Nox A15 new BIOS 4638 (26/05-2009)

changelog

4638 (26/05-2009)

- New fan control
- Fixed problem where combination og Fn+NumLK gave wrong key output


anyone tried this?


EDIT: Installed. The fan kicks in with a much reduced speed, i.e. noise level. It is sufficient to cool down the CPU at this level, haven't tested GPU demanding applications yet, but then a noisy fan doesn't matter if your are shooting stuff from the skies. Recommended

 

Pretty fabulous, better fan control is the thing I've been waiting for my Nox since I got it. I'm going to try this instantly when I get home today.

 

Alright I just tried it and I must say that I'm really amazed, it really made my computer lot more quiet. Also it added support to step my processor down to 800 mhz instead of the earlier minimum of 1600 mhz and it seems to help it too.

The only problem is that this new bios also broke my Bluetooth. I can't get the bluetooth device to start anymore, no matter if I press function + correct button. I guess I'm going to try reinstalling bluetooth next, hopefully it helps.

Edit: Yeah, Bluetooth dies with this bios-revision. I hope that Zepto releases a quick-fix for that one.

 

OK that's great to hear! I'm really tired of the fan noise. It makes audio editing or using it in class especially frustrating. The broken bluetooth is not a problem for me, I never use it anyway. Everything else is fine though? I've never upgraded a BIOS before, so I'm a little scared, but I REALLY want this update.

 

I can see the BIOS has been temporarily removed to investigate this according to the change log.
At least Zepto are fast to react on these things and take down the file again (so it wont harm too many people). Lets just hope they find out what was wrong and fast, but yeah the new fan control seems very good at least on my friends Nox

 

Yeah I was just about to post that too, they already took it down off the FTP Hope they fix it soon.

 

Yea, I was happy too early. I wonder how they never do anything right at once. Yesterday the new fan control worked pretty well but now it's sometimes stuck to the lowest fan speed. It doesn't matter if I put a stress test on, CPU will hit the safety limit and throttle down and my GPU will hit 100 celsius in games even with throttled CPU. Then, at another time when I run the stress test the fan kicks in and works like it should. This is certainly really really irritating and generally it feels that my machine has major difficulties with detecting the correct temperatures. It has never detected CPU temperature correctly but Zepto still states there's nothing wrong with my computer. Also, my machine's fan has weird sidenoise and all this makes me think how horribly quality these machines really are.

I'm going to try their support tomorrow, though I'm not hoping too much from it because last time I went there they ignored me twice and I had to queue the line again for both times only because the customer service person left while the conversation was still going on. Also after waiting for many hours in their chat (which included maybe 10 minutes chatting with them...) they just told me that its not my computer and they would think about it and email me later.

Anyone wants to buy a cheap Nox A15? P9600, 4 GB, Geforce 9650 GT, 1680x1050 screen.

 

Now that you mention it, measuring temperatures has always been a problem with the Nox it seems. On the old BIOS I tried a stress test once, and for the longest time it showed 28 degrees, which was totally unrealistic. Then the next day it was stuck at 69. It's impossible to get a good reading. Very strange.

 

I can't wait for it to come out and actually work.. Well i hope there'll be a Nexus version too.

 

nox_user, have you tried pulling both battery and charger from the machine and leave it out for 10-15 second and then trying to fire up the laptop again to see if everything is working?

 

Yes it does not matter. My fan finally broke completely (keeping horrible noise) so good job Zepto. Now during the last 6 months I have been without my machine for almost 4 months because it's been in repair 3 times. They said that the new bios should be out in a week or two and that was someday in last week so hopefully they knew what they were saying.

 

After 3 repairs i think you can get a refund, but im not sure.

 

Zepto has released the new BIOS (again) probably without the problems some people had..

Although it's not released for the nexus >=(.


EDIT: I installed the nox version on my nexus, and apparently it worked out fine.. After all it's the same hardware almost so why wouldnt it.. It also gave me a nox bios startup screen instead of Nexus which is a word that has almost another meaning in denmark among the youth and im tired of hearing it in school so displaying nox is fine by me lol

Also, ITS MUCH MUCH more quiet! and temps are the same!


