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

Hi Acidblast,

After our long waits, we finally got our Envys. So glad yours' arrived in good condition as did mine.

I called HP resolutions today and found that they had honored the additional 10% discount which they offered in the second delay notice. Earlier I had been told they would honor only one discount and because I already had a discount approved, they would not extend the additional 10%. Thanks to you and other trailblazers on this forum, we have received very fine machines at fair prices. I think "higher ups" listened to our pleas for better quality control and compensation for delays and took action. Yes, "in the end HP did good".

I too have created my recovery discs, registered my machine and have done some exploring. However I have been too timid to make any changes fearing I will introduce incompatibilities.

Hey, anybody out there, I, and I am sure there are other novices, would really appreciate suggestions on a tried and true minimal setup plan.

 

Reinstalling the HP Software Framework fixed the brightness hotkeys with the latest AMD drivers.

Don't ask me why, I was already running the latest software framework version HP Support Assistant popped up and said it needed updated (shrug)

edit -> wow I got that wrong. Looks like support assistant actually reverted my GPU drivers without prompting. That was nice of them.

 

For a non-techie person, what are the things I need to check on my new Envy 17 3D to confirm all is well? I bought a few weeks back when the $400 off deal was in play, and I just got it on Monday night....

 

I think you meant 1280 x 720. Anyways, reinstalled and got P1900! Not quite as high as your P1947 but I'll take it ( Result).

 

Your numbers look so much better. Glad you got it sorted out!

 

You should consider checking in with Crimsoned since he is working with HP support on the throttling issue. Perhaps he can put you in contact with them and they can try to resolve the problem once they know what the root cause is.

 

Didn't work for me...HMMM! I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that I can't get the CCC for 11.4 installed and have to use the HP one. No biggie. I leave my screen at 70% brightness and rarely change it, if ever. Not not a major issue

 

First thing I did after he posted it
Unfortunately he is not able to share his contact. I am backing up data from my envy right now and will do another factory recover. Then without installing any software will test the throttel.
I used prime 95 before, but I know somewhere in this thread somebody mentioned some other burn tool, that pushes the processor more. I'll have to look back to find it.
This will be my final test. If it fails, little envy will be going home on a one-way ticket.

 

I knew it would be one of two answers....either being "right". The reason I even asked the question was because I know many non-techie people are going to read this thread and think this machine has sooo many issues (software wise) and I wanted them to realize that if you just boot your machine up and do some simple tweaks, it'll be just fine for the average Joe, they don't have to do all the things you guys have so graciously taken the time and effort to figure out for people who have actually had software or hardware related software issues. From what I can see, you and Fiver are "the men" for taking the time and being willing to figure stuff out (at least...I've switched my assumption to the male variety with Fiver since that seems to be one mystery he doesn't want to have us solve

 

Hi guys,

I called HP to return my laptop (the one in my signature), and the sales agent offered me this deal:

-I return my DV7tqe (cost me $1,077.99)
-I get this:
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 1600MHz DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
1.28TB 7200RPM Dual Hard Drive (640GB x 2) with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
30% OFF! 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) with Wireless Display Support
Backlit Keyboard
Adobe(R) Photoshop(R) Elements 9 & Adobe Premiere(R) Elements 9
HP 3D Active Shutter Glasses

for an additional charge of $544.00 on top of the $1,077.99 = 1,621.99

regular price is: $2,121.99 - 1,621.99 = a discount coupon of $500.00

..also, she said that if prices go down for a similar laptop in the following 21 days, HP will credit me the difference.... ...but also a 21 days window to return it from the delivery date....

 

I posted it several times - Core Damage CPU Stress Tester

 

Soo are you now getting the Envy 17 3D?

 

Has anyone tried the Radeon 6850M update that was published in Windows Update on 4/27? It didnt' work for me. When I installed it, it would only work for the Power Saving GPU, but not the High Performance. In fact, in the Device Manager, it didn't even show my system as having two GPUs.

Needless to say, I selected the Intel HD Graphics 3000 in the device manager and did a "Rollback Driver" until I came here to get some other opinions.

 

went back and found your post already. Was more of a site note than a question
12 minutes remaining on the recovery, soon we will have some more answers.

posting from my cell phone, so please excuse any typos.

 

Well, I got the Intel Centrino Ultimate N 6300 from newegg today, installed it. It was not suppoprted in the Bios, but when I restarted the Computer it started up, then said that no physical wireless adapter was installed. I plugged it into ethernet, ran all updates, made sure I had current drivers, installed the wifi driver, still says no physical adapter is installed. (When I first installed it, I didn't realize it but I hadn't shut the computer down, it was in hibernate mode. So when I booted it back up it only restored the windows session, and it said "Intel Centrino Ultimate 6300 driver installed successfully. When I checked the device manager it recognized it.) But when I restarted, thats when all this nonsense started happening. Any ideas?

