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

Okay, I'm at work, finally with a chance to play with my new Envy. (I cancelled all my afternoon obligations; they can wait. ) But, sadly, my 2TB are set as Raid0. I'm showing one drive at 1.79 TB and the recovery drive at 20 GB. So first things first...I copied the entire swsetup directory to a flash drive. Next, I'm going to create my recovery DVDs. Finally, I'm going to attempt to go through the steps of separating this Raid0 and restoring everything.

Cross your fingers...

 

I reported this issue to HP about a month ago. Sent them Cam121 situation as documentation and more. They passed it on and supposedly fixed it...was hoping so until Virtua reported the issue yesterday. I will believe it when my machine gets here on Friday. Until then...I am prepared to spend most of Friday fixing the situation...Ugh!

 

I know we went down this road before, but if I were you, I'd keep them RAID0 (striped). The space numbers are correct.

 

STOP!!!! From previous posts, that is normal for 2x1TB to be in RAID 0, unless you don't want that for some reason? They should perform well.

Ths issue we have is with the SSD/HDD in RAID 0.

KJ

 

Good luck, it's really an easy fix considering all the other things that can go wrong with a laptop. My heart goes out to Apoxxx in this regard.

 

Would you share the phone number?

Thanks

 

Your setup sounds correct. Are you sure you want to break up the RAID array??? Yours is done right...

 

KILLA JOE, great post, very informative. Thanks for making the call as it was on behalf of all of us guys with the SSD +HDD. Im glad to hear the supervisor thinks its been corrected. Im pretty sure you ordered before me so if your laptop isnt configured with RAID0 than mine wont be either. Im praying it isnt because we obviously cant stay with it that way and I really dont wanna go thru a complete restore. HP is really a piece of work. If it isnt one thing its another with these guys. This is why they need to make their stuff in AMERICA. HELLOO!!!!!

 

I hope he really was Resolutions, lol.

His name is Rowley. Phone: 1-888-227-8451

I suppose it won't be a bad idea to have one guy we can all complain too. He is going to hate me.

KJ

 

Would it make sense to run the System Diagnostics "to determine whether your hardware is functioning properly" as one of the first things you do when you receive your system?

This is probably a stupid question but again is the hard disk test appropriate for a solid state drive?

 

Hey all I have been following this form for about a month now. I ordered the Base not thrills (besides the laptop its self) I am planning on putting in my own SSD Drive. I ordered it on the 3/25 and received it today. My ship date was 4/12. So I was excited to get it early. I did get HPA discount plus another $250 off after that last coupon when I called and told them I would cancel if they could not match the coupon. So in total I got $410 off . But after opening the box I found physical damage to the laptop its self . It’s minor damage to the front edge of the case and some chips on the cover to the HDD compartment. Now I have to call them and see what they will do to replace it.

Envy 17 3D
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• No Additional Office Software
• 2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2630QM (2.0 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.9 GHz
• 1GB Radeon(TM) HD 6850M GDDR5 Graphics [HDMI]
• 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• 1TB 5400RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
• 6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (standard) - Up to 2.25 hours of battery life +++
• 17.3" diagonal Full HD HP 3D Ultra BrightView Infinity LED Display (1920x1080)
• Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
• HP TrueVision HD Webcam
• Intel 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R)
• Backlit Keyboard
• Adobe(R) Photoshop(R) Elements 9 & Adobe Premiere(R) Elements 9
• HP 3D Active Shutter Glasses
• HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

 

Ok. its been a little testing.

Envy 17 3d - 2820intel, 8gb, 160ssd/640gb combo

This came in raid 0 - HDD showed as ONLY 250gb ish (sorry i didnt write the exact down.

The Envy instruction booklet tells you that the pc has a raid 0 set up and also how to disable - basically you have to create recovery disks and then go into bios to enable changing config then run recovery.

