*HP HDX DRAGON Owners Lounge, Part 1*

Was gonna wait til I had a pic of it but thought I might as well just describe.

A while back I wanted to give my Dragon a complete clean out so went through the ridiculously long process of trying to open it up beyond just taking that top cover off.

So anyway, I know you have to take the keyboard off to get to it, so i undid the screws and then, here's the problem, the keyboard seemed to be stuck down by some sort of glue or tape underneath, i tried to see if it would easily peel off, but it was so hard and i used too much pressure trying to get it off.

Now my problem is that the bottom right corner of the keyboard is slightly raised, obviously kinda bent a bit, when you push it back down you can hear what I can only describe as a tacky sound as it momentarily sticks back to the glue or tape then unsticks.

I'm assuming the only solutions to this are to try peel the entire thing off, hope i dont damage it too much then bend it backwards a bit? or just to try order a replacement keyboard?

Also one more thing, how much of a mission is it to replace the front plastic fascia if you can get the spare part? reason I ask is my bloody mum accidentally banged the tv remote off the side of the HDX's screen section, and I discovered a 4mm x 2mm chunk had been taken out of it, I found the shard of plastic and super glued it back in but you can still kinda see it, just like the keyboard thing, kinda kills any resale value in a couple years. It's not massive damage but if you gave it a thorough look over if you were gonna buy it you'd probably notice.


Apologies for the essay but I been meaning to post about this for a while

 

I was under warranty. I basically said that the Dragon is a desktop replacement -- so it never moves. therefore the ambient environment never changes (as opposed to being moved from place to place and experiencing humidity, temperature changes, etc). Power brick is on a hardwood floor. I can hear and feel the power brick 'vibrating'/humming on the floor.

Within 48 hours of my phone call, I had a new power brick.

Old brick is just fine. Turned out to be a loose connector where the AC line comes into the brick from the wall. After receiving the new adapter, I found a small dab of adhesive fixed the problem right up.

Spent nearly $3000 for the Dragon. Called HP twice. Received the silk-screened pressed restore DVD's and a new power adapter at no charge.

 

Thank you for the explaination but I was wondering if you can get them in the store instead of off EBAY?

 

You can, but you pay a 30%+ premium.

 

The keyboard is flexible. It has a thin metal backplane. You simply remove it, bend it back into shape (bend it so ends are lower than middle), and reinstall it. The adhesive is nothing to worry about. Keyboard is held firmly in place by screws.

You can replace the screen bezel easily.

For instructions, see the service manual. There's a link to it on page 100, blacknight's post.

 

Can't imagine what the issue is other than software. Since you can get sound at a point between driver installs.

The real solution would have to rest in a clean OS install. Not a re-imaging of the OS. But a fresh install of the OS using either a retail or OEM disc of the OS. This way in the event that you lose sound, you can rollback the driver to when you had sound. Now you can't do that because it appears that your driver table has been corrupted.

 

Cool thanks, but isnt the bessel the chunky grey bit holding the sceen? I'm on about the black plastic surrounding the screen, the broken bit was about here.



Also, I gave up on pulling off the keyboard as it was RIDICULIUSLY hard to get off, felt like I was gonna break something :/ would you say it's worth even going through which such a clean out or is cleaning what you can from removing the top cover enough? I guess now I kinda have to take it off anyway to fix it sooo.

 

No, the chunky gray bit holding the screen is the hinge.

Where your damage is in the pic, that's the bezel. Part No. 452307-001. 83.60 USD at the HP Parts store. I know because I need one too. Mine has a crack in the top left corner. I must have closed it to too hard once to do this. But yes, that's the bezel.

 

That's what I did the first time I had this issue a couple of years back and to the present as well but that does not help. Like you said, the software is just not corresponding to the hardware which is ashame. It worked the very first time when I got it but after doing doing a format with theoriginal drivers, it's a no play. Oh well. I have lived with it up to now. I was just hoping someone might have had a solution. Thanks again for your help.

 

The keyboard is only hard to remove the first time. It will come up. Word of advice, cover the screen with something protective in case the keyboard "pops" up when you are freeing it.

