ASUS X205TA Problems

quite surprised how easy it is to disassemble (was careful not to disturb anything in case of warranty claim) and yes - ribbon cable completely disconnected under touchpad. Not easy to see how it's come out that far, but a quick fix and a very happy customer, now re-upgrading to Win10 using keyboard and touchpad!!!

 

Awesome! Strange things happen, but at the end of the day, an easy fix is a relief.

 

Warning to all X205TA owners: BitLocker encryption is enabled on these devices and if (as happened to me) a Secure Boot error happens and you, logically, disable Secure Boot in the BIOS you will be permanently locked out of your system unless you log in with a Microsoft account (I don't) and the BitLocker passkey is backed up there. BitLocker can be disabled in Windows and I recommend it unless you really need that security. This is a terrible decision by ASUS, esp. on a system that is too unreliable for Secure Boot to be work safely. FYI all I did to break Secure Boot was install Windows Updates!

 

@ExParrot - Until I read your latest post I wasn't really aware of BitLocker, which I assume is there to prevent (amongst other things!) a user doing what I have just been attempting, which is to make a system backup of my new X205TA, before even connecting it to the internet., despite trying to use the Asus utility 'Backtracker'.

However now that I have installed Windows 8.1 from scratch, complete with every available update, and even managed to get a completely 'clean' Device Manager, are you saying that SecureBoot will now be 'broken', or did you have to do anything to 'help' it at all?

Perhaps Backtracker will now 'work' also... or will it?

Thanks!

 

@Montala BitLocker is full disk encryption designed to protect your data if your computer is lost or stolen. It shouldn't interfere with a backup as long as you are properly logged in to your own machine. If you reinstalled Windows 8.1 then you probably don't have BitLocker enabled but it is worth checking. Windows 8.1 with Bing doesn't even include BitLocker -- it was an "extra" from ASUS (thanks!). BitLocker shouldn't be a problem as long as you have the pass key to get back in but ASUS didn't ship that with the system or tell us it was using BitLocker so we'd only have the pass key if we logged in with a Microsoft account, which supposedly backs it up.

As for Secure Boot, it seems that, believe it or not, bad Windows Update patches from Microsoft can cause the Secure Boot errors. And yes, this has already happened and it happened to me. Great job Microsoft! This is another half-assed Microsoft "safety" technology (like the annoying and useless UAC) and I advise disabling Secure Boot for most users not doing risky things with their PCs.

It was the deadly combination of Secure Boot failure, unknown BitLocker encryption, and using a local (not Microsoft account) that completely locked me out of my system. I actually found a series of steps to get reinstalled and updated to Windows 10 Home without RMA'ing to ASUS. So I'm up and running but I wish I'd got a Chromebook as a cheap backup computer instead of this -- Windows is not worth the pain!

 

..question: why would you want to start using a pc in a way that would make full disk encryption software useful? I mean, I can see how if you store passwords and email contacts, and so on, that encrypting the address book would be useful. And that if you start encrypting some things locally, then you could just as well encrypt.. say.. your home/user-partition altogether and be done with it.

But if you encrypt the OS as well; since massive amounts of specially a windows boot are known, and very likely will be placed in a specific part of a partition (I'm pretty sure the diffusion routine doesn't switch locations beyond what's practically efficient) - you essentially have access to known plaintexts and the resulting ciphertexts in almost endless supply. So for standard length keys, it's just a matter of wanting to crack the key, not if it's actually possible.

I mean, designing something like that doesn't seem like a very good idea, if the goal was to actually keep your encrypted data safe.

 

@nipsen these are good points. For hardware encryption full disk makes sense but, yes, that simplifies cracking. Best is a drive-embedded lockout mechanism such as some systems can enable from the BIOS. BitLocker has no real benefit to users: there are crack tools for it and MS (and thus govt) "agents" can unlock them. It is just more security theater. How does it help me to lock me out of my system because MS pushed a bad update out! Insane!!!

