Asus K73TA/A73T laptop - Win 10 installation issues: accept, fiddle, or go to 8.1?

Hi everyone, I have a bit of a conundrum, and would really appreciate your assistance please.

So... I have an older laptop that originally came with Windows 7. It is an ASUS K73TA and 8GB DRAM and an AMD processor and built in graphics card (A6-3400M & Radeon HD 6520G), which seems to also be known as an A73T. It also has dual HDD's and a DVD writer.

It was offered the upgrades to windows 8 and 10, which I passed on at the time. Once Windows 7 came to end of life, I checked the specs, found it was compatible, and did a clean install. I've upgraded the chipset driver, which was only upgraded by AMD to Windows 8.1, and also swapped for an SSD.

Issues: Occasionally likes to throw a hissyfit with a slow start; windows does not recognise the second hard drive, or the optical drive (although both are visible in BIOS, and the second drive occasionally comes up in disk management as an uninitialised drive - I've swapped the drive with another to get the same result). I have managed to get it to recognise the second hard drive once, upon installing the chipset driver, unfortunately it disappeared again.

I've attempted the steps to have the laptop 'see' the drives, like updating the drivers, deleting the IDE/Sata drivers to have them reinstall. No success, and the only way I can get the optical drive driver is removing the drive itself in order to find the model. I cannot locate disassembly manual, there is nothing similar on youtube. :(

So I took it to a shop recommended by a friend in IT, their opinion was that AMD were rubbish and I should sell it ASAP as it will die soon. Well mate, it's given me six years of faultless service, and I would like to continue using it for a few more, so off you trot!

AMD tech support have said they don't have drivers, and ASUS said initially it may take windows 10, but have since suggested that I upgrade to windows 8.1 instead.

So, from here: do I leave as is with Windows 10, which is working (kinda/mostly), persevere with trying to get the hardware going (is there a driver or something I am missing?), or step back to Windows 8.1, in which everything theoretically should work? Your thoughts are appreciated, and thank you for reading :)

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Originally Posted by Sick Puppy

Issues: Occasionally likes to throw a hissyfit with a slow start; windows does not recognise the second hard drive, or the optical drive (although both are visible in BIOS, and the second drive occasionally comes up in disk management as an uninitialised drive - I've swapped the drive with another to get the same result). I have managed to get it to recognise the second hard drive once, upon installing the chipset driver, unfortunately it disappeared again.

So I took it to a shop recommended by a friend in IT, their opinion was that AMD were rubbish and I should sell it ASAP as it will die soon.
)

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Not real techs then. What an amazingly stupid comment. The CPU being AMD has nothing to do with the drive issue.
Could be a BIOS thing....flashing it perhaps?
Send it to a real tech...Wainuitech for instance. Courier fee wouldn't be much.

You don't say what you got your clean install from.
I would use a windows 10 ISO on a USB drive.
I would also remove the second hard drive until the install is complete.

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Originally Posted by piroska

Not real techs then. What an amazingly stupid comment. The CPU being AMD has nothing to do with the drive issue.
Could be a BIOS thing....flashing it perhaps?
Send it to a real tech...Wainuitech for instance. Courier fee wouldn't be much.

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Sadly it would be, I'm in Sydney! Was Napier, then Wellie, then Chch, but alas, Sydney from 2012.

I wasn't impressed with the tech, went on a recommendation. Service industry here isn't great...

BIOS is on latest version.

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Originally Posted by Driftwood

You don't say what you got your clean install from.
I would use a windows 10 ISO on a USB drive.
I would also remove the second hard drive until the install is complete.

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First attempt was on original HDD as an upgrade from windows 7 through the microsoft website. Second hard drive and wireless card were both removed until install was successful, by which I mean it turned on again! :D I then installed second HDD, but alas, nothing.

Second attempt was a clean install using Rufus onto the SSD. Symptoms were the same re: second drive and optical.

Have gone on to Asus website to update chipset and card reader.

It wasn't a straightforward process for me - had never done anything like this before, had to update the BIOS, remove peripherals and related drivers (card reader and wireless) to get it to windows 10, took me a few attempts. Learned a lot, but yeah, feeling a tad out of my depth and that I missed something obvious.