 

Eek - before you plug and unplug things from your system like that, try and make it a habit to unplug the power adapter and remove the battery. You don't want to blow your mobo!! See if you have a restore point to before you installed the card - if so, restore it to that point, restart the system and see if it will go through that auto detect like it did before when it actually showed you the correct device and have the latest drivers ready on the HD in case it asks for them. Also, just might want to check and see if you have the card seated all the way....

 

How did the recovery go?

 

I did a restore as you suggested. It made so that My computer recognized the adapter again, It says all drivers are current and up to date, it is running the 13.5. something driver. It says everything is working normal, but I can't find my home network... I did check that the wireless was turned on Any further suggestions? Much appreciated, thanks.

 

Can you see ANY networks?

 

No, the wireless icon has a big red x on it, and says, not connected, no connections available.

 

Under normal circumstances, the icon should have a popup saying "Networks Available" Red X on a LAN means no cable attached. You have wireless signal...so it sounds like the 6300

Are you sure you didn't fry the wireless card? If you still have the old card, turn the machine off and put it back in. Boot up and see if the old card detects networks. Can you do that?

You DID remember to attach the two wires to the card, correct???? Just wanted to make sure you didn't forget to attach the antenna

 

Ok, so I did do a complete back to out of the box state through recovery partition.
Did no do ANY update. Downloaded Open Hardware Monitor, Prime 95 and Core Damage and started some test.
1. My coolsense does not produce any error messages anymore...juhuu
2. Prime 95:
- on performance I get a 2.8 GHZ peak for like 2 seconds and then it kinda settles at 2.2 - 2.4 GHz (with PSU plugged in, on battery I won't get much more than 2.0GHz-2.2GHz)
- coolest mode I get a peak at the very beginning and than it starts throtteling in between 700 HZ and 2.0 GHz (depending on temps).
3. Core Damage:
pretty much similar, just that core actually keeps about 200 HZ more on the clock.

So, verdict so far. It is working as it is supposed to be. Now the biggest question is, what caused the corruption of my coolsense or other throtteling software?
I'll have to start running updates and do the test again to see if it is windows or my programs that caused it.
Call me stupid, but I would say this indicated that my hardware seems to be working, right? Only open question: Shouldn't core damage be able to push to 2.9GHz??? Temps never got over 89C. I only peaked for about 2 sec, that was it.

 

Well that sounds better already, can't wait to hear the rest of the results. Can't remember if you had wifi lockups before, but don't forget to watch for that too.

 

I am not too sure about that his message looks unfinished...
Could it have been a BSOD?!?!?!

Slotti seriously man you should get a replacement. I've done 2 reinstallations of windows. 1 full blown recovery. 1 OEM HP Windows 7 Home Premium 64 discs. The throttling did not go away.

 

haha, I actually thought the same thing, which is why I wanted to send him a reminder about the wifi card driver.

So where are you at with this mess, Crimsoned? Still waiting for your contact to get back with you about the throttling?

 

On yours, how did you check your system to see that you have the throttling issue?

 

I received the replacement laptop from my contact which suffered from throttling as well but the audio was great, so I am waiting for the 2nd replacement from my contact.
He said he'd check a few units and see which ones are throttling and which ones are not that way the next unit he sends will be 100% working.
He gave me some information as to where they think the flaw is coming from but I am keeping that hush hush for now.

HwInfo32 for temperatures.
prime95 for CPU stress testing
CPU-Z for CPU frequencies
Intel Turbo Boost Monitor 2.0 for further CPU monitoring to make sure it's accurate.

Then I utilized League of legends, throttling/slowing down of the game and system occurred every 5-15 minutes.
That was enough to conclude it suffered from the same throttling issues.

 

Noop no BSOD. Was unfinished because I was still typing on my phone and hit the wrong key. Rest of the message is up now.
Done with all windows update and testing is still OK. In regards to the wireless lock ups, yes, I had them. Rolled back the driver to the one fiver5 mentioned and never had problems on there again. Thanks for reminding me, will have to do that again.
Currently updating ATI driver (from win7 update)......
just got black screen on that one...hmmm. HDD is still working, so I will give it a minute.

...Ok, it is booting again. Good.
I will have to install some of my rendering software to see about the throtteling (which is where I discovered it first). Won't get to it before Monday though. Visiting friends up in SanFran over the weekend and computers have to stay home.

