Asus UL30VT FAQ / Official Owners Lounge redux

To undervolt the GPU, you'd have to modify the video bios and that can be dangerous.

 

Alright thanks =)

also, i have a small problem. i updated my elan touch drivers to version 8.0.7.0 and it works great, but when i put the computer to sleep and then resume, the touch functions stop working until i restart the computer. anyone know of a way to fix this?

 

Hi Fendora, I am very impressed by your battery life. May I know how you managed to make that? Thank you

 

iu1nguoi :
- Undervolt CPU @0.875
- Using Throttlestop, Cpu idling from 1066 to 1733Mhz (when in load)
- Replaced the HDD by a SSD Intel X80m (++Silence, --Temps --Power consumption)
- Replaced 3-Cell battery by a 12-Cell one on ebay (Yours may have a 6-cell one)
- Replaced 2*2 Ram modules by one 4Go 1333mhz module (-- Power consumption)
- Using P4G, disabling the Nvidia card when not needed ofc.
- Replaced the wifi module by an intel ultimate 6300 (Better power consumption management)

And that's pretty much it. Windows always says me "10H00 left" when @100% battery, but it can't go beyond, and even @65% battery it says "10h00 left"... x)
So i timed it and it can stay on a bit more than 14h00 when just surfing the web (with adblock) and typing my lessons, screen with minimum luminosity but that's fine with me.

 

Windows always say i had x number of hours at different power settings.

On 10 hour flights, Windows lies

But OK, my laptop gets 10 hours with new stock 8 cell battery, cause windows says so Now let me turn everything up to all is usable; now 5.5 hours

BTW Fendora, how did you measure the power difference from two sticks vs one stick of memory?

cheers

 

One thing I should note, in case anyone doesn't realize it: by going from 2 sticks of RAM to 1 stick, you are decreasing performance. 2 sticks can perform in dual-channel mode, while 1 stick performs in single-channel mode. Dual-channel has more throughput than single-channel. I don't know what the performance difference is, but it is a decrease in performance.

 

Hi, May I know how did you do this using ThrottleStop? My one only allows me to change from 6.0 to 6.5?

 

@Hydra : I must admit I didn't, I'm just pretty sure one module is more economic than two, I think i've read it on several webpages.

@cmasupra : True, but the dual channel gain is not really noticable, so the impact on performance is very low to nothing.

That said, I should compare the battery life gain to see if it's worth it yep.


@iu1nguoi : Sorry, I made a mistake, i didn't use the multiplier, but i activated the "Power Saver" setting. It allows the cpu to change its multiplier depending on the load, which is perfect.
With the overclock it'll go from 1066 to 1733mhz, staying most of the time @1066.

 

so do you mean that you actived "Power Saving" profile in P4G and changed both maximum and minimum CPU to 100% and turned on Turbo as well?

 

Mine seems to get close to 10 hours, although I admit I'll never put that to the test. Been using it for four hours straight though doing general web browsing over wireless and some wired networking as well. The indicator says I have 6 hours left and I think it's pretty close to being right.

Using P4G power saving, intel graphics, ram is in dual channel, using a 4gb readyboost sd card (may or may not matter), cpu usually stays at 1066 checked with cpu-z, and I have Windows 7 optimized to use only services and processes I need. It runs quick enough and I could even set the cpu max to a lower setting but I don't think that would save any more battery, it would just take longer to do everything thus eliminating any actual power savings.

I think I did throttlestop for a bit but I don't remember it saving me much more battery than what I can squeeze using P4G so I don't use it anymore.

 

Well.. I think I'm out.. after fiddling with the drivers last night till early in the AM I've decided to sell this muther. Between the crappy video driver support which causes game crashing here and there.. especially in SWTOR .. and the sub par display/viewing angle I'm done with this. I'm looking for something similar sized but with real support .. and I'm considering the m11x r3.. can get an i7 on dell outlets site for around $850.. passmark score is about 3 times faster than the su7300 and the 540m is double the speed or more of our 210m. The m11x has a little smaller footprint than ours but a .33" thicker and about a half pound heavier. So it's fine.. the only thing I dont like is the alienware design..I like little more unassuming design... Anybody have any other recommendations with similar specs? Anybody ever have experience with an m11x?

 

I'm at a loss here.

I had Windows 8 on the machine, but got sick of it, so I reinstalled Windows 7, but I cannot get the video card drivers to install. I've tried every different method I've read in this thread and online (with and without the patch first, before installing wifi drivers, etc.) I've installed Windows 7 at least 5 different times trying different methods.

