HP Pavilion dv4291EA Crashes

I recently bought my dv4291EA and am very happy with it for the most part. However, it does have an annoying habit of freezing every now and again and my only course of action is a hard re-boot There does not seem to be a defined pattern to the crashes - sometimes I can work all day with no problem but sometimes it happens two or three times in quick succession.

Whenever my notebook freezes, it is always preceded by a click - as if something is either engaging or disengaging inside. I have been to the HP website and run their diagnostic health check several times, getting a clean bill of health on each occasion.

Has anybody else had this problem and, if so, were you able to resolve it? Am I looking at a hardware malfunction or some sort of obscure software conflict?

I am loath to send it away to be fixed because I cannot really afford the downtime so I would appreciate any suggestions.

 

How often does it freeze? What are your laptop specs? Are you doing basic stuff when this happens or playing a game?
Tim

 

Hi Tim

Thanks for replying.

There is no real discernable pattern to the freezes. I would like to be able to tell you that it happens at times of heavy CPU usage but that is not the case - it can be sitting idle and freeze just as readily as when I am writing an e-mail or working in Word. Having said that, I have loaded Tomb Raider Legend and cannot usually get through more than ten minutes of gameplay before it freezes. Before playing I shut down just about everything else to maximise memory availability. I only loaded it two days ago though so this wasn't causing the freezes before then.

When it does freeze, nothing works either on the keyboard or via the mouse and I have no option but to switch it off and back on again manually.

Spec:

HP dv4000 (dv4291EA)
Pentium M 1.86 GHz
2 Gb of RAM
X700 (not sure about the memory and don't know where to find what it is!)
HD is a Toshiba MK1031GAS (100Gb)

Having read some of the other threads on problems with the dv4000 I loaded Mobile Meter (as my fan is almost constantly on) and it is running at a steady 48 - 53 degs +/-1 deg) with HD temp at 34 deg.

I hope there is something useful there for you - I'm not an expert by any means!

Thanks

Phil

 

have you done viruscan and spyware scan recently? also, have you checked your hd health or your ram health? hd tune and memtest86 are good utilities for these

 

looks like a memory issue. Take one stick out and see if it helps. If not, then swap them and see. btw, download Prime95 and run it.

 

I use AVG and ran a full scan a few days ago. I also use AdAware and ran a full scan recently - no critical objects at all. I haven't run either hd tune or memtest but I will do so now and see what comes back.

Thanks for the advice.

 

I'll give that a try. What is Prime95 and what can I expect it to tell me (bearing in mind I'm not even close to being an expert)?

Thanks for your advice.

 

Found it and understand what it's all about.

Thanks

 

Hi Prof,
Check your sleeep nad power saving settings. With 2 gig you hsould not have to shut down any resident programs to run TR. Also make sure you have the most recent HP drivers for your configuration.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for your reply.

My power seetings are set to 'always on' when on mains power with only the monitor set to go off after 20 mins - which it does with no problem just about all of the time.

Following the advice of a previous poster I ran the Prime95 torture test for about 5 hours and it came back with no problems at all. The thing that confuses me is the seemingly random nature of the freezes - it does not happen exclusively at times of high stress or low stress. Just when it feels like it.

I shut other programs down whilst running TR just as a precaution and with things like Skype, I don't need somebody calling me in the middle of something difficult - I'm still getting used to the new controls in Legend as it is without any other distractions!

As for the drivers, the HP website 'Health Check' automatically checks my drivers and apparently I'm using the latest ones.

I have also run HD Tune - that came back all green. I have memtest and when I get a moment I will shut everything else down and run that as well.

We shall see what happens.

Thanks again for your help.

 

I ran HD Tune and the board came up all green.

However, when I ran memtest the laptop froze again. I ran it three times and each time the same thing happened. I had to run two instances of the program, each testing 746 Mb. The first time the programs froze after testing 68% and 55% respectively, the second after 28% and 18% and the third after 27% and 16%. I didn't bother with a fourth test.

It does appear to be a memory problem on the face of it. pkd suggested removing one stick and/or swapping them to see if that helps. This sounds great - or it would do if I knew what that meant. If that is something I can do here can anybody give me any pointers? I don't just want to attack my laptop with a screwdriver and a positive attitude - a bit of knowledge might add to the experience, I feel. If the worst comes to the worst and I have to replace my memory, where would be the best place to find it online?

Thanks for the help and thanks in advance to anybody who could point me in the right direction to fix this thing.

 

I'm terribly sorry for not answering to your post since I was quite busy yesterday. Have you tried taking one stick of RAM out so far? And, then swapping them? As you have probably noticed I have more or less the same notebook. These models have a tendency to overheat. I'm using notebook hardware control since without substantial undervolting+ cooling pad, playing any sort od 3d games was unfeasible. I strongly recommend downloading, in the first place, Microsoft's .NET Framework Version 2.0 (indispensable for NHT to run), and then installing Notebook Hardware Control. Here's the link http://www.pbus-167.com/chc.htm#anchor_download

After all this adjusting and tweaking, my temps in 2d environment fluctuate between 47-54 degrees. The fan kicks in every so often, but it's hardly noticeable. Have a brief look at my voltage settings.

On multiplier of 15, set voltage 1.100V (default 1.356)
On multiplier of 14, set voltage 1.068V
On multiplier of 13, set voltage 1.052V
On multiplier of 8 , set voltage 1.004V
On multiplier of 6 , set voltage 0.988V

 

fisrt of all, turn your laptop off. Secondly, flip it upside down and unscrew the lid where RAM is located. Thirdly, take one stick of RAM out. Then, screw the lid back and turn your laptop on. Now, run the memtest to see which RAM is faulty.

 

Firstly, you don't need to apologise for not answering immediately - I'm just very grateful that there are people willing to take the time and put in the effort to help me in the first place - however long it takes!

I'm downloading .NET Framework and Notebook Hardware Control now. My laptop doesn't feel hot to the touch - just a bit warm around the touchpad area but I suppose that's normal. I think you could be right about it being a memory issue (see my comments above ref memtest) and I'm interested in your idea of fiddling with the sticks. I've had a look at a couple of interesting websites for upgrading/repairing laptops and it would appear that actually changing RAM is not the rocket science I thought it might be.

I will install the two downloaded programs now and then have a go at your suggestion. If I need to replace my RAM, where would you recommend I look online?

Thanks again for all your help.

 

You don't have to replace your RAM for the time being. First and foremost, with the help of memtest diagnose which RAM stick is faulty. In most cases, you get lifetime warranty for your RAM. Did you get your lappy directly from HP.com or any other store? Hold on with installing NHT.

 

I bought it in a store here in the UK.

I'll test each stick in turn and see if that provides the answer.

Watch this space!!!

Thanks.

 

Is your laptop still under warranty?

cheers, m8

 

Yes it is under warranty. I really cannot be without it for three weeks though whilst the boffins at HP scratch their heads and mutter about amateurs under their breath. I have work to do

However, I followed your advice and tested both of the sticks in both of the slots. Both sticks worked in one slot but only one worked in the other (the laptop froze during memtest). Needless to say, I switched the sticks and then ran memtest on both simultaneously - 100%+ so I'm cautiously optimistic. Time will tell of course.

As for why one stick seems to work in one slot but not the other, whilst the other stick seems happy in either, I have no idea. Perhaps that's why they call it volatile memory. Maybe it was something I said...

I usually get at least one freeze in a 48 hr period (sometimes more) so I'll plod away at it and see what happens. I'll post the results - it may help others in my position.

In the meantime, I owe you, and everybody who offered advice, a beer or two. Thanks for all your help.