BUT this leads to an error - at the end of install leaving me with "please insert a boot disk" Thanks to Bobmitch and Cam 121 - I put my first recovery disk in and ejected it at the windows logo which led to windows recovery which I skipped to get to a command prompt - entering BootRec/FixBoot and BootRec/FixMbr

This then loaded up windows and went through start up. The SSD was showing up with the system loaded onto it - great! but no 640gb hdd - managed to find it and initialize it - now ok. I then downloaded steam as well as a few other things and got a freeze - which I had to switch off. Is this same as you Apox?

Then left to download my steam games - put on msn player to cycle so the pc didnt go into standby. The pc froze at somepoint - so again had to switch off. Did a quick check through windows recovery - seemed fine.

Then went into HP advisor - updates for bios - I was version 7, wireless and something else - now installed. Windows updates installing - however - 2 Net framework updates not installing and windows 7 service pack 1.

System hasnt frozen since bios updates - though dont want to say that! Hope its ok.

Onwards!

 

my 5400 rpm drive is a tad slow (especially during boot up) after wards it seems fairly normal...and i just started the disk test, and i have an estimated time of ~ 4hrs

 

Not the best way to start on your Envy journey, but hope it will be sorted out. Yeah, those pics make it seem your Envy was either knocked around somehow or maybe before even leaving the factory, which I don't get since you think the Envy would be inspected before being boxed.

Welcome to NBR SHaDoRuN!

KJ

 

This is unbelievable. Im not going thru all that. If my laptop comes with RAID 0 Im returning and Im never looking at HP again. Unreal.

 

I guess that's up to you, but I can tell you that before I bought my Envy's, I was looking at the Asus stealth bombers and I would have KILLED for a RAID0 implementation. I wasn't looking at SSD's back then and all I wanted in a laptop was a RAID0 (striped) dual disk config. Asus was shipping dual drive configs, but no stripe. I'd rather have the technology and disable it if I don't want it rather than wished I had it or had to pay more for it in the first place.

My home desktop has striped disks and I could NEVER go back to a single spindle solution for my main pc ever again. It's so confining once you've experienced the speed.

 

Virtua

I realized when I read your post...that the 640 GB HDD will not appear until you initialize it in Control panel. Remember...the SSD is the system drive. Once you break the RAID array...neither drive is partitioned. BUT...doing a recovery onto drive C: SSD...will partition that drive, leaving the Samsung to be partitioned later...that is quite normal. Good to read about the bios update...I will most likely do that first thing...

Looks like you are rockin...

 

Thank you for your detailed report. So now HP admits that the drives are configured with raid0 and includes a fix.

What does "BootRec/FixBoot and BootRec/FixMbr" do?

 

Cam121...

I am with you on that...funny...I actually brought an Asus home. I was wishing for RAID 0 as well...then I found the Envy...and never looked back. Frankie...Just my 2 cents here...but there isn't anything out there to rival the Envy...without being a stealth bomber like the Asus...or the overpriced Dell / Alienware. Closest thing is the Toshiba Qosmio...and they are TANKS! The Envy is worth the effort...I hope you figure that out...

 

No. I just spoke with HP Resolutions and they assured me the problem is fixed, meaning they are not shipping the Envy SSD/HDD with RAID 0, but that is not true since in the last couple days NBR members are reporting theirs is RAID 0.

KJ

 

To Use the Bootrec.exe tool to repair startup issues in Vista | Vista Home

Written for Vista...but explains it nicely

 

Yeah I know its worth it, Im just speaking out of frustration. I just dont trust myself doing the restore on my own. Too many things to do and too many things that can go wrong. Ahh, what to do.

 

I feel the frustration and nerves too. But those like Bobmitch and others are here, and are kindly offering to help with this mess. I am begining to see even with this fiasco, the Envy is a beautiful machine in many respects. Yes, its ashame HP could not go that extra mile to assure all Envy 17 3D SB with SSD/HDD combo drives are sent out in the proper fashion---- meaning NO RAID 0.

Try to see the positive...you get at least $100 back for this mess.

KJ

 

Actualy not. The only caviat is getting the master boot record re-written to accept the system recovery. Other than that...the machine will function full tilt!...and fast...

