Asus G73JH Keyboard Light Failure After BIOS Flash 209

I've got my g73 repaired today from Asus Royal Service Center here in Taiwan. They told me the "DB(not quite sure ) code" was eliminated during the upgrade to bios 209. It's software problem, so they restored the system to bios 205 and reinstalled the code, which seems to be the connection between motherboard and system.
I'm so delighted now getting my keyboard lights back

 

If I send my laptop to RMA for keyboard light repair, do they format the laptop?
Have I do any backup?
How many days takes to repair it?


Thanks"

 

Still can believe there isn't a fix for this... 26.5% effected... does anyone else not think that a simple new Bios release will fix this?

 

I think something happens for some where the bios and keyboard controller get messed up. And so far the only solution is to send your notebook in.

Hoping Ken will get his hands on the solution for victims of this idiocy. Personally I would have though Asus would want to release this as it costs them money for each person affected to RMA...

 

They didn't when I sent mine in (both times). However, you should be prepared for them to do it.

Always.

The repair probably takes minutes. How many days you'll be without your notebook varies depending on your location, how backed up the service center is, and who knows what else. 9 business days was mine - from Southern California to/from Northern California service center.

 

There is a fix. It requires a firmware update as mentioned earlier, but Asus isn't letting out the updater to the public.

 

Here's a new one, I lost my kb lights after opening my laptop to apply thermal grease. Not sure how it happened but I did reset the cmos by holding down the reset button after. This is not related to any bios upgrades because I did the 209 from 206 upgrade long ago and kb lights were working until now.

 

Keyboard lights ribbon cable installed correctly?

 

first thing that was checked. Plugged it in a bunch of times and still nothing. I'll be messing around with it more to see what exactly I did that may have caused it to suddenly not work.

 

Did you check if the ribbon is flipped? Some of the people that experienced this problem after an upgrade flipped the cable accidently and the lights would no longer work. Check to see if you flipped it

 

geez, just flashed my bios to 209, and now my keyboard lights don't work!

is there a way to downgrade it back to 206?

 

I wish it was that easy,So far there doesn't seem to be any quik fix for this.This is the only comment on ASUS TEK forums from ASUS support Staff that I have seen "Please do not update BIOS with WINFLASH 2.29.

If need to update BIOS please use easy flash in BIOS or WINFLASH version 2.31 above. It also can be downloaded from support website.

http://support.asus.com/download/do...Winflash_WIN7_32_64_z2301.zip&f_type=21&os=29

If the KB backlight has not worked, please send back the MB to service center."

 

Do you think, Asus will release a new firmware soon? to fix this problem?

i don't see any feedback from them....

 

I have no idea,we can only hope they are working on a fix that we can apply ourselves without RMAing the laptop back.(soon)But this has been going on for a while now.

 

To fix the lights, Asus needs to reset the firmware on the keyboard, which only they will do. They do not supply the software to the public. You'll have to RMA.

 

I'm wondering if the firmware is tied into the cmos somehow. After I took out my cmos battery I lost the lights. I'm not positive that was the cause but if retention of the lights depends on the cmos battery, I wonder what will happen when the batteries lose power.

 

Civilization as we know it shall fail.

 

i was wondering, if someone managed to fix it, without RMA it....
Do you guys think, with future bios updates, the problem will get fixed? or the ONLY possible way to fix it, is by sending it to ASUS...?

 

A new BIOS will not fix it, since its a FIRMWARE issue with the KEYBOARD, not the motherboard. You will HAVE to RMA it.

Repeat saying this post until you understand you will have to RMA it to fix it.

 

Mine is headed back Monday,got the RMA on Friday

 

As much as I hate having to RMA my machine I guess there's no other option. Good thing I live 10 mins away from a ASUS service center.

 

DAmn!i will have to wait until i get back to USA to Return it !

 

How about this? sneak into their service center and steal their Software to reset this !@#!@# keyboard

 

Sent mine out this morning,since I live on the east coast its headed to ASUS Indy.

 

I bricked my newly arrived G73 Bestbuy version after flashing it to v209. I came loaded with v206!!!! BestBuy Reps were so STUPID they wouldn't know the bios version when I asked for it!!!!Pathetic!Oh well wish me luck guys as I am here in the Philippines. I dunno how this thing is gonna be dealt with by Asus Customer support.

 

Punyemas is now up to 4 times with this exact same post....

 

I got my unit back from ASUS Thailand today and now the keyboard light works. It took them two weeks to fix.

I asked them what they did to fix and they said they had to replace the keyboard. However, it's somewhat different than the original was because it's completely black not as grayish as the original. And the strength of the light is stronger on maximum as far as I can tell.

On the service report they wrote "Replace KIB, Clean unit".

The BIOS version is 209, the same as before but it - or it's settings - has been changed because the ASUS boot-up logo was changed to static and the boot-up sound was set to enabled.

And I had to reactivate windows by calling Microsoft Activation Call Center.

