ASUS UX32A Fan Goes On, Off, On, Off.

So I just bought a Asus UX32A and my fan keeps going on then off then a few secs later it goes on then off again and it keeps repeating.

I installed the OS on the SSD following this guide http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...install-windows-7-integrated-32gb-ssd-24.html

and everything seems to be going great so far OTHER than this fan. I barely paid any attention to the fan before when it was at factory settings so I am not sure if this is the comp's issue or the OS on SSD's issue.

Any insight?

 

seems to be the way it is for many new ux3somethings.

 

It's possible that the notebook is running at the edge of the cutoff temperature for the fan so the fans starts, components cool down, go below the threshold, the fan cuts off, components heat up and the cycle repeats. My G73 does that when it's on battery.

 

Have you tried doing the bios update. When you restart your computer and press F2 what bios version are you running. Here is a link where you can update the bios ASUSTeK Computer Inc. -Support- Drivers and Download UX32A

 

I have the latest BIOS. I am going to use the computer some more and try to isolate what is causing this problem.

 

You can monitor the fan behavior with Fanspeed. Link: SpeedFan. You will notice the fans stop if all temperatures (cores, case, gpu) are below 50°C and the fans start if any of the temperatures is above 50°C or if the cores working. So ASUS didn't setup correct fan control thresholds. I hope they fix it.

Another problem is the not propper working quiet mode. Intel CPU support a passiv cooling mode. Instead of starting the fans the clockrate is throttled if the temperature is to high. This allows a slower but theirfore silent use. Anyway the ASUS UX32VD throttles the CPU but the fans still start at 50°C instead of an higher temperature like 70°C. As written in other threads with non UX32 ASUS models it is working correctly. So Asus can do the job in the right way but failed with this model.

Tested with BIOS 211

 

I´m having the same problem but with the factory installation (ie on the hd and not ssd) so that shouldn´t be the problem

 

So there's no way for us to override the fan control? How is there no petition or anything to get ASUS to fix this issue?

 

I have the exact same issue, the fan kicks in for about 10 seconds then stops then comes in again

Made all the more frustrating by the fact it's completely silent otherwise (I have a Samsung SSD installed) so my dreams of a completely silent system are ruined!

Hopefully a future update will fix this.

 

Sometimes my zenbook seems to fix itself, when I am outside of windows (bios). I have now reistalled windows and it runs quite....for now.

 

the fan protocol is sort of stupid. if you're going above and below 30c, the fan will go on and off.

i wish they had a protocol where they would leave the fans off till 40c, then run the fans to cool it down to 30c and then turn off again.
that way, there's a 10c range of silence.

 

The fans are variable speed. When the temp threshold is reached, they should turn on ever so slightly so they're still inaudible. As the temps rise, they slowly spin up. INSTEAD, they turn on at 50% (which is fairly powerful), immediately cool down the component, and turn off.

From another thread:

 

"I remain hopeful that Asus will actually fix the problem though, either with a BIOS or driver update."
-Signed, Francis Drake, 1578, The Strait of Magellan.

 

I've just purchased a UX31A, and I have the same fan speed issue. It works perfectly fine (and quietly) if I cold boot the PC, but if I resume it from sleep mode, the fan speed problem rears its head. See the attached image of Speedfan capturing the behavior -- this is with the CPU at 1% load continually through this crazy fan cycling.

If I reboot the PC, it works perfectly, and the fan is off or barely audible when the PC is idle at 1% as above. Back to sleep mode, resume, and this problem is right back.

Asus support was not helpful.

I updated the BIOS to the latest (212) on their web site, and no change was noticed.

Surely there is a fix out there someplace?



EDIT: I guess I'm too new or something to upload images? Anyway the graph looks just like a sawtooth between ~3400rpm and ~5100rpm...a slow fall down to 3400 then immediate vertical ramp to 5100rpm then slow drop, etc.

 

I dont even have Intel Dynamic whatever you quoted installed...

