Ivy Bridge Zenbook with FHD IPS screen UX21A UX31A UX32A UX32VD

Thanks for experimenting with the SSD. The perfect solution would be to install Windows on the SSD, and use the HDD as a program disk.

I just got my UX32VD and was eager to reinstall Windows using my own Ultimate x64 disc. I booted the disc from an external drive and got to the hard drive overview in the Win7 installation. I formated the C:\ disk (careful not to touch the Recovery partition) as per usual when installing Windows 7.

But then I couldn't continue. It says that "the drive is formatted in GPT" on which Windows 7 can't install. Bummer.
I formatted the SSD drive in Windows prior, and it did indeed show up. But that was GPT as well.
The plan was to see if it will proceed to install on the SSD, but if not - the regular HDD would surely work.

Then I read that windows needs to be booted in EUFI in order to install on GPT HHDs, but I can't find any way to boot it like that.

Finally I thought that I can always return to stock using the recovery partition.. but no. When I run recovery it tries to read some tools from the C: disk.. what the heck? Isn't the entire point of a recovery partition to be able to save a effed up main partition?

So now I'm kinda lost. How do I install Windows 7 in UEFI when there's no option for that in the bios? Can I enter DOS and reassign the disk to MBR, and install Win 7 the usual way? Will it boot normally if I do that or does it require a GPT drive?

And how did Asus think when the recovery tool requires files from the C: os partition in order to recover it?

Will update when I find a solution.

 

- Will i7 run hotter than i5? I can sacrify the 15% of i7 power for better running condition... And longer standalone working time...
- Display all models have HD Matte?

I do not know what ask else about differences. Are there any other?

 

Can someone link me to it on newegg I can't find it

 

How did you format it? GPT is a basic disk and that's why you can't install on it. Windows should have made it a primary or dynamic at least.

 

Same here I live in NY so no tax and free shop-runner also had a 10 dollar coupon that came to use. I just got my tracking number, but noting shows up on UPS site. It left Newegg warehouse at 11 AM Cali time, so hopefully it is able to to make it NY by tonight and have it by tomorrow.

 

It won't run any hotter unless you are running cpu intensive programs. In fact it should run cooler as normal programs aren't cpu intensive and the i7 has more power. All the screens are Matte but not all are the high resolution HD+ that comes in the UX31A models. I guess the real question is what are you planning to use it for?

 

To be honest, I think that is wishful thinking. The best scenario with the 2-day shoprunner would mean getting it in NY on Monday as UPS do not do Saturday unless is next day urgent. More realistically, I am expecting it to arrive on 6/26.

 

Newegg.com - ASUS UX32VD-DB71 Notebook Intel Core i7 3517U(1.90GHz) 13.3" 4GB Memory DDR3 1333 500GB HDD NVIDIA GeForce GT 620M

 

Depends on your eyesight I guess -- my new ux31a has a fantastic display -- the text is small (even at the 125% default setting) but very sharp and clear. I have no problem reading it at all and kind of prefer it since the screen has more displayed with the higher setting. BTW -- I wear contact lenses so my eyesight is not 100%

 

my 'h' key doesn't light up. great. i'm debating whether or not this warrants an exchange. this sorta thing will drive me crazy, haha

Spoiler

 

I simply deleted the partitions in the windows disk tool, and then created one main partiotion with the drive letter Z:.

Now I realize that I should use parted magic to secure erase the SSD, as simply deleting the partitions won't change it from GPT.

I just hope that when I install Windows 7 (booting from the DVD using external DVD reader) it will boot properly.

Thanks for the help

 

Yes it does, return it to them

 

Yeah, my OCD will drive me crazy. Luckily Amazon cross ships so this will be fast.

 

Hey,
obviously the first UX31A (i7) 128 GB Sandisk in Germany showed up.
The guy is saying that there was a "Sandforce-driven" sticker outside on the box. Since he immediately pack it again we don't have any more details. The device manager said SanDisk 124 plus sth like 100 (he isn't sure). We also don't have a final proof like a screenshot. But I sense it as trustworthy.

Another guy mentioned that since the beginning of the year there are also Sandisk-SSDs with a Sandforce controller that would be on a level with the ADATA.

