graphics card, and shuts off portions of the card to save energy and prolong battery life. If you are running on AC, this shouldn't be a problem.

Try leaving P4G on at all times.

For cpu, yes, I meant the stuff that is on the cd.

Have you tried using a different DVD? Also, have you tried using ASUS' dvd software, or windows media player?

Last, and perhaps most importantly, what DVD decoder are you using? Perhaps if you are using a 3rd party decoder, therein lies the problem. I'm using the decoder that came with Asus' DVD software. On my other laptops and my desktop, I use ATI's decoder. But the one that came with the Asus is perfectly fine.

 

While we are on the subject I was watching a dvd movie yesterday for the first time on my Z96J using the Asus dvd software and while i was forwarding a scene, I suddenly got a blue "stop" screen and my laptop crashed and restarted...weird But then I watched the movie on Windows Media Player with no problems. Maybe it was a one time thing who knows.

 

Sounds like a one time thing. Could have been something else that was running in the background. It could have been a rare bug in the program. Doesn't sound like anything to worry about to me, unless it happens again.

 

This is weird... I tried your suggestion and tried watching it with different players:
1st InterActual Player: A little slow with the audio
2nd VLC player: Worst
3rd Windows Media Player: Perfect

So I guess this was a software issue but I don't really understand why.

 

Did you try the Asus DVD player? That should also work fine.

Perhaps those 3rd party dvd players were using some weird codecs, or had some funky sound settings. Perhaps the audio settings aren't configured properly. Maybe it is using a software accelerator for audio rather than hardware.

 

I just got my z96j and I'm having battery issues. I only get about 1:15 hours of battery life with the screen at 80% brightness watching video streamed off my wireless network. is that normal for wireless to take that much power? I have not tried any battery tests yet with wireless turned off. I have recalibrated the battery though and after my z96j finishes charging I can do more tests.

the graininess issue doesn't bother me at all. I'm only seeing it on light shades of blue although if I tilt the screen back alot the graniness becomes really apparent. the screen has some minor backlight bleeding at the bottom (which I only notice on a black screen). I have no dead pixels though

 

You should get about two hours with the backlight on 80~100 percent with wifi and BT off, cpu throttled down(using P4G power savings battery life mode), powerplay configured for max battery, and speakers muted.

 

Oh well, I have always used WMP, but I decided to try VLP player because I read it was good...and InterActual player I never heard of, it just keeps telling me to install it each time I put a dvd in so I tried it out.

Anyhow, everything seems to be fine now, thanks a lot for your help JPZ!

 

No problem. It's why I'm here.

Chris, any update on the battery issue?

 

anyone knows how i can reset those function keys?

ahdont

 

ok I did some tests with both wireless and bluetooth disabled on dvd mode in power4gear

just running windows a bit under 2:00 hours is estimated.
with light use (like running word) about 1:45 is estimated
with cpu at 100% use running superpi 1 hour is estimated

with power4gear in battery saving mode (backlight off) it estimates 2:15

I've been monitoring my cpu clocks with cpuz and they havn't budged from 2.16ghz. shouldn't my cpu be throttleing to conserve battery life? I tried to check my gpu clocks with ati tool but my laptop froze. I guess ati tool doesn't like my lappy

also it takes forever to charge the last 10% or so of my battery, it also seems to drop the first 10% rather quickly

 

Your CPU should throttle down to 999mhz. Do you have speedstep enabled in the BIOS? Are you using any type of utilities that would interfere with this, such as NHC, RM Clock, etc?

You should have no issues with ATI tool. Open up CCC(catalyst control center) and look at your powerplay settings. Make sure it is set for optimal battery life(max battery life). When you are on battery, make sure it says that it is on that mode.

That's pretty much normal.

The backlight isn't off. It is just very low. You can turn it up about 3 notches and it will only cost you about 10-15 minutes battery life out of 3+ hours.


Those battery times seem correct if your cpu hasn't budged from 2.16ghz. Once you get it to throttle down you should be fine.

 

I'm running on windows xp pro sp1. I could not install the cpu on the driver disk as it wanted sp2. is that fix necessary as I would rather not have to install sp2 if I don't have to (i dont like all the security crap that comes with it)

 

What the.... HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO GET SP1 ON THERE? Dude, you're computer is screwed up.

Have you run 3D mark 05 yet? What did you score?

OK, first of all, you need SP2 in order to use a PCI-E device. So you shouldn't have been able to install SP1 on your laptop because the X1600 is PCI-E. This explains your problem with ATI Tool.

Second, that thing on the driver cd is a cpu hotfix. It is an update that adds support for power management for you processor. Without it, your processor will not clock down and no power management will be used.

Update to SP2, install the hotfix, and all your problems should be solved.

 

well my copy of win xp pro just came with sp1. everything installed fine except the hotfix. well i'm downloading the service pack now.

I got almost 3900 in 3dmark05 using the drivers in the asus disk

 

What steps should i follow to install my own hard drive? Any advice will be very appreciated.

 

Do you have the notebook in front of you?

1. Flip notebook over(put something soft under the laptop so the lid won't get scratched) oriented so that touchpad(front end) of the laptop is closest to you, and the battery is the farthest.