So far - GJ Zepto!

 

I've heard word that it will also be released for Nexus, Orion and Anthea within the next few weeks.

 

Yeah it will they also told me but im really impatient, hehe, besides i cant see what the difference would be..

 

I asked about it today from Zepto via Livechat, and they told me that the difference in Nox / Mythos image is the splashscreen in the beginning. So i assume that the same goes for the Nexus too.

 

Yes, good, because then i'll keep the Nox.. I like it's splash image more than Nexus

 

Doesn't fix the Bluetooth issue on my Nox. In fact, to me it looks like the same old BIOS 4638 released previously. The guide mentions things which do not appear in my case, i.e.:
- At the black command prompt with white text, press any key to continue. (I can press as many keys as I like...)
- Press "OK" to update your notebook BIOS. (there is no "OK" button to press)
- The notebook turns off automatically after the BIOS update (after aprox. 10 seconds) (nope)

I used Cyberlink suite which came with my BlueRay to burn the ISO, not ISO Burner as stated in the guide. That cannot make the difference, I suppose. Any comments/ideas?

 

Are you talking about the install of the bios? For me it was straight forward.. boot from cd, wait, hold down shutdown button and voila

 

Yep, that's what I am talking about. It was equally straight forward for me, and I had to, in contrast to what the update BIOS guide says I might add, boot from CD, wait, hold down power button, voila. But this doesn't get my Bluetooth to work.

 

Gg Zepto... Now I'm stuck to older BIOS because I don't want to update into this in case that it breaks my bluetooth again. Last time when the old BIOS broke my bluetooth I got it to work after 2 days randomly without really changing anything, so now I have more quiet machine with working BIOS. However this is getting pretty pathetic that Zepto releases this BIOS and it has exactly same problems as the former one.

PS. My Nox still overheats (and reboots) in gaming even the fan is completely new and machine is lifted from the desk to give cool air. Zepto still states that their cooling system is powerful enough. That is complete bull**** and purely shows how good company they are.

 

You are alone with these problems, nox_user.

 

nox_user did you overclock your gpu?

 

I don't think so, also, I don't like how I sense dissing from your words.

As you can see, macrsc also has problems with his bluetooth so you're calling that he's lying? Also, even if I am the only one who's Nox can't stand stable under stress it will not remove the problem and the fact that the machine still doesn't work like it's supposed to. Sure, maybe your machine works like it should but it definately won't make my machine or macrsc's machine work any better. That you don't need bluetooth or haven't updated your bios doesn't make our machines to work.

I could continue this forever, but next time I'm just ignoring this kind of trolling one-liners.

I have never touched gpu or cpu settings and everything is like they are when it came from Zepto.

 

Well, I just upgraded too. It was a little scary since I've never done this before, but it all went fine.

I thought I'd be smart and put the thing on a CD instead of a DVD (it's only 216 mb), but apparently it really does need a DVD because at boot it just went KACHUNK KACHUNK KACHUNK KACHUNK KACHUNK for 10 seconds and then booted into Windows. x)

So far it seems to be pretty great! Finally the jet engines firing every 15 minutes are gone. However it's not entirely silent, there's a very faint, raspy noise coming from the fan area that's a little too high-pitched to just tune out (I guess it's spinning reeeeeaaaalllly slow now?), but my room is just really quiet I guess. Still, I'll take that over those incidental bursts any day.
When it goes up to full-force it sounds different too, more like...well, a fan, and less like a vacuum cleaner. It slows down nicely aswell instead of turning off completely from one second to the next.

I cannot speak to whether or not this caused any bluetooth problems because I don't use bluetooth.

So yeah, so far so good.

 

Hmm, that's weird. I've updated my Bios twice with a regular CD-R. It went smooth for me.

 

Well your whining starts to get boring... It doesnt help you does it? Your problems is obviously only something Zepto can fix.

 

Yes and I let people know how Zepto is handling the problems and customer care It's good that people can read other people's experiences especially in if they're planning to buy computer from certain manufacturer.

