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]

I have more information. After reverting back to what I thought was a stable version of things i got a few more restarts that evening. This got me thinking about the power supply and how I could trigger this reboots to see what causes them. For this I downloaded Furmark which is a stress testing software for GPU and CPU.

So the drivers are as follows: BIOS is 325, latest nvidia driver, and driver version 23.7.1 for adrenalin.The fans are set on the Turbo mode.

The benchmark is set to run for 10 mins at full resolution, without antialiasing. I am monitoring the temperatures with G-Helper (which is a much better software thatn Armory Crate!). The test was performed in two GPU states: Standard (i.e. only the Nvidia card was used) and Eco (i.e. only the integrated video card was used). My expectation was that in the standard mode I would get a restart.

The results:

1) for the standard mode the benchmark ran the full 10 mins. Temperatures on the CPU did not go over 55 celcius and about 60 on the GPU. no problems whatsoever.

2) for the ECO, the benchmark did not finish! CPU went to about 92 degrees and when it was about 3 mins left out of the total of 10 I got a restart. I have repeated this twice with the same result.

I will do more testing but for now I will keep the laptop on the standard gpu mode. I believe that this is a hardware issue. I will eventually install Armory Crate again and do some more rigorous testing with the benchmark tool.

To answer your final question, no I did not modify anything about the hardware of the laptop. I have only reinstalled windows 11 when I got it.

[Anbby_ROG]

Hi @drimago ,

Thank you for your response. 
If possible, could you please test and record logs after installing the Armoury Crate and let us assist you further to confirm? Hope your testing goes smoothly.

[drimago]

Hi @Anbby_ROG,

Thank you for your assistance. I hope I will have time this weekend to do some testing. It is really interesting what is happening and completely surprising! I truly thought it was the dGPU and not iGPU at fault! I will return with results as soon as I have them.

Regards

[drimago]

Ok I have installed Armory Crate again and activated all the services. I have performed 3 tests on eco, standard and optimized gpu modes. As before, on the ECO the computer restarted. The standard and optimized the test ended fine. I have saved 3 logs. How do you suggest I send them over?

I used BIOS 325, nvidia driver 31.0.15.3734 and amd driver 31.0.21001.45002

[drimago]

ok i have put alll 3 logs in a folder one drive and I am sharing here the link to that folder. I will update here when I add files there. the log names mentions the testing data: asus-rog-flow-x13-eco-325-amd-31.0.21001.45002-... means that it was taken with bios version 325, on the eco GPU state using the amd driver version xxxx.

Is there a way to look at the logs myself or these can only be viewed by you?

Here is the link: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AoyhgZ-d2YQqlnQwMpKu6GIpj_aj?e=T64T2R

[drimago]

Hello @Anbby_ROG,

I have done some more testing and I believe i have narrowed the problem to the optimized GPU state. With BIOS 327, the Nvidia driver from the ASUS website (the one you suggested) and AMD driver version 23.7.1 it will always restart during the Furmark testing. On both Turbo and Performance fan modes. I have had a reboot overnight on Eco mode too but I didn't record the log sadly. This probably happens sporadically.

I am now downgrading the BIOS to 325 and leave the drivers as they are and repeat the testing. I am trying to be more organized.

In any case I am not sure this is a driver issue. Can you advise me what to do next?

[Anbby_ROG]

Hi @drimago ,

Thank you for conducting the tests. I would like to confirm with you that the restart issue occurs on both BIOS versions 325 and 327, regardless of the AC settings, is that correct?

Based on the information you've provided, it may be necessary to further investigate the cause of the problem through inspection of your hardware. We recommend backing up your important data and then sending your laptop to a local authorized repair center for examination. 
Thank you for your understanding.

[drimago]

Hi @Anbby_ROG,

Yesterday I think I hit a sweet spot with bios 325, the suggested Nvidia driver and AMD version 23.7.1. I have repeated all tests for all configurations, with both Performance and Turbo fan settings and I didn't get any reboots. I have added a new folder in the link I shared, called bios-325-no-reboots which contains all the logs I performed yesterday. Since I cannot view the logs I don't know what is different in the results apart from the driver versions. It is still possible that this is a driver/software issue.

I will now uninstall Armory Crate and related services. Maybe I will redo the tests again in this configuration and see what happens.

Is there any way you can provide some info from the logs?

Thank you for your help.

I will think about sending the laptop for a checkup but since this is my only laptop and I need it for work it will be difficult.

[Anbby_ROG]

Hi @drimago ,

Thank you for your testing. 
Initially, we were concerned that the restart issue might be caused by BIOS or software problems, so we wanted to investigate the source of the problem through the information provided by AC and HWinfo.
However, in your tests conducted at different times, the restart problem occurred with different BIOS versions. In these situations, to ensure the stability of your future use, we still recommend conducting further hardware diagnostics. 
Nevertheless, in yesterday's test, BIOS 325 appeared to be stable for the time being. We suggest you continue to monitor the situation and use MyASUS for preliminary hardware testing to see if any anomalies can be detected. Thank you.

[A-Sid]

Hello,

Sorry to drop in like that, but i have the exact same problem with my flow X13 & Rog XG RTX.

I ve sent the unit back to Asus 4 times to get it repaired (overheat and shutdown) but they never solver the problems ....... Used to be a happy Asus customer but i m really pissed off htis time.

Have you finaly solved the issue of Kernel power reboot ? if so would you be kind enough to share the solution wiht me ?

Sorry if my english sounds weird, it s not my native language !

Regards !