HP Envy 14 Blank Screen Problem

I just received an HP Envy 14 notebook as part of a trade. As a tradition, I always reformat and reinstall operating systems when getting a computer. However, after I reformatted the hard drive and booted up the Microsoft Windows 7 DVD, the screen went blank a minute later, just after the logo came up. I've tried other DVDs with the same result. What is going on?!

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

This happened on my dv6700. I turned it on the hp logo come up then nothing. It was my hard drive that went out. Do a hard drive test, press f10 or whatever it at the logo screen and go in and do a hard drive test. I bet that is what it is. If not you at least know it isn't your hard drive. Hope it isn't an ssd.

 

I've already ran three or four hard drive and RAM diagnostics tests. Each one shows passing results. I've also just replaced the hard drive, but that didn't fix it either. In any case, does the DVD environment run exclusively on the DVD and RAM and not the hard drive?

Thanks for your help.

 

this happens some time.

blame how HP set up the envy 14 and the switchable graphics and the motherboard and stuff.

just do it again.

if it fails, turn it off, turn it on, do it a third time.

repeat til it works or you think to lower and raise the lid (which sometimes also fixes the problem)

I actually haven't had it happen to me in a long while.

 

Oh jeez. That sounds like a major defect. Does that happen during normal operation also? Or only during operating system installation?

 

It would occur to me sometimes, but I think some of the updates to something has fixed it

 

no. well. somewhat.


It all has/had something to do with the initial gpu drivers being really poor.

the second set is the best (oldest on the forums/what's left on HP's website. I think they got rid of the original set since they were broken). The second set is version number 8.473.1 or something close to that. They work well enough/are what I always use when I clean install. If you go higher sometimes you get weird issues where CCC and/or the newer amd drivers don't wanna install over the HP drivers.

also somehow the weird blank screen error can creep into clean install.


Issues with switchable graphics on the envy 14: If you're on the initial gpu drivers (8.713 if you look at the driver version in the device manager) it will get a black screen when you clean install due to some weird residual effects.

It will also get a blank screen when you update them (you have to wait like 5-10 minutes for the stuff to finish updating, then you can just reboot).

Once beyond those drivers stuff works fine for the most part beyond the issues with switchable that plague most/all computers (sometimes screen gamma gets broken horribly, kinda rare, forces a reboot. Sometimes powerplay bugs out for the amd gpu and you have to go into the catalyst control center, decheck use powerplay, hit apply, and recheck use powerplay to get the clocks back up to 450/800).

edit the edit: also some bios updates could have fixed a few of these issues. When I went to F.13 the clean install blank screen stopped happening (well I haven't seen it happen in awhile)

 

Thanks MagusDraco!

I'll try updating the BIOS now. EDIT: And of course, you need Windows installed to flash the BIOS. Oh boy.

 

actually you need the hp tools partition too.

otherwise it'll just lock up in windows and freak you out and make the HP guy on the phone go "well..uh..we're gonna have to try powering it down anyway"

and then you luck out and the laptop wasn't bricked.

anyway. keep trying.

if you have to, hook the computer up to a tv or something (hdmi out) and try that too at least initially.

the blank screen doesn't affect other stuff (assuming the hdmi is playing nice)

 

Okay. Finally got Windows installed. I have to say. The BIOS update fixed everything. I haven't had a single problem since!

I called HP up and they are apparently well aware of the blank screen problem. They said that the older BIOS the notebook was running on caused blank screen problems in a very large proportion of ENVY 14 notebooks. The new BIOS does not have the same problem.

Thanks for all your help!

 

cool.

good to know that was fixed in the bioses.

kinda sucks that if you made recover discs back on the original bios they won't work anymore (but oh well, never gonna use those)

 

Clean install of drivers 8.77.1.1.0 on bios f.23 and I've got the black screen thing. After a blind hibernation/resume I have image again but I've found that the Catalyst Control Center never made it (and the switcheable graphics thingy). Could be the reason of the blank screen (unable to switch GPUs).
I made a reinstall of CCC alone and now everything seems to work.

BTW: whats the PX Profile Update? Something related to the PCIExpress?