 

cross-posting this from another thread "Zenbook UX32VD noise/heat problems?" as I found this thread a little after posting there and I think this one is more relevant. Mod, please feel free to delete my post on the other thread

I received a UX32A two days ago and it has exhibited the same problem as above right from first use. The fan started whirring at full blast just a few seconds after starting up. It runs for a few (3-30) seconds before going completely off. Then upon opening anything (application, tab in google chrome, etc) it starts off again for a few seconds.

My bios version was 206 (this is the one that is listed on the Asus website as having an "Update to thermal policy".) I upgraded to the latest as of today, version 211. This has not made a difference.

I installed the software Speedfan, which tells you the temperature that each component is running at currently. From what I have observed the threshold for the fan to blast off on the UX32A seems to be 47C. Speedfan tells me the HDD is always under 40C. The SSD, CPU Core 0, and CPU Core 1 (i.e. the two-cores on the i5 dual-core processor) all work up to the 43-47C mark within a few minutes of boot up, just on light use (4-10 google chrome tabs, word processor). Then each time one of the components goes above 47C, the fan blasts off. A few seconds later the component is back to around 44C, then the fan stops. This increase of temp is when I'm not even doing anything sometimes!

I have asked amazon uk for a replacement which I will receive tomorrow. This one's going back but I hope the replacement doesn't have this problem! I will keep this thread updated.

 

That's because they haven't made any changes to the settings.

In the ux32 211 bios, they've set things like this:
-Critical Trip Point: POR (Plan of Record - the point where the computer turns off - 100 degrees C).
-Active Trip Point 0: 71 C
-Active Trip Point 0 fan speed: 100 (%)
-Active Trip Point 1: 55 C
-Active Trip Point 1 Fan Speed: 75 (%)
-Passive Trip Point: 95 C (where the processor starts throttling)

The temperatures here are on the processor die, not the ram, chassis temp, pcb, whatever. It's the processor dies, individually measured. So.. the first trip-point is 55 degrees, then the fan is set to 75%. On a 3.1Ghz Intel Processor, you typically get over this point at very light loads (or with bad cooling, you have that on idle). But it will usually idle at about 41-45 C. On the Zenbook, the heat isn't vented as easily, so it will idle a bit higher, and go higher on light loads.

The second trip-point is set to 71 degrees. Again, an intel core processor nowadays will reach 80 degrees pretty much instantly on heavy loads. But will drop below that fairly quickly again when the processors slow down again.

The "passive" trip point refers to the "passive cooling scheme". Passive cooling in this case means throttling the processor. Preventing it from enabling boost, etc.

In other words, when you start up the laptop, it will have the fan on whatever minimum frequency is set (they don't seem to have set a specific value for this in the bios). It will then go to 100% about two seconds after you use the processor on full burn. And the fan will then typically go back to idle again a few seconds after the traffic drops off.

Incidentally, the thermal policy on this rom is identical to the one on my n56vz. It's also identical to all other Asus laptop bioses I've looked at.

I.e., they don't really tweak them. They just use the same default settings on all the bioses for all their models.

So I'm sure it wouldn't hurt if a few other people than me sent a message to Asus support about it.. Even if I guess you will have to specify for them that you're not reacting to that the temperatures being too high, but that the fan goes off instantly, and that it's very loud when the temps are still low.

It won't make a difference.

 

Right! Received my replacement UX32A and have been tracking the fan and the threshold temps using Speedfan right from first startup. This is what I have to report:

The threshold temperature is the same (47C) as the first UX32A. The fan kicks in once this temp is exceeded. BUT: It is at its quietest possible setting, a really quiet, almost peaceful sort of hiss that you can only really properly hear when you stick your ear to the fan vent. The sort of quiet hiss you've always heard and come to expect from laptops, nothing louder or more disturbing..

*Unlike* the initial UX32A I was sent! Which started its fan at the same 47C threshold, but went straight at full tilt (perhaps either at the 75% or the 100% fan rpm setting that the poster above mentions). So fast that within 2s of starting Speedfan would show a 3-4C drop in temp.

