ASUS X205TA Problems

Anyone notice a DECREASE in performance upgrading to the 206 Bios? It seems to step the processor up and down more frequently, resulting in some slower tasks.

Admittedly, I was instructed to install this by ASUS when my netbook starting going into sleep mode during high performance tasks, so I wonder if these was some kind of overheating going on with 205 Bios.

There's no way to lock the processor in "turbo" mode is there?

 

Dummy question here..
where do I put the unzipped BIOS 206 file so I can see it in the EZ flash apps?
I put it in C:\ but when in the BIOS, I see fs0 with some DIR on the right side, but no listing for C:\ or the BIOS 206 file

Thanks!

 

Do it in Windows instead using ASUS flash utility.
The software can see 206 file, select it to update the BIOS.

 

thank you, that worked

I didn't see any new settings in the BIOS to change.
Will make my recovery USB stick next.

it's not perfect, but for $99, it's a great little travel machine- right size and weight. I just was on a trip with my 17" main laptop for 3 weeks. What a pain carrying that thing around! I love the ultraquiet, fanless design. I don't use smart gestures, so that's ok for me.

 

Bios 208 just came out today. Would flash but I'm at work with my machine and no power cord

http://support.asus.com/Download.as...0&ft=3&f_name=X205TAAS208.zip#X205TAAS208.zip

 

I wish they's post release notes...have no idea what 208 adds.

 

Thanks you a lot guys. I bought F205TA (have no idea whats the difference, but X205 wasnt offered at the time) in november and I experienced all problems listened in this topic.

Smart Gesture problem is annoying, but easy to live with (using shortcut to SGC restart). Sound problem was worst. I like to watch videos before sleep and sound experience was really bad (but with headphones its OK). At that time there wasnt newer drivers, so Im gonna update it.
I also missed, that Im missing 8GB of space!! thanks a lot and Ill try reinstall system, if there will be not a better solution.

To add my 2 cents, Ive also problems with SD cards. Sometimes (mainly after wake of from sleep mode) my mSDHC dissapears. I have to unplug it and plug the card again. I dont have programs on it, so its not a big problem. But if I would, it can possibly cause problems with programms running from SD card, though. Any ideas about it, guys?

 

Have you learned anything about the slow microsd speeds? I just bought one but it only benchmarks 12MB/s in the microsd slot, but gets 40MB/s in a usb cardreader.

 

Can you show the hardware details under device manager for the card reader? Also please provide screenshot on the driver details tab too, thank you.

 

Sure, which one is it? "Intel SD Host Controller" under "SD Host adapters"? There's 3 of them. Or "SD Storage Class Controller" under "Storage controllers"? There's 2 but one disappears when I take the card out. Or is it "Generic SL64G SD Card" under "Disk drives"?

 

Ok, so it is Intel's, can you go to driver tab and then look for driver details?

 

Just signed up to thank everyone for the awesome tips. It's always a chore buying a new piece of tech because there's always a few kinks you have to smooth out. You all are making it really easy.

Also, the blank screen after sleep happened to me too. I held the power button for about 30 seconds and the laptop did a hard reset. It definitely took a little while but it did shut itself off after a while.

Here's a couple of things I want to ask now that I'm here, though:

1. Brightness autoleveling - I've noticed this little guy adjusts the contrast on screen when there's something really dark and I switch over to something really bright on screen. For example, when I switch over from Spotify's dark UI to a new white browser tab on chrome, there's about 5 seconds or so of adjustment. I also noticed this on my Asus VivoTab 8, though. Is it a thing Windows 8.1 does? Is it some setting/driver Asus uses? Can I turn this feature off somehow?
2. Music Plays During Sleep - Every so often when I have music playing on it and I close the lid, the music keeps playing for a short while. It shuts itself off after a bit but if I go ahead and connect it to the power supply while the lid is still closed, it'll start playing music again but this time it doesn't stop. I have to wake it up and turn the music off. It's really weird.
3. Blank Screen After Sleep - Seriously though, this has only happened to me once but does it happen often?

Again, thanks for all the help everyone!

 

Thanks so much for this, was about to return the laptop; previously i could not find the right event code. working great now.