We will see if Asus has taken better SSDs for the first batch like for the 1st gen. Zenbook. I keep you updated if any more details come up in this forum.

EDIT: Ok, he uploaded a screenshot.

Cheers
egalo

PS: Sry to bring potential bad news in the first post. But as you can see I am not here since yesterday
source: Asus stellt zweite Zenbook-Generation vor - Seite 39 - ComputerBase Forum

 

can someone test diablo 3 in a busy area (maybe inferno) to see how hot, slow, loud this thing would get?

 

Dear Dunces, i will try to help you, not an easy situation.

To avoid further confusions, the error message was probably: "Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk is of the GPT partition style". Formating has nothing to do with GPT, the partiotion table style has.

Official threads say that to be able to install Win7 to a GPT disc, you need 64bit (check) and EFI BIOS. These are needed to have it bootable.

To avoid all possible mistakes, make sure:

1., you upgraded to latest BIOS, download it from another computer, put it on an USB drive, go into Zenbook's BIOS (F2 at boot), and use EasyFlash.
2. you have the LATEST factory win7 64 bit SP1 install DVD, search for it with google if you need the direct link for the ISO file
3., you have prepared the partitions in ADVANCE (HDD or SSD), where you want to install Win7. I could NOT do it during Installation either, ran into a similar error, so I HAD to do it prior to that, to have the desired partition (quick)formatted in NTFS. As you have no Windows to boot into right now, you can use the latest beta PartedMagic ISO from a CD or USB drive from here: Index of / download the 06_19 verion, just because I KNOW that one works well on this zenbook. Once loaded, click on the Partition Editor icon, and do what is needed.

4., Now boot with your DVD and see if Install can begin onto to your well-preapred NTFS partition.
5., If not, then there might be a last attempt: when turning the machine on, keep clicking ESC (or was it F12?) that gets you the boot device selection menu, try selecting one, that involves UEFI or EFI. This is our last hope at this moment.

You can try doing only this last 5th point first, maybe it solves your trouble right away.

IF it works, then it should work on the SSD too, not just the HDD.

IF it doesn't, you could try converting the disks from GPT to MBR, I know it is possible with keeping all data, but never tried. Then new options should open, the Install DVD couldn't complain anymore about GPT - but again, I'm not sure if it wouldn't bring about new difficulties.

Lesson: use the built in Create Recovery DVDs function first, and burn them, before eagerly erasing your C: drive, please. I was very careful on purpose, not to delete anything from the HDD, just using the SSD as a playground. Even prior to that i have created 3 different backups of the full SSD with 3 different backup softwares, sector-by-sector, just to be sure I would be able to restore it if things go wrong. Fortunately non of them was needed, as I have later figured out that ExpressCache can be reinstalled and then it will partition the SSD again for its purposes.

UX32VD is back at the client for him to use, unfortunately I can't experiment more with it, and I don't have a UEFI BIOS machine here to test with.

I'm wishing you best luck, for sure there will be a solution for you. Absolute worst would be to clone someone else's HDD of the same machine. Time consuming but doable.

Let us know how you solved it though

 

This may be helpful for people who are interested in reloading a fresh copy of Windows 7 onto their spanking new Zenbook Prime.

I have been installing Windows 7 from a USB key. I followed this instruction from Maximum PC Maximum PC | How To: Install Windows 7 from a USB Key! - Page 1 and have been using it for re-installing my desktop as well as the Asus UL30VT when I put in a Crucial SSD (Indilinx) in 2009. I find this a much more convenient way to install W7, not to mention the speed is far superior compared to a DVD player.

 

Well first time poster, I got my UX32VD-DB71 today from amazon US, I have one day shipping and the bad news is the SSD is from Scandisk not adata see screenshot for reference. Not sure what to do about this yet.

Spoiler

 

Here's a nice chart:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...-ux21a-ux31a-ux32a-ux32vd-56.html#post8622617
It's been posted a couple of times already, and linked to even more.

Yes, definitely return it.

 

mine is too. but i'm not sure there are ux32vd with adata cache ssds. where did you read this ?

 

Probably a dead roach under it blocking the light.

