*HP HDX DRAGON Owners Lounge, Part 1*

Don't know really. I've never worked with XP outside of a virtual environment on the HDX. And all the resident XP experts seem to be gone or moved to Win7.

Only suggestion I can think of is that you install SP3 before installing any drivers because SP3 has the UAA and HD audio support among other things.

Then download sp36420 from hp. Use Winrar to extract the files and place them into a temporary folder. Then in control panel, update the two yellow sound devices by pointing to the driver at the (temporary folder)/wdm directory.

You can get the SP from HP from the FTP site here: ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/

 

Thanks, 2.0...

Well, I already had (have now again) XP with integrated SP3. Just in case, UAA and HDA have been installed independently anyway (from hp.merc.us) without further conflict.

I could not follow the procedure as proffered by you, since I got no yellow sound devices - as I said, IDT, after all, has been installed. What I have left of "yellow" stuff in Device Manager is Fingerprint Sensor (I don't use it, so it rests uninstalled), and some SM Bus Controller ( I don't know what this thing really is, and automatic search does not come up with any software for it). Also there're 5 yellow "unknown devices" - they have been there before the crash too, and no problem with sound ever occured.

Besides, direct launch of SP26420 (as said in CVA 36420 file) failed: it says "wrong driver for your system" and terminates.

I just can't understand why the audio device options always revert to "desktop speakers" after any alteration I make (like built-in speakers of laptop" or anything else)??? Previously I was able to set 5.1. or 7.1. config and it was saved like that...

 

Alright, then go to device manager and choose update on the IDT driver and manually update it by pointing to the above mentioned temporary directory with winrar expanded sp36420. This should put in whatever missing component regular install missed.

 

The bloody thing says it cannot find driver more suitable than already installed.


ОК, I think I'll first check whether the internal speakers work at all - but for that I'd need to find someone to modify my boot.ini so that it again would offer a dual boot - and test speakers in Vista.

 

We'll glad I could be of assistance haha.

 

Cool what you trying to get done? Tototrix was the one to figure out how to recover the HDX BIOS if it bricked no? There was one or two other gents in here that knew about BIOSes if I recall, but can't remember who exactly..

 

It is COMPAQ BIOS with encryption. Some parts of BIOS when loaded to the memory are decrypted ad visible do standard debug.com program (DOS command). The decryption algorithm is unknow to me. Using debug.com I was able to extract video card BIOS from the memory (nVidia one in my case) but it appeared that it is not a standard nVidia BIOS file either. It has additional few kilobytes to the standard nvidia BIOS file for that line on nvidia graphics cards. I was able to load that file into Nibitor but not all parts were decoded correctly. If you would like to go higher with CPU the only way for now is a pin mod to enable soft overclocking (you need to disable TME).

 

Hey AlphaHeX, thanks for the reply on that. It was driving me crazy trying to remember who did some work on the BIOS, as I thought there was someone else as well, but I actually JUST found you were the person at this post http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=169232&page=689


Are you saying overclocking is possible on the 2.5GHZ and or 2.8GHZ? If so that would be sweet! Have you attempted/been successful in doing that? If so could you please explain how to do that?

 

Overclocking is theoretically possible with a hardware mod. (Software overclock for 2.8ghz not possible even with a BIOS mod). Trouble is, the pin that needs to be jumped on the PLL can't be properly done because the PCB (printed circuit board) has 2 levels and the part of the circuit you need to be able to cut and then jump is in the middle-plane of the PCB (think inside of a sandwich between bread).

So no, in reality, no overclocking. And then even if it were possible, you would be overclocking the entire system, not just the CPU. You'd be overclocking the FSB. Likely the HDX's other components connected to the FSB wouldn't handle that well all things considered.

Don't you just hate how I steal hope?

