*HP HDX DRAGON Owners Lounge, Part 1*

Talking would be no problem!
But here I must write.

 

ok,thx for your advice
or as an berliner would say "ick dank dir atze" xD
i will change my ram now
any other ram you would recommended than the g-skill?
because the g-skil is very expensive i think
and btw, what is the best available graphiccard for that hdx?
i mean a card that is very fast and also stable in this system
i dont need a very fast card that doesnt fit in this system
i would like to insert something like an geforce 240 or better

 

Hey 2.0 thanks for the help on the install....WhAT ABOUT THE FRAME WORK UPDATES.. Can I just install 3.5 net framework..It says it is a full cumulative update..or should I install 2.0 first...Best Jesse

 

Just install dot net 3.5.

 

Dominick addressed most. I'll just throw in a few tidbits and asterisks...

Since you have a T8300 2.4ghz, albeit with a 3MB cache, an upgrade to a T9300 wouldn't do you any good. You're best bet is to upgrade to X9000.

THere are two types;

Retail/OEM or ES(engineering samples).

Retail/OEM start with S; as in SLAZ3
ES start with Q.

The only ES you are interested is the Q174 because it has C0 stepping and temp readout just like a retail/OEM version.

As for the video card upgrade, forget it. Can't be done. Don't even waste your time and money trying.

Instead, overclock.

RAM: 667mhz only. 800 will downclock and be slower than 667.

Lastly, you can upgrade the Wifi to Intel 5300. But it has to go in the 2nd MiniPCI slot since the 1st one(where your wifi card is now) is BIOS whitelisted. Once you do upgrade, you lose the ability to turn the wifi card on/off using the quicktouch panel. It will only control bluetooth. TO turn on/off, use Windows key +x or device manger.

Have fun upgrading.

Happy Holidays.

 

just wondering what's not good about 3.5 framework. mind you i don't think i use any frameworks...but just curious.

 

They are not backward compatible.*** If you have programs requiring .NET2 or 1 they won't work with .NET3/3.5 runtimes. The "cumulative" label means it's 3.5 sp1, inclusive of all updates issued so far for 3.5.

Vista should have 3, 2 and 1 factory pre-installed and Win7 has all 3 generations pre-installed, including lates 3.5sp1, unless you have turned them off in Windows features (CP).

.NET4 is currently in Beta2.

***It's very much like Visual Basic and Visual C++ runtimes (in this respect). A program written with VB5 and requiring its runtimes, for example, won't run if you only have VB6 runtimes on your machine (which it won't even need).

 

He's talking about updates. Which to install. Not backward compatibility.

3.5 has .net 3.0 sp2 and .net 2.0 sp2 in it.

 

They are still three distinct runtimes although the CLR is overlapping in 2 and later. And for the versions that ship with Windows 7, there are no updates yet.

 

Yes, but who said otherwise? He did a fresh install of Vista and wanted to know what updates to install.

See his post here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5615767&postcount=8789

 

You are right.

 

Recommended Game--works great at highest settings/4xAA/max available resolution (widescreen (1600xsomething))-- win7x64:
The Chronicles Of Narnia - The Lion,Witch & The Wardrobe PC DVD

 

thanks for game rec. i plan to do a clean install as well. i still don't understand the recommendation..why not install updates to existing installed .net/s? i would think updates resolve issues? is it an issue/problem with 3.5 or the update?

 

When you do Windows Updates it gives you options for the previous NET Frameworks, so I always FIRST do the oldest one, uncheck the newer ones, and then after reboot, check the next one available, reboot, and then the next, etc. That way I have them all.

 

.NET is a Microsoft thing. You can trust Windows Update recommendations on these. Just 'Check for Updates' and it will suggest what should be good for your machine. Tick them all and install. It will even automatically order and prioritize the installs for you.

 

oh. ??? i thought 3.5 should not be done? did i misunderstand?

