*HP dv6t & dv7t Select Edition / Quad Edition (6XXX series) Owners Lounge*

I think you are right. After a few hours of use it seems to become smoother. Thanks for the reply

 

I bought a DV6 with the Intel 802.11b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth card. I was wondering if it supported 5.0 GHZ. This may be a dumb question, but I was looking to pick up a new dual band router. While I'm here, anyone have any suggestions on routers for less than $100?

 

Just an fyi ubuntu 11.04 crashes at startup right now with this laptop. Radeon Graphics is in the stack trace.

 

AH!
I was just about to ask this question here. The issue is graphics?
I know on my brothers DV6z (older model) he has a Radeon 4250 + Radeon 5470. And Ubuntu only picks up the former.
It should work fine with Intel HD 3000, no?
I don't know if anyone can test 10.04, 10.10...

 

if you use the open source drivers ( intel and radeon ) you should have no problem, and you can switch between them with Vga_switcheroo.

with the closed source ati driver (catalyst) I have no idea (what I know is that kms will not work! ) I have no idea if you can switch between them (between the intel one and the amd one ).

I plan to install gentoo on it, so when I get it I might write a full tutorial on how to get it to work under linux.

Just need to get it first :\

 

11.04 crashes at startup, even if you use the open source drivers. Intel or ATI, straight up crash at startup with the driver at the top of the stack trace. I installed the proprietary drivers from the command line and I could get it to boot then, but only in low graphics mode, and I had some mouse issues.

 

The wireless card you are issued with , does not support the 5 ghz spectrum as indicated by the label b/g/n.

I think the wndr3700 are around 100 by now since they are superseded by the 37av(which is the same), 3800 and the 4000 (which i am using, there was a preorder sale that drove it down to 110).

 

Please help. The webcam has "low lighting technology" correct? Well it was working fine yesterday and now it doesnt work at all with low lighting! I even did a factory restore and it still doesn't work like it did yesterday. I appear dark and shadowed. Now that I've done a factory restore my Norton Subscription doesn't work. Any way to fix this too?

 

Sorry for posting too much in a single post. And thank you for patiently answering my queries.

Yes, I am using Admin account. After starting my notebook, I switched to Intel HD 3000. Then, after I restart Windows, the GPU appears as Radeon 6770M. Also, if I switch to Intel HD 3000 and shut down and then power on after sometimes, then also after starting, the GPU appears as Radeon 6770M.
Also, I am using the stock HP provided driver for GPU that came pre-installed. I have not updated the driver.

 

There is no way to default to intel on a reboot except for boot it up unplugged.

Also you do not need to have admin privileges to switch graphic modes. It works fine and can switch under the limited user account.

Using the amd graphic update from either windows or amd if your model support switchable with intel. At the moment is not a good idea if you want the system to be stable.

 

My guess you need to use the latest version of ( libdrm, radeon, mesa ) ( maybe even the latest git commit just to make sure ).

 

I can't get this to work with the drivers that came with it. What drivers are you on?

 

I am hopeful that newer drivers will be released that make it more stable. But as far as I am concerned, having the option to switch is worth the hassle.

By the way, Falco, how is the build-quality of the Dell XPS and what about gaming on it?

 

Has anyone who has updated the 6770M driver that shows up in Windows Update noticed any differences. Is there a change log for it somewhere?

 

Try this one, make sure you complete uninstall the old one, to the point windows would boot at the lowest resolution.
Use the HP AMD drivers on your models. Much less headache in the future. Also, please complain to HP to release updated drivers.
The more complaints, the more likely they release.

ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp51501-52000/sp51585.exe

More up to date drivers than the HP website.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...xxx-dv7-5xxx-dv7-6xxx-envy-17-2xxx-intel.html


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As the dell xps, I found the build quality better than the HP dv6-6xxx but the HP have a superior hardware specification in gaming. And the price for the dv6 is pretty good compared to the xps.

However, the driver support is pretty abysmal with HP, support tends to quickly drop as a new generation comes in. Previous experiences with HP, made me choose Dell over HP in the consumer models.

-I got really tired of closing all my applications and reloading them for every switch which lead me to choose nvidia optimus.

 

Fixed Ubuntu right up, many thanks

 

I received my dv7t quad yesterday-actually early! Does anyone have the link to the guide to reinstalling/optimizing a new notebook? I'm sure this has been posted many times but the search on this site does not seem to work well.
Thanks

 

Anybody else had a problem with boot discs not loading? I have hirens and UBCD and a few more and I have them on bootable flash on disc and both just cause a bluescreen... I want to repartition the drive so if anyone else has a better idea please share?

 

Glad it worked , does switching between the intel igp and the amd gpu works ( using switcheroo ) ?

 

I updated the drivers through windows update, I guess it's a 2 part update that's installs the amd drivers and the intel drivers, for me the amd drivers updated fine but the intel failed. Also tried gaming with the new drivers and noticed a lot of distortion. I ended up rolling back to the original drivers and all is back to normal now. Also if you check on amd's website the driver update is not listed for the 6700 series.

 

It works if you boot to command line and manually tell it which you want, but I havent tried within X itself. Its my understanding you cant switch GPU's with X running so would prob need to kill it to switch no?