Stuff like this and all the fun "telemetry" MS has added makes me use Linux for as much as I can now.

 

@nipsen - I don't think your question was directed at me, as I am not really interested in having the data on my own personal PC encrypted, and my concern was that it was actually preventing me from doing a full system back up, as I was being told that there was no Recovery partition to copy anyway!

The Asus 'Backtracker' program sounded like a good idea, if only it had actually done what it was supposed to do.

I am not really a fan of Chromebooks, and actually prefer the Windows 10 environment. I was actually about to purchase a Windows Tablet, but then 'discovered' the Asus X205TA, which is actually the 6th best selling laptop on Amazon's UK site!

Currently I am waiting for Asus Technical Support to provide me with a valid Windows Activation Code, as I don't really fancy another 75 minute conversation with Microsoft!

My thanks to @ExParrot for his earlier reply also.

 

@Montala no, just randomly ranting, as usual. And, sounds like you have been blessed with the enthralling experience that is Asus support as well. If you get further than I did with them, which was absolutely nowhere, you will have my greatest respect. And probably a stellar headache.

Anyway. If you can somehow boot into windows, you could install this: http://rweverything.com/download/ and pilfer your own key with that. It's under acpi->msdm. You could also get it by scanning through /sys/firmware/acpi/tables/msdm in a linux boot.

Aaand then you can register your copy, enable secureboot, and keep using the bootpoint you have, which is probably put on your new partition setup. I think this is actually an asus-specific problem, in that their uefi bootloader will fail if a default boot doesn't chain normally, and then let the system default to a new bootloader. It's not a ridiculous solution for once(..apart from how it's probably caused by the original bootloader being specifically addressed by the uefi boot, and then any other valid boots that could be chained are ignored), but it's curious that their support folks aren't aware of the problems you can run into here.. Well.. not curious, knowing them. But given that they had their shop in order, it would have been curious. *cough*

 

@nipsen - Thanks... some interesting points you have made there!

I have actually already received an email back from Asus Tech Support, asking me for my OEM activation key. They suggested using Belarc advisor, but I had already obtained it by using a nice little program from NeoSmart Tachnologies! This doesn't unfortunately want to activate the version of Windows 8.1 which I downloaded using the Microsoft Media Creation Tool, and then inserting a little ei.cfg file into the 'sources' folder... which I am sure you know all about anyway... so that I could at least install Windows without having to enter a key first.

It is my guess that the embedded key will probably only activate a specific version of "Windows 8.1 with Bing", rather than an OEM or retail one though.

I can't stop for more now I'm afraid, as we are just dashing off to spend a long weekend with the family but I will post again, with more details of my ongoing saga, when I get back.

Have fun in the meantime!

 

Yes... it's me again, with a further update!

It does look as if I might have gained some respect from @nipsen as my experiences with Asus Technical Support have been far better than I expected, without any headaches, but with prompt replies to all of my many questions and requests. What may not be generally known, and something they have now told me, is how to obtain an actual Windows Activation Key from them for these, and presumably other Asus Notebooks also, the procedure for which is as follows:

To ensure the security of your Windows 8/10 product key information, please log into ASUS Member Site to retrieve your key.
Step 1. If you are not an ASUS member or you have not registered your product, please join ASUS member and register your product first.
Step 2. Once you are logged in, click “My Product” link on the left menu and click “Other Support”.
Step 3. Enter Microsoft Error Code when prompted. (If no error code can be found or was given, please use 0x80072EE7).
Step 4. After verification, you will receive an email notification. A “Download” button will appear next to your registered product after the notification. Click “Download” to get your Windows 8/10 product key.
Step 5. If you Windows 8/10 is still not activated after entering the downloaded key, click “Contact ASUS” for further assistance.

