~VX2S Owners' Lounge~

It is not my laptop, but I would have argued a little bit more with the operator. He HAS to let you talk to his superior if you ask him. Who cares about the procedure. This is why you call. I think I would have told him to give me his full name and employee number. Then I would force him to give me his supervisor. And eventually get to my issue.

You probably pushed a lot, but in cases like that you can't let them any chance. The operator DOES NOT NEED to know what you want to tell his boss. It is not his busness.

 

trust me, it was impossible to me to ask him that! I asked his full name and he did not want to give me! I pushed more than a lot! NO WAY. same problema at RMA centre! no possibility to talk with a technician or a superior! then I hear the girl at the reception say: "scratches on your case are normal, if you think that the technician has opened your notebook". I can't believe that!
then again: I send the police to ASUS Italy, to have the number of a superior one! he phoned me and told me that the notebook was ready: "they change the screen, the case, the motherboard..." but it was not true!! maybe he said those things to put down early the phone! in my RMA it compares that the screen was not been substituted! neither was the motherboard...
It could have been a good laptop, maybe the best, but in this situation I hate it and ASUS. I don't want to have nothing to do with them anymore!

 

i have the VX2S with the blu ray drive....
id like to ask if it is lightscribe compatible...cause when i got it, it came with all the software....but once i was testing it...it seems like it cant lightscribe..

is it just my own problem with the software or is the mat****a BD-MLT UJ-210S blu ray drive just not compatible with lightscribe??

please help....>.<

 

even mine had the software (HD-DVD one) and my toshiba seems to be compatible with LS, from specs. but it isn't! ASUS is not clear, it seemed to be LS, instead it is not

 

Thank you. I had an older Realtek driver installed. Installed the new one and it worked. But I think the problem was that I had removed the Realtek startup files. I thought everything would work anyway since the drivers was installed. I think the problem was that the alcmtr.exe file wasn´t loaded.

Regards

Jocke

 

Alright, ive had enough with vista so i decided to switch to xp ( special thanks to sasovics for the drives and others that helped), but i cant get the camera and the bluetooth working. The drivers for the camera are just not working and i cant seem to find them on the web. I tried doing the windows update but no luck. Any advice?

 

run everest, check the exact part number and download the right driver from Asus' website. Get the Vista drivers, they are backward compatible.

 

apparently it seems that only the standard package for VX2S has the Lightscribe function. the blu-ray and the HD-DVD versions dont have it...

by the way...did any of you find any faults with the Fn keys...the Fn + -> and the Fn + <- buttons...

i had that...maybe its cause it was too new when the blu ray version came out...did anyone else get this bug?

 

Maybe you should explain exactly what the faults were?

 

Hi,

I asked this before but could not have a reply. Does anyone know the part number for the vx2s keyboard? or any other asus laptops that have same keyboard. Help would be appreciated.

 

I will open mine tonight and tell you.

Part number will be different depending what region your laptop is. I have a US standard keyb, I can only give you the part numbers for that.

 

Kos-Mos,

thank you for the reply. I really appreciate. I want the US standard layout.

once again thank you very much

 

oh...sorry about that....its when you press Fn -> or Fn <-...in windws media center, it doesnt give any response. Its meant to change tracks when playing songs etc.

 

I don't remember exactly the context, did I suggest trying to reinstall the ATK Hotkey utility? That should take care of the hot-buttons.

 

Can't help you on this one... I flushed MC along with a lot of other crapware from microsoft...

*edit* I use Winamp for music (global hotkey: Ctr+Alt and pageup/down, ect.)
and DiVX for videos (normal arrows work great)
AND WinDVD for DVDs and BD disks

 

hey guys....does anyone have any problems with connecting VGA output to a Samsung LCD TV?
nothing shows up on mine...however...when i plug it into a normal monitor...it works perfectly fine...
it shouldnt be the TV's problem either...cause when i tried plugging in other laptops...it worked....only my Vx2S didnt work...=(

 

Did you try pressing Fn+F8 to switch to the external? For some weird reason perhaps for the TV it's needed even if for the other monitors it's not.

next thing, I'd try putting the TV as secondary monitor on an extended desktop.