 

I strongly suggest that you go into Safe Mode and uninstall the ATI driver from Windows Update. It has caused many issues and does nothing as far as performance, etc. I have read numerous reports of trying to roll back, if you can get into Windows. At least Safe Mode will afford you that. You may have to reinstall your ATI drivers from SWSETUP

 

Slotti before you go any further, did you do the stress testing using the integrated graphics? Because my laptop doesn't throttle much at all when I am on the integrated graphics. It is when I use the ATI graphics and push the power consumption up when the throttling kicks in.

 

Everything done on dedicated ATI GPU. No problem so far. Even the ATI driver update did not cause any problem. I am not worried about it at this point though. This is just about testing. If it turns out that I do not have the throtteling issue anymore, I'll go back anyhow and drop my crucial SSD in.
....
Just realized that I did update tons, but SP1 is still pending. Will see after the weekend. Really got to go to bed now.
See you (read you) guys on Monday (without this forum I would have faulted already myself).

 

I'm having some SSD performance issues. How do you enable AHCI mode on the Envy when there's no bios setting for it?

 

Is there any reason why you installed HP Software Framework (or anything other HP)? Everything's running fine for me and I don't have a single piece of HP software installed (and don't intend to).

 

It should be enabled by default.

 

Yes. I am curious about this as well. I got the SSD+HDD combo.
I got my laptop this week. Everything works fine, except that the left hand side of the laptop gets a bit hot for my liking, even when I am almost idle.
I measure 102 degrees Farenheit on top, and slightly higher at the bottom, with a laser thermometer. This goes down a bit to 90 degrees, when I set coolsense in maximum cooling mode.
In terms of performance, the write speed for my SSD drive is the same as the harddrive. This does not seem right. The read speed is double, but I believe it should be higher. This is the same I get with a first generation SSD, installed in my desktop two years ago.
I would like to apply the steps suggested elsewhere (see below), but I am a bit concerned, since the complete instructions suggest making changes with the bios.

1. Startup "Regedit
2. Open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SYSTEM / CurrentControlset / Services
3. Open msahci
4. In the right field left click on "start" and go to Modify
5. In the value Data field enter "0" and click "ok"
6. exit "Regedit"
7. Reboot Rig and enter BIOS (hold "Delete" key while Booting

In your BIOS select "Integrated Peripherals" and OnChip PATA/SATA Devices. Now change SATA Mode to AHCI from IDE.

Can I still make these changes safely (steps 1 through 7), even without modifying the bios?
Thanks in advanced for your help.

 

It is NOT enabled. Because our machines are running off the RAID controller, AHCI is enabled already in the bios. Charley has the answer to the rest

 

Charly...

Look in Device Manager. There are no SATA / PATA / IDE ports listed...Just Intel RAID, even though you have separate drives. HP does that on purpose, because everything SATA on the machine is governed by the Intel Rapid Storage drivers. Because the motherboards are ICH10, AHCI is already there. No changes needed in the bios. Do the registry fix and reboot and it changes it. You can then bench it with CrystalDiskMark

 

Yeah, I put the old card back in, and it worked instantly, I did connect the antennae. I'm wondering if it is just a bad 6300 card. When I installed it, I did have it unplugged and the battery out. So I don't think I ruined it that way. But it doesn't work either way.

 

It sounds like it's working right to me... I couldn't get Core Damage to push my CPU to 3.2GHz for any sustainable period because CPU would hit 90C and then it would immediately throttle down to 700MHz to cool off.

All of my testing was done on the ATI GPU.

Edit: I'm completely patched (w/ SP1) using Windows Update and HP's software maintenance.

 

Set up an exchange with Newegg if you can. Sounds like it may be a bad one...

 

Bobmitch,
Many, many, thanks for your quick reply. That's what I was hoping to hear!! I read your earlier messages, but just needed confirmation, since I am bit worried about not being able to reboot my computer (and I bought this for work only.)
Cheers,
C.

 

Yeah, the Intel Rapid Storage Drivers are AHCI compliant, so no problems after reboot...

 

I guess there is no 90Hz for me.... Somebody needs to talk to this rep...

