ASUS Zenbook UX32LN (Nvidia GT 840M)

This is a guide, or better a description of my steps taken, which eventually led to successful clean install of Win 8.1 to my formatted Zenbook 32LN. It might be useful when changing your drive for an SSD for example...
You will need a PC with at least Win 7 or later and at least 4gb usb drive.

STEPS:
1)download .esd files from official MS servers (find your dl link in this linked pastebin file: win 8.1 esds - Pastebin.com). I chose OSGS14-Windows8ESDwithApps-64bit-English-X1938604.esd
2)download esd decrypter, which will help you turn the .esp file into .iso (link: Dev-Host - esd-decrypter-v3.7z - The Ultimate Free File Hosting / File Sharing Service )
3)unpack the decrypter in the same folder into which you downloaded the .esp file
4)run command prompt as admin and cd to the folder with .esp file and decrypt.cmd file
5)run command decrypt ESDfilename.esd (e.g. decrypt OSGS14-Windows8ESDwithApps-64bit-English-X1938604.esd )
6)choose option 3 or 4 (I chose 3)
7)after .iso is created, download windows 7 usb/dvd tool ( http://images2.store.microsoft.com/prod/clustera/framework/w7udt/1.0/en-us/Windows7-USB-DVD-tool.exe) and install it.
8)run the windows 7 tool and create a bootable usb drive from the decrypted .iso file
9)open the drive, go to sources folder and find EI.CFG file. Open it with notepad and change the contents so that it looks like this:
[EditionID]

[Channel]
OEM
10) save the .cfg file and use the drive to start installation
11) when asked for product key during installation, insert this generic key 334NH-RXG76-64THK-C7CKG-D3VPT
12) finish install and boot to your non-activated windows 8.1
13) download windows 8 product key viewer to retrieve your bios-embedded product key( Windows 8 Product Key Viewer - Download - CHIP)
14) run the pkeyui.exe file and check the MSDM Key checkbox. Write down this product key.
15) run command prompt as admin and run this command: slmgr /upk to remove your product key
16) run command prompt as admin and run this command: slmgr /ipk XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX (replace the xxxxx-xxxxx sequence with your product key acquired from product key viewer)
17) reboot and enjoy your activated windows 8.1
18)Install drivers from asus support page ( Notebooks & Ultrabooks - UX32LN - ASUS) OR Just download this ux32ln driver pack with all folders numbered for easy installation and newest nvidia and intel hd 4400 drivers included (as of today - June-12-2014).

Hope this works for you people. Maybe I am just stupid or something and there is and easier way??

 

is there anywhere in the US to get this other than the one listing on ebay?

 

I found several EU shops that sell it and ship overseas, e.g.

http://www.computeruniverse.net/en/products/90552524/asus-zenbook-ux32ln-r4029p.asp - $1462.84 USD shipped for i7/256GB

http://www.computeruniverse.net/en/products/90546694/asus-zenbook-ux32ln-r4053h.asp - $1177.00 USD shipped for i5/256GB

Of course you'd have to deal with the crazy German keyboard (Y = Z, few other weirdnesses).

 

I have got a problem. After exiting World of Warcraft I can't open anything, where I use for acceleration nVidia GPU. If I do so, app doesn't start and after some minutes I get BSOD - DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE.

 

What's the driver version that you currently use?
Have you tried the latest version 337.88?

 

Hi all. I'm from Singapore. Just like to check with fellow Singaporeans where did you guys bought your unit? Was looking at challenger going at $1098.
Ux32la model
4gb
4200u
500+5 hybrid.

Comes with bag sleeve, micron trend security and display dongle.

What's your take fellas?

 

Nice, im glad it helped to solve the issue. I got mine June 5th in Mironet.) its a great machine so far.

 

Thank you for the guide, I did try to install some other way which was supposed to get the activation key from BIOS, but had no luck doing it. So I ended up doing it the way you described.

I ended up installing these drivers from Asus:

Intel: Chipset driver, intel Management engine components, intel graphics, and intel dynamic platform and thermal framework
ASUS: ATK package (hotkeys), Smart Gestures.
Nvidia: Latest

Windows found the wireless card driver, also Im using just a generic Bluetooth, Soundcard, Card Reader drivers, which Windows were able to obtain on its own.

I like to keep the amount of necessary installed drivers to minimum, so the laptop doesn't get slow by unuseful stuff. Compare to what you get from Asus with all the preinstalled bloatware the laptop is fast like a flash now.