And if that doesn't work I'd suggest perhaps different video drivers.

 

yeah...i tried your first two suggestions...didnt work...the weird thing is...it worked for the whole of last week...
then just today while i was watching anime, the TV just suddenly cut off and it stopped working...then i just tried using another laptop to plug it to TV and guess what? it worked...
so...only my vx2s didnt work on tv...the vx2s even worked on a normal monitor....just wouldnt work on TV...=(

 

It might just be an electrical problem... do you usually plug/unplug the VGA cable while both the TV and the computer are running? Because they have different grounds, that creates a current discharge which can damage the less protected device (which is usually the notebook).

It happened to me once, early symptoms included the notebook not working properly with external monitors (the monitor ID wasn't recognized). Then it stopped working completely.

I'm not saying this is what happened, it's just an idea.

For instance, can you get it to work in another OS? Vista/XP/LiveLinux. If so then it's probably not hardware.

I would still try reinstalling/updating the video drivers.

 

If you have the Asus "Presentation" program or something like that, it cause me a lot of pain before.

It tries to manage the external monitors you plug-in, but fail miserably most of the time.

I removed it and managed with the NVidia Control panel. Just go in "Manage multiple displays" NOT the wizard...

Then set it the way you want.
You can also force detect some monitors, it just does not need the ID to work (good on some old TVs and for some reason the BenQ LCD I have at work) There is a box you have to check for that somewhere in the N control pannel.

Also, sorry for the keyb model, I don't have any time for me this week... I will open my lappy as soon as I can...

 

Is anyone with the Blu-Ray drive having trouble playing certain discs?

I can't seem to play some of the newer titles - Pirates & Spiderman series. It sounds like I need to patch WinDVD but their patches only work on retail rather than OEM installations.

 

I Need some consolidated advice... I have read through the threads and feel confident I wont have a problem, but I thought I would ask someone who has been there first. My VX2s a2b crapped out after 2 weeks out of the box. Vista says not their problem, I disagree. I have have no luck on the reinstall and would rather go back to Xp anyway. I tried to load xp and it said it did could not find a hard drive. So number 1 how do I cope with that issue, and number 2 can someone give me location to get all of the necceassary drivers and let me know what issues I should expect to deal with?

Your help is hugely appreciated...

 

The HDD is SATA; you need to take special precautions to make the XP kit recognize it. Look for any guide on installing XP on a SATA harddrive, to see what those precautions are.

 

In the BIOS you change the harddrive setting from "enhanced" to "compatible"
This allows you to install XP. After install you can choose to keep the "compatible" setting, or you can find and install the SATA driver, and go for "enhanced" again....

Good Luck!

 

Hi all.
Anyone using Vista X64?
I am and getting a real slow start up. (minimum 7 minutes from cold start?!)
Sometimes I get BSOD, it reports that the iaNVstor, makes a mess of things.
This is a component of the graphics driver. (I'm running 169.12 for x64).
Anyone having similar issues? if not which Nvidia driver?

Thanks for any help.

Agentoft

 

Hi people.

I registered with this forum today to ask about what appears to be a serious problem with my VX2S. Or not? You tell me.

I got the machine in December and mainly use it for programming. I installed XP SP2, got the 169.28 NVidia drivers. With no overclocking 3DMark06 is around 3200 and it ran ok the couple of times I tried it.

However, I installed Colin MacRae 2005 last week (first real 3D application) and after I played for literally 2 minutes the computer switched off. Tried it again and again, same problem at random times, switching off anytime between 15 seconds and 10 minutes after the game starts. Installed COD4, same problem. It appears that when the graphics card is pushed a bit, the system dies. Temperature reaches a max of 79-82 degrees.

