G74SX a few issues

[dzjepp]

Hello,

I bought the G74SX from Amazon a little while ago. I ended up formatting the drive and installing a fresh WIN7 SP1 64-bit install on it. I also installed the ASUS drivers from the ASUS webpage and a few other items from the G74 thread here on ASUS ROG.

These are not terrible show stoppers for me, but it would be nice if they worked. I can probably format/install Windows 7 again but as of right now that would be too much of a hassle for me.

I have everything installed from the ASUS site (driver wise)

- The keyboard lights do not function, but they did a while ago, maybe before I did a clean-install. Is there anything I can re-install re-enable to gain access to the keyboard lights?

- The keyboard hotfix/KB has almost fixed all of the stuck keys (I would have a really bad time with 1 key getting stuck, it would sometimes result in 111111111111111111111111 being typed indefinately...) It now happens very seldom, maybe one time a month.

- Also the "ROG key" next to the power key doesnt do anything. Same with the function keys - I guess they are not enabled?
The ROG key works for system boot only to enable the "quick boot" mode? I try to use that but after hitting "accept" it tells me the system needs to restart. Upon restarting it does the same thing. Tells me to accept and it needs to restart. How can I use the quick boot? Is there a way to re-install it?

- The touchpad is too sensitive? I don't know if I am hitting it too often. I use an external USB mouse. But there are still times when I loose focus of the active input/box, happens mostly when I am typing. Stupid question but is there slight foil/cover on the trackpad out of the factory that needs to be removed/peeled off?

- Maybe 1 time every 1-2 months the system gets a blue screen, right now I don't find that to be a show stopper, but it would be better if there was none!

That's it for now... I still like this system, the design/cooling is simply awesome!

[BrodyBoy]

It sounds like you may have left out some drivers, and maybe need to update others. (Some of the drivers on the Asus product page are already old.) Specifically, BIOS 203 and ATK Package 1.0.00014 are the best-known fix for the keyboard issues, and the ATK package is what drives the keyboard lights and function keys.

You need both the ATK package and Power4Gear to make the ROG button work. (But I'd forego P4G....losing the ROG button is a small price to pay to avoid some of its issues.)

I'm not sure what you're asking about with the "quick boot" stuff. If you mean Express Gate, you would have removed that when you reformatted. It should be available on the G74 product page.

There is a clear plastic over the touchpad upon delivery. Go ahead and take it off....but that doesn't really affect sensitivity. In the touchpad configuration utility, you can set it to disable the TP when a USB mouse is plugged in.

[fostert]

But do not disable the touchpad in the BIOS! You will lose your keyboard in the process: happens to all G74s. I really hope ASUS is listening and preparing a fix to this in the next BIOS (??); my wife fought with the G74 half the afternoon because I forgot to re-enable the touchpad via BIOS yesterday after testing it.

[dzjepp]

Hey guys,

I have uninstalled P4G and stuff that's not important... after reading the thread that it probably causes more harm than good.

I do have ATK installed, and I don't know why the lights do not work. They are not dead because they do flash on computer boot, but when I'm in Windows they do not work.

I have disabled the touchpad in the BIOS, and the mouse works fine in Windows now, no problem with that. I think the keyboard works better now, there are almost NO issues with keys getting stuck, and playing games the touchpad does not get pressed accidentally. I don't know how but it works 🙂

I'd still like the lights to start working

[dstrakele]

Interesting that you were able to disable the touchpad in the BIOS and NOT disable the keyboard. What version BIOS are you running (from Windows System Information)?

For your keyboard backlights, try this: Go to "Control Panel - Uninstall a program" and right click on the ATK Package and choose "Repair" from the popup menu. Then try the Fn-F4 key combination to turn on the keyboard backlights AFTER logon to Windows. Does this resolve your issue?

If not, launch the Command Prompt by right-clicking on its icon and choosing "Run as Administrator" from the popup menu, then cd to C:\Program Files (x86)\ASUS\ATK Package\ATK Hotkey and execute HControl.exe.

[Signal2Noise]

Fwiw, after updating the touchpad drivers from 9.1.3.5 to 9.1.7.7. I was able to disable the touchpad in BIOS (ver. 202) without affecting the functionality of the keyboard.

[fostert]

Signal2Noise wrote:
Fwiw, after updating the touchpad drivers from 9.1.3.5 to 9.1.7.7. I was able to disable the touchpad in BIOS (ver. 202) without affecting the functionality of the keyboard.

Wow...this is terrific advice. I'm going to try this now...back in a bit....

It works! ++1 S2N!!

[dstrakele]

+1 @Signal2Noise! Good information... A lot of G74 owners'll be happy to hear that!

[dabigin]

I will agree with what others have said on the forum. Your missing drivers and need a bio's update. Also note that if you have the asus programs disabled your keyboard WILL NOT LIGHT UP. I have had to work on a friends ROG laptop and accidently turned off the asus programs and the keyboard would never light. I hope this helps you out. BE SURE TO PLUG YOUR CHARGER IN WHILE YOU DO BIOS UPDATES I REPEAT NEVER AND I MEAN NEVER DO IT WHILE THE SYSTEM IS RUNNING ON THE BATTERY. ONE MISTAKE ON A BIOS UPDATE WILL COST YOU YOUR SYSTEM

[BrodyBoy]

dabigin wrote:
Also note that if you have the asus programs disabled your keyboard WILL NOT LIGHT UP. I have had to work on a friends ROG laptop and accidently turned off the asus programs and the keyboard would never light.

This is not accurate. The ATK driver controls the Fn switch for the keyboard lights, but there are no Asus programs required for the keyboard lights to function.