2. Remove battery.

3. Remove the two screws along the right edge of the notebook. Start at the bottom right corner and move up the right edge until you find them. Each one is marked with an "H".

4. A little tray will slide out of the right edge of the notebook. Pull it out.

5. Ground yourself, and pick up your hard disk, put it in the tray, and screw in the 4 screws on the sides(2 on each side) of the tray. Once the harddisk is secured, slide the tray back in the drive, and fix it in place with the two screws you took out before.

NOTE: Keep yourself grounded at all times. Your tray and corresponding screws may come separate from your notebook in their own little pouch. You can skip the first few steps involving removing the tray if it comes separate. The two odd screws out(should be black) are for the case, and the four other screws(should be silver) are for holding the hard disk in your tray.

Make sure you put your hard disk in the tray with the right side facing up.

You should put the label side facing up, and the bare side(with most likely an exposed PCB) facing down in the tray so that you can't see it.

DO NOT FORCE THE TRAY INTO THE DRIVE. IF IT DOES NOT GO IN, MAKE SURE THE HARD DISK IS NOT UP-SIDE DOWN.

That should do it. Any problems, let me know.

 

Thanks JPZ for the help as you have also directed me on how to install my own memory. I ordered my Z96 from Eddie as you had nothing but good things to say about G2p or BtoTech and ultimately you made my mind up for me. I ordered about a week and a half ago but a hard drive problem has delayed it for another week. I ordered it without memory and the HDD and got both through NewEgg so I will be compiling all of your help for my setup. Couldn't thank you enough. You really deserve an income for all your advice on here.

Derawk

 

Hi everyone, this is my first post.

Ok I think I really goofed up.
I didnt realize that the z96 used a SATA drive. I ordered a Hitachi Travelstar 7200 rpm, 80 GB drive from tigerdirect.com, which happens to be IDE :'(

I just checked on their website, and they dont accept returns. Any ideas anyone?

 

First off, don't you mean a P-ATA drive? I thought that was what notebooks used before some of the newer ones started coming out with S-ATA.

Anyway, doesn't Tiger Direct have a 30 day money back guarantee on just about everything? They should accept returns... call them up or E-mail them.

If they refuse to accept it as a return, I would buy a $15-$25 enclosure for it, and use it for extra storage, backups, and file transfers. Someone posted a guide on how to do this here on NBR. I think it might be in "aftermarked upgrades".

 

Why does my z96 not match the picture in the quick instalation guide? I'm just trying to figure out what the rectangle shaped thing is next to the monitor hook up on the right side of it.

 

Haven't look at the installation guide. I don't use those things. Know my way through a computer. I service laptops, so installing some easily accessible components is no trouble at all.

If you are talking about what I think you are, that was going to be a portbar-3 connector, to connect to one of those asus portbar-3 port replicators. Not sure what happened, but Asus scrapped it when they finally released it. In the preproduction models, there was a portbar 3 port there.

 

That sounds like what it could be because if you look at the pictures of the z96 on g2p, one picture shows a connector port and then another side shot shows the 2 1/2 inch rectangle thing. So another question would be in the pcmia slot also the express card slot?

 

meant to say is sorry.

 

uhhhm....there is only an expresscard slot on this notebook. The weird rectangular thing is yes for the scrapped port replicator as in this pic:
I wonder why it never came through.....

 

Good shot there Bhatman. Is that area open for future expansion by any chance?

 

I dont have that spot on my z96j. Is mine a newer case.

 

Hey if i already have a 1 stick gig of corsair memory, would it be ok to get another 1 stick gig of another brand or are two different brands not compatable?

 

could you post a pic BPHusker?

 

Yeah. You should have it BPHusker.

As for ram upgrades... I would stick with an identical stick of corsair. You could in most cases get away with mixing brands, but two identical sticks would offer the best performance, and corsair memory isn't expensive at all. Look in my sig, I'm a big corsair fan.

 

BPHusker: You dont have the rectangle? They all have it.....

Derawk21: Get them at the same speed(667), but its not really a problem. RAM is RAM and shouldnt have conflicts.

 

Hey if I ordered my z96 without a hard drive, does that mean that i don't have windows either?

 

Some ram modules can have compatability issues. I think single and double sided ram usually doesn't mix well... but I really don't know about that.

When you have two different ram modules, they will both run at the speeds of the slower one. So if one module is 5-9-9-12 and 667, and another module is 6-8-11-15 and 533, then they will both run at 6-9-11-15 and 533.

I would just run a quick google to find if anyone has had compability issues before buying anything. But I would also just get another Corsair module. Gotta love Corsair.

 

You won't have windows installed... if you paid for windows it should come with a windows cd and a cd key so you can install it yourself. Contact your reseller to make sure you get a cd with your purchase.

 

Yes, speedwise its always good to have the same speed RAM. But brandwise I havent seen as an issue. For over 4.5yrs ive had Micron and Corsair RAM in my desktop and there has never been a conflict(just a bunch of dust hehe). Just go Corsair, there usually cheaper(and great warranty too!)

 

Just got my z96. Should i install windows or other discs first?

 

...


If by other discs you mean the driver cd, and the free Asus app's, then yeah, go ahead and install all those windows drivers and programs before you install Windows.

Just messing with you. Install windows first.

 

Hey you had me pulling those out first seriously. Good one and thanks again as always.