Bizzare Restarts and Freezing on G1S

Hey there,

Recently my G1S started to randomly reset on me or freeze and I had no clue what to do. I decided to RMA the laptop, and basically Asus told me it was something on the software or the OS (Windows XP SP3) and they put back on Vista.

I got the laptop back this week, did a fresh install of SP2 XP, and left it with just basic stuff (Word, Antivirus etc) and WoW. However, after a day or so, the resets began happening again. I still have no idea to why this keeps happening, as it can't be software, because I've installed xp on 3 different computers and they have no problems.

Does anyone have any ideas on what may cause this problem? Is it software? Hardware? What ever help you guys can give me will be greatly appreciated, I just hope I don't have to RMA it again

 

Before you RMA it, and to address the potential hardware vs. software issue since you threw XP right back on when you got it...

I would suggest you reinstall Vista yourself first and see if the same problems persist. If so, then you have a definite reason for RMA, which will then give Asus something to work from rather than just say it was an OS conflict and send it back to you with Vista installed again.

 

Hmm, alright I suppose I could do that. Though I did have to put on XP for some school apps, so I really didn't have a choice.

Though, when I did RMA it, at first I got a call about them just reinstalling Vista, then about 30 mins later, another rep from Asus told me it was a mobo and graphics card error (with regards to the 8600m gt recall), and that it was going to get replaced.

However, when I got it back, they did not replace the mobo or the graphics card and left it with Vista, so I'm just wondering if it could be related to the Mobo or something like that.

 

Sometimes you can make XP programs perform normally in Vista by setting the compatibility differently.

Rt click on the software icon in the Vista Start menu, select Properties, click Compatibility tab, check box for Run this program...., select XP w/ SP2, Apply, OK.

 

Hmmm, alright. I'll try that later on today (I have to get some dvds to burn Vista onto, lost the image disk that asus gave me -.-).

 

I hate to bring this back up, but the problem occurred again on Vista. Its either a lock up or a random restart. I can't find any information on event viewer to give me any sort of insight to the problem, nor can I find any info on google etc.

This problem always seems to happen when I'm on battery power, using Word 2007. I have never had it happen while on AC power or running some kind of game. I doubt it's an overheating issue since it's happened to me within 5 mins of the laptop starting up cold, so I have no idea what the problem is.

Anyone have any idea or experience the same problem that I have that can help me? Or am I doomed to having Asus RMA tell me it's my fault and continually just put back on Vista (even though I tell them I've tried with XP and Vista) with no real look into the problem?

 

If it only happens on battery power, this suggests it may have something to do with power management. You could try changing or reinstalling the ATK drivers, standard step in such a case.

This kind of freezes/hard restarts are difficult to troubleshoot because nothing is logged in the event log, as you say...

You could try different drivers for the various hardware (e.g., modded instead of stock). Just as an example, I had this kind of freezes on my W7Sg on the previous XP install. I reinstalled, this time in SATA Enhanced mode rather than Compatible, and with newer GPU drivers. I never had a lockup again -- although I have no idea what actually removed them: the XP reinstall, the SATA mode, or the GPU drivers...

All of the above assumes software problems. Although the fact that it happened in XP and Vista suggests hardware.

I don't know how much this helps...

 

It helps a lot since it gives me something to work with

Although I have no idea which ATK driver to look for, and I am on SATA enchanced mode, so I pretty sure that shouldn't be the problem. I will try new GPU drivers.

Although I'm starting to worry it's a battery problem...

If these changes don't help, well its back to Markham to RMA this for the 7th time

 

7!?!?! You should be entitled to a replacement after 3 RMAs...

Any ATK driver version different from what you have now; or even the same, just the reinstall helps if the problem truly lies with the ATK driver.

 

Yeah 7, (2 HD failures, 1 Burned out Turbo Mem (My fault, sorta), 1 for the restarting [all they did was blame it on XP -.-], 2 registry failures, and this would be 7 -.-).

I'll try the ATK driver in a few!

EDIT: Is it ACPI I'm looking for?

 

Yeah, it's the same thing. Use only ATK drivers from ASUS, by the way.

Why not ask for a replacement, plainly, this time?

 

Got the ACPI drivers, will try battery power tomorrow in class probably.

Well if the problem continues, I intend to ask for a replacement, but I doubt it will be easy. The annoying thing was that Asus told me they were going to replace the mobo and graphics card (upgrade the card to a 9500 GS due to the 8600 being defective), but all they did was reinstall Vista and denied they told me that.

 

Hmm new GPU drivers or ACPI drivers didn't do the trick. I suppose I'll have to call Asus, I just hope they don't cop out and that I had xp on this or that I used modded video card drivers.

 

They shouldn't. In the worst case they will just recover Vista, so make sure to back up your data before you send it!

If you didn't already do it, you may try a different BIOS version (assuming there are several).

 

Yeah I tried the stock BIOS and the new 300 BIOS, didn't make a difference sadly

I'm not worried about data, everything major or large is backed up on dvds, so I should be alright. I'm just hoping they actually solve the problem, cause driving to their Canadian offices takes forever from where I live -.-

 

If you want, I could try uploading the drivers I use for my G1S. I haven't had any problems. I had to RMA my G1S once because of the Nvidia fiasco and a dead GPU. Anyone know of any place I can put up close to 500 MB of drivers?

I used the ATK drivers for the G1Sn. Try those.

 

I believe you could use megaupload t upload your drivers.

I did try the G1Sn ATK drivers, they didn't help, I'm starting to think this is a hardware problem though, I'm probably going to call Asus tomorrow to get an RMA set up.

 

Okay here are the drivers.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=GYZP6N0S

 

Ok, finally got around to RMA'ing my G1S to Asus.

Drove out to their Markham office (which btw is very nice) and talked to David at the front there. I told him my problem and asked him to bring up how many times I had been there. He noticed I have been there 5 times beforehand, this being 6 (so, I was one off lol). After some complaining on my part, he agreed they would run and look at every part of my laptop so it would finally work right, but also suggested I call their notebook customer support and ask for a replacement.

I decided to do that after I got home. I spoke with their rep, and they said they would look at my case and she would speak with her manager and get back to me the following day. I got a call from Asus today saying that I have been approved for replacement, however since they don't make the G1S anymore, I would get a different model. I inquired about which model I would receive and was told the G50vt-A1!!!!

Now, I am extremely happy and excited, but am worried since by looking at this forum, there are a lot of problems with the G50. Are my fears overblow? Also, could I run XP on this laptop (just curious)? Any G50 owners who can answer these questions for me would be a major help.

 

mmmh I'm sorry to hijack a bit you topic, but you mentioned something about a 8600m GT recall... why they issued the recall? i didn't found anything concerning a planned recall for 8600GT cards on G1S, maybe I missed it but I'd like to know more.

Thanks