ASUS Zenbook UX303 (Nvidia GT 840M)

On second thought, the color looks fine enough to me to risk flashing the screen's firmware. For all I know, this replacement screen might be a slightly newer model that's incompatible with the files floating around online, and then my laptop will turn into a desktop.

 

Hello everyone
to those concerned about the hinge issue - I found a way to possibly prevent this from happening on a french forum. It is basically an advice (and procedure shown) to untighten a bit the counternuts on the hinges to make the torque resistance applied on the screen lower - while the screen is being opened (sorry for my bad english, I hope this makes sense).

I have tried it when opening the laptop to updgrade to a ssd ,and I must say it really seems to lower the force needed to unfold the screen. That could make the screen frame and brass inserts more durable and may prevent the plastic crack from happening.

Hope this helps !
http://forum.hardware.fr/hfr/Ordina...-ux303ln-ux303lb-sujet_73550_121.htm#t1459339

 

That's a good idea actually, since it's not just moving stress to another area it is reducing the load.

 

My hinge finally gave in earlier this month exactly 2 weeks after my 1 year warranty expired. I chatted with Asus support and they gave an average cost to fix the unit and sent me an RMA and would let me know the cost after examination. They sent me a free shipping form and off it went. I never received any information but noticed when I checked the RMA status my unit was fixed and sent back. A few days later I received the laptop back fixed with new top screen and lid. I guess becuase it was close to warranty they fixed it anyway. Not sure, but I am glad they fixed it with no charge and the screen looks and feels great.

 

Not a bad idea. Reduce spring force will reduce stress on hinge. I still think they need to change the hinge design entirely though. At least add a hinge in the center , or a bar connecting the two hinges to distribute the load evenly.

 

Is there an English translation of the steps? Thanks!

 

Just use google translate: https://translate.google.com/transl...303lb-sujet_73550_121.htm#t1459339&edit-text=

But honestly it isn't that difficult if you've ever opened up a laptop before.

 

I have this exact issue. The plastic molded on the display that connects to the display swivel is breaking apart.

I contacted Asus support and they said my laptop is beyond the 1yr warranty. Jeez 1 yr only! Really?..

Were you able to get this fix and how? Did you pay for repair and how much?

 

Pics of the damage

 

Wow lucky you. Are you located in the states?

I contacted Asus support and no bueno. They won't offer any services and as for rough estimate now they say it will cost $690 to fix this. Wth! Just to fix a the plastic on the display and a hinge?

 

I live in the US. I first contact ASUS and they give me the same basic repair cost of $690. I chatted that was over half of what the laptop cost. Found out that is average repair cost for all repairs regardless. I told them they need to break down the repair cost better or they would scare off potential support claims ($xxx for screen, $xxx for hinge, $xx for keyboard, etc). Perhaps that is their mindset not sure. They said I could send it in and they would review and send me back a quote. They fixed it and sent it back no charge.

 

Hello !

I am seeking some help. I bought a UX303 LN (i7 and QHD touch display) in August 2014.
I haven't used the laptop much because I hate it so much. I am on the verge of switching back to a Macbook but I wanted to give it a last chance.
My main problem is the laptop's battery life, I bought it at the time because they advertised it at like 9 hours which I never ever got. When it was running Windows 8 I was barely getting 5 hours with the screen at 50% and just using Chrome + Word.
I made the update to Windows 10 a couple of months ago and it became even worse, I was barely getting 4 hours with extremely light use.

Today it was my last hope, I made a fresh install of Windows 10 and made some basic tests. I didn't install any Asus drivers since the PC was working just fine (maybe I am missing something crucial?) (the only thing I installed was Nvidia drivers)
I ran a 480p Youtube fullscreen video (screen 100%, no sound) and I lost 45% battery in 1h30 using Chrome.
I made the same test with Firefox and it drained 85% battery in 1h30 of 480p Youtube video, also the fans were running full blow.

Battery life is the most important thing for me and this is not acceptable... I didn't know at first that the i7 and QHD screen would use so much power but even then it's nowhere near what other people are getting in terms of battery life (and what Asus claims).
Is there something wrong, or these numbers make sense? Again the battery doesn't have many cycles since I barely used the PC (max 50).

Thanks !!!

 

Thanks for the info. I'll contact Asus again and create another RMA. I hope I can be as lucky as you and get it repaired at little to no cost.

