Asus UL30VT FAQ / Official Owners Lounge redux

You can't really just update to the latest Nvidia drivers and then updat the intel drivers... :/

You see, our laptops are hybrid, and this is not common, and there is not recent driver updates...
Nvidia and asus stopped to work on this, so the only way is either to have the laptop running correctly is either to stick with the ones on the asus ul30vt support drivers pages, (the old ones) or use newer ones (but not the latest) tweaked by owners of hybrid laptops.

But this is such a mess, it's difficult to have these running flawlessly.

I always had some bugs at some point and decided to stick with the old ones, which work perfectly, even though they're not the latest. =)

 

Can the BIOS be modified using AMIBCP or MMTOOL?

 

Hi Guys !

Finally got the dow to get me an UL30 VT - and I'M REALLY GLAD I chose this little fella' !

Best PC I've ever had.
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* B U T *
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Trouble in paradise :-/
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INTERMITTENT Blackouts on my UL30VT ! + !
>> Here's what happens:
With absolutely no apparent reason, the notebook *COMPLETELY* stops and loses all power , i.e. 100% OFF ! (*everything* stops: of course screen goes black).
*Very* spontanously / intermittent.
This happens on battery power AND/OR on mains power, does not matter which, does not matter what state of charge the battery is at, and the mains power adapter is 100% OK (not faulty).
-> It's like if a MAJOR power lead to the 'puter itself, is "semi-broken" with only intermittent contact.
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Gaah! This is happening AS I'M WRITING THIS - five six times so far, and counting ...
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Additional observations:
1) The Major power button ( On/Off, top right ) has no longer its blue backlight.
2) Batteries drain when attached ( I have two batts ; same symptom ) even when turned off.
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Just to be clear: it's NOT a software "freeze", "crash", "bluescreen", or similar.
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ANY SUGGESTIONS ?
ANY HELP GENUINELY APPRECIATED !

>> Does anyone have an electric block-scheme? Or photos of the internals, showing where
the major Power feed ( after battery and the input selecting cirquitry ) are at ?

EDIT:
Oh, forgot ..
And it DOES *NOT* RESTART itself .
I usually remove the battery AND the power adapter (i.e. no power to the notebook
whatsoever) , and someone said to press the power button for 30 seconds . . . ( yes ? )
After that, I attach both battery and power cord and then it usually - BUT NOT ALWAYS - starts as if nothing had happened . . . ( of course Windows says "Windows was shut down abnormal" et.c. , and everything else of software operation has to be restored ).

Help !

 

Battery draining while turned off seems to indicate a major hardware power-related problem...

Can't you send it to warranty?

Does it shut down when in the BIOS?
You could try to format and reinstall windows to be sure.
If the pc does NOT shut in the bios, you could try to flash to the latest bios (Even if it's the same).

 

hey everyone,

I tried repasting my computer today and when i put it back together, my screen doesn't work. I tried reconnecting the cables but that didn't help.. =(
has anyone ever experienced this or know what to do? =( thanks

 

Does it work on an external screen?

If yes, does it boot? 90% chance is you forgot something during putting it back.
The rest is, well, you may have damaged something. :/

Focus on getting something on an external screen, then on having the image back on your main screen (check the screen cable at both ends).

 

Hey everyone! This thread has been extremely useful and I've been reading posts here and there. However, I didn't find anything regarding Diablo 3. Was anyone able to get Diablo 3 running on the UL30VT? Once I installed, the game says my drivers are out of date. I'm seeing if the modded 197.16 drivers will work but I'm doubtful.


Edit
Somehow, it Diablo 3 starts up on 197.16. Can play on the lowest settings but it slows down when a lot of activity is going on.

 

Yes, it can be modified using amibcp ~v3.5.

 

BIG THANKS! 'Fendora' !!

Yes... and also the missing backlight on the power button indicates a hardware problem, don't you think ?

