G73JH BIOS 209 Now Available

I flashed mine (before I RMA'd it for GPU issues) via Kalim's excellent instructions from a FAT formated USB stick and had no issues.

 

I use 10.5 CATS without issue. I've never experienced a GSOD outside of messing with underclocking for better battery/cooling. I'm on BIOS 209 that I updated from 205.

These things do not automatically equal a bricked machine, in other words. That said, I would be very careful in your updating of the machine if you don't have a good path to RMA it should something go wrong.

 

I wondered the same thing! I used WinFlash and installed Bios 209 to replace 206 system came with, and keyboard light function normally. I can't find any other anomolies so far...

Is there some way of verifying everything is ok?

Should I reflash using the USB drive method?

 

NO! If it's working, just leave it. I consider it lucky you didn't get an issue, but kudos to you for your success.

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that bios update problems are unlucky, rather than bios update successes being lucky.

But yeah. If it is working, that ought to be good enough. Don't fix it if it ain't broken

 

Here is my RMA experience so far:

I sent mine in on June 1 & its still the same 0% waiting for repair after my bad bios flash:

Waiting-[WB5] Wait for Repair\Test\Aging

FedEx delivered the machine to ASUS (with signature confirmation) on Thursday June 3rd, it didn't show up as being received until Tuesday June 8th.... I heard there was an estimated 24-72 hour turnaround... not so much for me.

 

I RMA'ed my laptop because of it not working with anything other than stock video drivers.

Mailed it off on May 24, it arrived on May 26. Didn't show up as being received until May 31. The online status stopped working so I had to keep calling them every couple days to find what was going on with it. The laptop was in final testing on June 4. It was sent back to me on June 7th, and arrived June 9th.

They replaced the video card as well reattached two of the bottom rubber feet since they had become detached (One has since detached again). They said they replaced the powerbrick/psu, but the detachable cable that plugs into the wall is still messed up. If the cable slightly bends one way or the other it caused the laptop to lose power and switch to battery. I had another one from a older power brick and that is working now until I send back the faulty one.

So far no problems playing any games with updated drivers. I'm running 10.6. Though the windows logo still jumps a bit when the computer starts. That I don't remember happened with stock drivers. I seriously debated RMA'ing it since I didn't know if they would fix it or send it back to me saying that if it works on stock then that's good enough. Glad I did since certain games aren't stuttering now and 720p/1080p video isn't either when AERO is turned on. Not sure if that was because of the updated drivers or because of the faulty card.

 

ive reflashed several machines with winflash... im on 209 here with no issues at all and i used winflash as well

 

I'm used to flash my mobo's BIOS since long time ago. But anyway, my heart was beating so fast when I try flashing it with 209. That's because reading forums telling me that a lot of people out there have their G73 brick!ed

last night I flashed my G73Jh using the old kingston data Traveller 2 (with FAT32) and ASUS easy flash (via BIOS). Because I really scared that it will fail and kill my G73 if I do it via Windows. Since I have a random crashes error. It works fine, really. No dead keyboard light, no failure

And I do not have keyboard conflict problem anymore (as it is an important thing to me since I do a lot of coding to in my laptop).

Well, the random crashes is really caused by the creative drivers! damn... I used to trust creative for their products and drivers. Hope they (or ASUS) will fix this. Now I use the realtek drivers and no single crashes anymore, even when using downthemall add-ons on mozilla or creating image with cloneCD which before is causing an absolute freeze.

Thanks to notebookreview forum and ofcourse, thanks to y'all

 

Rumor over on the Asus board states that newer Creative software is currently being tested for release...we'll see!

 

I just updated my bios from 206 to 209 using winflash. Everything seems to be working normally.

 

What was the conflict problem with the keyboard?

I know the new bios fixes some kind of I/O thing with the keyboard, but I have never noticed any problems. So I wonder what exactly the problem is.

 

The issue dealt with running synaptic software. If I used the default windows drivers for the touchpad I didn't have any issues. Only when I would install the software would there be problems of missing characters while typing. It depends on how fast you type for you to see any problems.

Now that I have upgraded to 209, I reinstalled synaptic software and have typed this without any missed characters. It was quite aggravating before since I was new to the island keyboard and thought maybe I just wasn't pushing hard enough on the keys while typing fast.

 

Enable CMSS-3D, set to desired level and leave it on. Should fix all the Creative quirkyness.

 

OR just turn off bass boost...and exit ALL Creative software before launching an incompatible software...currently the 3 I know are:
- STEAM client
- Windows 7 Ease of Access Center
- Ventrilo

 

OR, just uninstall the useless garbage and be done with it.

