* Asus N61JQ Owners Lounge *

Hi,

Just to note that the first post doesn't contain the N61JQ-JX021X model, it is the same as every other model except it contains 1x 640GB 5400rpm HDD ( Seagate ST9640320AS), and a Blu-Ray/DVDRW Combo ( HL-DT-ST BDDVDRW CT21N).

See if OP can edit the post.

 

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has managed to get SMART working on the N61JQ?

My doesn't seem to work (using HD Tune, Everest), etc., although SeaTools for Windows appears to "pass" the "SMART test".

Worst yet, for what it is worth, the SeaTools for DOS fails to even detect the drive!

My drive has a weird random "clicking sound" every now and then (shuddering while recalling the IBM "click of death").

 

First thing I did when I got my N61JQ-JX021X was to low-level re-format the entire drive after the standard LCD and memory test (yes, I thought new hard drives wouldn't fail in this day and age, but read my previous post).

This was followed by chucking the entire stack of useless CDs into the bin, followed by a trip to the Asus support site to download the latest drivers, BIOS, etc. etc...

Nonetheless, imagine my surprise when I couldn't find the NEC USB 3.0 drivers for Windows 7 x86-64 (aka Windows 7 x64)... My friend Google didn't help either (as of date of this post)...

Had to dig around the trash for the chucked drivers CD and thankfully managed to find them...

So, hopefully this post gets Google cache'd and it will help someone else!

 

There is a post in this thread that has a link to the latest NEC USB 3 drivers. The ASUS support download area is terrible and calling it sub-par is being nice.

 

FWIW, he wasn't the first to post the link ( this was the first post, also without a warning).

 

Hi Adamal,

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, I did try to do my homework first, but somehow Google didn't turn anything up, but a search functions here is kind of limited as I was unable to search only this (N61J Owners) thread.

Cheers!

 

Here's the latest usb 3.0 driver v1.0.19.0 - I have it installed works great.

http://www.soft-go.com/get_driver/A...0.19.0-WHQL-for-Win7x64XPXP64Vista_11561.html

click the download line. Hope it helps.

Edit: not sure what firmware comes with the n61jq stock for USB 3.0 but new firmware is also here:

http://www.x-drivers.com/catalog/bi...nec/models/usb_3.0_host_controller/14968.html

 

I just checked mine (Start -> All Programs -> NEC Electronics -> USB 3.0 Host Controller Driver -> USB 3.0 Host Controller Utility) and it already has the updated firmware: 3.0.2.1.

 

@allyw123- I think the moment is finally near.

If anyone has some good deal on N61JQ - X1/A1, please either post it here or PM me.

Thank you!

 

For fellow driver/firmware junkies:

Newest firmware for the optical drive

My A1 has "HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GT30N" in device manager, and I upgraded to firmware Version 2.

 

You are welcome and thanks a lot. :smile:

 

Saw somewhere in this forum someone who powered the keyboard from the same source as the monitor, so when the the dimness of the monitor is adjusted, so is the keyboard... and turning of the screen turns off the keyboard. What do you think? I'm worried the voltage is not gonna be the same but besides that I'd really appreciate if you check the out and would be so glad ill stick a sticker with your name on it "Backlit by LordDavon" lol

 

Hi guys,
I just received my new n61jq but I have a question.
When I use TMonitor, it shows my cpu speed at around 930 megahertz. I thought that it would be 1.6ghz. Does anyone know why? Is my cpu defective?

 

According to this:

http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us

The latest touchpad driver is Version V7.0.5.9 2009/10/30 update, so I guess since my laptop just got dispatched last week, it should have the latest driver inside. Graphics card has 10.3 out so I'll download that one first.

 

Nice find! I love keeping my firmware up to date on everything.

 

Your CPU is not defective, mine shows the same thing. Put some load on your CPU and see how it changes.

 

Hi everyone! I have been trying to figure out why Asus always splits drives into small OS partitions and large Data partitions. They even do this on their netbooks!

I can only really come up with one theory. When you take very large drives (like the 1.5 Terabyte Seagates) and partition about 300GB separated from the rest of the drive, that partition does in fact perform at a higher speed (read: response time) than the remainder of the drive.

