Asus ROG GL553V shutting down before Windows

[szepesif]

Hey guys!

This is the third laptop here with this exact same issue and the forum threads and YouTube comments are also filled with this problem so I would like to figure out once and for all what's causing it and how to fix it because this model will keep coming to me to repair.

Symptom: The laptop turns on and works fine UNTIL the Windows starts loading, then it shuts down. I can start it again but the same thing happens over and over again so I can't get into Windows. BUT I can enter the BIOS and it stays there forever without shutting down. The same applies if I remove the SSD. It's not a thermal issue and it's not a software issue. Yes, I tried to reinstall Windows countless times, yes I tried with a live system, yes, the BIOS is the latest. Nothing helps. It has to be a hardware fault (and it's a common one) but I don't know where to look.

Another strange thing I observed: The battery led is on as soon as I start the machine, even though the battery is unplugged. The charging works fine, though, if I plug back the battery. And yes, the shutdown happens from the battery as well.

What I checked:

- The DC-IN mosfets are not shorted, the gate voltages are correct, there's no voltage drop there
- The power button is not shorted, it shuts down even if I remove the keyboard connector after the startup
- There's no short on the board, and the coil resistances seem fine

I checked the board with a thermal camera and one of the CPU DRMOS was hotter than the rest. I replaced that from a donor board but it didn't help. I could replace all of the DRMOS there but I don't know if it's related to those at all.

I have boardview for the board, I tried to check a few other things as well but I'm lost here. This is clearly a common fault, one of the components is failing and we need to figure out which one is that because these boards are dying and I would like to save them and help the clients in the future as well.

If any of you experienced or fixed this problem, please let me know the solution. Otherwise, I'm open to any suggestion. Thank you in advance!

[mon2]

Remove all power. Meter in DIODE mode. Confirm that the dual diode @ D8801 is not defective.

Red meter probe on pin #1 (anode); black on pin #3 (cathode) - diode should conduct. Reverse the leads and the diode should block.

Repeate with pins # 2 & # 3. Same test procedure.

[szepesif]

Remove all power. Meter in DIODE mode. Confirm that the dual diode @ D8801 is not defective.

Red meter probe on pin #1 (anode); black on pin #3 (cathode) - diode should conduct. Reverse the leads and the diode should block.

Repeate with pins # 2 & # 3. Same test procedure.

I checked D8801 and it's perfect. It's conducting one way from #1 and #2 to #3 but not the other way around in diode mode.

[mon2]

Are you able to boot Windows using SAFE mode?

[szepesif]

Are you able to boot Windows using SAFE mode?

No, I can't boot any operating system, not even a Live one. The Windows installer works, the Live boot starts but as soon as the desktop should appear it turns off.

I'm attaching a thermal camera image of the DRMOS round. I replaced the second one from a donor because I thought that might be faulty but it didn't help. The first coil on the left has no voltage, the rest is strange for some reason.

If I measure them on the CPU side all three have stable .940V. But if I measure them on the DRMOS side only the 3rd one has stable .940. The second one and the fourth one is fluctuating constantly. The second one is 3.2V, the fourth one is 3.6V. How? All of them should be below 1V, right? What am I missing?

[szepesif]

I removed and replaced the fourth drmos as well. Nothing has changed...

These laptops will drive me crazy. What else could I check? What else could cause these sudden shutdowns?

[mon2]

Is the power adapter suited to run this laptop?

Could the shutdown be when the GPU kicks in during boot? Investigate the GPU power rail.

[szepesif]

Is the power adapter suited to run this laptop?

Could the shutdown be when the GPU kicks in during boot? Investigate the GPU power rail.

Yes, the power adapter is the original one but I tried it with a bench power supply as well, no difference.

It could be GPU related but it's not shutting down right away when the desktop appears. When I try it with a live system (live Windows 10 PE Sergei boot pendrive) the desktop appears normally and starts to load the basic drivers and after a point, it shuts down. Almost at the same time each try. So it can be a specific hardware related but I can't figure out what can it be.

A few months ago with a different GL553 I thought the nvidia chip was causing the fault so I completely removed the nvidia GPU and converted the board to UMA but the shutdown issue remained so I scrapped that board because I had to give up. Now, it's a customer job GL553 with the exact same fault. So based on this I don't think it's the nvidia GPU related problem. It's not the DC-IN mosfets, not software, not thermal issue, not the drmos, what else?

[szepesif]

Nobody solved this problem in the past?

[jxrepman]

Is the laptop shutting down or the screen just goes dark? I have a quite similar issue with a much older Asus laptop. In the BIOS screen no problem even if it is left on for hours but when booting to windows the screen shuts off. But this happens on battery only but not when it is powered by the adapter. I tried connecting an external monitor and found out that the laptop is still running as there was display on the external monitor but none on the laptop's.

Try plugging an external monitor through the hdmi port and observe.

[mcplslg123]

Asus ROG series many models has this problem. I faced the same scenario(shuts down after 3-4 spinning circle) on FX506 amd ryzen platform.

I converted the mb to UMA and it booted in to windows once but next day same issue.
So i think heat played a role and discrete graphics is not the issue.
Still looking to find a solution. Will update if i can solve it.

[szepesif]

Is the laptop shutting down or the screen just goes dark? I have a quite similar issue with a much older Asus laptop. In the BIOS screen no problem even if it is left on for hours but when booting to windows the screen shuts off. But this happens on battery only but not when it is powered by the adapter. I tried connecting an external monitor and found out that the laptop is still running as there was display on the external monitor but none on the laptop's.

Try plugging an external monitor through the hdmi port and observe.

The whole laptop shuts down, not just the screen so it's a different issue in my case.

[szepesif]

Asus ROG series many models has this problem. I faced the same scenario(shuts down after 3-4 spinning circle) on FX506 amd ryzen platform.

I converted the mb to UMA and it booted in to windows once but next day same issue.
So i think heat played a role and discrete graphics is not the issue.
Still looking to find a solution. Will update if i can solve it.

Yes, it's a well-known issue affecting many ROG models. I hope there will be a solution eventually.