An important thing I noticed to corroborate this is that Speedfan actually returns a reading for the fan RPM (3075 RPM in my screenshot below) in my replacement UX32A:

Replacement UX32A, fan running. Barely audible. Steady drop in temp until switching off once below 47C.



Initial UX32A, fan running. Loud. Drastic drops in temp. Fan kicking on and off repeatedly.



See that in the second case the fan speed is not captured (the 10-digit RPM reading seems to be a placeholder default: it shows even when the fan is off).

Note that on my replacement UX32A I did not try any of the other things that people around the internet have been doing (uninstalling Intel Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework, upgrading or downgrading the BIOS, playing around with the System Cooling Policy setting). Worth mentioning perhaps that I tried all of these on my initial UX32A and nothing has helped.

In conclusion I am entirely happy with the replacement I have been sent after my initial UX32A's fan noise problems. I'm not highly technical so it would help other owners if people more familiar with Motherboard/BIOS workings etc can comment on the above. But based on these tests I've run and having read quite extensively whatever people have posted online, some Asus Zenbook UX32A machines seem to have an error of some sort that tells the fan to run much louder than it needs to once it breaches the first temperature threshold.

On this count I will have to disagree with the poster above (nipsen) who seems to suggest that this is entirely expected behaviour for asus ultrabooks: how do you account for the difference in fan noise between the two new UX32As sitting in front of me?

For those who're stuck with this problem, if you're within your replacement period, stop worrying, go ahead and send it back and get a new machine!

 

It's unlikely that Asus will actually have the fan issues fixed any time soon. They're going to do what they do best: release another dozen models that are fixed and forget about its previous customers.

My UX32VD after some light use also have its fans blazing for a long time before it dies down. Why couldn't Asus have gone with a less aggressive fan profile? Or maybe a fan that's a bit quieter?

So much for R&D. It seems like they just draw up plans but don't actually test the products. No QC whatsoever.

I mean, what's up with the backlight bleeding issue? It would have taken an Asus employee like 10 minutes to notice such an obvious problem. I mean the whole selling point of the UX32 series IS the 1080p IPS panel being squeezed onto a 13 inch display. Some bought those things in order to watch movies on long flights. But it's obvious they don't care enough to revise their work.

 

Mm.. this has been going on for a while, it turns out.. They use these braindead bios settings for every single one of their laptops. The hardware works well, though.

Like I said, it's the same settings across all kinds of different processors and setups. Seems they haven't revised this stuff in years.

So the only problem is that the bios tweaks don't correspond to the actual hardware. Would perhaps be thought of as a problem by some laptop-manufacturers. Embarrassing, even.

But not Asus. Because they want to be like Apple, I hear. Except they're pretending they have one single hardware profile a bit early, or something..

 

Mine did the same (UX32VD, Italian version), 'till this morning! The only things I've done was checking and un-checking a couple of times the "Auto fan speed" option in SpeedFan...

Now it'll read the correct fan speed (now 3374RPM and it is dead silent)... I didn't do anything related, besides carry the laptop to University, leaving on the car floor for ~50km (~30 miles)...

Two reasons:
1) Something in speedfan fixed the issue, or
2) some cables inside are loose, and carring it around will let them making a good electrical contact...

Someone with the fan problem might try this...

 

Hello all,

I would like to share my experience with my new UX31A-R4003X (EU version, core i7 and 256Gb SSD), where I encountered same kind of fan issue after standby / resume.

I have find out that, not knowing why, the minimum processor state is always (re)set to 100% (whatever the active Power4Gear profile is and the previous minimal state was).

Which means my Intel core i7 was always running at max speed = fan goes ON and OFF all the time in "passive" management, and ON nearly all time with "active" fan management enable.

Only solution I have find out so far after a standby / resume:
- 1. go to Win7 advanced power options
- 2. reset processor minimal state to 0% or 5% (for the active power profile), instead of 100%

Then fan is back to normal :thumbsup:


Hope Asus will supply a fix soon...