Has anyone played with the power options? setting the power limits via intel DPTF and processor power management in the windows power options?
Before I did the clean install, my laptop would kick in with the fan every few minutes. I did try to control the processor speed with the power options but it did not really do anything. No with the clean install, everything seems to be ok, the fan does not kick in anymore, and the setting for processor speed work right away.

 

After a Windows 8.1 update 1 clean install with minimum drivers, Office 2010 and Adobe Reader, I got 28 user + 21 system process at start up. It's fast and fine.

 

Yea, I have 337.88.
BTW review on notebookcheck:
Asus Zenbook UX32LN-R4053H Ultrabook Review - NotebookCheck.net Reviews

 

So, some of the people here have had this machine for a while... How is it going? Any problems? Are you happy with it?
I'm thinking of buying it in the next couple of days, so would love to hear people's experiences.

I'll be getting the version that is sold in Japan
Amazon.co.jp： ASUS UX32LN NB / silver ( Win8.1 64bit / 13.3inch FHD / i5-4200U / 8G / 500GB HDD + 8GB SSD / GT840M ) UX32LN-RI5: パソコン・周辺機器


Oh, and one question... what is the purpose of the 8gb SSD??

 

The small ssd is used for caching purposes to increase load speed like boot up speed, if this one is anything like my version it should be a 500GB SSHD(you can Google it)
Hmm, from my personal experience, it's not a bad computer, I returned it due to the weird screen issue a few other people described in the previous posts, sounds like it can be solved by a graphics driver update, which is nice. The 840m is pretty powerful compared to the previous gen 730m, and it's pretty light and good surface finish.

If light, style, and a discrete graphics is what you are looking for in a laptop, you should get it.(too bad it's not a touch screen)

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

Thanks for the response ecalex. Do you know if its possible to take advantage of that small ssd if doing a clean windows install (which I will probably want to do at some point in the future)?

Yeah, I kind of wish it had a touch screen too. Although I guess then it wouldn't be a matte screen anymore..

Since you returned it, what did you decide to go with to replace it?

 

I bought a ux302lg instead, the only downside is a weaker graphics card. As for the ssd caching part, if it is a sshd, the caching feature should be enabled automatically. As for a separate caching ssd, I "think" its Intel's driver at work, not oem.(anyone's welcomed to correct me on that)

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

I decided to order it. Should arrive tomorrow I think.
How much bloatware is there on it? Is it worth doing a fresh install?

 

There is some bloatware - mcafee antivirus and some other stuff. It's not critical, but I would personally recommend a fresh install.

 

I am adding my voice to recommand a fresh install. It comes out with a sharper, faster laptop. After that you still have the choice to pick which asus addon software you want to add (touchpad,powersaving...)

 

ok thanks guys. If I remember correctly, I can use my win8 USB installation with the same serial number I used on my desktop to legally install the OS on my laptop as well.. (?)

Anything special I need to know about doing a clean install on this laptop? (driver issues, partitioning, etc)

 

has anyone tried using this laptop with Win7? Yesterday i've noticed on the ASUS's drivers page that now we can choose the drivers between Win 8.1 x64 and Win 7

 

clean install win8 just few days before... Great new for people who doesn't like windows 8

 

I was happy with Windows 7 but I will never go back now. Windows 8.1 update 1 is better than Windows 7. It juste takes few days to *switch*.

 

Hi wayofki,
use the guide I posted in this thread - it works well and even though it might seem a bit convoluted, it won't take long and it will work (why waste your desktop product key when the laptop already has one built-in). For partitioning I would recommend making a smaller system partition (mine is actually 200GB) and a larger one for data. It might later be easier for you to transfer the whole system to SSD of smaller size. I installed all the official asus drivers, found newer ones for intel and nvidia GPUs.

 

Oh man. Thanks mate, but looks way too complicate. I mean i dont want to risk making a mess.. Looks like its easy to make a little mistake that changes everything.
Is the clean install really better than the Asus one ? What does it changes at the end? B/c if this is for almost nothing, i'm not going to try this ...
But thanks for the full explanations

 

Yeah I think I will do that. Thanks a lot for the guide!
For the past few days I've been using it as it came, but I think at some point I will do a clean install in the way you described. The system doesnt seem overly bloated, but it still seems a bit slower than I was expecting at times. So I'll see if the clean install speeds things up. Or I might just try uninstalling mcafee first since that is probably the main culprit.