This certainly worked for me, and I received the email notification about six hours after submitting my request. This activated my previously installed Windows 8.1 download, and immediately offered me the option to upgrade to Windows 10, which I have decided to do 'on-line' so as to ensure that it picked up correctly by Microsoft's servers.

Having a really slow broadband connection here this will take about three hours unfortunately, but it is chugging away merrily at the moment, and has just reached the Installation stage!

 

Btw - this is pretty much exactly what I requested a while back. Was very civil and reasonable about it.

Before I took the opportunity to write several pages of general profanity about incompetence and creative ways their support make things easier for themselves in the short term, but more difficult for us as users. Where you get a situation where anyone at any place in the hierarchy should instantly spot that the result is a less appealing product, as well as less happy customers.

So the lesson, I think, is clear: swear as much as you possibly can when you ask for something of others.

 

I hope you are not implying that I swore at the Asus Technical Support guys I spoke to!

Mind you, I think I was lucky in that my initial enquiry was passed straight to their 'second line' support team, and that it was then assigned to a specific agent with whom I am still in daily email contact.

Oh, and my Windows 10 upgrade did finally complete, and all appears to be well... so far!

 

Hello everybody, I noticed the fluctuating audio issue in Windows 10 today it's very annoying. Have seen previous posts saying it had been fixed (guessing 8.1?) anybody resolved it in Windows 10? No Windows 10 audio drivers on the ASUS site but tried to install the 8.1 drivers with no luck :-(
Thanks

Just to add Windows 10 runs great, 20GB free after upgrade with old Windows and recovery partition removed.

 

Just thought id give you guys a heads up if you do a clean install of windows 10 you need to install the splendid utility for the colours to look right. i just spend ages trying to figure out why the screen had a blue tint tried playing with the intel application but it only made it look worse. So i tried installing the splendid utility and after a reboot the colours are back to normal.

 

Yes, the 'Splendid' utility is one of three specific driver Windows 10 updates which Asus list for the X205TA and which they recommend should be installed following an upgrade, or clean install.

The other two are the ATK package (which should be installed first) and also the 'Smart Gesture', which is a Touchpad Driver which (they say) provides smoother and more intuitive touchpad experiences.For those coming from Windows 8.1, these two drivers will have to be uninstalled first, and then replaced by the updated ones.

If you are in the U.K all.these can all be found at http://www.asus.com/uk/Notebooks/ASUS_EeeBook_X205TA/HelpDesk_Download/ but anyone who is carrying out a clean install, the first one which should be downloaded and installed is the Chipset or Intel INF update driver which can be found in the Windows 8.1 list of Drivers & Tools, the installation of which should be followed by a reboot.

This driver is specially for this particular notebook, and will ensure that the correct versions of other necessary drivers are then installed. After carrying out a full Windows update following the completed installation you should then end up with a 'clean' Device Manager, with no dreaded yellow triangles!

 

Hi Montana, can you get a key for 8.1 this way? Will it work with a clean install from usb? I don't think it'll ever be relevant to me because I don't do anything else than browsing and writing on my x205 but it would be nice to be able to re-install windows and remove the recovery partition without worrying I can't reset my x205 again. I know that if you install windows 10 once it will always activate after re-installing over and over without a key and Windows 10 is nice and all if you have Pro, but I don't trust Asus to not send out a crappy driver for e.g. the trackpad that'll be forced installed. That's why I'm asking about the 8.1 key.

 

Thank you Tapatalk, double posts are awesome

 

@mertzi... Hi, yes that is in fact exactly what I did, as I deleted all the partitions first and so effectively started with a completely 'clean' hard drive. I then installed a copy of Windows 8.1 which I had downloaded from the Microsoft website onto a USB stick, and used the code Asus sent me to activate it.
After that I updated to Windows 10 on-line, and that was also activated.

Based on what we have now been told, should I feel the need, I could now carry out a new install of Windows 10 directly from a USB drive, as you mention. When doing this though, it is important to download and Install the Intel INF driver for Win 8.1 from the Asus site immediately after the initial install and then reboot before proceeding. They have also provided two specific drivers for Win 10, but all the other necessary ones should be picked up by a Windows Update.