 

The Boot Sector and Master Boot Record are basically used by your laptop hardware to locate the boot loader (in this case, windows boot manager or ntldr - depending on OS version). When you first turn on your computer, the BIOS (Basic Input Output System) will ready the hardware and provide pre-post procedures. Once the system is ready for OS control, it reads the MBR (or Sector 0) from the first boot device and begins to run the code located there. For windows systems, this is what starts the kernel loading and eventually loads you into the GUI. Kinda complex, but all you need to know is that certain low level operations (like performing an OS recovery) can damage or erase the MBR which will stop windows from loading (as is the case with the system recovery DVD's).

 

Personally I think you people are:

1) Brave & Courageous to forgo the extended Warranty & Accidental Damage plan.

2) Out of your freaking minds not to get it.

I've ordered several computers on line; lap and desk type; they all have worked perfectly right out of the package; if my Envy does not it will be the first that does not. As you see I live in Hawaii on Kauai and options for purchase, service, shopping for accessories & parts are extremely limited or nonexistent. I can't run down to a Fry's (to me still a Grocery store chain in the South West), Best Buy, Comp USA, Dedicated Mom & Pop full service store, (God dang a Comp USA pop email notice just came in on Que ..LOL!); Circuit City, etc., etc; around here it is a small Radio Shack, Game Stop, A shack of a place called Computer Hospital, WalMart or KMart electronic ilse's for not so great BS goodies... I walk by and laugh!

Great options huh? But wait it gets much better!

Now lets toss in a fog of Ocean Salt Air that blankets the island 24/7/365.25; some day's so thick you can't see inland more than 5 miles; now toss in what we call VOG (sulfur dioxide gases- from our active Volcanoes, and there is snow on them right now); high humidity, typically over 60% as a baseline, regular and frequent rains, tropically warm days and cool dank nights that form condensation of all of the above on everything. Then toss in the Geckos and vast array of tropical insects that get into everything and short things out... talk about headaches!

You bet you @$$ I get the best full coverage for my computers; they pay out in the value of over the cost of the computers and coverage program every single time and a whole lot more.

I order top of the line computers every time since with all of the upgrades, my Dell XPS 700 & M2010 I have; Dell could have sent me 3 of them for what its cost them in service calls and repairs; I know the tech rep well and were good friends now; he also services HP's warranty and accidental service work too.

Because of these issues I always keep at least 3 computers for my own personal use, gaming and work, to depend on just one is insane for me. Even with this set up a few months ago I got caught with my shorts down and 3 dead computers within a week because of this... I was pissed off I had to borrow one from my parents and I'm 51.

The short of it why don't you guys get the extended coverage... its peace of mind if nothing else and you can always drop it in a pool a few months before its up if you want to...JK

 

You all three have been helpful, and I think you all warned me about this before, but I wanted to use the secondary drive as a backup. Should I be able to follow the same directions that the rest of you are using to get rid of the RAID 0 configuration? I'm still creating my restore DVDs, so I haven't done anything yet.

 

mrgod2u, you are the exception! With the conditions you live in I think that extra warranty might help. Funny thing is, I checked their terms and conditions for the care program and it excludes damage/cosmetic if you drop your laptop and it still works? That's what I understood from the terms, I could be wrong. I just did not bother calling HP for an explination.

I would imagine its mainly for laptops that stop working, not really for cosmetics...

KJ

 

Well the Envy I ordered is to replace my Toshiba M65 Satellite now over 5 years old, keeping it as a number 4 last ditch until it dies then I'll get a middle of the road one to replace it from Costco, Dell or HP.

When I bought it it was over $1,500.00 at Comp USA.

 

Yes, the same procedure can be used.

Your best bet for a backup is always an external device. After all, if your laptop is stolen, what good is your data backup being located on the second disk? It's still gone! Spend another $200 on an external USB3 HDD, it's money well spent.

