asus rog flow x13 GV301RE constant restart Kernel Power 41

[drimago]

Hello all,

I got this rog flow x13 because it appeared to tick all the boxes i wanted but sadly it is a nightmare. I don't know who designed this laptop and then who programmed the software but there are serious flaws with both.

The major issue I have is the fact that when I set it in a standard GPU mode or optimized and the Nvidia card gets used a little too much, the laptop restarts suddenly. In the event viewer I get the Kernel Power error with event ID 41. Windows in its infinite wisdom cannot say more than that. This essentially means a sudden loss of power but not much else. From my tests this only happens when Nvidia card is in use. This leads to a lot of heat being generated in the F5-F10 keys region followed by sudden restart.

The weird part is that I don't remember it being an issue in the first weeks after I got it. It started to appear after some bios update. Yesterday I received the latest bios update 327 I think and I got 5 restarts. I have to say that the restarts seem to happen when the laptop sits on a table. There just isn't enough air intake nomatter what liquid metal bull****** was used for cooling. Physics cannot be bull******ed no matter what the marketing department says. If I lift the laptop on a stand the situation seems a bit better.

Other than keep it elevated is there anything I can do? I need to operate in standard or optimized gpu state because I use WSL2 and it will not start in Eco State. Ah just to clarify, if I keep the laptop in eco state, the restarts don't happen. So it is clearly tied to the nvidia dedicated card.

In case anyone asks, I have all the latest windows updates, went to myasus and it found some PD updates which I installed. I am up to date. Is there a solution?

[drimago]

Hello@A-Sid, @RarAsh and @Anbby_ROG ,

Looks like I jinxed it last time. I was convinced that this was due to bluetooth but I think I am narrowing it to the AMD GPU (iGPU) driver. I think this is the culprit. It could be some combination of the newer versions and possible problems with the new nvidia drivers or something with the BIOS. BUT for the past 2 days I didn't get a restart.

What I did, is revert to the version from 4/20/2023, namely 31.0.14051.5006. I did this but going back each version and waiting for a restart. I noticed that as I went further back the restarts were becoming far apart. Then I found these two link with people complaining about the same exact thing but this time happening on desktop PCs and not laptops.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/reoccurring-kernel-power-id-41-system-restarts...

and

https://community.amd.com/t5/drivers-software/computer-restarts-endlessly-after-updating-the-display...

It looks like there is something the matter with these drivers and some of their interactions with others. The second link contains a method and a tool to completely remove the previous drivers completely and perform a clean install. I did this once and installed the latest version again, hoping there was some sort of bad install. It didn't work so I started just downgrading since the method in the second link take some time.

There are some other links too with people complaining about the same thing on their PCs. I should have found this earlier but I only focused on this laptop model specifically.

I am planning a complete reinstall soon and even consider trying EndeavourOS for a bit. I don't like using windows and these problems drive me crazy (that's no to say linux is without problems, but at least issues are tackled differently)

One last thing. I may consider installing just the driver and not the whole adrenaline thing. Maybe there is a problem with that and not the driver.  I don't have much time to try these things but I will do my best.

Hope it works for you too!

[A-Sid]

Thanks ! my laptop and the rog  are going back one more time to Asus to be cheked

If nothing is done to the laptop i will try a fresh install of Arium 11 and will test those links !

I ll keep you updated as soon as my laptop comes back !

Cheers !

[SNR]

Hello, I have actually a similliar issue with the gv301re. The laptop easily overheats and at the extreme restarts. Even worse  there is a problem when you try shut the computer down, at which the computer still seems to be working and  starts warming up rapidly even though the indicators shows that It's off and nothing lights up. Another problem when is when I try to open the bios (327), afterwhich the CPU temp will go to around 80-90 C. did you also have similliar issues? Can You send me the version 325 so I can rollback to it?
What doyou think guys? 🙂

[drimago]

Hello all,

After a lot of trials and different driver versions as I documented here, I couldn't take it anymore and sent it for repair. The nearest center to me was in the Netherlands. They sent a DHL prepaid courier but I had to package it properly myself. I documented what the faults were: the frequent restarts when iGPU is in use and the problem with the bluetooth and keyboard having a lot of lag every once in a while and needing a hard reset.

It took 10 working days and they sent it back with a new motherboard and implicitly a new cpu since it is soldered and they also replaced the fingerprint sensor. I suppose somehow this was creating the second problem. There are no in depth details about the repair anywhere.

Now the laptop functions properly with the latest GPU drivers (for both of them) and latest BIOS 327. My conclusion is that there are no software issues. It is hardware. Software may enhance the hardware issues in that it will push past a thermal limit too fast or something like that and it will result in a crash. I haven't tried any games yet but it should be fine.

Regarding the 325 bios, can't you get it from the website? did they remove it?

[SNR]

Great to hear your laptop works at last. And about the bios, yes it seems like it is completely unavailablea, I can see only 327. Oh well, I sent an inquiry to Asus technical support, Hopefully I'll have my unit retrived and properly fixed without issues.

[Anbby_ROG]

Hi @SNR ,
I apologize for hearing about your issue. 

Based on your description, we recommend that you take your laptop to the local service team for further hardware testing. Thank you for your understanding.

[Anbby_ROG]

Hi @drimago ,

I'm glad to hear that your issue has been resolved through RMA! Since BIOS updates are primarily designed to optimize system performance and fix errors, we recommend using the latest BIOS version for stable use. If you encounter any issues with the new BIOS, please feel free to let us know. Thank you.

[drimago]

Hi @Anbby_ROG ,

Thank you for your patience and advice along the way and sorry for my harsh comments sometimes. Let me assure you they were not directed to you but to the greater Asus gods above 🙂

Yes I now finally have a working laptop and all seems well. I haven't had time to turn on a game but for my normal work it is ok.

I want to draw some conclusions from my experience so far:

This is a nice product that on paper ticks all the boxes one might have related to portability, power and features. There are few that come close to this. But what happens in reality it is completely different. As it happens I am not talking about my experience and I am not referencing what others complain about on other forums. I have direct knowledge of 3 laptops like my own bought about 3 weeks apart from 2 vendors in Romania. All three have experienced some sort of problems. Mine was the worst with the restarts, the other two have had the keyboard lag and external mouse disconnects and automatic shutdowns when the dGPU was used on maximum settings (these were clearly due to overheating).

There are clear design issues with this line of laptops and the trend seems to be generalized.

I will keep this laptop until it draws its last breath and then I will look at a different brand.

[Anbby_ROG]

Hi @drimago ,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience, and we understand that electronic products may encounter various unexpected situations during use. We continuously strive to learn and address issues, but sometimes, unforeseen hardware issues may arise. Through warranty and service coverage, we are committed to providing users with assurance.
I understand that encountering problems with your laptop and being unable to use it properly can be frustrating, potentially leading to some negative emotions. Thank you for expressing your understanding in such warm words, and I'm glad to hear that you are now able to use it normally. If you have any concerns or need assistance in the future, please feel free to give me the opportunity to help. Wishing you a pleasant holiday season:)