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

Hi Emillios

Couple of things I can think of.

1. To the left of your machine above the VGA port is the exhaust port. It draws air from the intake just below your TAB, Q,W keys. Make sure that neither is blocked. I did a backup using Acronis the other day and put the machine flat on the surface of my desk. Machine got really hot...picked it up and made sure nothing inhibited the airflow.
2. Make sure to turn Coolsense to either ON, newer version, or Coolest mode, older version.

See if either / both of these help. If the machine is starving for air, you will get heat issues. Sometimes coolers are a nice idea, but they don't distribute air to the proper place on your chassis.

 

If anyone is interested and still trying to troubleshoot wifi issues, I'm selling my Intel Ultimate N 633ANHMW card. I sold off my Envy recently and switched back in the stock wifi card for them in case they try and use the HP warranty repair. In the case of that laptop, the latest BIOS seemed to have fixed the wifi lockups. Sold it off since I'm looking into jumping to an Ivy Bridge macbook when they come out. So if you still have wifi issues and want to try a new wifi card, here ya go: Amazon.com: Used and New: Intel Ultimate N 633ANHMW IEEE 802.11n (draft) Wi-Fi Adapter - Mini PCI Express - 450Mbps, Bulk

 

I tried those two, but they only fix the problem just a little bit. it still goes over 90C. I also defragmented the disks, and installed all Windows and HP updates.

Also, there is something like a mechanical failure, when my laptop's sound goes static for about 1 minute and it stutters a LOT. How do I fix that?

Thanks,
Emilios

 

Bobmitch downgrading the BIOS helped, the videos/games dont lag anymore however the laptop is getting extremely hot feels like an oven!! And also the WiFi freeze issue has started again confused what to do

 

Make sure that Coolsense is set to ON or Coolest mode, depending on the version you have. Also make sure that the intake port isn't blocked (under the left hand side of your keyboard. When I do game, I have to keep my Envy on my Lap and make sure that the intake isn't covered...then the machne stays cooler. Kind of odd...but I can't find an effective cooling pad, either. Most people with the nine cell battery don't complain about this, because the battery raises the back end of the machine by about an inch...leaving a lot of air getting to the intake port

 

A question I posed a long time ago: and there may be later news on this, but.. it's really difficult to go back throught the forum...

Is there anyway to see youtube in 3D on the SB envy 3d laptop ?
Clearly it does not have an Nvidia card: but is there any work round?

I'm toying with getting a gopro 3d hero camera set up, and would lik to actually watch some 3d content first ! (I'm not into computer games at all), so also, are there any other sites on teh web that stream 3d video, in some way that you can actually watch it on the envy... ?

It feels really silly to have a 3D laptop that apart from gaming appears to have "the wrong card" from a standards perspective...

Mind you i love the laptop in all other ways- having had it 9 months or so--just bought my dad one in fact!

 

The only way that I am aware of would be to download the vid from youtube and playback through the Cyberlink PowerDVD or TriDef media player. They are both 3D playback compliant. Other than that...No. The good news is that any video you record and playback through Cyberlink or TriDef will play back in 3D if you choose.

 

so i have my envy hooked up to a extended monitor (Dell 1905fp) using a VGA cable. I want to be able to use the extended monitor in portrait mode using the integrated intel HD 3000 but for some reason it doesn't have that option available. When i am using my AMD graphics card I am able to use portrait mode on the extended monitor but the fan is too loud and annoying so thats why i generally just use my intel integrated card. Any suggestions? thank you

 

Just purchased a HP Envy 17-2070nr (see signature for specs) and am very excited! It's refurbished, but I got a screaming deal on it ($989!) from newegg. It is supposed to arrive May 14, and I already have big plans for it.

First, I want to thank Bobmitch and Gunny5821 for all of the advice they have dispensed in this thread over the past year. Good stuff from lots of other folks as well, of course, but I've been browsing through various sections of the thread and you two guys keep popping up! I feel like I have a much better understanding of my new Envy, so thank you!