What I could afford was a factory-refurbished unit. It came with just 6 months guarantee, and those have passed by now. For the record, I claimed a faulty screen because of two "blobs" of darker, lesser light intensity (looking just like two eyes staring back at you), and ASUS accepted my claim and replaced the screen within the 6 months of warranty.
>> Now *that* is a lead --- (read further down)

I'm not a BIOS man ( i.e. don't handle those areas of computer management all that well ).
Ever since I discovered the W-95 OS capability of erasing itself from a command by someone less educated (*coff*) , I'm prone to believe just about nothing could be too weird a (mis)function of Windows (" common sense is thrown out of the Windows").
Even so , I can't get my head around that a string of commands could generate 'spontaneous' , intermittent , complete and instant TOTAL loss of power at all parts of the pc ??

What I did was take a really small screwdriver, and quite a bit of courage, and took mu UL30Vt apart to some extent - making sure I was *very* careful ( f.ex. placing the tiny screws *exactly* in the order they were ).
- What I did find, was that just about EVERY screw was very loosely tightened. And we all .. (?) .. know *that* can result in intermittent earthing failure, which in turn potentially gives the weirdest symptoms.
You'd think that it would be unlikely, but over time many metals oxidize on surface ( that means TROUBLE ).

Here are some pics:






I reassebled , and tightened all screws good.

-= KNOCK ON WOOD! =- after that, it's been plain sailing: not one hickup.
And at least one test of the battery drainage passed with flying colors!

I'll keep you posted !

 

I think it was just something making contact, it could have been a screw or a cable you replaced. =)

 

so it seems that my ram wasn't seated well enough.
the computer turned on but no beeps and nothing on the screen.
after i reseated the ram chips, everything was fine

 

Hey Fendora,

just a little curious. Do you game? if so what kind of temps do you get?

 

prodigy21 : Ofc I play some games, it would be a waste not to.

Here are my temps after 3 hours of L4D2 (maxxed out, running very good) :


This is with the gpu o/c, the cpu o/c and the cpu undervolt.
I did a repaste too though, it helped a lot I think.

 

I haven't "replaced" anything.
* Read but not understood *
What, when, where would "something make contact" regarding xxx what ?
There was apparently NO CONTACT to make a qualified guess regarding the original problem(s)
with sudden 'black-out(s)'.
That is, no contact in the *MAIN* power supply to the computer itself.
All these very loosely tightened assembly screws do seem suspicient to my mind.
As I wrote: " ASUS accepted my claim and replaced the screen within the 6 months of warranty."
Now THAT could, in my mind, be an instant when a poor mechanical reassembly could have occured.
The only thing replaced is the screen (and top lid with it ), and
that was done by authorized ASUS workshop.
-
-
Sorry that the pics turned out so big.
If you like, I could edit the post with just links to the pics.
-
-
HOW DO I DISCONNECT THE KEYBOARD
(the last pic, with part of the multi-connector for the keyboard) ?
Do you just pry it apart with a small flat screwdriver , or ?
I'd like to replace it with a back-illuminated* one, like described elsewhere.
( Remember *I'm living without any electricity, and thus don't have any ambient light
= after dark it's *REALLY* awkward to type in the dark with this standard keyboard.
-
-
cheers

 

@BEN : I meant removing and putting something back. ^^

A loose screw could have made contact with something and the computer may have shut down because of this.

To remove the keyboard's ribbon, all you have to do is flip the white part (lock) upward, but be careful to do this slowly and gently, it's fragile.
Then you'll be able to remove the ribbon.

If i remember correctly though, you can't replace the keyboard with a backlit one.
The main reason is, the ul30vt does not have the plug to power up the light. Backlit keayboards need two plug.

The only way to have a backlit keyboard one the ul30vt is buying a backlit keyboard that can fit the ul30vt, AND soldering the additionnal plug (for the lights) to a +5v point one the motherboard. Some tutorials are available, look for them.

Except if you're handy enough to add a switch, you won't be able to turn the backlighting off.

 

BEN, to add to Fendora, see page one of this thread. I'm not sure if the old links are good in finding the keyboard. Mine was $25 or so and two weeks in delivery time.

When the cabin lights are down, the keyboard really shines I did not bother with a switch and pulled the 5 volts off the MB. See the keyboard mod for pictures.