I had to seriously underclock the card to get the system to stabilise (300/300 instead of 475/400 MHz). What the heck is happening? Can the rest of you play 3D games at the default graphics card frequency without the system dying? For more than 20 minutes?

I want to return this to Asus but I'm afraid they will start asking me to check irrelevant things and suggest that "XP is not supported", "your NVidia drivers are not the right ones" (I also tried other 15x, 16x and 17x versions with no luck) "go to the control panel and see what the power settings are" or other silly things like that. This is not the right behaviour for the system used as sold. It took me a while to see this because as I said I didn't have the time to check my games.

I've paid a lot for a machine that has totally disappointed me (bad keyboard layout, USB ports too close to each other to stick more than 1 device at a time, graphics card fan blows hot air from the right-hand side onto my hand when holding the mouse, mousepad has no real keys making LMB and RMB pressing a torture, the display is an utter disgrace with white light leaking from the bottom, the viewing angle is so small that when I move my head up or down I have to readjust the panel, cursor keys too small to easily navigate in text editors or play games, DVD tray does not close unless I press hard etc etc etc etc etc etc).

And now this... WTF?!?!?

Please let me know if your VX2S behaves the same way or I have got a defective one.

Thanks
Thomas

 

I had the same problem (with other problems) after 2 months they regave me the notebook, but it had the same heat issue! after I took it to the RMA again, they told me that my notebook was right, no issue, or heat problems! I was very angry, but this time it was true! the problem disappeared! not the notebook works very well! they replace the entire machine, but they hide this! now the notebook is new, I will sell it and buy another brand
ASUS no more

 

Thanks for letting me know about this. I will contact Asus and send the notebook for repair. Just like you in the future I won't touch Asus again, not even with a bargepole. For now however I'll have to live with this disgrace of a machine.

 

don't tell me! I'm just trying to sell it! now the notebook is new, with warranty until may2010, and I hope I will not lose too much money!

 

I am having some shutdown issues, but it is completely random...

Sometimes I play Crysis for 2-3 hours in a row, having the card OC to the top, and no problem.

Sometimes I just start Counter-Strike:Source, and I get shutdown before I can make it to the game server.

 

I think it depends on the room temperature.

anyone interested in my notebook? it's new, they have replaced it, i didn't use it anymore, only to verify it had zero dead pixels and it did not have the thermal issue anymore. it's the ak111G with T7700 & dock station. I will sell it for 2450 euro+shipping in europe. warranty until may 2010

 

Hello!

I'm new to this forum!

I googled "vx2s shuts down" and came across this thread, and some pages regarding the errors while playing games..

I have the same problem too..

I'm thinking about returning my computer tomorrow, but I thought I'd check here first.. I have not read the whole thread, but want to ask the following anyway;

Is there someone who does NOT have the problem with the notebook shutting down? Is it someone who have a complete "flawless" VX2S?

The reason I ask is that I really do like this computer.. it feels nice and is not that heavy! Looks like a "solid" product too..

Is it possible to get it fixed? Have someone here returned it to be fixed, and then got it back and all was OK?


I've only tried S.T.A.L.K.E.R., and in XP it shuts down within a minute or so, and in Vista it shuts down after a couple of minutes.. I've tried 3DMark05 and 06, and it shuts down frequently there as well (but not all the time, sometimes it manages to complete the benchmark).


Thanks for all replys!

- NotebookBone

 

like I said, they replaced mine and now works perfectly, but after 3 months @ RMA I don't wanna see it anymore!

 

Ah.. Thanks!

Sorry, did not read all the posts in this thread.. Did read some though, and I just got the impression that this was the case for ALL of the VX2S'.. Glad to hear that it's not!

Really not sure what RMA is.. ? Is that the place you send your notebook to, to get it fixed?

Thanks again!


EDIT: Just another question.. I seem to get only 54 Hz on the display in Vista, but it says 60 Hz in XP.. What is this? Does it only manage 54 Hz in Vista? Can you successfully use another application to force 64 Hz @ 1650x1080? Thanks!

