Problems with My Asus C90 :confused:

I've had problems before with my C90, but I've walked away from them for a while to fix some other computers, now I'm back to find some help with my C90.

1) when I go from AC to battery mode, my wireless frezes and just stops working.

2) My webcam doesn't work at all. The first time I installed the driver, it worked fine, but sometime after, it just stopped working and shows a black screen. If I put it in full screen mode, there's a black screen and another not-as-black square inside of it. I've tried to re-install the driver many times, and I've tried different drivers as well, but it just doesn't seem to work.

3) If I try to open any application in gaming mode, my computer shuts off. I doubt it's overheating because I use a chillpad, and I only use 1GB Ram Sticks (Specs are in my sig.)

I know some (if not all) of the questions have been answered, but it seems that I can't find those answers on the forums.... so if someone would kindly direct me to them that would be very helpful!

 

The wireless problem is common and as far as I know there STILL is no fix.

Update your webcam drivers with the newer ones from Asus.com. It fixes the black screen problem.

Shutting off when in overclocking mode is also very common....youll have to search around for possible reasons.

 

wow ok so at least I know that I'm not the only one with those problems... I'll check to see if updating the drivers fixes my webcam. Hopefully there'll be a fix for the Wireless problem eventually, and I'll look around to see what other people have tried for the overclocking shut-off problem.

 

I feel kinda dumb asking this but... I downloaded the updated driver RAR file, and there's lot of setup.exe files and different folders for different OS's as well as one that says amcap in there... so what should I click on?

 

The one having your OS.

If you open up the wrong one it will tell you

 

well there are not any setup filrs in the OS folders, just in the AMCAP folder and then two others: setup.exe and AsusSetup.exe. does it matter which one I launch or not?

 

well I used AsusSetup.exe and now when I launch Amcap, I get an error saying I have no video capture hardware... so amcap won't work properly.

 

1.) The wireless is one of the ones that easy to fix I think.

This should solve it:

Go into your control panel --> system --> device manager --> find the wireless card and click properties and then disable "allow this device to turn off to save power" something along those lines.

I do believe that fixes it, it however may just fix the no wake from sleep issue common in alot of laptops.

2.) The webcam is kind of funny since I have a triple boot setup I have 3 OS to use, while normally all things work in XP and not in Vista the webcam for me using the stock capture program works perfectly in both vista x86 and vista x64 but does not work right in XP.

When I start the program the screen is black and I get an error "cannot preview" however if you take a picture or start to capture it still works anyways! Just the preview doesn't work. Annoying definitely but atleast not totally broken. I never use XP anymore anyways so I sort of forgot that issue existed. Also I have 3 other programs to capture with now, chances are one of them will work (unless its a webcam driver problem, and then new drivers will fix it)

3.) This is usually ram related... however it could be your cpu too I suppose. I had crashes with my e6700 and when I replaced it with a e6600 they were gone, but I think mine were almost definitely heat related. Are you plugged in when you tried this or running off battery power? Try being plugged in first, then after that see if you can get some ram to test and see if its the ram (and if both sticks are the same the chances are very low that taking one out and using just the other will fix it but you can still try)

edit: btw how do you like your user bar? I see it alot and I dont think anybody knows I was the one that created it, I never got any rep or props for it

 

so here's an update.

1) as soon as I disconnect my AC adapter, My computer freezes for about 30 seconds and my wireless still goes down. (also found out that I can't access gaming mode while I'm off my adapter)

2) the webcam doesn't give me the preview error or the "no video capture hardware" error either, but when I tried to make a 1 minute video, it captured 0 frames in 60 seconds. I think I might need another program then.

3) I really doubt my overclocking issue is heat related, because the fans don't even revv up when I start gaming mode. I'm plugged in most of the time, so I try gaming mode plugged in, and as I said before, I can't do it when I'm not plugged in.

If I can get my hand on some ram, I'll check to see if it's the ram. What other things can affect this problem? I think there was a thread I saw earlier about insufficient power supplies?

 

The power supply issue is totally unrelated, as for the different modes AC power is required for game/overclock mode. A e6700 wont even have overclock mode since it would push it past the 2.93 ghz limit.

You have to keep at it, c90s is a great machine but it takes some time and tweaking and most importantly patience and a good reseller to get things right sometimes.

 

I've had it for about 4 months already, and overall I'm satisfied with it's performance.

if I may ask, what other program(s) do you use to capture with (for the webcam)?

the wireless thing is a bit annoying, since my friends have fun unplugging my adapter to see me get pissed. hoprfully there'll be some kind of fix for this soon.

the problem I'm least concerned about is gaming mode, since most of my games run fine on standard mode.

