Envy 17 3D 17t-2000 is DEAD!

Machine has decided to die this morning 10/13. Worked as normal. Did some work late last night...booted up this morning...did more work. Walked away to drink a cup of coffee, returned and the machine was locked up tight. No mouse, keyboard functionality, nothing. Just looking at my desktop and no functionality. Had to shut down using the power button. Tried to turn back on, and WAN light on ...power light on....hard drive light...orange...no video, nothing. The tech had me clear the bios through some tricks...got back into Windows ONCE...wanted to re-flash the bios. Problems then started. One...flasher in Windows did not recognize current bios version...so we chose to flash anway. During reboot...the machine just totally went black and that was that. Could never do the bios recovery again. The machine is bricked...have a service order to have motherboard replaced!

Will keep you all posted...

 

Ouch, that sucks man!

 

Yeah, seems that the tech (very good one) determined that there was a weakness in a component that finally reared it's head. I think the bios chip is fried! Will have to see how the repair goes...if not satisfied, I will demand a new machine...

I ordered this machine a day before the Sunami...I can remember that the delays at the factory churning these out came to a total halt for a few weeks...then HP frantically started shipping quantities, and quality control started a big downslide, while complaints started to rise...I wonder how many early models of the 2XXX are destined to follow this route...hopefully none beyond mine.

 

Wow thats truly a bummer man....did you have all your stuff backed as far as data?

 

Yes...funny you should ask. Actually backed it up yesterday. The tech Phil told me that 99% they are gonna reimage my SSD. No biggie...when I get it back, I am gonna restore with my Acronis Backup...

If HP does any damage to my almost perfect machine...Customer Relations has already guaranteed that any damage by HP and I get a new one...BUT...I would like mine back...was incredible until this morning...I think it is a corrupted bios chip. I am gonna put a note in the box that I would like them to try replacing that, before they yank the whole MB out. If the motherboard is bad...I get a new one. Very few Envy's have had this issue, so I hope to get a new MB. Guess if there are refurbs laying around...then I will get that...

I just want the machine fully functional when I get it back. I was gonna move the Intel X-25 to the second bay for games and data and put a Crucial M4 256 GB as the OS / App drive...still will once the air clears...

 

Best of luck to you. When I sent my first gen Envy 17 in for repair, it came back with dust behind the screen, and grease/wood chips on the keyboard. Plus, the screen was scratched, so it looked like a dead pixel/dust in the dead center, but it was a nice nick.

Not to mention that HP gave me the run around about the processor throttling issue on my first gen. There was no way for me to even remotely have the processor run at 1.6 GHz (720QM) and use the GPU at the same time. Load both and the processor speed dropped at least 25-30% from the rated 1.6 GHz. More than likely, was a power issue since temperatures were actually fine and nowhere near Intel's safety throttling temperature.

 

Yeah hopefully it will work out for you but didn't your Envy have the old Intel X25 series or was is the 300GB SSD?

I think out of all of us you've had your Envy the longest. So I can understand your need to just get it back the way it was but fully functional. But a part of me would almost demand that HP build a completely new one and ship it out to me lol. And this time make sure the damn thing works....

 

Yes...X-25 series. I am gonna send it in and see how it shakes out. My Envy is almost perfect cosmetically...so when it comes back...if there is any reason to scream...I will. This machine has never given me reason to believe that this would happen. It has performed well for me since mid April. I use this bad boy about six solid hours a day...

For the money we pay for these...they had better send it back clean and ready to go. Any less and I will be extremely unhappy. We shall see. Box should arrive today. I will keep you all posted on how it all goes.

 

If I might ask...what was wrong with it that it came back like that??? The throttling issue was a major snafu with a lot of manufacturers...not just HP. Heavy load on CPU and GPU at the same time caused the CPU to throttle to speedstep speeds...lowering temps...Throttlestop would have been your only option at that time. We campaigned pretty heavily with HP to get the new f.15 bios for the second gen Envy...so far, so good...

 

There were 8 dead pixels, subwoofer was shot, and the laptop was overheating. HP replaced the screen, subwoofer, and heatsink/fan. Glad that they replaced everything, but seriously messing up the glass and leaving stuff all over the keyboard left a sour taste.

 

Wow...that was pretty nasty, to say the least. Mine only has the Motherboard issue, otherwise it was great! Happened without any warning...just froze in Windows...shut down and it never came back...I still think the bios was corrupt...but guess that means new MB. Let's hope they do a good job...

 

Just out of curiosity, did the tech have you try the BIOS recovery method?

For reference, this is done by....

1) Download BIOS, extract, rename file to motherboard model (e.g.; 159B). Probably best to make two files, one with .BIN and one with .FD.

2) Copy files to a USB flash drive.

3) Insert drive and hold Windows + B keys and then press the power button.

I can't tell you exactly what will happen next on the ENVY because I haven't done this myself. I can confirm that the ENVY does go into BIOS recovery mode when booting with Windows+B keys though. The screen will stay black and the CAPS light will blink showing that it is searching for the BIOS file.

This recovery method is hit and miss sometimes and might take a lot of experimenting with file names and BIOS version.

For the ENVY 17 I would make copies of the BIOS file with these names and put them on the flash drive.....

0159BF16.bin
0159BF16.fd
159B.bin
159B.fd
0159B.bin
0159B.fd

 

Didn't quite do it that way...but YES...we actually reset the CMOS once....did the flash thing and that is when she totally heaved and died...never to come back...no matter how many times we tried the Win-B key combo...

After the last heave...no matter what we did...power button and lcd were both white...WAN and HDD lights orange. Would just sit there and do nothing from there. No video, nothing...During the one time we recovered...got a code that said motherboard...

Cap lock key flashed five times...off...then five times again...before the machine rebooted. The code was motherboard critical error.