The drivers install, but it does not switch to the G210M during the install process like it used to (I've reinstalled Windows a few times on this machine with success with the drivers previously.) When I reboot the machine, it shows the G210M in device manager, but the status is: "Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing. (Code 39)". I've tried everything offered in any references to this problem I've found online to no avail. I'm using Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. Any ideas?

 

You should delete the Intel driver from the Windows driver repository, so it doesn't install automatically when you uninstall it, and that shoud be all.. the next time you install the correct drivers, it should install the correct Intel and Nvidia drivers and work correctly.

 

just a quick update.. as if anyone cares .. I ended up ordering an Acer timelinex 3830tg..13.3.. i5 2410 , 4gb , and a gt540/optimus .. refurb'd on amazon for $520 shipped. Looks about the same specs as the m11x but with a similar design as the ul30vt. Hoping to get around $300 for the ul30vt so the upgrade won't cost me too much. Also I really hope from now on I can just download vid drivers from Nvidia themselves!

 

Which driver am I looking to delete specifically? I've gotten it to not have the Intel drivers installed and only be displayed as a "Standard VGA Graphics Adapter", but the same still happens. Installs fine, but doesn't switch.

I tried modifying the patch to look for the device ID which the standard adapter is and removing that, but that doesn't work either.

 

I tired restoring using the ASUS recovery disks, but it seemed to treat my SSD as if it was the 500GB HDD the laptop came with originally, partitioning it incorrectly and making it unusable. Is there a way to use the ASUS recovery disks and specify the partitions manually?

 

Nah you can get $350-$400 even selling it here. Just as long as it's in very good condition.

Don't mess with recovery disks, just do an oem install: http://forum.notebookreview.com/win...-7-download-links-just-like-vista-before.html

 

Yes But i did an OEM install but my system is not so stable...
Please someone post a guide to optimize the Ul30vt reinstallation with 2012 tricks.. there are people here like fendora that did wonderful things.. Bios modding etcetera..
WE NEED A NEW GUIDE!!!! !
PLEASE FENDORA MAKE A GUIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Sadly I don't have enough time for now...

But that's not very difficult, you just have to install a clean windows seven, then install the newest Nvidia hybrid drivers :
http://www.nautisiandesigns.com/drivers/testing/HGMS_N26063_I2020_x64.exe

Use this post to help you : http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...cial-owners-lounge-redux-204.html#post8153425

Then install the other drivers from the Asus website.
P4G should work, mine does not install but as i said, i don't have enough time at this moment so i just switch using the nvidia icon in the windows toolbar.

 

350 or more? well if anyones interested I'll sell for $325 with free shipping.. I'm going to put the original hd back in and restore this weekend. I would say around 8.5/10 condition. Just minor wear of the screen touching the keyboard area. I'm going to list on ebay at that much but would be nice to dodge ebay percentage.. I've got an ebay account started back in 1998 with 100 percent positive feedback on 170 transactions.

 

Fendora, I hope you have backups of your file that was hosted on megaupload...

 

Thanks! After wrestling with the drivers ASUS provides for days this method finally worked for me. Is there any risk to keeping Windows in test mode?

 

Yep, same here but i use TStop when I OC so i can set the VID for 1906. i get spoiled when CPU is in OC..but not for best battery life

 

micman : Sadly I don't. x)

It's a shame what the US did to megaupload, so many people have important things on it...
I hope it will come back.

But that's not a problem for this file, i can create it again.

 

Dear fendora,
I know that u have no time to make a guide but can u please answer to these questions? I have no time and money to play with the ul30vt and I m hoping that you will share your knowledges. I don't want to buy a new laptop and I want to extend the life of my Asus. Here are my question..In particular:
1. What kind of ssd u advice? There is limitation in height of 2,5inch drives?
2. There is the chance to open and clean from dust the laptop, or it is difficult?
3. What your modded bios can do?
4. In order to format and reinstall windows 7, after following the post for nautisdriver , what other drivers shall we install ? What version of power4gear?
5. Over clock of CPU and gpu is easily achievable?
6. Any chance to mod the intel
7. Any solution for the upturn down camera?

Thank u in advance!