 

I've updated my comprehensive doc of current issues and workarounds:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/asus-x205ta-problems.765035/page-2#post-9860340

 

If the volume fluctuation problem is really fixed, then the only major bug left is the Smart Gesture software that keeps crashing.
I wonder if Windows 10 would solve this since supposedly Microsoft is planning to take over track pad drivers so that you can have gestures without installing the manufacturer's junk software like ASUS "Smart Gesture" etc..
Has anyone successfully installed Windows 10 and tried the trackpad with or without Smart Gesture installed? If not, I may need to wait for the next generation models of low cost, ultra portable laptops that will come pre-installed with Windows 10 this fall.
I like this X205TA laptop, but the trackpad issue is a dealbreaker for me, but I don't see anything else currently on the market that looks like a good substitute. The HP Stream 11 is interesting and is popular, but it has a less power efficient processor that cuts hours off battery life. I really want the 9-10 hours battery life you can get out of something like this vs the more common 6-7 hours in other laptops.

 

Has anyone been able to wipe the OS for a fresh install? I’ve been trying to install Win8 Pro on this thing but I haven’t been able to get this thing to boot to USB. I’ve updated the bios to the latest (208, I think), disable secure boot, and played with the USB mode (XHCI, EHCI?) but the darn thing doesn’t want to boot to the USB. The system actually recognizes the USB drive while I am in the bios but it will not allow me to boot to it.

My usb install drive was created with rufus and attempted with GPT and MBR modes in both NTFS and FAT32 variations. I am also looking to delete and recover the space on the recovery partition as part of the process. Does anybody have any tips on how to do all this?

 

Your method of using Task Scheduler to run AsusTPHelper.exe after sleep did the magic. No more running a "taskkill /f /im ...." chore over and over. SmartGesture has never failed after sleep since then. Thank you.

 

Windows 8 Pro installed on the Asus just fine. I did it for the sole purpose of enabling RemoteDesktop.

 

Hello!

Has anyone managed to get audio through HDMI? I was trying XBMC with the X205 connected to my TV through HDMI but I can't choose HDMI as audio output.

Another annoying thing is that Windows persists on putting the on screen/touch keyboard as a toolbar in my taskbar. After every reboot it's back despite me disabling it every time.

 

am also having this issue and am wondering how prevalent it is. Sometimes i lose the SD card after waking from sleep, sometimes it just happens randomly while i'm on. Sometime i can pop-out and back in and get it back, most of the time it requires a full restart. Same issue with multiple cards, tried re-formatting as well, issue persists. I feel like it's a software issue and not hardware, and i certainly don't want to send my comp in if it's not a hardware issue. It's hard to find a lot of hits on search tho.

 

Has anyone managed to successfully delete the recovery partition?

 

I'm not too concerned about the recovery partition because I believe it will go away when Windows 10 is installed. There aren't many details out on this, but my understanding is that Windows 10 is a compressed OS that will expand as needed during operation. This is similar as to how WIMBoot works on the X205TA, even though the OS resides in the recovery partition. The OS simply will not be in a recovery partition in Windows 10. There are better explanations of this if you search.

 

If you really want to get rid of it, use DISKPART utility to remove it.
However, DISKPART cannot merge the emptied space with main partition. You will have to use Acronis or other partition utilities to do it.

 

I did a clean install and deleted it. But somehow having that recovery partition, made the install about same as having the recovery partition. I'd just leave it alone. Why they opt for only 32GB though is beyond me. It probably only costs them a few bucks more to offer 64GB.

 

Correction: it only costs you a few bucks more.

 

Starting to FIGHT FOR SPACE on this X205TA.

I would have 'gladly' paid a few bucks more for 64GB. Windows grows with updates, and the recovery partition sounds like a dragon to budge. With Windows, Office, and a few needed apps for work, and virtually no media files, pictures, or junk, I'm left with less than 1GB to spare.

Here's what my TreeSize Free app shows. Anything I can cut?:

• 16.6 GB Windows
  • 5.8 GB Installer
  • 4.2 GB WinSxS
  • 3.0 GB System32
  • ...
• 5.7 GB Program Files (includes Office)
• 2.0 GB [8 Files] (includes pagefile.sys, swapfile.sys)
• 1.3 GB Users
• 998.3 MB ProgramData
• ...

 

Yeah, that's an issue. Only thing you can do is uninstall your apps and reinstall on a memory card. I don't understand why they wouldn't have offered a 64GB version as well. Their cost would be less than $5 difference probably and realistically could have sold them for $25-30 more.

 

Ok, I safely freed up a huge 5.8GB chunk (now 7.5GB) by copying the C:\Windows\Installer folder to my 64GB microSD card, deleting original folder and putting a symbolic link in its place.

In case you're wondering, a symbolic link is a folder that points to another directory (on any visible drive) - much like a portal. For all intents and purposes, Windows applications function 'as if' the symbolic link was an actual folder filled with its target contents.

