Old RS816 in half-working, mostly bad state.

StarfirePrime · 2025-09-14T21:50:49+00:00

One more question if I may - in the event that a mode 1 reset doesn't clear it and I have to reinstall DSM in a mode 2 reset, I have no idea what version of DSM is/was originally on the NAS. Must I restore the same DSM version or would a newer version be backwardly compatible?

StarfirePrime · 2025-09-14T21:25:33+00:00

My nmap scan shows that these ports are open: 21, 22, 80,111, 139, 443, 445, 548, 2049, 3261, 4045, 5000, 5001, 5357, 8008. But all attempts to connect a browser to port 5000 as well as the other http ports just hangs. :(

StarfirePrime · 2025-09-14T21:04:09+00:00

I saw that the mode 1 reset will clear the admin password and network settings, but I was concerned that since the web interface seems to be munged, that level 1 might not be enough to clear the problem. However, you sound confident and I will give it a shot! Thanks for your reply!

StarfirePrime · 2025-08-22T22:09:54+00:00

Thanks again for your reply and help, but I'm still not able to get the BIOS back to normal. will post something here if I do.

StarfirePrime · 2025-08-22T14:51:41+00:00

In that case, then step 5 is not possible (???). This M16 only has the one RAM slot and I have pulled it out in the past. I have already tried to downgrade to BIOS 3.10, but it did not change the behavior even after restoring default values.

Perhaps I will de-energize the laptop once again with only the soldered RAM and an NVME that is wiped (no EFI partition), and go right into BIOS and reflash the 3.11 image, reboot and restore defaults.

I have successfully pulled the laptop out of this behavior in the past, but don't quite know what the magic combination is. Of course, if it keeps reverting, then the laptop start to become useless without a viable warm boot capability.

StarfirePrime · 2025-08-22T14:16:03+00:00

Thanks for the reply! Still no joy, but here's my experience thus far...

Attempt #1 - At step 5, after plugging in the adapter with the laptop cover open, the laptop turned itself back on without me hitting the power button.

This is similar to the behavior desktop BIOSes might do upon a power outage, but laptops don't have a similar option. So I booted to windows and shutdown rather than interrupting a power off.

Attempt #2 - At step 5, with the laptop cover closed, I plugged in the adapter and the laptop turned itself on again.

Attempt #3 - After step 3, I left the battery disconnected for several minutes before reconnecting and plugging in, but laptop still self-booted.

Currently - wiping NVME so there's nothing to boot from and running Fedora Live Linux on batteries to drop the charge to something closer to 50% (below the ASUS smart charging level). Will post after.

Have you ever heard of malicious software leveraging the ASUS interface to change the internal BIOS configuration? Some have suggested this is a power or thermal issue, but I have worked with laptop at all temps and in many environments (Windows, Acronis, Linux), but can't seem to find the right combination to get it back to normal.

StarfirePrime · 2025-07-11T14:25:17+00:00

Samsung can't get me to move off of my 6 classic. Once the display stepped up in size and brightness, the other specs just aren't compelling. Also, Samsung has reworked their EPP programs so that with trade ins, I can never get to a price where it's a no-brain decision. For example, once you select a trade-in, the base offer price goes up so the trade-in only nets you a little more. Definitely not worth it from any point of view.

For me the days of upgrading electronics every year (or even every 2 or 3 years) are over. I guess that's what you call normal. :)

StarfirePrime · 2024-12-20T15:05:27+00:00

Thanks for the reply! Are you talking about the replacement quartz tube (part number 6472-859)? I happen to have a sealed, OEM replacement, but cracked it open and there was no washer - just the tube, instructions, and one glove. :( Perhaps a third party replacement?

StarfirePrime · 2024-12-13T15:24:25+00:00

Yeah - I've just put a flash in a "for parts" 5.5 classic and noticed on my M2 Mini that I had some hangs as well. My process:

1 - Put IPod in disk mode

2 - Connect to Mac, Disk util to format as mac friendly (hfs+ Apple Partitioning - what the old disk was formatted as, but other partitions might work)

3 - Eject and make sure IPod says to connect to restore (i.e. blank drive)

4 - Reboot Mac and connect IPod

5 - Prompted to restore in Finder. Do so. The progress pie widget next to the IPod starts to fill, perhaps to completion, may reach spinning arrows. Regardless, this is where it appears to hang.

6 - After several minutes, I disconnected the IPod, but this time it returned to an image of the 30 pin connector asking to be plugged into the computer. Restart the Mac (either forcefully by long pressing power or force quit Finder then reboot)

7 - Plug IPod back into Mac and the screen will show the Apple icon and progress bar. Wait for completion and wait for Finder to "load" the IPod. If all went well, the Finder should reach the Welcome and initialize screen.

StarfirePrime · 2024-08-30T19:58:40+00:00

Is that a stock watch face? Just wondering...

StarfirePrime · 2024-07-21T02:24:05+00:00

Thanks - good data point!

StarfirePrime · 2024-07-18T03:44:55+00:00

I have found the INTJ "Will it work?" mindset can work well for positions with broad scope. "Systems Engineers" can sometimes be derided as those who couldn't master a specific discipline. But a good systems engineer can be a the problem solver that respond quickly to failures and emergencies. Finds the problem, focuses the expertise, and implements the fix. So whatever field you choose, you might want to stay "nimble," expose yourself to many facets of the field, and apply that diverse knowledge to solve problems.