 

Or just order your own replacement cover from asusparts.eu. Surely will cost much less than $690.

 

So...I'm a moron, I guess. I opened it up, disconnected the screen, adjusted the nuts, reconnected everything, and now the damn thing won't boot. The power indicator on the keyboard lights up, but there's no sound or hard drive activity, and no HDMI signal either. I tried disconnecting and reconnecting all the mobo connectors, including battery and CMOS, but the only thing this seems to have accomplished is disabling the battery charge indicator, which had been working. (I imagine it needs to have a clean boot to reset the battery stats after wiping CMOS). Any ideas? I bet I voided the warranty too...
(edit: battery indicator works again, so I guess that's okay)

 

I would look for the display cover right? Is there a guide to replacing the cover ?

haha yeah probably A LOT less than $690.

 

Lisa has posted a review of the new UX303UB a couple of days ago ( http://www.mobiletechreview.com/notebooks/Asus-ZenBook-UX303UB.htm ), where she claims that Asus has changed the design of the hinges in the latest model. Can anyone confirm?
If so, are they interchangeable with the old ones?

 

I just bought one of these. Yellow issue is not there. I'm glad they redesigned the hinges! I was able to install my 1tb ssd from my n550jk.

 

from the pictures, it looks like they changed the hing design indeed. Although the "faulty" part is not the hinge itself, but the way the screen chassis is fixed to the hinge. The old design has under-dimensioned brass inserts molded into plastic, which is the low-resistance part and cracks first. This is located under the round plastic cover and that is rather what would be interesting to see if it has been upgraded, even if the new hinge design maybe offers a better stress distribution...

 

Now if they would just offer a 1080p non touch in USA. For some reason they left that for European market only.

 

Not only in Europe... We have the 1080p non touch in Indonesia

 

Hi, in this video it seems like the problem is the hinge and not the way the screen chassis is fixed to the hinge. What do you think about it?

 

That is solving a different problem--it's an earlier model Zenbook.

 

Thank you for your quick reply. You mean that the man in the video is fixing an older zenbook model? Can you tell which one?

 

That is actually a decent hinge design. What's on the UX303 is an abomination.

 

Wait, you mean that the hinge shown in the video, isn't the hinge that is mounted in the UX303 series?

 

Correct.

This is the UX303 hinge:

 

Ok, so help me in clarifying this.
The one you posted is a UX303 (which model?) hinge

This is the new UX303UB hinge


This is an older Zenbook (which one?) hinge


Can we attribute a Zenbook model to each engine? Which is the oldest or the newest? Is there a way to put them in a cronological order?

 

That person claims that this is a "new" hinge design, but it looks exactly like the current one on ux303's... As for the bottom one it looks like the one on the ux31, as shown in this video:
I'm quite sure the article is bluffing an nothing changed in the hinges design

 

Have you tried tightening the screws on the hinges?

 

Wow that is exactly what my left hinge looks like. The plastic piece is broken off the display just like in the picture.

What is the most cost efficient way to fix this?

 

Send it in under warranty or have Asus quote the fix. If not then visit asusparts.eu. you should only need the LCD lid back panel unless you have something else broken. Just be careful removing that front bezel. That glass breaks easily. May have to buy a replacement one of those too if that happens.

 

So after 18 months, my 303LN decided that it does not want to sleep anymore. It started with a BSOD, after that any attempt to put it to sleep results in a reset after waking up. No memory dumps created. At first I hoped it was a software problem but it turns out it is not, as I have replaced the ssd and the problem persists. I also tried removing the 8gig DIMM (my system originally came with 12) and the problem remains. The other 4gigs are soldered, so no hope there as well. Any suggestions on what else to check before sending it to ASUS (for the second time)?

 

Anyone one else have an issue where you push the power button, the light comes on and nothing else happens? ASUS wants me to RMA it (again, hinge issue before), but I really am getting fed up.

I tried disconnecting the battery, that made no difference.

 

Did you do the power reset after disconnecting the battery / AC?

Hold down the power button for 30 seconds, then plug the battery back in, put it all together, plug in the AC, and try to boot.

If you can get into the BIOS, go the far right menu and Select Reset to Defaults, or Set Defaults, then select Save and Restart (F10).

If that doesn't do it, there is one more trick to try, change the memory configuration while battery is disconnected and AC in unplugged. At power up the BIOS will recognize the change in memory configuration and reset itself.

