Envy 15-3040nr keyboard malfunction - missing keystrokes

Resolved, see below.

New Envy 15 owner here, my unit was manufactured 1/14/2012, and purchased yesterday. I thought I was one of the lucky ones: No keyboard flex, no dents or humps, all ports work as they should, and the IPS display actually manages to produce reds of varying shades. Love at first sight. Then, I unplugged the AC adapter and sadness ensued. It's missing keystrokes! When I plug it back in, all returns to normal. This is the OOB experience with no settings changed.

I did some extensive searching, and found nothing definitive (some folks on this forum are experiencing similar issues with the Envy 17). So I'm making a new thread since I think I've narrowed down the problem, which is fairly reproducible following these steps:

1. Turn off graphics auto-switching in the BIOS settings.
2. Cold boot. Keyboard works correctly, no skipping keystrokes. Both on Intel HD and AMD Radeon GPU.
3. Switch to the other GPU (doesn't matter which one): Skip city.
4. Shut down and cold boot: Keyboard works normally again.
5. Once malfunctioning, keyboard does not recover normal operation over a warm reboot.

I've tested the stock factory image as well as with all the updates. BIOS has been updated to the latest version. This happens both when plugged into AC and running on battery.

Is there anybody out there with a similar issue? I hope I'm not alone! It's really ruined my day.

UPDATE: All issues resolved with new unit running F.04 firmware. I recommend not to update BIOS until HP figures out the problems with F.05 and F.06.

UPDATE 3/21/12: All issues resolved with unit running F.07 firmware.

 

i have the problem with missing keystrokes, on the 3xxx envy 17. as do many other envy17 owners, judging from envy threads . i will try your workaround after work.
one thing though, 5. in your list, what do you mean by "warm reboot" ?

 

Hi haar03,

By "warm reboot" I mean a simple restart, and not a power off. If this is such a common problem, why is HP not issuing a fix? I really want to keep this otherwise great laptop.

Also, does anyone know how to do a complete "hard reset" with the newer 15 and 17 3xxx models without voiding the warranty? It seems to have resolved keyboard problems on the older models with easily removable batteries.

 

if i understand you correctly, this is a workaround of the problem:
Turn off graphics auto-switching in the BIOS, ("cold reboot")and permanently use GPU graphics. This completely removes the problem, correct?
Also, as of last week, there is a new BIOS version for 3xxx 17. the notes say nothing about this issue, but worth a shot.

 

Correct. I'm also using the newest BIOS.

Update: After turning off the Action keys in the BIOS, the keyboard skipped once more, then I shut down and booted the machine back up - now I can't make it skip anymore. Tried it plugged in, unplugged, power saving GPU, performance GPU, every time the keyboard works properly. All my tests were done using Notepad on the stock factory image.

So, I now believe that this is definitely a software issue, not a hardware one (it never skips in the BIOS configuration screens). Doing some more research, it seems to have been a problem with various Envy models for years!

Come on HP, show us you care and fix this widespread problem. A notebook computer with a bad keyboard is useless as a portable!

I'm now going to try a clean install of Windows and see if I can make it misbehave.

 

Just an update - the next day the WiFi radio cut out (turned off and wouldn't turn on again) and the volume control failed completely. So I've returned it for a refund and have a new one on special order from the local Microsoft Store. Here's hoping I have better luck - I really like this machine.

 

I'm jus chiming in to confirm that I've been havng the mised keystroke issue as of today, immediately after upgrading toF.05 bios. This is ridiculous--if i's not one isue for HP, i's another. I've been willing o overlok many ofhe glaring issues (screen unable to produce reds, screen flickering, and on and on...) on a laptop that came so close to a great machine, but evn I'm getting fed up. I've posted a similar complaint on HP's site, as have a number of other Envy 15 owners. Her's to hoping F.06 is released soon AND fixe something for heaven's ake.

