G75 Freeze Issue - Fully Documented *UNSOLVED

[legato]

Hey folks. So I am unfortuntaley a victim of the dreaded "G75 Freeze" problem. Once it froze the first time, I googled it and it led me to this forum. Immeditaley I started documenting everything as I tried to solve the issue. I will update this thread as each day goes by.

As of writing, I haven't fixed it. If I can't fix it by DAY 7 I will probably return it.

==================

Model: G75VW-AS71
Vendor: Amazon
Received: Sept 13th 2012

Symptom:
My computer plays some static like changing radio, then freezes. (similar symptoms to ^[1])
It happens when playing games.
It happens when idling on desktop.

Attempted Debugging in Chronological Order:
"Freeze" indicates a freeze happened shortly after so I rebooted and tried something different. These items are in order of done/discovery.

DAY1
----------

installed steam
installed guildwars 2
running guildwars 2 through steam

freeze - playing gw2 through steam

removed mcaffee

freeze - playing gw2 through steam

updated video driver
updtaed bios
updated chipset
installed seucirty essentials

freeze - playing gw2 through steam

perform windows update

freeze - idling on desktop

performed another windows update
uninstall asus vibe
uninstall asus live update
uninstall bing bar
uninstall instanton
reinstalled audio driver (from website, latest ver)

freeze - playing gw2 through steam

DAY2
----------

disable laptop audio^[2]

freeze (took longer though, almost 8 hours to freeze, before it was every 2 hours)
- upon reboot windows was "configuring windows features", though i didn't recall installing anything -- perhaps something got ninja installed?

played gw2 + steam
slept computer

DAY3
----------

freeze - took another 8ish hours to freeze, was playing gw2 + steam

restarted

freeze - froze quickly this time, when i was starting Steam

* suspecting might be conflict with steam. trying WITHOUT steam

tried gw2 without steam

freeze after 1 hour

upgraded atheros driver

freeze after 1 hour - playing gw2

freeze after 1 hour - playing gw2

disable hibernate^[3]

freeze after 1 hour - playing gw2

uninstalling VIA drivers and letting use microsoft default ones^[4]

freeze

shut down for the day

DAY4
----------

IN PROGRESS
* todo, run memtest+ (probably should have done this on day)

Thoughts:

I'm wondering if it is a hardware issue at this point. DAY 2, I had only two freezes through the whole day. But DAY 3, it froze at least 6 times and I was using it in a similar fashion as DAY 2. Anyone else have input or any other tests they want to see me run?

References:
^[1]Asus g73JW Freeze + Static Noise (Overheating?)
^[2]G75VW random audio and graphics spike
^[3]Brand New G75VW crashes, freezes, shortcuts don't work. HELP
^[4]G75 - Speakers making a static noise

[Shawnnepc]

I'd swap it with Amazon immediately.


At this point you're still covered by a return period. We could help you find a work around to resolve this issue but it may be a sign of worse things to come.

[legato]

Shawnnepc wrote:
I'd swap it with Amazon immediately.


At this point you're still covered by a return period. We could help you find a work around to resolve this issue but it may be a sign of worse things to come.

Did anyone ever determine if these freeze issues are hardware or driver failures? Or if all the bad ones were associated with a specific production batch?

[dstrakele]

See http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?22319-G75VW-T1086V-Freezing&p=154676&viewfull=1#post154676.

In addition to driver conflicts, bad memory or filesystem errors can produce lockups. Run memtest86+ for at least 3 passes. There have also been reports that UNinstallation of ASUS Bloatware may lead to system instability.

[legato]

I'll probably run Memtest a few times and see if it passes then I'll try to use it tonight.

If it locks up 1 more time after passing Memtests, I'll just return it. No computer should be this much of a hassle fresh out of the box.

This is a shame though because I also have a G53 that works like a champ -- I was really looking forward to my G75.

[Apexing]

does windows logger show anything?
are you playing with the laptop on a soft surface, lap/carpet etc?

[legato]

Apexing wrote:
does windows logger show anything?
are you playing with the laptop on a soft surface, lap/carpet etc?

- No errors in the windows logger.
- Regular desk surface. It sits on my desk so all the vents are able to function etc.

[joyfulPo]

I had to go thru three (3x) ASUS G75V before I had one without dead pixels.
It's better to turn them back in when you can, before it's tolate.

(I mean turn in as you get money back, so you can buy a new G75V)

[legato]

I tried installing the new video drivers with still no luck.
After 4 days of trying to debug this I give up and will promptly return my computer.

Gonna try a G55 this time since this issue seems most common with the G75.

[legato]

FYI I got my G55 and have had no issues with it for the past 3 days. I wonder if the bad units are all G75's...