 

I checked my UX31A-DB51 tonight, and on resuming from sleep, it is of course still exhibiting the fan speed problem I mentioned in my prior post, but the min processor state is at 5%. This is the same value it has on a cold boot (when the fan problem is completely non-existent). So at least in this case, that isn't the problem.

This thing runs perfectly on a cold-boot, nice and quiet. Sigh... The only good thing is that it is super fast to cold boot, unreal how fast it is, so that is at least a consolation.

 

Hi,

Where do you get the minimum processor state value ?
In Windows 7 advanced power options or in Asus Power4Gear application ?

Because I have find out Power4Gear gives a wrong information (ie always 0% or 5% )
Where Windows 7 advanced power options tells minimum state 100%...

Will try to upload some screenshots tonight (GMT+1)

 

I went to Power Options in Control Panel, clicked on Change power settings then clicked Change advanced power settings. Next a scrollable window opens up, and I navigated to Processor Power Management, clicked the "+" sign, clicked the "+" sign on Minimum Processor State and then viewed the setting it showed.

 

Ok, you look at the right place then

Just though about something else I have modified: still in the Windows 7 advanced power options, I have enabled the "Intel DPTF", which is disabled by default in most of the Power4Gear profiles (except one if I remember correctly).

I will post exact modified entries and screenshots tonight

 

Ok, excellent! I will look at my laptop tonight (NY time) and see what it shows in that regard.

 

Ok, my mistake I have turn on option "Intel DPST" (Display Power Saving Technology) under entry "ASUS P4G Power Setting / Intel DPST Control".
This option has nothing to do with processor or fan... Sorry !

About my "minimum processor state" issue, if I encounter it I will post one screenshot but so far tonight, no issue (note: I have changed and saved my power configuration through Asus Power4Gear application this time, instead of modifying it directly in Windows 7 advanced power options panel)

Must said I have a "recently build" UX31A as it was shipped with bios 212 on it, so if it is one hardware fault, it has been corrected as my fan goes well

 

Hi guys!

This is now my third UX32VD. Its a really nice piece of hardware, but the fans drive me crazy.

I found this little program named NBFC here to override the fans default values: [Vorstellung] NoteBook FanControl (NBFC) - ComputerBase Forum
Its a german forum but there is also an english description and the program itself is also in english.

I tried it out and it works quite good, but there is one issue: If the fan reaches about 50°C the fan controller overrides the values from NBFC for a second, the fan goes on for that second and right after that the NBFC values kick in and override the fan controller's values again. I have asked the developer of NBFC if he could help me out with this but in the meantime someone else could try this out.

I tried this with the Intel DPTF installed and not installed. Nothing really helped to get rid of the override.



Edit: I also got this response from the support:

"Dear Mr. ...,

thank you for contacting ASUS Technical Support, the Fan was not controlled by the Bios it was controlled through the Intel Dynamic Platform & Thermal Framework.

Please Update the Software to the latest Version, this should solve the problem.

http://nbtsd.asustreiber.de/Tools/DPTF_V6.0.5.1080.zip"

Unfortunately this does not help at all.

 

Great support from ASUS as usual I had same fan cycling problem on my UX31a after sleep mode. I installed new BiOS version 215 from the same link NB-TSD Download. No fan cycling during last 24 hours with /DPTF_V6.0.5.1080.zip installed. Need more observation.

 

The story goes on..

After I told the support guy that his mentioned solution doesnt work at all, he suggested to make a RMA request (of courese, standard solution for everything at Asus). I refused and said that I want to know, why it should be a hardware related problem and not a software related one because Asus has just really moronic programmers (not exactly my words). He also refused to give me the contact details of his boss or the next higher instance. He basically suggested to open a RMA ticket or to get my money back from my dealer and not buy it any more.

Are they kidding me? Is this how you treat customers with device related problems nowadays? I dont believe that Apple does this (actually I know they dont do this) and if Asus wants to be so much like Apple, they should consider acting in a different ways regarding such issues.