 

I think people are confusing the UX31A that uses an SSD as primary vs the UX32VD that uses an SSD as the express cache drive.

More are concerned that the UX31A primary SSD is an ADATA vs. a SanDisk. Not even sure if ADATA makes the custom 32GB SSD that the UX32VD has.

 

Well, I sent ASUS an email today saying I only want an A-data SSD..what model do I have to buy to get that...I will let you know if they respond and what that response is.

 

I bow for the very ambitious answer. Thanks so much for helping out

By Secure Erasing the Sandisk i100 SSD using parted magic ( How to: Secure Erase your Solid State Drive (SSD) with Parted Magic) I managed to install Windows onto it directly from my bootable Windows 7 Ultimate DVD, since it seems to erase the GPT partition table and do a regular MBR I'm guessing.

So, right now I'm up and running in Windows 7 Ultimate on the Sandisk i100 SSD. Just trying to figure which WiFi driver to install. There's 3 to choose from - two Azurewave in different sizes and an Intel driver. Anyone got any guess? Device manager just says it's a network adapter.. not very helpful

EDIT: Tried installing the Intel WiFi driver. It worked rightaway, allowing me to find the network and connect. So that's the one to install for the Swedish version of the UX32VD at least, but it should work for the rest of Europe too. Dunno if the american version has another network adapter.

The thing is, there's still a 200MB partition on the Hitachi HDD which contain EFI files (it's called EFI System Parition). Don't think I should touch that. The SSD is marked as boot though, and boots directly to the Windows on it no problems.

It's all set to use the Sandisk SSD as a system disk, and the disk is recognized in bios as a regular SATA disk. This is just excellent, as I didn't expect to use it other than as a cache. You effectively get a cool setup of an OS 30GB SSD disk AND a regular 500GB HDD for programs.

Yeah, I definitely recommend anyone who gets the Zenbooks to immediately do a recovery DVD. I regret that I didn't do it. Not very used to notebooks after using a stationary computer all these years.

So a rough recap:
1. Burn a recovery DVD using the preinstalled tool.
2. Follow the link above and burn a Parted Magic CD to boot from.
3. In Disk Manager delete the SSD partitions and leave it. (dunno if this is needed but it doesn't hurt)
3. Boot into Parted Magic (gotta be the newest 06_19 version) and Secure Erase the sandisk SSD.
4. Either format the C: using a Windows 7 disk or do it in Parted Magic.
5. IMPORTANT. Go into bios and assign the SSD as primary boot device. Otherwise it will start the recovery tool in the end of the Win7 installation when it reboots.
6. Boot from Windows 7 disc and install Windows 7 as usual by selecting the SSD when prompted.
7. In Windows you can then do into Disk Manager and extend the previous OS partition on the Hitachi HDD so it get's the unallocated space. This will give you 450GB of disk space on it using a single partition that's visible from My Computer. Do not alter the other partitions on the disk.

WARNING! This is a very rough guide, I will update it with more information. Do not try this unless you are aware of the risks.

Thanks jedighost for all your experimentations and help. I wish all you who are into this right now good luck, and hopefully with some collaboration we solve all the initial questions about the UX32VD.

 

You probably need the intel driver (i am sure you do) because it is a WIDI adapter. At least if it's a UX31A it has WIDI..not sure on the VDs.

 

Dunces, thanks for all your input, you did great!

The Secure Erase for sure deleted the SSD's partition table too, so when you created the first partition on it, it was created along with an MBR partition table - and that solved all previous problems.

As I understand from different writings, UEFI can deal with MBR as well as GPT. I didn't dare to convert all disks to MBR.

I have a feeling many people will go our way: SSD as main OS drive, and HDD for data. Pretty neat without spending a dime on upgrades.

Regarding the Wifi adapter: I usually use Aida64 to see what is PHYSICALLY in a system, then i know what drivers to look for. Saved my a** many times! BTW Aida64 is written by a Hungarian guy, I'm proud

 

:laugh: thought this was really funny in a kinda gross way.

In other news: I get my DB51 from Amazon tomorrow!

 

Just got my UX32VD today from Amazon. If I swap out the HD for, say, a Crucial M4 256GB, is there a way to just disable the internal SDD cache entirely?