Note: I wasn't able to perform this procedure with my 4.2GB WinSxS folder because access was denied.

Instructions:

1. Open a command prompt as an administrator (aka: elevated).
2. Copy the folder from its original location to the microSD card:
   xcopy C:\Windows\Installer\* D:\Windows\Installer /s /i
   
3. Delete the original folder after ensuring a successful transfer:
   rmdir /s /q C:\Windows\Installer
4. Create the symbolic link to replace the original directory:
   mklink /J C:\Windows\Installer D:\Windows\Installer

Note: If you decide to revert the procedure, you can simply delete the symbolic link (right click) and transfer the folder back to its original location. Easy breezy.

 

It probably won't affect most of you put seeing how troublesome the trackpad was in the beginning you should know that windows 10 will force update drivers through windows update. Only windows 10 pro and enterprise will have certain options for windows update. So if e.g. a new driver for the trackpad worsens things you won't be able to hide it. You'll have to wait for a newer driver. This is a terrible move by MS.

 

Is there a solution for the wifi not waking from sleep? I haven't updated the bios and I can't find a changelog for it. I'd rather not risk bricking it if I don't need to.

 

Has anyone upgraded to windows 10?

 

That's what the Windows 10 Insider program is for. These things are tested before they go out to general users.
If you join the Insider program, you will be able test the drivers before they get officially released and you can report problems to Microsoft.
Also, ASUS can work with Microsoft to make sure the right drivers for their hardware are in Windows Update. ASUS should be doing that. If they don't, ASUS is to blame.

 

I have. The trackpad had to be reinstalled from Asus' website because it didn't work after the install.

Also, I've noticed that it doesn't sleep sometimes. It stays awake if I don't close the lid and it stays awake even if I do. The screen just shuts off but its still active and drains the battery.

I carry around the charger with me to work and back so its no problem but this might annoy other people.

 

New laptops like the new Windows 10 Acer Cloudbook come with as low as 16GB local storage.


You can make more room with less geeky manual tweaking, deleting and file copying if you just run Disk Cleanup and select the options to delete Windows Updates backup files and then run the Scheduled Task for Maintenance that cleans up the WinSXS folder. You should not need to try to empty that folder manually.

 

You may also need to install other ASUS drivers besides the trackpad to make sleep work or else do a reset clean install and try again.

 

If you don't have room to install Windows 10 because you installed too many apps and saved too much local data, you can follow these steps.
Backup any locally stored documents/photos/music etc. you have saved on the local drive to an external thumb drive or USB hard drive.
Do a system reset deleting everything.
Log back in, join wifi and immediately go to the Microsoft website to start a Windows 10 upgrade installation.
When Windows 10 is finished installing, make sure the license gets successfully activated.
Once fully activated, do another system reset saving nothing.
Log back in, join wifi and install Windows Updates, reboot then go to the ASUS website and install missing drivers and applications for trackpad or anything else not working properly.
Now you can start reinstalling apps.
You have 30 days to roll back to Windows 8.1 if you don't like it. Once you are sure you aren't going back, run Disk Cleanup and select the option to cleanup system files (this will also delete the Windows.old) folder from Windows 8.1
You should now be able to safely delete any recovery partitions and expand the system partition because, once you have successfully activated Windows 10 on a computer at least once, you can always download the Windows 10 installation files from Microsoft and install the same version of Windows 10 on the same computer. No need to have a local recovery drive other than the one Windows uses for doing factory reset or else delete it all and rely on reinstalling from USB media.

 

finally got mine to do the auto upgrade to 10. Downloaded once and failed. Downloaded again and it tells me i need 5 gb free. So i uninstall, like, everything. Now I'm down to about 1 gig with almost no programs installed haha. Going to mess with it before i do a clean install. Trackpad works fine.

My microsd card hasn't randomly unmounted itself...yet (which has been my major issue to date). Was having issues with windows 8 not sleeping when i closed the lid(and a few times when i actually told it to sleep), and eating up the battery until it's dead. Will see how that goes.

How much space do you guys have after a clean install??

 

Hi, everyone! I just created an account on here so I could let you know that I've recently installed Windows 10 on my X205TA. I too was upset about the recovery partition. Since I got this laptop for $110 on a clearance shelf at Best Buy I decided to take the plunge and download the USB installer right from Microsoft and boot directly from USB flash drive to do a full clean install of Windows 10. Sure enough, it booted (via EFI USB Flash Drive in BIOS). I deleted ALL partitions and created one new one for the install. Just like previous versions of Windows, it created a couple extra partitions, but I basically have my entire 32gb after format and Windows installed for me. The install itself was about 8gb.

