*HP ENVY 14 & Envy 14 Beats (1XXX series) Owners Lounge, Part Deux*

So is there anyway to avoid the winflash method with a clean install? I thought even if you leave the HP TOOLS partition and RECOVERY partition that you still have to winflash?

So I the only way to avoid winflash to keep the original HP install? Cause that sucks if so....

 

I don't understand why HP won't offer another BIOS updater similar to Asus's EZ flash or DOS flash boot disk. I updated my desktop's BIOS several times using EZ flash (built in bios updater) but NEVER with in-OS flashing.

 

Check Page 339, I detailed a better way to update the BIOS. It's outside the Windows environment, though you still have to use WinFlash to initiate it, the computer reboots before WinFlash actually gets to run and it does it from a Flash Drive.

 

Minimized recovery isn't so bad. I thought clean install "sucked" and immediatley went to minimized recovery after messing around on clean install for awhile. I also believe mediasmart is actually not too bad for software... I have used it much more than I ever used Apple's iLife. iLife is completely overrated IMHO. Snow Leopard is completely overrated too IMHO. It could just be that I like tweaking, but in Snow Leopard some things HAVE to be done through the Terminal/Command Prompt. The only thing I have done with Command Prompt in Windows is run tools like powercfg. I guess it's all personal preference, but I like to be able to adjust things to make them "just work".

 

Okay so I just got my replacement's replacement and so far everything is good. Except for the touchpad. Is anyone else's touchpad making a noise when you tap? By noise I mean like any tapping noise.

When I tap on mine, it sounds like it's not so much as clicking but more than tapping, so to speak. It might be me cause I'm going from a dedicated touchpad to a HP combo touchpad.

Video for comparison to come.

EDIT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4_eJZhIjUc

 

by "leaking light" it means like....

well, the wallpaper is all black, am i correct? then, the screen SHOULD show all black. but since it is a low quality screen, you see the "light leakage" and distortion of the "all black" background. you see like a little glow that shouldn't happen; you SHOULD be seeing pure black

 

just ordered the german version... and im wondering if you can pop the keys on the chiclet keyboard. usually you can just pop a key out and replace it but does that also work on the envy's chiclet?

(thinking about switching the y and z keys only )

 

Yep my replacement laptop has the same exact issue (I RMA'ed my first and this replacement came in a week ago). It is really annoying because my first laptop didn't have this issue. I'm considering RMA'ing this one to try my luck on another one. This new laptop I received has a bunch of minor issues.

 

They did, or at least it's not under System Configuration on F.06.

I still haven't updated because I've got a clean install and right now I'm feeling like if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it and risk bricking =). Might try your method of updating though. Is the .7z method using winflash?

 

Ah, I see, thanks.

 

Thanks for the info! + Rep

Can I get minimized back after I clean installed (deleted HP TOOLS & RECOVERY) via the recovery DVD's? Or do the recovery dvd's not do this?

Also, once I've minimized install can I update BIOS with HP TOOLS and RECOVERY deleted without using the winflash method?

 

Yea, Im sending mine in becuas eit clicks a bit when tapping on the left side of the touchpad. Also sending it in for a keyboard replacement since the spacebar creaks a bunch and gets annoying

 

They should work. You may have to set the boot cd/dvd first, or try going to recovery manager at startup list with a disc inserted (follow minimized recovery instructions listed on page 1). Yes, the flash drive method works without the extra partitions (System partition is still required to boot Win 7 so don't get rid of it) but you don't need HP_TOOLS or Recovery partition. Essentially you are creating the HP_TOOLS partition on a USB flash drive. Pretty sure SD card will work too, I installed HP_TOOLS to SD and booted it last night, though I haven't tried BIOS update with SD card (I will try it when the next BIOS release comes out). Hope everything works out good for you.

 

Has anyone noticed that when you power up windows on battery, with intel graphics as default, maximum screen brightness is a step lower from the maximum when powering windows plugged in with AMD graphics as default? I noticed this only a couple of days ago on my E14. To add to the puzzle, switching to AMD graphics on battery in this scenario still keeps screen brightness a notch lower. I have to plug the laptop in and manually switch graphics again to return screen brightness to its normal maximum. When starting windows on power adapter, none of this happens. What may be the issue?

