4 Windows 8 Asus Machines Not Booting!

[MikeLierman]

6 Windows 8 Asus Laptops Not Booting!

Here's a strange one guys! Customer calls up and reports that one of their Windows 8 Asus laptops isn't booting up and that it just goes to a black screen. I pick it up from them, and sure enough, they're right, it doesn't post! Removed ram, HDD, SSD, WiFi module, DVD drive and tried to boot. Nothing. Still a black screen. I've heard various reports that unplugging and leaving the battery out for a while would help. Tried that and nothing. Had to send it in for warranty, and Asus replaced the motherboard. It's working great now.

Two weeks later customer calls again, same issue, except this one posts, but the BIOS settings were corrupt, reset the BIOS and it all works fine again. At this point I am getting a little concerned, I checked his setup and where the laptops are. They are used by different employees in completely different buildings.

A month later, another call, different Asus laptop, black screen when powered on. He is incredibly upset now. Understandably. Won't post; I backed up all his data and send it in for warranty. Asus replaced mobo with a slightly different model and wiped HDD. Everything working again. I checked with whoever uses the laptop to make sure they weren't abusing it, seemed they lightly used it. Stays on their desk at work. Proper airflow, no abnormal work area, not doing anything crazy. I tested all the hardware after it came back from warranty and everything was fine.

5 days later, another Asus machine!! This one posts like the second, but the BIOS settings are corrupted. Had to reset the BIOS settings on this one too. Works great now. All hardware tested okay. Now I'm starting to think through the possibilities. Since two wouldn't post and two had corrupt BIOS settings, it made me think a BIOS update. "ASUS Live Update" software on these computers does auto updates, could it be updating the BIOS? I tested all of these with CPU stress tool, they never get over 140 degrees, so not overheating at any point. I know it's not the customer because 4 different people use these laptops. 2 of them work in a different building across town. Has anyone ever heard of Asus Live Update bricking the BIOS? Or better yet, has anyone ever heard of this problem before? Any suggestions would be nice. Need to know if I need to turn something off on them (if the Live Update is indeed the culprit), or something I can do to prevent this from happening.

Thanks guys!

Update 9/21/2013:
Let's review the timeline and models:
9/20/2013: Asus S56CA. UEFI turned off. Reset BIOS settings & configuration, now no post. No display on power on.
6/19/2013: Asus K55A. Bad HDD. RMA'd.
6/17/2013: Asus R503C. UEFI turned off. Reset BIOS settings & configuration, fixed.
5/29/2013: Asus S56CA. No post; no display on power on. RMA'd. Asus replaced MB.
4/24/2013: Asus R503C. UEFI turned off. Reset BIOS settings & configuration, fixed.
4/23/2013: Asus S56CA. No post; no display on power on. RMA'd. Asus replaced MB.

 

[Encrypted Existence]

As far as the two that "needed" to have their logic boards replaced, I would check the quality of the power in the building(s). Make sure they are using a good UPS. Bad power could be frying the boards. As for the other two that ended up having corrupt BIOS settings, I would check the CMOS battery with a multimeter as well as disable Live Update. Automatic driver, BIOS?, etc. updates are a bad idea IMO.

 

[MikeLierman]

As far as the two that "needed" to have their logic boards replaced, I would check the quality of the power in the building(s). Make sure they are using a good UPS. Bad power could be frying the boards. As for the other two that ended up having corrupt BIOS settings, I would check the CMOS battery with a multimeter as well as disable Live Update. Automatic driver, BIOS?, etc. updates are a bad idea IMO.

Thanks for the response! I checked and all four do indeed have/had Live Update enabled for drivers and BIOS. They actually are default enabled to auto update these. Two different buildings, so I don't think power would be it. It's so puzzling.

 

[MikeLierman]

I just got a call from my client, another one is having issues. They have maybe 50 or so out in the field, being used by all of their employees. What is going on...

I tested the voltage on the outlets a few of the laptops are being plugged into, it says with stays within the range of 119.3 and 120.05, never did it go above or below.

 

[River Valley Computer]

I know this doesn't help with your problem but we have noticed in the last 2 years the quality of Asus laptops has really bottomed out. I don't think WalJunk carries Asus but I know WorstBuy does. Has anyone else noticed this issue with Asus? Toshiba seems to be following the same track. HP has for the last 4-5 years. Dell has become a service nightmare.