So here is what I would like to do. At a minimum, I plan to dual boot Windows 7 and Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin) with a separate logical partition for shared storage. I'm confident in the basic mechanics of this, as my current dv6 has a similar setup (Windows 7, Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, shared storage). What I could use some feedback on is what impact the dual hard drives will have, as they are by default configured in RAID 0. Is the RAID configured at the motherboard level, and if so does that mean I can partition and otherwise treat it as a single hard drive? Or do I need to disable RAID in order to effectively implement dual boot?

As for switching from RAID to AHCI, I have read a number of posts that indicate difficulty/failure in getting Envy 17-2xxx machines to do so, that it isn't even an option in the bios. Is this still the case, or has anyone been able to get that to work yet?

More ambitiously, I am considering triple booting with Mac OS X Snow Leopard. However, I haven't found anyone who has successfully installed OS X on their Envy 17. Is this even possible? From what I've read about OS X installation to Intel machines in general, it requires AHCI, so if the answer to my above question is "no, the Envy 17 can't switch to AHCI" then I'm dead in the water here.

If anyone has insight into these issues, I would be very grateful. Also, any important things to watch out for in the initial setup would be appreciated. As I've browsed, I've noticed several references to backing up the SWSETUP folder, but I think that's just for 3D versions, right? Thanks in advance!

Edit: signature not displaying, so here are my specs:
Shipping - HP ENVY 17-2070NR | Intel Core i7 2630QM (2.00GHz) | AMD Radeon HD 6850M (1024MB GDDR5) | 6GB DDR3 RAM | 2 x 500GB 7200rpm HDD
Current - HP Pavilion dv6-2150us | Intel Core i3 i3-330M | Intel HD Graphics | 4GB DDR3 | 320GB 7200rpm HDD | Dual boot Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit and Ubuntu Lucid Lynx

 

@Bobmitch thanks a lot again
i have one small issue now after downgrading the bios the shortuts fn+esc & fn+b arent working and one more thing is that when i play games they work fine but after some time they start lagging and ill have to restart the system to get rid of the lag

 

Software & Driver Downloads HP ENVY 17t-2100 CTO 3D Edition Notebook PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)



As for the shortcut keys...try reinstalling Quicklaunch and software framework (under software solutions). Also check your coolsense settings. Set to Performance or OFF, depending on the version you have. That may help. Set to Coolest/On, Coolsense will throttle your CPU to control heat to a maximum...

 

Hello guys. My optical drive started not reading and burning DVDs, CDs are ok and I can't tell about reading a Blu-ray as I never tryed. I did my homework and found out it's a hardware issue, optical drive needed to be replaced. So since my Envy is still under warranty, I sent it in for repair. They replaced it and now both DVDs and CDs work just fine (still don't know about reading Blu-rays), BUT man when you insert a disc in it feels so different (in a bad way). I could tell they put a deffernt drive (feels cheaper). Too bad a forgot to check the model in Device Manager before I sent it. Now when I go to device manager it says "hp BD ROM BC-5600S", so please tell me what is yours. Thanks.

And yes, to make things more specious the laptop stayed with them really long and every time I called they told the part still didn't come. Then once they said that the part has finally come and then they told oh the part is not working and they ordered another one, they let me take laptop untill the part (second one) was received, which is the one currently installed in my Envy and feels bad but works. By bad I mean the mechanism that pulls the disc in is what is bad and also it requires a little force to insert.

 

My drive in my Envy 17 3D is BDDVDRW CA30P. It might be different because of the 3D element...

 

My Envy is 3D too. Thanks though, I knew it they gave me something different. Hope its not very bad.
Lets hear from other Envy owners, what is the name of your dvd/bd drive model under Device Manager?

 

DVDWBD TS-23BL is the model listed

 

Anyone successfully used windows media center with a cablecard tuner? I'm getting the dreaded display driver error the video playback device does not support playback of protected content

 

fabulous ! ty ... Given I've taken to downloading vids from youtube to watch that I like, this is a really helpful suggestion, as I just hadn't twigged to that great ! I'm happy now

 

My apologies if this has been asked before, but since I upgraded to bios F1.A to fix the freeze/wifi issue (now fixed) I notice that the brightness control buttons F2/F3 no longer function?