 

Which BIOS are you on?

 

downloaded F.12 A a few days ago. and when i say "powering up," i don't mean rebooting from sleep, but from shut down.

 

I don't seem to have the issue and I'm on F.06. It probably something they changed in the new BIOS to try and stretch battery life farther (really stupid though, as the user should be able to make that decision).

 

Dude. I rma'd my second unit for that very clickety clackety noise!

 

Did you get a replacement without the noise?

 

can anyone with newly updated BIOS check whether they too have the issue i describe above. thank you.

 

Replacement not received yet...

 

Ok. I'm thinking they might all come that way. Mine seems to do it, but when I tap lightly it doesn't. Do people normally tap that hard?

 

Mine is most noticeable when I three finger tap or two finger tap. Or when others use my computer and cant seem to grasp that it just needs a light touch to register.

 

Curious if anyone knows why there is a gray recessed rectangular box on the side of the Envy that's closest to the trackpad buttons. It's in the middle of the side where the Beats symbol is as well as the speaker grilles and card reader.

 

Bluetooth.

 

That wouldnt be a leak...On the video the person use a light and moving around to get the effect, well a leak is visible without doing that. I think its just brightness settings+lower quality screen which doesnt do good job in terms of black level. If you want to see how a CCFL leak..look at this.

 

Guys does anyone know how can i get an envy 14 keyboard in spanish? i got my envy but i would hate to keep the us keyboard =( no "ñ" or "áéíóú" without multi-key presses... can i buy one from hp us? or hp from another spanish-speaking country? or i can only get them as a warranty replacement???

 

Check the service manual posted somewhere on this forum (probably page 1), they had a lot of different keyboards that were available for order. I think a google search might also bring up the service manual that has the parts listed, I could be wrong though I know I saw a list of orderable keyboards somewhere.

 

first page has the service/maintenance manual.

in there is a part list.

you can buy the keyboard off of the hp parts store (but it's like $50 or something. might be $100, don't remember)

 

Anyone know what the HP ENVY 14t-1100 CTO Notebook PC is?

Did they already release a newer version?

I got mine a week back, but I think it is the HP ENVY 14t-1000 CTO Notebook PC

I saw this when I went to the Software & Driver Download section of the HP website and searched for the ENVY 14

 

thanks for the clarification =P.

what're the benefits of an update bios anyway? i only read that the battery life is longer. is that true?

http://h20180.www2.hp.com/apps/Nav?..._client=S-A-R163-2&h_page=hpcom&lang=en&cc=us

i think the 14t cto and the envy 14 beats edition are going to be future releases......

 

The benefits of this particular BIOS update is the inability to use your system recovery DVDs (sarcasm). I have voiced this fact to HP, so hopefully they will come up with an update to their update. This newest BIOS has listed as the enhancement "support for Intel's Anti-Theft technology" though I am not sure if there are other things they are trying to improve. Oh yeah, the ability to turn off the Lan power saving function so your lan will show up no matter what.

Edit: Some users in the battery life log forum for envy 14 said that the next (after f.12) BIOS update is supposed to address battery life issues. They said that they talked to HP on the phone, so I am hoping HP isn't blowing smoke up our butts...

 

Copying this from Paradise Lost thread for lack of any replies there in the last day:

My headphone jacks haven't been working for a few days. I suspect it's something I changed in the Beats/IDT Audio settings, but I'm not certain what it could be, since nothing stands out as causing the problem. I followed http://forum.notebookreview.com/5668647-post3614.html for the audio tweaks, and I don't recall the jacks working since then, though I didn't test them at the time. Basically, I plug in headphones or speakers, nothing changes on the IDT driver interface (not sure if the pictures of the jacks are supposed to show something plugged in, but they don't), nothing comes out of the speakers/headphones, and the onboard speakers continue like nothing is plugged in.

I know they worked before, as I have used headphones on the Envy before. I'm not certain when they stopped, but I assume it was when I applied JJB's tweaks, though I don't think I used the ports for a couple days before or after applying those settings. The other fairly likely possibility is the F.12 BIOS. However, I'm too lazy to go into troubleshooting mode until I've asked here if there's something simple I might have missed.

