G73 Gsod....

Hey guys,

I just recently received a G73 from tigerdirect. Did a clean install of Windows 7 and installed the official 10.4 drivers.

The first day I played Starcraft 2 sparingly without any problems. The second day, my new laptop started acting up and I was getting the dreaded GSOD when I was playing SC2 randomly. Sometimes it would happen 5 minutes into the game, while other times I could go a good 30-45 mins before it GSOD.

Should I RMA it now? Or should I wait for a possible fix since from what I have read, this is a widespread issue. Thanks

 

There's a big thread about this already.

 

10.6 Fixed it!!! Yea!! Also added an extra 1-2 frames too No need for an RMA

 

Could you provide a link to download 10.6 driver, because only 10.4 is avaliable on Ati web site

 

strags.com - Currently ATI Mobility Radeon HD Depot

 

Ok, very nice! I'll try this evening

 

Thanks for the link. Does it also install on Mobility Radeon cards, because I tried the 10.4beta version and couldn't manage to install them

 

Yea it works....Man Im so glad I don't have to RMA it, only had the laptop for 4 days.

 

Glad to hear this worked! I have the same problem. I'd had my G73JH-X3 for 3 days. Yesterday, I did a clean install of Win7 and 10.4. I started up a game of BF2BC, and got the GSOD within 5 minutes of playing.

Did you follow the guide to install these new drivers?

 

I still got the dreaded GSOD with 10.6. I reinstalled the stock drivers and will report back. I think I may have a hardware issue because before I bought the X3, I had the BB version and it had 0 issues with 10.4 and BF2BC. Although, it had 2 dead pixels which was the reason I returned it.

 

Interesting, interesting, I know for me, I have same probs with 10.4, couldnt event stay stable just in windows.

I tried to go back to stock and deleted w/e I could find ATI 10.4(even the registry) yet still I had weird inconsistencies in games.

So I did a fresh install again, and only put stock drivers on. So far so good. But yeah, does worry me some that why do some ppl have no prob,swhile some do. I'd rather not have to send this back either :\.

 

So far, the stock drivers have been stable with BF2...although the load times are bad.

 

Man I really think its a both a problem with the hardware and drivers. I hear people who resolved their problems when they switched to 10.4 and others 10.3. Mine so far on 10.6 has been pretty stable.

After gsod a few times playing SC2, I downloaded furmark to see if I can recreate it. It didnt last 5 seconds before it grey screened on me. That was on 10.4 official drivers.

I've been using 10.6 since then and I was able to run furmark for 3-4 mins before turning it off. I have been playing SC2 for 1-2 hours with no problems. I hope that continues.

 

10.6 was a fluke. It finally GSOD again. One thing I noticed was as soon as it GSOD, I alt tabbed while the sound is still going on. Surprisingly it brought me back to the windows desktop.

I was able to see an error message next to ati icon, saying windows has recovered from an error with your drivers. I was then able to get back into my game and finish it without any problems. But after going back into windows there was artifacts all over the screen and I had to do a restart.

I really don't wanna RMA this....back to stock drivers I go. BTW does anyone know how come HWmonitor does not recognize my video card with the stock drivers? Thanks

 

Same for me, I got GSOD after 2h of playing game. That was either 10.4 or 10.6 drivers, doesn't matter... I see the only way is to RMA it... It's really pain, why 9.12 drivers don't cause any GSODs...

 

I think it's a power play issue.. I'm guessing the gpu is down clocking in the G73 either from heat, or faulty drivers. I say this only because I get the GSOD on my w870 when I force the 5870m clocks to 250/300 w/ amd gpu clock tool and try to watch movies.

Well my screen would basically go blank at those clocks, but I can still hear the audio in the background from the movie playing. Usually just closing the lid, and letting it go in standby, then resuming, allows me to get back in windows 7 without restarting.

When playing games at 700/1000 I can play games and watch movies for hours on end without a hiccup at all.

I would say to some of you guys, use the gpu clock tool and force your clocks at 700/1000 24/7 and see if you run into the same problems.

 

I actually tried that just a few minutes ago and nope, still get a GSOD. I'm really beginning to think its a hardware issue, I just cant see it being something wrong in the software if some ppl's work fine on 10.4.

