ROG Zephyrus Duo 16 (2023) freezes on startup

[DomenicoDentice]

Help please.

I have just purchased the ROG Zephyrus Duo 16 (2023) and after a week or so started to freeze on Windows startup and a couple of times on shout down. All drivers were updated and also ran hardware checks as well as a memory diagnostic check. No problem here. The notebook works fine when it gets through the initial startup and can work on it for hours with  no problems.

Has anybody an idea on what it could be?

Many thanks!!!

[Moodkill]

Following the "Solution" posted a few pages back will solve the freezing issue. It's basically just using an older AMD driver. This however causes screen flickering on the main display for pretty much every user. Mines very occasional so it's tolerable, but I think others are having more severe flickering issues. ASUS just isn't spending the resources the validate new AMD drivers for this laptop so we are stuck with a $$$ notebook that only partially works. 

[Anbby_ROG]

Hi @Moodkill ,

Regarding the screen flickering issue, we are actively working with AMD to analyze this problem. We kindly request your assistance in confirming the following settings:

(1) Ensure that Armoury Crate is updated to the latest version (V 3.2.7.2).
(2) In Armoury Crate, disable the Aura Wallpaper.
(3) In Armoury Crate, select the default mode in the GameVisual settings page.

After applying the above steps, please observe if the screen flickering issue improves. 
If the problem persists, we recommend sending your laptop to our repair center, where our engineers can assist in diagnosing your laptop. Once you have submitted your laptop for repair, please send me a private message with your serial number and repair number. I will assist in tracking your case. 
We apologize for any inconvenience caused.

[Serghienco]

Same problem:
The computer periodically (once a day) reboots. Of the features:
1 Bluetooth does not work after reboot, keyboard and side USB port does not work (rear one works).
2 I can’t understand the trigger due to which it goes into reboot, it does not depend on loads, as a rule it happens when I don’t use it (I leave somewhere).
3 When forced off and on, everything is restored.
4 When rebooting via Start, it is not restored.

[AveryMeijer]

I've had the same issue. I have gone through 3 of these laptops, thinking it was a hardware issue, however I am on my fourth one. All four displayed the exact same issues. Screen flickering, random crashes and BSOD's, all keyboard input (buiilt in, plugged in and wireless) stops working after one of these hard crashes, ect. All the issues everyone else here is describing.

I have tried the solution, however the AMD cleanup utility doesnt let me login when entering safe mode. The only way I am able to get out is using the command prompt after restarting into recovery mode, then restarting the device.

I tried just installing the driver without removing the newer one, however system still freezes entirely and is not usuable. My system crashes every hour or so before getting stuck in a bootloop that can only be fixed by entirely resetting and reinstalling windows using Windows' recovery mode

Asus, I know this isnt entirely your fault, however when people spend over $4,000 with tax to buy a fancy new machine from you for work, school, play, we expect it to at least work, but this is unacceptable. I don't know what I am supposed to do as this is a machine I really needed for work.

I am going to returng my fourth and final unit, and possibly just getting a Zenbook instead. A shame that theres no Zenbook with a near equivalent in terms of performance, as I need a powerful portable machine. A mobile 4060 just wont cut it, but my entire workflow has been built around the secondary screen, and its a shame this laptop is unusable due to drivers.

Edit: Spelling

[merlinfb]

Jumping in here. Zephyrus Duo 16 with the RTX 4090. Beautiful machine! But issues galore...

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@AveryMeijer wrote:

... the AMD cleanup utility doesnt let me login when entering safe mode. The only way I am able to get out is using the command prompt after restarting into recovery mode, then restarting the device.

---

I too have followed the instructions to run the cleanup utility and ended up on the Windows login screen, no network, no way to get into my Microsoft account with a message of something being wrong with my pin. And a dubious pop-up from explorer.exe 'hard error' With all my IT skills, I couldn't get around it and boot into Windows again! Ended up running ASUS cloud recovery and set up from scratch 😞

So this time, I added a break glass user account with admin rights. Just a local account, not a Microsoft account. Used 'net user add BreakGlass *' then went through the control panel to add it to admins. Just for a failsafe.

And I needed it today! Windows keeps freezing up randomly, no matter the power profile. So I went to try the AMD cleanup util again. This time, chose to reboot into safe mode manually before running the cleanup. Guess what? Same issue with the login screen! Network stack broken. No way to login... Except I had my break glass account 🙂 Pro tip: after creating it, log in with it. I logged into it for the first time while in safe mode and it took 10 minutes. Ended up with a very broken Windows experience, windows flickering. Couldn't keep focus on a single app or command prompt. Eventually, I was able to start cmd through Task Manager (CTRL+ALT+DEL) and start a new task, enter 'cmd'. Browsed to the folder where I had the AMD driver extracted and ran the AMDCleanupUtility.exe from there. INSTANTLY, the flickering went away! Winning!

But then one of the steps must have failed cause it hung. Killed it through Task Manager and tried again. After 2 minutes or so, success message and prompt to reboot. One more thing before we do that: removed all processors from Device Manager as I saw that be recommended. Used PowerShell for that cause I don't want to click 32 times 😉

Get-PnpDevice -Class Processor | foreach {& "pnputil" /remove-device $_.InstanceId}

Now a reboot and behold! Windows is back! No flickering for me. AMD Graphics driver on 31.0.14001.46001. No AMD Software installed. Fingers crossed now! 🤞

[AveryMeijer]

I went ahead and got the Zenbook Pro Duo with the 4060, as I have used up all my patience with the ROG version. I will get next years model and hope there arent issues! I am glad you were able to solve your issue!

[merlinfb]

Update: 24 hours of intensive use on all performance profiles and there have been 0 freezes or crashes. Probably jinxing that right now 🙊

I do, however, need to take back my statement of no flickering. I definitely do have it now. I had seen videos of other users and thought the flickers were more pronounced, but maybe that's how the video comes across. So yes, flickering now and then, at random. Although I have to say, it really doesn't bother me much. That is until I start paying attention to it, probably.

[Corneliusee]

I've been struggling with the screen flickering issue for a long time. 
I saw someone downloaded the AMD driver version 23.10.01.41 and it fixed the flickering problem. I tested it for two hours tonight, and the screen flickering disappeared. Hopefully, I'll be lucky too. 

https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/release-notes/rn-rad-win-23-10-01-41-vlk-extn

[Involver]

It's been a while since I chimed in... It's sad to see there are still users with these issues. For what it's worth, ever since I went through the steps described waaaaay back in this post, I haven't had any single issue anymore. No flickering, no hanging, nothing.

So to those with these issues - there IS a solution and IT IS definitely software related and IT CAN be solved. Be patient, follow the steps outlined in the Asus moderator posts, stay with official drivers.

Good luck...

[merlinfb]

Dang it! AMD Adrenalin got auto-installed again last night and my laptop is freezing up again 😞

It came through Windows Updates, which is weird since I disabled driver updates altogether. Did that because the AMD video driver kept updating to latest version. This time, the Adrenalin package (including the video driver) came through 'Other updates' ... ugh... About to reboot to safe mode and clean up again. Fingers crossed I don't lose my Windows setup this time 🤞

My machine was working beautifully between my last post here and up until this happened.