Asus G50V-A2 CPU Problem (About to Pull Hair Out... or just RMA)

I think that controller has something to do with the tiny display or something with the lights, but I don't know for sure.

 

You would think Asus would have started coming up with conclusions or fixes by now if this many people have reported it. My issue when I sent it to them was it never happened once for them when they looked at it for replacement. Ever since then I've never had the issue. To be honest I think it goes away, it must be something that takes its time loading into Vista. I'm not an expert by any means, but it seems the handful of us that had this happen when they first came out, aren't having the issue anymore.

 

Holy crap, this worked for us!
Joy!

Does it work for you others who has the problem as well? Maybe put it up as an unofficial solution if it does?

 

I guess the question that remains is: What the heck does the 293c Enhanced Host Controller do, and what are we losing out on by turning it off? I noticed that turning off the 293a controller seemed to turn off the USB ports (as evidenced by my USB mouse ceasing to function), but turning off the 293c controller had no noticeable effect. I don't have any high-speed USB devices (like a hard drive) to test it out further, so no idea if the 293c controller has any function on this particular laptop that the 293a controller doesn't.

I did notice, however, that after I'd turned off the 293c controller, sometimes when I plugged in the mouse, Windoze would give me a "please plug your high-speed USB device into a high-speed USB port for optimal performance" message, with an additional message to click the message bubble. When I clicked on the bubble, it gave me a window with the 293a controller on top, and a tree below it showing about 6 USB ports/controllers that were connected to it (I'm at work right now, and don't quite remember what it looked like). This message doesn't seem to appear if the 293c controller is enabled, which leads me to wonder if hi-speed USB is provided by 293c, and not 293a. Three days of constant googling, and either there's no information out there on this issue, it's too technical for me to read and understand, or I just don't know how to google correctly.

I really would have thought that if this was an issue with the ICH9 controller and/or Vista 64-bit, there'd be more stuff out there to read on this issue.

In regards to people not noticing this issue, to be honest, I probably wouldn't have noticed it either if I hadn't stumbled across this thread while the merchandise was being shipped (I was actually looking for threads about how awesome the laptop is to justify my purchase).

To the people who RMA'd it, wouldn't it be a kicker if Asus turned off the 293c controller, claimed they couldn't replicate the issue, and sent it back?

 

I just restored the notebook from the hard drive. The cpu usage remains the same (high usage by the kernel).

I found out Asus Notebook Repair Center is in the building next to where I work. I will take the G50V-A2 in on Monday and show them the problem so they can fix it. I will ask what they did. I will do another install from the hard drive after its fixed to confirm the problem is solved.

I let you know what happens.

 

Appreciate you doing this, getting clarity in this issue would be very nice.

 

I had the issue re-appear after not having it happen for quite some time. I have done anything to my laptop since when it was fine until now except bring it home from my office. I disabled the 293c host controller and it did bring the processor down. Hopefully DWright can get some answers as to what's going on. I'll be sending a message to Asus as well to see what the hell is up.

 

I encountered this problem twice and both times were after flashing the BIOS. The way I solved it was by switching off the bluetooth radio through the hardware switch, shutting down the system, and removing the battery for around 20 seconds. When I turned the machine back on, no more 100% CPU usage. Hope that helps!

 

Hmm I'm going to give that a try when I get the chance as I did flash the BIOS a few days ago.

Although as posted above, disabling that 293c host controller worked as well...just wish I knew what it was for!

 

How do you just turn the Bluetooth off via the hardware switch? Everytime I toggle it, it turns off my wireless card and bluetooth, not just one or the other.

 

This is what I got back from Asus about the 293c host contoller ...

Dear Valued Asus Customer

Its only a USB controler. It may effect the use of your usb, but go ahead and try to see if you can run USB devices even after that device is disabled.

Sincerly,
Asus Notebook Technical Support
888.678.3688 option 3, option 2.
JK

 

I took my G50V-A2 with the cpu at 100% usage while no apps were running into the Asus service center (next building to my office) and showed them the problem. I had just performed a complete restore from the Asus partition on the primary hard drive (press F9 during boot).

They kept my notebook. I will wait and see what the problem is.

The odd thing is that the problem went away all morning but at lunch time I decided to take it in just too see what they thought. When I booted there the problem was back so they saw it first hand.