 

RMA is repair work, and can be used as a noun, verb, adjective, preposition, conjunction, or any other type of word... I'm joking.

 

NotebookBone:

My machine too was shutting down literally within 20 seconds of running a 3D program. Flashing the latest 3.01 BIOS from the Asus website extended the uptime but did not eliminate the problem. Running 3D apps/games for 10 minutes and then start wondering "is it going to die now?" (until it does) is ridiculus.

WLF46WLF's reply and yours too makes me think that overheating is more of a general design fault for the VX2S rather than a very unfortunate one-off occurence. Since other people have not replied it would be unwise to extrapolate from 3 posts though. Mine goes back to the company anyway. I've filled in the RMA form and I am waiting for it to be collected. To be honest I can't see what they can do with the laptop to fix the problem. Further push the BIOS parameters? That's a hack, not a solution. Replace the graphics card? Add more fans? If the problem is that it overheats, I can't see what they can do short of opening a big hole at the bottom of the machine. Probably the only realistic thing they can do is replace the whole machine as WLF46WLF found out. I'll be curious to see what will happen with mine.

 

haha..

Thanks, though!

Thanks for the reply!

I also flashed the BIOS (before i started playing), so I already had the v3.01 installed. The only game I tried was S.T.A.L.K.E.R., and it kept going for a couple of minutes in Vista and under a minute in XP.

I am going to return mine regardless.. I am NOT sending to be repaird (to RMA).. I'm comparing it to buying a new car: You got yourself a brand new car, and you're quite happy, and someone smash into it and it needs a repair. They fix it and it's 'as good as new', but you know it HAS been broken / damaged, and you don't have the "cool, new product" -feeling any more! I paid US $3200 for it (recalculated from norwegian currency), and I want to have that "new" feeling a BIT longer than a few days! It's too much money not to..

It's a shame, really.. 'cause I did like the notebook, very much so, otherwise!


Has there been any "official statement" from ASUS regarding this problem? I can't quite understand why it's still in production.. I guess most people who buy this kind of machine is going play some kind of a game / 3d-program, and when they do, this problem will occour! These people will then either a) return the whole notebook, or b) get it fixed. Either way it's an unnecessary expence for ASUS!


I'm quite curious; is there anyone here who never had any problem with this, or heard of someone?


Thanks again!

 

hear to that:

they replaced my notebook (I noticed that because under the cover there are win vista logo, s/n and other adhesive; they've been detached and then attached on the new case cover!), but officially, in the RMA's documents they wrote that my notebook didn't have any problem!
the notebook has been 3 months @ RMA. it return to me with the same problem, so I returned it. after that, it hasn't had that issue anymore. but after 3 months and a wrong diagnosis for the gpu, they have tought well to replace and hide it.
I used it just twice to verify if the issue disappeared; now I'm trying to sold it when it's new. I don't think problems can disappear by themselves (before the gpu reached 92° C, now under 80°C).

for that behaviour, my eyes will never see another ASUS product

 

You just need to pressure them, Communication is the key!!!

Im getting my YEllow VX2s AK003G tomorrow,

I want to max it out,

Can someone tell me if:

They know of any 2GB Dimms with a CL4 or lower as i want to upgrade to 4GB.

Also,

Any other ways to improve the performance by upgrading/ overclocking?

 

I bought 2x2GB samsung ddr2 800 CL5 (they will work @ 667 CL4) from ebay.

I didn't test it yet. if I don't sell mine I will replace 2GB with 4GB

 

Hmm I don't know much but im not sure if its worth reducing the clock to get
a faster CL ill keep it in mind.

I want to see a VX2s pushed to the limits, if you see any websites with one let me know.

Im going to attempt to put Leopard OS on it tomorrow and possibly Windows XP as a third OS.

Apparently it's possible.

