ASUS G53SW - fn key and Video Card problems

[GFiftyThree]

I've had a problem with my fn key for a few weeks now. I think it occurred while I was downloading a ton of programs to root my phone.

What happens: my keyboard acts as if my fn key is pressed. Examples: F11 turns down volume, spacebar changes the power profile, "c" changed color settings, etc.

When: randomly. Rebooting gets rid of the problem but it reoccurs after random time intervals.

What I've done:
1. (Attempt to) update drivers; generic responses like fn+numlk/scrlk, shift+numlk/scrlk,fn+F11.
2. Complete reformat of HDD and reinstall of Windows. Reverted back to old drivers on my driver and utilities disk. Problem still occurs now BUT I think it occurs only when I actually push the fn key. Example: If I want to change my volume, fn+F12. But now that "sticks" my fn key so now changing my volume is only F12.

Since wiping my HDD, I'm sure that it's a driver problem (most likely ATK, but can't figure out how to fix it).




New problem:
Video card driver is messed up as well as the ATK driver.
My laptop would freeze when the video card would be stressed (gaming) and I would have to hard reset it by holding the power button down.
I deleted/reinstalled the video card driver and now when I game, the screen goes black for 2-10 seconds and I get an error saying that the video card driver (or kernel) crashed but restarted successfully. The laptop sometimes freezes on a black screen and my audio reflects it (I'm assuming the driver did not restart successfully at this point).

What confuses me is I've tried various types of drivers for both the video card and the ATK but they all seem to act the EXACT SAME. Is it possible I'm not removing/installing them correctly?
What I do: Open Windows Control Panel, go to uninstall a program, click the driver and uninstall it. Restart laptop. Install new driver.
Why are all drivers (new ones off driver's website and old ones off driver disk) all acting the exact same, giving me the same problems discussed above?

Any ideas are welcome.

[cl-Albert]

GFiftyThree wrote:
I've had a problem with my fn key for a few weeks now. I think it occurred while I was downloading a ton of programs to root my phone.

What happens: my keyboard acts as if my fn key is pressed. Examples: F11 turns down volume, spacebar changes the power profile, "c" changed color settings, etc.

When: randomly. Rebooting gets rid of the problem but it reoccurs after random time intervals.

What I've done:
1. (Attempt to) update drivers; generic responses like fn+numlk/scrlk, shift+numlk/scrlk,fn+F11.
2. Complete reformat of HDD and reinstall of Windows. Reverted back to old drivers on my driver and utilities disk. Problem still occurs now BUT I think it occurs only when I actually push the fn key. Example: If I want to change my volume, fn+F12. But now that "sticks" my fn key so now changing my volume is only F12.

Since wiping my HDD, I'm sure that it's a driver problem (most likely ATK, but can't figure out how to fix it).

Welcome to the forums!
I'm wondering if it may really be a keyboard or other hardware problem and below are some ideas to check this as long as you can get the Fn key to 'stick'.
1. Compare with a USB external keyboard if available when you are seeing the problem.
2. Try Windows safe mode.
3. I don't have a G53Sw around to try, but some Fn keys like Fn+F7 to turn off the display or Fn+F5/F6 to change brightness still work in the G75VW bios or outside of windows, so check this on your unit to see if it appears the Fn key is stuck outside of windows (which should eliminate any software causes).
Hopefully you can get into the bios since I tried Fn+F2 instead of just 'F2' and was not able to get into the bios.
If you can boot to a DOS prompt instead, you can try the same things.
Good luck!

[GFiftyThree]

cl-Albert wrote:
Welcome to the forums!
I'm wondering if it may really be a keyboard or other hardware problem and below are some ideas to check this as long as you can get the Fn key to 'stick'.
1. Compare with a USB external keyboard if available when you are seeing the problem.
2. Try Windows safe mode.
3. I don't have a G53Sw around to try, but some Fn keys like Fn+F7 to turn off the display or Fn+F5/F6 to change brightness still work in the G75VW bios or outside of windows, so check this on your unit to see if it appears the Fn key is stuck outside of windows (which should eliminate any software causes).
Hopefully you can get into the bios since I tried Fn+F2 instead of just 'F2' and was not able to get into the bios.
If you can boot to a DOS prompt instead, you can try the same things.
Good luck!

Thanks for the response.

The fn key problem is now isolated to the case of me actually using the key. The keyboard does not mess up randomly anymore (as far as I can tell), it only messes up after I press the fn key.
So I was able to test the fn key in safe mode and although fn+F11/F12 does not change the volume (maybe since the ATK package doesn't get started? I don't know), the keyboard does indeed still mess up after pressing the fn key. So even in safe mode, the problem persists.

Since the fn key problem is isolated to me pressing the key, it isn't as big of a deal anymore. But my video card driver messing up is- do you have any ideas how to fix the video card driver?

[cl-Albert]

Unfortunately, I'm not that great with software and was hoping someone else would chime in, but we may want to search the forums for old threads about vga driver installs/uninstalls, or check with more people.
I'll run some things by you if you're interested though.

I'm usually more worried about hardware issues, so would like to make sure your video card isn't defective or overheating if you think there is a chance of this.
You may want to check your GPU temperatures and compare with other games/software.
Also, if you have a spare hard drive around and can try a clean install, it should help eliminate any software issues.
Otherwise, if you aren't worried about losing anything and can use Windows System Restore to go back to an earlier date when everything was working okay, this is another idea.
Usually, we just recommend sticking to the ASUS approved drivers for your notebook model on the ASUS download site if you aren't running into any issues.