I think as much as I like this laptop, I am just going to return it, and I guess Ill just be stuck waiting until another affordable laptop comes around.

 

I am gonna try this out for a while with the stock drivers and see how it goes.

 

Wow, I think I found a fix. I was looking on the Sager forums and found a 5870 bios. I already called for my Return at Tiger Direct, so figure if I brick it, it needed to go back anyways.

I flashed it, it was super easy. And now on 10.4 drivers I have no problems at all. I need to do longer testing, but just in the OS its not crashing like before. If so, while its risky, it could be a possible permanent fix.

 

When you say OS crashing what is it actually doing (GSOD, BSOD, etc)? Does it happen even when you are not gaming?

 

^^Crashing as in the screen would flicker, then go black, flash grey, then black and then finally either nothing at all, or just hang on grey.

Ok, so far, I've let furmark run past 10mins and doing a 3dmark06 test.

Really wish I wouldnt have deleted my good install and put it back to factory. I thought I had no choice but to send it back.

But this new BIOS is working great so far*knock on wood*. I will re-install some more benchmarks/games. This may have saved me from a return.

 

I think its faulty GPU. I replaced mine at BB and the GSOD is gone.

 

@mew, can u post a SS of your vBios please? Just use GPUz, it will show the version.

My old one was Ver012. 017.000.004. 035992.


My new one is Ver012. 019.000.003. 035951

 

Thats great news...So if my stock drivers GSOD on me, I might have to try this also. Thanks for the heads up dkillone

 

this is great news indeed....so apart from changing the bios, did u change anything else from the factory default image?

and the KB lights are working properly?

 

Well since I only changed the vid card bios. It doesnt mess with the main BIOS, meaning pretty much everything else should and hasnt been effected.

I still worry its not a complete fix, and since updating your video card bios can brick your laptop if done wrong. I rather not go around telling ppl to do it until I know its 100% worth it.

I'm on 10.4 right now with no problems at all. Was even able to install over the 9.12 drivers without any major effects. But since it was literally on a fresh recovery. I decided to not waste time cleaning out the bloatware and did a new install of W7.

So now just having to do the ole boring installs of every benchmark I can think of.

 

You can flash the 5870m sager bios with the 5870m g73 bios? I'd love to try the g73 bios but am way too scared of bricking my card. You sure this is possible?

 

Mine is the 2.017

 

I tried almost everything, short of flashing it with the bios... Well I figured I'd try with amd gpu tool. I updated to 10.3 and I set the clocks as 699 and 999. The ran furmark. Amazingly, it ran for twenty minutes with no issues. Where as before, it would run for a few seconds at most and crash.

 

Apparently so, there was a small update that's dated 03/04/10 on one of their FTP's. One the sager forums ppl were reporting a black screen when using anything but stock drivers. Which I noticed on Sager's official driver page they had the same 9.12 driver listed for the ATI.


I've already called up, got a RA#, etc. Something told me if I could just get a hold of either the same bios of ppls good cards or just a updated that it could be a possible fix. But of course, finding updates for mobile vid card bios is pretty slim. Which I was literally packing up my laptop when I found the bios, so I decided to take the chance.(I was actually just looking on Sager forums cause I was prob going to get the NP8760 once the G73 was gone.)

Anyways, yeah, I did the flash with my heart beating really fast, and it worked, no random errors, nothing, just said it was done.

I am looking thru the Asus forums, and apparently the cards that have been working are still same bios(thanks mew for telling me too :>). So this is where I'm worried its still going to be a physical problem. But, maybe there is a slim chance that the faulty GPU's just had a bad bios and that's the only thing causing it.

Since the flash, I'm running 10.4 with no crashes. Put it in sleep mode, took it out, furmarked, Vantage, 3dmark06, pretty much anything that I can think would possibly cause it to mess up. However, when I tried to over-clock it, just like before I could not hold a stable 800core, but up to 790core works Perfect.

The temps seem a tiny better, but thats hard to judge. The heat is beginning to get bad in my house(room is up to 85f today :\). So it's not easy to do temperature test when the room temp fluctuates too much.

With all that said, I'm worried that I'll find some major incompatibility problems soon enough or something between the sager and asus vbios. Which is why I'm holding off with telling ppl how to do it.