 

I submitted the G50V-A2 CUP Usage problem report to ASUS tw and received a reply today. Here is what they suggested:

After reading your email and looking into the issue I have not found any specific information to resolve your issue. We have a test model and ours does not exhibit any of the issues yours is having, although our model is running a beta bios version 207, if you could find out which bios you are running this might help us in determining if it is a bios related issue. You can access the bios by tapping the f2 button when first powering on the notebook. Additionally have you attempted to recover the unit via the recovery partition and gotten the same issue? Also have any updates or installations take place (no matter how small) to the system during the time you experience the issue. Additionally if you are familir with how to access safe mode (the f8 key on your keyboard tap it before booting into windows and pick safe mode) and see if the problem is present in that enviorment. If it is then it is most likely a startup service or driver or software bug. If you would like please feel free to contact us here at notebook technical support 1888 678 3688 option 3 then option 2. Thank You for contacting asus notebook technical support and for using asus for your computing needs.

 

The three things that I've done to solve this issue..
1) When my notebook was brand new back in August and it happened it went away after about 3 days...but it came back about a month later.

2) I disabled that host controller mentioned in the post above. That seems to work great but I dont like disabling things that I dont really know what they do. Even thought the Asus tech basically said it was ok, but couldn't explain what it was.

3) Removed the battery for about a minute.

This issue seems to be like my car. I have an issue, yet I take it in and no one can replicate it so therefore it must not exist.

What bugs me is that they still reply to me like this is some once in a life time event even after I point them to this forum to see I'm not the only one (to which I doubt they looked).

Oh well it works now and I'm happy with it. Because when this notebook is working properly, it is pretty awesome.

 

Amen to that, took me a week to get this thing running smoothly, but man does it scream!

 

I picked up the G50V-A2 from Asus Canada service/repair center today. I used it at work and at home and it's been OK all day. No more CPU usage issues.
The system board was replaced. It has a 202 bios. The usb controller 293A and 293C are both active.

 

Hmm wonder why when I sent mine to Asus Canada they did nothing, but replaced your board for you.

 

I took the g50v-a2 into the repair centre north of Toronto and showed them the problem first hand.

In my case the problem did not occur on every boot so I needed to show it to them.

I have not had the problem since, so I hope it is gone forever.

 

Good News: ASUS Service center can fix the issue.

I had the same problem, I called the service center and sent my laptop to them. Now I get it back and the issue never happen again.
Hopefully it helps.

 

I hope it's gone forever...

 

Did they tell you what they did to fix it?

 

I did the usb trick and it worked for me as well.
I didn't had HIGH cpu usage,. Just always around 25/35% for a about 10 minutes. Then it used to go down to 0.
Now with the USB deactivaction it sits at 0 at the starting from the very beginning.

 

how do you disable the "USB controller 293C"
i have skimmed every page of this thread but couldnt find how to, if i did miss it i apologize, and thank you again.

 

go to device manager and look for USB controllers, when you find it.... right click disable

 

I just picked up a asus g50v-a2 and it had the dreaded high cpu issue. Disabling the "USB Controller 293c" did the trick, however now I cannot use the LCD display as it always says "Republic of Gamers" and does not report CPU, Battery or memory data. I figured that by disabling the controller it in effect disabled the use of the display. Also I find that I still have some wierd slowdowns on my usb devices from time to time. Most noticably when I am using the wifi or network and transfering large files over the network. My mouse will get all jerky and lag horribly.

On another note the USB issue affects linux as well, I stuck in a gentoo 2008.0 minimal cd to install gentoo on the second hard drive, the laptop booted to the livecd but as soon as the command prompt appeared I began to get spammed with something like:

hub xxxx: over-current change on port 1
hub xxxx: over-current change on port 5

There is a bit more info with the overcurrent errors like hub addresses but I forgot it and will have to report later by duplicating the issue if anyone wants more info. Essentially all of the spam that this produces makes it impossible to type at the command line and install gentoo.

My laptop came installed with Bios rev 207 which is not even posted for download on the asus site yet. I guess this is fine though since it is still a buggy bios.

I really hope they get this straightened out soon, it has been pretty upsetting to have spent this much money on a laptop with hardware issues out of the box, as well as the inablility to install the OS I really wanted to put on it in the first place!


Edit! - (an hour later) I called asus tech support on my lunch break to see what the status of the bios update was. I explained the issues I was experiencing and the tech on the line told me that my laptop needs to be sent in for repairs. So if you are having this issue you may want to contact asus again.

