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

My entire 3D glasses saga aside (still unresolved), I need some help.
Did a newbee mistake. Had to create a new partition (to explain why would take way too long) and just skipped through the dialoges if the Disk manager too quickly.
Converted my "simple disk" to a "dynamic disk" and killed all y primary partitions and created simple drives only.
If somebody could check in Computer Management under the Disk Manager what the original allocation was (primary vs logical), I would appreciate it.
this is what I need to know:

SYSTEM
(C
RECOVERY (D
HP_TOOLS

I am assuming that C: was primary and the rest logic, but not sure with the HP_TOOLS and SYSTEM partition.
Help is greatly appreciated.

 

successfully replaced the 1TB 5400 rpm drive with a (500 GB HDD+4GB SSD) Seagate Momentus XT Hybrid Drive @7200 rpm.

I first installed my programs on the 1 TB, and got rid of a few of the pre-installed stuff, and installed windows update. Then i cloned the drive onto the 500 GB drive, and installed the 500 GB drive in the primary drive bay, and the 1 TB drive in the secondary bay. I then wiped the 1 TB (to be used to store all my data), leaving only the recovery partition (separated from the main/primary system drive).

System performance Increased:

start and shutdown time decreased quite a bit. 45 secs (500 hybrid drive) compared to 1 min 15 sec (1 TB).

Windows rating jumped from 5.1 to 5.9

Final Drive space: 1.5 TB, accessible ~1.3 TB

problems:
migrating user files to secondary drive is a pain like my documents, my music,...cause when you cut the file or move it to the secondary drive, it leaves the folder on the C drive (its actually just a link/shortcut but i thought it made 2 copies and i spent hours on it).

I just noticed that coolsense & hp wireless assistant don't work. everything else that i have used seems to work just fine.

 

damn i hid mine so i don't remember, but i think:
C - primary,, boot
SYSTEM - primary, system, active
then i guess the rest are logic

 

Sorry...all are Primary!

 

Thanks for the condolences .
All primary, yeah, that explains why it did what it did. Max of 4 primaries possible, so the 5th kicked it inot dynamic.
Now let's see if I can get it back without having to do the full recovery.

 

Ouch! Let's hope

 

I have ordered an intel 510 120gb for $285 that I am going to put in and move the 750gb as my secondary drive. Not too thrilled about the 5400 but I feel like this will be a fairly power friendly 2 drive setup and I will hardly ever be using the 750. I am wondering if you can shut that drive down (similar to a sleep) while you are using the SSD only. That would be awesome!!

I am hopeing the 2820/510/8gb ram combo will be nice and speedy.

 

I'm pretty sure you can set HDD spin down timers in the advanced power options, but not sure how effective they will be. Good luck, hope you enjoy it.

HP pulled a fast one on me so now I'm returning my Envy. Tired of all the bull. First they offered me another $100 and then they took it away! So now I'm on the phone with a home office salesperson to buy a new envy and he said the 25% coupon is no longer valid. Did you just place your order today Phen?

 

Does anyone know if there's a way to enable "tap zones" on the clickpad? For example...my old eMachines laptop used the Synaptics driver as well. I could specify one corner as a "left click," one corner as a "right click" and one corner as a "middle click." I would LOVE to be able to set my top right corner as "middle click." If anyone knows how, please let me know.

 

Also...can anyone recommend a good media suite? CyberLink that comes with Envy is good for the upconversion of all my 2D movies/pictures to 3D. But the CD/DVD burning editing apps are crap. I'm trying to decide between Nero and Roxio. I'm leaning towards roxio, because it takes advantage of the built-in media enhancements in the 2nd Generation Intel processors. Can anyone make a suggestion? (Or refer me to an appropriate thread?)

My Envy is a DREAM. I've never used a more perfect PC!!

 

I use Both Nero and Roxio on my desktop. I have installed Nero 10.5 on my Envy...I don't think you can go wrong with either....

 

Ordered mine 4/8. Good luck!!

 

Ok, got it all back to what it was. All primary. Was a bit scary inbetween, but worked great. I used Partition Wizard 4.2.
In case anybody is interested, you can download it here:
http://cid-24a0e9031e104daf.skydrive...4.2 free.zip
Their webpage only has the latest 5.2 Home version for free, and that would not allow you to mess with the partition that has the system installed on. I found the link to the older professional version on a Microsoft Server forum.

Works like a charm.

Still not sure why HP makes it 4 primary partitions?!?! Unless I delete the recovery partition (or the HP_TOOLS), I can't do much about it. So I'll wait till I get my SSD and than bother. Guess I'll just have one partition for system and data for now.