 

you don't understand chipset santarosa supports up to 667MHz for the ram. default ram are 667 cl 5. these ram are 800 cl5 ad will work (maybe) @ 667 cl4

 

Hi

Yes i think i do understand, considering you're using the word "Maybe", and the fact that there's hardly any DDR2 667 cl4 notebook dimms on the market makes me think it's not worth doing as the 800Mhz cl5 underclocked at 667 will probably not perform as good as a standard 667.

If this was the case vendors would be selling them.

 

G'day NotebookBone,

I play plenty of demanding games and have never had an overheat issue. I have not flashed my bios and I don't use my docking station when playing games (as I am too lazy to hook it up ) so heat is not an issue with all VX2S's.

My model is the Australian one but the only difference I know of is a HD-DVD optical drive instead of Bluray. My only change to the machine is that I have updated the graphics card driver ages ago with a modified INF and I did a "clean" install of Vista without all the Asus Bloatware.

While I'm posting, anyone managed to force a refresh rate in Vista that is higher than the pitiful 54Hz yet? (With the Samsung screen in 3D apps, not just desktop). I'm willing to bet the answer will be NO!

Cheers

 

My refresh rate runs stable at 60Hz but that might be beacuse I have a Chi-Mei display... I am not sure you can force a refresh rate higher then what your display supports. That means if your Samsung's refresh rate is 54 (and I bet it is) you cannot force it above this value.

I am so happy I got rid of that crappy Samsung, I am way happier with my current Chi-Mei

Cheers

 

I have installed a small RC micro fan on the Graphic heat-sink...

It work like a charm... not a single crash since then.
I also pushed the OC a bit further to see if the shut-down issue was really gone...

I guess that a 5$ fan is all that was needed. Plus it fits inside the laptop case. From outside, there is no way to tell. It is always on, but not a big issue as it is tiny and very quiet.

External dim. of the fan are inder 1" I removed the stock heatsink, dremeled some of the fins to make room for the fan and replaced it. I must say that the thermal compound was... hmmm lacking...
I added some high quality silicone compound. It might helped with the heat transfer.

*edit* I am running bios 209. Quite old, but it still works right. Update the VGA drivers as soon as they come out. Oh... for those who are not sure, the 5xx series VGA drivers on laptopvideo2go.com ARE NOT THE LATEST. For some reason their date say so, but it is an old driver.

 

The funny thing about Vista is that if you plug in an external display capable of 60Hz, magically the Samsung now supports 60Hz and games like BF2 work on the notebook screen. Unplug the external monitor and its back to 54Hz. So I know the hardware is capable, just Vista that isn't

The Chi-Mei would be a good solution as they sound like they are a much better display.

 

Well, it's good for me to hear that people have not had heat issues with the machine because mine was crashing so quickly and regularly that I just lost all faith in the quality of the product. I mean, their logo on of the RMA form I filled in says "ASUS - Rock Solid" and I thought "those bastards are mocking me". The machine is with them now and the warranty card says that they aim at returning it within a week (i.e. 3 days ago). I'll let you all know what happens when I get it back.

 

I suggest you to update to 301 BIOS, all works perfectly (I mean hybernation, std by, power off...).
after the last return from RMA it works the GPU either. I tried to play 2-3 hours, and had no shuts. before this the notebook shuts after 10-20 minutes.

 

I have all my OC setups done on 209... I don't feel like upping to 301...

The shutdown issues where completely erratic... the was no way to predict when it would shut-down....

I mean, I played DiRT for a good 6 hours strait, no shut down. Next morning, I load my game and I get a crash... actually 5 times in a row.
I could play Crysis no problem, but DiRT, no way. Same with CS:S... crash every 2 minutes...

I loaded a modified .inf from series 168xx drivers... can't remember which one... Helped a lot bot in stability and performance.

With the little fan and heat compound, I got nothing-zip-nada.

Anyways, my computer is ready for a good format/re-install... so I might up the bios to 301 at the same time.