 

Hi,
It doesn't change a whole lot but overall the system feels faster to me. And I like to get rid of the bloatware at the lowest level possible. Steps 1 to 10 can be done on existing os installation without any risk of ruining anything. Steps 12 to 18 are taken in fully booted clean install - the pc will work just fine and you can repeat the steps ad-infinite until you get them right.

But I posted the guide mainly for people migrating to SSD, so if you feel like you might mess up (which you really can't and I encourage you to try this) then stick to your stock install.

When following the guide, the entire process from step 1 to step 17 should take about an hour (including unsupervised operations such as: downloading of the .esd file, converting to iso and copying to and installing from usb)

 

Btw, it seems that our machine can run OS X Mavericks (and hopefully Yosemite) pretty good as well (without the NVidia GPU though). But replacement of the built-in wifi card is necessary for networking.

 

Hello.

I am interested in buying this notebook but I am looking for notebook that can last 4-5 years. Is it a good choice to buy this? I have read that it has some serious issues with: the mount of hinges and the hinges itself, power jack socket, keyboard. Is it true?
When I see the pictures of the notebook inside I can see lot's of potencial problems (power socket is soldered directly to the desk, the hinges are really simple and the mount is really small...).

Thank you for answers

Bohumir

 

Hi,

I'm also interested in buying this laptop, but I read in test here Asus Zenbook UX32LN-R4053H Ultrabook Review - NotebookCheck.net Reviews that there seems to be an issue with a delay in the touchpad. Is that a noticeable problem and is there a chance that this will be fixed by some driver udpate in the future?


Thanks for your answers.

 

Been using this laptop for awhile. Anyone experience the "yellow tinting" issue with your model's lcd screen?

Mine's pretty warm, (on default settings, and with splendid software uninstalled).

Bought mine from Asia Pacific region.

 

The only issue I have had so far is with the DPI scaling. Since the screen is so high res, I found it made some things blurry when it automatically increased everything to 150%. Turning it down to 125% makes it better, but also everything is really small and a bit hard to read sometimes...
I'm not sure if there is a better solution to this, but thats my experience so far.

 

I set all the settings globally to 100%. Only set the chrome browser to default to 150%. Everything is just dandy.

 

Hmmm. Yesterday I went to look at it to a shop where they have also a showroom. It was a special discount for one piece because the package was open. I was thinking that I should buy it, if I like it. Full of enthusiasm I came to the shop, ordered for unpacking and waited.

When I saw it... Eh. Eh... I don't want to judge the design - it is personal. But I don't like stupid ideas of designers that I can see on the first look.

It looks very expensive and very nice - if not computer and working instrument. Unfortunatelly it doesn't have so many practical aspects. When I touched the beautifuly brushed lid I immediatelly left very visible fingerprints. I looked around it. Wait! Something is wrong. The notebook was tilted/bended, sitting on the table just with 3 legs and the 4th was cca 1-1,5mm above the table (I tried 2 tables and it was the same). I read that it is a common problem.

Let's go forward. The bottom cover is VERY thin. It sound very hollow and it flexes. Except this all other covers are ok and very solid and rigid - no flex. The keyboard is very good (I would say excellent) with almost almost no flex (I pushed harder to see the flexing). Anyway, the left arrow key was sitting askew... The touchpad is also really good.

Next disappointment was the power socket (that's one of the reasons I wanted to look before I will buy). Who could design this?!?!? In my life I have seen 2 kinds of electric sockets. A separate socket (small plastic brick that sits in the body with cables to the motherboard)(mostly DC sockets) OR a soldered socket with a support of the body of the device - the end of the socket has the body around it to support it (mostly headphones and other). But here as I have seen it is a soldered socket without any support. Of course it will break first time one steps on the cable. If I should say something about other ports - they are placed little bit off center of the holes. :-(

And the last disappointment was the hinges. I have looked at the hinges on the internet. They are tiny, it's just a piece of bended metal and they are tightened to a very small part of the body and even smaller part of the lid. I didn't try any brutal excercises. The hinges vere nicely stiff and they looked ok. I just opened the lid and tried to push the lid a little. It wobbles like nothing else in the shop. It is so springy that a normal writing makes it wobble a little bit. And when one touches it it is swinging more than 5 seconds (my 6 years old Asus F3Ka swings maybe 1 second). I find it very annoying.

