* Asus N61JQ Owners Lounge *

That sounds like a problem I had with Catalyst drivers for my desktop tuner card. Somehow the device ID changes or something so that the driver will not install (it thinks you have an incompatible device). If you try to run the Catalyst installer and choose custom install (selecting all drivers and deselecting the extras), does it give you the orange notification at the end instead of the green check mark? You may need to do a thorough uninstall with 3rd party software (like DriverCleaner Pro).

 

Firstly, it wants to install to C:\Program Files rather than C:\Program Files (x64) where the driver actually is. Changing the directory doesn't seem to matter at all.

I attached the screen cap of what my installer looks like.

 

Alright this is the second time this has happend to me, tonight when I powered up from Hibernate Mode my screen just turned off after it said resuming windows. The rest of the computer was powered up and running. Any ideas on what I should do?

 

mine did this a couple of times. I think its a bug. Try waiting until the notebook completely enters hibernate before closing the lid.

 

Those are the version numbers I have for Catalyst 10.3. Does it say otherwise in CCC (Information Center => Graphics Software)?

 

You might have installed the wrong driver for your OS at some point. You need some ATI driver cleaner software. Here is a thread I found with some info that might help.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/262352-33-update-driver

 

Make sure you downloaded the drivers for the 64bit version of windows 7 and not the 32bit version.

 

Welcome back hirush. How is your N61 working?

 

I have been wondering about these blue/sometimes-white lights on the side of the computer near the speakers... Are they indicators of the GPU on/off status? I remember a decal that came with the computer showing the white and blue lights stuck to the upper left hand corner of the machine.

My battery life hasn't been that great and I think it may be because 'optimus' is keeping the GPU on because it's usually blue (meaning on?). In hibernate the lights turn white which maybe means GPU off? Any tips or is everything as it should be?

 

Hi Dbenj1, the N61JQ has an ATI card so I'm sure you have a different model as ours does not have blue lights. As far as optimus that is an nVidia technology that should switch over automatically when needed. I'd first start by grabbing the latest nVidia drivers. Then take a look at your power settings. When I'm on battery I tend to to put it in Quiet Office mode. When you say poor battery life how long are we talking about. Also can you let us know the exact model. That would help get an idea of the battery performance you should be seeing.

 

EDIT- Better news Banned from NotbookReview.com !!!

 

I want to update my graphics driver but do I need to uninstall the old driver first?

EDIT: I tried uninstalling the old driver. After I run the installer for the new driver, I got these errors. Help.

 

LOL

It could tast quite nice. You can try it. :laugh:

 

I've spent the last two days reading all 3000+ posts in this thread. I'm very interested in getting one of these. One question though, I went to the ASUS website and the newest BIOS listed is BIOS 204. Where are you guys finding the new BIOSes at?

 

check #3212 post from this thread.

 

Hmm, seems I missed that post. Mine shipped with 207.

Only stability issue I've had is with the eSATA port going from DMA to PIO mode (Microsoft why haven't you fixed this yet? Seriously.) Don't think it's the drive or cable since my eSATA card on my old notebook worked without issue. Hasn't happened in a while though, might have sorted itself out.

In other news, I finally got all 3 operating systems up and running on the notebook. Ubuntu Lucid Lynx works great.

 

I tried it again this evening but no luck.

Help. Anyone?

 

Is anyone using Premiere Pro CS4 with this laptop and if so, how is your performance with it in playing clips on a full screen (using tilde key) of the video. I find it to be lagging when I try to play HDV and there is no rendering required.

 

This happened to me too before I did a fresh install of windows. I'm not sure how to get around it, but quickly closing and reopening the lid would make the screen/backlight/whatever isn't turning on turn on.

 

N61 still working fantastic as speak But the slight annoying whinning still there. However I learnt it is caused by intel i7 speed stepping technology. Whenever I opened up a game and leave it in background the whinning sound will go away. Nothing can do about it but I'll live with it.