Your session ID for this incident is 1141709.
Time	Details
04/26/2011 03:15:27PM	Session Started with Agent (Mia)
04/26/2011 03:15:27PM	Russ: "Can you provide me with the LCD specifications for the Envy 17" non-3D @ 1920 x 1080?"
04/26/2011 03:15:31PM	Agent (Mia): "Thank you for contacting the HP Home & Home Office Store Chat."
04/26/2011 03:15:35PM	Agent (Mia): "My name is Mia. I hope you are doing fine."
04/26/2011 03:15:57PM	Russ: "hi"
04/26/2011 03:16:26PM	Agent (Mia): "I understand you are inquiring about the specifications of the HP Envy 17 LCD, right?"
04/26/2011 03:16:36PM	Russ: "yes"
04/26/2011 03:17:26PM	Russ: "I mostly want to know the refresh rates supported for the LCD."
04/26/2011 03:17:49PM	Agent (Mia): "I will be glad to assist you on this."
04/26/2011 03:17:53PM	Agent (Mia): "Great choice on your chosen PC, by the way. We get a lot of great feedback on that model's performance."
04/26/2011 03:17:59PM	Agent (Mia): "HP offers the best and innovative products to assure customer satisfaction."
04/26/2011 03:18:52PM	Russ: "thanks, I have a DV8 but it is being replaced. No other choices compare to it. HP makes the best Laptops..."
04/26/2011 03:18:59PM	Agent (Mia): "You have chosen one of HP's best model."
04/26/2011 03:19:09PM	Agent (Mia): "You are definitely right."
04/26/2011 03:20:08PM	Russ: "wish they stated more specs online though...."
04/26/2011 03:20:14PM	Agent (Mia): "The refresh rate will actually depend on the type of graphics card chosen when configuring the model."
04/26/2011 03:20:36PM	Russ: "only one graphis card choice. ATI 6850M"
04/26/2011 03:20:46PM	Russ: "ahem, AMD"
04/26/2011 03:21:17PM	Agent (Mia): "You will get 90Hz for that."

Temps reached 92C and still had 2.5GHz! I do think this is less hot than my DV8, mind you I live in a desert. So I am pleased with temps. But it seems to get much more hot from the SSD than my old 7200RPM. Still need to do more testing...

 

Hi Everibody,

I have got my SSD (Crucial C300 128 GB) yesteday and have spent hole evening, installed instead the original HDD a new SSD, and executed full system recovery from recovery
DVD that I have made before. But the problem is that after reboot I get next message: "No bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key".

Any ideas?

 

There is a thread with the link to a guide on how to resolve this. It's somewhere in the main HP forum area and posted earlier in this thread as well.

 

Download my guide for breaking up RAID array:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...ay-fix-hp-envy-17-3d-pavillion-notebooks.html

Pay particular attention to the section where you either boot into a Windows 7 disk that you may already have or how to force a C: prompt using your recovery disks. Your master boot record is set to RAID and must be repaired. There is a command line to do so in the manual, but you have to get to the C prompt one way or the other. Let me know if that helps...

Bob

 

This may be old news but.. Price alert. The Intel 510 120GB dropped from $314 (what I paid two weeks ago ...) to $269 on newegg. That easily makes it a much smarter buy for those of you having that inner debate.

Also, just crystaldiskmarked my Intel 510. 387 read, 202 write. The 750GB 5400RPM hdd that comes with the Envy got 108.7/107.4 respectively. Funny thing is, I just benchmakred my roommate's XPS15 with a 7200RPM and he only got 100.6/97.92. I thought he'd handily beat my hdd.

 

Yea, they coming out with newer drive. I believe its 700 series, I guess the 500 series is discounted. If only they have 160g variety, either its 120 or 250, will go for 250 but still way too expensive. I have 160gb X25M and pretty satisfied with it, no compatibility issue, TRIM, intel does make good SSD.

 

Intel may never break any land speed records with their products...but they are more into "reliability". You'll get excellent speed and most of all...won't have to worry about whether or not the part will work.

Just read this article...pretty informative

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/ssd_showdown_4_top_drives_reviewed

 

I have no laptop right now, I will try this evening, but the main interesting thing is that I have no Raid enabled, because it was only one original HDD in the bay 1 ( 750 Gb) and the second bay was empty.
Do you mean to run the next "At the C:\Prompt, type BootRec /FixBoot Then hit enter...you will get another C:\ prompt, where you will type
BootRec /FixMbr ?"

Bellow is my chat with HP support:
[Thursday, April 28, 2011 11:51 PM] -- aaad2007 says:
is any solution for my problem?

[Thursday, April 28, 2011 11:51 PM] -- Nigel D says:
According to the details of the PC, I see that the Notebook Supports SSD drives. However, it supports Minimum capacity of 160-GB SSD.

[Thursday, April 28, 2011 11:51 PM] -- aaad2007 says:
I you sure?
[Thursday, April 28, 2011 11:59 PM] -- Nigel D says:
You can install any model of SSD, which has the capacity of 160 GB.

[Friday, April 29, 2011 12:02 AM] -- Nigel D says:
The Motherboard preinstallled on the PC supports 160 GB SSD.

[Friday, April 29, 2011 12:02 AM] -- aaad2007 says:
are sure about that?
[Friday, April 29, 2011 12:03 AM] -- Nigel D says:
I have checked with my supervisor.