 

Game recommendation -- free -- Win7x64: http://www.microsoft.com/games/en-us/Games/Pages/tinker.aspx

 

PhysX games--Batman and more: http://www.nvidia.com/object/physx_new.html

 

Forgive me if it's old news, but for those still using Vista I did an update check within DigitalPersona and the 4.11 update (I believe it was) for the newest Firefox browser finally was made available.

 

I didn't see that. I thought they were saying you had to have each one because some things only run on a previous one and not the newer ones. I've always done all of them via Windows updates, one after the other and never had a problem.

 

Exactly. Just update them. Install 3.5 if you need it and don't have it.

No worries. Walk good.

 

Hi all,

I have recently updated my hdx with a new motherboard and a new graphic card (8800M GTS dedicated to HDX).

Both worked great but i have noticed that the motherboard wasn't up to date with the bios (F35).

So i have decided to update the bios to F39 version.

The operation was sucessfull but when i have reboot my HDX the screen stay black and nothing appened.

I have decided to put my old graphic card (2600xt) and with this card my hdx boot without problem.





Few questions ?:
* My 8800M is dead ?
* I'am a stupid?
* Is it possible that the bios of the 8800M GTS was destroyed?
* Have you ideas?


NB: I have tried to return to F35 bios but the same problem appeared:
2600xt work but not the 8800M GTS.


Please hellppppppppp !!!

Thanks all.

 

what procedures did you follow, when you updated the bios? this is important.

i hope you had it on ac power and did not unplug it or turn it off. sounds like u didnt, just asking.

 

The motherboard you bought was probably one that originally had the ATI and was then successfully upgraded to the 8800M GTS prior to selling it. The bios update has inside (when you manually unpack it) code for both graphics cards and during setup it reads somewhere on the mobo ( SBIOS?), it seems, to determine which branch to apply (kind of a "cookie"). My guess that in your case the wrong branch was applied, but you are still fortunate to be able to run the hdx into Windows using your old ATI card. Do you have another "virgin" machine/compatible mobo to test the 8800M?

Edit: Although different, this message describes distantly "related" issues:
http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/25845-toshiba-ati-to-nvidia-9600m-gt-update
another one: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=5635247

 

Strange.

Remove the CMOS battery for 10 mins. Then see if it starts up with the 8800M in it after that. If it does, then reflash it to f39.

Trouble might be that when you flashed the BIOS, it thought you had an ATI card in it. It's a separate file in the flash for ATI. IF the BIOS was reporting that an ATI card was in when you had the 8800M, it would flash the BIOS with the ATI ROM.

This may have been the case seeing how high your temps for the 8800M were.

 

If it's the case (ATI Rom instead of NVIDIA Rom during flash) what does it mean ? : My 8800M has now a wrong bios, my 8800M is dead ?

If my 8800M is not dead, how can i put a good rom with noting on screen during boot ?
I haven't an other HDX to try my 8800M....

Is a special method exist to "force" the bios to be flashed with the NVIDIA rom ????

I will try to remove the cmos battery during 10mn.

Others ideas ??????

 

I would like to understand what is appening during bios flashing:

* During the flashing, data are only written into the motherboard ? No data is written into the video card ?

* You said that a choice is made between the ati and the nvidia during bios flashing by reading something. This choice is made under windows during the flash or when you reboot the hdx (after the flash is finished)?
------->If i try again to flash to F39 (with the ati card into the hdx)and when the flash is finished under windows: If a change the graphic card to the 8800M before to reboot the hdx, do you think that i have a chance to solve the problem ?

Please !!!!

 

Just thinking through this (and, yes, it's early in the morning so I might not be thinking clearly), how would one change the GPU card then, on system boards that can take either? I mean, if your board only has ONE video BIOS loaded, and you take out the ATI and put in the nVidia, how do you re-flash for nVidia? You've now got an nVidia card in a system with an ATI BIOS, so you, like the OP, have a black screen. It seems a bit of a catch 22.

Now, I have read before (and I think 2.0 even stated) that on some system boards you can switch from ATI to nVidia. But, given this logic that the system board has a "flag bit" set for ATI, how would one ever flash to nVidia?