You may need the SATA drivers , or suitable AMD chipset drivers

Try AMD's site for chipset drivers (AMD A70M Chipset)
or
https://evenpulse.wordpress.com/2017...in-windows-10/

or device manager : look for hardware with missing or generic drivers (incl SATA), : right click ,details, hardware ID, google the Hardware ID

Its an 8 year old design, so Im not surprised its not supported.
Better i5 Used laptops that will run Win10 arnt expensive .
Or go back to Win8.1
:-)

Bottom line : how much time do you to spend on a rather old laptop ?

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Originally Posted by 1101

You may need the SATA drivers , or suitable AMD chipset drivers

Try AMD's site for chipset drivers (AMD A70M Chipset)
or
https://evenpulse.wordpress.com/2017...in-windows-10/

or device manager : look for hardware with missing or generic drivers (incl SATA), : right click ,details, hardware ID, google the Hardware ID

Its an 8 year old design, so Im not surprised its not supported.
Better i5 Used laptops that will run Win10 arnt expensive .
Or go back to Win8.1
:-)

Bottom line : how much time do you to spend on a rather old laptop ?

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Chipset already done, but integration with windows 10 is the unknown - is it the peripheral drivers, or the chipset? No idea, and my knowledge is insufficient, as I'm sure you can tell! :D

I could just buy another one, however , the time spent on old laptop that's not given me any grief, vs $$$ spent on buying new one / used one with possible unknown issues - the first is my preferred choice, followed by second choice with risk of the unknown later. Nothing is set in stone, but would like to keep it going... if I can! :)

Thanks for that link, no idea how it didn't come up in my previous searches (google-fu failed me lol)!

I've installed windows 10 on several old systems that started life on win 7 without any issues.
Actually got a laptop here older than yours that came out on vista, now happily running win 10 on a SSD.
I found it helps to have them on line during the install, which requires a wired internet connection.
Let windows find the drivers it needs.

Depending on what you want to use it for, you could always install linux on the other drive.
You would at least have a working usable system.

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Originally Posted by Driftwood

I've installed windows 10 on several old systems that started life on win 7 without any issues.
.

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where any of those old AMD NB's ?
AMD Notebooks can be more problematic than Intel based notebooks :)

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So I took it to a shop recommended by a friend in IT, their opinion was that AMD were rubbish and I should sell it ASAP as it will die soon

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Well thats brilliant Advise -- NOT.

Older AMD's and some makes /models can give more troubles than Intel, in fact got a Old AMD here, kept dropping a Graphic Driver so just disabled the AMD drivers and adjusted the update setting so it wouldn't download them again and run on the windows basics, cant really tell the difference. Cant complain as I was given the Laptop for free.

With older hardware you just have to fiddle sometimes to make it work with a newer OS as the manufactures only create / support drivers upto a certain point in time.

Being the age it is you don't want to go throwing money at it, the life expectancy of a laptop if you look it up is 5 years, so anything after that you are doing well, of course it all depends on several factors as to how long they last.

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Originally Posted by wainuitech

Well thats brilliant Advise -- NOT.

Older AMD's and some makes /models can give more troubles than Intel, in fact got a Old AMD here, kept dropping a Graphic Driver so just disabled the AMD drivers and adjusted the update setting so it wouldn't download them again and run on the windows basics, cant really tell the difference. Cant complain as I was given the Laptop for free.

With older hardware you just have to fiddle sometimes to make it work with a newer OS as the manufactures only create / support drivers upto a certain point in time.

Being the age it is you don't want to go throwing money at it, the life expectancy of a laptop if you look it up is 5 years, so anything after that you are doing well, of course it all depends on several factors as to how long they last.

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True, I didn't like the advice, plan on ignoring it, and smiled through gritted teeth as I paid for the 'service' - total waste of time and money IMO.

I have gotten a good run out of the laptop, 2013 and counting, and with no visible wear, it is in great nick (To be fair, it's kinda my fault lol - I have a bunch of old tech - Note 4, Note 10.1, a six year old laptop, and don't even ask me how many CD players I have!). Using the AMD chipset driver got me a much better start up time, (less than 30 seconds as opposed to 2-3 minutes), what has me scratching my head is the drivers for the second drive and optical drive - I mean, they are generic windows drivers anyway, and work across 7/8/10 right?

Dare I say the "L" word here ... Linux to the rescue!

I'm running Manjaro Linux on two nine year old HP EliteBook laptops without problems. If you haven't any Linux experience Linux Mint might suit you better but many "newbies" cope well with Manjaro.

OK, I know Linux isn't for everyone, I still can't convince my brother to switch to Linux, but just sayin'. :)

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Originally Posted by Sick Puppy

what has me scratching my head is the drivers for the second drive and optical drive - I mean, they are generic windows drivers anyway, and work across 7/8/10 right?