EDIT: Not that it really matters (just in case I have to return it due to my glasses not working - still no resolution on it), is the Recovery Partition hidden under W7? Just want to put it back to the original state.
Also, is C: active or none?

 

Where do you guys buy the caddy for the second harddrive? I tried searching thru the thread and couldn't find it.

Just ordered a OCZ Vertex II 120GB. Can't wait for everything to arrive!

 

Nice deal on the v2 today (I am assuming you got in on the newegg deal).
Here is where you get the caddy www.newmodeus.com
There site is down for some reason though.

 

I got a blue screen!

I've run the diagnostics performance on it and it shows as -
Reason: graphical subsystem resources overutilized
Diagnosis: a consistent degradation in framerate for the desktop windows manager was observed over a period of time.

It froze a few times before this install - weirdly everytime I left it. Tonight I left it downloading from the net.

Anyone have this issue? When I came back to the pc it was a bluescreen and the fan was running hot.


On a brighter note I just ran crystal mark and it came out at a whopping 238904 The ssd 241 read, 102 write

 

I'd like to publicly thank HP Nate who intercepted this madness and worked with his people to find a suitable resolution to the situation. I get to keep my Envy! Woo hoo

 

Quick question here on the email notices many of us received today; My notice of shipment came in at 15 April, Friday 1:46 am Hawaii time which is 7:46 pm 15 April Shanghai China time. Does this mean that our laptops will be chilling in Shanghai for the Chinese weekend and we can expect them to be picked up sometime our Sunday morning for shipment?

Or is there Saturday pickup in Shanghai by FedEx at HP's manufacturing facility?

Does anyone know or have prior experience with this?

 

Awesome, wow, almost forgot about HP Nate.... Haven't seen him post here in forever. Really happy it worked out. cam121, we can't lose you to the dark side!

KJ

 

Hi Slotti

Sorry for the lack of detail in my first post. Was Midnight here and I was replying on my phone which is slow to type.

On the top of your laptop screen there is a IR transmitter that flashes with InfaRed light to tell the glasses when to do thier thing. You can't see the IR light because our naked eyes only see RGB light and nothing in the IR range. Digital cameras and especially phone cameras can see this light and then we are able to see the light on the display screen of the camera. Note that normally you don't want IR light in your digital photos so cameras have a IR blocking filter that blocks most of this out and makes the ir light quite dim. cheap web cams and phone cameras have no ir filters or really useless ones so they see more IR light comapred to high end cameras.

here is a video showing what you can see from a standard TV remote.

How to See the InfraRed Light from the Remote ? - Video


I don't have an Envy so i can't tell you exactly what ir light you will see from the top of your screen and you will have to be in 3D viewing mode to see it. If you see no light then it is either a dead IR transmitter or a software problem. If you see light then its probably the glasses.

Best if someone else on this forum with a envy 3D that works fine checks the IR transmitter output as well and posts what they see so you have something to compare to.

Michael

 

Hi Peaches,

Others with the same configuration as mine and later order/build dates have received their systems. I thought maybe it was the dual (ssd+hdd) drive that could be holding up my order but those configurations have been received as well. I had called Customer Service early on when I learned that cam121 had received the dual (ssd+hdd) drive with the raid0 configuration and told them that I did not want that configuration. Perhaps they assigned me a later build date so I would more likely be shipped the corrected configuration. I believe that bobmitch is the first one who has been shipped the corrected dual (ssd+hdd) drive configuration.

I again called Resolutions today, spoke with Rowley, who assured me that my revised build/ship date, Monday, April 18, is a good date and I should be getting my email shipping confirmation by midnight (not sure what time zone) on Monday. He also said he would call me on Monday to confirm shipment. He would/could not give me a reason why my order has been so delayed. I hope his statements are true. I have reached the end of my patience.

Hope you have a better experience.

 

hyperboled, so I see you've used Rowley's number I posted eh? Did you mention you got it from NBR? I did not push him on the ship date, only wanted a guarantee from him that my SSD/HDD will not be RAID 0!!! He said ok...so now its a waiting game. I will wait until Monday midnight for the email, if not I will call Tuesday, although Wednesday is when its scheduled to be shiped.

KJ

 

I'm from Austria and we don't have the new SB ENVY 17 yet (at least not on the HP site), I was thinking about maybe ordering it from the German store, but they only ship to people in Germany...

 

Hi KJ,

It was the luck of the draw that Rowley took my call; I had not specifically asked for him although I had taken note of his name from your post. I did tell him that he was well regarded by the NBR folks. I hope his information is reliable. I enjoy your posts, very entertaining.

 

Thanks for posting that up, I too am joining the Envy club (have prolly read this form 25x times now) and was looking for that link myself today!