So, any ideas?

 

For some stupid reason, i cant swich graphic cards. If i press right click on back ground and press configure graphics, the mouse cursor has loading blue circle then it disspaers after few seconds. I also cant turn on CCC becuz when i run it cursor has loading bue circle that disappears few seconds later. is going on

 

I think you can use Windows Region and Language settings to change your keyboard layout to Spanish (though I'm not 100% certain if this works). It's worth a try, at least, as the replacement keyboards are quite expensive, and you could always put stickers on the keys to keep input consistent with what you see on the keyboard.

 

Try reinstalling your display drivers, it sounds like yours probably got corrupted somehow.

 

Have you tried the "restart runtime" option in the CCC folder under programs? What driver version are you on? HP has updated drivers on their website if your on the original factory drivers.

 

I just did system restore and now it works. Thanks anyways~

 

Gcrussel, have you looked around in the Beats audio. Check to make sure your headphone section isn't muted. It shouldn't be BIOS f.12 that's causing your headphone malfunction. I am on the same, all I got to test is a Bose accoustic wave, but I'm on the same BIOS and the Bose outputs sound when I hook it up.

 

Yes. Physical keyboard appearance has nothing to do with how the key inputs are interpreted by the operating system. Changing the keyboard layout in Windows will do the trick just fine.

If you don't like the keys not matching, though, then it's more of a cosmetic issue and you must ask yourself if you're willing to pay for it and install it yourself. I don't think stickers on a backlit keyboard would be a good idea

 

I finally recieved my replacement hard drive and back up cd's from hp. now when i try to use the CD's the recovery manager freezes up at 82%. I've tried it twice now, just leaving it at that screen for at least an hour

 

Does the replacement hard drive have a recovery partition?if not probably go with clean install route.

 

For the people with the new batch, is the battery life the same length as it was before? They changed their estimated length and I'm wondering if they changed the type of battery.

 

Not muted, unfortunately. Nothing in JJB's guide appears to be a potential problem, but would you or someone else mind looking through it (linked in my previous post) to see if there are any red flags? I really hope it's not a hardware issue - this is my only computer, which I have to use for work as well as at home, and I'm not sure that I trust HP China to repair the E14 on the international warranty, since it's not offered here, nor do I trust my language skills to explain the problem adequately to get a repair authorization. Maybe I could just walk it into the HP repair depot a few kilometers from here if I need to...

Well, stickers would prevent the backlight from showing up for a few keys, but I still say it's better than spending $110 to buy a brand new keyboard.

 

Has anyone opened up their LED casing? The reason I ask is because the light behind the HP logo on my Envy14 is not lined up. It doesn't bother me too much, but it is annoying when I do see it. An expensive, stylish PC laptop should look good right?

I already had to wait almost 4 weeks for them to switch out my LED with dead pixels and a faulty motherboard. I managed to survive in grad school without a personal computer for those 4 weeks, but classes are picking up. I rather spend 30 min to an hour adjusting it instead of waiting another 1-4 weeks and risk more travel damage to my unit.

I have some basic experience opening laptops, not the newer ones, so any help would be greatly appreciated. Or should I just wait until the end of the quarter (Nov 15) and send it in then?

Thanks.

 

I wish I had some dang headphones so I could check to see. The Bose is actually a bad way of checking I just thought, b/c it is plugged in. It COULD be a BIOS issue... have you looked in the sounds panel? See if you can't get the sound to output with the troubleshooting method. Make sure the device is enabled and so forth. You could also try downloading the audio off HP's website if you haven't already, installing/reinstalling that could maybe help or maybe system restoring to when they were working.

 

Maybe the service manual on Page 1 of the forum has the instructions. I have never disassembled a display before so I couldn't give any advice... sorry...

 

is there any harm in going back to the previous BIOS version, from f.12 to f.06?

 

There's always a potential risk flashing the BIOS. However rolling back isn't any more risky than rolling forward, so it should be ok.

 

Yeah thanks, I checked the service manual, it only showed how to remove the entire display assembly. I guess I will just have to live with it for now. At least it's just cosmetic and nothing more serious.