 

Say, can somebody check if the Envy can do UEFI boot mode? I've just set it up on my EliteBook, since it's mysteriously working -- it's always been broken in the past. One advantage of UEFI Boot Mode is that the "express boot" menu lets you directly choose "Windows Boot Manager" or "Ubuntu". I'd hope the Envy could do the same thing.

Also, I never did get an answer about the available BIOS settings. Would somebody please look through the menus, and write down (descriptions, not exact wording) of what you see?

 

I don't recall seeing a configurable option in the Envy for that. Of course, you can always use GRUB to control your boot options. The Envy does have a UEFI bios though. As for available options, almost everything is greyed out... HP has the Envy BIOS locked down fairly tight. I couldn't find an "advanced mode" where you could change things.

 

It's unlikely to be lost/stolen. It goes everywhere with me...except the shower. LOL. However, I might take a bubble bath with my Envy 17 3D tonight!! LMBO. While I drink some red wine and listen to some Pandora via Beats Audio.

 

Not trying to be a doomsayer or anything like that. Some years ago...did the same...had two drives in one computer...used C for everything and backed up with Norton Ghost to D...then one day...the power supply took out the whole machine...I lost everything...it was all fried. Now...I only backup to External HDD. Just a quirk, I guess

 

Thanks for the link.

Will you erase your ssd before you reconfigure your drives? Won't the trim function do this after you have dismantled the raid configuration and loaded your software? is the trim function automatic or must you do it manually?

 

So I just took a closer look at my envy. The screen has some tiny scratches, arrgrghhh. Fortunately you can't really see them when working on it (only when the screen is off and in certain light angles).
Then I discovered the raised keyboard. I believe somebody else had this before.


Uploaded with ImageShack.us
I'll be running some test tonight to see if there are any other hardware issues. If it runs otherwise fine, I'll open it and see if I can fix it myself.
Does anybody know where I can download that service manual? Would hate to open it without knowing where the clips are.
Running the recovery images right now. Probably have to put it aside for a while afterwards.

 

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c02160120.pdf

 

My intention is to erase the drive using HDErase 3.3 (get it here...I already created a Floppy boot disk)

How to Secure Erase (reset) an Intel Solid State Drive (SSD) - IIS Hacks | Server and System Administration

Version 3.3 specifically recognizes the X25 SSD from Intel. It is highly recommended that you clean the drive before doing the system restoration. This way, you are installing on all CLEAN cells. Absolutely!!! There is a few other tricks I have to take care of and will share...but after you do your system recovery and are back up to full operating condition...you want to make sure that the drive is running in AHCI mode. RamGuy from Corsair shared a script with me that I want to try and make sure it works before I post it here...but you run the script in Windows...reboot...go into your bios and make sure to set your SATA to AHCI...and when you reboot...you don't blue screen as many others have experienced. It is a registry tweak. More to come...but for certain...clean the drive before restoring. Then after you restore...go to Intel and get the SSD toolbox...run the cleaner at least once a week...and your drive will stay pristine!

 

Hissing noise is still annoying. On the bright side, I'm getting about 3.5 solid hrs of battery life with no wifi and intel gfx.

Edit: I think I'm actually getting about 4hrs.

 

With the 6 cell battery?

I am getting 5-6 hours battery life using the 9 cell with wireless+music. It's pretty good.

 

Yeah, with the six cell. It's gotten me through two flights while I coded away .

 

Trim is automatic. While Trim is important, some drive manufacturers have implemented alternative garbage collection routines with varied success.

Unlike a HDD, an SSD cannot overwrite a cell with data. It must first clean the cell and then write a new value. When all of the cell's on an SSD contain a value and you try to write a new value, it has to perform the clean + write at that moment in time which reduces average throughput. All Trim does is clean cells at the time of deletion. Thus, when a write cycle comes around, it doesn't need to spend time cleaning. Basically you are paying the performance cost at the time of deletion instead of at the time of creation.

 

That sux slotti, it has to be something doesn't it? Mine is 110% perfect cosmetic, but has that stupid issue with freezes...