 

Well I've updated my friends Nox A15 and it works without a hitch. Everything works with the new BIOS also Bluetooth and the fan is so much more quiet.
Also worked wonders on a Nox A14 where everything also worked perfectly after the BIOS update.

The people with problems with bluetooth, you could try and take off both the battery and the AC adapter from the PC at the same time for 2 minutes and then turning on the PC to see if it worked getting the Bluetooth module to work?

 

Hmm, i updated my Bios and the fan is at last silent!

But. Now my usb ports give power even if the laptop is shut down... My coolerpad keeps spinning and my external HD keeps going if i shut down my Mythos.

In addition to that there's a buzzing noise coming from the speakers if i plug in my stereos or computer speakers (ONLY if i have the charger connected). If i'm running on battery, there's no buzzing.

Plus the colour is leaving from the wrist-area.. I guess i'll have to send it in for repairs.

 

Should there be fan control settings in the bios after updating as I can't see any?

 

did u use a cd or dvd to burn the bios?

 

Dvd..........

 

Fan control settings? Not anything new since the last bios.

 

It should be under advanced

 

It's under Advanced CPU control ETC..

 

I too am encountering this problem. It seems that after putting in the disc and booting up my laptop. I get an empty screen where i assume the cd is loading the new bios onto my mobo.

But when it finishes, there is not option which ask me to click "ok" and i straight away get to the windows loadscreen.

After i restarted my laptop and checked the bios, it seems that it hasnt been updated to to the new version since its still at bios version 3.5 for me.

 

if u are using a cd don't use a dvd instead

 

Ok, i was able to update it by using a dvd media rather then the cd which i previously used but had problems with it. Now by burning the ISO onto a dvd, i can update it but it has broken my bluetooth as well as now windows cant detect my battery.

Looks like i will be reverting back to the old bios.

Odd thing is that the bios states that the new version date is 8/5/2009 rather then 23/6/2009.

 

off your laptop and remove the battery for a few min.Bluetooth and windows should be able to detect the battery

 

Thx, now its working. Too bad my zepto utilities doesnt work, in particular the function key which disables the touchpad.

 

I've just noticed the date on the Nox BIOS ISO has changed, so looks like they have uploaded a new version of the BIOS for the Nox?

crapp0, what is the problem with you Zepto utility? You just say it doesn't work.

 

As I said early, looked like they uploaded a wrong, i.e. the previous BIOS version. I am not surprised they get confused when not changing their release numbers. Downloading new BIOS...

EDIT: ... and amazingly it behaves according to the install guide at least, which doesn't mean that I got a bloody working bluetooth now. But honestly, I do not care anymore about bluetooth, never used it and, by the looks of it, will never use it

 

Well apparently the BIOS itself didn't change, only the update method.

macrsc, have you tried to take both ac apdater and battery off of the notebook for about a minute and then putting them back on again and turning on the notebook. Seems like this has worked with the other people that have had problems with Bluetooth after the BIOS update.

 

kadett, I have tried that, to no avail

 

Hmm weird. You and Nox_user are the only two i have heard about where this doesn't work

Have you tried to downgrade to the 3532 checking to see if the Bluetooth work, and then trying to reflash with the new BIOS?

 

nope haven't tried and I am not going to since I have no use for bluetooth atm. Maybe nox_user and I are the only ones who installed the buggered BIOS which was online for a day or so before Zepto removed it from the server

 

Well kadett, the problem i faced with my zepto utility is a peculiar one.

Out of the blue, it stopped working properly, it still works but with some loss functionality.

An example would be when i start up my machine and use the utilities via the fn keys, everything is ok such as volume control and switching on the bluetooth. The main problem would be the function key for disabling/enabling the touchpad.

Once i use the function key for the touchpad, besides the fact that it doesnt work anymore, it screws up the rest of my other functions keys, namely my bluetooth. The volume control still works after the touchpad incident, just that there isnt a zepto function GUI anymore, this applys to all the rest of the functions such as bluetooth, brightness control etc.

I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling but i still get the same problem. Btw, does anybody know how to stop the bluetooth device from constantly requesting for compatible software whenever i start up the bluetooth?

 

I do have also this problem, I cannot enable or disable my touchpad at all.

 

i feel so lucky