*HP ENVY 17 & 17 3D (2XXX series) Owners Lounge*

I'm coming into this a little late, but based on what I recall, I think you have several issues which we might not be able to deal with.

1. If you perform the restore and the only problem is the "OS not found" error, then the raid fix document floating around will work fine. Even though we reference it as a raid fix document, it came about because a bunch of us were disabling raid when HP erroneously raid'ed the SSD to the HDD in a dual drive system. The actual fix involving FIXMBR and FIXBOOT switches has NOTHING to do with RAID technology. Personally the need to do this is a flaw of the HP restore process and only a code fix will ever resolve it. However, the fix to re-enable your boot-up from this issue is relatively simple. Even if you can't get the HP restore disk to give you the option to repair the HDD, you can easily download a windows 7 ISO and burn a normal copy of the DVD to use for recovery purposes.

2. If the recovery freezes at some percentage during the restore, this is most likely a problem with either the software or hardware that cannot be resolved by anybody here.

3. The relative size of the disk shouldn't matter when restoring as long as you don't put in a small SSD (like 40-60GB might be pushing it). I restored my original "320GB' system to a single 160GB SSD and other than the OS not found issue, it worked fine using the recovery DVD's I made from the laptop when it first arrived. As for disks HP sent you, I can only imagine that they sent you the right disks for your model. Chances are high that you can't use a Pavilion DV7 disk on an Envy 17 without running into problems.

Good luck

 

I agree with Cam121...use the RAID guide and it will fix your Master Boot Record (MBR). Sending your machine back to HP for repair could be asking for trouble. Try using your own recovery disks...If you have a copy of Windows 7, use that and get yourself to a recovery console. If you have another machine with Win7 on it...use the utility to create a repair disk...that might also work for you...

 

btw, even if one is not familiar with command-line prompts (or DOS for those old enough to admit it), don't let this guide scare you. its basically very simple;

1. find a way to load enough of the OS via the optical drive so you can get to the commmand line shell prompt, which looks like this: "c:>"

2. manually execute two commands to repair the master boot record on drive C:
c:> BootRec /FixBoot
c:> BootRec /FixMbr

 

I'v been using a Drobo for the past year now, I love the fact that when i start to run out of space i can just push in another drive and get more -> or replace a small one with a biger one, on the fly

 

I have the DS-211 (non-J) model. The thing is fast as hell and its a little overkill for what I need now. Its a great nas unit!

 

Ok time for an update, Well I must say that I have really been blown away by HP's tech support. I have read many negative things about them but the people I have spoken with have been incredibly helpful. At the beginning of this whole fiasco, since recovery disks were on back order and they were going to take 20+ days to ship, my case manager had the idea of over night shipping me a HDD since they include recovery disks in the box. I was excited that I would be restored relatively quickly and the laptop would be in working order again. Unfortunately however like I stated in earlier posts, several tries of restoring my computer did not work and I thought I was going to have to send it in/ return it. Fortunately for me, my case manager had another great idea, try installing the HDD that she shipped to me and then using the recovery disks. I was skeptical but on the first try (after several hours) it worked! Hooray! The only drawback was the laptop shipped with 2x640 GB 7200 rpm while the one I was shipped separately was only 500GB. I have almost no interest in waiting longer to use this machine and I told the woman that and she offered me the 2 year accidental damage protection plan (I only took the standard warranty) and I must say that that sounded quite fair to me... Now I just have to run all of these windows updates and such, so again thanks very much to everyone who tried to help me with my problems in any way, I know I wasn't very clear about them...

 

great follow-up bacnation, sounds like you have a good resolution! and if memory serves you didn't want RAID 0 anyway, and prefered separate C: and D: drives, right? so right now you have:

1. a 500 GB in drive C:, newly/recently shipped from HP
2. a 640GB 7200 in drive D, one that came shipped in that position
3. an extra 640GB 7200 laying around, probably with a corrupted master boot record

sorry if I got it wrong...

 

Yup thats completely correct and no I did not want RAID anymore, I was just a little bummed about losing the 140 GB but its not a huge deal, external HDDs are so cheap I'd rather have this up and running now and expand later... I was also wondering, is that other 640GB HDD junk now?