As for cleaning out the fans and grill, you only need to remove the top cover. You will need a vacuum, a few Q-tips swabs, and rubbing alcohol. You can remove the GPU fan to get at the grills. It's held by three screws. The CPU fan requires too much disassmebly. So you only need to use a screwdriver make a gap between the grill and the fan. Get a vacuum in there. Compressed air does work, but not as well. The vacuum the intakes at the bottom of the unit. If you do this every 3 to 6 months, it will be very clean.

 

OK, that's a little steep but when doing a search on Ebay, what do I type in? I asked becasue I keep getting different processors for stationary computers. I am confused.

 

Use search term "Intel T9300," "Intel T9500," or "Intel X9000."

For example, here's a list of T9300 CPUs: http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m38.l1313&_nkw=Intel+T9300&_sacat=See-All-Categories

 

Alright, there is an alternative. I don't use the original drivers. I only use the default Microsoft driver. What I use to enhance the sound is SRS audio Sandbox. The sound it produces is superior to the original HP drivers in both bass and treble. Plus it has enhanced effects.

If you can get sound without the HP drivers (i.e. Microsoft default drivers), give this a shot. You can download the demo from their website.

http://www.srslabs.com/store/store/comersus_viewItem.asp?idProduct=6

X64 version link in FAQ #4: http://www.srslabs.com/landing.aspx?id=693#4

 

Th you 2.0. I will revert to the original window drivers and try this software. I'll get back to you. I appreciate your efforts to help me.

 

Just installed the SR Audio Sandbox. One question, does the icon have to be resident in the right hand corner of the lower screen constantly? Or can I remove it for good? I ama assuming I installed the drivers of this software so I do not need to use the player that comes together with it,right?

 

It doesn't come with a player IIRC. It comes with a control panel. That control panel will minimize to the tray. You can set its tray icon notification by configuring the taskbar.

One thing about the demo, it only allows you to go half slider on all the effects. The full version is dramatically better as it allows full slider range. A good speaker size is 150hz.

Also, set in options/preferences - the drop down box under "select device" to Speaker/HP. And be sure to check "run at startup" box.

 

I had the same issue. Here is my post from when I replaced mine:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=4642593#post4642593

Unfortunately they made the bezel extremely cheap. Mine is already broken again in 3 spots this time. Dang this cost $99.00 too.

I am tempted to buy a few of them to see if I can’t come up with a way to reinforce them in some way. If I could line a few key spots with a thin aluminum or tin... It is just annoying.

 

I work for a hardware reseller with a good relationship with HP, will try get it free or cheap

 

I've notice that I only get sound through headphone jack 1 and not 2. Is this normal?

 

No, you should get out of both. Right click on the speaker icon in the taskbar and choose playback devices. Check the levels on Independent headphones 1 & 2. You an double click them to bring up their properties. They should be set to 100.

To test each, play something, then individually choose each port as default to test. You should see the level bounce up and down to the decibel level of the audio source.

If that's not happening, then there likely is a hardware problem.

If everything is working, set the Speakers (SRS sandbox) back as default.

 

Any thoughts on this 128GB SSD Expresscard as to whether it would work in the HDX, what you think of the specs for a 3rd hard drive? Would it be bootable or just be something nice for extra storage?:


http://www.directdial.com/ca/shop/i...bber&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=pricegrabber

 

Why are they calling an Expresscard SSD, a SATA SSD? Totally different form factors.

 

It confused me as the pic itself looks like an SSD Sata.. I dunno.

EDIT: Ah nevermind, it's just an SSD wrongly labeled as an Expresscard: http://www.transcendusa.com/Products/ModDetail.asp?ModNo=177

I was trying to find alternatives to the Prefec 128GB Expresscard SSD that's like $800+.


On another note as well are the OCZ Vertex 250GB SSDs as "reliable" as the 120GB ones? I was wondering if the negative reviews on Newegg are due to them having Matrix Storage Manager on their system and or something else like the wrong BIOS setting the cause of their problems?

 

Don't know about the 250GB. I have (2)30GB, (1)60GB, and (2)120GB vertex drives. Not a hiccup with any at all. Had to use a neighbor's desktop to flash them to 1.4. No issues there either.

But the best of all of them is the 120GB. Fastest of them all.

There really is no reason to get a 250Gb considering how you should use an SSD. I only used up about 30GB of the 120GB, 19GB of the 30GB, and 27GB of the 60GB.