 

Asked for a replacement and they shipped one out with one-day. Get it tomorrow. Good thing I bought from Amazon and not Adorama, else I'd have to go through Asus, which would take two weeks

 

Hey mates, just wanted to throw this out there. I just finished chatting with a microsoft store rep, I asked her if she had any information on when the store would be carrying the zenbook prime UX32VD or the UX31A, she replied saying that they have no info on these two laptops... The Vizio laptops are ready to ship out on June 25th though.
I was thinking about waiting it out until the beginning of July for the store to carry it for the xbox deal, but I think I might pull the trigger in a few days.. someone else should call or chat to double check.

 

Congrats on your purchase!

Can you check your screen to see if there is any backlight bleeding? thanks!

 

Hi, first post here, I just feel like I need a second opinion before I return the UX32VD i just got. Thing is, the fan noise is insane. I had read that the fans were quite loud when put under stress, but this is during things like easy browsing and just looking at the desktop. I started uninstalling the mountain of bloatware that came with it and kind of felt like it got a little better, and it is often just for a few seconds before it is completely silent again, but right now I'm trying to download the touchpad driver because I accidentally removed it, and the fan has been on what I assume to be the max level for at least 30 minutes straight.

I use about 10% of the processor right now, 66% of the memory, and I can't really feel any heat, so I have no idea why it is making so much noise. Should I just return it and order a new, probably identical, one? Or could it possibly be better after I've installed extra RAM, a new SSD or switched to booting from the 32GB one, and reinstalled a fresh windows without all the bloat? I don't want to ruin my warranty trying to fix the issue if there is no hope for it! Thanks for any response.

In case anyone wants to know of other impressions: Touchpad, keyboard, screen, design/feel, audio are all great.

 

Sure, ExpressCache is the software solution responsible for the caching. If you uninstall it (from Add/remove Programs), the SSD cache won't function.

You can also just erase all partitions on it and create an NTFS one, using all 32GB-s, ExpressCache will notice that it has no HFS (actually a Macintosh type) partition to work in, and will do nothing. Again, you just gained an extra 32GB storage space for yourself.

Best though is uninstall/not install ExpressCache at all, when you have a modern SSD instead of the HDD.

 

gebbylon, try to stress it with prime95 to fully load the processor, and see if it makes even more noise than it already does. If the fan noise doesn't change when it's stressed, that means you're probably right on it already running at max, in which case you should just return it. If it does get even louder when stressed, then it's functioning correct, and your ears are just probably too sensitive. Also download a CPU temperature monitor to check what it's currently at when idle, and check again at load.

 

I got my UX32VD yesterday from AMAZON. I run some games, installed few programs and run Sandra benchmarks. No fan noise at all.

The 32gb SSD is Sandisk I100

 

Update to the latest BIOS for sure, and afterwards check what your CPU is doing, use the built-in CPU/RAM gadget. Under no stress, fans should not be loud. SSD will not help noise, as SSDs feeds the CPU so fast with so much data that actually the CPU works much harder for shorter periods of time. It does not have to '"wait" for data as with HDDs. So it will warm up your CPU more often for shorter periods.

Bloatware, windows updates running in the background, etc., can cause high CPU usage, thus high CPU temp -->> fan noise.

UX32VD has quite a hysteresis, the CPU has stopped working, the temps are already down, but the fans slow down on a gradient, not immediately.

I have also caught the Zenbook's fans in a stuck-at-full-speed state a few times, but it was with a DVD-booted slim Win7, without all drivers. A switch off, and then boot to the properly installed (all drivers, ATK, etc.) win7 solved that.

Anyway investigate your CPU usage first and solve THAT. Usually that handles temps and noise.

 

Cheers man, this really boosted my mood now when it's sorted out.

Even Aida64 couldn't tell which WiFi adapter it was. But the Intel WiFi driver worked perfectly. I updated the previous post so there's no confusion.

Everything works flawlessly after the Windows 7 install on the SSD. The disk is proper quick too. I get 7.6 on Windows Experience Index on the Sandisk i100. It feels very quick and responsive in regular use - a different dimension from the initial HDD preinstalled Windows. The Fn keys works for brightness, but not for the other functions though. I haven't looked into those drivers yet.