 

Your hard drive is not "junk" due to a bad bootsector. You can take that extra one and put it in an external enclosure to turn it into an extra drive (you'll need to format it) or you can use imaging software to move your 500GB filesystem to the 640GB drive or put it aside as an extra drive.

 

Okay..have a little time to do some testing yesterday and do a 2nd look of the Envy. Beside minor cosmetic issue (gap on the right side, slightly raised cover on the bottom left) which I believe most of you guys probably have as well but might not notice it, it seems to be this is 2100 model. My BIOS version is F13.

Ran 3D mark to see how it performs roughly with stock driver, came out like 1900. Not sure if this is normal or not. Not able to identified the RAID drive through BIOS, but I believe it was 7200RPM. Will install everest later on to make sure. I tried to see if any bloatware that I can removed, doesnt seems to be any.

3D and all ports were working, havent test the bluray drive. I might postponed the SSD upgrade, to me the RAID 0 setup seems snappy enough for now.

 

I agree with bacnation about the customer service. I had the BSOD rebooting issue (i made a seperate thread on here). I contacted HP's support 3 times total, the 3rd person wanted me to send it in and they overnighted me a box. They called me while as at work just checking up if I received the box and if i had any questions, i mentioned to the guy I was at work and i'll ship the laptop later tonight. While packing the laptop I received another call from HP asking if I have received the box and if I shipped it yet. I stated no, and they offered a new upgraded* laptop for free and all I have to do is send my defective unit within 2 days of the receipt of the new one. I agreed and Im waiting for the new unit. The new unit has 2x640gb vs 2x500gb and a 2.3ghz Quadcore vs the 2.0ghz QC.

 

Can you please tell me a little bit more about the throttling issue? like:
-Is this happening to all Envy 17 3D (SB)?
-Is there any fix to it?
-How do I know if I have this issue?
-Does returning the laptop for a good one work?

On the NAS topic, i'm not sure exactly what I want (NAS or simple external usb HDD)... but these are my needs:

- Network backup (I lost my previous external HDD before and I do not want that to happen to me again)
- Remote (internet - anywhere) access to my files (resume, music, movies, picture, Quickbooks files, etc.)

....I think with the Synology DS211J I should be able to do that, does somebody else has any recommendation?

 

I run FreeNas on junk hardware. I strongly recommend mirrored zfs pairs over zfs-raidz or any other raid options.

 

What is the model number of your computer? Hp Support Assistant -> Learn -> More Information -> Product Number

 

Based on all that I have seen here in the past few months, it appears that all Envy 17 / Envy 17 3D are effected. It mainly happens when you run CPU and GPU (the AMD One...no throttling with the Intel GPU)...at heavy load.

As far as a fix...right now Throttlestop has given us all the ability to stop the throttling altogether.

To see if you have the issue, follow the directions in this thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/575817-hp-envy-17-sb-throttling-test.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/577420-envy-17-3d-sb-throttling-fix.html


I have written a small guide to show you how to use Throttlestop to your best benefit...you can see it here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/579857-running-throttlestop-envy-17-sb.html

Returning the machine and getting another will not fix the issue. Some of us believe that it is a setting that HP put into the bios, as to protect the Envy from Thermal problems. HP is not the only company with these issues...Asus G73/G53 models also throttle.

The only way we will get HP to do something about this is to make them aware in numbers, that the issue needs fixing. I passed on to someone at HP, who sent to engineering and R & D. Hopefully we get a bios fix that takes care of this. So far, it looks as though Alienware is the only system builder who as addressed this.

 

Trader05, do you think that one of my HDD (2 x 640gb @ 7200rpm) from my Envy 17 3D fit in the Synology DS211J ?

 

Thanks Bobmitch for your information... I'll check my babe ASAP (that's this friday.. )

 

well I don't see any evidence out on the hpshopping site that 21xx's are shipping, but If yours is a 21xx, then you'll have Win7 SP1 pre-installed, the optical playback software will be CyberLink PowerDVD, and you'll have CoolSense 2.0 pre-installed!

