ASUS g1s wont start !!URGENT!!

The problem started afew days ago. My laptop just randomly shut off, i didnt think much of it, i thought it was just antivirus updating, but last night it shut off twice, so i just let it over night, this morning i went to class and it wouldnt, start, so i kept trying and trying, finally it started, i go to the library later today and it started but shut off after 10min and it wont start at all, all i see is ASUS appear in the led thing on the top of the keyboard, and a little green light, on the indicator bar, near the front of the laptop, but the screen wont go on or anything, i can hear the fans go and thats about it. Ive been trying to get it to turn on for a few hours with no luck. I really need my comp to work tonight because all my notes are on it and i have a midterm tomoro any help would be great!

 

Hardware failure? Have you tired booting in safe mode?

 

In the meantime, for the midterm. Do you have a USB enclosure? If so, pop out the HDD from the G1S, put it in the enclosure, and use a desktop to view your notes (or whatever you are using to post this).

Or: download Knoppix or Slax (google for them) burn the ISO to a CD, boot linux, and use it to copy your files from the G1S to a flash memory stick. The HDD partitions will be automounted at /dev/hdaX where X is replaced by numbers.

 

I dont think i can, the screen doesnt even come on, , or do u not need the screen?

 

i dont have a usb enclosure, but ill try the second option and see if that works

Thanks alot for the help

 

When you turn on the computer, do you hear any activity going on in the computer (hard drive light flashing etc). If so, you can try to hook it up to an external monitor to see if gives you a display on that. Maybe its a bad display.

 

Yep.

Keep in mind if the computer does not boot at all (i.e., no ASUS splashscreen, no POST) then it won't boot Linux either.

You will need in that case a USB enclosure to get to your data today.

 

ya there is no asus splash screen at all, and yes i can hear the hard drive at first with the fans but then it totally stops, i just phoned asus and the guy said im gonna have to send it in i dont have a usb enclosure, wouldnt that void my warranty though

 

No, popping out your harddrive to put it in an enclosure won't void your warranty. You should be able to pick one up at local comp store for cheap. Make sure it supports SATA drives.

Not sure if this will help, but try turning on your laptop after removing battery, memory chips, and hard-drive. If the computer goes to POST and gives memory and hard drive errors, than one of your peripherals are screwy.

Make sure you unhook AC power and battery first before removing any other component.

However, from what you have said about it not even going to POST...it might be a totally different issue than one of your peripherals.

 

k i might try the hdrive thing tomorow since all the stores are closed, and all my notes for school are on here, so i have to get them off somehow, is it hard to do, could i screw it up? also i tried to hook it up to an external monitor, but i couldnt get it to work, the monitor just said no input or output, but if listen closely to the lappy i can here stuff goin on, so maybe its the screen

 

Try pressing Fn+F8 key to switch to dual screen and see if anything happens. You can also press Fn+F7 key to bring display back to your LCD.

Its not hard to get hard-drive out. You won't screw it up.

 

Ok by mircacle it just randomly started after a few hours of trying, im saving everything really quickly, i know it cant be the screen now, got any suggestions, to see whats wrong with the comp, any programs to try before it dies again?

 

Event Viewer. Right Click My Computer->Manage->Event Viewer and check if any any errors are reporting.

 

ive got a total of 871, 4 in last hour, 14 in past 24h ,48 in past 7 days

 

What kind of errors though? Disk?

 

Holy hell that's enough errors. Copy whatever data you've got and restore the system with the disk. Sounds almost like a virus.

 

no i dont think its a virus, ive got avast, and its continuously, scanning, and i scan everything before i open, im running a thourough scan right now, but how would i transfer my data, ive got no clue how, ive also got a crapload of audit failures(whateverthose are) but the errors, there doesnt seem to be any, its mostly servicing stuff, aplications, some system ones, not sure really, would it say disk error beside it?

 

Yea. If your hard drive was crapping out, it would give a bunch of disk errors. Audit failures are ok I think, so you shouldn't worry about them.

Just check to make sure that you have no System errors or Application errors. Try to see a trend and find out what might be causing it. You can check details of each error by double clicking on it. Then you can research it further online using that information.

If not, you can focus on backing up your data by burning it onto a DVD or saving on a USB drive.

Once you backup data, a system restore might not be a bad idea just to see if these errors happen again. But from what I've read so far with your problem, it seems its more hardware than software.

 

its all system and applications, like 500 for servicing, then like 67 for WerSvc, mostly what is taking space on my comp are games, so im not to woried about those, ive backed up my text files for school, could new drivers maybe be the cause of this, i never really had problems with them at all for the first week or so

edit: on spybot it just found 3 things from mysearch.com or something, and i deleted those, could that have been the problem?

if i do a restore is there a way, i can make it just one harddirve instead of having it partitioned, i dont see a point in the partitioning, its more of a pain i find, having to switch where i save things all the time

 

Flash the BIOS and make sure that nothing is plugged into the USB ports at the time of startup.

~ Brett

 

what exaclty does flash do, should i just restore system instead?