 

I use the stock program for the webcam too, I've had the problem you're mentioning with it and I would suggest uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers (you may have duplicates). Additionally during preview mode try maximizing it, and then restoring to normal size, and you should get video.

 

1. is it just your wireless or all the sys tray process? there are two issues with c90 atm. the first is all sys tray process will stop including wifi if ac is disconnected under load. if it is removed at idle and the same problem occurs the wifi "may be bad" if it does not turn off when ac removed at idle then the issue you have is the same issue alot of new owners face. it is a bios issue and asus is working on it
2. we have replaced a few of the webcams on this model. this is most likely a hardware issue
3. i think at this point you need to arrange rma with your dealer and definitely complain to asus. this model has turned out to be problematic, asus quality is slipping to say the least. i am so fed up with them. they keep producing garbage barebones for the last 2 years, all their 15.4" models have been lemons. from the z71v, to the z70va, and now again the c90s. I dont understand how the development team there can year after year produce great looking product with alot of power with so many issues that are inherent from one model to the next. This is coming from a top asus dealer. speakes volumes of their name. Asus sucks....well atleast their barebones do. their ensembles seem to be of top notch quality however you cant make expensive quality product without knowing how to make a good cheap line (take honda and acura for example). if you are looking for barebones stay away from the c90s unless you bought it form a reputable dealer with warranty and all the parts included. my fiorecast is this model will be killed and go end of life in a few months just like the z71v and z70va both of which are complete lemons.

 

I've re-installed the driver many times, both the one that came with on the asus driver CD, as well as the updated one on the website. and I've done what you said to do for the preview, and still nothing works.

1) I believe it is all the system try processes, because when I restart my computer to get back my wireless, i manually have to end the connections tray and the battery life display.

2) I had vista before on my ASUS, but I switched back to XP, and the camera worked in vista...but you think that it's the camera itself that doesn't work at this point?

3)I bought my C90 from GenTech, so I know they'll take care of things. Ken definitely tries his best to help us out... I wanted to try and avoid RMA'ing and only use it as a last resort but if that's the case then I think they can fix my camera while they're at it!

 

1. in this case it is not a wifi issue. the system tray tasks are all frozen
2. i am not sure but i can tell you we ran into broken cameras on this unit before. raplacing it made it work right away
3. i dont doubt it.

 

The wireless issue I think it's the BIOS, I've tested all wireless cards that doesn't work on C90S with different notebooks and they all worked except on C90S.

But there still some 4965 wireless card worked on C90S, we never get a response from Asus and no BIOS update.

The camera driver on Asus's website is old version, it says driver date is 08/08/2007 but the actual driver date is DriverVer=06/29/2007 1.0.6.28, 08/08/2007 I think is the date they upload it.

Here is the new webcam driver Asus sent me and they never upload it to Asus C90S download page:

DriverVer=09/20/2007, 1.0.8.14

http://www.gentechpc.com/Asus/AzureWave.rar

Original thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=192998&highlight=c90s+camera+driver

 

Ken that is exactly what i found. Asus is still "working on it " as of last week, I brought these findings to them almost a month ago. the wifi issue was known almost 2 months ago.

 

That is why we put wireless 4965 as "sold out" in the configurator for C90S, in fact we do have 4965 in stock and they work fine on S96S, we won't put it back " in stock" for C90S until Asus find a solution.

As for the webcam, if you use the driver they sent me it worked, I am just not happy that they don't upload it to C90S drivers download page, how long does it take for them to upload the new driver? it only took me 5 minutes to upload to our server.

 

Err...

What is gaming mode?

 

It's a exclusive feature on the C90s that allows for a "preset" overclocking, with "Gaming Mode" 10% increase, there is also the "Overclock mode" that increases by 20%. Both increase the RAM and CPU FSB speed.
However there is a hard limit of 3Ghz on the C90s, so some CPUs don't have the Overclock mode enabled.

For example:
E6700 is stock at 2.66Ghz, on "Gaming mode" it's 2.93Ghz
E4500 is stock at 2.2 Ghz, on "Gaming mode" it's 2.4Ghz on "OC mode" it's 2.66Ghz

 

Gaming Mode is also notoriously random if it works with your notebook and your drivers with the e6600 and the e6700. I've got it working in both XP and Vista 32 bit, but there are people who have set there notebooks almost the exact same way I did (following my instructions) and it still does not work.