Anyone else noticed or got a fix please?

 

Well, brightness keys don't work for me because I use updated AMD graphics drivers. However, when I switch graphics to Intel's brightness keys work just fine and I do have that BIOS (F.1A). So check if keys work for you on Intel's. And BTW for me it always been like that even before that BIOS update, so I don't think the BIOS update is the cause of the problem.

Remember that you could always use Win+X to bring Windows Mobility Center where you can adjust brightness pretty quickly. That's what I do. Hope this helps.

Also, if you go to CCC (Right-click Desktop>Graphics Properties) you can customize Hotkey shortcuts from Preferences to toggle AMD graphics or Intel's. I use Ctrl+Alt+Shift+A to toggle AMD graphics and Ctrl+Alt+Shift+I to toggle Intel's. This is a very nice feature that everyone should be using it.

 

An update for anyone who may or may not ever end up in this situation... According to multiple forum sources at thegreenbutton.tv Our laptops may be connected internally via displayport and that is not HDCP compliant. Apparently it might be sometime in the near future but it isnt at this point.

I cant get it to switch between the graphics processors with a preset... I'm familiar with using it because I use it on my desktop but for some reason it wont switch between the graphics cards

 

I am running the F.1A bios as well, and my brightness hotkeys work fine. Since xZ71 says they work for him too, I think it is safe to say the bios update is not the problem. Check the other updates you applied around the same time.

On the last page, I inquired about the BIOS setting for switching from a RAID 0 configuration to AHCI. Due to the lack of response, I assume no one has posted a solution for this earlier in the thread (at least not that I could find). But I have good news, as I was able to blunder about until I figured it out! I created a guide to help anyone else who is interested. This probably applies to more than just the Envy 17. If so, someone please direct me to a more general thread to post this in as well (still new and unfamiliar with this forum).

The following guide is derived from my experience with my HP Envy 17-2070nr, Intel Core i7-2630QM, AMD Radeon HD 6850M, with the latest F.1A BIOS (InsydeH20 Setup Utility Rev. 3.5).

First, fair warning: Disabling your RAID 0 configuration will cause complete data loss! You will have to reinstall Windows (or whatever operating system is currently residing on the RAID 0 configuration). BACK UP your data! A fresh install is preferred, but if you choose to take an image of the system drive (as I did, with Acronis) you MUST ensure the AHCI drivers are enabled in the registry BEFORE you take the image or otherwise backup the operating system (see this guide from Microsoft support).

With that out of the way, here is how to disable RAID-0 and enable AHCI:

1. Enter the BIOS at boot by pressing F10.
2. Go to the System Configuration menu.
3. Enable the option for RAID OROM UI. Yes, enable it. This will not enable RAID (which is obviously already enabled), rather, it will make a user interface option appear during boot. This is where you will configure RAID/AHCI.
4. Save and exit the BIOS.
5. As the computer boots you will see a new screen flash (for me, only for a second, so you have to be fast!). Press Ctrl+I to enter the new menu, which is actually the "Intel (R) Rapid Storage Technology - Option ROM - 10.1.0.1008".
6. The menu lists 4 options: 1. Create RAID Volume, 2. Delete RAID Volume, 3. Reset Disks to Non-RAID, and 4. Recovery Volume Options (this is grayed out for me). (I have a screenshot, but the attachment manager isn't accepting my 406KB jpg for some reason.)
7. You want option 3. Reset Disks to Non-RAID. So arrow to it and hit enter.
8. Follow the instructions to select the RAID disks. WARNING: The instructions will tell you that while resetting the disk will cause data loss "This does not apply to Recovery volumes." This is a lie! If the recovery partition resides on the RAID disk (and it obviously does, as there are no other drives present) it will be lost. Fortunately, I had backed up the Recovery partition as well, so I didn't lose anything.
9. Hit enter and then Y to confirm.
10. Congratulations, your hard drives are now using AHCI.
11. The steps you take from here will vary depending on your situation (fresh install, restore system image, etc.). However, if in whatever option you pursue the tool does not see the hard drives or is unable to create partitions, etc., stop and perform the next step. In fact, I recommend doing this first regardless.
12. The hard drives are now a complete blank slate, no partitions, nothing but pure unallocated data. They need to be formatted. You can do this in any number of ways, but my preferred method is to simply boot from an Ubuntu live CD and use the Disk Utility (gparted also works). Select the drive, click format, and select the filesystem appropriate for whatever OS you plan to install. You could create partitions here, but your OS installation will probably require you to redo it anyway.