I've been able to conirm, at least in my case, that the keboard works perfectly (just like before the bios update) AS LONG AS I'm runnin on battery power. The moment I plug in the AC adpter, regardles of charging/discharging/not charging, the keyboard misses keys.

Anoyd by the many typos? Tae it up w/ HP and their craptasic software/ability to handle customer issues.

 

Upgrade to the new F.06 BIOS that just came out today. This has seemed to fix the issue, at least for my system.

Also, for me, the missing keystrokes was more apparent on battery power, not AC.

 

Thanks chocobo, I just applied F.06, and I'll try it for the rest of th da to see how it goes (but I'm not hopeful, as the typos seem to already indicate missed keys). Elsewhere in this forum, Dreamwonder (a user) posted that he solved his isue by aplying F.05 twice back-to-back but unfortunately I had no luck w/ that method. It's too bad there's no way to roll back to F.04 or F.00 or whatever the 15 originally shipped with.

Typos come free with this post, courtesy of F.05+ bios/keyboard bug.

EDIT: F.06 ha the exac same problems.

 

the missing keystroke thing has got to be a hardware bug. I had no issues what so ever with either bios and i type pretty damn fast.

 

I doubt it's STRICTLY a hardware issue for two reasons. First, this never happened before F.05/F.06. Second, whenever I run on battery, the keyboard is perfectly fine.

FWIW, I noticed that certain key combos definitely reproduce the skipping problem: I can't type the word "add" at a reasonably quick rate w/o the 2nd "d" being dropped. "T" is definitely hit and miss depending on what letter(s) follow/precede it... It sounds like a keyboard map issue to me, but whatever it is exactly doesn't matter as there doesn't seem to be any solutions yet.

 

strange... i was typing earlier plugged into the external power and now im running on battery and not having an issue at all. i tried add several times and never had an issue.

 

I am pretty much always on power and i have the problem with skipped keys all the time

 

I have always encountered this problem on my Envy 17 on battery. It is ore pronounced as the juice of te battery falls.

I am returning my Envy because of this issue. I am a coder and need to be able to write freely. I have gone through 3 laptops now and this problem is a hardware issue and not the software.

 

F.05 Keyboard problem SOLVED (at least for me).
I hope you guys have success with a strange method that I tried and solved my keyboard woes with. Shut down the computer, and once it powers off completely, do the following: hold Win key + B simultaneously, and keep holding it. Push the power button, and a few moments after the machine powers on, let go. At this point, the machine will APPEAR to hang and do nothing, but give it time--in ~20-30 seconds, you'll enter the BIOS Recovery screen, and the recovery will do its thing. Again, let it finish, and then let it restart. Upon restarting, you'll get a message that says something like "Corrupt BIOS found and has been recovered," and prompt you to press ENTER to continue.
I don't know why and how this worked, but it definitely fixed my keyboard issue. I am still stuck with the dreaded F.05, but I'm a happy camper again, for now.
Credit for the above method should go to an author in another forum, which for the life of me I can't remember b/c I stumbled across it while googling for a solution to this F.05/06 debacle. I DO remember that the context of that thread was resetting the BIOS for Envy 14 because the user had bricked it somehow. That said, proceed with caution of course, but I've tried this 3 times today, all without hiccups. Good luck!

 

this has long been an issue with HP laptops... if you were ever a gamer you would know already

their keyboards have a problem with multiple key-presses

like left-arrow + up-arrow and try and hit spacebar... it won't work
try right-arrow + down-arrow and hit spacebar... won't work either!

you wouldn't normally be doing this but in gaming this is how people move and jump around on their avatars

my envy15 3xxx has this issue, and so did my 2005 hp laptop too, but none of my Sony Vaios ever did

i believe you are pressing multiple keys at same time... or pressing 2 keys SO QUICKLY together that the computer thinks you are pressing them same time

 

I have been running on F.06 of the BIOS and had been having problems with the keyboard missing keystrokes. However, I just tried the above solution for holding the Windows key and the B button at startup. It did the BIOS recovery restore and fixed my issue!

