GSOD fix for G73 Owners - vBIOS update Guide

A further update on the official asus forum thread.....

ASUSTeK Computer Inc.-Forum- G73 Issues that needs to be resolved


funniest thing I've read all day!

 

Xeven, I would love to try your modified BIOS but I felt just lost. After reading recent posts I'm confused - from where your bios comes from and what did you modify? And correct me if I'm wrong, but now your G73JH works flawlessly both on 10.4 with HDMI working?

Damn, I need more coffee...

 

Hi guys,

I'm on the same boat...

And to let you know, I've tried the MSI BIOS posted by Xeven last night and I had an awesome game session of 2+ hours... No crash! Just perfect!

Now, On the down side, this morning, I just arrived at work and now my VGA connector won't output anything. The drivers detect the display and all but there's just no signal.

I'm going to try the modded Bios.

I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

** UPDATE **
The ASUS=****TARD (lol!) modded BIOS fixed my VGA issue. That's all I care for now, I'll do some gaming test soon.

 

Why is this driver listed under general VGA drivers and not available in the specificar G73JH page? Does it work correctly? I've just completed a clean format and was thinking of installing stock drivers, but I may try this.

 

They work fine for me, have not have any GSOD

 

Yes, the drivers work as well as the stock ones as far as stability goes, and are newer.

@Kalim: Forgive them, but they're venting against this nonsense. Perhaps we can just refer to them as the TARD vBIOS.

Update: 5870 TARD vBIOS without the Megaupload waiting

 

Far be it from me to to complain about words. Sticks and stones, and all that. My only concern was how the mods might interpret that word being used in the forum, as I didn't want to see them get into trouble.

Now if only 'chucka82' would edit his post so it doesn't look like he's trying to bypass the word filter and break forum policy, I might be able to save him too.

Can't say that's all that much better, unless you mean, "Technical Architecture Requirements Database".

 

Hehe gotcha... Post edited.

 

Hey, don't knock TARDS Kalim My old page and "projects" were a tribute to them TARDS. It's dead now but here's a mirror -> http://sa-ku-ra.us:8180/backups/batards/

 

Response I got from ATi on mem DCing:

" Dear Customer,

Your service request : SR #{ticketno:[8200306027]} has been reviewed and updated.

Response and Service Request History:

I understand you notice a difference in GPU status while using PowerPlay and would like to know why the memory stays the same.

The PowerPlay feature only applies to the GPU which uses the most amount of power on your video card. Downclocking video card memory would not significantly effect the power consumption and would also hender performance.

In order to update this service request, please respond, leaving the service request reference intact.

Best regards,

AMD Global Customer Care"

Thanks Kalim, I've been waiting for this:

HWiNFO32 - AMDGPUCT - GPUz - MSI Afterburner
GPU DispIO = TSS0 = GPU Temp#1 = N/A
GPU MemIO = TSS1 = GPU Temp#2 = GPU Temperature
GPU Shader = TSS2 = GPU Temp#3 = N/A

Extras:
HWiNFO32 has GPU Thermal Diode which stays real close to MemIO temps, but no longer tick for tick.
GPUz has MemIO temp shown for "GPU Temperature" just like MSI Afterburner



I've got vBIOS: 012.017.000.004.035992 with the replacement GPU and never had a crash on 9.12, 10.3WHQL or 10.6 Leaked

Q

 

That's a nice bull response from Ati. It already has been proven that the battery lasts significantly longer and helps keeping the temperature down.

 

Confirmed.

The TARD modded BIOS works like a charm!

Thanks a lot.

 

I added it to my first post, so others know about it.

 

I confirmed too, this driver is stable and faster then the stock one and no gsod anymore, so I won't send for RMA.

 

TARD bios went red screen of death on mobility 10.4 drivers after 2 hours of playing dragon age

:-(

I'm going back to stock bios and stock april asus drivers, and I just pray for the asus update...

 

I don't think you should go back after only 1 crash. Every video card can crash from time to time. My 2 cents.

 

TARD bios shows an overclock on the core of +50MHz and underclock of the memory at -50MHz.

Anyway, gave it a try and it oddly enough caused super high ping times in Bad Company 2?!?!?!?!

So tried out the MSI bios as I was using the CLEVO BIOS with no issues. MSI BIOS seems to be newer and working like a champ.

So my 2 cents is to avoid the TARD BIOS (didn't appreciate having FU*KTARD in the BIOS name anyway), and go with the MSI BIOS for now until Asus can get us a real vBios update with working HDMI!

 

Well, I'm not forcing you to use it. You make it sound like I have a gun to your head or something. Go do what you like, nobody's forcing you to do anything.

 

After extensive testing on Xeven under/overclocked vBios with Catalyst 10.4 I realized that G73jh still freezes randomly, but no GSOD anymore. First time it was during Metro2033 game, next time just listening online radio on foobar2000.
So I am waiting for Asus vBios as well because I use HDMI every day (watching movies using projector).

 

okay, I use the laptop with a VGA connected projector...if i flash with the MSI Bios, will the vga still work?