As far as your original problem, two years ago, the California repair depot was the one to sent it to. I did not check your location. As fas as me, myself and I, this is my last Asus due to service...unless I go for third party warranty like square trade OR buy from a good re-seller. I think that Asus has not upgraded their service centers as fast as model changes ; and this goes for a few other vendors as well, IMHO, and reader feedback. Asus sent me a used HD, with 8k hours, for my 1 week old drive replacement..then told me I should NOT expect a new drive. The nerve of me, LOL.

If you have the patience, call Asus service before your time is up on the screen replacement or did you solve the black outs?

 

Hi everyone,

I have an UL30VT-A1. I have an annoying issue with it. On the top left corner of my silver lid (keyboard-side). To be precise, I want you guys to look at page 10 of the disassembly guide.

http://allurgroceries.com/asus_disassembly/UL30Vt Series Chapter 2.pdf

So, the problem is that the most top-right screw (pink circle) is totally loose. Even if I try to tighten the screw with a screwdriver, it won't tighten. I'm guessing that the hole for the screw is messed up or something. So, whenever I try to open the laptop, the top-left lid is always opening up. Is there anyway to fix this?

Let me know if any of my explanation is confusing and need clarification.

Thanks!

 

If I understand you the either the brass stud is stripped or has broken loose in the plastic lid frame. This may mean the adjoining brass stud and all the plastic snaps are damaged as well. The plastic snaps should keep things together unless previously twisted and broken?

I can only suggest that you follow the guide, originally posted by Dave, and separate your screen. The link should be on the first page or so.

If the brass stud has just pulled loose, you’re lucky, glue it back with epoxy or thick superglue. If the brass stud or screw is stripped then you must find a substitute or order the frame from Asus parts or ebay. You could also fill and tap the stud hole depending on how handy you are. Taping the edge with black tape may be a quick low cost option if funds and time is low.

 

Wait, why should I separate my screen, if only plastic case is the problem?

What do you mean by "brass stud"? You mean the screw, right?

Thanks!

 

LOL, sorry, your description of "silver and lid" messed with my little mind.

Ok, then you mean the top deck i think. The laptop body is also held together with plastic snaps and the screws you mentioned.

The screws screw into small brass nuts, like the screen lid, to hold everything tight. The brass studs are the same thing as nuts with a hole. I called them studs because they stick up on plastic pedestals, in most cases, but are really nuts for clarification.

So, same thing as the screen lid frame, the nuts are stripped or have been pulled or twisted out from over tightening.

I'm offshore atm so cannot download the file I think you have. If not, look for Dave's take down file. I can only advise you to remove the bottom plate to allow you access to the brass nuts that the screws screw into.

Let us know..someone may have a better idea?

 

THANKS guys !!
*Really* appreciate the input..

@" Fendora"
Ok. Since my reassembly (and proper tightening of all the screws) everything's been 100% stable.
Also, no battery discharge has occured.
Now my thinking is leaning a tad toward the I/O (on/off) button ;
it has lost its blue backlight, but that in itself is just a minor nuissance:
The more serious suspicion is whether the button is mechanically broken on the inside
(not visible from the outside) stopping the blue LED shining
AND PERHAPS CAUSING INTERMITTENT POWER SHORTAGES ? ( Like you suggest )
[ I've only ever meant losely tightened screws .. ( I wouldn't dream of having any loose screws inside my notebook !? ) ]
Thanks for the advice on the ribbon connector ! *thumbsup!*
If I remember correctly, you can replace the key board with a backlit one
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/465841-ul30-backlit-keyboard-mod.html
So : to sum it up : the battery discharging has disappeared (while the phenomena still remains a mystery), the on/off button is suspicious,
but otherwise "all is well".
-
@" hydra"
Oh , Hi there! Been quite a while ..
Well, you really do have some nerve ! ( your HD was used, too, right? )
" If you have the patience, call Asus service before your time is up on the screen replacement or did you solve the black outs?"
Ok. To clarify:
The screen replacement under warranty took place at the very end of the 6 months warranty period my refurbished
UL30VT was offered with ( I liked it so much I really didn't want to admit it actually was faulty - and so I hesitated )
So , no more warranty. ( That's why I'm preparing to do the keyboard mod at this point ).
On the upside , the black-outs have stopped after I reassembled. (Knock on wood ).
Everything seems normal, so far, including the battery draining issue ( that's really a mystery ; any thoughts ? ), but excluding the I/O button backlight ( any thoughts ? )
By the way - "last but not least" : " to add to Fendora" - that's a nice touch, that!