 

Hi, just a quick question. How your HDX fans working, when you your computer is idle. My CPU fan is always on, NOT ON MAX but on, even CPU Temp is 22 C. All is fine fan goes nicely to faster when temperature rises. Just like to know if CPU temperature is low and fan is still on, maybe its not good. And when I had original vista, I remember when computer was idle no fans was working...nice quiet . Win 7 ultimate 64, Is there any chance I can make fans start working like from 40C? GPU fan is all fine if temperature is low its quiet. Thanks, if someone can explain this a little bit, Tom (Sorry my bad English)

 

I have an HDX 18 and the fan is always on. You can go into the BIOS and there is a setting for "Fan Always On." If you disable that, the fan will only run when it reaches a certain temperature. I did that for a while then it started bugging me cycling on and off every few minutes so I turned it back to always on. I suppose on battery having it only come on when needed could save power.

 

It is not do bad. If you check carefully thread about PLL hardware mod you just need to unsolder one leg of PLL and attach it to the ground. It will disable TME lock which is blocking software overclocking. Unfortunately Abo has stopped work on setfsb software thus our PLL is not currently supported 2nd type of mod which can be done is to go from 200 to 266 with FSB via PLL pinmod but 1066 operation has not been confirmed on Santa Rosa chipset.

 

Yea I think I like the part that says that "even if it were possible" etc the best. AlphaHeXs link shows locked down CPUs in HP notebooks being able to be overclocked without it blowing up the FBS or leading to some other doomsday scenario no?

 

I bookmarked this a while back, but thank you for posting it, and with some explanation. Hardware threads like these can tend to make my eyes cross, since I haven't really messed with hardware mods, but they're (and especially this one) has been intriguing for obvious reasons. You think you're (or anyone is) going to try doing this with the HDX?

 

Doesn't matter. None of that applies wholly to the HDX.

I've looked into this for almost a year. Bios mod, TME unlock = fail. The last one, which is an FSB overclock, is not simple at all. It will require that you flash your RAM to change its timing. Not all RAM can do this. There's a few other issues that are unique to the HDX that make this route purely experiemental and not likely to yield suitable or stable results.

Plus it's one of those things where if you can't understand it and/or do it yourself, don't even give it a second thought.

But don't take my word for it. I'm just the 800 pound gorilla in the thread.

Give it a diligent try or at least serious study and you'll see what I'm referring to.

 

No, but at least you're consistent

 

And that's GOTTA count for somethin'!

 

Is the HP HDX DRAGON's touchpad multi touch capable?

 

Unfortunately, no.

 

Haha well I highly doubt I'd try it, unless I happened to get a cheap HDX to mess with. In that case I'd probably want all the good stuff in it if I was going to have hardware surgery performed on it. If anyone who's willing and able to try this and post their results that would be sweet if it worked.


On another note how would you say the NVIDIA 1GB GT 130 compares to the 8800M GTS in the HDX?

 

In a word? Poorly. 50-60% of the performance of our 8800.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

At a minimum, you would have to know how to use a specific type of soldering iron and a volt/ohm meter before even entertaining the idea. Then, a basic understanding of printed circuit boards and finding ground and 3.3v-5v logic.

That's why you likely won't find any takers on the idea. Many were hot on the idea when it seemed like all one needed was SetFSB. But it turned out that the HDX has a TME locked PLL (plus encrypted BIOS).

That only leaves one option that will not be easy to implement for the reasons I already stated. The risk is high, the reward is questionable.

With odds like that, it's cheaper to BUY a new more powerful computer in a year with all the new bells and whistles.

 

What I thought..:/ I was thinking about getting an HDX18 but read it's basically a SLIGHT bit better than the 9600. I think I mainly wanted to know how/if the 1GB helps over the 512.

 

Yea I think I'd only save that for an EXTRA + inexpensive 2.1 NVIDIA 8800 HDX that I wouldn't care much about. The thing is none of the new notebooks will likely have a 20 inch or dual hinge screen, which royally sucks. Did you hear if HP lost a contract on being able to produce anymore 18 inch screen notebooks?

 

Wait, who?

It's a sure thing that there will be no 20" notebook again. The new black is 16:9. At that aspect ratio, it's either 18.4" or ~22".

No, haven't heard that one. It's quite possible that they will stop making the 18.4" Dv8 Quad since it's a low seller. Their main competition doesn't really make any anymore. Acer does but it's a real low seller considering it's busted resolution. They'll be gone soon. Only boutiques will continue to make them until panel makers cut them off.

Big is out and staying out.

One word if you want big: desktop.

 

hi all!