 

If you don't care about power usage while plugged in, you can force the CPU to use the highest multiplier. If you are using Power4Gear Hybrid, you can set the minimum (and maximum) CPU usage to 100% for the plugged-in profile (I wouldn't recommend it for the "On Battery" profile, since it will draw more power). The "High Performance" profile does this by default. If you are not using Power4Gear, you can still adjust all the same settings by editing your Power Plan in Win 7. Edit the plan you are using (e.g. "Balanced"), and go into Advanced settings. Find the minimum and maximum processor percentages and set them to 100%.

According to HWMonitor, the power draw is only 15 W at idle, even when the multiplier is locked at the maximum (it increases to 45 W under load).

 

First make sure you have the Windows 7 64-bit drivers, not the 32-bit drivers. If the uninstall is not working try following the suggestions from this post:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/262352-33-update-driver

 

Your N61JQ came with the 207 bios? I wonder why ASUS has not released it on their site.

 

They are crazy slow about updating.

 

I had the same dilemma today, but I used the install program to uninstall the original driver first which left me with just a generic driver. After reboot I installed the 10.3 driver.


I don't know if this might help:

oops I can't put URLS yet, therefore go to Risco's post #3294 and from there click on the following:

Article GPU-33 for a Windows 7 based system

 

Question, if I am doing a gaming session is it wise to remove the battery?

 

Thanks for suggestion stevedogg, I've already tried setting power usage to 100% under Power4Gear high performance, high performance and balanced mode adjusting to 100% power usage. Nothing seem to stop the whinning sound unless I actually load something ie. game running then sound will go away. MP3 player doesn't seem to do the trick, it seems I need to run something that actually tax cpu to stop it lol.

 

2MNY I am curious if you can give us some other driver numbers that your notebook came with stock such as video driver number/date and sound card driver number/date?

 

Hello to every one !

I've just flashed the 207 bios for the Asus N61JQ...

And now i got a DEAD Notebook... it won't power on (no lights)

BEWARE ! and please... if someone could help...

 

No lights? I hope you flashed it with the power lead in? In fact have you tried plugging it in?

*Take out the battery,
*Remove main supply,
*Hold power button down for 30 secs,
*Put only power supply in, do not put battery in
*Turn laptop on
*Put the battery in.

 

Just tried this a few moments ago... still nothing...
No lights... not even the green power/battery led...

I've flashed the bios in Easy Flash (In Bios), will full battery and plugged on a power outlet... right after the flash procedure (reboot), the notebook screen was blank... waited about 5 minutes then had to remove the battery, because it wasn't turning off...

 

I noticed a lot of people seem to want to upgrade drivers, flash bios etc... Why?
My N61 is running everything I throw at it with stock drivers, and I haven't had an issue with it at all. There seems to be a lot of issues with updating etc, and I don't know if it's worth the risk given how flawlessly the laptop works from factory.

My only issue is that the Asus PowerDVD that came pre-installed isn't the same as the one that is on the driver disk. Difference being the second one doesn't have the upscaling and fps increase that the pre-installed one does. Anyone know if the pre-installed one carries over on the dvd backup that the system makes you do? I've just ordered an 80GB intel SSD and want to have it on there!

 

I was hoping to come home to a new laptop but it's going to be a bit delayed. Picking it up from UPS will call later tonight.

[UPS rant]
Who'd a thought it would be a great idea to make a visit to a residential address in the early afternoon for a package requiring a signature in the middle of the week? Think about it, UPS!!! Yeah, maybe my dog will sign for it...
[/UPS rant]

2 more hours to pick up.

 

As far as issues go, many people have experienced at least 1 BSOD since owning their laptops, an issue which can possibly be fixed by upgrading BIOS or USB 3.0 drivers, for example. Other people have noted missing functionality (touchpad, for example) or other bugs (I have personally had hotkey issues), which are resolved with driver updates. Some drivers bring improvements, even if there are no bugs (video card, for example).

My view is that the people writing these drivers don't care to fix what's not broken, so, if an update comes out, you can bet it will be an improvement in some way. Also, the fact that you haven't had an issue doesn't necessarily mean that the root cause of the issues isn't present in your system as well; you may have just gotten lucky. Why not take preventative measures and update?

 

Hmm. Should I use A1? ;-)

I still can't find my Voltmeter. I am really getting ticked. I think I am just going to get a new one tomorrow.