 

Awful. I pray I never find myself in such a situation.

 

Yeah, it sounds like it was a physical hardware failure anyway. No software tricks to recover from that.

 

Honesty! I pray NONE OF YOU ever experiences this. I guess failure in a machine like this is possible...just hopefully the odds are against a lot of failures...

In all honesty...I have not seen anyone complain of this kind of failure before...Hope to keep it that way. I don't think it is a common thing. Phil, the tech (by the way...if you ever need to call Envy support...ask for Phil...I have never met the likes of him before...Excellent tech...really knows what he is doing)...felt that it might have been a week pathway that slowly got worse until it gave out. Who knows what causes these things. sometimes...Machine will be delivered to the repair depot first thing Monday...will post progress. When I get the machine back...I have a TON of testing to do to give me faith that the repair system works...to MY standards...I think you all know those...

 

Moment of truth has arrived. They got the machine Mon 10/17 at 9:00am in Nashville for repair. Sent back to me with a note of motherboard repair (not a dead motherboard, but obviously a dead bios chip or Intel GPU...only other things we could fathom). I get it back on Wed 10/19. Machine was pristine, let's hope it stayed that way...Will post back

 

Cool...at least it will be back soon! Not one of those 2 weeks gone deals....

 

Envy has it's own repair facilty and everything is FEDEX overnight. Sent it out Friday...arrived Mon AM...shipped back mid PM on Tues. Overall...three business days.

 

New motherboard. Still having power issues. Can't have the battery in and plugged in at the same time...now it won't power up when turned on. Hit power button...power button light and led are lit...no video. Turn off by holding the power button for five seconds. Wait a second...turn back on and it runs. I can do this over and over and it still happens. There is obviously a power issue going on here...or the like. Guess repair depot didn't test it the way Phil and I did...now still have a "limping" Envy

 

That sucks man. Looks like you need to have a talk with Phil... and any other HP support representative posting on these forums.

 

Sucks man. Check out my HP experience: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/608462-my-hp-adventure-continues.html

At least they went the extra mile to fix the issues I had. End result was that I paid $960 and got a laptop that (with no discounts) cost around $1400. I'd recommend backing up your data and pushing for HP to replace your laptop with some sort of upgrade. Talk to the Resolutions department and get a Case Manager. Hopefully, you'll get taken care of like I did. What you've experienced is crap.

 

I asked for a new replacement...so now I have been escalated to a Case Manager. Now it is just a waiting game.

The issue is now persistant, too. Power up when the machine has been off for a minute or two...no boot...just fans, no lights, nothing. Power down and immediately power up...poof...computer runs. Also...whoever put my new motherboard in never attached the HDD LED lights...

I have serious reservations about the repair depot. Turnaround time was great, but different problems now exist...

 

Hopefully you'll get taken care of like I did. Easiest thing I ever had to do in my short time so far as an HP customer. Make sure you get some sort of upgrade to make it worth your while.

 

Here's to hoping for the best possible outcome for you!

 

I remember us playing the waiting game/getting our machines around the same time Bobmitch. Hopefully HP takes care of you. Best of luck man!

 

Much appreciated....let's see what Case Manager has planned!

 

Yeah the waiting game is not fun but if you have patience and keep at it I'm sure you'll be well rewarded/compensated for it.

 

From your lips to "His" ears...let's hope

 

You still haven't heard anything? I heard back within a couple hours of complaining. Like I think literally two at the most. I'd give it no more than 24 hours before I start harassing them.

 

Maybe because I have had my machine almost 5 months. It is end of day on Friday and still nothing....gonna have to call first of Monday...

This is gonna be a third repair. Within the first week...tech came to the house and replaced the keyboard that was not installed properly at the factory...was perfect after that. Motherboard died for whatever reason last week...and the repair depot didn't install the new motherboard properly. I have the power on issues and the LED light for my HDD is missing. I have been dealing with Customer Relations up to now...but because my machine was outside a 90 window...was going to be handled by a case manager.

 

Been away for quite a while, and just caught up on some reading. Bobmitch I am sorry to hear all this. As you might remember, I am one of the early guys as well. Fortunately, I can report that mine is still runnign fine. Getting pretty hot after a long day of heavy work load, and I still have frequent freezes within the 1st 5 minutes of boot up, but those seem to be related to my SSD. As much as I love my Crucial C300, it seems to have some flaws and likes to just freeze up after boot up. Funny as is, once you are over the 1st 10 minutes, it never freezes. Must be some software that is loading in the background.

Hope there will be a resolution to your issue soon.

 

Welcome back! I clearly remember you...Yeah...just talked to the repair depot...may have to send back in...depends on my Case Manager's decision. The technician that did the initial repair was sloppy, to be polite. Anyone would have seen the double power up issue immediately if they just turned the machine on. Then, he/she doesn't re-connect my HDD LED. Third issue...my motherboard code is supposed to be XG360AV for model...someone typed in XG360AV#ABA, so now my system recovery doesn't work at all! Nice mess, huh?

I heard that the Crucial C300 had some issues, as do many Sandforce controller SSD's. Crucial has released new firmware that really turned the M5 into a monster...wonder if there is a new firmware for your C300 as well. Just checked for you...the latest for C300 is 007.


Release Date: 04/26/2011
Change Log:

•Improved product reliability.
•Resolved performance anomaly which resulted in brief, intermittent pause in drive response time for some users.
Note: This is firmware from Revision 0006 to Revision 0007. It will not work for updating between any other versions. If your drive has Revision 0001 firmware, then you MUST first perform the intermediate step of updating to Revision 0002. If your drive has Revision 0002 firmware, then you MUST first perform the intermediate step of updating to Revision 0006.

Looks like fun...