Envy 15 black screen problem - dedicated thread

Hi all,

I've spent a while now reading through the forums for both the 1st and 2nd gen 15" Envys. My first gen Envy, purchased 3 weeks ago suffered the dreaded black screen issue, which was identified by turning the machine on and leaving it for a while - could be 10 minutes, could be hours and the screen would go black, system would lock up and require a hard reboot. Oddly enough the hard drive packed up after a couple of weeks use. I replaced the drive myself with a new western digital Scorpio, but the symptoms still occurred.

Having bought the unit from a retailer, I took it back and had the last remaining gen 1, which was their display unit (i prefer the lower res screen for gaming-better performance at native res). To date I have not had a single black screen. The drivers and software are exactly the same, which kind of ruined my idea that it may be drivers causing the issue, so I'm very intrigued as to what may be causing the issue.

I'd like to keep this thread solely to covering this issue as it seems to be affecting users of both first and 2nd gen units, so feel free to post your experiences of this exact problem and any remedies you may have discovered, as it took me ages to find like minded users in the massive general Envy threads! Maybe we can get enough information to help the Hp techs, as I really think this unit is otherwise a very good performer!

 

I'm experiencing exactly what you described.

My previous gen 2 Envy had no such problem.

This new one has done this to me 3 times today. All while running games.

 

Probably because of the driver, I had this because of OC gpu..

 

I updated the drivers to the 10.3 beta.

You are absolutely correct, no more crashes.

 

The version 10.3 is for desktop graphic card right? Im experiencing the same problem, sometimes during gaming or even 2 minutes after startup. And there's no official solution to this....

 

I experienced the problem with a Gen2 last night when logging off. The keyboard was recognized but nothing was displayed at all.

 

Well i have 2gen envy with catalyst 10.3 beta and F.18 BIOS and it's definitely NOT a driver problem because Windows does not even recognize the crashes. I believe it's a BIOS or VBIOS problem. If not, then it must be a hardware fault.

 

got my HP Envy Gen2 yesterday and i had the problem today. left it on and 1 hour later i was going to use it but it did not response at all

 

I received my envy gen 2 today and had a black screen after a reboot. I hard rebooted the machine and had a full freeze shortly after. Installed catalyst 10.3 and bios f19 and so far so good (needs to be confirmed).

 

bios f19? where did you find that?

 

Here : ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp47001-47500/sp47375.exe
The release notes are quite cryptic but do mention a vbios update

 

I have had the same problems for over a month now....

HP envy 15 - 1st gen

It actually worked flawlessly when I removed adobe flash. Just had my first episode in a 5 weeks yesterday with adobe flash loaded...

** Important - it looks as though HP is pushing back on the amount of replacements so please make sure that you call in to make an initial complaint to have on record. I had to talk to executive customer service rep to even discuss replacement or warranty service because I'm outside of my 21 day return policy. I basically told them I expect this computer to work flawlessly for the amount of money I invested....2 grand...the rep started to ramble about how I should of called in sooner not knowing that I had 5 weeks prior...Document, take names and extensions and good luck....


Does anybody have a confirmed update for the 4830's?? I still have the original drivers which I suspect is the real culprit but I can not find a update considering all the complaints and issues...

 

So they tried to say you should have gotten it replaced within the 21 day return window?

 

So much for HP sticking by a product then.

 

Yes.....even though the problems didn't start until 4-5 weeks after I had it.....sending it in to get warranty service, I doubt that will fix anything...but I'll patiently see what they do...mine came shipped with scratches on the black trim...just really unhappy with HP performance and attitude.....and I love HP...even own stock....

 

The F.19 BIOS did not do the job for me...

 

Got the same problem. Reading this thread it unfortunately seems like this is a harware error rather than software as some users have it, while others do not, on the same system, drivers and BIOS. Updating videodriver to the beta driver did not work for me either....sigh, so the only thing one can do is to return it and hope to get a new one without this problem?
Did not expect this on a high end laptop such as this

 

Every sig in this thread says i7.... HP's site hints the i7 vid card is somehow different than the i5.

 

Thread on another forum regarding the same issue.

 

Any news on a solution?