Morons..this is definitly my last Asus notebook if they dont get their sh*t together.

@Micrascan: any news on your fan behaviour? Maybe the new Bios is working better. Unfortunately there is no update for the UX32VD.

 

Looks like new BIOS solved cycling problem. My battery life improved too.

 

I have the same issue with the fan. I did a clean install of win7 x64 DPTF V6.0.5.1080 with and it didn't help.
I am sure ASUS can edit the fan profile to kick in at a slightly higher temperature threshold like 55C instead of 47C.
Otherwise everything is working really well with the 256GB Samsung SSD and the 10GB RAM upgrade.

 

Oh good, let us know if you get any developments on this! This is actually perfect, since Speedfan can't control the zenbook fans. Good find! I'll be trying this out.

 

according to the programmer of NBFC, there might be a register, where you could set the ec to manual fan speeds instead of the automatic ones from asus..

unfortunately I was not able to find that register yet..maybe someone could help me out?

 

Mine after doing that thing with speedfan has completely stopped doing erratic behaviour... neither using Windows, nor Linux... during usual light usage (office activities and web browsing) fans are going from off to ~3400RPM... no more "air dryer" problem

 

Could someone tell me how to download the latest BIOS from the Asus website? I'm having fan noise trouble too...really annoying!! It wasn't there for the first month but in the last week or two, the fan starts up when i'm doing daily non stressful tasks such as checking email or even just browsing the internet.

I downloaded the Bios 212 from the Asus website (for the UX31A) and then tried to extract the zipped file. Apparently the file can't be read?? Also, how do you know what Bios version you have?? Thanks!! Any help would be much appreciated!!

 

Never mind!! I figured out how to install the updated Bios (using the Sticky on the notebook board). However, i don't think the fan noise has resolved....it has maybe, possibly gotten slightly softer but that's about it.....

 

I just got word from headquarters that they want to help resolve the fan issue. They need you to describe the problem in detail. What programs are you using and what you think needs to be modified to resolve the fan issue.

 

..well, at least you're honest about it. Props for that

It's probably going to be enough to either:
1. Change the trip-points for the fans up to 55 degrees, and lower the max speed to 70-75%.
or
2. Disable the overrides in the bios, enable the external module (there's a specific function in the bios), and use that program interface to control the steps for the fans. Could for example gradually turn it up for every 10 degrees over 55 degrees. (From what I can see - both solutions are actually implemented already, but they need to be tweaked..).

--------

By the way - think you could possibly encourage some sort of effort on the bios-settings for the ram timing as well? That does concern 100% of Asus' laptops, after all.. And I really want to get those 1.35v ram sticks installed this year, if possible.

 

I just recently got a new UX31A as well and experiencing the fan issue where fans go from off to on (around 3400 rpms) very often during light internet browsing and usage. The fan at 3400 rpms can be heard in a quiet environment and is bothersome going on/off so often. The trip point appears to be around 47 C. Hope that the trip point can be raised to at least 55C before kicking in. CPU tends to idle around 43-45C so the fans are triggered really often. If fan speed can be lowered as well, that would be great to reduce noise while slowly cooling the machine.

If it helps, I am running the latest bios (215) and win7 x64 DPTF V6.0.5.1080.

 

Thank you for your feedback. I have sent your requests and will await response from head quarters.

 

As I mentioned earlier, I have a UX31A, and it ONLY exhibits the fan issue if I allow it to sleep. Once it comes out of sleep mode, the fan cycling begins, even with no load on the CPU. If I reboot the PC, it works perfectly. I've repeated this issue over and over again. I did update to 215 bios, but I saw no change at all. Since it has an SSD and is fast, I've just relented to shutting it down and booting cold all the time, but I would sure like to use sleep mode!

 

1. The fans cycle on and off frequently up to about 3-35000rpm during web browsing, most of the time loading web pages will trigger it but sometimes while messing around with folders and copying/pasting files etc. If the computer is just idling at the desktop or while reading a document the fans will not come on at all. It gets annoying when in a quiet room.