Do be aware though that the touchpad and keyboard will not 'work' initially, so I used a hard wired USB mouse, together the on-screen keyboard.

Once Windows was installed all was fine again though.

 

Did you send your X205 in for service prior to this? After going to "other support" I don't see anything else than "If you do not have any product preloaded with Windows 8/10, please ignore this page. If your product is preloaded with Windows 8/10 and has activation issue after repair service, please contact ASUS service center. Thank you!" and there are no fields to enter any error code, just a button that says "GO" which only redirects me to another page but no fields there either.

 

@mertzi ... No, I had not sent it in at all, but I had been in contact with Asus Technical support, who then emailed me the instructions.

I assume that you have registered your product with them first, as I had, but I suppose it is possible that this information is not available to all registered users, although I have seen it posted on another Forum also.

You could always ask them if this is the case, but It can be a bit difficult to get past 'first line' support, and I found 'second line' to be far more helpful.

 

For anybody else who runs into the fluctuating audio levels on Windows 10: I contacted ASUS who suggested to go into bios and load optimised defaults....? No idea why that would fix the issue, it hasn't and I have requested they issue driver update for Win 10. Seems to have been fixed in 8.1 so must be a driver issue in 10.

Another forum member suggested it could be aggressive power management settings, have changed everything I can think of in power management but makes no difference.

 

Theyve released a new bios and drivers. Been testing them out on windows 10 and haven't noticed any fluctuating audio so far.

 

Thanks for the 'heads up' @andrewtjb ... it looks like I have quite a bit of updating to do now!

 

I got a pro license so upgraded to 10 and I've seen a consistent problem, 9 out of 10 reboots the display won't turn back on. I'm forced to do a reset by long pressing the power button. Annoying.

 

Hi, love this notebook - so light and the battery life is amazing

Only thing is I was hoping I could upgrade it somehow like put more ram. Gather this is not possible as its soldered.

In terms of driver updates, is it advisable to run all the updates for Win10 from the asus site?

 

maybe, maybe not. I had screen wake up issues in the beginning of Windows 10 being freshly installed. I solved it by uninstalling the display driver that was installed from windows update and manually installing the windows 8 gpu driver through the device manager. Then after two weeks the issue came back, but shortly after the November update dropped and I have had zero issues since. The thing is if you don't have windows 10 pro you will always get the latest drivers from forced windows updates, even if they're crap and not thoroughly tested.

 

There are ways of manually disabling that, but it's not particularly user friendly. It's the one thing about 10 I dislike particularly.

 

how? I haven't found any information about disabling automatic updates in 10 Home, only workarounds such as metered connection or disabling wu completely i.e. a hassle everytime you want to run it.

 

Those methods and you can disable windows updates totally through the registry editor.

 

but then every time you do want to run windows update there are so many steps, first enable, then run, and then disabling. A lot of reboots. At least with Pro you can just disable automatic updates and run it manually whenever you want. I do it the first of every month but I always start with running the wushowhide.diagcab tool so I can hide eventual new drivers.

 

so my x205ta just auto updated to the latest windows 10 cortana whatever auto update, wifi and multitouch both gone and so far unfixable. I get a code 10 on the wireless adapter. Tells me driver is up to date. Uninstalled updates and problems remain. I don't even get a wifi square on my toolbar bottom right, just the "airplane mode" button. Uninstalled my vpn and easytether, still no go. Easytether with my phone looks to be the only way i can get internet access at this point.

SO...beware. I mean my wifi was spotty anyways and often required a restart, but now it's toast.

 

Try getting the latest set and uninstall it from device manager while removing the driver.