 

I think I'm officially an N61 Owners lounge addict, I've been following since early and browsing here is part of my daily activity, I'm psychologically dependent HA!

My order is scheduled for 04/20 delivery- Im so pumped!

Hopefully its not a lemon, I'll have a conniption if I have to RMA

 

I guess I see people doing just that and ending up with more issues. I'll wait til I need to, i guess...

 

You both make good points which leads me to my problem. I have had a few requests to post driver update information on the first page. It is unfortunate that Asus will not keep there driver section up to date. But I am uncomfortable posting Driver updates that are not being recommended by Asus. I am not saying I will not do it but I am uncomfortable doing it. If someone wants to come up with a good format for driver updates and contribute that to the Lounge that would be great.
It is to bad that the first page is not open source for all to edit. But in effect it is because if you come up with something for the first page and post it here or send it to me I will post it. My goals in this lounge is to learn more about my laptop thru others. And to provide information on the first page for people who are interested in it. If you want to help with providing information on the first page by all means let me know. But please give me something to post not a home work assignment.

 

A "conniption" is better than droping a dumbell on it which is what Tony will do if he gets a third RMA.
Welcome and please give us a review when you get your N61.

 

This might sound like a stupid question but I once saw something about flashing your bios voiding your warranty. Is there any circumstance where you could void your warranty by flashing your bios? If this sounds ridiculous then I must have seen it on an HP lounge.
Donald- Ever heard of this? And do you have a spare voltmeter for Lord(free stuff)Davon!

 

Opps double post!

 

Did you get it!

 

I can understand the concern over BIOS; a bad flash can prevent booting and require a CMOS reset (which usually involves disassembling the laptop). Drivers, on the other hand, are not an issue in my book. There is so much free space on this laptop; just use drive imaging software (e.g. Macrium Reflect) to image your OS partition before you try anything. I do it before "risky" driver installs.

As for information, people just need to know the general procedure for finding drivers from the ASUS support site: go to support.asus.com, choose Downloads, select Product: Notebook, Series: Drivers and click Search. Then go through each category you want to check for upgrades, and find a driver with a version similar, but newer, than yours (beware of version numbers that are significantly different; they may be for different hardware devices). If your device stops working, install the previous driver. If you can't do that, restore the backup image.

 

Typing on it right now with the backup running in the background.

Initial impressions:
So far so good. Screen looks a lot better than expected. Still getting use to the keyboard. I notice the flex but I don't know how it can bother people so much. Doesn't noticeably get in the way or anything like that.

I've got a good 4 or so hours straight to play with this tomorrow. Downloading a few TV shows on the desktop right now and transferring it over so I have some entertainment tomorrow while I'm manning the stall for our fish club at the Pet Expo.

Photos and more later.

 

got my n61 yesterday and its awesome. only issue im having is trying to get rid of the bloatware crap. I tried burning the backup disc and reloading windows but it loads everything like how the computer came. I have 62 processes running on bootup with 23% memory use. I uninstalled most the asus programs. I run hijack this and theirs a lot of stuff that comes up that asay (file missing) I remove them and they reapear next startup. any ideas on how to do a clean win7 only install? with no asus junk and I can just put in what drivers I want.

 

Wish I could help ya on that one but I wiped the original ASUS install without making a backup. I'm no fan of bloatware and do clean installs on new systems by habit now.

Edit/Update: Stock BIOS on my N61 was 206 not 207. Seems like the BIOS versions are all over the place right now. 206 doesn't come with any overclocking features.

Anyone with a clean install having problems with their webcam? Using the Win 7 drivers my camera is flipped upside down and there is no option to flip the video. Looks like I may have to end up installing the camera bundle off the ASUS site. I was hoping I wouldn't have to.

 

Np 2MNY, ty though.

 

207 does not include the overclock feature either on the N61. My camera works fine with the driver on the support site: V5.8.54000.205.

 

Speaking of new drivers, here are a few more:

Audio: V6.0.1.6080
WLAN: V8.0.0.305
Touchpad: V7.0.6.4 (external. non-ASUS link)

 

WLAN has 9.0 from station-drivers.com.