Thank u in advance

 

hi guys,
I've a big issue with my UL30VT. my nvidia graphic card does not work anymore on the laptop's screen but still works with HDMI on the TV scrren... i've tried last Nautis drivers and the ones from asus but no changes. I've formated the pc 6 times trying different combination (with or with out vga patch...) but still no picture on the laptop screen. the screen is illuminated but stays black. do you have any idea?? (sorry for my english, i'm french). The problem might have come after using a soft to remove drm on an itune video, but i thought that would be over after new win 7 install : but nope...
Thanks

 

@fendora: I thought I had a backup of your BIOS file but I can't find it. I'll let you know if I do

Some of your questions are quickly answered with a brief google search, whereas other questions are specifically looking for experienced advice. I'll try to answer accordingly and I hope it helps.
1. Get a new Intel or Samsung as they will provide a speed boost, save power, and extend the life of your laptop by a little
2. It took me 30 minutes to open the laptop, clean the fan, and put it back together. That's not bad and you can do it just make sure you keep the screws and parts organized
3. the modded bios overclocks the nvidia g210m
4. http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...-ul30vt-faq-official-owners-lounge-redux.html click the link here and scroll down to find the answer to your question
5. overclocking is easy, but if you aren't careful you can break something
6. I tried to mod the intel and couldn't. the program for it doesn't support our chipset yet, and may never do so. You can change some settings within the stock driver to tweak things a little but it won't help you much
7. google this term without quotations: "ul30vt upside down webcam"

Does it work on your Intel driver? you didn't specify. If the Intel driver doesn't work either then you have a problem with your LCD or the cable that goes from your motherboard to your LCD.

 

yes the intel works fine. the laptop screen is ok for sure, it's something with the nvidia...

 

@ Boscovich :
1. What kind of ssd u advice? There is limitation in height of 2,5inch drives?
------------------------------------------------------------------------>
Any SSD will do, the height is somewhat important but that's for HDD, i don't remember any SSD with those height issues.
I recommend a recent one, with TRIM, you could find an intel 80go which is a very decent ssd for a few bucks.
Stick to the best brands (Intel, crucial, samsung, gskill, ocz...)

2. There is the chance to open and clean from dust the laptop, or it is difficult?
------------------------------------------------------------------------>
It's not that hard actually, from what i remember. If you're used to disassemble laptops it's an easy one. Disassembling a G53/G73 however is a pain...

3. What your modded bios can do?
------------------------------------------------------------------------>
It only overclocks the Nvidia GPU clocks, permanently, making useless overclock softwares such as msi afterburner. I prefer my overclocks to be that way. Plus it works on linux too, if you have it.

4. In order to format and reinstall windows 7, after following the post for nautisdriver , what other drivers shall we install ? What version of power4gear?
------------------------------------------------------------------------>
Nearly everything which is on the asus drivers page i think. ^^
P4G version 1.1.25.

5. Over clock of CPU and gpu is easily achievable?
------------------------------------------------------------------------>
GPU o/c can be done with a software (Evga precision, msi afterburner i think) or directly in the bios with a modded bios, made with the frequencies you want.
CPU o/c can be done with setfsb for example. Keep in mind the SU7300 is already o/c (From 1.3ghz to 1.73Ghz) with P4G...

6. Any chance to mod the intel
------------------------------------------------------------------------>
You mean mod the intel videocard?
Dunno, i don't think so though.

7. Any solution for the upturn down camera?
------------------------------------------------------------------------>
I unplugged the webcam, i hate those things.



@ Boscovich :
That's strange, i can't think of any software issue that could cause this...
Imho there must be an hardware issue in your case, perhaps caused by a software, who knows.
Did you try with linux? I think without modifications, ubuntu uses the nvidia card only.

 

Hmm, should I be able to switch the gpu with this 260.63 driver in the taskbar? Seems that the Nvidia hybrid icon only shows that using the improved graphics, but does not do anything when clicked...

 

yes, that's strange i might try tonight with ubuntu, that's a good idea. at least if it doesnt work two that would be a hardware issue then? but still : if the nvidia works well with hdmi, it can't be dead... so why?!

 

Sivali : It doesn't work when P4G is correctly installed, but works when p4G is not installed, that's my case.

Ikiro : It could be a hardware issue in the display module regarding the LCD connection.
What you could try too would be flashing your bios with the latest from Asus, with ezflash. It might revive your card.

 

already tried to flash but as im in 211 already it doesnt want to reflash. maybe i should flash with yours modded firmware? or maybe you've an idea on how to reflash with the same 211 firmware ??

 

so i've managed to reflash with firmware 210 and 211... still the same problem. but how could this happen if its hardware problem?? the laptop didnt move from the desk, has never fallen... really dont get it!! i'll try with ubuntu tomorrow but that might be the same issue...