 

Awesome, thank you. Guess I know what I'll be doing later tonight (myabe I should keep that for the weekend though.
Repped

 

Okay, now I'm having 2nd thoughts about breaking up my Raid. Here's the thing...I wanted two separate drives for the convenience and ease of backup. I was going to use Windows Backup (or Norton or some other 3rd party) to set up automatic weekly or monthly backups to the 2nd HDD. This way, it would happen automatically...I wouldn't have to think abou it...I wouldn't have to hunt for my external drive, power cord, and USB cable. Should I ever decide to re-format/re-install Windows (which I probably do at least once a year or so), then I can quickly restore all my important data right from the other drive, because I wouldn't wipe it.

Now, if I take you guys advice and leave it together as a Raid 0, I would need to use my external drive (which is only 160 GB) for backup. 1) Even though I don't have more than 65GB or so of media/data, does it makes sense to have only a 160GB backup drive for a 2TB primary drive? What happens when the amount of music, pictures, movies, etc. on my primary drive exceeds 160GB? (I guess I'll have to buy a bigger drive).

Also, with Raid 0, if one HDD fails, so does the whole raid configuration right? I've owned computers for many years, but have only had one hard drive to fail...that was a 20GB drive...over a decade ago.

Last question, that maybe someone can help me with. If I were to separate my two 1TB drives, how much performance "loss" would I experience? I was looking at the Windows Experience Index, and my HDD rating was 5.9. About how low do you think it would drop if I separated them? Sidenote: I know the crowd in here prefers more advanced benchmarking tests/apps. But I don't have any, and have never used any. All I know is the Windows Experience Index, and I understand it may be kind of general.

Any feedback is appreciated.

 

I just got off the phone with Resolutions, they are processing a new order to replace my laptop. and they gave me an extra $35 credit. I tried to get an free extened warranty but they would not go for it. i should have the replacement by 5/5/2011 so now I have total of $445 off

 

Haven't done much downloading yet, except for updates. So far nothing has been freezing. I am on a "n" network. The router is a tp-link (sorry no dea who is behind that one, our IT guy installed it).
If it turns out to be fine operational I'll try to fix the keyboard myslef. There is somthing stuck behind it, might just be a clip that is out of position.

 

Doomsayer number two here - had a RAID controller take out one drive in a drive array on a server and of course - I would have lost everything if it wasn't on tape backup. Seriously....use an external drive for backup....or buy lots of tissues for later At least use the external drive once a week for a secure backup and you can backup to that internal drive nightly - but I would still forget all that and keep it on the RAID setup for speed of those slow drives.....

 

I'm leaning towards keeping it. I'm still making recovery discs. I'm on 3 of 5 now. LOL. But does anyone have any clue how MUCH speed I would lose? I'm looking at my old laptop, which has a 160GB 5400RPM. Windows gives it a rating of 5.5, and my new Envy gets a 5.9. Is that really so much of a difference? Or is there some other benchmark that someone can direct me to? I think I may buy a 2TB HP media drive, they're around $100. And I'm sure an accessory coupon will pop up before I actually need it.

 

The size of the external drive only needs to be as large as the data you are backing up. Most of the drives these days ship with OEM backup apps tailored to provide automated backup solutions. Some include notification of failed backups.

If you break the raid, expect your performance to drop to around 4.2 on the Windows index. That's just a guess though based on my experience. Your machine will appear about 50% slower under storage load (ie. booting will slow down). However, once Windows is running, the OS should be almost as responsive to user input but expect applications to start slower (it will add seconds to the load times).

Yes, if one drive fails, the entire raid fails. But as I've argued before, what do you lose? If you had two drives and you lost your primary disk, you'd be reinstalling at that point too. As you mentioned, drive failures are uncommon. You'll be enjoying the speed of a RAID0 over the life of your computer longer than it takes to restore from a failed disk.

You can always use the coupon SAVE10HP to save $10 on accessories over $50.

If you do use an external hdd for backup, I'd recommend USB3 for the improved backup speeds.

Good luck.