Computer Issues

kegkilla

The Big Mod
<Banned>
11,320
14,738
my board has custom software to allow me to update it from inside windows... Is that more or less safe?
 

Noble Savage

Kang of Kangz
<Bronze Donator>
2,347
8,426
I've actually seen some newer boards come with a backup BIOS that you can boot off of in case an update to the primary BIOS goes bad. I like that feature alot.

As for your question Keg I would go ahead and use the utility that allows you to do the upgrade from within Windows. Its just way more convenient then having to do it the old fashion way and if your board does blows up then it is the universes way of getting back at you for taking the picture with the quake disc inside the bowl of chili
cool.png
 

Silence_sl

shitlord
2,459
4
my board has custom software to allow me to update it from inside windows... Is that more or less safe?
Flashing is always less safe from within Windows. It only takes a few seconds to drop an updated BIOS onto a USB drive, boot into the BIOS and us its built in flasher. All it takes is one failed flash and you will really be kicking yourself in the ass.

Also, quadruple check the BIOS update you are flashing is for your mainboard. Some companies still live in the dark ages and their BIOS will take anything that you throw at it.
 

Chancellor Alkorin

Part-Time Sith
<Granularity Engineer>
6,029
5,915
Yep. Don't update from Windows unless you really have to for some reason (and I can't think of a good one). Many modern BIOSes have the ability to update from within the BIOS itself using a file from your hard drive, or you can use a USB stick or CD-R/DVD-R.
 

Malt_sl

shitlord
51
0
I'm having no issues streaming, torrenting, downloading, and until recently using FTP. Starting 2 days ago I went from averaging 1-1.5mbps to a steady speed of 50KiB per file I'm transfering through ftp clients. It doesn't matter if I'm downloading 1 or 10+ at the same time, each dl is capped at the same 50KiB across several different ftp programs.

Nothing else has been effected and dl'ing from the same server using http has the same high speeds I'm used to. Any ideas on what the problem could be?
 

Scaffa_sl

shitlord
122
1
Also remember that BIOS flashing will usually wipe any boot / overclocking settings you have, and I've had experiences with Asus boards in particular where a backed up config is only compatible with the firmware it was created on.
 

Jovec

?
736
284
I'm having no issues streaming, torrenting, downloading, and until recently using FTP. Starting 2 days ago I went from averaging 1-1.5mbps to a steady speed of 50KiB per file I'm transfering through ftp clients. It doesn't matter if I'm downloading 1 or 10+ at the same time, each dl is capped at the same 50KiB across several different ftp programs.

Nothing else has been effected and dl'ing from the same server using http has the same high speeds I'm used to. Any ideas on what the problem could be?
Most likely some rate limiting/QoS being applied by the server, your ISP, or a router along the path, and not your computer so there is nothing you can do. Call your ISP and make sure they don't throttle after you hit some cap or otherwise limit certain ports/services (they could be throttling FTP and P2P ports while leaving HTTP alone).

On your end, you could look around in your own routers settings just to make sure you aren't doing this (throttling) to yourself. Try another FTP client and/or look at your FTP clients settings for any throttling. You probably won't find anything but at least you'll know.
 

Chancellor Alkorin

Part-Time Sith
<Granularity Engineer>
6,029
5,915
Also remember that BIOS flashing will usually wipe any boot / overclocking settings you have, and I've had experiences with Asus boards in particular where a backed up config is only compatible with the firmware it was created on.
Never, ever use a backed up config on a different version of anything. This is a good practice no matter what you're doing. The single best way to configure anything when upgrading is to do it from scratch, otherwise you're inviting variables that were likely never present in the manufacturer's scenarios. Sometimes, it doesn't matter... sometimes, you end up with issues, or worst case, a brick.
 

darkko_sl

shitlord
231
0
Quick streaming question. The wife wants to watch vampire diaries tonight. Obviously, that sounds like the worst thing ever. Can I stream the tv show from the computer and somehow have my desktop still available to play games?
 

Chancellor Alkorin

Part-Time Sith
<Granularity Engineer>
6,029
5,915
Need a bit more information there. Like, how many devices are involved here? Just a single computer? What are you streaming it from? etc.
 