 

Mine didn't work with the MSI BIOS. No VGA signal at all.

 

You are quite welcome and thank you.

 

Hey Guys,

I have a little/important update. So yesterday Asus called me to tell me my G73 replacement will be send. However, I spoke to one of the senior/lead technicians from their HQ RMA and repairs center. Now I saw that as a great chance to talk with him about some of the G73 issues incl. the GSOD and the FN+ESC crash.
Now first he told me that he thinks the FN+ESC will be fixed via a bios update. They said something like he might remembered a note for that but it could have been for a different model. All bios updates are done in their facility in Taiwan and he will let them know about the FN+ESC crash.
Now about the GSOD. He said he himself is aware of the this issue since he had seen it with some of the G73s coming in for RMA. He was not aware it is a general problem of the 5000 Series (even some 4000) and though it might be due to the M5870 being so new. I told him about this thread and that a bios update for those cards might help.

Again I do not believe that a vbios + a driver is causing this issue. I believe it is a hardware issue and at least all the cards they replaced were issued as a hardware defect. However, for many card a bios and driver update might be a workaround. I told him that the MSI bios seems great but HDMI is an issue. He told me to link him this thread. He will forward this information to the guys in Taiwan to, if possible, get an official Asus bios. He told me also that at the moment they cannot do many test because they are still out of G73. I actually got the last unit for my replacement.
One last note. He told me they only can use some software and not furmark. As benchmarks they can use 3DMark06 instead. So if you send it in for RMA let them know to test if with that software. They do read your letters.

 

The only thing I forgot to tell him was about the "extremely slow after battery" issue. He however gave me a email address to post him info/links which he checks everyday. I will not post it here to prevent spamming, however if someone who knows the issue well (maybe Kalim or Ziddy or so) is interested I'll give them the address and they can send him info about that issue as well. He really sounded like he knows what to do to get that info to people working on bios related issues.

Again without that info I believe not much will happens since he told me they do not do much testing on their own due to lack of units. Normally they have some for testing issues reported by RMAs.

 

Good to hear Kingralph, nice job Funny thing with the 2 units that I got was they would immediately GSOD at 700/1000 but they would survive 30 minutes of extreme Furmark at 800/1100 or 790/1100 (probably due to some timing issue). I've been cooking sand for at least a decade, but I still find it a bit ironic, almost funny actually.

 

Yeah, the shortage of GPU's and the relative chance that I will get my GPU with another exhibiting the same problem is why I have held of on RMAing my laptop.

I have had some email correspondence with Asus support and have linked them this thread among others in detailing a few issues I have with the laptop (other being keyboard lag that has been shown fixable by scraping the gunk off the connectors). They told me they would forward the information on, but it seems there is still a great deal of disconnect between the repair center and HQ R&D geeks.

 

LOL that sounds really strange. So overclocking help you lol ..PCs can always surprise you! Well I asked him the open the package and install 10.4 and check it with 3dMark06 first to see if it runs fine. They did that yesterday overnight and should call me later today. If all is fine he will send it. If not .. bad since it was the last one.
He btw. in the mean time got an email that Asus is aware of the battery throttling issue and it will be fixed via bios update .. SOON ... whenever soon is .
Was your test done with 10.4 and stock vBios? That GSOD is really a strange bug to me however its to only real serious one the G73/5870M has ... Anyway I SOOOO look forward to finally have what I payed for and can enjoy that Supi-Laptop.

 

Yes, everything stock (vbios + all the bloatware) except for the 10.4 catalyst. Temps aren't that bad running at these clock values either. Max I got with MW2 for example was around ~92C at TSS1. Furmark would spike to ~103C but would generally stabilize at ~99C. So its almost decent. Maybe I should just play until the chips in the gpu card starts delaminating, then I can RMA it due to EOS.

Amen to that.

 

@Kingralph

Could you also bring up the issue about why the memory isn't downclocked? Ati gives some bull answer that it doesn't help for power consumption but tests here have clearly shown that the laptop stays cooler and runs 20 to 30 minutes longer on the battery if it is downclocked when idle.

I doubt Asus can do much about it but they might pester Ati with it.

My suspision is that either hardware or software problems are preventing reclocking the memory because if they could they would do it already.

 

RMA it is then. Third times a charm so they say. Wish me luck

 

Edit: apparently I have the same Vbios but a different GPU revision, the old one showed mobility radeon 5800 series, this one shows the exact model:
Ati Mobility Radeon Hd 5780 (stock drivers)

 

That response from Asus reads like they haven't even looked at the issue much, if at all. I've also seen tons of people get their notebooks serviced/replaced only to have the issue present with the unit that was sent back to them.