Hope this helps other frustrated Envy users out there trying to enable AHCI. I scoured the internet trying to find an explanation for how to do this, and finally had to blunder about until I figured it out on my own. The trick is focusing on turning off RAID, as the disks will then default to AHCI.

 

Bobmitch one last issue i need your help with everythings fine with the system except the dvd drive its not detecting any cd or dvd i tried re installing the drivers still no luck
sorry for troubling so frequently but how to fix this ???

 

CD/DVD/Blu Ray all have separate lasers. If you are not detecting CD / DVD, you may want to call HP about getting the drive replaced. Windows drivers for Optical drive will not effect the ability to read the different discs. Make sure that auto play isn't shut off. When you insert a disc and then check in "Computer" does it say anything?

 

Just finished swapping out the 5400 RPM Toshiba drives for a pair of Seagate Momentus XT 7200 RPM hybrid drives. The performance is impressive.

 

Ok, I am now second-guessing whether I actually enabled AHCI when I reset my disks to non-raid, per the guide I posted above.

Is there a way to check which setting is enabled, or a bios version that gives it as an option (was using F.1A, now trying F.18)?

I'm second guessing because I'm getting an error when I try to install Mac OS X Snow Leopard that the hackintosh forums say is usually caused by having IDE enabled instead of AHCI. I don't need help with the SL installation here (getting that from the tonymacx86 forum), but I would appreciate it if someone could help me understand how AHCI/IDE works on our HP Envy 17s.

Thanks in advance!

Edit: never-mind, used the search-thread function and found the answer (on page 670 for anyone else who wants to look). So I am definitely in AHCI mode just by turning RAID off, now to figure out how to get SL to install...

 

Appreciate the reply. Thanks for the CCC hotkey idea that works ok. Now for some reason I cannot recreate the brightness F2/3 failure to work problem. I am not sure why they started working again, so perhaps not BIOS related. I do have a new problem now though, not related, next post...stay tuned!!

 

New problem, really would like ideas on this?

Whenever I plug in an external display via VGA port the display does not turn on. I have a Samsung LD220 external display that will only run off the USB and when using VGA shows a dark display that blanks out whenever I try an open a window on screen. I also have a DELL screen and that shows nothing and displays switching to low power mode when I plug in the VGA cable.

I am wondering if this is a hardware fault with VGA port? Is there any software I can use to fix or check the VGA port output on the ENVY 17?

Really appreciate any ideas guys..this happens in both graphics modes (high power and power saving). About a month ago when I last tried the external displays worked ok. Laptop is still under warranty but I am traveling overseas and so busy to send to HP for next few months.

 

are you saying f2/f3 are working now? if they are not then i think that because you updated your graphics card from amd but you should still have them to work whenever you switch to intel graphics. i did explain that previously. again dont forget the win+x idea its pretty convenient to use.

 

i realy dont know how to troubleshoot your problem but i think its probably a hardware issue. maybe you should check with hp you still under warranty right?

 

Has anyone had problems with certain keyboard keys either not responding at all or repeating really fast (example: "jjjjjjj" from one short press)?

At first I assumed it was a BIOS issue, since the problem appeared both in Windows and in pre-boot situations (like recovery tools) and in a live version of Ubuntu. But I have now tried the F.1A and F.18 bios versions (in addition to the one it shipped with, which I think was F.15) and the problem persists.