I'm sending it back to TD if it messes up, it was going to go back as defective in the first place. So not like I'm being evil or anything.

 

Hey, could you at least post a link to what led you to the new BIOS, even if you don't want to post it directly?

I have a buddy on his last day of RMA with NewEgg about to return the G73 since he crashes with everything but stock drivers. If this flash fixes his problem, he'll be all set and saved a lot of hassle! If it messes up, no worries since it's ready to RMA anyway.

Thanks man!

 

I got the GSOD right away so I RMA'ed to ASUS. It's been over a week and I got a call from Asus saying that would look at it early next week. My only concern was that the tech mentioned that he wanted to make sure it wouldn't GSOD on the stock drivers since I installed 10.4. If it doesn't GSOD on stock drivers for them and they consider that a fix, I'm stuck with those stock drivers forever. So ASUS RMA looks like it will take at least 2 weeks.

 

Nah you're not being evil at all...What did you tell Tigerdirect about your laptop? Did they give you a hard time about returning it? Also are there any restocking fees? Thanks

 

I told them it was defective and very unstable, which technically is true. While it may have been stable on stock. It's not on any other drivers, yet other G73 owners can run fine. And after hearing about how one person was told by Asus CS that they will not RMA his laptop. I'm not going to mess with the Asus about a fix.

With that said, Tiger Direct was great, I dunno how anyone could bad mouth them, maybe in the past they were bad, I wouldnt know. But I called them, told them it was crashing, and they were just like "ok, sending you UPS label to your email and once we receive the laptop you get a full refund."

So I really like how it was handled, took like 5min, and most of it was just him putting the RMA into the computer or whatever. He was real nice too, but now I dunno.

Flashing the vBIOS really seems to have done the trick.Just got done running Heaven benchmark 2.0 for 2hrs(1920x1080, 4xAF,2xAA, rest was default) and max temp was 89c in a 84f room. With my custom cooler I made though, it maxed out at 80c.(recorded in HWMonitor, so actually core temps were prob lower)

This all being on the 10.4 drivers, something I couldnt even dream of before the flash. I did just realize, after reading more on the Sager/Clevo forums.

This BIOS does NOT support Powerplay, so no downclocking automatically. There are some ways, but I dunno, haven't messed with downclocking yet.

 

And @jortex

Sorry I am not going to post it. Not yet, maybe later tonight or tomorrow. It's actually really easy to find, is all I can say. But I do not want to risk posting it and then it turns out to be a disaster.

As I've stated and will keep stated, you can BRICK your laptop if the flash does not go right. Not to mention, if there are some major conflicts with the new bios and I just havent found yet, I rather not be responsible for ruining tons of other laptops too.

 

Thats great dkillone!!! Keep us updated on how this works for ya....Man I was hoping it was the drivers, but now I am contemplating sending mine back also....

 

With the 15% and the A2 now being at TD, I just said frakk it.


Returning mine as planned, and ordered the A2 already. No time to think with a crazy deal like this.

I paid 1360 for mine, now I can have the A2 for 1360 but with the better HDDS and backpack+ mouse.


Much worth it for me.

However, I will still do the vBios guide, but I did notice on bootup it flickers once. before it goes into the other screen. Never did that before.

I dunno, if seems to be the best, but I'm still too worried about it.

 

Definitely let us know!!! My friend needs the bios badly...

When you say you found it in the Sager forums, you mean on this site? I dug through there but couldn't find it. I did find one from Cleo for the Mobility 5870 but wasn't sure if that's the same one you tried?

 

yeah its the same/the one i got. I guess i should have been a bit more specific. I dont mean to sound rude, i just dont want to feel guilty for bricking someones laptop since i dont know 100% on what im doing.

 

No problem dude! I just grabbed it. Nice part is ATIFLASH lets us make a backup of the original BIOS! I backed up my BIOS and flashed this new one. Working fine so far. I don't get the flicker on bootup?!?!

I have been stable on the 10.6 beta or whatever you call them drivers. But my friend hasn't, so can't wait for him to try this BIOS. I just ran furmark and it still ran fine for me. I have been overclocking to 800/1100 to boot...