 

If disabling that USB controller had disabled the OLED for everyone, I'm sure they would have reported it?

Those overcharges on the USB ports aren't good. There have been similar issues reported in the past, I don't know whether or how they were solved.

 

yes my laptop also had the LED at fault displaying the RoGamers msg showing, after i had disabled the controller.

as for the usb lag issues i haven't really noticed yet since i havent used them to send large files.

 

Has anyone else having this issue tried booting to a linux live cd to see if they get the overcharge errors?

Here is the gentoo minimal link , just download the iso, burn and boot it.

bouncer.gentoo.org/fetch/gentoo-2008.0-minimal/amd64/

 

I have noticed too that when you disable port 293c, it does disable the OLCD for Direct Console.

I haven't noticed any of the problems with CPU load with my G50, although it may be because mine is only 2 weeks old. Is there anything I should be watching out for?

 

Asus is replacing my laptop, I should be getting the new one tommorow. Hopefully the issue will not be present.

Also I noticed today that they have a new bios rev posted on the driver page for the G50V. It is 207 which was the same bios as the unit that I RMA'd

 

I had not problems with this until today/last night. I disabled the USB Host as mentioned before and it worked. Only problem i see is that i get a message that says to use a faster USB Port with my device (at the time my mouse). I will try later with my WD external drive, printer, ZUNE, cruzer micro (will try ready boost with it) or phone and report back on anything different i see in performance. I do not like this solution however, there should be no such problem as this on such a machine.

ps. I googled and somewhere I found a person with a similar problem, not on a G50 however. They found as a solution that they might have a problem with their mother board, after running process explorer. Basically, they fond what exaclty was causing the 100% load within "system". I only get NT Kernel and System,(nothing more specific) but if this helps anyone... On this note, someone here also mentioned Asus replaced their mother board. Would if be safe to jump to the conclusion that MAYBE some G50s have faulty motherboards? Also explaining the "hum" on headphones when a usb device is plugged in and keyboard lag?. (does everyone have/had both problems?). If mother board is the case, I would be really upset because It should not happen with a $1700+ machine 1 month old, I would def want my money back, or at very least replaced with a same priced model. Some people have also tryed a clean windows install, and even Linux, so software IS not the problem. I found on google the USB control host to be from intel (not sure), so perhaps this has to be updated?

 

They did not send me the same model laptop that I returned.

I returned an asus g50v-a2

they sent me back an asus g50vt-a1, which seems to be performing well. I am installing gentoo on it as I type this

They told me that there was an issue with the g50v and it was not present in the g50vt's so they gave me a free upgrade. He did tell me that a fix is on the way for the g50v's though soon, and that they are not doing the swap outs anymore.

 

Did they tell you what the issue was in the G50V?

 

The "issue" they were talking about was the 100% cpu usage due to the usb controller, they did not elaborate however. I am sure the fix will be comming in a bios release.

One thing I did notice is that the g50vt-a1 does not have the 239c usb controller.

 

My thought on all this is that most of the parts on these notebooks are USB.

Your camera is USB, the small OSD screen is hooked in via USB... Those lights that flicker on the back of the lid are hooked via USB I think and who knows what eles.

Do you all have the lights set so they dont flash and are just on solid all the time or are you letting them flash? I heard someone at one point say when the flashed it caused cpu load... I set mine to turn off the two side ones, and not flash the other ones, they are just always on... (I wish could disable those too though along with that darn express gate led... boy would battery life help, haha)

 

ok guys, now my second display isn't working, and direct console keeps crashing. all it displays is the republic of gamers default... =(

 

Reinstall using the Direct Console installer on the Asus website. It's newer than the Direct Console version on the drivers disk.

 

Or use LCDHype with the G50 driver that Predator_MF developed.

 

If you use LCD hype you loose the ability to OC your laptop.

 

so i contacted Asus support and got a reply:

First i would like to say i am sorry that you are having issues with your unit, but in context to your question their is no active recall on the g50v series the only know issue is a hum that is present when certain devices are plugged into the usb port and you use headphones. This is not a defect but created due to the high electrical noise internally from the components.

After reading your email i have a few recommendations to test for certain possibilities as to why your system is having issues. Please keep in mind we do not warrant or support software issues but in attempt to try and help you i am providing you with some software support links additionally these links are not asus based.