 

The nvidia gpu is susceptible to heat even though these cards are pretty low wattage and shouldn't die. Still, any number of things could cause it to malfunction prematurely, the solder could have developed micro-fractures or the gpu could have been one of the few rare bad units. As long as there are electronics and heat, there will always be hardware failure.

Now, is this the case for yours? I don't know, but it does sound like a possibility. It would be sweet if there was a way to check and see for sure whether the hdmi was working because it defaulted to the Intel when the nvidia stopped working. Not sure if it can do that but I'm also not sure there's even a way to check.

Does device manager say anything when you use the nvidia card via hdmi?

 

thanks for your replies guys. The device manager says nothing wrong on both graphic cards. I'vr boot on ubunt usb drive and it says "unknown" for graphic drivers. i really dont know what to do, the last thing is maybe contact asus support for graphic card changing but i'm not sure because of the price...

 

A little late to the party..you did a clean install of W7 using stock video drivers? The part where you said the 210m worked over HDMI bothers me

Sounds like the chip is working but you may have a hardware switching problem as per Fendora.

Do you have a spare drive? IMHO, try one last fresh install but use all default drivers off the original driver DVD. I'm still using all the old drivers with very little problems. The idea is to absolutely rule out driver conflicts.

I used the digital river W7HP ISO + Driver DVD - shovel ware for last clean install over a year ago.

If all is lost, then let us know if Asus offers a flat rate repair and how much.

Regards!

 

I received the Acer 3830tg I bought as a replacement for my ul30vt.. since the battery was going and the video driver issue was bugging me to no end.. anyway for anyone interested this laptop is pretty killer.. pretty much the exact size.. if anything smaller than the ul30vt.. other than it is barely noticeably heavier. Performance wise while it does seem to be a bit faster .. not night and day.. it does have an i5 4230 in it so it's theoretically about 3 to 4 times faster .. and with my ssd in it most things are just about instant.. but when it comes to gaming it's nuts.. it was so nice just downloading the newest driver from nvidia and it not having the "your hardware not detected" error. I ran 3dmark06 with not oc and got 8930 .. thats almost 3 times faster than 210m .. Rage/Skyrim/SWTOR all play silky smooth at native res and on or around highest settings. Screen quality is not way better but definitely if anything better.. viewing angles are better too. Also battery life is as good or better.. brought it to work yesterday and it was on for about 8 hours.. screen 60 percent and off and on use.. but it was running that long.. when I left it had 12 percent. Anyway .. just thought I would throw this out there for others that were frustrated with there ul30vt as I was.. who liked the size .. battery life.. and a mobile gamingtop. Very affordable upgrade.. This was a ~$225 upgrade for me.. way well worth it.

 

For those of you who are using the newer Elan touchpad drivers (which include the pinch zoom and other features) and noticed that after the laptop goes to sleep or hibernates, those new features don't work anymore, well I think I've figured out what triggers the problem: if you enable password on wake, you will lose the features. I just happened to disable password on wake for some of my power settings, and I noticed the features stayed in working condition, so I tested it out and it looks like that is the difference maker. Not sure if this has been posted yet, but there you go...

 

alrady did the proper install with stock drivers. still nothing with nvidia on laptop but works perfectly with hdmi.... i'll try asus support next week but i'm affraid of the price. i might let it like this....

 

Looks like a nice laptop, I love the way the bottom cover comes off!

This laptop was not around when the ul30vt were on sale. With the hardware it should be a far better than the UL30vt for games.

The ul30vt can play light games but it was never marketed as a gaming machine thus the stupid driver issue has never been an issue, at least for me. No one has bothered to post the modded driver vs the ancient Asus drivers frame rate for games. OC the cpu/gpu..poof better frame rate if you dare.

I missed the part on your battery issues, however a laptop with a non removable battery scares me a bit. I guess the Acer batteries never fail?

The non lv i5's, like mine and yours, will run HOT when you crank the GPU up for extended game play. This is why we both will suffer throttling issues on my x775 and yours; unless the work arounds like BIOS or Throttlestop are used.

So many issues with a whole range of laptops. I get the feeling some people bought the old UL30vt for the wrong reasons..but agree that Asus, and all the rest, tend to take your money and run?

 

Hello Fendora.

Question please. My temps are starting to creep up. I'm planning to re-paste in time. Did you use all paste or combo pads and paste? I have tubes of paste but no thermal pads.

