G73JH BIOS fail. dead motherboard?

just got my g73jh last night..but i bricked it and it doesn't turn on anymore.

I checked out how to flash the bios with a usb. since i didn't have one i used an sd card. pressed esc and tried to find it.
couldn't be read. but i saw the easyflash program!

so i did a reboot. made a file on my desktop. and accessed the file through easyflash. erased current bios, installed current bios "successfully", shut down after 2 seconds, then nothing. :| no power. no nothing. took off adapter and battery and did a 10 second hold on the power button. slapped the battery on.

the fans spun! but only for a second. then nothing. again :|

already brought it to the best local service center for asus(in the Philippines). since it was a refurb bought in bestbuy, i let them rechecked if it was still under warranty and it was.

now with the questions.

is there a way to revive my machine? or do i have no other choice but to bring it to a service center? will i have to pay for the motherboard (if it's the motherboard that's broken)? and one thread said that easyflash was the safest of 3 ways to flash a bios. i mixed that procedure with the bios that i got from Chastity. and read in another thread that it's okay to access the bios file from the hard drive.

then read on another thread (using my relative's laptop) that it's possible to brick your lappy by doing so.

should've waited and bought a usb. :|

and will the warranty still work even if i bought it from the previous owner?

* I may have asked this through other threads and messaged this to moderators ( panic mode.lol) and Budding told me to just make a thread for it.
and if i have a question, should i make a thread for it? or just go ahead and post it in lounges and the thread of that specific laptop?

 

Bummer with your new machine.

This is a failed BIOS flash, and there is no way to recover - it has to be reset by Asus tech support ... call and set up RMA or take it to service center.

The problem does not require a motherboard replacement, just a BIOS reset, but has to be done by factory techs.

Post any new question in a new thread, else add it to the correct existing one

Rule to novice users - if it ain't broke, don't fix it. And if you aren't sure of what you're doing, esp when the consequences can be dire, don't try and adapt it or mix the protocols from somewhere else.

 

PATAY. What happened bro? What did the asus tech's in Ph tell you? Are they capable of repairing it?

 

Whew! Sent it hours ago. So that means i could get it tomorrow!
Hooray for bios reset!
Lesson learned. but i hope to see the new Asus laptops with the latest drivers and bios and stuff so we don't need to do these things

Actually it is kinda broke. I sorta tested how good does it rate on the windows rating benchmark thing. i got BSOD, some cubes things, then it had an error that something failed but recovered. then i scored a very dissapointing 2.0 )

LOL I told them that i probably broke the motherboard thru bios flashing. They just gave me a pull-out form and to call them on tuesday/wednesday.

I'll definitely give them a ring tomorrow morning that it might need a bios reset.

 

Oh. Goodluck tol. Hope you can play with your beast sooner!

 

Thanks bruh. haha. Oh! and how do you do a bios reset? why do i have to bring it to a service center? maybe i can do it on my own? or is it like a secret forbidden technique that only techninjas do?

 

Yeah, Maybe it's not that easy to do it or we need a special adapter or something that's why there is no released fix for that. If it was just easy, Maybe Asus would even give us steps to do that because it will save them time and money.

 

I was hoping ClearSkies would give an answer but drats! logged off. maybe in a few hours i'd get an answer.

 

Say what now? I think ClearSkies meant a BIOS reflash.

You can reset your BIOS settings by removing the CMOS battery, or poking the reset button.

If you've suffered a bad flash, you probably need ASUS to reflash your BIOS chip, unless you have access to an EEPROM programmer.

 

Answer for what tol?

 

the answer above you. thanks ALLurGroceries!

 

Pro-tip: Don't flash BIOS from your hard-drive...

 

I for one can testify to that.

but how sure are we that it's not a motherboard problem?

 

Technically it is a motherboard problem, but not a defect on the board. Your BIOS initializes and contains the microcode for many peripheral devices, so if it has failed your board has in essence failed.

The solution is still the same - RMA it to ASUS and have them reflash the BIOS chip. There's not much more to it than that.

 

Update!

Just called this morning to check on my lappy. turns out they're only receiving stuff today, and will do the fixing on Monday. :| so sad.

 

Update!

Tekzone (the service center) called up and told me it does have a defective motherboard and they already ordered up a spare one and that they need the receipt so that i wouldn't have to pay the service fee and the motherboard.

So i really have to wait to get it back.

but!

I emailed to them my receipt and gave them a link to this thread.

maybe they can figure out how to fix my lappy without the use of a new motherboard since you guys said that it only needs a bios re-flash?

 

Defective mobo? Huh. Haha. Where will the mobo come from? Taiwan?

 

irdk, will it make a difference if it came from taiwan of somewhere else? earlier shipment maybe?

 

That I don't know. Did they tell you how long will they wait for the mobo?

 

30-45 days at max. by then i'm having my vacation. :| my midterm grades sucked because of having no machine to work on and doing activities needed last week on the spot.lol and now that i had the chance to redeem myself for finals, this happens. )

i hope Asus give better diy programs for their monster machines. it's so much of a hassle sending it for rma everytime it has a malfunction of some sort.

this g73jh is a great laptop imo, but it just has too much problems that needs to be fixed before the laptop can be used to it's max potential. :|

Update!