2. If I put the computer to sleep, awaken it and start using it sometimes the fans will ramp up to full speed immediately, which is very loud and noticeable, and then gradually slow down over the space of 30 seconds or so before stopping. Sometimes this keeps happening every so often until I reset the computer. This never happens if I don't put the computer to sleep. Using applications doesn't seem to trigger it, it may start when the computer is just idling.

I'm using a UX32VD i7 version with bios 212 and latest DPTF driver from intel.

 

I recently bought an Asus UX32A and I too have this problem with the noisy fans. It's really annoying and just like the others the fans start kicking in at somewhere around 47c and they spin at around 3100rpm. Enough to be annoying in a quiet environment.

I don't understand why the fans can't start at around 1000rpm, it seems like that would be sufficient enough to keep the temp under 50c when surfing the web and using ms word.

I'm not really sure what i should do? I have the 206 bios but updating it doesn't seem to do any good and as far as the Intel thermal program goes I don't even have it installed. When i try to install it a message pops up and says that my computer "doesn't match the requirements for this program" (?).

The thing is that i read quite a few reviews before my purchase and no one even mentioned this fan issue so I'm guessing that all computers aren't affected, this leads me to think that I should maybe send my computer back to Asus and have them look at it?

So I'm kinda stuck here, would it help sending it back to asus and perhaps get another model or what?

 

I'm having this issue as well.

The one thing I have noticed is the Min Processor in the advanced power options always reverts to 100% no matter how often I change it. I can change it in the Power4Gear app or in the Windows advanced power settings but it doesn't 'stick'. The next time I hear the fans fire up I'll go look and it will be back to 100%.

Please fix this! So annoying!

 

I think since the fan issue is non-deterministic (ok after cold boot, sometimes goes away, etc.), it is caused by a bug somewhere rather than incorrect settings.

 

I don't experience this problem. That setting is at 5% for me. Right now the processor is at 0.8-1.0 GHz with 5-10% utilization, and I am experiencing the fan issue.

I am not in favor of raising the trip-point. The hotter the computer, the faster the battery and other components decay. The problem is the fan speed changes are abrupt. A fan should never cycle. It should find the right RPM to keep the computer at the target temperature.

 

I've assumed, perhaps wrongly, that there is only *one* fan issue (of course the fan issue I am experiencing, lol). This ONLY occurs when the UX31A has been in sleep mode. After resuming from sleep, the fans start cycling. I've followed it with speedfan, and it goes from a low of around 3000rpm up to over 5000rpm in a sawtooth type pattern. NOTHING you do at that point matters. It continues doing that slow cycle regardless of CPU load or time.

Do a shutdown and restart, and it's perfect! No fan noise at all except when some intensive CPU cycles start. Hence I always shutdown the PC and restart later.

Is there more than this one issue? Is everyone's problem solved if they cold boot the PC? If it works ok on a cold start, what about if you put it into sleep mode -- upon resuming from sleep is that when you start having loud and cycling fan speeds?

I think it would be helpful to Asus if we identify specifically what, if any, fan issue(s) exist other than the one that is created by allowing the PC to sleep and then resume.

 

I believe there are specifically 2 fan issues here:

1. One is the cycling problem where the issue only occurs after resume from standby. This is where the fan is extremely loud at the quoted 5000 rpms and just keeps cycling. I used to have this issue too with the older bios, but after I updated the bios to 215 and installed the latest intel thermal driver (DPTF V6.0.5.1080), the problem went away. Perhaps check which DPTF version you have. The combination of these 2 solved this issue for me.

2. The other fan issue is the more quiet one, where fans kick in around 3200 rpms when doing light tasks and go on/off very frequently. This is only annoying in a quiet environment and I don't think anyone has figured out a solution on their own for this one. We're hoping some fix can be done such that fans don't kick in so often or that the fan speed/noise can be reduced here.