I might try the 10.4 drivers as those WOULD crash for me running the Windows Experience Index everytime...

 

Ahah, yeah, I went wrong with forgetting to back up my old bios. Would you by any chance be willing to zip and email it to me. I'd really appreciate it.

send it to crazymonkey(at)hotmail.com.


Thats good to hear you dont get any boot up flicker either, maybe my card is truly messed up anyways.

 

LOL, and you thought I was the N00b!!!

Just e-mailed you the original bios, let me know if you don't get it.


I am totally stable on the new BIOS with 8.74 drivers with furmark and WEI.

so, just to be thorough, I tried uninstalling 8.74 and putting 10.4 Cats on which would crash everytime for me running WEI (Windows Experience Index).

Some INTERESTING things I found out!

- New video bios, card overclocked to 800/1100, WEI runs without crashing.
- New video bios, card not overclocked, WEI runs without crashing.
- Old video bios, card not overclocked, WEI CRASHES (this confirms the new video bios fixes the crash)
- Old video bios, card overclocked to 800/1100, WEI DOESN'T CRASH - that is strange but someone else on forums said that setting the mem speed to something just above 1000 or below fixed the crash, so seems like a timing thing

Anyway, bottom line is I can DUPLICATE the crash by using the old vid BIOS that shipped with the G73 and using the new CLEVO 5870 vid BIOS FIXES the WEI crash on Cat 10.4!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So hopefully this will fix a lot of the people who are stuck with the Asus drivers from the CD.

Oh, and I easily went back and forth from the new vid bios to the old and back again. So just need to make sure to backup your original bios with atiflash before you flash he new one.

 

Edit: Crap, I didnt give u the right email, more nub mistakes . Please email again crazymonkey092(at)hotmail.com.

Awesome, and hehe, ye I made nub mistake. I had my mind set so much on returning it, that I was in all or nothing mode. So lol, that's why I forgot, still, no excuse though.

Thanks for sharing, if you want, you can write the flashing guide in a new topic if you like. You seem much more comfortable doing it than I was.

I haven't really flashed my vbios but once before, so its why I didnt want to go around telling ppl how and either explain wrong, or not know how to help them if they get stuck on a certain part.

Either way, Thanks a bunch, knowing a bios flash fixes problems tells me a driver will never fix the issue for people.

 

Would be nice for a how-to about flash. Perhaps it can help more people experiencing GSOD's no matter what (with exception of stock drivers).

How risky is that?

 

Hi,

I'm from the Netherlands and have no graphics problems so far with my G73JH. I looked in the BIOS and saw my BIOS version is slightly different.

012.017.000.004.0359.A33G

So it at least looks like some cards need a video BIOS update. Why Asus is so slow with providing this I don't know. And it looks like there is an even newer BIOS. Just weird all in all.

It seems a lot of expensive RMA's could have been prevented if they just were quicker with their BIOS updates.

@maev : It is the resposibility of Asus to provide the new BIOS for all to download and use. Why they haven't done this is beyond me.

 

Good post guys, I was having the GSOD with 10.4 so I just went back to stock drivers. Flashing vid bios is way beyond my technical abilities, so I guess I'm stuck with the stock driver, the only differance I've seen so far is longer load times in BFBC2, which I'll take for a functioning unit. Thanks again for the helpful info!!

 

I can confirm that the 12.019 bios works and fixes my GSOD issues. I had my original G73JH RMA'd because I didn't like living with this "defect". So ASUS then sent me a brand new one to replace the old "defective" unit. I still got the GSOD's with the brand new unit. Varying the mem/core clocks will temporarily "fix" the problem, but I didn't want to live with that. Tried the Clevo bios instead and everything works fine now (10.3/10.4/10.6). No powerplay, but who cares, I'd rather have that than to RMA this thing again for the 3rd freaking time

 

If possible would you dump your bios? I'd like to try flashing it to my unit. You can use atiflash with the following syntax "atiflash -s 0 5870bios.bin". You have to be in DOS mode though. Thanks

 

I would appreciate a lot if somebody can provide how to perform this GPU bios update. I never did it, but I really tired of GSODs on 10.4/10.6b drivers. Thanks in advance, here is my email: [email protected]

 

I got my second G73, no GSOD so far with stock drivers.