Just wanted to update my "power-on" password problem i was having on my 9010....after two trips back to HP it was determined to be a "failed BIOS", i had the ATI unit but it has been replaced with an nvidia geforce 8800m gts, new main board assembly along with the vga board and new 120gb hard drive and they upgraded me from vista prem to ultimate!...and it was covered by my warranty.... now the screen POPS almost like 3d! i really don't think i had seen the dragon the way it was meant to be seen until now...

question is: on the 9010nr driver download page there is no nvidia drivers listed, just the ATI...would the nvidia driver for the hdx9000t cto work ? (that was the driver listed for nvidia on page 100 of the forum)....

guess this was one of the earliest models that is still under warranty (9010nr) and HP has finally ran out of the ATI chips and boards...

soooo....what kinda of upgrades in the CPU dept can i do (if any)? the current model chipset is the t-7500 2.2ghz but the unit now shows it is a HDX9200f-35, sooo...not sure what i have....

 

Congrats!

You can get drivers for the Nvidia from various sources including Nvidia's website. As far as what HDX you have, it's a 9200, now. The Nvidia drivers on HP's website are outdated and do not perform nearly as well as later drivers.

So I'll link a stable Nvidia driver for you:

Vista x32:

186.81 - http://www.nvidia.com/object/notebook_winvista_win7_186.81_whql.html


Vista x64:

186.81 - http://www.nvidia.com/object/notebook_winvista_win7_x64_186.81_whql.html


It's not the most up to date driver. But it's one of the best official drivers. I'm using the 186.91 which is from Microsoft's website. Can't find the link to it though. For my setup, it's better than the Nvidia official 186.81.

T9300 (2.5ghz), T9500(2.6ghz), X9000. Just note the X9000 is rare, expensive and can't be overclocked in the Dragon. It's not materially faster than the T9300 or T9500 yet cost 2 to 3+ times as much. The price premium is for it's overclockablility. But since you can't overclock it in the HDX, not worth the extra bit of coin. You can find a T9300 and T9500 for $200-$250 on eBay. T9300 will give you a ~20% increase in performance over what you have now. T9500 a 22-24%. X9000 a 30%. Consider that you will be paying and extra $350-$400 more for the X9000 only to get at most a 10% increase in performance over the T9300/T9500. Something you won't notice.

Consider also an SSD. Radical boost in overall system performance. To the tune of 100%+. A 60-120GB in size is more than sufficient. Put OS and all your programs on the SSD. Use the second HDD for things like recorded TV and data. Anything that does large and frequent writes to preserve the life of the SSD.

 

Wow! You made out like a bandit! Pretty nice upgrades. Congratulations and kudos to HP for treating you right...even more than right!

 

i definitely wouldn't mind a couple inches bigger for a new lappy? so when they making it

 

Ditto on that! And where did the number 22 inches come from? Sweet.

 

186.91 (works with S3D - 3D Vision anaglyph trick): http://download.windowsupdate.com/m..._cb6c1aa4c251948406ee897083da9f6d1bf6bc47.cab
187.97 (HP - not yet tested for S3D 3D Vision anaglyph trick): http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/26306-v18797-windows-7vista-64bit-hp-mobile/

 

Who what? You saying they will make 22 inch laptops? If so, how is that not big? And not awesome and more HDXalicious than the HDX itself?

I thought Toshiba Qosmio, Acer Aspire, Malibal, Asus, Sony Vaio, Fujitsu had 18 inch notebooks, at least at some point.

 

In.Nu.End.do. :wink:

 

*shaking head, with a wee bit o' smirk.

Never, ever going to see 22" notebooks. That would be the panel size @ 16:9. It's more like 21.x". 22 is a nominal figure.

They did/do and many of them are being phased out or don't exist anymore since sales were/are low.

Big is out.

The Dragon will forever remain a legend...

 

Like:

 

ya inuendo. lol. not.

a legend like the concorde...yes except they are actually considering bringing it back. saw some big things on the news a couple months ago. the program was supposedly sabotaged or something. it was the last crash that did it in...not the purported cost to fly it.

 

All I hear was 21 and 22 inch screens, for what? I thought you were talking about 16x9 notebook screens.