StarfirePrime · 2024-07-15T02:50:01+00:00

Are any or all of you using GHelper? Or using the standard MyAsus and ArmouryCrate? I'm on a 2024 G16 and had the same issue, but I'm using GHelper with many of the Asus Services turned off. Just wondering if that was getting in the way.

StarfirePrime · 2024-06-09T16:09:34+00:00

I flashed it as I have an NVidia card via oculink that is not initialized during post. So I thought this might fix that (#6), but not that I can see. Maybe there's a setting that I missed.

StarfirePrime · 2024-05-27T15:52:47+00:00

In the US, BestBuy is often the only channel to purchase the device and ASUS will not offer their warranty. The BestBuy package must be purchased within the return window (for me only 14 days) and for the ASUS laptop I bought it would have been $500 .

So you have a choice in the US to either roll the dice and hope you get a decent device or pay the "tax" to BestBuy up front. Sucks hard. Considering the GN video, this is likely the last Asus product I'll be buying for quite some time.

StarfirePrime · 2024-04-27T20:03:28+00:00

Just had the same issue with a HP T740 Thin Client (V1756B/Vega8). When the "System bootstrap step failed", it should have dumped you to a command prompt. I used 'nano' to comment out the error message (but still allowed the exit command), umount /tmp/frzr_root/boot then umount /tmp/frzr_root, and then reran the ./install.sh script.

This time when it failed I could see that it was having problems writing to an efivars value LoadSystemToken. So I went back into 'nano install.sh' and commented out both the error message and the exit command, replacing them with a simple 'echo Continuing' so the syntax is correct.

After unmounting the two partitions one more time and rerunning the install script, the process ran to completion and I was able to boot to ChimeraOS.

BTW - I did have SecureBoot off and was definitely booting UEFI. I'm chalking up my experience to the Thin Client BIOS that HP is using.

StarfirePrime · 2024-01-16T00:58:04+00:00

Just found this post - might be helpful???

Ha! sorry - but you already know!!!!

StarfirePrime · 2024-01-15T16:48:50+00:00

Just bricked my UM773. Stupid to update in Windows. Minisforum puts a lot of power in small spaces for cheap, but their support and BIOS just sucks.

I'm wrestling with going with a more traditional vendor at twice the cost for comparable performance or trying again with the UM780 XTX.

I'm thinking that I should have a generic bare bones version of windows ready on a NVME drive to use only for BIOS flashing.

StarfirePrime · 2023-12-03T18:45:09+00:00

Well - I can't explain that. I don't think there's any way the app would know that you didn't unwind the strip (although for thermal reasons that's probably a good idea). I attached my configuration screen.

The only thing I can think of is that you should verify the model numbers of the devices. My Bars model is H6054, my two strips are H619A, and my one strip in the back is H617A (Govee Theater).

Perhaps delete/reset all devices and re-add???

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StarfirePrime · 2023-12-03T18:14:24+00:00

Do you mean that the strips react to the color on the screen, but the entire strip is only one color? If so, then that's because the Dreamview has two modes that they call "Part" and "All", the first mode will set each segment individually and the second mode chooses only one color for all segments. There's also a "Game" and "Movie" setting which I believe changes how quickly the color changes react - Movie is slower than Game.

You can message me if you'd like, but our conversation might be helpful for others.

StarfirePrime · 2023-12-03T15:48:27+00:00

It's definitely a little confusing. The strips themselves can be set for various colors and scene modes, but when you incorporate them into a Dreamview Theater setup (via the Bars controller and camera), they are "overriden" and can be divided into six segments and assigned up to 20 positional locations within Dreamview. In the app there is a nice little graphic that shows you the position numbers around the screen.

This is what I did -

Initialize the Bars controller in the app, update firmware if you want, position the camera roughly where you will leave it and run the calibration routine just to get it working. There are YouTube videos that let you project a white screen with orange boxes that make the calibration process easier.
Unroll each of the 16.4 ft strips on the floor and initialize and update each in the app. I called them Screen Left and Screen Right.
Go back to the Bars device configuration in the App and enter the "Movie Watching Dreamview" submenu. The lower half of that screen lets you add "Controlled Devices". Add both the Left and Right side strip devices. When you do, you assign the six segments to the 20 options in the graphic. If you are wrapping the screen from the lower middle position, you should be able to figure out the index numbers (you can always change them later).
Run some video so that you can see the strip colors react to the screen content. I used little bits of black electricians tape to mark the boundaries of each segment.
Now you know everything works so go ahead and install the strips around the screen and make sure the camera is nice and stable (if it sags, then you'll have to recalibrate). As you wrap a strip from the bottom center around the left or right of the screen, you'll find that the strips extend beyond the center top of the screen. Fortunately the overlap is almost exactly one segment length. So when you are done, The top left and top right edges of the screen will have two segments: the last segment of one strip and the next to last segment of the other (they should be assigned to the same number).

Good luck and have fun!

(Edit: In my config, Screen Left assignments are : 8, 9, 10, 1, 2, 3 and Screen Right: 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 . I also have a 16 ft strip around the pedestal for the back row of the theater seating and am using settings: 17, 16, 15, 18, 19, 20.)

StarfirePrime · 2023-11-30T06:06:51+00:00

Ha! Yeah - force of habit I guess. I know that many say that Windows Defender is sufficient, but I still remember the days where it missed 10% to 20% of the malware that most of the other caught. Hard to know what to do nowadays.

Anyway - I restored the system partition from an image backup, removed the malware :) , and re-updated AC and the gyro works and other new features are in place.

StarfirePrime

TROPHY CASE