G51j Blue screen of death problems

This is pathetic. We spent more than $1400 US ($1820 CAN with taxes for me) for a gaming laptop and we’re left on our own to troubleshoot and fix a defective machine which can barely run games. I’ve always been an ASUS fan and I think buying their laptops 4 times in a row pretty much reflects that, but I’m deeply disappointed this time around with the service of ASUS. I mean it’s been more than 7 weeks now since this issue was reported and I’m seeing more work being done from the owners in at least finding the issue than I've seen from ASUS. Luckily for me, I’m not much of a gamer, but there are a few people who were influenced by the promise of a gaming machine and are left in the dark.
Now on a separate note, last night I had Battlefield 2/Project Reality freeze on me instead of a BSOD while I ran Dirt 2 for more than an hour without a single issue. Anyone else with BF2 who has troubles?

 

I was able to get my G51J to 133W according to my Kill-A-Watt, have a vid to prove it (if it's ... important)... dunno if ~15W is really that big a deal. To get that number I had to run furmark, prime95, and transfer files from a DVD to the hard disk.

On turbo mode MW2 never seems to go above 112W. So the AC brick is probably not the problem.

--

1st ten secs: prime95, furmark, copying files from DVD to desktop, tops out @ 133W

Rest of vid: CODMW2. Low: 96W Hi: 112W
<embed>
<param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/iW8hwDxB0S8&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/iW8hwDxB0S8&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width='425' height="344"></embed>

If you can't see the vid above for some reason: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iW8hwDxB0S8

 

I'll have to send the 150W adapter to Ryzeki to test for us, we are out of G51J right now.

The BSOD/Shut down issue is just so familiar, I've plug in the wrong adapter with less wattage to the laptop and results BSOD and shutdown issues with different notebooks.

C90P for example, it required a 150W adapter and I was playing with it got BSOD and shutdown issue, found out it was plugged in with a 90W adapter, switch to 150W and no BSOD anymore.

C90S, working great with 90W adapter with DDR2 video card, when DDR3 came out the 90W adapter doesn't work anymore, people getting BSOD and Asus sent out 120W adapter fixed the problem.

 

With too little power it should BSOD all over the place, no matter the app... as long as it's pulling enough CPU/GPU power.

So far this seems restricted to a handful of games, as far as I remember reading there weren't problems with benchmarks unless overclocked or using tweaked drivers.

 

This post pretty much explains my frustration because I paid 1820$(That's the exact price with taxes in Canadian dollars) for this rig too.

I hope ASUS is really working on this.

(Or I might do what this old woman did at Comcast's office http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/?p=2605 . )

(No, not really, I'm just kidding.)

 

Yeah I just don't have G51J to test unfortunately , you might be right it should be BSOD all over. I was told by Asus few days ago they don't think it's the BIOS, HQ thinks it also could be a bug in nVidia driver and they are working with nVidia to solve the problem, we will see.

I am still going to send a 150W adapter to Ryzeki to test, the more we know the better chance to solve the problem.

 

Thanks for the updated info. An NVIDIA driver problem would make sense...

Sending out an AC adapter for Ryzeki to test is really nice of you..

Edit: wait maybe an NVIDIA problem doesn't make sense?

The OS should be able to trap an exception from the graphics driver... and the stop code doesn't really implicate anything except the pci express bus, so that would mean the driver has some sort of conflict with the hardware configuration NOT seen in any other brand or model...

That leaves the BIOS and the embedded controller...?

 

No BSODS anymore! I'm sooooo happy!

I've had both freezes and BSODS (124).

Installed fresh Win7 Enterprise Edition x64 (ENG).

Drivers: the newest NVIDIA graphics + all the drivers from ASUS (except graphics of course) + updates from Windows Update

AA x8, AF x8, etc. many hours of gaming etc.

No BSOD for 7 days now, seems to be rock stable!

Playing all the games, doing ultra CPU and GPU intensive tasks - no BSODs at all, no freezes at all.

Default OS shipped with the laptop sucks and it's a shame for ASUS not to test the product well enough...

 

Well and drivers don't make sense either because this is specific to this model, not the other Asus and Dell models using the same GPU.

If it did turn out to be the PSU (wouldn't that be great if it was 100% rock solid with more power!)...well I have no idea where you even get 150 watt Asus PSUs.

Gentech doesn't list any PSUs at all that I see. Newegg only has a 120 watt one that I guess is for most of their systems, or a 180 watt one that only lists the G70 as compatible.

 

I have been able to solve my shutdown and BSOD issues. Well, not really solve but make sure I don't get them.

The problem on my laptop is related to being hooked up to an external display. I only get about 10 minutes of dragon age or CS:S before the machine would completely shut off on me. It happened ALL day yesterday. I took my laptop home and fired it up on my lap and was able to play marathon sessions of both games with no BSOD or shutdown. The REALLY weird thing is that I only remember it shutting down on me when I had the lid of the laptop closed and hooked up running on the external display. I will have to test this next week when I bring it back to work.