I used all the Windows 8.1 drivers that weren't already up and running. The trackpad is still kind of skiddish, but the volume issue is gone. Now, instead of the volume issue, every once a while when playing a Windows O/S sound it'll make chirping noises that's typical with poorly written drivers, so I went right to Realtek's site and they have Windows 10 certified drivers.

This laptop seems a whole lot more worth the $110 I paid for it!

 

You are not going to be able to activate Windows 10 if you didn't do an upgrade install first.

 

You're corre

You're correct and I apologize I did not point that out. I actually did a full reset in Windows 8.1 to remove everything and then do the upgrade. (I have all my personal files on the microsd and Google Drive) If you do that, then it generates your hardware hash then you can do the full install. Somewhere I read that it's a good idea to copy the system32 folder in Windows for spare backups of drivers, but Asus usually does a good job of making all of them available as most Windows 8 drivers work for Windows 10.

I actually did this exact process last weekend and updated my Winbook TW802 to Windows10 as wel, also eliminating the recovery partition. This process works really well for me.

 

Not sure I read this right, you first made an upgrade from 8.1 to 10, activated, and then performed a clean install from USB? I know this is how it is supposed to work, but great with confirmation.

Using an x64 ISO for a clean install won't work right? I have a vague memory that the z3735 doesn't support 64-bit. Not that it matters with 2 gb ram, but it would be nice.

 

What kind of confirmation can I give you? I can show a screenshot with Explorer open as well as Computer Properties showing the model and version of windows and it being activated, but honestly, anyone can doctor images up on Photoshop. I'm not worried about you believing me or not, I'm just telling you how the entire process went for me.

You are correct in stating it can only handle a 32 bit operating system. This laptop has a 64 bit capable CPU, but Asus decided to only write a 32 bit EFI bios for this system.

This link here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/media-creation-tool-install is the exact link at Microsoft that helps you download and create the bootable USB drive. I didn't even need to go into the X205's bios and set the boot drive.

 

I've upgraded the laptop to 10 and I really like it. Slick looking and quick on this budget machine. A dealbreaker is the sleep issue, someone mentioned it earlier. I'll throw my laptop on my backpack, a day later the laptop is warm and most of the battery is gone. Another niggle I have is the three finger swipe left/right has been commandeered by Microsoft for it's overview screen. It's useful but I want my swipe back/forth navigation gesture instead.

I'll probably revert to 10 for convenience.

 

If you spend a few minutes googling the latest version of the Elantek touchpad driver, you can bring your three finger gestures back and it functions without issue. As far as the sleep issue goes, I ended up just setting the power button to default to sleep - without success, but if I just set the power settings so that when I close the screen like a Mac, it goes to sleep every time - without issue.


Good luck!

 

I wasn't questioning it, just saying it is great to have it confirmed. Then I can do a clean install and remove the recovery partition.

 

I found that leaving a USB wireless mouse receiver drains the battery in sleep mode.

 

I've just bought a 2nd x205 which previous owner had trouble after Win10 upgrade. I managed a fresh Win10 install which is activated, but cannot get TouchPad working. Tried all combinations of ATK and SmartGesture versions but none work. There is no listing under Mice in Device Manager, under Mouse in CP it shows nothing on Hardware tab. Kind of looks like a base driver is missing. I check my other Win8.1 and it has "Windows Driver Package Asus HID (Mouse)" on installed software and links to asushid.sys

Am thinking of reinstalling 8.1 to check touchpad is actually functioning, then following upgrade path again; all a bit of a pain as otherwise everything else looks and works just fine

Have done a full reset, installed/uninstalled apps, updated BIOS, only odd thing is from reset, Windows has installed "ETDWare PS/2 - x86" from Elan which I assume is the hardware for the touchpad. This is set to run on startup but cannot find this in system tray and none of the executables work. Should I try and uninstall that?

thanks for any tips....

 

You may need to install Win10-certified driver in order for the touchpad to work.
Additionally, BIOS & EC update may be required to provide better compatibility for peripheral devices and Win10.

 

I've tried every combination possible from Asus - their tech support provided latest links for Win10 apps/drivers and the latest certified W10 driver fails to install every time (and they cannot explain why). 2 resets, countless install/reboot/uninstall/reboot etc later and fresh out of ideas.

Installed Win8.1 to see if Touchpad works in original config - still not working and not listed under Device manager. Could well be a hardware problem now.

 

Could be. Maybe something minor, like the cable needing to be reseated. If the touchpad needs to be replaced, that's a lot more invasive and involved of a job.