Wrap up: At the end I left it in the shop with the words that the quality is not as expected. It looks like somebody really planned some things that are going to break in 2 years. On the first look it is a beautiful quality device. I would say it is a fantastic idea with the case. The case itself (excludingt the bottom cover which is very thin and flexes) is just great,sturdy, rigid. I would not place the brushed lid there but it is just a matter of taste. But the twisting is horrible if I think that it is a 800€ device. The power socket is a disaster (all of the competitors have a separate socket with wires to the MB). And the lid swinging is just very annoying and it is just a question when it will break. I don't want to study anymore the internals of the notebook because I can also see several potencial problems.

Is it really how the things are made today? Or did I just see a bad piece? Or is the laptop really so badly designed?

 

Hi All,

I have a question concerning of adding ram into the laptop.

I have an old module KHX1600C9S3P1K2 of 4G from another laptop. When I am adding this module to the laptop, the ram are not adding but the laptop is switching the the fastest.

Are you facing the same issue? do we have an option for the fastest module to be aligned to the soldered module to have 8G?

Thanks =)

 

You need to use DDR3L memory, which means memory capable of running on 1.35V. As far as I can see your module only supports 1.5V. Thus will not work together with the soldered memory.

 

I can comment on some of your concerns at least.

Skewed keys: Yes mine also has 3 keys that is not entirely flat. Common issue with asus laptops, my N56JR also has this issue, not a big deal, but shows signs of poor quality control.
Bending case: Yes the rubber feet below right hand palm rest is not touching the table unless I rest my hand there.
Fingerprints: unfortunatley this is an issue with many laptops nowadays. This UX32LN is far from the worst as only few surfaces shows fingerprints.
Hinges: I can not comment on longevity, but the feel is good for me and not worse than the competition.
Power socket: I agree the design is weak, and many other manufacturers have better solutions.

But still I really like this computer, there are few alternatives in the same price range. (Macbook Air was my other option, better build, better battery but worse screen and performance as well as higher system noise).

 

Beefed up the GPU speed a bit, and this is the 3dmark11 score.

Not bad for an 1,4Kg 13" lappy!

 

How high did you overclock it? In which utility do you overclock it? How did change load temperature of gpu after oc?

 

I just used Nvidia Inspector. Max stable overclock for me is +110MHz core and +230MHz memory.

So far I only tried 3dmark, which is not good for testing temps, will install some games later and test load temps.

 

Did anyone find a UX32LN model with a QWERTY layout keyboard anywhere? If so, what is the exact model number? Finally, if you have a QWERTY layout and could post a keyboard picture (to look at any international symbol(s) placement) that would be great!

 

I would say, that overclocking core clock will be useless, bcs memories should be bottleneck. Whats more it generates much more heat.

 

Every bit helps

Temps after playing Diablo 3 for 30 mins. Very low IMO. My N56JR has CPU temps around 90-93C in D3, and this thing runs about 10C colder. Not bad

 

Mid July, still the release date for this model state-side?

 

There is a rumor here in Taiwan, unconfirmed, so take it with a grain of salt, that they are not really interested in making more ux32ln and wanted to go for ux303 instead

 

Does anyone faces the issue of when plugging in, there's a static electricity on the rest pad?
Also there seems to be a white spot near the bottom of the screen, what iss that?

 

It worked. Many Thanks

 

Was looking qwerty like you. At Amazon fr they do have new stock of UX32 LN (8go - 256SSD) but coming from Germany. Bonus to get from Amazon is you have one month to try it to check if it suits you.
So the keyboard is qwertz which is not big deal with some differences here and there. If you want to know the layout go to wikipedia.

By the way seems the model I got correct the little issues that some early owner got..

 

Hey guys, just got hold of this laptop and it's cool. I want to do a clean install, but I got one problem though, windows isn't activated. I've tried activating it online a few times, but it keeps saying there is an error and it can't be done. My question is, can I just proceed with Picazsoo clean install guide, or do I have to activate windows before I format etc.? And if I have to activate, why the hell isn't it activating?

EDIT: Oh, and the laptop seems awesome so far...I do agree the charger has a lousy design though.

 

A clean install of Windows 8/8.1? Did you have to enter a product key to install? If yes, then it may not be valid because you weren't supposed to enter a key.

 

I have not done the format + clean install of windows 8.1 yet. I have just booted up the laptop, completed the initial setup and played with it a little. I did not enter any product key. All I see is the windows build number in the lower right corner of my screen, ie windows hasn't been activated.

 

I see, it should be activated by itself automatically once you are on the internet.
Is the notebook located in a sophisticated or simple networking environment?