G703GI: Low sound from right side only

[Chiller]

Hi,
as the title says I have problems with the internal speakers on G703GI.

Testing with the Windows speaker test, the sound coming out of the right speakers is barely audible, while the right side is fine.

I've updated the drivers, checked all balance settings and activated/deactivated any audio improvements I could find.

Any suggestions?

[Fusseldieb]

Blake@ROG wrote:
Hello kne_tucky & Fusseldieb,
May I have a video record of the issue?
Also, please kindly PM me your SN.
Thank you.

It's pretty hard to do a video recording of this issue, as you can barely hear it in the video if one of the four stops working, but in person you definitively hear it since volume is suddenly massively lacking.

Still, I will try to do a video and reply back.

[Fusseldieb]

I've managed to get a video of this issue in its full glory

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKvYNLle7Jk

[Blake1]

Hello Fusseldieb,
Thank you so much for getting back to me and providing the video.
May I confirm your current BIOS version and audio driver version?
Thank you.

[Fusseldieb]

Blake@ROG wrote:
Hello Fusseldieb,
Thank you so much for getting back to me and providing the video.
May I confirm your current BIOS version and audio driver version?
Thank you.

Thanks for taking the time to address this issue.

BIOS Version 312

Audio Driver Verion: 6.0.1.8639

Be noted that when this issue occurs, it it present even on the "knife" boot sound, so it's not related to (Windows) driver issues. You can hear the knife sound not coming out of the bottom left woofer/speaker when the computer is turned on. When this happens, the notebook needs to be turned off and on again and it will come out of both normally and you can proceed to let the computer boot into Windows and it'll work. Eventually it stops again when the speaker is in "idle" for a longer amount of time. And yes, then the computer needs to be rebooted again.

[Blake1]

Hello Fusseldieb,
Thank you for the information.

[Blake1]

Hello Fusseldieb,
It's very likely hardware issue. Either the left speaker or the motherboard.
Let's try to update to BIOS 313.
If the issue still happen, please consider to send the device to service center.
Sorry for the inconvenience caused.
Thank you.

[Fusseldieb]

Blake@ROG wrote:
Hello Fusseldieb,
It's very likely hardware issue. Either the left speaker or the motherboard.
Let's try to update to BIOS 313.
If the issue still happen, please consider to send the device to service center.
Sorry for the inconvenience caused.
Thank you.

Thank you.

Was something related to the speaker chip changed in 313? If not, it's unlikely that this will magically fix it.
The issue is very reproducible and when it finally it works, it works until the PC enters idle for 30min or more or is shut down, ruling out a speaker issue.
Since others do have the same issue, if it's a motherboard issue, it's likely a series issue, which would mean that everyone would need to send their model in.
I'm almost certain that this can be solved by a BIOS update.
The chip does resume sound playback in the wrong state, leaving one speaker not working. This part is likely responsability of the BIOS or similar. I don't have enough hardware knowledge in this field, but I'm sure this can be fixed with an update.

Looking forward to a response, thanks in advance!

[Blake1]

Hello Fusseldieb,
BIOS 313 does not have anything to do with audio. But before sending to repair, BIOS update is the last thing we can do.
We did not receive any other similar feedback from other channel . And you are the only one that provide the video and detail information, so we can't say if all of you is having the same issue.
Judging form your description and video, your laptop issue is very likely hardware.
Hope you can understand. Thank you.

[Fusseldieb]

Blake@ROG wrote:
Hello Fusseldieb,
BIOS 313 does not have anything to do with audio. But before sending to repair, BIOS update is the last thing we can do.
We did not receive any other similar feedback from other channel . And you are the only one that provide the video and detail information, so we can't say if all of you is having the same issue.
Judging form your description and video, your laptop issue is very likely hardware.
Hope you can understand. Thank you.

Thanks for the response.
Not many have this notebook and even fewer notice this issue, so it's really hard to tell if it's an isolated problem, however, it would be awesome if the ROG team could invervene and test a new G703 unit and try to replicate this issue.
I'll update the BIOS and see how it goes, but I don't have high hopes.
Sending the device in is not an option.
In the last case I think pulling the ENA pin of the audio chip HIGH (3.3v) should solve this. Doing this should prevent the chip to enter standby as requested by another control circuity (PCH/SuperIO/whatever). Doing this should at least prevent the audio chip to stop from working while the OS is in idle for longer amounts of time. I don't even know if this models audio chip has an ENA pin, but it probably does. It's a delicate soldering job, but without a BIOS fix that actively does something about this, I fear its the only option.
This reminds me of the issues some older notebooks had where the WiFi chip would randomly stop working when in idle, where the OS put the modue in standby and then it misbehaved when pulled out from said standby - just like this ones audio issue. The fix? Disabling the power down pin by taping it off with masking tape.
Anyways...
Ultimatively, it's a low-level issue. It has nothing to do with drivers or the OS.

[Fusseldieb]

Crackling and audio issues still present on latest BIOS 313.

ASUS will probably never fix this, a bummer.

Since then, I filled at least 3 forms out and they did... absolutely nothing.