 

I thought I was done with all the updating but it seems that after every restart, there are at least 3 more updates to download so I was wondering about two updates specifically. First there is an ati update for the 6850M which says it was released 5/11/2011. The problem I have with this updates is I have tried it twice both times it seems to render the ati graphics unusable, (the screen wont work accept with intel graphics) and when I booted into safe mode it said that there was no driver when I tried to open the catalyst control center. Because of all of this I had to do a microsoft recovery back to the original driver and all is good for now. The other one I was wondering about is the wireless driver. Is the latest update stable because I have read about the freezing that has occured due to it so I rolled back to the 13.0..... driver (forgot the specific number) and I was wondering if I should stick with it for now.

Sorry for plastering this forum with questions, I guess I am just pretty bad with this laptop...

 

bacnation...

NEVER download video drivers from Windows update. They always mess your machine up. MS has no idea whatsoever how to write video drivers. Best bet is to hide the update permanently. Get the most up to date switchable graphics drivers here:

AMD High-Definition Graphics Driver HP ENVY 17t-2000 CTO 3D Edition Notebook PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

Wireless drivers here:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...dlc=en&cc=us&os=4063&product=5069367&sw_lang=

 

Yes, it should work fine. Im pretty sure it comes with a 2.5" to 3.5" bracket for the laptop hard drives.

 

OK...placed the order today...
So by this time next week, I should have an Envy in my hands....

I'm a bit worried because of the throttling issues...but we will see.

 

Huh? You ordered today and you'll have it next week? Is this a quick ship model then? Did you try to use the 25% coupon code: SUMMER25 that is not meant for the Envy?

KJ

 

Yeah, I ordered a quickship Envy (2070NR) with 2 day shipping. So hopefully it will go out tomorrow....and I'll have it as early Tuesday.....but it should be here no later than Thursday.

I did use a coupon...but it was from a Sandy Bridge return.

I should have tried to land an X-Box out of it as well...but I didn't want to press my luck.

 

Very cool! I am sure you will love it. Don't forget to run Crimsoned's Throttle test and fix afterwards. Glad you'll be part of the Envy family afterall.

KJ

 

FYI

A few pages back I couldn't get Coolsense 2.0 to load, I was stuck on 1.0 no matter what I tried. I kept getting an error saying that a installer package didn't finish and to restart the computer and try again.

I accidentally discovered the solution, in case anyone else runs into the same issue. I tried a ton of stuff, but the final solution was that as I was going down the list of updates needed for my new Envy, I hadn't yet updated the Bios to F.08.

I finally gave up on Coolsense, and just updated the ATI drivers and the bios. After restarting, I gave Coolsense another try. The first time I clicked the .exe file it gave me different options from before. It now asked if I wanted to repair or remove coolsense. I removed it, and then ran the install coolsense package file and it immediately loaded 2.0 onto my computer.

So it looks like the final solution is that you can't update to Coolsense 2.0 if you are still on Bios F.07.

 

Good find, thanks.

P.S. Gotta love all these small technicalities.

KJ

 

nicely done Marcus2137!

 

Also, dlleno, I don't think I said welcome back from your hiatus.
Jose, hope you're Envy is great...I want to hear good news.

Mine was delayed until 6/6/11...I called today again, said they are giving it some attention and maybe it might be ready by 5/28/11 in a couple days, but that is a Saturday, so who knows.

KJ

 

KJ -- not to worry yes you did! Alas, now that the refreshed Envy14 clickpad is about to get some exposure, I'm pretty interested to see the reports there. I'll just have to keep hovering about, here, in hopes to see the Envy 14's succesful clickpad update on the Envy 17! good work all you guys, on the throttling. I just wish my corporate-controlled firewall would allow access to techinferno...

 

Thanks guys. It's possible that the issue just got fixed when the Bios was upgraded and it's just a coincidence, but it definitely seemed like it was the Bios update that let coolsense update, and it makes sense if you think about it since the bios.07 came out long before the coolsense 2.0.

I don't have the skills or knowledge to contribute as much as many of you guys do, but now that I have my Envy, I hope I can chip in every now and then and help out. It's amazing how much you can learn by hanging around this forum, I can't imagine trying to figure out a lot of these early glitches on my own. Thanks for all the hard work guys.

On a side note, I was just trying out some 3D gaming (Dirt 2), and I've noticed that sometimes it bogs down and other times it's as smooth as butter, without any pattern. I watched my Realtemp log today and confirmed that it was definitely throttling at the same time the game would bog down, even with coolsense 2.0 now installed. So I fired up throttlestop with Bobmitch's recommended settings already set up and played some more. The realtemp log with throttle stop running showed no throttling and the game never bogged or stuttered at all.