By the way if you're still under warranty or not sure about the status, you may want to look into this and get your hardware checked before the warranty expires if there appears to be a possibility of hardware problems.

Well, you may want to check around or wait for better ideas about fixing the software if these don't sound that great.

[GFiftyThree]

cl-Albert wrote:
Unfortunately, I'm not that great with software and was hoping someone else would chime in, but we may want to search the forums for old threads about vga driver installs/uninstalls, or check with more people.
I'll run some things by you if you're interested though.

I'm usually more worried about hardware issues, so would like to make sure your video card isn't defective or overheating if you think there is a chance of this.
You may want to check your GPU temperatures and compare with other games/software.
Also, if you have a spare hard drive around and can try a clean install, it should help eliminate any software issues.
Otherwise, if you aren't worried about losing anything and can use Windows System Restore to go back to an earlier date when everything was working okay, this is another idea.
Usually, we just recommend sticking to the ASUS approved drivers for your notebook model on the ASUS download site if you aren't running into any issues.

By the way if you're still under warranty or not sure about the status, you may want to look into this and get your hardware checked before the warranty expires if there appears to be a possibility of hardware problems.

Well, you may want to check around or wait for better ideas about fixing the software if these don't sound that great.

Unfortunately, I'm no longer under waranty (owner of 2+ years now).

I have noticed another symptom though (which may or may not be pointing to a hardware problem):
On this website with the black background, I noticed a ~4in. vertical strip of my screen that contains flashing pixels.
It's maybe a dozen or two pixels that quickly flash white from the black background.

[cl-Albert]

Do you need to go to this website to see the problem or can you open something else with a black background (in Microsoft Paint?) to see it?
If it's possible, try to check the problem in safe mode too which would indicate a hardware problem, but it probably will not be that easy to catch.

Also, they may not be very easy to clean, but you may also want to check your fans for dust as well as the CPU/GPU temperatures and thermal paste if it sounds like overheating is a possibility.

Well, if you have any interest in sending your notebook to ASUS for out-of-warranty service and want to get the contact information, let me know, but it might still be too early to consider this.

[GFiftyThree]

cl-Albert wrote:
Do you need to go to this website to see the problem or can you open something else with a black background (in Microsoft Paint?) to see it?
If it's possible, try to check the problem in safe mode too which would indicate a hardware problem, but it probably will not be that easy to catch.

Also, they may not be very easy to clean, but you may also want to check your fans for dust as well as the CPU/GPU temperatures and thermal paste if it sounds like overheating is a possibility.

Well, if you have any interest in sending your notebook to ASUS for out-of-warranty service and want to get the contact information, let me know, but it might still be too early to consider this.

No, the flashing pixels is not exclusive to this website- I've noticed it on a few other pages now.
I don't notice it right now so I don't know how effective booting into safe mode would be right now, but next time I notice it I'll give it a shot.
I'll also be sure to try to clean out the fans/repaste the GPU when I get the chance- it's probably long overdue.

[GFiftyThree]

Update:
I installed the Intel INF driver (stupid me, I forgot it). Then I ran Furmark and it pixelated as I described earlier (black pixels went green this time) and it got worse as the temps increased until a certain point and then it just stopped. Temps maxed at 93C.
I decided to try and repaste the CPU/GPU. Picked up some Antec Formula 7 (couldn't find AS5/ICD7 locally).
Everything went well EXCEPT when I was pulling the heatsink off, the thermal pads on the black boxes surrounding GPU ripped apart. I think they were the VRAM?
So what I did was I used a cleaner to clean the thermal pads off the VRAM's and applied the thermal paste (Antec Formula 7- I read it was nonconductive so it was okay) on the VRAM, but I ran out of the paste before I could apply enough to all VRAM's. I got enough on each to where it contacted the heatsink, but not solid contact, just the center bubble. Also, I was worried that Antec Formula 7 might not be thick enough to stay put.
Should I be worried and just pick up some thermal pads and redo it?

Also, my temps are still the exact same after running a half hour of furmark so far (93C). I'll still run more burn-in tests but I'm not too hopeful that I did anything.

[cl-Albert]

Not sure if you want my opinion on this since I'm not as familiar with the G53Sw, but I found one thread Idle Temps on G53 for a G53 owner (G53Sx or G53Sw?) that mentioned GPU temperatures averaging around 80C although it sounds like their CPU was overheating and shutting down their system too.

iluvatar wrote:

The highest gpu temperature was 84°C but when the computer turned off (20sec later) it was only on 79°C. On average the gpu temp was around 80 which I think is not too bad? Other ideas on that are welcome.

However, the cpu temp went up to 98 just when the laptop crashed.
So I think the problem with that crash is more the cpu than the gpu.

If you check other models, 90C is on the high side for the GPU, so you really want to try to get the temperatures down before any components are damaged.

Reducing the temperatues may still not solve all the issues you are seeing though and you might also want to start considering sending it to ASUS for out-of-warranty service if this makes sense to you. Check the contact page here to request an RMA if you're interested.
If you don't expect to use the notebook too much longer and can do this, you may want to save your money for a newer system instead.

Well, hopefully someone else has some better ideas to solve this.