V6J Bios update (with MEROM support)

Bios update v300 is available for V6J and maybe other systems also. Guess what? ASUS has added support for the Core 2 Duo =)))

[EDIT]
They've removed it from their website =(
Here's a direct link
ftp://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb/V6J/V6J300AS.zip
[/EDIT]

 

Nice find. I don't know if I will update yet, most of it seems to be irrelevent for me. What is Power4Phone? Sounds interesting...

 

No clue about Power4Phone...

 

Seems like it was pulled off the website, with no explaniation why.
Odd, runs fine on my system.

 

the power for phone is a utility that allows you to make skype calls very easily. I found it in a review for another Asus notebook, perhaps the W7J? I'll post a link if I find it.


here: http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=284&type=expert&pid=7

 

pretty sweet...merom support for v6j users.

found a more detailed description

V6J.300
1. Support MERON CCU.
2. Fixed: The OS throttling mechanism is fail.
3. Fixed system wants occur “! Serial” DEVICE on None PnP DEVICE cunning. - Note: this problem must clean stable OS ton of checks.
5. CHANGE RTL8111B ROM ton of REALTEK release 2.02
6. Support SST 49LF040B.
7. Fixed: PNP.exe testing fail, ex: PNP - q - t /ESCD.
8. Support below function for VISTA for PCB Ver3.0:
1. sound control function
2. _BCL, _BCM and _BQC method brightness control function.
3. _OSC method PCI express hot plug function
4. Fill new AZALIA SSID and SVID (14431043h).
9. Fixed:
1. The system May emergency of enter A C-state due tons continuous DMA (direct memory access) traffic.
2. A system slope May occur when duck ring S3/S4/S5 sleep state.
10. ADD Merom Microcode:
1. M206EC54.PDB
2. M206F536.PDB
3. MF56F426.PDB
4. M276F112.PDB
5. M206F648.PDB - Merom B2 stepping
11. Disabled Overheat interrupt (MSR 19B [4]), because our DTS service routine doesn't process this event, it wants cause DTS overheat SMI always asserted if temperature > Tj.
12. Support Motorola M3 modem (SSVID=13351043)
13. Support Fn+ T Power4Phone function
14. Fixed: The system FIR transfer fail with some FIR component.
15. Fixed: System wants hangup by pressing Fn+F8 ton of CHANGEs display mode from CRT ton of LCD+CRT in DOS
16. Fixed: The CRT display white screen once by pressing Fn+F8 ton of CHANGEs display mode from CRT ton of LCD+CRT.
17. Fixed: the bios wants GET wrong VGA BIOS version in BIOS Setup menu.

VX1.204
1. Fixed: The system FIR transfer fail with some FIR component.
2. Updated MEROM Microcode: M206F532.PDB ton of M206F536.PDB
3. Updated NVIDIA G72M VGA BIOS. BIOS version: 5.72.22.41. B6
4. Fixed: the bios wants GET wrong VGA BIOS version in BIOS Setup menu.

VX1 also updated Merom?

 

But it is not up/available on asus's website anymore...............

 

where does one paste the update to once its downloaded? Ive got the file sitting in "my downloads" folder at the moment and have no idea how to install it!

 

Use the WinFlash utility included on your computer's driver installation CD.

On my A8Jm, it was version 2.18.

 

On a slightly off topic question...is anyone running the Vista Beta on the V6J? I am just wondering if this bios update is helpful with the operation of Vista?

Thanks

 

Hi there

I just got two new BIOS updates from Asus' website. Apparently I was lucky, because they are gone again now.

The versions I got is:
V6JAS.300 (as discussed in this thread)
V6JAS.302

I have tried both of them and the update correctly, but they cause an ACPI BSOD in Windows XP (STOP 0x000000A5). I have tried googling the error, and the responses I got was different ways to reinstall Windows, which I also tried without any luck.

You can download the files from the following links, if anyone would like to try and see if they works.

http://siewers.dk/Asus/V6J/BIOS/V6JAS_212.zip (Initial release)
http://siewers.dk/Asus/V6J/BIOS/V6JAS_300.zip
http://siewers.dk/Asus/V6J/BIOS/V6JAS_302.zip

Unfortunately I didn't get to note the changes in the new versions

I used a memorystick to update the BIOS from within the BIOS. That way I could get back to the working version 212, if none of the others worked. The memorystick mapped as floppydrive A: with me.