WorthyMonkey_sl

shitlord
6
0
Quick streaming question. The wife wants to watch vampire diaries tonight. Obviously, that sounds like the worst thing ever. Can I stream the tv show from the computer and somehow have my desktop still available to play games?
You can. It's basically going to be set up as a double monitor setup. The HDTV will be one screen, and the computer monitor will be the second one.

http://www.ehow.com/how_7280376_use-...d-monitor.html
 

Chancellor Alkorin

Part-Time Sith
<Granularity Engineer>
6,029
5,915
Well, yeah, of course it can be done, but if it's a single computer, there are questions unanswered here. Like, for example:

Do you have two sound cards? If not, she's gonna hear you playing whatever you're playing, and you're gonna hear her show. Or you're gonna turn the game sound off and hear nothing whatsoever, because I'm guessing she doesn't want to hear you slaying the dragon while she's watching... whatever.

You may be unable to show (for example) a browser full-screen on multiple monitors while playing a game. It happens. Depends on whether or not the game is full-screen as well, what resolution you're playing it at, etc.
 

darkko_sl

shitlord
231
0
It ended up working perfectly. Thanks guys. I did have to turn off the game sound but other than that I was able to 3 box on the desktop and she watched Vampire Diaries and Revenge on the TV.
 

gogusrl

Molten Core Raider
1,359
102
He doesn't need 2 soundcards, just to use 2 different outputs from the same card. You can select the output from any media player and/or change the default one from sound options in windows. I have s/pdif to my Z-5500 and my headphones are in the "regular" jack and can play a movie on the projector with sound on the speakers while playing a game with sound on my headphones.


3ISW7OQl.jpg
 

Chancellor Alkorin

Part-Time Sith
<Granularity Engineer>
6,029
5,915
He doesn't need 2 soundcards, just to use 2 different outputs from the same card. You can select the output from any media player and/or change the default one from sound options in windows. I have s/pdif to my Z-5500 and my headphones are in the "regular" jack and can play a movie on the projector with sound on the speakers while playing a game with sound on my headphones.
This isn't necessarily doable with every card, but yes, it would work as well. That's why I asked what hardware he has.
 

Noodleface

A Mod Real Quick
37,961
14,508
Ok guys I got one here..

I've had my Asus G73JH since they first came out. Dealt with a myriad of issues with it. Screen problems, video card issues, overheating problems, keyboard issues, and touchpad issues.

The touchpad was fixed by removing some insulating tape on the inside of the touchpad. It fixed the problem for about a year, and now suddenly my touchpad doesn't work at all anymore. I don't really care about this as I barely ever use the touchpad anyways. The main issue is something else.

I noticed about a few months ago that at school if I was plugged into certain outlets, my computer would randomly shut off. The shut off was like power was instantly removed (even with a battery in). It would then take approx 30-45 seconds before you could power it b ack on, pressing the power button actually did nothing. At first one would think this was overheating, but it wasn't. I watched the fans, monitored temps, and felt the temp myself and it wasn't that. This was annoying but now it's far worse.

Around the same time the touchpad stopped working completely, the problem got way way worse. Now we can barely use the computer. If you turn on the computer and Windows starts to boot, as soon as you start typing the password it shuts down. This is repeatable about 75% of the time.

If I take the battery out, it seems like this issue goes away. The battery is completely dead, but the reason I keep it in the system is because it weighs weird without it, and it provides me about 30 seconds of charge in the event my power is lost. I'm wondering if this dead battery can cause this issue.

My two theories are that when I removed this insulating tape, I caused a short across the touchpad and this is causing my laptop to shutdown. I've disabled the touchpad in BIOS, but I'm sure there is still a charge activated when I touch it. My second theory is that this battery is causing funky issues with the PC. I have not seen the computer shutdown with the battery taken out except if I wiggle the power plug (it's loose). The thing is, I really don't want to drop $150-200 on a new battery if that's not the issue. For instance, if it wasn't the battery, I might be better off just trying to recoup some costs on the laptop and buying a newer one. The reason I got the G73 is I'm on the go a lot and do a ton of programming and gaming on it, basically a portable desktop for me.

Any thoughts? I know it's kind of random and I think I even laid out what the issue realistically might be.. but I just don't know if a dead battery would cause random shutdowns like that. And before anyone asks, it's not losing power from the cord. I can literally place my finger on a key and it will shut down.

If it was the motherboard, how much would Asus charge to replace it?

Edit: happens without the battery.. Gonna monitor the temps overnight
 

chilansl

Molten Core Raider
155
273
There was a similar problem with (old) Toshiba laptops at a prior job. The touchpad and speakers were not insulated and touching either one could (randomly) cause a shutdown or reboot.

Try to re-insulate the touchpad and see if that helps.