 

That's exactly what I'm talking about. @ 16:9, the screen size has to be 22". There will never be a 22" notebook. 18.4" is the marketable limit thanks to 16:9. And even that size has proven to be a low seller due to the overall size of the notebook that accommodates it. You'll see 18.4" notebooks also going extinct except for boutiques. But the demand for boutique notebooks will not be enough to support the production of 18.4" for their sakes long either.

 

Dea 2.0,

I seem to have sold problem with the sound: in Vista environmtnt speakers worked perfectly, so I started to backpedal with drivers one by one.
It appeared that first an IDT driver should be installed, and then the BT module driver. Even my beloved orange indicator light came back!!!

There's only one minor problem left, and maybe you'd be able to help me with that issue.
While restoring Vista boot loader I got an additional third entry "Microsoft Windows XP Professional" (it loads on default and results in long error screen) at the boot menu which I don't know how to get rid of.

P.S. I am weeping over your posts sentencing any potential 20" laptops... I was just hoping...

 

Good job! Glad you got that sorted out.

You need to edit the bootloader to remove that entry. You can use BCDedit or a GUI bootloader editor like EasyBCD.

Link EasyBCD: http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1

16:10 20" LCD panels aren't made anymore except for specialty applications. But they are being phased out. Everything is going 16:9.

20" notebooks have all been commercial failures. Everyone who made one, lost money on it. Dell, HP, Clevo, Acer.

18.4" are turning into money losers also. People just don't like anything over 17" called a notebook.

So take good care of your Dragon.

 

Bought an "Intel X25-M Mainstream 80GB 2.5" SATA-II 34nm Solid State Hard Drive" and installed Windows 7 Home Premium all went fine once a couple of driver issues were resolved

My system is now much more responsive. :smile:

However, the WEI Score card is only showing 5.9, for the drive, when I have seen on this forum scores of 7.0-7.9 .

I am thinking that maybe the firmware is out of date? Even though the drive is new!
Does anyone know how to find out the firmware version of this drive, and if there are any dangers/incompatibilities with updating it??

Thanks in advance

 

Holy Christ!!! It worked like magic!!!

Oh, you wouldn't conceive WHAT you have done for me!!!
It's a miracle, miracle!!!

Whenever I am out of my euphoric shock I'll start thinking about exchanging Vista for Win7. So please, please stick around!!!

I owe you the biggest bottle of best Russian vodka (and it's not Stoli anymore these days), mind it.

Well... "with a little help from my friends" (c)

 

Who knows how many rep do I have to spread around before I am allowed to once again send some to 2.0?

In Russia we call these green rep cards "barrels" - like, "thrown a barrel at you!"

 

That's quirk with the Intel drives. As a solution just to get the WEI score up, some cheat by setting power scheme to max performance then running the test.


Run a benchmark program like ATTO or AS SSD benchmark. Run either under both power schemes (balanced and perf) and you should see little change.

The other thing is, you should be running Standard AHCI 1.0 Serial ATA Controller under IDE ATA/Atapi controllers in device manager. If you are using anything else (becasue you installed the Intel Matrix storage manager which you should not use since it doesn't pass TRIM commands to the SSD), uninstall it. And after reboot if it still remains, uninstall the ACHI controller from the device manager and make sure you check the delete box. This will restore the Standard ACHI controller.

 

Glad that worked out for you since I was shooting blanks on the sound issue.

 

Wow congrats on that man! I'm looking to send mine in soon, if I may ask what area of the states do you live, I wonder if region of the US makes a difference in as far as to what parts they have available, since many have reported getting crappier replacement options being given to them.. or I wonder if it's just because you had a really good case manager.

 

Is this the same cyan/blue 3D you mentioned in past posts? I got the glasses but still haven't tried it because I was wondering what the best possible drivers were for the HDX.. though the stereoscopic 3D vision set up looks pretty sweet..

 

Yes, it is the 3D Vision Discover on the HDX (aka the cheap red/cyan anaglyph version).

 

Before I reformat I'm going to try them, undo the latest Flash accelerated Nvidia drivers for the one you recommended to see how it works. Any recommendations on things to try? Settings one should use or are there any?