Kind of surprised me that it actually worked but I am really glad to see that my keyboard actually work good now!

 

The BIOS recovery solution is pure genius - if my new upcoming machine develops this missing keystroke issue at least I know what to try. My other plan had been (before I returned my first unit) to disconnect the battery and do a hard reset, but was worried about voiding my warranty. Looking to owning one of these day after tomorrow!

 

Colonel, I know exactly what issue you're talking about (I had that "problem" on my Envy 14). However, I don't think that's the case here because I'm able to type as fast as I want without any problems as long as I'm running on battery (actually, I recently noticed it's as long as it's not CHARGING--I figured out that if I run on AC w/o the battery inserted, everything's great).

 

Spent the last two days thoroughly testing my new Envy 15-3040NR: *No* issues to report, both physical and cosmetic! The IPS panel can distinguish between orange and red just fine.

This time, I did not, as I usually do, update the firmware. It's still running F.04 and the keyboard works fine during charging, discharging, integrated GPU, dedicated GPU, warm restarts, cold boots, and with typing speeds up to about 60 wpm. So I finally have a usable Envy 15 in my hands.

colonels, I use the standard WASD keys for gaming, never the arrow keys and they respond perfectly during online competitive play. So for me this is a terrific gaming laptop.

In summary: If you are running F.04, resist the temptation to flash F.05 or F.06! Who needs those language enhancements anyway?

Update: My keyboard controller version (on the good Envy) is: KBC 44.1 B

Update 2: For the sake of science I performed the Win + B BIOS recovery and now it's rolled back to F.00. The Keyboard Controller Revision is now: KBC 44.14.

 

I'm sure I'm going to sound crazy but I know next to nothing about computers. Is there any chance that doing this would mess something up? I have F.04 and am having problems with the keyboard as well. I just don't want to do this, have a problem and then have no idea where to go from there...

 

As long as your are connected to power you should be just fine

 

So you are on F.04 - what kind of keyboard problems are you experiencing? Are they occuring all the time or just under certain circumstances?

 

I ran into the keyboard keystroke issue and found out another solution.

For me it turns out having the keyboard backlit brightness at 2/3 causes many keys to become unresponsive until a repeated click. For instance, maybe only 50% of attempts to use backspace key works.

When I change the keyboard backlit brightness to 1/3 or 3/3 it then begins to function perfectly fine with no missing keystrokes. Turning off keyboard back-lighting does the trick too!

 

How do you change the intensity of the keyboard backlight. When I press f5, the keyboard only turns on and off.

 

Well, I updated my BIOS from F.00 to F.06 today, and now I have the wonky keyboard on my new (built in February) Envy as well. Aw shucks. It's not too bad this time, and the backlight trick mentioned by sahaskatta and others "fixes" it for me as well.

To recap: F.06, the latest firmware version available as of this writing, also has the keyboard skipping issue. For me, F.00 and F.04 do not. This is not a hardware problem, but poor QA on HP's part with their firmware releases, in particular the keyboard control software. So don't bother updating unless you have good reason to.

Message to Hewlett Packard: Please fix the Envy 15-3XXX BIOS! The keyboard skips on F.05 and F.06! Thanks!

 

While holding down F5, hit the up and down arrows. Easy peasy.

 

Well isn't that just nifty. Thanks

 

Follow the direction on the link below to fix the keyboard problem. Trust me it works.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...unction-missing-keystrokes-2.html#post8322095

 

Right, that's how I got from F.04 (as shipped) to F.00.

Just to clarify - you're sure you're still on F.06 after the Win-B BIOS recovery procedure?

 

Didn't work for me . Tried it 3x. I've had the problem on F.05 and F.06.

 

NO trick has worked for me. So, Envy is going back for full refund. I have the backlight turned off.

 

It worked for me and I am running on F.06

 

Well, well - I can now confirm it worked for me as well. Running F.06 for the last several hours and I can't seem to get the keyboard to skip. And that is after a single Win-B recovery cycle.