Please let me get some feedback if some of you are in luck

By the way, does anyone else also suffer from an annoying whining sound from the CPU??? As long as the laptop is on AC power there is no whining sound, but when on batteries it starts. I have found that when I activate Bluetooth it stops, which absolutely makes no sense...?

 

@Tiger,

Please read http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=74893
The ACPI BSOD is just a nasty bios time bomb ><; The workaround is to change your date to something else than 30 Aug

 

Yeah, I read your post... Odd behavior though...
But I keep the files up until they are posted at Asus website again...

 

They now also support Merom for A6Ja:

 

yep and i know a merchant selling v6j and w3j and sa few others with the option of core 2 duo processors, plus adding ram upgrade and hdd

 

so you would think this thread would be important and in demand info for v6j owners looking to upgrade to a merom c2d cpu.

I am getting a stock v6j most likely and know i will be interested in the bios update and installing the c2d processor yet i see no info on that actual installation and minimal interest in the bios update.

Are all the v6j owners just holding off on upgrading to a c2d cpu?

 

Well, there are a few of us out here who believe that keeping the remaining 1 and a half years of global pickup and return warranty is more important than having a 15-20% speed improvement that we only notice 1% of the time when we use the CPU at topspeed to run SuperPI.

Sometimes keeping "up to date" with the latest technology just for the sake of it is not the most efficient thing to do.

I'm not sure it's from the CPU, I'd rather blame speaker interference. But I do suffer from it. I didn't try turning BT on but I will next time

There was another person suffering from this problem a while ago for a different type of laptop, and it was solved by a BIOS fix. I don't know if that's possible for the V6J - and anyway, I don't think ASUS would write a new BIOS just for this problem...

 

Nope, it doesn't stop when i turn on BT.

And it might not make sense at first sight that it should stop when BT on in your case, but with so many electronics packed so densely in the laptop, many interinfluences can arise that are not at all obvious.

 

interesting take. so you dont think paying extra to customize a v6j with a merom core 2 duo processor is worth it?

and you wouldn't be in a rush to apply the bios update and buy a c2d cpu on your own to install?

is it really that exageratedly un noticeable and that small amount faster?

what is super pi?

others seem to be going crazy for merom and refusing to buy anything with only a yonah core duo cpu in it as the c2d is supposed to be same price but much better.

so according to you though, when i bu my stock v6j with 2ghz core duo cpu, i shouldn't miss merom or have a need for it all for some time.

if true , that is good to hear that i can hold off on upgrading it myself for awhile and that i didnt' over pay to have a merchant do it now at time of sale.

found a great deal on stock 2ghz v6j

 

Paying extra to get a better CPU would be OK. The problem is it voids the ASUS warranty. If you value the reseller's warranty as much as ASUS' then go ahead. I wouldn't do that -- at least here in Europe ASUS offers 2years pickup and return warranty and that's not matched by any reseller I know.

Apply bios update: yes it's painless and has other fixes as well.
Install new CPU: not until warranty runs out OR the cpu performance difference is so large it's worth losing the warranty. by the time warranty runs out I'll probably give this notebook to my sister and buy a new one anyway, so I wouldn't upgrade even then.

The performance difference is noticeable, by what I gathered a while ago (I lost interest in merom threads a few weeks ago) it's about 20% clock per clock.

However, whether you use that performance difference is another matter. A typical user will not. Emailing, surfing and word processing won't max the CPU usage (not by far). Gaming won't either, typically it's going to be more intensive on the GPU. Photoshopping - sometimes, but not during normal editing I believe. It's going to take quite a task to max out nowadays laptop CPUs, like running complex simulations and mathematical algorithms on large amounts of data.

Depends on what you want to do with the computer. I personally run that kind of simulations that I mentioned above, and that is why I got the V6J which at that time had the most powerful CPU on the market.

If you need CPU power, do buy a machine with Merom, but not at the expense on other things you need more (like 2year warranty -- an example, perhaps you won't need it at all or perhaps you will be unlucky).

I would say it's more hype than real need.

 

about SuperPI: it's a software many people use to benchmark CPUs.

And the overall message: get what you need, not what other people think is cool. Technology is going to become obsolete so fast anyway that it makes no sense to do such a thing. You'll only feel good cause you're on top for a few weeks, months at most.

 

so if 64 bit vista comes out in jan and my wife wants it and i want to be able to make use of it, i can just shop around for best price for a merom cpu then, and then save my self the aggravation and have shop install it and they can do the bios update neccesary.