The problem on my laptop is definitely related to an external display. It is a Hanns G 23" hooked up via HDMI. I will try it on VGA and with the lid open again next week to see if it still shuts down on me in games.

I hope this helps some other people.

Chris

 

Passing the buck to NVIDIA could be a maneuver since apparently ASUS HQ can't replicate the problem. More of conspiracy theory territory though. It is possible that it's the NVIDIA driver doing something terribly wrong. (I guess, since I can't look at the code, and there is no way to debug it.)

There are differences between systems that have even the same chipset and GPU, so it could be something like the BIOS or EC, or it could be a hardware design problem.

Any of those will take a while to debug, I'm just going to sit tight for now and hope Asus will once again be rock solid and/or heart touching sometime in the near future.

 

I'm having the same problem as this. Basically WoW will switch itself off randomly - no BSOD, the laptop would just turn itself off and then I have to restart it. Only happens while playing WoW.

I have G51J as well, Win7 64-bit. Latest NVIDIA drivers installed according to NVIDIA.

 

I'm running the same setup - I have a 40" Samsung LCD hooked up via HDMI and I play with the lid closed. Geez I hope I don't have to downgrade my display to play WoW - it's hardly a graphics-intensive game.

 

Please, don't say that your system is rock solid. I didn't get any BSOD last week either, yet got two this week.

 

That sounds like an overheating issue, even though I can't imagine wow overheating on this laptop since its anything but intensive (I get about a max of mid 70s when raiding). Check your temps and see if you're overheating

 

omg.. i've been reading thread almost everyday and I'm getting more worried about getting this laptop each day.
I spent 1500$ on this laptop and I don't want it to have problems such as BSoD, overheating etc...
Seriously what's wrong with ASUS?

 

OZGOD I replied to your PM. I agree it does sound more like an overheating problem. Mine never shut down the laptop...just would freeze up the game and then shut the game down after about 10-15 seconds. I'm quite positive it's due to using sleep/hibernate.

 

Don't buy it unless Asus gets it straightened out. Asus makes quite a few other models that are fairly equivalent that apparently work fine.

 

mine ships on Tuesday, ordered from GentechPC.
I think if I do return it I have to pay 10% restocking free which I don't want to pay for.
I'm so pissed off right now... who would understand me?
A 1500$ gaming machine that plays no games. wow.

 

If it hasn't shipped yet, cancel it!

 

oh, i meant it's arriving my house via UPS on next Tuesday.
Who knows, I might be one of those lucky people who don't have this problem, i highly doubt it though.

 

Just another data point: I've played WoW for hours since getting my G51J last week, and I have (touches wood, mutters incantations) had no problems whatsoever. So it may be machine specific, not an issue with all of them (crosses fingers). Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely sorry your machines has issues, but so far my 51 hasn't demonstrated any - I'm not using an external monitor, tho.

 

Ozgod,

Could you please do me a favor and try the game without the external display connected? I want to see if your issue goes away like mine did when I disconnected ext. LCD.

Thanks,

Chris

 

Also,

This is definitely NOT an overheating issue. When it was shutting down at my office on me it was sitting on an aeolus notebook cooler in a cold office. It is NOT shutting down or BSOD'ing on me sitting in my lap in my living room. GPU tops out at 75ish at my office and 89 sitting on my lap.

It has GOT to be the external display. The only other difference is that it has a dif mouse keyboard and the aeolus cooler connected to it at work. I played Dragon Age last night for about 2 hours and Cs:S for about 1 hour with no issues. I couldn't even get 10 minutes into a game with that laptop at my office connected to the LCD.

Thanks,

Chris

 

I will do that tonight and let you guys know how I go. I followed someone's advice here and turned on my vsync, so far I haven't had a problem (fingers crossed).

 

Agree it's not an overheating issue. According to CoreTemp my temps never got over 75.

 

The problem is less frequent in older games. And WoW is somewhat pretty old now.

Whereatif you play CoD: MW2 you might have more problems.

 

Do you have vsync on or off? And what settings are you running WoW at? I'm running mine at (nearly) max settings with vsync turned off (I was getting frames of 100+). On someone's advice on this thread I turned it on this afternoon and haven't had a problem yet (praying it will continue).

 

Vsync is off, everything is on high except shadow quality (3/4), and ground cluster radius and density, both a little more than half.

I haven't seen FPS anywhere close to 100, tho - in Dalaran it's high 20s, out in the world the best I've seen was 77, but most of the time it's lower.

Using the 204 BIOS, and the latest nVidia drivers (195.62) from their Web site. I bought from Amazon so have stock thermal paste; did swap out the DVD for the Blu Ray from my G50V.

Just loaded Far Cry 2 and COD MW2 yesterday, haven't done much with either yet. Crysis Warhead doesn't run worth --it at anything other than default, but wouldn't on the G50 either. Will load Left for Dead tonight...

 

Uh, I understand you completely. Bought mine from Amazon and it arrives Tues. I think Amazon won't charge a restocking fee if I send it right back unopened. So...do I take a chance, open it up, and see what happens? Or not even look at it and send it right back in the same box it comes in?

this rig looks so awesome, I think I'm gonna check it out

 

My advice would be to send it back and wait for ASUS to actually do something with this issue.