I have noticed that it is always the same 6 keys, grouped together: YU from top row, HJ from middle, and NM from bottom. Is this a good indication that it is a hardware problem with the keyboard itself?

If so, what do you think my best option is? I purchased this Envy from Newegg as a refurbished unit for $989 (but they don't have any more of this model in stock, unfortunately). HP does provide a 90-day warranty on refurbished units, so should I try to get HP to send me a replacement keyboard? Or would I be better off returning the whole thing to Newegg (30-day return policy) and using the credit to get something similar?

 

Yes, I'm thinking hardware as well and massively disappointed if true as this is the third and will be FINAL ENVY I ever buy as all THREE have ended in tears with hardware faults. I have been using laptops for 20 years and never experienced faults like this ENVY product line before. I have been seduced by the ENVY good looks but unfortunately the hardware faults are a joke.

Yes I am under warranty, which was already 3 months old after arrival from Amazon in November, but I am always traveling outside of the US so getting a repair / replacement is completely inconvenient.

Ah well, time to go and bash my head against a brick wall.

On a side note, I still have another bricked ENVY 17 (1010NR) which had a working VGA port before the graphics card failed - do you think the part can be swapped into the current ENVY 17 (2280NR) to make the VGA port work again or is it all built into the motherboard?

 

First of all, thanks to Bobmitch for the directives on how to do a "clean install", it fully worked with no difficulties....except for a problem with the backlit keyboard, it did not work again.
My envy 17 (intel 2630, 12 gb ram, atiradeon hd6850, 2 hdds 750 each came with w7 professional with sp1 included) suffered a "critical malaware infection" so I had to do a clean reinstall. I did it with a w7 ultimate 64 bits (no sp 1 included), and with the directives indicated by Bobmitch, and all went ok. I've also installed all HP drivers, but I could not find anyone related with the backlit keyboard.
I search over several forums, and apparently it does not need any driver.
Any ideas on how to make the backlit work again ????

Thanks in advance !!!!!!

 

The backlit keyboard is hardware. Under the keyboard are two ribbon cables. One about an inch wide and the second is about 1/8 inch wide. The smaller cable is for power to the keyboard light. Sounds like you may require a keyboard replacement, which IS covered by your AT HOME warranty. Call HP and have them send a technician...

 

Looks like my keyboard issue got orphaned as the last post on the previous page.

Bob, do you think the following describes a hardware problem?

 

Yes...I think it's a hardware issue. Third gen Envy's had skipping keyboard and a few others due to bios issues...not second. Make sure to download the Envy replacement manual and it will explain how to replace the keyboard. You might also think about talking to an agent about warranty extension. There are two ribbon cables, as I explained earlier...be very careful when replacing.

 

Thanks, Bobmitch! I've had to replace a keyboard before, so I'm not afraid of the technical challenge (this one actually sounds relatively easy), but I just can't bring myself to go down that route on a brand new computer. Also, a Newegg rep said if I get HP to replace the keyboard I will not be able to get a return/replacement/refund. So I'm RMAing through Newegg and will just get a whole new machine.

It's a hassle, and I've really enjoyed playing with it for the week I've had it (HD content is simply amazing on the display!), but I think this is best for the long-term.

 

Can a VGA port output failure on my ENVY 2280NR be attributed to wrong graphics drivers or is it hardware fault only do you guys think? What is recommended driver? I'm using 8.820.5.1000 ATI Technologies Inc. Is that what I should use?

Any help much appreciated as I was hoping to use this machine for a presentation next week and now it don't work!

 

Bobmitch I checked with different discs CDs are working BLANK DVDs are working but DVDs with data on them dont seem to be reading

 

what about writing or burning to those blank dvds. are able to do that? your problem seem similar to what happened to my drive, except that my drive was able to do everything to cds and nothing to dvds not even blank ones and that led to drive replacement. i think your dvd lazer lens went south and you need to replace the drive just like me. mine was under warranty so hp replaced it for me. let us know what happens. good luck.