 

I recently had purchased an Envy with the i5-540 processor. I got an error screen upon my very first boot up of the machine. After a restart everything went fine and I was able to get Windows set up. For a short time it seemed like everything was going to be fine, and then I started getting black screens at various intervals. The only way to fix them was with a hard reboot.

I attempted to update to the f19 bios hoping for a fix, and the system locked up during the update process rendering the system totally useless. Obviously after the failed bios update, the machine would not boot at all. This was all within less than 24 hours of owning this computer.

I contacted tech support and they stated they had never heard of the black screen issue??? I elected to just return the computer instead of trying to do a repair, which they were ok with.

Against my better judgment, I've decided to give the Envy one more try, so I ordered another one and I will see how it goes. I should be receiving it next week sometime. The thing is, I was overall very impressed with everything else about the computer. I'm hoping for better luck with the next one, otherwise I will not be purchasing another HP.

 

Well my Envy15 I just got yesterday is going right back to HP because of this issue. Now I remember why I was waiting for the MacBook Pro updates...

 

i had this problem in the beginning but only a few times, all most a month without them now.

 

Does anyone with an I5 processor have this problem? Someone else metnioned it only appears to be on I7's (at least in the sig's in this thread).

This would be pretty major since it seems they use a different motherboard (during the configuration when you opt to purchase the laptop there are two different video card options...a 5830 for i5's and i7's).

 

Mine is an i5 and it has this problem.

 

It has to be either the VGA card used conflicting with some drivers or the bios(hopefully its bios). because if you think about it both models have different CPU's and different mobo's and yet they share the same problem.

 

Alright, so I received my second Envy about a week ago now. I ordered this one with the exact same specs as the first one which had all the problems mentioned above.

I'm happy to say that this one has had no issues so far. There have been zero black screens this time and no errors on boot up. The strange thing is, this has the same bios installed and all the same drivers as far as I can tell. I have not updated the graphics card drivers to any of the newer versions or the bios.

It seems strange that everything appears to be the same as the first machine which did not work at all, but this one performs perfectly.

I did do a clean install with this one, but like I said I installed all the original drivers in the SwSetup folder. My intention was to do a clean install with the first machine also, but I was never able to, due to the total failure of the computer.

I'm curious if there are people out there who have done clean installs that are still having the black screen issue or if it only seems to happen to the ones that are left in the factory setup?? Any input from anyone?

 

Any one tried the new F.1B A BIOS? Did it fix the blankscreen problem? I'm going for it later tonight...

 

I purchased an Envy 15 about 1 month ago with the following specs:

i7-820QM processor
320GB Dual SSD (Raid0)
16GB RAM
ATI Mobility Radeon HD5830
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

The complete price including tax for this customized model was well over $4,000. On the very first bootup on the day I received the model in the mail from HP shopping, I went through the process of setting up windows and then the system froze up. The screen became filled with a colorful static effect with moving black horizontal lines.

On restart, the windows error reporting was as follows: You received this message because hardware or software on your computer caused Windows to shut down unexpectedly and restart. This is a serious problem, commonly referred to as a stop error or blue screen. If you have received this error more than once, we recommend that you do the following: Back up your files to avoid data loss in case of a complete hardware failure. Contact the original manufacturer of your computer to determine the specific component which is failing. Although we know the problem is caused by a hardware component, the error report does not contain enough information to tell us the specific component. It is likely that the problem is being caused by one of the following computer components: Random access memory (RAM) System board Central Processing Unit (CPU) Power supply"

I called HP Envy tech support and they put me in touch with the customer support rep who sent me a shipping label to return the laptop and get a refund. She offered me a $170 discount in the event I decided to keep it, so I thought I would continue using the model and see if it was perhaps a one-time problem on setting up windows for the first time.

Over the course of 2 weeks, I experienced black screen crash or freezing (with repeating loop of 1 frame of corresponding audio) approximately 10-15 times per day. The only way to get out of that screen was by hard reset.

I also noticed when running the crystalmark benchmark my 4k read speed was 10x lower than it should have been - in fact, the 4k read speed for the SSD Raid0 was slower than the 4k write speed!