Does the UX303 have a memory slot besides the soldered RAM? You may need to get an SODIMM to install in the empty slot - as you can't unsolder RAM.

After a couple of successful reboots / shutdown power ups, you can reinstall the memory you pulled out.

Please let us know how it works out

 

Edit: The problem went away after reflashing the BIOS with the same version. It seems that the BIOS decides randomly to corrupt, as I have not done anything to it or any hardware change when the problem started to occur.
Have that in mind next time you have any strange problem with this machine, the BIOS is self-aware

 

The hooman is learning. We must launch Skynet immediately.

 

oh man i have the issue with waking up from sleeping. after sleeping, my power button is blinking up every 1-2 seconds very short. if i press any button/mouse/keyboard (usb) zenbook wakes up, but it boots up freshly. logs say only it wasn't shutdown blabla. there are no other errors. no bsod no dumps. i use the alternative method hibernate. i thought the problem is maybe ME Drivers. uninstalled and let windows install it automatically. it get 11.0.0.1181 installed. the ME FW is the latest 9.5.55.1948.
I have my zenbook since october 2014. BIOS version is 204. and how can i reflash the same version?

 

I might be going too far back, but did you manage to get a deep flash program from Asus to fix this? Also, if you sent it to Asus without warranty, how much did it cost?

The same problem happened with me, except, instead of crashing, I had my settings on charge to not sleep or suspend. My charger came loose while I was wasn't looking, and so it suspended the process halfway.

I've tried flashing to older BIOS, but it doesn't work. I purchased this laptop used not too long ago, and I'm really hoping Asus doesn't charge the price of a motherboard if I send it to them.

 

If your unit is still under warranty then ASUS will not charge you for the repair, otherwise your damage will be the part itself, plus the labor.

 

Your BIOS went haywire just like mine. Reflash it by doing what is shown here:
https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?11438-How-to-downgrade-your-Bios-using-Winflash
Did it happen recently? If it did, that would be a strange coincidence. Let me know if it worked, but I am pretty sure it will

 

omg didn't know i can start it via /nodate thx it fixed now. lucky i looked in this thread 1,5 years ago before i bought the zenbook. damn i'm happy

 

I actually recently am experiencing the same problem in the past couple of weeks. I don't know if the problem is still persisting or not, I'll check tonight.
This is indeed very weird.

 

Please do it and share your findings. It was also for me a couple of weeks since this appeared (4th of March to be super specific). Maybe we can see a pattern, I am guessing something that has to do with Windows Update, or a strange date-based bug in the BIOS. You can also see when it started through Window's Event Viewer (search for error 41)

 

Hello guys, I bought my ux303 in 2015, everything ran just fine until I upgrade my win 8.1 into 10. It started to bsod frequently so I reverted it back to 8.1, unfortunately the problem still occurs . The problem started when something beneath my left keyboard hissing and then bsod happens that make me stuck in bios screen without any option to boot my windows. My bios version is 206 (I updated it, originally 204). Is my problem caused by hardware problem or maybe incompatible driver/bios (everything already updated)? please help me, It turns my notebook to a brick

 

Sorry for the delay, the problem still persists on windows and as you mentioned it, I have multiple critical errors 41 which corresponds to the times I'm putting the computer to sleep.
The problem first appeared the 5th of March for me according to the event viewer.
I'll follow the instructions to reflash the bios the weekend and will report back.

 

My warranty will be up in late May, so I have a few questions on modding the UX303LN to satisfy me a few more years.

Has anyone applied the yellow fix while using windows 10?

Has anyone reinforced or repaired their hinge with epoxy or other method? Having the hinge break on the panel seems inevitable, and I'd like to know how I might be able to prepare myself for it.

 

Flashed version 204 of BIos, problem seems resolved. I don't know what caused it but it is weird that at least 3 of us got it at the same time...

 

I'm not sure if I'm having the same problem as everyone here as of late but my Zenbook now just boots to BIOS. I can't choose exit without saving. It takes me straight to the BIOS.

The save and exit function takes me to a reboot, then back to the bios.

Help. Problems seemed to happen as of late, after a Windows 10 security update that rendered my start button useless.

Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using Tapatalk

 

guys, just want to ask did UX303LN was fit to standard 2.5SSHD ? i thought the stock HDD was 7mm right ?