*EDITED to rephrase some parts.

 

Has anyone tried putting the Windows 8 Release Preview on their UL30VT. I'm curious to see how compatibility works

 

Hopefully I will find the time to try installing Win8RP today

 

Hi, I've been looking at the UL30VT-A1 and it looks really good, however, this model IS almost 3 years old. I was wondering if you guys still think it's definitely up to par with current laptops? I'm looking for a rather portable one that still has some power so it won't go obsolete, and as a college student I can't really afford anything with the i3/i5/i7 processor in it.

 

I think it's still good. It runs everything I need it to run fine (Office, old games, internet browsers, coding programs). You have to base it on what kind of hardware you need. If you need the power of an i5 but don't need the dedicated GPU this laptop has, then there are other laptops out there in the same price range that will fit that.

 

I'm a postgraduate student and use this laptop as my primary machine. It's runs everything smooth. From time to time I play an older game, eg CoD:MW2. If you run programm that requires a lot of CPU Power, get sth else. I have to do alignments from time to time, for which I usually use the dektops at our lab. But its portable, long-lasting battery, switchable graphics. Save some money for a SSD, an absolut must-have-upgrade.

 

Everything cmasupra said and more I can only add that you take out Square Trade warranty or ask Asus if they can support you with repairs. This is a used UL30 your looking at, right? Any offered returns?

 

Has anyone succesfully installed a driver for the Nvidia on Windows 8 Release Preview? (I´ve tried the 260.63 and the original driver)
I´ve also experienced problems with the Fn-keys not working using the ATK_package (V1.0.0017), and problems with the software for my SSD.
Otherwise it works like charm!

Edit1: Solved the FN-key problem installing the ATK files separately instead of using the ATK_package.
Edit2: Thanks to Gandalf_The_Grey Samsung has been made aware of the compatibility issue with their SSD software.

 

Hello All,

I've loved this laptop for a while but it has been giving me major issues as of late. Unfortunately I am out of warranty now. I'm moderately experienced in technical repair (not afraid to take it apart and do some soldering if I absolutely have to).

I'm at my wits end- my charger plug has become extremely finicky on the end that inserts into the computer. The computer will cycle through "charging/unplugged" states for and indefinite amount of time. I've replaced the actual charger cord itself to no avail. I have noticed that wedging something



to force an angle and it helped somewhat originally but has lost its usefulness. Has anyone come across this problem before?

Any help is much appreciated!

 

I've dealt with a couple laptops whose power jacks broke. You'd have to take apart the laptop until you can de-solder the power jack from the motherboard (or whatever board it's attached to because it's not the motherboard in every laptop). Then you'd have to re-solder a new power jack onto the board.

As for fixing the current power jack, I'm not sure it's possible. Is the middle pin just bent? Maybe take a picture of the jack from the side without the power cable in it.

 

Same as Cmasupra.

But the powerjack might "just" be de-soldered, not necessarily broken. I'll try to redo the soldering before buying a new power jack.

If you need to buy a new one, check ebay, it's easy to find, and it'll cost you around 5 bucks shipping included from Asia. (1-2 weeks delivery)

 

I have had no success with the graphics. I have blown off so much time trying to get the drivers working :/

I can get the regular driver stable for a few hours, but once when it craps out it needs a whole bunch of work. I am not positive but it seems like my 210m never powers down even when the drivers act stable. I have not confirmed it as college is out for summer and battery life isnt a priority at the moment

Are you able to get 260 to install? I just get a failure each time. the installer just keeps throwing errors for tampered files :\

I had no idea that this thread existed until now... ive always thought that
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...fficial-ul80vt-ul50vt-vs-owners-lounge-2.html
was the lounge for the 80,50, and 30

 

The really big problem is that Nvidia/Asus stopped supporting Hybrid GPU's long time ago.
Using Win7 it's possible to use the 260 from Nautis, and I hope someone will make a Hybrid driver for Win8. With this driver it's a known issue that the Nvidia device does not disable.
I haven't had the time myself trying to get the newly released Nvidia 302 or 304 driver to work.
Are you using Win7 or 8?

