W3J Vista

So Vista is out, does Asus plan on releasing a new BIOS that allows Vista to be installed without having to use the bootloader hack?

UPDATE:

Version: V211
Date: 2007/03/30
Description: BIOS 211, Modify the system can't boot in Vista.
File Size: 452.76 (KBytes)
Download From: Global USA Europe China Japan

 

I just send an question to their customer service about this because they had the nerve to quote me this last time I asked about the vista sticker on the w3j.


Dear customer,

The final version of Vista is not out yet and when it will we will have the support for it with drivers and bios updates.

Kind regards,
Asus Support Tea

 

I just picked up vista and tried installing it but now i'm stuck in that infinite boot loop. I need some help.

 

Same thing here....I sent them a support request but the support guy kept asking me to send it to their service centre....too bad I can't...I need my laptop everyday....

 

how are you going to fix it? so what am i supposed to do for now? is my w3j broken?

 

See the following thread with a link to the hack:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=81838

Its release day, been checking Asus's site ever since I first reported this to them last year, no new BIOS... yet...

 

is there anything else i can do to get XP running on my notebook again? I tried using the recovery discs that the w3j came with, however it just goes back into that boot loop.

 

I wonder if Asus really knows about this....and doing something about it...sigh..

 

they better do something soon, my notebook has a vista capable sticker. and if they don't release something soon i might have to have get myself a lawyer =P. rofl...seriously i want to install vista soon, so please asus release all updates necessary asap or feel latino's wrath.

 

how come some are running vista just fine (with exception to some drivers), are u sure you guys have the latest bios?

 

Go to the post that I linked before, read it. You will understand. You can get a hacked bootloader that bypasses the TPM call, allowing Vista to boot. You create a bootable BartPE disk, copy the program to write the MBR, and the patched MBR to a suitable location. I just add it to the BartPE boot CD. Then you do an upgrade over WinXP, when the setup reboots, and you get the reboot loop, insert the BartPE cd, boot from it, run the program to write the patched bootloader to the HD. Do that each time your system goes into a reboot loop, I think its twice.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=81928

Thats the link to the original post, with a much more detailed howto. Mines just an overview, links to the patched bootloader, the program to write it, and bartpe are all there in that post.

 

Thanks for the instructions. I followed the directions exactly and now have Windows Vista Ultimate installed on my W3J. I'm still hoping for a bios update from ASUS, so I can reinstall it later without having the use the hack.

 

Yeah we can do that but it's still not the correct way of doing things. You won't be able to dual boot with XP with this "hacked" method..

 

WRT the bootloader hack, you dont actually have to install via Windows XP. You can do a clean install directly off the DVD, and only have to use the bootloader hack once, not twice!

 

I am curious to know about the VISTA filesystem. Can VISTA be installed on a FAT32 or NTFS filesystem?

TIA

 

I can't boot off the Vista DVD on my W3J. Same reboot loop, and I don't know if replacing the bootloader on the DVD with the hacked one will work, didnt try.

 

I think its NTFS only.

 

That makes me wonder, if the TPM was enabled or disabled in the BIOS, and what will happen if you change this setting...

 

No w3j is running Vista without doing the bootloader patch hack. Asus is very well informed that this is a problem with their w3j bios and vista since june 2006.

This problem (and solution) has been pointed out to then in extreme detail by not only customers but also Microsoft.

Here's the lastest quotes from my ever ongoing discussion with their support staff. Guess how many asus products I am gonna recommend to my customers in the future ?

 

This is sick.....=/

 

Asus are really treading a thin line here, they better get this sorted soon or it's going to come back and sting them.

 

wow, this is bad

I got my w3j this week and on the desktop there was an "NTFS converter"
shortcut, kind of like for me to run it? I dont know, when i put my cursor over it says convert the file system of your c, d drive to NTFS. What does NTFS mean, compared to FAT32?

 

That is not true. There have been users on this forum who successfully installed Windows Vista on the W3J without the bootloader patch or a bios update.

 

Im not expert here, but NTFS is a newer file system compared to FAT32. It is more secure, and can support files larger than 4GB. I hear you dont need to defrag NTFS as well, might be wrong though.

When I installed Vista, there was no option to install it onto FAT32.

 

I seem to recall that everyone i've read that has successfully loaded windows was running a core 2 duo? I may be wrong about that though. I tried and got the endless reboot thing on my core duo w3j.

 

So you think I should run that short cut? nothing bad is going to happen, lose files etc?

 

Hmmm, can anyone confirm this? I have a core 2 duo and have not tried to install vista yet due to all the problems I am reading. Maybe only the core duo suffers from the infinite reboot problem.

 

I have a Core Duo (Yonah 2500, 2Ghz) and am running it OK...

 

Did you do any tricks to get it on there or just straight install it from dvd?