Mobo's coming from taiwan.

 

True. But atleast all the fixes are now available unlike before, We had to deal with the problems.

 

True, true. oh well.

O.T!
what other laptops are on par or more superior to this one that has no(or less) problems to manually fix?

 

An alienware?

 

why a known problem isn't fixed in the later laptops.... I mean, for example, the touchpad issue is known for quite some time but If you buy a g73 now, you'll have the touchpad acting crazy. why isn't it fixed in the factory, assembly, Quality control???? why why why?

 

Sure hope they have a good excuse to not have a noob-friendly fix for this laptop.


So about the bios, you guys said that it can still be saved without changing the whole mobo right?

Sooo, it's either the service center here doesn't know how to. Maybe that's why they ordered a new one.

or

you guys diagnosed wrong?

Update:

Mobo's coming from taiwan.

Update!

They now have the mobo and have access to my lappy! Uber fast shipping!

Just waiting for the call to pick it up.

 

Woah. That was fast! Update us as soon as you get your beast.

 

Update!

The mobo didn't come from taiwan. turns out they had one in their shop. Aaaand that 3 month warranty is only valid in where i purchased the lappy (which is in bestbuy CA).

Soooo they're gonna ring me up if i still get to pay the service fee. but the mobo they'll let me definitely pay.

how much would the mobo cost?

 

Did they ask for your authorization for buying the parts?

Where is it being serviced?

You definitely should have been made aware of any charges before you agreed to proceed with any out-of-warranty work, so I'm a bit confused. A new board is going to be expensive if you have to pay for it.

 

Yeah they did ask me if they wanted me to purchase a mobo. i said yes thinking that it would be covered by the warranty.

tekzone service center makati

they were planning to give my laptop back with the old motherboard since they've just confirmed that the warranty was only valid on where it was bought. and i've been needing this for a very long time.

they made it work with their mobo. i told them if i could just buy their mobo instead. and they decided to call me back to inform me how much would it cost. i googled the price and it was just. wow. :|

 

OK now I understand. Yeah that's too bad. You would have had to ship the laptop back to the USA to have it done under warranty - there's no international warranty on refurbs from bestbuy.

 

Nooooooooooooooooooo. wait!


They called again.
If i did get the mobo that they ordered, i would only be paying for the service fee and mobo. 8300. which is 190$ more or less.

Considering the time and money that i need if i were to ship it back to CA, it would still be more or less at the same price.

 

Wow that's not too bad at all, if that's true. Let us know how it turns out!

 

Sure sure! my only problem now is how to tell my mom that i broke my new laptop in a nice, relaxing way. and that i need 190$ for the repair.

 

LOL I'm afraid I can't help you there, but it's much better than the price I've seen at parts stores. They would like to charge you $400+...

 

So much for nice and relaxing. lol. still no dough.

 

Just got it back! they gave me back my old mobo with it. So happy!


But i'm back at square one. :|

BIOS is 209
VBIOS .012. sumthin sumthin. :|

is my bios and vbios enough to play games and do stuff without bugging out?
the vbios was too long to memorize when i boot up bios. how can i see those without restarting my laptop?

Aaand i've installed the newest drivers available atm, the one thing that i couldn't open was the ati catalyst. don't know why. but whenever i click the .exe nothing pops up. it sorta pretends to load. but nadda.

The tech suggested i'd do a reformat, i said i know how and i'd take care of it.
but he then told me the f9 wouldn't work and that they need to to it themselves for the f9 function to work.
would've given it back to them, but it'd take another day. and another day of waiting i can't take!

plus my keyboard lights aren't working.

 

So how much did you pay in total?

 

8300php, equivalent to a 130$.

 

Ouch. Did you fix your keyboard lights now?

 

Aaaand no. i think i really should do a bios and vbios flash. for everything to work perfectly.


O.T
I bought just cause 2 and found my old installer of prototype! it plays these things like a boss. although when i play, the shadows become grainy. don't know why. so grainy btw. but only in movie scenes. in-game, unnoticeable. and i have the latest ati driver. although idk why, but i can't access Catalyst Control Center. when i click the program, nothing happens.

i really like sandbox type games besides these and the gta series, can you guys recommend other games like these?

 

Good to know. Have you tried Mass effect 2?

 

nope heard it's sort of a "scary-fright" game i dun like scary stuff. :|

 

No. It's like an starwars kind of game. You will be a commander of a ship, blabla. Read some reviews!

 

Oooh. will do! do i have to start from the first mass effect to understand the plot on mass effect 2?

 

Uhh, Skipped the first one. So, Im not that sure.

 

updated to 213, and used Chastity's vbios. works like a charm

only problem now is the loose ac adapter and the unlightable kb lights.

 

Here tol, Try this. http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/513264-keyboard-light-fix-gary-key.html

 

did that already, posted something there so Gary could check it out. or some other knowledgeable NBR'ist

 

Oh, Yeah. Maybe check the wiring tol. Its easy to open up your keyboard.