 

The BIOS is the most basic software on your computer. When you see the Asus symbol light up when you turn on the computer, it's the BIOS starting up and launching the next step, the main operating system, in this case Windows. Since the BIOS pretty much controls everything else, a problem with it can cause a computer to become completely useless. When you "flash the BIOS", you're updating this software, but since it's so important, you have to be careful. It used to be a bit harder but Asus provides a program, WinFlash, which makes it pretty easy.

In your case, you want to go to first download the newest BIOS from the Asus website in the downloads section under support. Next, go to Start -> run and type

Code:

WinFlash /nodate

in the box. When the program loads, browse to wherever you told the BIOS file to download to and let the program flash the BIOS. Restart the computer and see if it solved anything...

~ Brett

Edit: You only need to use the "nodate" option if you're reflashing a BIOS you already have installed. If there is a newer version you can simply go to Start -> Programs -> Asus -> Winflash and go from there.

Edit 2: System restoring will be useless if you can't even get Windows to start up after the Asus symbol shows up.

Edit 3: By system restore, I meant the Windows XP utility. The Asus restore partition or CDs might do the trick.

 

cool thanks but can i seriously mess my comp up with this? i have no experience doing anything like this, will restoring bring my bios back to normal? or is this a better method
sorry about all these questions, im a little paranoïd about messing things up lol

 

I saw the hint about taking out the hdd and using a external usb enclosure.

I thought that was not a bad idea but not viable for somebody like me who doesnt have one, nor the money for one or the time to go get one

So I thought I would for furture reference mention that most notebooks that are new esp high end ones like the g1s use a SATA HDD, this is the same interface the desktop computers use if they have sata. So all you have to do is plug it into your desktop computer with a sata cord and save the money on a enclosure. Chances are your motherboard came with 2 or 3 sata cords if you built your own pc like me.

this is how I ran hd tune on my notebook hdd before I even had my notebook.

I know this will help somebody in the future.

 

It would be pretty hard to screw this up. If I had to give it a difficulty rating, I'd say it's pretty similar to installing a new video driver. It's really not that hard. Using WinFlash, there's very, very little potential for anything to go wrong.

~ Brett

 

alright thanks alot for all your help guys, ill try this out tomoro if i get the time

 

Oh my God how didn't I think of that (SLAP/SLAP)

I'm still living in the world of parallel ATA, unfortunately

Sure, for SATA the connectors are just the same... For parallel ATA they are different and you need a special adapter, that's why I didn't think of it.

 

For a detailed procedure of updating the BIOS, see the link in my signature.

First get through the midterm, then, try to troubleshoot your notebook before sending it in, to make sure that they solve the right problem.

1. For memory, use memtest86+ (google)
2. For HDD, check your HDD manufacturer's webpage. There usually is an ISO image of a bootable tool which tests your HDD for impending failure.
3. I second the suggestion of booting up with nothing connected to the computer ports. Then, try peripherals one by one and see if one of them causes the computer not to start.
4. If none of the above provides a hint, do a system restore (AFTER backing up all your data)

Then, post back.

 

alright im about to do the flash, is there a way to know which bios to download from the site, or does it not matter at all, as long as its for the g1s

 

As long as its for Asus G1s from Asus' website, you should be ok. The latest one listed up there is 205.

Make sure you read up on those instructions before attempting to do this. Good luck!

 

omg i got so nervous, the bar wasnt moving for like 1 sec, i was like noooo, but then it worked, lol, I just want to thanks all you guys for all your help

should i still send it in, even though it works, or should i just keep it now

 

Give it awhile (at least one day) to make sure everything is ok. You should know by then if its going to work or not. I would say you have probably NOT solved your underlying problem.

 

I would wait a week or so to see if that solved everything. Hopefully it did...

~ Brett

 

man this sux, everything seemed to be working fine, but i died on me again today, i just bought CSS and started to play and the screen went black 15 minutes later, it seems to happen mostly when im doing alot on the system i guess, now i have to send it in

 

Affirmative! :/

 

Got it back finally, , they replaced the motherboard, seems to have fixed it, for some reason though, the fans go on and go pretty loud when i play games, and ive got a notebook cooler, it didnt do this before, do i have to update bios or something?

 

Yes, BIOSes sometimes change fan policies. Also make sure you have the ACPI drivers correctly installed.

Try that and see if it solves the issue.

 

Do you check your vents regularly for dust and hair build up?

 

If it's fresh from service, it's probably clean.

 

Well yes, I know this -that's common sense -but ...... that's not the point I'm trying to make. What I'm getting at is that overheating from clogged vents could have contributed to his original shutdown problem. He says that since he got his machine back the fans seemed louder and I'm thinking this could be due to replaced fans or premature wear on fan bearings. I am not saying I'm sure of it all but it is only a suggestion that popped into my head as I read this thread for the first time a few hours ago and even if that was not the root cause it would certainly still behoove him to check his vents regularly to ensure they remain clear.

 

alright i ll checkthe drivers to make sure, and also i only had the laptop for about 2 weeks before i broke, so i dont think it had to do with dust and stuff

 

Yep. Still, checking once a few months or so for dust buildup is always good advice.