 

please answer the question lmychjluk

 

Yeah, just go ahead with it. If you are not sure, just use to search function to find the responses of other forum members regarding converting from FAT32 --> NTFS. Seems like when they wipe the hidden recovery partition, and format to NTFS, most of the problems they experience are gone.

 

i cant seem to update to vista
i think i missed the date o something
ahh, i'll keep tryin

 

Just burned the RTM version from MSDN to DVD, and ran Setup doing an in-place upgrade (not a clean install). Had a couple of missing driver issues that have mostly been taken care of the last couple of days, but it worked.

 

I will attempt tonight to try and install Vista without the bootloader hack. I have not had any of those problems related to driver issues and reboot.

 

I got the RTM..burned it to DVD tried to install from an established xp environment and nothing. Just constant restarts...I wonder what the difference between our systems is? I believe i'm updated to the latest 210 bios.

 

It seems some W3Js have a TPM chip inside and some do not so I think that is the difference which may explain this. Especially since the "hack" disables calls to the TPM chip.

Mine was an early W3J and does not mention TPM in the BIOS or on the external sticker. I believe it mentions TPM next to the hard drive on the sticker if you have one. Pretty disappointed because I'd like to have used TPM with Vista.

 

I was/am on the 2.07 (? - the one before 2.10). The TPM module is a thought. I thought all W3j's did have TPM? You do, however, need to initialize it via the software that comes with the W3j, which I never did w/ XP. Did you ever initialize the TPM under XP?

I'm guessing (based on my reading about Vista's Bitlocker) that if you did initiallize it, there's some process that you need to go through to unencrypt the drive before you can do something as low-level as install a new OS.

 

I wish that was the case but it just says no TPM chip was detected. A search of these forums reveals there is an option in the BIOS to enable/disable it if the chip is present. My W3J has no such option in the 210 BIOS

 

I'm really baffled at this point. And, honestly, kinda pissed. I thought Asus would have a new bios out BEFORE the RTM launch. Then when they launched RTM, i thought for sure it would be out before the launch of the full product. That date has come and gone and I havn't seen anything from asus that even says 'yeah, we know, we're workin on it'. Kind of a letdown. The sad part is, I don't really NEED vista. XP works fine. I'm really just bored with it. If I can't get vista on soon, I might start looking into linux or something. Just something to look different.

 

I did a clean install also using a version from MSDN on DVD. It has also worked fine for me. I'm running the T2500 version (similar to lmychajluk) but I'm using bios version 2.10. Now if only these driver downloads from Asus would run a little faster... The battery life has gone down by at least an hour, so I definitely need to do some tweaking. I also plan on upgrading to 2 GB of ram.

Edit: I did not initialize TPM either, so we might be onto something here.

 

ok so just just to get this straight...those that have not initialized TPM are running vista fine?

 

i had to use the boothack to install vista on my w3j. i'm running the 210 bios. also i'm having trouble with TPM, so i can't use bitlocker for now. hopefully asus will release an updated bios that resolves this issue. everything is working perfectly on my system except for that TPM issue.

 

so still wondering.... if you dont have TPM on you w3j, you can install Vista without the hack?

EDIT

it seems that you can install Vista on any of the first generation w3js (that includes mine ) that do not have the TPM chip and bit locker is a feature that wont ever work.... unless microsoft can figure out how to enable it without it

 

so you're saying you installed vista just fine on yours? What if you never enabled TPM? I have one of the newer C2D W3js.

 

well is it different from having initialized it and just having it? Im pretty sure I have that chip or whatever, but i never did "initialized" it, in fact i stopped it from prompting me at startup. I also have an option under add/remove to uninstall Infineon TPM professional package.

 

I dont know, but I dont think you have a choice per say.... I dont have the TPM so I know it will work.... whether you have to initialize it or not I dont think it matters, if it is there Vista will attempt to install something that it cant handle ATM, at least in these bioses

 

if its the TPM.. shouldnt there be a way to disable it? (i know i read some of u about the bios.. but there's nothin there with TPM)

man in singapore all the laptops are loaded with vista now.

i wanna get it on mine. without all those hacks tho.

 

where exactly did this get prompted up? ur first startup?

 

No, if i click on the icon at the tray as pointed on SS i get this window:


then if i click yes i get this:


I havent restarted or messed with the bios.
I did have this icon disabled through msconfig so that i could lose 3-4 processes that were associated with this. I only checkmarked them again to show you guys. As mentioned before I also have an option to uninstall TPM Professional Package under add/remove.

 

bit locker - I don't think I would ever use it, because you can't be sure that it does not have any back-door (you don't see the source code), one of its advantage may be that it's faster.

But if you want true security use http://www.truecrypt.org/ it's open source, do not use TPM, and it's really safe.

But one drawback is it slow (with the AES on Intel CPU and whirpool hashing) you get about half of yours HDD speed, at least in my case (tested on laptop and desktop), which is somewhat strange, bit locker may be or not faster.

But if you want total security you choose cascade, long random password and plausible deniability. the only problem is if you forget your password.