In the meanwhile shop for another gaming laptop or wait for the fix to this one.

 

I would; I played Left For Dead for about 2 hours tonight on the G51J and had no issues, hiccups or stuttering at all (my slow reaction time I can't blame on the computer, right?). Looked great at the Steam-recommended settings, played "like butter" even with the fan going like a wind tunnel. Whatever issue some people are having I don't believe it's heat...

 

If you guys have read none of the games you mentioned ever bsod. The only ones that have this problem is borderlands, COD:MW2, RE5 and a few of the newer titles that aren't produced by steam.

 

It's very odd; after updating to BIOS 205 then doing a fresh format and reinstallation I haven't had a single BSOD. I've been playing Dirt 2 for hours (maxed out even) and haven't had a single issue. Then again the only game I really had issues with was BF2 and I had it freeze a few days ago, but still no BSOD. I'll give BF2/Project Reality a few more hours and see if I get a BSOD, hopefully the problem is gone.

 

Like a lot of you, I'm also encountering this "random crash" problem.

No BSOD for sure (I changed my computer setting to NOT auto restart on a BSOD - but yet it still crashes). It just looks like someone pulled the plug on the power. BOOM, and it's dead.

At the moment - is there anything I can try? (I don't really want to read through 69 pages of discussion if possible). This is a little disappointing - it happened while I was playing UT3, and also while I was playing TF2. =/ (One old, one new game).

 

Getting back to this... there is a kernel config option for this (CONFIG_X86_RESERVE_LOW_64K), I'm going to compile a kernel with it set to N and see if it causes problems. As of right now it's impossible to tell if it's really a bug or just the default behavior of the kernel... (if it detects amibios it does this by default) it could be spot on if you're right about it though. Especially in relation to PB, etc. and the games that are having the BSOD issue.

Talk about a nightmare for debugging...

I'm also in the process of working thru the WDK test suite to see if there is anything that turns up.

I'm snowed in right now so there isn't much else to do...

 

Are you connected to an external display?

 

That's nice to hear! How about now? still no BSoD?
If you have Dragon Age Origins, can you test this game out?
Thanks alot.

 

From what I recall, nobody has posted any issues regarding Dragon Age on this machine. I clocked in over 50 hours alone on this machine for Dragon Age and haven't encountered a BSOD.

 

I had issues with Dragon age. See my post 2 pages back.

 

Ah okay, didn't catch that.

That's weird, I think you're the only one that ever posted to have problems with DA:O

Edit: Oh you had a shutdown, not BSOD

 

2M of snow even made it to the radio up here cold temps, but not a cm in Toronto.

if you have your old g50, see if you can run the same image on there. that should be a fairly clear indication if it's a possible cause.

 

Then what games gave you BSoD? I heard that Borderlands, Resident Evil 5, CoD5 causes BSoD.
did anyone try mass effect? or fallout 3?

 

I'm one of the luckier ones that haven't BSOD with the 124 error code. I clocked in over 50 hours+ on Borderlands with an average of 3-5 hours per sitting.

There was one time I BSOD on Borderlands but it was me not having reset the laptop after windows update and removing a bunch of stuff that required a reset.

 

Yeah it's a bunch of snow, I still can't move... sure is pretty tho...

Unfortunately I sold my G50, so I can't test it that way. I got the WDK/WLK suite going but it didn't really turn anything up. I'm going to keep digging... the kernel option hasn't made my system explode yet, but it's only been a few hours. I suspect it'll take longer to catch a memory error like that. I've got another kernel built with CONFIG_X86_BOOTPARAM_MEMORY_CORRUPTION_CHECK but I haven't seen any problems yet... I'll post again when I have some more info.

 

Again, I'd like to remind everyone that the BSODs are sometimes rare/very rare, I've played through RE5 in high settings and didn't get a single BSOD.

Yet I've got a BSOD in Oblivion and two BSODs in TF2.

Just consider that you've been lucky you didn't hit one yet.

 

now if only we could build a windows kernel with that running borderlands under wine or a VM could be worth a shot. hopefully mine will be back tuesday.

edit: actually, my desktop is AMI... gonna check.

 

I wish I was one of the luckier ones... I'm getting the laptop this Tuesday.
Do you use steam? I heard steam freezes unless you delete all creative related programs.

 

My problem is that I'm a n00b at the windoze kernel, otherwise maybe I'd be onto something solid. The WLK has some stuff that looked promising, but it got me nowhere. Probably my own fault.

I know linux a lot better, so that's why I'm using all the tools I can think of to find any low lying problems. It feels like a total crapshoot though. I'm going to break out my BIOS disassembly book and see if I can find any clues. This stuff is fun but not when you have a problem like this...

Edit: BTW the BIOS is completely virtualized in a VM so that wouldn't help much... WINE on the other hand, might work.. but.. yuk.

 

Nope, have played Left for Dead with the Creative drivers and no problems (so far). The Steam client works fine too.