The question is, though, is this property of rotating media applicable to 320GB and 500GB drives? How about on the 160GB Eee PCs?

Further still, if there is, what if I'd still prefer to combine the partitions into a single partition? (though leave the restore partition untouched). What kind of performance hit might I see?

 

Hi,

I'm currently deciding between N61JQ @ 1010 € and N61JA @ 935 €. The only difference is that the JA has a 520m dual core while the JQ has a 720qm quad core.

My typical work scenario is like this:
Windows 7 running firefox, IE & chrome each a dozen tabs open, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, a Torrent client, Winamp, a Linux VM for development + webserver, a WinXP VM running legacy programs.
I'd also like to be able to game of course, but I guess the CPU won't make much of a difference in this regard.

So what would you get? Is the price difference of 75 € for the i7-720qm worth it? Will I be better of with a quad core considering my work scenario?

Any opinions are appreciated Thanks!

 

I think your multi tasking and PS makes i7 a worth upgrade. Plus 75 euros seems justified for that upgrade.

 

930 MHz is the lowest clock rate available for speedstep. Indeed, any load will raise up the multiplier, up to 1.6 GHz when all 4 cores are in use, or higher when fewer cores are in use (maximum 2.8 GHz turbo boost with 1 core).

The minimum multiplier can be adjusted using Power4Gear Hybrid or Win 7 Power Plans (if you don't use P4G) by changing the "minimum processor" percentage.

 

I also think that i7-720qm is a better multitasking machine.
The advantage 520m would be longer battery life due to switching graphics.

 

The latest touchpad driver is v7.0.6.4 and is not available on the ASUS support site. Google to find a source.

 

Here is the link of the driver: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6147456&postcount=3349

 

I could be wrong, but I don't think switchable graphics is enabled on the N61JA.

 

If this is not enabled than NVIDIA is doing false advertisement. NVIDIA mentions N61JV as one of the notebooks with the optimus technology enabled:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/optimus_technology.html

 

Doesn't the JA have the same ATI 5730 card as our laptops? JV might be different.

 

Sorry you are right!

I did not look exactly at the original post. I mixed the N61JV with N61JA.

Yes, the N61JA has the same card as ours that is ATI 5730.

So N61JA has no switchable graphics. Only N61JV has it.

 

The sad part is that the JA has an integrated GPU and the HM55 chipset ( specs here). It must be missing a graphics controller or something; all the other pieces are there.

 

Maybe all is need is a special bios + special ati tool which will allow the notebook to use both graphics.
I hope ATI will develop some software similar to NVIDIA optimus.

 

I am working with the N61JV-X2... and my battery is maxing out at about 3 hours or so in battery saving mode with minimally intensive tasks - web browsing, listening to music, etc. I would like to way downclock the processor and shut down the GPU... are there any utilities that track and/or control both these functions in one?

 

I don't think of it as a performance issue, just a convenience issue. If for some reason you have to re-install windows (that never happens right?? ) You can format C:\ , reinstall the OS, and never worry about losing your data. Another scenario is for peeps who run multiple OS's and just want to have one place where data is stored. Whichever scenario, the separate partition is very handy.


I'm glad they do it, and it's one of the first things I do to a new machine.

 

Anyone know if they have updated bluetooth drivers too. Also I was wondering does Atheros make the stock bluetooth card the comes installed since the WLAN and LAN hardware is also made by them?

 

Thanks for posting the updates, I also like to keep drivers updated

Therefore in my N61:

Realtek Audio from v. 6.0.1.5995 to v. 6.0.1.6080

Atheros Comunications Inc. from v. 8.0.0.238 to v. 8.0.0.305

Elan from v. 7.0.5.9 to v. 7.0.6.4

Thanks mate for the explanation.

Did you previously have AS02 firmware and it updated to 2 ? Why won't it bloody write ???2, OK worked it out A_S_S_2!

 

S.M.A.R.T is actually a shelf monitoring tool and is enabled from BIOS.
You can check it with a program called ActiveSMART and then see its status on the "SMART information" tab.

I also have this ramdom "clicking sound".
Now I'm wondering if it is common ...???

 

Just did some surgical transplants from my dead Edge to my new Asus (yes, my Edge was a registered electronic donor, god bless its soul )

I replaced the memory from 1066 to 1333, the optical drive to Blu ray burner and there was one more attempt to change the wireless card to the Intel 5300, however, it appeared the card was too big for the area so I kept it as it was.