Ordered my caddy, then went to go order that vertex drive off of newegg and omg.. payment charged, click on item, they sold out! I Seriously think i got the last one of the deal xD

Sadly that bit of luck is put off by the fact that i didn't get my shipping notification like everyone else did, i ordered on April 7th, base config :-/ I still have a build date of the 25th but i really hope I too get my envy ahead of schedule!

Question:
So i have read some back and forth about simply cloning the HD to put it onto an SSD or to make the recovery CD's.. installing... /fixmbr /fixboot.

I have a second computer i can do the copy/resize on.. any advice here? What would you guys do?

 

hyperboled i have the exact same config as you and i ordered mine on mar 10 then delayed to apr 15 and now apr 18. starting to get really annoyed when i see people that ordered after us receiving their laptops.

 

Hi Acidblast,

I also called Resolutions today and was told that my revised build/ship date, Monday, April 18, is a pretty certain date. I believe we have similar configurations. Hope the information is reliable this time. Really running out of patience. Good luck on your order and keep us posted.

 

Hi again,

I think we cross posted.

 

Well, I figure, next week is the 18th and then the 20th...regardless, those of us who have those build dates SHOULD hear something about our shipments by then. Its just a matter of keeping busy this weekend..... easier said than done I know. I too want to get my hands on the Envy and prime it up the way I want it to work.

slotti, here is the link to HP's 3D glasses that they sell. Maybe you should give that Rowley at Resolutions a call and have him send it right over to you?

HP 3D Active Shutter Glasses (XC554AA) specifications - HP Home & Home Office Products $99.99

P.S. Speaking of HP 3D glasses, and having a good laugh...and I hope this is not a member here, so here is this link to the HP 3D glasses on Ebay!!!! Must see!!!!

HP 3D Active Shutter Glasses XC554AA#ABB | eBay LMFAO! This guy really thinks he is going to get $218.80 for those? That made my day. Granted, it is in the UK, but do the prices go that high? If so, I really am glad to be in the USA.

KJ

 

ya if i don't get a tracking number on monday heads are gonna role at HP. i'm running out of patience.

when i spoke to the resolution department. i asked him how come people that ordered after me we starting to get their laptops and I wasn't? he didn't know what to say except that there was some delay of some parts. i said i can understand that. but you would think they bump the people who ordered first to the top of the list. it only makes sense. we'll see what happens monday.

 

I dont know if this helps shed any light, but heres my configuration that shipped today and was ordered on 4/7:

HP ENVY 17 3D customizable Notebook PC

* • 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 GDDR5 Radeon(TM) HD 6850M Graphics [HDMI]
* • 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
* • System Recovery DVD with Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
* • 750GB 5400RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
* • 6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (standard) - Up to 2.25 hours of battery life


Did any of the people who ordered before then get the 2820. Perhaps that particular chip is in short supply.

 

Envy should be here wenesday. Just ordered an intel 510 from amazon 295 plus tax free shipping. Only 2 left in stock whe I ordered. Also got the caddy from newmodeus.com. I saw that you could apply a coupon code so I looked one up. 5% off FB07828. It's only 1.97 off but I know you guys are coupon junkies so there ya go.

 

I ordered with the 2820 on April 8th, shipped today. Got the 750 GB HD too.

 

i ordered the same except 6gig ram on the 8th DIDNT ship

 

So I have a question for you guys. I have all my partition mess repaired, but I would still like to create a real data partition. It is just better to keep the software and system together on the disk and not mess it up with data crap in between. Since HP decided to put 4 primary partitions on the drive (how lovely of them), I need to nix one of those to be able to create an extended partition with a logic drive.
The recovery partition seems to be the best for this matter. Can I just back it up and put it back onto a logical drive, or will that make it unusable.
The 'system' partition seems to be needed for the system to start, so I can't touch it. The 'HP-TOOLS' prtition is still a marvel to me. I holds bios files, so I have no idea what it is really doing. This all leaves me with the 'RECOVERY' partition. But again, I'd like to keep it, at least for a bit more.
Any ideas?
Thanks

 

Michael,
thanks for this trick. It scared the sh$% out of me first, since I did not see anyhting on my cell phone camera. But then I tried a friend's blackberry and there it was .
Now I know that my IR transmitter on the screen is working and my cell phone has a good camera.
So I will try calling hp again.

 

Bob, thank you so much for your clear, detailed, easy to follow RAID Recovery Guide. Really appreciated the background information. With any luck, I may not need it but I have filed it away for future reference.

I know it is asking a lot but would you consider writing up an HP Envy 17 3D Setup Guide including a clean install of Windows 7? I know it has been written before by HannesS in the 1st generation HP Envy 17 lounge but it is difficult to follow and now difficult to find. And an HP Envy 17 3D Optimization Guide including for example your link to "Move Page File to Another Drive" and other tried and true gems that I am sure you and others know about.