1. My first recommendation would be to run this application that is built in windows vista. The link for a webpage on how to run this is listed below

http://www.vista4beginners.com/Problem-Reports-and-Solutions

http://www.vista4beginners.com/system-health

2. If you are only noticing the issues in relation to video related functions, applications, or games it could be a driver related issue and i would recommend that you update the video driver. I have provided a link below ( i have also included the most up to date versions of the audio driver and the direct console software ) additionally you can attempt to update the bios but i would recommend you call in to have us walk you through this process )

http://dlsvr04.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb/Drivers/VGA/nVidia/VGA_Nvidia_vt32_64_081105.zip

please uninstall the current direct console before installing this update.

http://dlsvr04.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb/Apps/DirectConsole/DirectConsole2_VT32_64_081105.zip

ftp://152.104.238.19/pc/audio/Vista_R208.exe


additionally in regards to your keyboard lag issue i would recommend you uninstall the synaptics touchpad driver and see if that resolves your issue.

3. Most issues with Notebooks are related to os related issues you can attempt to find those issues by the 2 applications i recommended in step 1 in this stip these are are focused at verifying the integrity of your operating system and checking that you do have registry issues or a infection. I would run scans with both these applications and see what results are listed

http://www.pctools.com/spyware-doctor/

http://www.pctools.com/registry-mechanic/


4.A easy validation tool to see if the problems you are having are related to software or hardware is to perform a system recovery to your unit , THIS IS A DESTRUCTIVE PROCESS AND WILL ERASE ALL APPLICATIONS AND INFORMATION ON YOUR UNIT. It will reset it to the day your orginally purchased your notebook. If you continue to have issues at this point it is a indicator to let you and us know you have a hardware related problem. You can complete a recovery process by following the noted steps.

1. power off the unit fully

2. power on the unit and immediately begining tapping the f9 key on your keyboard until you see a screen that says windows setup ems enabled

3. click next until you get to asus preload with 3 recovery options.

4. Pick which recovery option you would like , we ship our units default option 3 this will give you a c and d drive. If you prefer one large c drive pick option 2. Option 1 i do not recommend in almost any situation unless you have to save data that you have stored on the d drive.

Hopefully the information and links I have provided help resolve your issues or have awnsered your questions or clarified things for you. Thank You for contacting asus notebook technical support and for using asus for your computing needs. Additionally if you have any other questions please feel free to call in at 1-888-678-3688 option 3 then option 2.

if this helps anyone else out there with my same issues.

 

hi guys!

Just wondering if the CPU problem has been fixed? I am planning on a G50 or G71, haven't decided which.

thanks for your answers!

 

I see G50 have the opposite problem of mine. My G1Sn on the other hand underclocks at minimum speed. It only clocks properly during battery mode. However when i installed Vista 32bit, my CPU clock is normal at AC or battery mode. I'm thinking that Vista 64 bit has some issues with Asus motherboards.

Asus will be ordering a new motherboard for me and it will take 3 weeks. Hopefully this will fix my CPU underclock problem.

 

Hello all,

I am new here and have the same cpu issue on my g50vt which i got last saturday. Disabeling the usb worked for me but the second display won't work anymore. I read one the asus forum that there will be a 209 bios to solve this problem. can anyone confirm this or shall i return it?
Thanks for any help.

 

BIOS 209 has been released:

Link 1: http://dlsvr04.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb/G50V/G50V209as.zip
Link 2: http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb/G50V/G50V209as.zip

It work for both G50V and G50Vt.
BIOS 209
solve the bug of the CPU speed full run issue .

 

Hello Mr. Lee,

Thank you for the link, one problem i have is it won't open. The page can not be found. Do you know of an other way i can get a hold on this?
Thank you and best regards

 

There server always down, I was able to download it earlier, try our server:

http://www.gentechpc.com/Asus/G50V/G50Vas.209.zip

 

what do you do with the file once you download it? Sorry if for the ignorant question...Im pretty clueless to this stuff.

 

Unzip it to a folder and then open Asus WinFlash to browse the file and flash the BIOS.

 

I did exactly what you said and I get a message reading "can not find BIOS image"

 

Copy the BIOS to C:\G50Vas.209, restart the computer and press F4 during post to enter EasyFlash, serch C:\G50Vas.209 for BIOS and begin to flash.