You only need to install your OS and all your programs onto the SSD. Large DATA that's written often you store on a HDD. SSD life is affected by frequent large writes.

 

They work. I know this because before I removed the IDT drivers I got sound through both headjack ports. It's when I revertt back to the window drivers that only one work. Also, when going into the playback devices window I only see one speaker icon not two like I did when I had the IDT drivers installed before.

 

Ah, try this; update the driver to get back all the inputs and outputs. Simply right click on the Microsoft sound driver (High definition audio codec) that was just default installed and choose to update driver. It will find and automatically update the driver to Sigmatel High definition Audio Codec. Version 5511. What will be missing is tone controls. But you won't be using them anyway since your sound is now controlled by the SRS driver. But you need a primary sound driver to control system audio I/O.

Considering that you had other drivers on there before, on the first update, uninstall whatever it updates to making certain to check the delete box. This will bring you back to the Microsoft default driver. You need to clear out your driver table so that when you update again, it will download the 5511 driver from Microsoft update site automatically.

 

Thanks. Downloaded the Simtel driver as you mentioned. I guess I have to Restart the computer. You mentioned to clear out my 'Driver Table' Where is this table?

 

No worries. By following the above, you will clear it out. Windows stores every driver you load on the system so it can roll back or forward. The way to clear them off the table is to uninstall them from device manager checking the delete driver box.

With audio and video drivers you have to reboot each time you change them.

 

well, I've rebooted and now I get sound through my headphones but not the speakers. This is becoming a cartoon show...Yes, I did make the SRs drivers standard. It seems sound drivers do not work well on my system.

 

What driver version is installed?

 

Don't they come with a 3 year warranty? Would you think it would die if I used it a lot more within the 3 years like I would with a regular hard drive? I was hoping to use the second hard drive for storage alone, especially since any Expresscard SSD I've seen is really expensive. I still haven't gotten additional hard drives for my servers yet, though I should soon, so I'm always wanting extra storage space. Id' MUCH rather lose an OS and software installations I can always clone to the server than storage stuff if that makes sense.

 

When I use SRS after a while, especially after the screen turns off from sitting there, or just from using the HDX for a while, the sound cuts out entirely for some reason. I wish it didn't do that because it's pretty nice to even just use that as an optional sound driver/software when I need more of a boost via headphones at very least.

 

Therein lies the tradeoff. SSDs strength is its speed. Especially read speed.

But MLC SSDs have a 10,000 write cycle life.

What does that mean? For a 120GB MLC Drive with a write amplification factor at 8x and Wear Level at 5% Inefficiency, it handle writing/erasing 78GB daily and last for approx 5 years.

Don't ask about the formula. It's a little complicated. What's more is that it is an optimistic estimate that doesn't take into account that MLC cells weaken over time.

Anyway, I'm not even writing a gig a day. I expect the SSDs to last well beyond the obsolescence of the computers they are in.

The other issue is, if you use an SSD as storage (like a HDD), it makes no economic sense since they are many times more in price than a HDD per GB. You're paying a price premium for speed. So really it is best to only get what you need for apps, not data.

You don't need to have all your files in the HDX. Use external storage.

I haven't had a single issue with SRS Sandbox. Not in Vista or in Win7.

I think you have issues with either your OS install or your mobo considering all the problems that crop up with your system.

 

I installed the drivers you told me to installed. The simtel drivers after clicking on the window drivers and then download update drivers. Rebooted and only got sound from both headjacks but no speakers.

 

So when you go in device manager, right click on the sigmatel Hi def audio driver and hit properties, it lists driver 5511?

If it doesn't work with the Microsoft Sigmatel driver, considering all you've done in the past to attempt to remedy the situation, then it looks like there is might be something wrong with your sound chip. The generic Microsoft driver (one preinstalled with Vista) is very basic and doesn't engage all the aspects of the IDT sound chip. The fact that you get sound out of it says that all the connectors to speakers from the mobo are engaged. But once you get a specific driver installed, it addresses specific aspects of the IDT chip which have either failed or are missing a supporting components.

The only other thing I can think of is perhaps your video driver is causing an issue. Some versions of the ATI driver also has audio components included. What version of the driver are you using?