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Sometimes depending on make /Models you just cant upgrade any further than the manufactures make drivers for, others are just fine. I got one really old Laptop here, originally had XP on it, apart from the inbuilt dial up modem everything worked. Not exactly quick but worked.

@ Rod J -- Theres no problem "suggesting" like you did.

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Dare I say the "L" word here ... Linux to the rescue!

I'm running Manjaro Linux on two nine year old HP EliteBook laptops without problems. If you haven't any Linux experience Linux Mint might suit you better but many "newbies" cope well with Manjaro.

OK, I know Linux isn't for everyone, I still can't convince my brother to switch to Linux, but just sayin'

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Theres nothing wrong with using Linux. As much as our resident know all mate may think, many Techs who deal mainly with windows (myself included) use it all the time.

It may not be the main OS as you mentioned about your brother. its just what people want to use. Some may try it and like it others cant get rid of it fast enough and go back to what they are used to.

As again our resident know all mate has found out its NOT 100% perfect, and some things still wont work "Out the Box", sometimes its suck it ands see what happens and what suits the person best. Trying to force a change on anyone usually meets with some sort of resistance. ;) Suggesting like you have is a much better option and way to go :)

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Originally Posted by wainuitech

It may not be the main OS as you mentioned about your brother. its just what people want to use. Some may try it and like it others cant get rid of it fast enough and go back to what they are used to.

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Yeah, you pretty much described my brother exactly. He's just so used to Windows and isn't really interested in Linux. Each to their own I guess. :thumbs: Unlike me, he's not a computer nerd. :nerd: :)

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Originally Posted by Rod J

Yeah, you pretty much described my brother exactly. He's just so used to Windows and isn't really interested in Linux. Each to their own I guess. :thumbs: Unlike me, he's not a computer nerd. :nerd: :)

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Thing is YOU know what you are talking about -Nuff Said. ;)

So along those lines, where you mention Manjaro -- Theres 4 flavours / interfaces Which would you recommend if someone wanted to try it ??? Just like Mint, where theres 3. ( personally I like Xfce better)

My favourite Desktop Environment for about 10 years now is KDE. Plasma 5 is the latest version of KDE. I've tried most Linux DE's but I've never liked any of them more than KDE. It's super configurable and can be made to look like just about anything you want it to. If you like to fiddle with how your DE looks you'd like it too.

You find with Linux people that they either love KDE and hate Gnome or vice versa. I personally don't like Gnome at all both in its appearance and its design philosophy. The Gnome devs are dead set on making it hard to customise and have said as much. The Gnome community have designed extensions to Gnome to try and customise it somewhat but just about every major Gnome update breaks these extensions more often than not. :waughh:

Xfce I find too old fashioned in it's design and just weird to maintain. But, each to their own I guess. :)

I think KDE looks the most like Windows and at least superficially operates the same way out of the box (taskbar at the bottom of the screen and has a proper start menu). I use Icons-Only Task Manager on my panel (taskbar) which gives me icons very similar to Windows. KDE Plasma 5 is much lighter on resources than previous versions of KDE, not much more than Xfce uses and at least half what Gnome needs. Check the screenshot below.

I'd recommend Windows users to try KDE first if they want to try Linux. But I admit I am biased. ;)

The reason I'm switching from Kubuntu to Manjaro is that Manjaro is a rolling release distro and always has the latest software. With Kubuntu I was always having to do a clean install every two to four years to keep current. I guess I'm just getting too old to bother with that now (I just turned 67). So far Manjaro (KDE version of course) has been surprisingly stable although there are a LOT of updates. It's not unusual to have over 1Gb updates every two weeks when the stable channel updates arrive. I'm glad I'm on fibre internet now! :thumbs:

Attachment 10508

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Originally Posted by wainuitech

So along those lines, where you mention Manjaro -- Theres 4 flavours / interfaces

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You had me scratching my head there for a while. There are actually three official versions (Desktop Editions) of Manjaro (Xfce, KDE and Gnome) the fourth one featured on the download page is actually a custom installer called "Architect". With Architect you can install the DE of your choice and only download the exact packages you want thereby creating a minimal operating system to your own specifications. But you have to know what you're doing to use it. Check them out here: https://manjaro.org/download/

There are a number of other DE's that aren't officially supported but have been created by the community: Awesome, Bspwm, Budgie, Cinnamon (Linux Mint's official DE), i3, LXDE, LXQt, Mate and Openbox. You can see these by clicking on the "Editions" button on the top of the page above.