I'll wait for a few more days of testing, and if it still works maybe we should make the fix a sticky?

 

Sorry if I'm being a hater, but more than one person (including me) found the Win-B BIOS recovery method didn't fix the problem. I did it 3x and I've tried F.05 and F.06 .

 

You might want to return yours like I did last month. I think it's strange that you can't roll back to F.00 either (using the F2 diagnostic method and the HP_TOOLS partition). Are you sure it's not possible?

Edit: Never mind - I see you tried both F.05 and F.06. Since you only have a choice between two BIOS revisions using HP_TOOLS, I think you can no longer roll back.

 

Though it's annoying, it doesn't kill me.

I don't want to return any more. I've had the worst luck with Envys since last July (reread my post history if you're interested), and you may ask why haven't I given up yet? Because I've gone from a $960 Envy 14 to, through replacements, upgrades, and Case Managers, an Envy 15 priced at ~$1800. But I can't spend time waiting on replacements anymore, and I've got to draw the line. Next replacement for me is actually a refund and a move to another manufacturer.

TLDR: I don't feel like waiting for a replacement, and while annoying, the missed keystrokes strangely doesn't bother me enough to cause me to go through the replacement process again.

 

In that case, here's hoping for F.07!

 

For those with F.06 but still having the keyboard problems can you post your keyboard controller revision.

You can check your controller version with HP Advanced Diagnostics, press F2 on cold boot and click system info.

I am running on F.06 and I have 44.1D for the controller version

 

F.06, and 44.1D

The KBC revision is a software module, part of the BIOS.

 

F.05 was definitely 44.1C. Just went back to F.06 and it's 44.1D.

Tried typing some random words for like a minute or so and only missed one keystroke, which of course could just be coincidence. I'll try it out for a few more days and see what happens. For the record, like I said, I was having the problem on both F.05 and F.06, but I do remember that on the BIOS version that came with it, I had no problems.

On another note, I can't remember for the life of me what to install to make Fn+Esc work, and I can't find anything from older posts in other threads. Anybody remember? I did a fresh install when I got my machine a few weeks ago.

 

Wetwillycf just to be thorough when you have previously described that you had tried doing the BIOS recovery 3 times had you only done that on F.05 or did you just now do it on F.06 and are now finding that perhaps it might have fixed the issue?

Then for your other question about Fn+Esc did you try installing the HP Support Assistant?

 

Yeah I did it 3x for both .

I did install HP Support Assistant too. I just can't remember what it was that added Fn+Esc! I have HP OSD installed too.

 

Did you also try to shutdown and remove all power for a couple of minutes? Just to cover all the bases - it's what I did just before I started a Win-B recovery on F.06. It actually resets the BIOS on HP laptops with non-user servicable/non-removable batteries.

 

So it's not clear, are you suppose to take out the built in battery too?

 

No, didn't try that. I will later.

 

Yeah, that confused me too at first - no, you just unplug the power adapter. Got this from the HP support forums.

So basically, every time you travel with the Envy switched off you're resetting the BIOS. Weird, huh? I prefer the way Apple does it with their unibodies - Cmd - Shift - Option - Power for PSU reset and Cmd - Option - P - R for EFI firmware reset.

 

So if you just have your computer in hibernate will it reset the BIOS? or does this only work when it is shutdown?

Does this also mean if you shutdown your computer and have no power to it. All your settings for the BIOS, ie. Manual for graphics switching, have to be changed back to the way you had it setup?

 

Only when completely shutdown - although hibernation is the same thing as shutting down. Sleep mode is not sufficient.

The settings will be preserved. Only Win-B recovery will reset the BIOS settings to their default values.

Keep in mind that this information is from HP - and their support reputation is, erm, suspect. Still, it most definitely worked for me, and I hope it works for others as well.

 

Is this really a "reset" then if the settings are preserved?