Other thing is, you might be missing or using a wrong component device driver. If you would, take a snapshot of device manager with the following section's trees expanded:


Sound, Video and Game controllers
System devices

 

will do that when I get home tonight and post them. Thanks again. BTW, in one of your older post you mentioned that the processor could be upgraded. Where is the location of the processor under the laptop? A screenshot maybe if it is possible will help. Thanks.

 

Changing the processor requires complete disassembly of the HDX. The motherboard has to be removed since the side with the processor faces down. It's a big job that takes a first timer about 4 hours from start to finish.

On page 100 is a PDF of the service manual - Blacknight's post. It has complete disassembly instructions with illustrations.

 

I was saying I'd install lots of software to the SSD, but use the other 2nd hard drive, the Seagate 500GB 7200 drive for storage, keeping them separate..one for installs and function of software, the other for storage. I figure I'll record videos and important files there, then in due time transfer them to the servers hard drives, but the video files are really big so it will get filled up quick.

You think maybe if I do a BIOS update from F35 it would help the corruption issue? I was going to get an extended accidental warranty from HP to fix anything wrong with it. I wonder if the Quickdock screwed my system up.

 

Been to page 100 and I do not see the posters name or the file. Would you be so kind as to post a direct link please?

 

Right, I forgot, not everyone has forum page display set to default. SO default page 100 could be page ~50 or ~200 with customized layouts.

In any event, here's the link:

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01279508.pdf

 

So then you realize you don't need a 250 GB SSD?

No it won't help it. But at the same time it won't hurt it either. Bricking with f.39 is exceedingly rare. F40 though, is taking a chance. I replaced a few mobos that were bricked by f40. Read about even more that were.

That's quite possible since they aren't exactly compatible with the HDX and they are notorious for failing.

 

GPU-Z v0.3.9 appeared -->

 

Much improved! Thanks.

 

I have about 200GBs of software installed currently, which is why I was looking into 250GBs in the first place as well as the 128GB Expresscard SSD options.

Ok then I'm going to have to bring it it for repair:/ Bah.

Stupid Quickdocks.. Really the only problems I've had with the HDX has been with messed up corrupted system restores and like 2 crashes that corrupted something in the database as well. It's jacked up right now from the system restore, and am wondering whether to just wait to get an SSD make SURE all the files transferred to the server before I'd format it. OPne thing I don't get is when you transfer files and you say merge folders to add more data it doesn't always add everything in there.

 

Here you go 2.0:

First screenshot is of the device manager and the sound driver and other sound list I have:



---------------------

The second one is the ATI drive in the device manager window:

 

OK, good now there is the problem. You have 2 drivers for the same device.

Here's what we're going to do.

Right click on the High Definition Audio Device. Hit uninstall. Be sure to check the delete driver box.

Don't reboot yet.

Right click on the Sigmatel High definition audio CODEC. Hit uninstall. Be sure to check the delete driver box.

Now, at the top of the device manager, there is a pull down menu. Under action, select "scan for hardware changes"

It should find the audio device. It will ask for to search for a driver. Let it. Since you deleted the Microsoft High definition audio device, it will have to search the web for a driver. It should find and load the Sigmatel High definition audio Codec v.5511.

When it's done, it should only list the Sigmatel codec and not the other High definition audio Codec.

Now reboot.

What does it list?

 

There is no delete option for the High Definition Audio Device. Just the uninstall option. Only the Sigmatel High definition audio CODEC has this option to delete.

 

Does it still list...
disable
update driver
scan for hardware changes

when you right click it?

If it does, then choose update driver.

It should search and install the Sigmatel driver again. If it puts the other one back while leaving the HDAD in the list, simply disable the HDAD... for now. When you update it, it's suppose to change the HDAD to the sigmatel driver. Not add the sigmatel. That is a driver table corruption.

 

Hey 2.0, I was thinking, could that other device be the HDMI port?? Someone was having a problem with their audio and we were helping them and they had a second High Definition Audio Device and it turned out to be the HDMI device. Could that be the case here??

 

I've now removed the simtel drivers and uninstall the window drivers. Rebooting gave me this screenshot:



Right clicking on one of those drivers to update tells me the latest driver is already installed. Boy!!! This is really giving me a headache. I got sound through the speakers again but only sound through headphone jack 1. If windows the drivers on the hard drive, where is it? So maybe I can delete it from the drive completely then search for an update again.