 

problem fixed...for now. Had to uninstall device and driver, find the device again and install the 2014 driver, 5.93.103.4

 

My X205T (Win8.1) does not go to sleep even though I checked "go to sleep when the lid closes". Neither is there an option to put it to sleep manually in Start/Power. Any ideas?

 

Is Sleep disabled in the Power Options?

 

No, it is not. Sleep not showing up in Start/Power was an artifact of Classic Shell - sleep option shows up in the "Power" menu of the Win8.1 "tile" window. But the laptop still doesn't go to sleep on its own and keeps on draining battery. I triple checked "advanced settings" and its set to go to sleep in 4-15 minutes.

 

So it look like it does goes to sleep, but it wakes up immediately upon any input and seems like its still draining the battery. The latter is what's problematic.

 

It's supposed to wake up upon any input. Did you mean something other than your interaction is waking it up immediately?

If it's a program/background service, you'll have to go through a process of elimination by disabling suspect programs one by one (or disable them all and enable them one by one, testing for the issue after each one). We ran into an issue like this once; an application called MAXA Cookie Manager was preventing the computer from sleeping.

 

Of course - I didn't express myself well. It wakes up unusually quickly - immediately to be exact. I'm used to waking up taking a second or so, so I though that this sleep isn't "deep enough" (and we aren't talking about hibernation either).

It's a fresh install of Win8.1 with bare-bones start-up list left. Do I need to go through the list of "processes" to figure out what's causing the problem? Sometime upon waking up, Task Manager (that was open) shows significant CPU activity. When it does go to sleep, its screen as well as external monitor go dark - so something happens - but the battery keeps getting drained at a higher than expected level.

 

Oh! In that case: Have you already installed all of the drivers (starting with the chipset driver) + finished installing all available Windows updates?

If it's a fresh install with no third party programs on it yet, then I don't think you need to suffer through examining background processes one by one just yet - but with that said, I'm not sure of what's causing the issue.

 

The X205TA does not truly sleep. Rather, it goes into a state Microsoft calls "connected standby". It supposed to make your laptop behave more like a tablet or phone while sleeping. Meaning it wakes immediately and also already has all your email and other apps synced as soon as it turns on. My research tells me there is no way to disable this mode or to enable a true sleep.

Lifehacker gives two solutions.
1. Put it in airplane mode before putting it to sleep so that the network activity can't wake it up.
2. If you're really not going to be using it for more than a day or two, shut it down. When it's shut down it's really off.

http://lifehacker.com/avoid-battery-drain-from-connected-standby-on-windows-1577640326

 

I found this thread and wanted to list some of the problems I've had with my unit to see if anyone has had similar problems, so here's my list of recurring issues with my unit under Windows 8.1. I have to say that the majority of the problems with this unit occur on resume from sleep.

ASUS X205TA Issues with Windows 8.1

1. Resolved: Multi-touch software hanging after standby. Resolved on my unit by upgrading to a more recent driver.
2. Intermittent issue where the wireless driver will hang after standby. The solution I got from calling ASUS support was to go into Device Manager, disable the network adapter driver, and enable it. Sometimes the process will hang (leaving the adapter properties window in a greyed out state) requiring a reboot, which takes a very long time.
3. Intermittent issue where the unit is unable to resume from standby. The unit will be completely unresponsive even though the power LED is lit. In this case the solution seems to be to hold the power button down to force a shut down. ASUS support recommended upgrading the BIOS to see if that solves the problem.

Has anyone here experienced these problems and found any long term solution? Many thanks!

Upgrading to Windows 10

First question: Should I do it?

• Are there any major performance improvements in Windows 10?
  
• No control over updates seems to be a substantial drawback, especially if it drops bad drivers on you all the time.
• Early reports of W10 installs said the machine would not sleep. Can anyone report if that has been resolved?

Second question: How should I do it?