We are certainly spoilt for choice in the Linux world which is both a blessing (something to suit everybody) and a curse (fragmented effort).

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Originally Posted by Rod J

You had me scratching my head there for a while. There are actually three official versions (Desktop Editions) of Manjaro (Xfce, KDE and Gnome) the fourth one featured on the download page is actually a custom installer called "Architect".

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Thanks for the unbiased ;) reply. That's one of the big questions that gets asked what version ? As mentioned earlier if Windows doesn't work on the Ops Laptop then maybe Linux Would be an option. Again, as its been politely suggested maybe yes maybe no - up to each persons choice.

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It's not unusual to have over 1Gb updates every two weeks when the stable channel updates arrive.

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Don't tell our mate that, he'll flip out, doesn't like updates ;):lol:

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Originally Posted by Sick Puppy

True, I didn't like the advice, plan on ignoring it, and smiled through gritted teeth as I paid for the 'service' - total waste of time and money IMO.

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Then why pay it?
I saw that a lot.

One business I did work for...had that GOW crowd out. Charged $250, didn't fix issue, didn't actually do anything other than poke about....said they were coming back to wipe PC and start over with new install.

I went along before that happened (he had no backups done) and found the problem wasn't PC at all but the modem.
I told him not to pay (imagine if he had got them back to wipe everything....) but he did.

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Originally Posted by piroska

Then why pay it?

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Good question! I'd already paid upfront - sorry, I should have written that correctly - I signed for receipt of it at the end.

Tech has written it off, I can demand a revisit which will cost more, I know I'm not getting a refund.

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Originally Posted by Sick Puppy

Good question! I'd already paid upfront - sorry, I should have written that correctly - I signed for receipt of it at the end.

Tech has written it off, I can demand a revisit which will cost more, I know I'm not getting a refund.

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The tech may have been correct though, it may be that its simply isnt 100% win10 compatible .
Given its age & actual value : The tech had 2 choices, spend possibly nonchargeable HOURS trying to get it to work 100% on Win10 , and possibly failing after all that time, or just say its unsupported & doesnt work with Win10 .

I would just load Win8.1 on it , as thats supported.
8.1 isnt that bad , if running on an SSD . You can even get the start menu back (on 8.1) with various addons .

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Originally Posted by Sick Puppy

True, I didn't like the advice, plan on ignoring it, and smiled through gritted teeth as I paid for the 'service' - total waste of time and money IMO.

I have gotten a good run out of the laptop, 2013 and counting, and with no visible wear, it is in great nick (To be fair, it's kinda my fault lol - I have a bunch of old tech - Note 4, Note 10.1, a six year old laptop, and don't even ask me how many CD players I have!). Using the AMD chipset driver got me a much better start up time, (less than 30 seconds as opposed to 2-3 minutes), what has me scratching my head is the drivers for the second drive and optical drive - I mean, they are generic windows drivers anyway, and work across 7/8/10 right?

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Bear in mind that Computer Technicians world wide have filled their pockets by repairing all the broken computers left behind by Win10 updates and patches.

If they can’t fix the problem then selling the customer a new computer is a good option. ;)

Personally, I’d recommend installing Linux – Mint – Cinnamon.

Worked for me on a number of occasions and comes complete with LibreOffice - and a vast selection of Apps to do anything Win10 will. :)

I've entertained the idea of going to linux once or twice a while back, and used a Hirem boot CD for disgnostics a few times - but I have both a work laptop and home PC using windows, and juggling between that and linux would not be fun.

I will recheck drivers, check that earlier wordpress page, see if I can get 10 up to speed, and then if that fails, try 8.1.

Would anyone have a disassembly manual for a K73TA/A73T hanging around please? Asking for a friend :P

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Originally Posted by Sick Puppy

Would anyone have a disassembly manual for a K73TA/A73T hanging around please? Asking for a friend :P

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Youtube usually has very good how to vids , to open up particular laptops
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeOTDpAtOq8

I am wondering which driver you installed?

I believe the chipset driver is included with the graphics driver.

The driver you want would be for the R5 200M series, going by AMD they have Catalyst 15.9 or 16.x.x Crimson beta (newer) which is supported on Windows 10.

If this was what you installed then could the issue be related to a loose connection of the drive or a faulty drive.