 

I'm on 8. I am aware of the driver woes this laptop has unfortunately, I don't think this laptop is popular enough anymore for somebody like Nautis to step up and try and patch things along. I've tried multiple times but nothing is ever stable or close to it haha.

On a different note, does anybody have a copy of WinVista7_64_15171.exe (Intel GMA 15.​17.1.​2086)?
I can not find it anywhere. Extremely frustrating!

 

Hey everyone!

i'm looking to replace my battery on my UL30VT-X1. Can anyone recommend me any good places to purchase one (preferably a 5600mAh one). If you guys suggest eBay, any specific seller? thanks!

 

Can anyone help me find a different source for a power jack? the only one I can find is this seller:

UL30 UL30VT UL30a UL30Jt ASUS DC Power Jack Socket Input Port Connector Input | eBay

They are charging 28 bucks for the jack!

Thank you for your help!

 

Hi guys I was using the modded bios that overclocks the GPU.
I keep getting crashes whenever I attempt to play Youtube videos in full screen. I have reverted to the original bios211 and everything runs normal now.
Anyone having the same experience?

p/s: Using 260 driver

 

same here, but not everytime....there is just sometime

 

My UL30 has a weird problem. When it writes to an external USB HD during say a download, it goes fine. When it is writing against the internal HD, it'll reset randomly, at a rate of maybe once a hour on average. Even if I am not doing anything, it'll reboot itself randomly at least once a day.

Seems like the disk controller on the MB might be bad? I've tried 2 different HDDs and one SSD and all has the same issue.

 

Oh man yeah thats bad all right. And it does sound like a bad controller. No bouncing back from that, you'll have to replace the mobo. That's the easiest way to fix it. But good luck finding one right now.

 

hey guys, im wondering whats the most overclocky things you can do with this laptop, im not sure if the 1st post has been updated, just curious as to what else is out there now, like that modified bios that boosts GPU, where can i read more about it? I've used it for 2 years its still going strong but I think its time to milk more out of it lol

also whats the "optimal" GPU driver for this laptop? I'm still on stock and I know nautis has newer version but what should I be doing? I'm running Win7

 

My old original battery is slowly begining to fade, only able to surf for 4.5 hours.

Asus wants $140 for my original 5600mwh 8 cell so I thought I would try one of the 12 cell cheapies.

Only one year warranty;

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005EMWOXU/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i01

 

Ouch, $60? I hope I don't need a battery soon.

Can someone tell me the best version of P4GHybrid that they use on their UL30? I've been trying a lot of different versions from the Asus support page and I can't squeeze as much battery savings out of the P4GH settings like I used to on my old installation (hard drive crashed). Call me crazy, but I assumed that having more updated drivers for the Intel GMA graphics would improve my overall battery life, even though Optimus is installed on this system.

I've also done all the typical tweaks I usually do on every system I use, but so far my battery life has been running at a steady 6hrs. The really confusing bit, it still gets 6hrs even if I leave the brightness up and run on the High Performance power plan in P4GHybrid. I am starting to wonder if P4GHybrid isn't the right program to use with optimus installed.

 

Here's one for $11 cheaper with 3 year warranty.

14.4V 7800MAH BATTERY FOR ASUS UL30Vt-X1K UL30A-X3 A42-UL50 | eBay

If I thought they used Sanyo batteries and had a no hassle return after 2.5 years, I would give them a shot.

All in all I would think they are both a bit dubious so should have gone with the cheaper deal

My original has been great; now with 15% wear; 6 hours movies but no games using discrete. However my new flights are now over 9 hours each way

How did you install Optimus? We have switching/hybrid. You need the hardware to support Optimus, like my X775.

Has your battery wear increased?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...phics-driver-ul30-50-80vt-34.html#post8681857

I wrote a little about how I installed Optimus in that thread. My battery wear is also at 15%, so it has increased. Optimus works on lots of devices, including the g210m, but the default .inf that ships with the nvidia drivers doesn't include the g210m in the installation list, so it won't install. That's why I used the drivers from laptopvideo2go as you'll see in the other thread. It allowed me to install the most recent intel and nvidia drivers with optimus working flawlessly. The combination of the better driver and overclocking the gpu and cpu got my 3DMark 06 score above 4100. Not too shabby!