 

[Encrypted Existence]

I tested the voltage on the outlets a few of the laptops are being plugged into, it says with stays within the range of 119.3 and 120.05, never did it go above or below.

How long did you monitor the voltage?

 

[NYJimbo]

Do these machines have any ram soldered on the mobo (you don't mention models, that's really a shame...) ? We have had some new Asus machines with the first 4 gigs surface/bga on the mobo and each was not bootable or booted and had errors that mimic ram issues or shared ram issues.

One machine was hot aired and came back to life so we knew the ram was the problem, but I told the customer to return the unit and not tell them about the hot air reflow so they would get their money back or at least get guarantee/warranty.

 

[jfm]

I too have had many problems with Asus laptops lately.

Sold a entry level laptop to a client, 2 weeks later, Windows 8 started messing up, 4 hours restore, not booting etc...

I sent it to Asus, they changed the LCD panel. I was stupified.
Sent it back again, they change system board and HDD.

I have alot of Asus coming in shop for DC Jack problems as well.
(even the high end units, republic of gamers)

I'm changing my mind about selling mostly Asus laptops now.

 

[MikeLierman]

Here we go with another one! This is getting absolutely ridiculous!


Exact same symptoms. This was is super strange though. First S56CA I've seen post but not boot. Would come to message complaining about no boot device. Checked BIOS settings, UEFI was turned off and legacy boot enabled, which means of course it won't boot, this is Windows 8 with Secure Boot, it has to be turned on. So I reset the BIOS to default settings. Save and exit. Bam! Black screen, no post! Tried hard reset. Nothing. Exact same damn problem! All these failing Asus laptops are Windows 8!

Let's review:
9/20/2013: Asus S56CA. UEFI turned off. Reset BIOS settings & configuration, now no post. No display on power on.
6/19/2013: Asus K55A. Bad HDD. RMA'd.
6/17/2013: Asus R503C. UEFI turned off. Reset BIOS settings & configuration, fixed.
5/29/2013: Asus S56CA. No post; no display on power on. RMA'd. Asus replaced MB.
4/24/2013: Asus R503C. UEFI turned off. Reset BIOS settings & configuration, fixed.
4/23/2013: Asus S56CA. No post; no display on power on. RMA'd. Asus replaced MB.

On 6/17/2013, after resetting BIOS settings and misconfiguration, was able to get it to boot. Pulled up Last Activity View and traced the applications and activity on the computer leading up to not booting. I found the Asus Auto Updater had run something or opened something. Now my thinking has been that it is auto-updating the BIOS, possibly to an incompatible version, which causes UEFI to turn off. Turning back on UEFI and fixing config in BIOS fixed two without RMA.

Laptops were purchased at different times. The S56CA model, two were purchased in BB, two purchased online. Total of 4, leaving 1 left out in the field that hasn't killed itself yet. This business has 3 locations. Roughly 40 Asus laptops among 40 or so employees. Some of them work at each 3 locations, some work from home, or go back and forth from home and work with machines. No misuse has ever been found. All within warranty. The ones that do not post, have pulled RAM (RAM NOT SOLDERED), HDD, CD/DVD, WIFI, and everything else to rule out possible causes. Asus ends up replacing the motherboard!

 

[FremontPC]

I wonder if there's an update for ASUS update itself?

Maybe check the website to see if a BIOS update was posted a bit before the last time ASUS update ran? Maybe it's getting ahold of the wrong binary and not verifying it's going onto the right system.

 

[MikeLierman]

I checked the S56CA, last update was Dec 27 2012. The update before that lists this:
BIOS 206
1.Support Windows7 & Windows8.
2.Fix that SecureBoot will be disabled if BIOS is updated by EzFlash or WinFlash.

Number 2 is the EXACT problem that is happening. SecureBoot gets disabled. Have to go into the BIOS and reset config.

The R503C has a similar update further down the list:
BIOS 404
Fix the issue that SecureBoot will be disabled if BIOS is updated by EzFlash or WinFlash

But this still doesn't explain the no post on the 3 S56CA's.

Asus Live Update is the updater program. According to Asus documentation on their website: "ASUS Live Update is a useful utility to update BIOS and Drivers of your NB
units automatically from the web to the current latest version to avoid any probable bugs."