 

Hey all i have a little problem

I am having an issue while playing Diablo 3. I think it is my CPU usage that raises to very high % and my game starts laggin a lot. Also the air intake and sorry if it aint right "outtake" is also on heavy work, it really runs with high speed and i think that i why my game starts to run VERY slow.

Any help?
It is a Envy 17 3d-2090eo i have.
Thanks all

 

My power supply is now beeping. Does that mean its going out? It doesnt charge while beeping. The consensus of the internet is that it means the supply needs to be replaced.

Is that the consensus of this forum?

BTW hitting it on a table made the beeping go away and now it's working again.

 

Is everyone using HPs downloadable 8.820.5.1000 ATI Technologies Inc. graphics card driver or is there some issues with it?

 

At this point, even using a modified Kernel it's a no go to install SL or Lion to our envys. (experienced hackintosher here).

My envy does dual boot Ubuntu 12.04 and windows. Ubuntu is basically worthless for a stupid reason. You cant at this point switch graphics cards between the discrete and built in graphics. I've done every #$^#$&@ tutorial to enable it and it's just not possible. Not being able to switch graphics cards your envy will always run with the discrete card so it will eat battery and possibly overheat.



I'll post the best way to do this for me step by step:

1. before you even install a single update for your new envy, download acronis and image the system to an external drive

2. delete the raid setup from the bios of the RAID controller (control I or control J during bootup)

3. Fresh install windows to the non-RAIDed drives.

4. install all updates to windows

5. open disk management, and shrink the amount of space used for the windows installation. dont worry about partitioning the drive at this point.

6. download easy BCD while you're in the windows installation EasyBCD - Take control of your boot loader | NeoSmart Technologies

7. I'm assuming you already installed Ubuntu onto a flash drive, but if not, download universal USB installer and do that. Universal USB Installer – Easy as 1 2 3 | USB Pen Drive Linux

8. boot to the USB drive and use the free space on the drive you installed Windows to for a installation location of Ubuntu.

9. It's very likely ubuntu will see your documents and data from windows and ask you if you would like to install ubuntu to the drive alongside windows.

10. Ubuntu will ask you if you would like to bring along all your documents from windows. I would say no and just access them from a GUI documents folder.

11. Download the boot fixer for ubuntu, I dont remember the name off the top of my head Edit: apparently it's just called boot repair, but when you do, DONT LET IT APPLY THE MOST COMMON FIXES like it will try to do. Just have it rewrite the MBR.

12. Boot back into windows.

13. Using EasyBCD add an option for a new linux installation and it will automatically see where it is. Go to advanced options and write the BCD.

14. Now you should be able to boot back to ubuntu or windows from the windows boot manager.

 

wow Turnout I just read your thread on tonymac (that's the site I built a couple different hackintoshes from as well) I cant believe you got it to boot.

I tried 10 ways to sunday to try to get a hackintosh out of either of my envys and it never even came close to working.

The closest I got was using a modified Kernel and my Envy 15.

 

Get it replaced immediately! The last thing you want is the PSU to go out and take your motherboard and everything with it. Best to get the PSU replaced and not the entire rig...Call HP. The PSU is one part where you don't have to worry about sending it back...they should just send you a new one. Banging it on the table may be causing more damage...

 

A few of us tried them and got a black screen when finished. Notice on your product page that they are NOT listed. They simply didn't work

 

Try flashing your bios back to f.18 if you can. The f.1A is known for causing LAG. Also...while the machine is stone cold...blow out the intake (underneath) and output ports with canned air. Dust accumulates and can cause excessive heat

 

Thanks! I only have one question then : How do i do it And do you have a link, please

 

Get f.18 here:

Software & Driver Downloads HP ENVY 17t-2100 CTO 3D Edition Notebook PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

Simply download and run the file. It should overwrite your current bios

Let me know how you do...

 

I have now installed the BIOS, but the game still lags, and it still sounds like the computer i working way to hard than it is supposed to