 

sounds like a new mobo too

 

@Chastity. Im really pissed Man! I flashed it w/ the firmware on the C:\

 

I don't understand how people can find this thread yet still go wrong...

 

Flashing from NTFS partitions has been a gamble. This is why we have suggested using a flash drive formatted to FAT32.

 

My latest e-mail from ASUS Online Support
Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for contacting ASUS Customer Service.
Sincerely sorry that we have just received your letter due to our mail system errors.(misleaded to the wrong groups ), sorry for any inconvenience that caused to you.
Actually this problem is caused by the WinFlash bugs not the BIOS, please
You could call local service center for help as well.
The telephone number is 1-888-678-3688 or 510-739-3777 option 2 then 3
for Notebook Technical Support. Monday thru Friday 7:30 AM to 6 PM Pst.
Please provide your Product S/N when you call in.
Replacing the keyboard is only method to fix this problem, our service center has fixed this kind of problem.

If you continue to experience issues in the future, please do not
hesitate to contact us.

Best Regards,
Lathan
ASUS Customer Service

We will see what Asus Indy does to it to fix it(I think its an updated keyboard and firmware)

 

I could have sworn replacing the keyboard doesn't fix that... :shrugs:

 

I have read that also in this and other forums,I think there's a little more than that to getting this fixed.

 

Wow. Nice robo-reply.

Interesting that mine came back with the same keyboard (yes, I marked it) and a flawed MB (which took a second visit to replace)...

And those two trips to Asus were AFTER I bought a replacement keyboard to try first. That one's now a spare, and it works too.

 

is it possible to ORDER a new keyboard from asus?

i'm in Brazil atm.... can't rma it until i get back to the states in january =/

You guys think i can fix it by just replacing it ?

Thanks for the feedback !

 

I also marked eveything and have seen in the forums sometimes they have more issues when they come back from repair.

 

EBAY is your friend for that

 

Yes someone had a link in one of the topics but they were out of stock.The price was 20.00 bucks .There is more to it than changing the keyboard.Soon or later someone will have a fix for it (I just hope I didn't make a mistake RMA'ing it when I should have waited a little longer)I did see where you can tap 5 volts off the mainboard(mostlikely USB)to power the backlighting but its on all the time (while power is on)and will void your warranty.

 

Indeed possible. All I needed was fixed lights when I sent mine in the first time. Got it back and RAM wasn't all recognized by the OS, fans came on full blast awakening from sleep mode because of false CPU temp report. That's when I got another motherboard

I still have no reason to assume it's going to come back messed up. The California service center kept my machine clean and scratch-free through two services. And although it seemed to take excruciatingly long to get back because I had just waited 5+ weeks for a release pre-order and had my machine only 2 weeks before sending it in, both repairs took less than 10 business days. My only real complaint was they didn't repackage the machine for shipping as good as I had done it.

 

just to make sure, this is the correct keyboard right http://www.gemwon.com/ShowProduct.aspx?ID=2425

if it is, im buying it

 

It looks like the keyboard but it says its for G60????

 

Looks like it should be it.

The one listed in the Asus eStore (part number 04GNV33KUS00-3) is for G51, G60VX, G72GX, and G73JH models.

Note it may not be the G73 color but black instead

 

I've seen Asus' response to this issue, both here and on their official web-site, but I haven't heard any user input on whether the 2.30.1 version of WinFlash has the same problem as v 2.29. My two day old G73 is sitting at home, virgin as could be; I love the backlights and don't want to lose them. Is WinFlash 2.30.1 a fix for this issue, or is it agreed that the underlying problem is the BIOS? I suppose I'm asking if it wouldn't be better to just wait a few months for another BIOS update. Thoughts?

 

Why are you even concerned about it? What do you think updating the BIOS is going to fix?

I'm on 205 and still scared to attempt an update...I already lost my lights once

 

It's my understanding the 209 corrects some minor problems that exist in 205 & 206. Perhaps I'm wrong. That said, if there's a reliable fix then there's no reason not to update. If there's not, then, like you, I'm not going to touch it.

 

The I/O conflict (which doesn't effect performance) on the keyboard and the Fn-ESC key crashing issues are not worth possibly sending mine out for 2 weeks to be fixed again.

I'll do it one of these days I suppose, but I can't justify it right now...maybe the sting hasn't quite worn off from last time.

FWIW, I was an early guinea pig and one of the first to lose keyboard lights... I flashed with a BIOS image on a harddrive which has since turned out to be a risky no-no. Use a flash drive!

 

Do yourself a favor and don't try to update yet. As the others said, there is no real reason for doing it and you would probably lose the keyboard light.

 

Yes I agree,if you have no issues don't risk it .My keyboard was freezing so I updated and lost my backlighting(fixed the freezing ).I RMA'd it and hope it doesn't return with more issues than just the backlighting.

 

So who will attempt buying a new keyboard and trying it out to see if it'll fix the problem?