 

That's discouraging to hear I've had two of these (1 original, 1 replacement) and they both have the exact same GSOD issue, plus the originals backspace button squealed like a pig. Added to that, both of them have the keyboard lag problem as well. I don't really know what the heck is going on with ASUS, but a lot of people seem to be getting AS uS raped

 

fix for keyboard issue:
ASUSTeK Computer Inc.-Forum- Faulty GPU? Crash after a minute or so with graphics artifactsid=20100410142027531&board_id=3&model=G73JH&page=1&SLanguage=en-us


I'm pretty sure there isn't a laptop out there without this issue, but some may not notice it depending on how fast they type. It is in fact a registration of the key press that is the problem. Annoy's me to great end when I hit a hot key in sc2 and move on to doing something else only to find out what I knew I pressed didn't actual(ly this typo courtesy of this issue.) happen.

I hope to get around to doing this fix soon, so I haven't confirmed myself if it works.

 

Just for the heck of it, have you tried disabling the touchpad ("Internal Pointing Device") in BIOS? That cleared my keyboard issues right up.

Of course it's not an acceptable fix, but at least for me, being attached to a mouse most of the time, I don't have to deal with all the missed keystrokes I get when the touchpad is enabled.


BOFslime's link fixed

 

Hmm from what I saw about the keyboard lag fix there is no gain in telling that technician. If there are plastic pieces left on the contacts of the keyboard connector that maybe a manufaction issue he will have a very hard time doing something about especially since I am not sure the G73 is manufactured here in the US.

I got a reply today that my replacement was checked for GSOD with 3dmark06 and no issues were found and they send the replacement. I reported to him all infos I had about the GSOD including the youtube videos by QuagmireLXIX which helped me in my RMA.
I will give him some time to read it all and hope he sends some info to taiwan if a bios fix is possible. I email from Asus a forum member here reported did not sounded like Asus would like to do vBIOS updates .

 

no 3dmark06 test? lol

What's about Alienware 5870m vBios?

 

Ok, going for third RMA tomorrow. Hopefully it gets fixed this time around. I feel like I'm playing Russian Roulette with the AS uS repair center. I've been shot twice so hopefully I can stand a third bullet

Don't mess with the Alienware vBios, you'll most probably brick your card.

 

Quick question, I've read this entire thread. What's bad about the 9.12 drivers that makes people want to upgrade and get the GSOD? I just got my G73JH-X2 so I am going to do a clean install of win7 ultimate x64 with the utility/driver disc (only installing items per Kalim's guide) and wanted to know about the disadvantages of the 9.12 drivers. Thanks.

 

Think of it this way. The 10.4 driver is like a top fuel dragster. The 9.12 driver is like a Lexus. The hotrod will get you to the next block quicker, but while getting you there it has a tendency to crash (GSOD). Meanwhile the Lexus doesn't get you to the next block as fast, but you are also less likely to crash, so it's more dependable (stable). Keep in mind that not every hotrod crashes and not every Lexus is dependable.

 

got it, thanks Kalim. On another note, I'm trying to boot from USB, and it is asking me to put in a boot path manually when I am in the BIOS. I did not have to do this before with my desktop. It looks like I have to use an .efi file to do that, but I have tried pretty much all the .efi files in my USB-bootable drive. It worked like a charm on the desktop. Got any suggestions? Thanks.

 

hi guys,

I found a link on German's forum for a new G73 209 Bios beta version:
RapidShare: 1-CLICK Web hosting - Easy Filehosting
I wonder if someone may try to test for the Fn+Esc and GSODs issues, because I cannot manage doing it until next Monday?

 

Link to that post please?

The file size is correct. Whoever named it named it the way Asus has been naming G73 bios. No viruses found with Nod32. Still not touching it without confirmation though.

 

Strange to see link for motherboard bios in vBios thread. Don't you think that it's very risky to update BIOS with unknown beta version?

 

To me, confirmation would be when ASUS has it on their site. I wouldn't touch it even with your G73.

 

Here is the forum link, but you might be right, that it's better to wait for the ASUS official version:
ASUS G73 *Part 2* (Owners Thread ) - Seite 188 - Notebookjournal.de - Forum

It seems someone has updated and was using for 2 days w/o problem (I'm not very good in German yet), but I agree, better to wait an official confirmation from ASUS... Sorry to post here, may be I'm wrong.

 

any1 have fully tested the Xeven's bios? (modified Asus vbios)

 

I actually have a newer modified bios which seemed to work "fine", but I never got to fully test before I sent my G73 for replacement. Anyhow if you can wait, it should arrive next week and I can test it then. The newer one does not adjust the default clocks, but rather unlocks the Overdrive on the ASUS vbios. This allows you to tweak your clock settings yourself, so you can find the most "stable" values for your specific G73. Powerplay is not a problem since the Overdrive values are restored properly when performance mode is restored. As a plus I've modified the battery saving mode to use 200/300. Note that while I'm playing the devil's advocate (somewhat), using the bios is of course your choice and your risk.

 

This was posted in the Alienware Forum.

Alienware HD5870M vBios. I seems I was the 10th person to download it, re-uploaded to mediafire for you to try.

v.rar

 

This one seems a little bit different. Please don't try it until I do. I don't mind being the guinea pig since I have the tools to replace and reprogram the PM25LV010 or SST25VF010A eeprom. You can try of course, but the probability is you'll end up bricking your GPU card. So please wait a few days.