Formal Escalation: Unresolved Critical USB Disconnection Defect – ROG Scar 18 RTX 4090

[ulo6]

Hello ASUS ROG Team and Community,

I am posting this as a formal escalation after more than three years of dealing with a critical and unresolved defect on my ASUS ROG Scar 18 RTX 4090.

I pre-ordered this laptop and purchased it directly from ASUS, trusting the ROG brand and paying approximately $6,000 for what was advertised as a flagship, premium gaming and productivity machine. Unfortunately, from almost the very beginning and effectively since launch, the laptop has suffered from a severe and recurring issue where all USB devices randomly disconnect under gaming or heavy system load.

When this happens, I lose all control in games, experience system freezes, and my USB audio cuts out completely. This makes it impossible to game competitively, stream, or even use a USB headset reliably. This is not an occasional issue; it happens repeatedly and consistently under load.

To be very clear:
This issue is not caused by misuse, third-party hardware, or user error.

Since receiving this pre-order unit, I contacted ASUS support multiple times while the laptop was still fully under warranty. I was one of the first users to report this issue directly to ASUS. During the warranty period, I followed every recommendation provided to me, including BIOS updates, driver and chipset updates, multiple Windows reinstalls, Armoury Crate configuration changes, and extensive power and USB troubleshooting. Despite reporting the issue early and repeatedly while under warranty, I was never offered a repair, replacement, or permanent fix.

None of these actions resolved the problem. Even after clear documentation and repeated reports, ASUS support failed to acknowledge the defect or take responsibility while the device was still covered.

This issue is not isolated. There is a long-running ASUS ROG forum thread documenting the exact same problem across many users and over several years:

https://rog-forum.asus.com/t5/gaming-notebooks/randomly-losing-all-usb-devices/td-p/1091235/page/23

That thread spans dozens of pages and years of reports describing random USB disconnects, freezes, and audio loss under load. This clearly demonstrates that ASUS has been aware of this defect for a long time, including during the warranty period of my device, yet no permanent solution was provided.

For more than three years, I have been forced to live with a laptop that cannot reliably perform its core advertised functions. I cannot game properly. I cannot stream. I cannot rely on USB audio. This is completely unacceptable for a device at this price point.

What makes this situation worse is that early reports, including mine while under warranty, were ignored. As a customer who trusted ASUS enough to pre-order a flagship product, I feel dismissed and unfairly treated.

This is not a minor inconvenience. This is a fundamental defect that has significantly impacted my use, time, and quality of experience for over three years. No customer should pay $6,000 for a product with a known defect, report it under warranty, and then be left without support or accountability.

At this point, I am formally requesting that ASUS take responsibility for this issue. I am asking for this case to be escalated and reviewed seriously. I am requesting that ASUS take back the laptop and issue a refund, as this defect was present from the start, reported early while under warranty, and never resolved.

I also encourage other affected ROG Scar or Strix owners experiencing similar USB disconnection issues to reply here so this can no longer be treated as an isolated case.

This situation is not fair, and it is not acceptable.

I am requesting an official response from ASUS staff and a real resolution.

Thank you.

[Falcon2_ROG]

@ulo6 
The link you shared is discussing the G835LX model, while the laptop you’re using should be the G834, so they are different product models.

If the issue you reported continues to occur, I’ve sent you a message. Please provide your product serial number and the required information via that message, and I will forward it to the local service team so they can contact you.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused.

[ulo6]

Thank you for responding and for offering to help. I appreciate you looking into this.

I’ve provided my contact details and serial number privately as requested. This issue has been ongoing for over two years and has already gone through standard support channels, so I’m hoping this can be properly escalated and reviewed at the appropriate level.

I look forward to hearing back with next steps.

[ElectroStingz]

Hello,

Just for some information as it may help to some extent (worth checking), there is an area of interest with these laptops that can cause such issues, not only ASUS but many laptops that feature the same basic components (Gaming Intel 13th/14th / RTX 4000 series). That is if the chipset (PCH) gets excessively hot it will cause USB drop outs especially when under load.

Within the laptop there is a separate chip that controls some functions and USB is part of this, it's located near the middle of the laptop motherboard and close to the 3rd cooling fan (if you model has a 3rd fan). This chip doesn't contain a heatsink so the heat dissipation is minimal and it may actually be sitting at 90 DegC or higher when under load which means it's on the edge of being stable. 110DegC is the critical limit (when it will shutdown / laptop will go off) and prior to this it can limit performance by throttling itself, usually seen has stutters with USB and laptop built in Audio. 

Anyway the point being if this is running too hot it can cause the USB dropouts you are experiencing especially under load. Check the PCH temperature when idle then check as you are using the laptop / gaming before / play in Windowed mode with a monitoring program open so you can see the PCH at the same time.

This is where it is located on the laptop, the middle fan near the battery end.

You may find with no cooling pad and default config it's sitting somewhere over 70 DegC Idle and 90 DegC or higher when gaming.

When using hardware monitor to view it will be shown as PCH Temperature

Download Hardware monitor here: https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

Example 1 -  Game in Windowed mode with hardware monitor open for realtime viewing [green highlight]

Example 2 - Same as above but Llano cooling pad active 300RPM [yellow highlight]

So as a point of interest I would say it's good to check your PCH temperature and see when the USB drops out as it might be based on the temperature. Obviously it may be something else however for general guidance, I would expect any laptop to function perfectly fine if this was no more than 80 DegC via software readings (due to inaccuracy). If you are under that and it's still dropping out the issue may lie elsewhere but it's a common issue on some gaming laptops of this generation.

[ulo6]

Still waiting for Asus to reach out …

[Silent_Scone]

Yeah Chinese New Year on the horizon, so it may take a little longer than usual to get a response here, unfortunately. Have you contacted support for your region?

[Falcon2_ROG]

@ulo6 
I’ve forwarded your case to the local service team for review.
Have you not received any contact yet?

[ulo6]

Hey Falcon I hope you doing good! I haven’t not received anything yet 🥹 I really would love my laptop to be fixed … if you want my contact info please dm me so I can give to you …

[Falcon2_ROG]

@ulo6 
I have again notified the service team in your location to follow up on your case. 
We apologize for any inconvenience caused.