1. External HD method. I tried to do the online upgrade when I first got my machine back in August. I tried the 'attach an external hard drive' method because there wasn't enough free space on the SSD. It failed. My machine went into a boot loop I couldn't get out of. I had to RMA it. I really really don't want to do that again.
2. SSD upgrade. I gather several users have had success doing an upgrade using only the SSD by doing a factor restore and then upgrading to W10.
3. Clean install. Seems to me that I could use the ASUS support site to generate an activation code and then use a USB to do clean install.

I'm really leaning toward method 3 unless someone can tell me why that's a bad idea.

 

That explains it. Thank you. Inexcusable that this mode can't be turned. If you upgrade to Win10, please share an update.

 

At the advice of ASUS support I flashed my BIOS to version 212. I have not yet had a crash during standby, so maybe it fixed something. On the other hand, it's an intermittent problem.

Does anyone know what changes were made for this BIOS version?

BIOS v212

• Update TXE (from ASUS)
  
• Power LED now stays lit during standby. Only turns off when machine is shut down. (My observation)

Honestly, I think the new LED behavior is a step backwards. With the lid closed it's now impossible to tell whether or not your machine is actually in standby mode. Couldn't they have made the LED flash in standby?

What do you think of W10 on this machine?
Finally, has anyone noticed a considerable performance improvement after switching to W10? Any other reasons to upgrade? I'm still not convinced I want to make the switch.

 

It's been a couple of months since I last posted here.

Big question: Does your unit sometimes hang or crash and reboot while sleeping?

I get two symptoms. I will put my laptop away for a while and when I come back I will find that it has either:

• Rebooted. Then when I open my browser I get the session restore message. Or
• It won't wake up from sleep. I have to hold down the power button until it reboots.

I'm just wondering if anyone else is experiencing the same issue.

As always, Asus' only suggestion from the support side is the RMA the machine. I want to know if others are having the same issue so that I might know if losing my unit for six weeks is actually going to solve the problem. If this problem is unique to my unit then I will do the RMA in a heartbeat, but if lots of other people have this problem then I'll be a little more hesitant.

 

I don't even bother with sleep/standby anymore, because most times I do I come back to a wasted battery. I just shut down completely. And even then, sometimes it doesn't complete the shut down as I can see the green power led still on, so I have to hard reset it by holding the power button. I've just gotten accustomed to it, and it boots quick anyways so I don't mind. I feel like things change with every windows update anyways, not always for the better.

The only real issue i have now is random total lockups, regardless of the load I'm putting on it. There's no rhyme or reason, it just freezes, and I have to hard reset.

 

These are usually software related, but hard to isolate. Did you upgrade to Win 10 - and if so, did you perform an upgrade install, or a clean/full install?

 

Interesting to know that the hard reset/unresponsiveness to input happens to this device too. I thought it was restricted to the current generation of Intel CPU's. It's been plaguing the surface pro 4 among other lines. It might be a windows 10 problem after all. I rarely use my x205 since i got an SP4 so I can't tell. And I recommend you to try hibernate instead of shutting down or the unreliable connected standby. It might save you a few seconds and it should be safe from battery drainage.

 

I'm having a problem with my x205ta where it does not connect to a hidden wifi network on startup. When I go to the network settings, the option to remember the SSID even when it's not broadcasting is checked off. Each time I startup the laptop, I have to re-enter the SSID and password as a hidden network. Each time I do this, it adds a new known network in my Manage Wi-Fi settings...so I end up having "Wifi 1" "Wifi 2" Wifi 3" etc. I have all of the latest drivers from the Asus website. This issue just recently started happening. I actually updated the drivers not too long ago, had no problems with the wifi, and then all of a sudden the network isn't remembered on startup. I tried to roll back to a previous version of the drivers using the windows roll back 'tool' but that did not work. I even went as far as installing the win 8.1 drivers with no luck. This is quite an annoying issue. Any suggestions are appreciated!

EDIT 2016-07-27: As of recently, this issue seems to have fixed itself. I did not try anything special; a Windows update more than likely fixed this.