Only thing is the fan is spinning up and down repeatedly while in idle and light use. I'm okay if it either spins or stays silent for a period of time, but now it's sometimes turning on and off every 5 seconds or so. It seems to be because the temperature is right in between.
This is probably a BIOS issue? Can anyone who got the UX32VD using the preinstalled Win7 check if the fan is going on and off repeatedly?
It's a pretty silent fan, but still a tad annoying.

Best wishes from Sweden to Hungary

 

Thanks, that was a good tip! I used realTemp 3.70. It said that my CPU temperature was around 40 degrees Celsius when "idle", meaning I was reading your post. I ran prime95 - so far I have gotten it up to about 80 degrees Celsius, and the fan noise has not changed at all, and that was at 100% processor-use. It doesn't cool down further than 41 degrees and the fans are still going wild, so I guess this means I have to return it...

edit: maybe I spoke too soon. I'll try to update BIOS etc as jedighost wrote, thanks for that aswell

 

I got a quick question, why not just grab this on amazon when you don't have to pay tax or shipping rather than wait for the xbox deal on newegg or microsoft store where you also have to pay tax which wouldn't it add up to the cost of an xbox in total or same price on amazon without the xbox deal?

 

Oh, you are right, Aida64 gave me the Device Id, that I Googled, and THAT lead me to Intel...

Keyboard combos: I think you might need ATKpkg or something, download it from Asus, and all keyboard and Power4Gear drivers, these are needed IMHO for proper keyboard AND Thermal Management. It can be that funny fan operations (ie. loud) are results of these drivers/softwares missing.

And of course greetings back to Sweden!

 

will an 8gb 1333mghz DDR3 stick work in this laptop?

 

Odd that it didn't come with any windows install media/instructions for download, or any windows key sticker. If I want to do a fresh windows install, I guess I have to find somewhere to download it, and extract the key from the windows install before I do? Ick.

edit: Ah, if you have an external DVD drive you can burn a disc. Still seems strange to not have a windows sticker somewhere.

 

OK, so updating the BIOS from 203 to 206 is clearly a must, and it fixed the issues I were having with the fan noise. So glad to have that taken care of, hope it sticks!

edit: or not. , I'm too tired and I'm jumping to the wrong conclusions.

 

Use speedfan or any other hardware monitoring tool to check the fan's RPM as well. This will tell you if it changes speed during processor load and idle. If after the bios update and the fan speed is still stuck on max, I'd return it.

All these early flaws are starting to ward me away from buying it. I was so sure I was going to pick this over the Samsung S9 too.

 

I remember there being some mention of the sticker on the mains charger. Or was that another brand...?

 

This is not good, already having issues with the fan!

I remember when I installed Windows on my Macbook Air my fan was always going crazy. I followed the SMC Reset Instructions on this page:

MacBook Air 2011 Heat and Fan Noise Issues SOLVED | Mac Crazy

and it worked. Not sure how this will help you though

 

as a last resort: run Asus LiveUpdate, it had found 3 items, 1 was the 206 BIOS, 1 was ExpressCache update, and there was a 3rd, i can't remember what it was, maybe it helps with the fan, 1% chance but worth it.

If the CPU is not stressed, fans should be silent. You can also find the Optimus driver, that can show an icon at the tray, indicating if the Nvidia 620M is used or not - that is the other player in fan speed. Aida64 can show all temps in the system. If all are low (40ish in °C), fans should be silent. If not, something is wrong.

 

To the guys who setup Win7 to boot off the 32GB SSD, while this may be working fine now, its not enough space going forward. You also have to consider the CSC (Client Side Cache) folder if you are doing any offline files, as well as the C:\Windows\winsxs folder which holds all the DLL's for program backward compatibility. I know you can move the CSC folder to another disk, but I don't think the winsxs folder can be moved. So, plan for problems up ahead.

 

Most vendors don't use keys anymore. The OS is keyed to the vendor in the BIOS.

 

Can I get the key from the version of Windows installed on my new UX32VD to reinstall windows onto an SSD? Rather than purchasing a new license from Microsoft?