CrystalDiskMark 2.2 (C) 2007-2008 hiyohiyo
--------------------------------
Sequential Read : 469.045 MB/s
Sequential Write : 155.626 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 253.068 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 133.743 MB/s
Random Read 4KB : 10.294 MB/s
Random Write 4KB : 55.438 MB/s
Test Size : 100 MB Date : 2010/03/10 1:54:01

I eventually returned my unit for complete refund; however, as it was the most lightning fast experience I have ever had (during the times when it did not freeze or crash on me) working on very large photoshop and illustrator files, I definitely want to order the exact same model once they correct the graphics card and 4k read speed issues.


From a bit of research, it appears many people with other brands of laptops, particularly ASUS, have experienced exactly the same "black screen" issue with similar ATI Radeon graphics cards that we are having with the 4830 and the 5830 used in the Envy 15, leading me to wonder whether many of these ATI graphics cards are simply defective. I'm surprised that HP did not test them more rigorously before choosing to implement them in the Envy 15. I am eager to order another HP Envy 15, but do I need to wait until HP refreshes the line with an entirely different graphics card? Is anyone who has ordered the Envy 15 NOT experiencing this black screen issue? I wonder the percentage of users who are experiencing black screen issues with the Envy 15. Is it limited to those who have custom orders? Are people who bought the "quick-ship" models also experiencing this?


Here are several links to postings regarding the "black screen" issue with the ATI Radeon HD5830, HD4850 and HD4830 in various brands of computer:

http://h20435.www2.hp.com/t5/HP-Env...nvy-15-Blank-Screen-Issues-lets-do/td-p/54168

http://h20435.www2.hp.com/t5/HP-Envy-Notebooks/hp-envy-blue-screen/td-p/53060

http://forums.amd.com/game/messageview.cfm?catid=260&threadid=124628

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1327398

http://radeoncrash.blogspot.com/2009/07/radeon-hd-4850-black-screen-solution.html

http://forums.amd.com/game/messageview.cfm?catid=260&threadid=110202

http://forums.legitreviews.com/about20444.html

http://forums.techarena.in/monitor-video-cards/1090281.htm

http://forum.ncix.com/forums/index.php?mode=showthread&msg_id=1750866&threadid=1750866&forum=215&pro...

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=89083

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/254855-33-hd4850-freezes-black-screens

 

I just wanted to commend you on a great post. Repping you on some very useful work. Not that I have the problem but I am sure it is helpful to others.

 

Just restarted my Envy after an IP conflict on the network and now all I have is a black screen on startup. Nothing happens. Think I'll be returning it soon...

 

Many thanks! I returned my old one for full refund (including shipping & tax) and ordered a new one with the same specs - I'm pretty sure it is a hardware problem and not driver/BIOS causing the black screen/video freeze/BSOD for some Envy owners.

The facts that we have so far on this issue are:
(1) BIOS updates, graphics card driver updates, settings, temperature, running applications or games in lower resolution, etc., we have all tried these and as far as I'm aware no one who was experiencing this problem was able to resolve it this way, which suggests it is a hardware problem.

(2) It seems to be something that people experience soon after purchasing the unit. I haven't heard of anyone who had their Envy for several months with no problem and then suddenly started experiencing frequent blank screen/videofreezing/BSOD. So although there are a lot of folks who have had this problem, there are also quite a lot of people who purchased an Envy and never have this issue occur at all.

Accordingly, at this point, it seems the only solution is to either return your unit to HP for refund and order another one, or send it in for repair and hope that if they can't fix it they will replace the entire unit. I have no idea what the percentage could be in terms of the number of units with this problem, but I would imagine there must be more units functioning properly than units with this blank screen/video freeze/BSOD problem. So, hopefully, your new unit would fall into the category of the majority of those Envy's that are functioning fine with no problem.

I'm pretty sure I would have bought a MBP instead if the refresh added USB 3.0 and HDMI, but that is not the case. Design-wise I like the Envy over any other Windows laptop I've seen recently and it was blinding fast working with photoshop and illustrator (when it wasn't crashing, of course ;0)

 

You that is experiencing the blank screen problem; what is your mainboard revision number`?
And if you have had your envy on service and they have replaced your mb have the rev changed on your new mb?


Mine is Rev.11 and I'm experiencing this.


PS. You can use CPU-Z to check the rev.

EDIT: Please also state if you have a i5 or i7 cpu