G73 Video Issues

[Retired]

I teach art in a game development course in college, and found that I needed to upgrade from my macbook pro to a more 'game centric' system. In my search for a replacement, I came across the ASUS G73JH at my local computer store...saw the specs, impressed with the demo model, and promptly made my decision to purchase one. Being pragmatic, I purchased an extended warranty from the store.

So I proceeded to load everything on it that I needed to teach, Adobe Photoshop, Autodesk Maya and 3DS Max, ZBrush...all went smoothly - I decided it was best to upgrade to the latest drivers (10.7 at the time) so that things would go smoothly. When I hauled it in to cl**** I received a lot of ooos and awes at the nice system I was toting around.

I wasn't until I was up and running in the middle of cl**** reviewing art assets in Maya 2011, when my screen changed to verticle grey stripes - now what I read is affectionately known as GSOD or Grey Screen of Death.

I have spent the past 3 weeks trying everything - reading up on forums for solutions, upgrading the bios, trying every driver from 10.5 and on...changing settings, you name it....things got worse - instead it would start locking up. I really loved this machine - and I was determined to prove to my students that it is an awesome notebook...so I patiently waited for the 10.8 ATI drivers to be released.

They were released, and though I had some issues with the installation, finally it was installed and all was running well...that was until Tuesday morning, when once again I got the GSOD.

So, I uninstalled the 10.8 drivers and reloaded the ones from the ASUS website. All would be fine, but unfortunately Maya 2011 will not work with the ASUS drivers...so I'm forced to use my old laptop...

I'm really hoping I don't have to RMA this, or try to return it to the store, as I have had nothing but extremely poor experiences when this has happened in the past. Seeing that it works with the stock drivers...it could be argued that the issues aren't covered under warranty.

Bios Version 2.11
ATI Drivers (currently stock ASUS drivers)


Seeking advice.


-Dracowyr

[xeromist]

It appears that you are not the only one having this problem:

http://www.google.com/search?q=ASUS+G73JH+vsod&nfpr=1

[Retired]

Read this Link

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/514742-official-asus-republic-gamers-foru...

[Tindrael]

Hey there!
GSOD is a known issue with the G73...at least known by the users. For months Asus has denied and lied about the existence of the GSOD, they only admitted it (of course quietly, not officially...there might be even Asus workers who haven't heard about this) that it is there and they arranged a few techs to look into the problem. So far they released a new vBIOS a week ago, of course it did not fix the GSOD issue. They promised a fix, but after seeing how Asus let down the W90 owners (W90 had similar vBIOS issue, and Asus didn't fix it, despite that the W90 was a $2000+ gaming laptop!), there might be never a perfect fix.

If you can't wait for Asus to finally throw out their poorly coded vBIOS and make a new, working one, there is an alternative fix.

The better qualified technicians at MSI, have fixed the GSOD issue 5 months ago. You can download their 5870M vBIOS from here: MSI vBIOS 5870M
Just flash your Asus 5870M and there won't be any GSOD anymore, you can use new drivers with it. It is easy, just copy the files on a Fat32 formatted flash drive and after booting from it, run VFlash.bat. A lot of users who can't wait for months until Asus finally makes a working vBIOS, which already exists, are using this MSI vBIOS.

WARNING!
Only use the linked vBIOS! The linked vBIOS fixes the G73 GSOD, BUT the newest vBIOS on MSI's download page bricks the G73 VGA!!

Also, the MSI vBIOS fixes the GSOD,but there is a drawback. Since the MSI vBIOS originally wasn't designed for the G73, until you are using it, the HDMI and VGA output of your G73 will not work! Since you, Dracowyr sad that you would use it for teaching, you can install and use the latest drivers with this vBIOS, but you will not be able to connect your G73 to a projector, at least until you reflash the Asus vBIOS...which means you get the GSOD back.

[Retired]

Yup, you're pooched! You could try voiding your warranty and flashing a non-asus videobios, there are a lot of people reporting success with that.

[Retired]

we are currently working on a beta vbios that has not had GSOD issues, should be out shortly either in beta or confirmed

[Tindrael]

Brian@ASUS wrote:
we are currently working on a beta vbios that has not had GSOD issues, should be out shortly either in beta or confirmed

Don't forget to try that vBIOS with Furmark (PostFX+Xtreme Burn mode enabled!!), if it can run without screen flickering+GSOD for hours with newer drivers (10.3-10.8) on every unit you have that had GSOD, then it is ready to be released.

ps: I hope you don't mean the 012.020.000.032.037764 beta vBIOS, becase that does not fix the GSOD issue.

[Travelor]

Be Wery Wery Qwiet - I am hunting wabbit -
I mean - Be Very Very Careful following the recommendation to flash your ASUS G73 with the "suggested" MSI vBIOS - There have been incidents where others who have done so, have "BRICKED" their machines - I personally don't recommend any one use a different manufacturers BIOS/vBIOS on their computer - If you own an ASUS then wait for ASUS to deal with the problem and release the vBIOS - OR risk turning your G73 into a brick -

Just to make sure that you've been warned if you follow the recommendation to use a non-ASUS vBIOS on your ASUS machine.

In Christ,
Trav...

[Tindrael]

Travelor wrote:
Be Wery Wery Qwiet - I am hunting wabbit -
I mean - Be Very Very Careful following the recommendation to flash your ASUS G73 with the "suggested" MSI vBIOS - There have been incidents where others who have done so, have "BRICKED" their machines - I personally don't recommend any one use a different manufacturers BIOS/vBIOS on their computer - If you own an ASUS then wait for ASUS to deal with the problem and release the vBIOS - OR risk turning your G73 into a brick -

Just to make sure that you've been warned if you follow the recommendation to use a non-ASUS vBIOS on your ASUS machine.

In Christ,
Trav...

The linked vBIOS is working correctly, if you brick your laptop with it, its your fault because you didn't flash it correctly. Thats why I sad under a big WARNING, that don't use the latest MSI vBIOS, only the linked one. The linked one fixes GSOD, the newest bricks your Asus VGA. Simple.

[Retired]

Travelor wrote:
Be Wery Wery Qwiet - I am hunting wabbit -
I mean - Be Very Very Careful following the recommendation to flash your ASUS G73 with the "suggested" MSI vBIOS - There have been incidents where others who have done so, have "BRICKED" their machines - I personally don't recommend any one use a different manufacturers BIOS/vBIOS on their computer - If you own an ASUS then wait for ASUS to deal with the problem and release the vBIOS - OR risk turning your G73 into a brick -

Just to make sure that you've been warned if you follow the recommendation to use a non-ASUS vBIOS on your ASUS machine.

In Christ,
Trav...

If you're the same Travelor from the notebookreview forums, I seem to remember you insisted that because YOUR g73 had no problems, that NO problems exist with the g73s. Sounds surprisingly like a miracle: "Well, all MY problems have been solved by such and such, yours would be too if only you wished upon the same star!"