So, until (IF) HP offers a fix, here is another very positive throttle stop recommendation as a workaround.

 

Whoa Killa Joe, how long has it been delayed now? 2 months or something?

 

I've been messing around with this as well. Check out Throttlestop 3.0 if you haven't already.

I was having sudden power downs when stressing with 6850 but they stopped with CS 2.0 installed. I don't mind the throttle if it is necessary. Still testing but CS seems very bug ridden, better than the old version though.

 

very nice report Marcus2137 what are your temps like?

 

Just finished Medal of Honor using TriDef to play the entire single player mission in 3D with shutter glasses. I have to tell you...the single player is only about 7 hours long...but well worth it. As far as the TriDef...when you look down the sites of your long range weapon...it is an incredible experience. KJ once talked about Call of Duty Black Ops the same way. You can pick up the game for under $15 download from Amazon software. Well worth it. TriDef runs 3D DX9 mode...single player and DX10 multi...

It will show what your Envy can do...

 

Well, I orginally ordered in November 2010, and returned several Envys for various reasons. Yes, I've been at this over 7 months. I posted a brief note that I returned the latest one due to the gaps and a smashed in right side *not good*...as much as I wanted to keep it, its unacceptable. Anyway, the replacement was due to ship 5/20/11....they missed the date, and a few days later received HP's love letter telling me its delayed due to product contraints.

I called to ask what the contraint was, no one was able to tell me. I asked straightforward if it was due to the lack of SSD drives since HP took that option off a week or so ago. I was and still am concerned that HP will not install an SSD drive, but I hope they will still honor the SSD specs. They delayed it for 6/6/11....I called today and was told they have "people" working on it.... so maybe it will be complete on the 28th *2 days from now* but no mention if my SSD will be there.... Will update when I get more info.

P.S. Kinda sad, but I'm living my Envy dreams through you guys...and hearing how you are all enjoying your Envy.

KJ

 

Ok, just checked, its still $15, nice.
Bobmitch, glad you enjoyed it.

KJ

 

KJ -- maybe you will get a 21xx model!

 

Lol, seriously...let's just make it an Ivy Bridge already.


KJ

 

Update: I just received this email from HP's Customer Relations Team in response to my email query as to why my Envy is delayed and my concern of the lack of SSDs in today's specs...but wanting to know if I'll still get my SSD as ordered way back...


Hello Nathan, (Yes, that be my name, but I still prefer KJ on the web )

I received your e-mail asking for the reason that your laptop is being delayed.
We have been working through some product constraints due to the catastrophe in
Japan. It has created a huge supply chain break that we have for the most part
worked through. I do apologize because of the delay to your product.

I also wanted to verify that all the specifications on your order will indeed be
the way the computer will be built and delivered.

I thank you for your continued patience with us as we finish and ship your
laptop. Please look for the e-mail notification of shipping as the 6/6 date is
one we are working hard to beat.


Regards,
Andrew
Customer Relations Team

Believe it or not, its nice to get a response from a "live" person at HP rather than a generic robot email. I am confident it will arrive sooner than June 6th...and pray in great condition.

KJ

 

I am sure that they will honor the specs as you ordered it. Andrew seems like a pretty straight shooter...I wouldn't worry...

 

Wow, I cannot believe you have been waiting that long KJ. That is AWFUL.

I gotta say.....Quickship is the way to go (especially with 2 day shipping). A few hours after I ordered...I checked on my status....and it was already marked shipped with a tracking number.

I ordered on Thursday.....and it will be here on Tuesday (with Monday being a holiday). I might have Fed Ex hold the shipment...and I can go scoop it up during lunch on.

 

New Envy... New Issues?

I just received a replacement Envy 17 3D for a bad unit that was giving me random BSODs. This unit seems to have worse throttle issues than the previous unit. In fact, it actually throttles to well below 800MHz when just running Prime95. It is using Cool Sense 2.0 (which I have tried in all three modes, auto, on and off with no detectable difference).