TIA

 

I bought this Intel Wireless adapter to replace the Atheros in my silver UL30VT. I installed it and rebooted today and it's listed in device manager as a "Network Controller". Windows doesn't detect any drivers for it and the driver tool on the Intel site doesn't recognize any Intel wifi device on my machine.

Anyone else had this issue or have any ideas for me to try?

P.S. I hooked up the antenna cable to the #1 pin on the adapter.

*edit* After installing the Intel PROSet Wireless Admin software and trying to enable the Wifi Adapter with the Fn Keys it worked like a charm. Not sure what did the trick but glad it's working now!

 

Hello
I recently reformatted my Ul30vt-a1, and I reinstalled all the recommended drivers the ATK, and stuff although I am missing two things from before Im not sure where to look for.

I'm running bios 211 and ever since I reformatted (I updated bios before I reformatted) I have been missing the Graphix boost and nvidia control panel which lets you switch your graphics cards and the turboboost button in p4g.
I am using p4g 1.25 with the turbo boost but I reinstalled it several times and the button doesn't show.
I tried plugging it in, and turning it to high performance but its not showing up. I was wondering if anyone could help me find out whats missing

thanks

 

Was this a clean install?

Do you have your original driver DVD? The included text list is also the install order. I posted this way back but forget. CRS

Anyway the original Driver DVD has check boxes to not install the shovel ware. After completion you can go back and update anthing, but at least you should have a working system to start with.

 

I have the asus ul30vt-a1 which is the silver one, it didn't come with anything because it had the recovery partition on the hard drive. There was no driver or recover disk

It is a clean install on an ssd, I used my own windows 7 and cd key. So far everything works except I'm getting terrible battery life (4-5 hours average vs 8 minimum like I use to get before and I'm not using it for anything different thats more power consuming).
I also installed all the drivers from the Asus support site. The ATK, elan, nvidia, realtek etc. Everything works fine (although I haven't tried webcam and don't care if it works or not)

I'm going to assume this is probably because the video card isn't switching properly as it did with the nvidia control panel I previously used to switch them manually. The turbo boost is just a feature I wanted to play games with from time to time.

 

The first thing I did when I bought my UL30VT-A1 used was to do a fresh install. I don't remember encountering this issue. I made sure to follow the directions I found both in the owner's lounge here on nbr, and for the nvidia driver on the asus driver page.

If the issue just won't resolve, you might want to try starting from scratch again, even though I know its time consuming. Try p4g 1.24 and make sure the first thing you install is the nvidia driver from the asus site per their instructions. Hopefully that fixes it.

phishie, you should uninstall the network controller and make sure to check "delete the driver software for this device." Then reboot, and install the Intel driver which you need to download from their support site. You can't use the automatic driver detection for this card. I have the same one and I could only install it by downloading the correct driver.

 

I had a fresh format with this when I got it also, this is the first time encountering this problem I used p4g 1.24 originally, and don't remember which programs I installed the first time through. I was thinking that the problem maybe from the bios update to 211. I was on the first release bios and never updated it till recently.

is there a way to downgrade the bios safely?

 

@ Seto

So your only problem is your battery life?

Sorry , your jumping around a bit. Yes, your laptop came with the restore partition, on original drive. It should have come with the Driver DVD v.2 or you were shorted. The Driver DVD installs all, in the correct order, but you can sub your own drivers if you follow the plan. From the posts, the order is not in stone.

The P4G$ stuff is bugged. To switch GPU, I normally do so after fresh boot by using the top left button; after boot up completed. If I sleep the laptop, then this breaks P4G and i fix by another fresh boot if nessesary.

Battery life is extended on how slow you run the laptop, screen brightness, and radios used. Using all in normal, no OC, i get about 5.5 hours on my almost 2 year old 8 cell battery; all depending on CPU load with Intel GPU.

As you found out, gaming or other kills the run time. You can use P4G to set up 4 power senarios. Don't forget to look at the advanced settings in P4G. DO NOT USE Windows as the "truth" in your battery life. It lies..I have many 9 hour overseas flights with dead battery

Atached is the on disk text file which show the install order on the V2. DVD Driver Disk for anyone wanting to check how Asus does it...fwiw. I would upload the IMG ISO..but where?

View attachment FILELIST.TXT

 

You could always torrent it. There is a legal use for torrents after all. I can't really imagine Asus getting upset that you might share the iso of their drivers which are already posted online for all to download.

If you do torrent it, let me know as I will consider seeding it for a while.