It seems the OP did the right steps. Seems very odd...

 

Simply don't flash! The OP had the NVIDIA working fine until he decided to upgrade bios f.35 to f.39. Had he not done this unnecessary step he would still have had a working 8800M on a mobo that originally had an ATI.

 

Three problems.

1. Saying, "simply don't flash" is, well, silly.

2. His mobo DIDN'T originally have an ATI in it. It was a new mobo.

3. His Nvidia card wasn't fine. His temps were out of range. He was concerned as was looking for a solution.

 

I did a mobo replacement for a friend a few months ago who bricked HDX with F40. Apparently, mobos come with f35 on them. This one did and so did tototrix's.

Anyway, dropped in the Nvidia card. Put it all back together. Ran BIOS update to f39, no issues. Temps normal.

Saying all that to say this; tototrix dropped in the Nvidia card on a new mobo and it "worked" albeit with abnormal temps.

Leads me to believe that something was up with his Nvidia card.

 

AFAIK from his posts, his mobo was bought with the 8800M from eBay. You never know the mobo history as it changed hands.

 

Yes, that seems to be the case. The way HP does it is different than others. It's hard to exactly pin down since the BIOS is encrypted.

The choice is made while flashing during windows. If you look at the BIOS file using winrar, you will see it has both a NV and ATI ROM.

No, that would be catastrophic. The system would still be powered.

I'll look into seeing if it's possible to do an automated batch file so you can run it without video.

One question, when you boot with the Nvidia card in, can you hear windows booting up? As in do you hear the welcome song? IF so then you may want to see if you get a display on a second monitor.

 

Obviously. But my point was directed (and quoted from) 2.0's conjecture that the flash update flashed the wrong GPU BIOS, and I was questioning that based on that, how could one EVER switch from ATI to nVidia? It would seem that both GPU BIOSes would have to be present.

 

If the NVIDIA is defective Windows will not load (catastrophic stop--you won't get to the welcome sound). This is unlike in old DOS days.

 

To 2.0: Here is the OP post showing that his mobo originally had an ATI in it.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=5610402#post5610402

 

They are present, in the ROM file. However, the BIOS has basic info so that either card can run. It just doesn't have specific info until you flash it. Recall the 280M GTX? It was able to power up, but was missing the specifics like voltage and clocks so the card wouldn't run properly. Screen was fuzzy and out of sorts.

When you buy a new mobo from HP, the instructions tell you to reflash the system once it is fully assembled. This is so that it can take into account what video card you have and flash accordingly. F33 was the first BIOS to have Nvidia ROM.

The ATI and NV roms that are contained in a ROM update are the exact same size. 1MB. That tells you that it flashes one or the other since the flash ROM is a meg in size.

 

Actually, if you read through his posts, he bought a new mobo that didn't have anything. He even posted the ebay link to the mobo bought from China. He also bought a nvidia card off ebay.


So what he is saying, likely, is that he updated his HDX with a new mobo and new video card. Not that he swapped a video board onto the his original mobo or that the mobo had an ATI installed beforehand.

Chalk the confusion up to lost in translation. French is his native language. But he's very proficient in English.

In any event, he'll clear it up when he reads it.

 

Same here for French. Almost my native too.

 

hi,

Sorry for my poor explications but as you know i'm french

To resume:

* I have a HDX9050EF (with an "old" motherboard and a ati 2600XT).
* I have bought on ebay a 8800M GTS (model for HDX) and a "'new" version of the HDX motherboard.
* All worked fine until i update the bios from F35 to F39.
* After the reboot, my screen was black and when i put my 2600xt, the system boot normaly.

PS: for the 8800M high temps,that was only a thermal pad problem.


* During bios flash do you know if data are written into the graphic card ?.
* You said that the choice between ati or nvidia during bios flashing is made under windows. So i can't reflash with my 8800M. But if "force" the bios update to put the nvidia part into my motherboard (with a ati during the process, and changing to 8800M before booting), i have a chance to solve my problem?