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Originally Posted by Sick Puppy

what has me scratching my head is the drivers for the second drive and optical drive - I mean, they are generic windows drivers anyway, and work across 7/8/10 right?

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Windows comes with generic drivers for HDDs, optical drives, yes, and they typically work fine, as the drives all should adhere to the IDE/SATA/etc standards. Only very strange and non-standard designs would need a special driver.

That said, generic drivers assume the computer manufacturer used the hardware/firmware reference designs, or didn't significantly change anything.

Don't know if anyone mentioned it, but have you tried looking for chipset/SATA controller drivers or whatever for another model of laptop from Asus? You may find a newer driver for a different model that uses the same hardware, which may work, if Asus has customised something.

There is another possibility as well. It was actually mentioned in the original Post when you were advised to sell it as its going to die soon. He may have been telling you something -- The Motherboard may be failing, and due to its age I wouldn't be surprised.

I have a old Toshiba here I use at BBQ's, plugged into the outdoor sound system, that if I move it while its turned on, it drops the DVD drive. Doesn't matter what OS is on it, W7 (which it came with) W10 or linux. Does the same thing on everything, its a hardware problem where the DVD Drive goes into the SATA port on the board. Pull out the drive, push it back in, restart and its fine again till its moved then drops again. If I ever need a Optical Drive I simply plug in a External USB Optical drive and it works perfectly.

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Originally Posted by B.M.

and a vast selection of Apps to do anything Win10 will. :)

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Errr NO. Some apps or programs there is no linux version.

And as I mentioned in last post, if its a hardware related problem then doesn't matter what OS is installed.

SO please explain "IF" linux were installed and the Optical drive and additional HDD (which BTW all plug into the motherboard) still Disappear, then what ? (That's a legit Question as well).

Then you could say most likely it's a hardware fault. In fact I think trying a live Linux USB or DVD would be a useful troubleshooting step at this point.

It seems the laptop in question was working fine in Windows 7 though? Maybe it just plain doesn't work on Windows 10.

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Originally Posted by 1101

The tech may have been correct though, it may be that its simply isnt 100% win10 compatible .

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The number of times I've heard that sort of thing.............
Down SOuth....there was a large muli-shop IT crowd who'd do that. OK not Win10, cause it wasn't out then, but same thing.

I's get people coming in,. X Said I need a new PC....cause my Win98, WINXP, WIn whatever is too old.
ANd I'd fix their minor hardware issue and off they'd go happily....

Terrible salesperson I was.....

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Originally Posted by Agent_24

Then you could say most likely it's a hardware fault. In fact I think trying a live Linux USB or DVD would be a useful troubleshooting step at this point.

It seems the laptop in question was working fine in Windows 7 though? Maybe it just plain doesn't work on Windows 10.

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In fact I think trying a live Linux USB or DVD would be a useful troubleshooting step at this point.

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Certainly give one a good idea if the problem is Hardware or Software. :thumbs:

1101, this worked! Thank you so much! I have my optical drive and both hard drives!

Everyone, thanks for your advice and contributions - I for one am very happy to have a few more years of life in this device :)

Did I miss the fix?

lol my post originally quoted the post

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Originally Posted by 1101

https://evenpulse.wordpress.com/2017...in-windows-10/
[...]

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Directions in this site
OS: Windows 10, build not relevant

Problem: after installing Windows from USB/DVD the DVD is not shown in Device manager because of the wrong SATA controller driver.

Fix: install Windows 7/8/8.1 drivers as you normally would. If it’s not installing then use Compatibility options. If that doesn’t work turn off Driver signature enforcement.

Next, open Device manager, expand IDE ATA/ATAPI Controller, go to Properties, Driver tab and click on Update Driver. Click on Browse my computer for driver software, click on Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer. Remove checkmark from Show compatible hardware and the go to the top and find AMD. After clicking on AMD you will have model listed on right pane, click on it and install. Confirm anything Windows pops up. Restart your laptop and you have DVD installed.
All the directions I found about this previously had simply deleting/uninstalling the drivers, in the hope that the reinstalled ones would work - if it never went to the folder in question it never got any better, which I think is what happened with mine due to being AMD. Here, I had to uncheck compatible hardware, direct it to AMD, and it worked.

[does a little happy dance]

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Originally Posted by Sick Puppy

1101, this worked! Thank you so much! I have my optical drive and both hard drives!

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Like I said.......doesn't need a new anything , just fix.