Oh, IMO of course.

 

:resisting Urge To !stab:

 

Has anyone had lockups since upgrading to BIOS 209?

My G73 is locking up like crazy now. The only thing I have changed recently is upgrading to BIOS 209 and trying a new vBios which I rolled back to the MSI since it was stable for me.

I lockup even at the desktop just browsing the web, etc. No rhyme or reason...

I think I'll try downgrading to the 206 BIOS. Has anyone tried downgrading to 206 and faced any issues?

 

It's not your BIOS. 209 is fine here

 

is it necessary to turn off the keyboard light and blue indicator prior to updating the bios to 209? thanks.

already found the answer, from kalim, lights on, update bios = success, from stubb, lights off, update bios = success. will just try out either one of the guide. thanks.

 

So if my lappy bricks after attempting a bios update would that be covered under asus warranty? Thanks.

 

Yeah, pretty much, since they supply it

 

sucesfully flashed to 209 from 205, USB 8gb noname (company one ) with FAT32...

 

Another successful flash from 205, to 209, just as described.

I was having a freeze using Microsoft Money 2005, just 5 seconds after opening the software, the G73 was freezing. Now it's gone.

But I still have a problem that my Windows only reports the battery level as 99% (not charging), and a few times as 100%. I think this is also a problem, because the computer is only 2 weeks old.

Anyone has issues with the battery as well?

Thanks!!

AleX
Asus G73A2

 

Should be normal. If you want to be sure, run it on battery down lower than 95% and plug it in - it should then charge.

 

i just got the A1 and saw this, but i never updated a bios in any of the computers I owned, but i used the winflash program under asus utility and it updated it flawlessly, but i didn't see anything on this post about it, is it good to use i guess is my question ?

 

If you are referring to the 209 bios, yes it's good to use. If you are talking about the winflash utility to update the bios, I would avoid using it at all costs. Flash your bios from within the bios itself, just like streetlife mentioned a few posts up.

While winflash worked for you, there have been way too many instances where using the winflash utility to flash the bios has completely hosed people's computers.

 

Thanks for the info on the firmware change

 

Yea I was talking about the winflash utility, I guess I got lucky. I'll put it on a flash drive next time and do it that way through the bios just to be safe. Thanks for the info.

 

Well I finally got my laptop back from rma. It had the 204 bios so I tried flashing again. Same usb stick, except I formatted it to fat32. Did not brick this time.

 

flashed succesfully from 204 , any important issue fixed , still overheating and crackling sound issue

 

Hi, I've followed the guide step by ste and it's doing it right now. The thing is that the screen is on "initialize..... Getting flash information.... " since 15-20 minutes...... I need help right now. Thanks

 

Did it start any erasing? The erase stage is pretty obvious. If not you're probably ok.... Did you download the latest Winflash from ASUS in the G73 downloads? The BIOS update said to use the latest version of it.

 

Im ok ty, after a while it didnt do anything so I turned off and tried again. In 2 minutes it was done ^^ bios flash complete =D

 

Worked for me too! Thanks!

 

I updated from 206 to 209 and now my keyboard lights do not work..... Pretty pissed to because i work in low light a lot and its been terrible trying to read these keys.


Side note: When I start the computer the KB lights don't flash at all. Does this mean there bad? or just wait for a bios fix?

 

Looks like another update to the bios is available... 211 i believe, doubt it will fix my keyboard though. Had one of my 500GB drive's fail yesterday... rawr!!???

 

Keyboard lights issue has been fixed.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/513264-keyboard-light-fix-gary-key.html

Cheers,

 

Well praise the lord, why did no one tell me

 

So I am sitting here waiting for my memory stick to format using HP drive key. It has been working on it for an hour now and only three slivers of green are showing on the formatting bar. How long does it usually take? My memory stick is a generic one but I have never had problems with it. Any feedback?

 

Do a Quick Format

 

hey guys, i updated to 209 using WinFlash, and using my internal HDD (where the .209 file was on my desktop) and it flashed okay... does this mean i didnt flash correctly? coz everything is working fine and perfect. So far i dont notice the "lag" issue...

Someone fill me in on why i shouldve used "Easy Flash" via the bios + usb stick.

Thanks

 

To verify if you've flashed correctly, you may use HWiNFO32 to view your bios version or you may check at your bios after you restart.

 

Why 209 and not the latest 211?

Statistically, based on reports here, there's a better chance of the flash failing (bricking the machine) when the flash is done with WinFlash from a HDD. There's been few reports of failure when using a FAT32-formatted USB drive and the BIOS EZFlash utility.