A8Js - Owner's Lounge

So lucky! I have the exact same problem, so I guess i have to find a repair shop too.

That shop from you will not have international services, no? (i am from spain). thanks!!

 

I just had this exact problem happen to me last week. Though my laptop is nearly 4 years old its still sad to see it break It scares me somewhat to see others with the same issue!!! *conspiracy*

Questions:

To anyone in the U.S. with the same issue, how much did the repair cost?

Also has anyone gotten their a8js "refurbished", meaning having the chassis and hinges replaced. How much did that cost

Thanks in advance!

 

I'm in Canada but I ordered a top cover from the Asus eStore last year and did the repairs myself. It was shipped to my US address. It's not so hard to take apart and put it together again.

 

Hi!

I have bookmarked this page and will check back in 1-2 days, but, for any A8JS owners with VGA problems, or who just want an upgrade, I made a custom BIOS and now have a 9650M GT (1GB) running in my A8JS, and it is a great upgrade! It won't work without a specially modified AMI BIOS with modified 9650M vbios, but it works fine, including the TFT panel! (and runs about 8 degrees cooler at idle than the old card!)

If you are interested in getting help with this, including where to get the cards, let me know!

For value-for-money upgrades, a 9300M would also be an option, or 9500M 9600M etc

edit : my modded BIOS means I can switch between the Go7700 and the 9650M GT at will (e.g. can swap cards and just power up the computer, and it works with either one, as it has 2 vBIOSes in it) - so little risk if upgrading

 

That is super cool! Kind of makes me wish I still had mine...

 

I am totally interested. I'm typing on my A8J now and would love to tinker and upgrade it.

I did some work several months ago and replaced parts of the chassis so upgrading the video card would certainly make it feel new. You have the files posted and maybe a quick guide?

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: I saw your posts in the other threads and at BIOS-Mods. Sounds interesting. CPU-Z says my BIOS version is A8JsvAS.211 dated 01/15/2007.

I assume this more expensive one is guaranteed to work as it is stated it is for the M50 and such.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Asus-M50-M50V-9...517?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item3f0110851d

 

Hi!

I also replaced the entire casing (also keyboard), and it feels almost like new (almost, as I will get a new touchpad from ASUS, then a new screen as mine has marks on the CCFL). I bought the laptop secondhand from Australia, the hinges were falling apart (in the end, the hinges actually detached from the case on one side, and plastic pieces fell into the fan once, causing it to jam / overheat when I was AFK).

The Ebay VGA card you link above is the correct one (in fact, that is the seller I bought from 7 days ago - the card arrived in 5 days with the expedited shipping, which is pretty good as I am in rural New Zealand).

For anyone buying VGA cards, you need to check the picture above, basically ensuring that, if the GPU chip itself is facing you, and the connector is facing down, then the connector should be offset to the right, not the left. If it is facing to the left, it is an MXM, and not compatible, if facing to the right, it is ASUS Reversed-MXM, and is compatible.

Also, you need to check the thermal design power for the card -> I will include more about this on my tutorial on BIOS-Mods (will go up in 24 hours or less, and I will provide a link). The custom BIOS I provide will support Go7700, and GF9650M GT. I will also add more BIOSes on request (e.g. supporting GF9300 which is about half the price of the Go7700, not any faster, but is DirectX10, OpenGL 3.3, and still a good card).

I need to make a few changes to my BIOS (to re-enable fastwrites and sideband? addressing, which will increase speed by 1-2% if I'm lucky) and also to solve a problem where the *bootup* 640x480 screens are quite small, in the centre of the display (once you get into windows or linux, all scaling works properly, e.g. 1280x800 fills the screen as it should, as does 800x600, etc), so it is more a niggle than an issue as such.

Check back soon

(Note : A8JR, A8JP, A8J anything upgrades will be coming soon, from any card to any card (within reason) and I can also do most Asus laptop upgrades - just need to know the original specs, and what the laptop is going to be upgraded to!)

Edit : do feel free to post on BIOS-Mods.com below my new tutorial http://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thre...ade-Go7700-GF9650M-GT-1GB-and-other-VGA-cards - I can always remove the questions once the issues have been incorporated into the tutorial, so it won't get messy

 

Note : tutorial now online with modded BIOS etc. Get your 9650M GT 1GB cards from ebay etc before they are all gone!!

Link in the post above!

 

Problem with vertical colored liner has reappeared. This time I have chosen a different approach. I tried baking solution. At first I was very skeptical but I decided that I GA unit cool down, and I put it back to notebook. I was very surprised to see Asus logo and windows booting screen. I am writing from this baked card right now. So I can only confirm that baking works, at least for this problem and for my 7700GO
I have pictures too if someone is interested
mephis out

 

@mephis55 congrats on the successful bake/reflow! That's always a risky job. I'd love to see some pics, if you have the time. Also what temperature did you use?

 

I was baking at almost 200 degrees celsia, for about 9 minutes. Let it cool and crispy reborn graphic card was ready to go.
Here are some pix:
before:

still before:

during:

and after, it doesnt look like something has changed, but it did

 

This works!! thanks!!!

 

I would love to have my a8js back to work. but my mobo fried when I was trying the new vga 9xxx and the modded BIOS. I was really really unlucky. If someone knows where to find a cheap motherboard(but really cheap).