 

That's an interesting thread. It sounds like the drivers gives you an Optimus like "switch mode" via software. Our CPU's do not have the video multiplexing circuits like the SB CPU's thus true Optimus operation is impossible no?

In anycase, I like the non Optimus notebooks. By pressing the GPU button, Me, myself and I, decide when the discrete GPU is to be used. Sometimes a restart is needed, after sleeping a few times, to get switching active again. Where are our updated hybrid drivers..lol. I'm still using P4G 1.1.29.

My x775 gives me fits when auto switching on some apps but is right about 90% of the time. Unlike our UL30, you can use the latest beta drivers until official updated drivers are released. For that matter, I like some of the Asus gaming laptops that blew off Optimus and never looked back.

I have found that the newer video drivers, sometimes, helps me with game compatibility. I have never seen, like wow!, 6 fps or such more by just switching drivers.

LoL, no rant intended or implied here...thoughts?

 

U R smart.

I don't know how it works so I assume you are right that it is a software switch. It's a whole lot more convenient to me because before I would have to end certain processes to switch to discrete gpu, now it happens on the fly and I don't even have to bother with it.

And I'm pretty happy to have the latest driver too. I hate using a driver as old as the laptop itself, it's just poor all around. I play current games and I need my drivers to stay up to date. I know there was a more updated modded hybrid driver, but that didn't really appeal to me as it wasn't the most recent driver anyway.

I know there are lots of complaints about Optimus, but so far I haven't found any reason to complain since it works more seamlessly than the hybrid setup the laptop came with. Games run on discrete, everything else on intelgrated. Plus, if I decide I want a specific app to run on discrete and Optimus is too dumb to figure it out, just right click the exe and click run with nvidia graphics, and boom! Discrete is active.

As for fps improvement? Well I'm not very organized with my benchmarks so I don't remember what I was getting before optimus and driver version 302.59. But I think the most improvement came from overclocking, and beyond that the driver just probably helps with preventing crashes. We'll see once I start playing Fallout New Vegas. That game is prone to a lot of crashing.

Here's my 3dmark score just for some giggles.

 

LOL, nope not smart but read alot...

"just right click the exe and click run with nvidia graphics, and boom! Discrete is active." ..and still I have to fight with certain programs as that would not work. One way would be to fire up a prgram that properly used my 560 then close and restart the one I wanted to run under discrete. HWMonitor was one but was fixed on later update.

"I would have to end certain processes to switch to discrete gpu" Yes, if certain programs were running then you could not switch. NP, I always quit to destop before trying to switch. Switching hardware with software running in the background is sure to cause BOD's, no? P4G is pretty lame and full of bugs but it gets the job done within limits.

OT
I'm looking hard at the Clevo 11" W110ER as the future replacement for the 13" Vt30. Fast as heck but runs hot, no lighted keyboard..yet , and only 3.5 hours on battery with Optimus. It also heavier than the ul30vt not including the monster 120W brick with the i7 model. LOL, if not for being hooked on games, I could just do with the in CPU HD4000 which is supposed to bench faster than the old 210M.

cheers

 

Hey guys I'm having some issues with getting the stock overclock to take place. I'm watching the bus speed stay at 200mhz even when I go into the High Performance profile. I recently reformatted and it seems like I have my discrete graphics back but Youtube videos seem choppy and the laptop seems a bit sluggish. Can anyone help me out? Let me know what information I need to provide.

Edit: I do not have the newest Power4Gear installed but 1 version older. The reason being is that I got some error saying I should contact my vendor and that the installation on the newest driver could not complete. If anyone could provide any assistance that would be great

I tried doing multiple searches on this subject but it just kept returning me to the UL30VT owners lounge without any help

 

@jwayne

Do you have the orginal driver DVD? If not, go here; http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...cial-owners-lounge-redux-211.html#post8288529

i would suggest clean install, I use the free USB method, and then use the driver dvd iso (or burn disk) to place the drives in proper order. Uncheck the ones you do not want to install!

Forgot.. Micman posted the same dvd in a torrent if you want to use torent software.

GL!