The results right now seem to be a slightly faster system, I can honestly admit that programs are loading slightly faster and that the Blu Ray writer/reader was installed by Windows 7 as soon as the computer started. No change in the speed of the Windows 7 startup however, but this is only the first time I'm starting it since updating.

I feel no real loss from the inability to upgrade the wireless as the stock is performing quite well and suits my needs.

Now updating the rest of the drivers I see here.

 

lol... funny. Although.... can you find me a link?

 

Yes mine was previously AS02 and is now A$$2

 

This is not the same link stevedgg. It does not even appear to work. But it certainly does not automatically start to flash your bios. I am not opposed to people posting about a new bios link. But who wants a bios link that automatically starts without warning you that it does?

 

Wish,Wish,Wish, What will we do with you! You know everyone who sells the N61's. Stop teasing us and pull the trigger. Make us proud Wishmaster and join the N61 Owners club.:yes:

 

Hey stevedogg any luck in finding updated drivers for the built in webcam ?

 

Wish, you know they are on page one. Those are the only resellers that we endorse because they are the only resellers we trust. A deal isn't a deal if it dies on you in the first week and you are all on your own! I am sure Tony will attest that a trusted reseller is worth their weight in gold.

 

I honestly believe that he had no intention of posting a link that ran when you clicked it. I doubt it was malicious. I think it caught him by surprise that people had an issue with it. He, most likely, believed that he was doing right by people by upgrading their BIOS, even if it were without warning, once he found out.

The issue is that once he found out people were upset about the auto-flash, he felt no remorse. He was almost glad; as if he were doing them a favor. He feels that he is always right and has just enough knowledge to be dangerous. That was a prime example.

 

I can imagine this is done for both performance and cosmetic reasons. Hard drives make faster reads and sequential writes at the edges of the drive platters. I don't know if performance improvements from this are even tangible though. Instead of partitioning your drive off, you could make a single partition and use a drive defragmenting tool that will exploit this property. These special defragmenters will move the files you access frequently and files related to booting windows to the outer edges of the drive where they will be read and written the fastest.

Optimus requires a special chip responsible for transferring display information from one graphics card to the other. I would assume that it also requires that at least one card be Optimus aware. As such, it is and always will be an Nvidia only technology. Old-school graphics switching is even more complicated as it requires additional motherboard traces increasing the number of motherboard layers from the standard 4 to 6. The added complexity brings with it added cost. The point is, graphics switching requires hardware the N61JQ does not have. We will never see graphics switching on our laptops.

The N61JQ uses at least 4 different webcams by my count. ASUS picks the cheapest deal available to keep camera companies in competition to underbid each other. This helps keep component costs down on the notebooks and is part of what makes our N61s such great performers for the price. This also means that different production batches may have different camera models which are not driver compatible. Be aware, if someone posts an updated camera driver for the N61, it may not work with your notebook.

 

Ah gotcha. I was referring to the azurewave one in my case.

 

is there a way to find out which one you have and which one is the driver made for, to avoid a possible mis-match?

 

Ya just look under device manager and see which version and manufacturer you have by stock and match it up.

 

David you might be right but this is the same troll who got banned here before. It seems like a ban only lasts for awhile. So whats the first thing he does when he gets back in here? He is not banned anymore and will probobaly be back here again. If you look back through his posts here it is all classic negative troll stuff. With his apparent tech knowledge I just don't think his post was an "accident". When he comes back remember Donalds advice " Don't feed the Trolls".
_________________________________________________________________

 

I remember him. That is why I ignored him this time around. That, and the fact that I could see you flying to Florida just to slap me. HA!

He really isn't all that technical. He most likely posted the link here exactly how he found it in another thread or forum.

Anyway, I am just ignoring him when he pops back in again.

On another note, I just turned on Saturday Night Live. The musical guest is playing. This is about the dumbest "song" I have ever heard!

 

Why is it SNL always goes out of their way to find the most whack group to come on and play their most whack song? :confused2:

 

I guess the girls name is kesha. She has the most annoying sounding voice. She was all about the gimmick and sounded terrible.