HP Support Assistant is reporting Product Number LM126AV (was XG360AV on the previous unit). I gather this is a new 2100 series unit (just guessing at the moment though).

Some more interesting details (as reported by HWINFO32):
BIOS Rev is F.13
OS is Windoews 7 SP1
Motherboard Chipset is now reporting Intel HM67 (Cougar Point) B3 <-----

I also upgraded to Raid 0 dual 640GB 7200 rpm drives from a single 750GB 5400 rpm drive. I was expecting my Windows Experience score to increase from the 5.9 I was getting with the 5400 rpm drive, but it stayed the same.

I don't even know where to start figuring out what is going on. So many things are different on this unit.

Any thoughts on what is going on?
Thanks

 

I noticed throttling below the 800 MHZ mark with Coolsense 2.0 as well. That is primarily why I uninstalled it and went with Coolsense 1.0 from my download page. Looks like there is a new build out. Odd that you should see B3 chipset rev. I was told that they left it B2 to fool the installation disks...whatever...supposedly as long as we have serial numbers higher than 108 as the first three of the four digits after the CNF...then all should be good. Try uninstalling Coolsense 2.0 and if need be go to the

Software & Driver Downloads HP ENVY 17t-2000 CTO 3D Edition Notebook PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

page and get the HP Assistant for this model. Listed under utility and tools. It has Coolsense 1.0 in it. Make sure to set to performance

 

Did it ship with Bios F13? I guess they are bringing out an update from the current F08 soon then.

 

Thanks Bobmitch.

Before dropping back revisions (which I am not sure will be compatible with this version of the Envy), I wanted to try Cool Sense 2.0 with Prime95 in log mode. I need to retract part of what I said previously since it appear that Cool Sense 2.0 did make a difference.

I have attached a log file from Real Temp 3.67 for your review.

The first ramp up is with Cool Sense 2.0 set to "ON". Prime95 is started (at around 20:43:24) and the temps rise, the clock is cut way back (all the way to 798.21 MHz), and then climbs slightly to 997.77 MHz ate stays fairly steady after that (at around 20:44:14).

The second ramp up is with Cool Sense 2.0 set to "OFF". Prime95 is started again at around 20:47:05. The temps rise to a max of 97 where the clock is then reduced to around 2.3 GHz, where it stayed fairly constant after that (and temps stayed below 90). The ambient temp in the room was around 80 degrees F (Core temps in degrees C).

So it would seem that Cool Sense 2.0 might be doing something afterall, at least on the latest Envy Platform.

View attachment RealTempLog3.txt

 

yes this is a model 2100! But the manual posted out there is the old (2000 model). I hope that changes soon

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c02772484.pdf

btw, per the manual, the model 2000s have the HM67 chipset...

I did notice they are allowing i5 processors. I didn't see that before

 

Apoxxx - yes, the new unit shipped with BIOS F.13.

dlleno - the difference is in the stepping. My previous Envy reported B2, and the new unit is reporting B3. It may be the same HM67 chiplet in both, but the new BIOS may be able to report it correctly now.

I tried Cool Sense 2.0 "OFF" with Prime95 and then also started Furmark. My Core clock dropped like a rock from 2.3 GHz down to 797 MHz, so I gather the updates to Cool Sense 2.0 still do not allow a simultaneous heavy load on the CPU and GPU. Too bad, since the temps dropped down into the 70 range with both running. There was plenty of headroom to allow the temps to rise some and still allow the CPU clock to increase out of the cellar.

I still don't understand the Windows Experience disk scores being the same for a 750 GB 5400 rpm drive versus a raid 0 configured dual 640 GB 7200 rpm drives (both scoring a 5.9). Are others with these configurations seeing the similar scores?

 

Wow, guess they've been doing a lot internal work then since the revision has gone up 5 steps. But if it still doesn't take care of throttling, I don't see the point of it.

 

good observations jgt_fz6 jgt_fz6. AS crimsoned and bobmitch have contributed their observations, I would say the strength of evidence is turning sharply against the notion that coolsense 2.0 helps throttling. but your observations are interesing. I note that for this BIOS to help, it had to have been developed many weeks ago and as such doesn't really have a chance of addressing the throttling issues, at least in my view.

maybe they fixed the RAID 0 issue, where its just too easy to corrupt the master boot record