I really think that is not a critical problem because the motherboard boot with my ati, but it's realy anoying
PS: Before updating the bios, is the HP utility saving the old bios ???? (i know i'am dreaming )

 

Thanks for search a solution.

I will try tomorrow and i tell you

 

Problem solved !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The rest of my post is written in french. I apologize for this but i'am not enough skilled to explained what i did very well.

Kingheart will traduce you.

French:
Kingheart je suis désolé de te demander cela mais pourrais-tu traduire aux autres membres du forum ce qui va suivre ?
j'aurai aimé le faire moi même mais je ne suis pas suffisemment bon.....


Le problême au départ:
* J'avais un HDX9050EF avec une ATI2600XT. Comme c'est bien mais pas top... j'ai acheté sur EbAy une carte mère du bon modèle ainsi qu'une 8800M GTS (dédiée aux HDX).
* Tout marchais bien jusqu'à ce que, gros con que je suis, décide de passer de la F35 à la F39. Au reboot seulement ma ATI fonctionnait. Impossible de booter sur la 8800M GTS.


L'hypothèse de départ de 2.0 (au passage ce mec est un dieu vivant...) était la bonne. L'utilitaire de flashage s'est planté de rom et il m'a mis la rom ATI au lieu de la rom NVIDIA.

Comment je le sais ?

J'ai démarré mon système avec ma ATI et j'ai dézippé l'utilitaire de flashage de HP. Il y avait les fichiers suivants:
* NV.cab.
* ATi.cab.
* update.exe.
* et le fichier exe de winflash dont je ne me souviens plus du nom.

* J'ai supprimé le fichier "ATI.cab".
* J'ai fait un copier collé du fichier "NV.cab" et je l'ai renommé en "ATI.cab".
De cette manière j'étais sur que le soft de flashage utiliserai la rom Nvidia.

Après le flashage j'ai arrété le PC, j'ai mis la 8800M GTS, j'ai serré les fesses, et j'ai booter le PC.

Et là j'ai eu un affichage nikel.


Un grand merci à tout le monde pour s'être creusé la tête sur mon problême.
J'ai vraiment apprécié surtout que je suis un petit nouveau et que personne ne me connais.

Et merci à toi Kingheart si tu décides de traduire ces quelques lignes......



PS: Au passage cette petite mésaventure nous apprend la chose suivante: Pendant le flash du bios AUCUNE donnée n'est écrite dans la carte video? Si c'était le cas ma 8800M GTS serai remplie de données dédiées à une ATI.

 

Problem solved. Here is the trick that tototrix applied to get things back to normal:
He unpacked the F.39 bios update softpaq to a local folder. Inside was the ATI and NVIDIA ROMs: NV.cab and ATi.cab. He deleted the ATi.cab and made a second copy of NV.cab renamed as ATi.cab to replace the original ATi.cab. He then reflashed the machine using the bios updater .exe in the folder (where everything was unpacked). All of this was done of course while the machine had the ATi card in. After the re-flash and machine shutdown, he changed the card and put back the NVIDIA 8800M GTS, powered on and the hdx was able to boot to Windows as normal!

He concludes by hypothesizing that it's most likely that the bios updater does not write anything to the graphics cards proper as his experience confirms.

Congratulations tototrix et Joyeux Noel!

 

Well done, Tototrix!

I'm hurt KindHeart didn't translate this, verbatim:

 

Don't worry 2.0. I also had this bios softpaq ati/nvidia thingy "hypothesized" some posts ago, well before yours: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5640773&postcount=8875

But it's not personal fame that we are after here. After all, nobody knows you, 2.0, or knows me here, I mean our real life identities, and as far as I am concerned, "fame" from this forum would add nothing to me. (I am quite sure it is the same for you. We want to help others and nicknames are not part of the solutions.)

 

Ok ...... I love both of you

 

what about me. you love me too

 

I love all of you.............

I 'am so happy to have solved my problem


+++

 

Everybody loves you. You're lovely.

 

Now, now. That's no way for a mortal to talk to a living god. I might be liable to smite you.

:tongue: