* Asus N61JQ Owners Lounge *

Thanks heaps!
Yeah, this laptop has amazing cooling compared to my old medion.
Do you suggest any cheaper coolers worth the money?

 

I had to reinstall my whole system and somehow I seem to have disabled a small little feature which I always found quite useful. In the past when I would hit CAPS or NUM LK a little grey rectangle box would appear just millimeters above the taskbar clock and it would say: "Capslock on/off" or "Numlock on/off".

Well... unfortunately it's gone now :-( any tips on how I might get it back?

 

Make sure you have the bluetooth driver installed, and make sure "BTTRAY.EXE" is in your startup profile (Start => Run => msconfig => Startup). If that doesn't work, make sure the following registry key is set to 1:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Widcomm\BTConfig\General\KeyIndication

 

I don't think you'll get a cooler much better than the NC2000. It's not the cooler's fault; this laptop does not conduct much heat through the bottom, so coolers don't help remove heat as well.

 

It has happened to enough people that I wonder if they install some of the webcams upside-down by accident

 

That is very strange. What happened when the other drivers didn't work? Did the corresponding device stop functioning? Did the drivers refuse to install? To clarify, you have an N61JQ model with Win 7 64-bit right?

 

@2MNY

cool, thanks bro

 

Alas, it seems you have hit the nail on the head.

ASUSTeK Computer Inc.-Forum- Built-in camera upside down

 

I have it sussed!

You need to modify the inf file. I have it hosted for you guys, just need to download it and put in the folder where you extract the camera drivers. It will break whql, but it still works.

Also to fix the lag a little bit, make sure under settings in LifeFrame under video it says WebCam and not Virtual Camera.

 

If you don't want to edit the INF file (keep WHQL), you can also just change the entry directly in the registry. Navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{6BDD1FC6-810F-11D0-BEC7-08002BE2092F}\0000\Settings

And change "Flip" from 1 to 0. If you have other imaging devices installed on the system, the "0000" in the above address may be a different number; just tab through them until you see "USB2.0 UVC 2M WebCam" or similar in the DriverDesc property of the 0000, 0001, etc. folders.

 

Risco, Other than the fact I can't use 5ghz I have had no problems with this card. In fact I have been quite impressed with its performance.

 

Ah ok understood, many thanks.

 

OK keep us informed if it works 100% so that we can also decide to change to a good working card this time when compared to the Intel N6200 card.

 

To anyone that can help.

I'm thinking of doing a clean windows install and split the hard drive into more than 2 partitions. I have been looking through this thread and others and I found some answers, but I still have some unanswered questions that I hope you guys can help me with:

1. Does the Windows setup allow me to create partitions the size that I want? From what I can see in this thread I can only make 2 partitions at best.

2. From what I understand, both the recovery partition and the recovery DVDs also install all the software the laptop comes with by default. Is this true? If not, how can I do a really clean install of windows and then install the software that I want?

3. Is the setup from the recovery partition exactly equivalent to the one from the recovery DVDs?

4. Anything important I should keep in mind while doing a fresh install?

Many thanks in advance.

 

Well the reason I am swapping it is I bought an Xbox 360 the other day and media centre is running slow as hell. Even in the same room it says the connection is low. So I figured a newer and better card might improve things somewhat.

 

Thank you. !
Know of any needed/nice accessories?

 

1: if you use the recovery partition for a fresh install then you are unable to make any partitions , you get two by default.

2/3: yes the recovery partition is the same as the recovery DVDs. all the software come along with both options. (read all the instructions carefully, once you have done so back up your key with the ABR utility. its simple ,i used it a few times, worked all the time)

http://forum.notebookreview.com/win...-7-download-links-just-like-vista-before.html

and

http://directedge.us/content/abr-beta-with-windows-7-support

4: make sure you have all the necessary drivers at hand so you can begin to set up you laptop.

have fun and post any questions/doubts you have

 

You can go to Control Panel (select view by small icons)>Administrative Tools>Computer Management>Storage>Disk Management. There you can right click on any partition to make it any size you want. You can shrink one, extend the other, make new ones, delete a partition entirely.

It won't get rid of the bloatware, but it will let you make your partition(s) any size you want.

 

Well I've done it, updated to v 212 using WinFlash this time and I kept everything possible crossed plus a white rabbit with two lucky hind feet .

 

Hi,

I am unable to read a perfectly working SD card from the Card reader. There is 2 driver:

- Version V1.6.17.25401 Multi-Card Reader Driver
- Version V1.5.17.25482 Alcor AU6433 Card Reader Driver

I installed both with no success. I inser the card in the black holder thing and I cant get it to work. It doesnt show up in the device manager...

thanx for your help.

Mart

 

About 212 BIOS Update log this is what I just receive from asus support guy :

Product Model: N61Jq BIOS Kernel: Aptio4 Date: 2010/08/18
System BIOS : 212 VGA BIOS :NA EC BIOS : 202c1E0001
Item. Bug #. Root cause and change description Reference
1 Update CFD MRC to 1.30 and remove some redundant code for factory issue.
Note: Memory test is needed for this bios.

but if you look at this update log file you will see that they are supposed to already make the CFD MRC update to 1.30 in BIOS 208... :

Product Model: N61Jq
System BIOS : 210
Item. Bug #. Root cause and change description Reference
1 Fix ASUSGPNV data loss when use aflash2 /down parameter or Ctrl-Alt-Del reset without use SWSMI to shutdown the system. AK-KVN0226
2 Update EC firmware to 202c1EF.EC
System BIOS : 209
1 Update VBIOS to solve customer issue.
System BIOS : 208
1 131 Update CFD MRC to 1.3
2 130 Fix using function fn+ESC that system will hang. AK-ALB0083
System BIOS : 207
1 Update EC firmware to 202C1AF.EC for fixing touch-pad can work after install ALL mode. LNS0017f
System BIOS : 206
1 According the ATI APNote to add a workaround for the BSOD 124 issue. AK-DKC5259
System BIOS : 205
1 113 Fix HDD password has no function when selecting SATA mode in IDE mode and enable fancystart after setting HDD passwords in Aptio setup menu AK-HCH0001k
2 Update EC firmware to 202C19F.EC LNS0017e
System BIOS : 204
1 109 Fix system can enter setup utility in s4 resume after setting HDD password. LNS0038

Yes, I think that asus joke us !

 

For me waiting for two years (end of warranty period) to implement the keyboard backlit solution would have been too late.
Maybe after two years I would have a new machine.

 

I have Logitech Setpoint software intalled as I use external Logitech Wave Pro keyboard and mouse when using my notebook in office.

The Setpoint installs its own Capslock on/off and Numlock on/off on screen indication. When I press these keys, there is an animated big square window appearing in the middle of the screen for about 3 seconds that shows the status change of these keys.

 

What really bothers me is this line:

Makes me wonder any critical or effecting changes to VGA BIOS and EC BIOS is required. I'll do a facepalm emote and try it out next week.

 

Thanks a lot.

I eventually found that partition manager within Windows utilities, but I have a question. Some time ago, I was told that re-partitioning the hard drive while an OS is already installed is more "dangerous" than deleting partitions and re-splitting the drive while installing a fresh OS. If so, in what way?

 

To the front of the machine on the left hand side there is an SD card reader slot. Where it sounds like you are placing the card is in the expresscard slot filler (which is on the actual left of the machine) that HAPPENS to have an SD card holder. However, this does not read SD cards.

 

Just ordered the laptop guys, excited!

 

ahhh yeah it is written SD MMC on the holder on the left!!!!

thanx!!!

 

My wifi card has shipped today, will let you guys know what it is like. I doubt it will connect at 300mbps, but I will get the 5ghz channel. Hopefully it will play better with my Xbox media centre.

 

Risco, Which card are you putting in? Let us know if you get 300 mbps with the 5 ghz. I remember asking brochiller to check his and he was getting 300. I found the old post and put it above. As a side note when I was looking for brochillers post I found one from you on page 2 of this lounge. I forgot you had so much senority here. Thanks for hanging out with us all this time and contributing so much.

 

Cool, Welcome to the lounge! Let us know what you think. I have not had a new review to post on the first page for some time. Speaking of the first page be sure and spend some time on it for help with your N61.

 

Stevedogg, Thanks for all the work you put into the update thread. Myself I probobally would have taken down the thread after the first complaint about updates screwing up a laptop. But you are very patient and helpfull to all. You will always be the N61 update wizard.

 

Haha; well, I personally use almost all of the drivers I post there, so that should at least filter out the major problems. But there are still issues that I don't catch (e.g. the Fn+F9 key issue with the latest touchpad driver).

 

If you want a recovery option for your laptop then make the recovery DVDs. Repartitioning your HDD will in most cases destroy all of the data on your computer. Be sure you have everything important backed up somewhere else. As I understand you want a clean bloatware-free install so you are fine with wiping everything anyways. If you just want to create new partitions from your hard disk then you can delete, resize and create them from the Windows disk management tool.

Your only choice for a clean install is to use a windows 7 installation disk. Your N61 is licensed for a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit so it is perfectly legal to download and re-install this version of windows on your system as many times as you want without buying a new copy of windows.

You can partition your disk any way you like from the Windows 7 installer. sonofcrake's suggestion to round up drivers before you install windows is a bit outdated. It might still be necessary installing XP or Vista but the Win 7 installer has some modern improvements including updated drivers and the ability to go online to download newer drivers if needed. There is no need to download anything before performing the install.

There is no way to partition the disk you are running the windows installer from so you will need to boot the installer from a DVD or flash drive. There are many guides on obtaining and installing win 7 from a flash drive or DVD that you can find through google.

Most people giving advice here on the forum are still stuck in a Windows XP mindset. A much quicker way of finding things buried in the Control Panel or software in general is to do a simple search from the start menu. System tools and software are cached so you get search results as fast as you can type and you usually only need to type in a few letters before you find what you need.

Moving data on a partition is always risky business. It is in the nature of computer security that core system files aren't moved while they are in use. Most 3rd party software for moving and resizing partitions do the job before you computer has fully booted to get around this problem. Even so, if there is an error while files are moved or the process is interrupted it can leave your computer unbootable and require complicated steps to recover your files if they can be recovered.

When doing a fresh install, your system is considered a blank slate so there is no concern with retaining any data on the drive.

Simpler partition resizing is much safer as it skips the mess associated with moving system files and just moves data and blank space, much like what happens when you defragment a hard drive. The win 7 disk management tool uses this method to shrink and expand drive partitions to keep your data and OS safe but is limited in functionality compared to 3rd party tools that have more features at the risk of using more dangerous methods to move data.

 

Thanks for the elaborate reply.

So the "danger" involved is only about the very process of moving data. The problem is completely solved with a separate Win7 installation disk. Now if I did this:

- shrink drive C, delete partition D (they're the only ones I have, except for the hidden partition) and thus create 400 GB of unallocated space;
- create new partitions the size that I want and format each, all with the Windows disk management tool;
- Win7 install from the recovery partition, on drive C without affecting any other partition;
- bloatware clean,

there would be no "danger" for the future data I'm about to store on my hard drive, right?

 

Sadly, if you mean install with the recovery DVD's that you burned using A1Recovery you will be bringing back exactly what you started with including all of the bloatware.

 

You got a point. "Restoring will overwrite your hard drive.", I found that later.

Let's say then that I restore my Win7 from the recovery partition, which should allow me to keep my other partitions intact (which means wiped clean if I stick to the other steps). The main question was if there is any "danger" for the future data to be stored.

Edited my original post (2 posts ago).

 

Got it today! will give my opinions on it later tonight when I install w7 ultimate. First reactions are DAMN there's soo much pre-installed software! Other then that, from what ive seen, im extremely pleased with the choice. Also, because this is the UK version, it was stated there would be no USB 3.0, but there is!

So thats an i7, 4GB ram, 5730, 640HD (2 * 320 (SSD here we come)), USB 3.0 and a Blu-Ray player

 

The only danger is to existing data, not data which has yet to be stored.

 

Just ordered one of these, excited to replace my 5-year old desktop!

I've read that one of the biggest drawbacks is the extreme amount of bloatware that comes pre-installed, and that it doesn't come with system restore disks?

Could someone help me out and point me to where I can find some step-by-step instructions on how to do a clean system re-install to get rid of all that bloatware? Or is simply uninstalling everything good enough?

Really excited and wanting to start off on the right foot, thanks!

 

Hey mate

I don't know if you have seen the comments above, but I today received my laptop. Could not be happier! And yes, the laptop has stupid amounts of pre-installed sh*t.. which is annoying - but im buying an SSD soon and will install w7 Ultimate on it, so for now i'm removing the stuff which is blatantly not needed, e.g trial games.

If you have any more questions, just ask and ill do my best to help. :]

 

The Audio driver installed ok, but I couldn't get SRS to load up. The touchpad driver made the touchpad get locked with any input I gave it such that I couldn't move or use the cursor. The webcam driver worked with the upside down image others were reporting. Bluetooth driver wouldn't install correctly, it would not find the hardware and wouldn't install.I didn't dare try chipset drivers or any others after all these didn't work right! BTW I'm using Win 7-64 bit Home Edition.

On another note.. does anyone know how to get a Win 7 DVD for use with the key on my computer? I called ASUS and they say hey only provide copies of the recovery disk. Since when purchasing a laptop, one is also buying the OS, I would have thought this should be a right if I request it.

 

My wifi card turned up today, it works at 300mbps! Unfortunately, it does not appear to have 5ghz band. It seems I made an error in purchasing and need the 9280 which is dual band. I have just emailed the seller. The important thing is the laptop does work at 300mbps!

 

Are you using the 9.1.0.100 driver? I wonder if the stock card (AR9285) would hit 300 Mbps if you enabled the 40-MHz channel.

 

The 9.1 driver did not recognise the card. Also it screws up the 9285.

 

I had an AR9280 I was using before my current Broadcom-based card, and I vaguely remember having to mod the driver INF to use the newest Atheros generic drivers. I think a lot of the eBay sellers sell HP cards whose hardware IDs don't show up in the generic drivers (forcing you to use older, HP drivers). mobilenvidia has a thread ( link) where he posts Atheros drivers with modded INFs to support all cards (and also unlocks a bunch of settings unavailable in many drivers).

Of course, if it works fine with your current driver, you probably don't want to upgrade

 

Working at 300mbps means therefore that we do not have to add an extra antenna cable, correct?
Be careful with the 9280 because photos in internet of this card show a wifi card that may not fit our laptop: it seems longer than ours.

That's strange this driver with my 9285 works fine .

 

You can download the DVD directly from Microsoft. http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msvista/pub/X15-65733/X15-65733.iso

 

There are many cards that use the 9280 chipset. You just have to make sure to buy a half height card (looks like this).

 

Yup, no extra antenna needed. Also there is a half height version available.