Thanks for your consideration.

 

Need help:

So as I ordered early in April and haven't heard anything yet, I'm a *little* worried because:

My order was first declined because the shipping and billing address didn't match. I called and confirmed all the details needed to put the order through. But then I had to call again. And again. 3 times I called and was transfered around to confirm my info and get the order put through. I did all this last week.

But when I go to check my order status at HP, on the first of the two screens that just says "My orders" and briefly lists what you ordered and the price, without details, it still says order declined. Then when I go into the order, to the second page with details, it says that the est. build date is 4/26; no where does it say order accepted or declined on the second page.

I thought I heard others say that they had their ordered declined or had to call in after the order, did your status ever change on HP's status site, or did it always say declined and then you still got your shipping date when they sent you the computer?

 

I was just perusing the driver/software page for the envy sb and I noticed that there's no link to coolsense. Is that downloadable? Is it only on the recovery partition? I plan to use my own SSD as the primary but I really want to keep coolsense.

 

They actually had to put in a new order when this happened to me.
The original still shows as declined. If I go to the 2nd page, it shows with shipping date of April 11. Which obviously never happened.
You NEED TO CALL AGAIN. If the old order was declined, they have to start a new one. Your old one is dead. Don't expect it to ship.

 

Maybe it's packaged in with one of the HP utilities? Or in the SWSETUP folder?

 

Right. To be sure your order went through, you must get an order number....starts with H....

Also, if you had discounts, tell them of the mistake, maybe you can still get it honored.


KJ

 

Yeah thats why I suggest trying a TV remote to make sure your camera can see IR first before trusting it. But glad to hear your laptop is fine. Now you just need to convince them to let you exchange just the glasses. The crazy thing is it will cost everyone involved more time and money if you have to return the whole laptop. But i guess if HP wants to lose money and customers its up to them right?

by the way is the light from the ir transmitter solid or flashing when you see it with the camera? The speed of the camera's sensor may not pick up any flashing though if the exposure time is to long. Might also be interesting to see when the laptop turns the ir transmitter on. Is it only on when you start a tridef game or push play on a 3d movie clip? Or is it when you launch certain apps?

Michael

 

Not sure how many of yall are awake but I think this would a good time to get a roll call on how many people have recently received their Envys nd are

KEEPING IT

vs

Returning

Perhaps someone can tall up the keepers vs returners? I think it would be helpful to note how many people are experiencing this "wifi driver issue" (if it is that).

 

TheAtreidesHawk, isn't it a bit early to do a "roll call?" There are a good number of us who won't be getting our laptops until next week to 2 to 3 weeks from now....so maybe give it some more time....

As to the wifi driver issue, this was fixed the other day, unless I'm mistaken. Look back a few pages, there is a link to the correct driver which will allow the 6200 to work without freezing your system. In fact, I just got the link for you below to the fix:

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?lang=eng&changeLang=true&DwnldId=18212

KJ

 

It's in the HP Support Assistant package.

 

In thinking that I would wait till may to get my Envy, I purchased a lower end dell. But I kind of like it, so I'm probably either going to send my envy back when I get it, or sell it to one of you if you want it. It will be here on Friday the 22nd. So it could be shipped to you anywhere in the US by Tuesday April 26th. Here are the specs, It will be selling for $2200 including the new OCZ Vertex 3 120GB. (Not installed unless you want me to install it

HP ENVY 17 3D customizable Notebook PC
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• No Additional Office Software
• 2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2820QM (2.3 GHz, 8MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 3.4 GHz
• 1GB GDDR5 Radeon(TM) HD 6850M Graphics [HDMI]
• 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• 750GB 5400RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
• One 6-Cell and One 9-Cell Lithium Ion Battery
• 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

It will be a non-opened box unless you want me to open it and inspect it to make sure its in good order. Might be a good thing to do considering all the posts on this thread! If any of you want it let me know, otherwise, hp will be getting a brand new computer!

 

Fair enough. It seems like quite a few NEW people have signed up for the forums since they apparently ordered it around the same time as apoxxx, cam, and others.

But yeah I think perhaps in 2 weeks that might be a better indicator.

The waiting is making me anxious however....

 

Can we get important links like this, the harddrive caddy, any other driver/software downloads updated to the first page? Would make searching for things so much easier on everyone that needs it

 

This is Stephan, letting you know that he is still alive and hasn't been sucked into the 3D world of his new Envy. Also, the HD (And full 14 minute) version of my unboxing will be uploaded tomorrow around noon (CDT) after that you can expect a number of reviews to go up.