 

Thanks for that. I'll postpone the update.

 

Yea, at the moment you can't switch between cards within X.
you also need to edit xorg.conf to load the right drivers, but maybe ubuntu does that for you ( I don't use it ).

There is a gsoc that might add hot plugging gpu, but that's months away ( if at all ) .
I've read AMD catalyst 11.4 can switch between cards ( intel open source driver and amd closed source driver ) can you test and see if it works?

 

Is it this:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-compaq/432564-hp-laptop-out-box-guide-2-0-windows-7-a.html

 

I figured it out. In the Configure Switchable Graphics, there is a setting to "Automatically select Power-Saving GPU when on Battery". If it is checked (turned on), then after reboot (with AC Power connected) the GPU switches back to Radeon 6770M. So, I unchecked it (turned off) and voila ! ! The GPU now remains Intel HD 3000 even after reboot. I guess that setting makes the Radeon 6770M GPU default for AC Power connected mode and the Intel HD 3000 GPU default for Battery mode.

 

T h a n k s

 

As a datapoint, I've been running my dv6qe for 3.75 hours on battery (9 cell), first hour wireless, the rest plugged in, bluetooth mouse, upped the default brightness to 70%, copied 15gb of development files, installed various tools, eclipse, java, android (android is currently downloading a very large number of AVD's), I've been browsing, etc. The screen has not turned off (except for about 5 minutes). My battery is currently showing 55% remaining, eta 5 hours 20 minutes at current usage plans. It is currently on the intel graphics. I've had a 16gb usb stick plugged in, and for about an hour had an external usb powerred notebook drive plugged in. This thing just SIPS juice!

Currently running the latest bios and the default install. I did use the decrapifier and revo uninstaller to remove stuff, but it is the same baseline that showed up, just with all the latest updates (except the AMD/ATI/intel driver, I'm still using the one it shipped with)

 

another datapoint, I installed truecrypt, and was putzing with the performance settings. It recognized that the CPU had hardware AES acceleration, so I tested it with and without. it went from roughly 400MB/s to 800MB/sec. Very impressive!

This used 8 concurrent threads (4 physical, 4 logical cores (aka hyperthreaded)) for both tests

 

Over 9 hours (predicted, maybe something less) of use over battery with a quad core doing downloads and installations!! Hey, that's really nice...

A request for you... could you post a photo from a side of the notebook, just to have an idea of the size of the 9-cell battery? How much does it protrude under the base? 0.75-1" I suppose, I'm right?
Man, if your numbers are exact, I could easily deal with the 6-cell... 5+ hours of autonomy will be pretty OK in my case! Thank you!

 

agreed, it REALLY surprised me how well this battery life is. I remember nvidia published a doc how multiple cores can save power (each core throttles down to work in parallel, vs a single core has to crank up for a large workload). I don't know if thats what I'm seeing, but it is pretty amazing. it's been 4 hours and 10 minutes on battery now, the screen did get a bit more dimming time (prepping dinner for the kids). The android AVD manager is still downloading (it takes a long time) and my reported battery is 45%, 3 hours 12 minutes left. I expect it will be 7 hours or so given my current usage (it's really not sweating at all).

I will try to get a pic from the side to show the elevation of the 9 cell, after I feed the kids. It's about one finger high. I like it, as I think it makes typing a bit easier too.

How do I insert images? I assume I have to host it on imgur or some such?

 

Probably the time prediction must calibrate itself in some charge cycles (BTW, a new battery has LESS autonomy in comparison with one with a 10s or so charge cycles), in every case 7 hours is a great result!

Absolutely, I'm not in a hurry! For the pic, when you click Add Reply, under the text box there's a Manage Attachments button, it let you upload a pic.

 

Do these laptops come with a windows 7 install disk that I could use to do a clean install with? My DV6tqe is on its way and I want to be ready.

 

Nope. It will create a recovery disk for you (I used 2 DVD-DL). It claims it will only allow one set to be created. I expect it is a factory image rather than a simple install. There is a thread on how to do that legally, ie download a legal copy of win7, and I assume you use your OEM code, but not sure as I have a copy of win7 that I'll eventually use when I replace the hard drive.

 

Ok, thanks! I was planning on making those recovery disks as well, just to be safe. I found the link I saw earlier about downloading it and it seems pretty straight forward.

 

My pleasure! It takes quite a while to create the dvds (rough guess was 2-3 hours). it does do a verification, and asks that you use good media (I use verbatiam DL). It offers the choice to use a 16gb Flash drive.

Once you do the update, post your results!

 

Thats fine. Its a necessary step IMO. I think I have some sony dvd's laying around so they should be fine. I will be sure to post how everything goes.

On a side note, I just have to say that this forum is really quite amazing. There is TONS of information to read, and EVERYBODY is very encouraging and nice. Th3r3 4r3nt ne P30pl3 wh0 t4lk lik dis either

 

Agreed, I figure we paid for the license, might as well make burn the images.

100% on the helpfulness of people on this site! This is my 2nd notebook that I bought due to talking and sharing knowledge on this site. It really is an amazing place with great people!

 

9 cell heights

From the back, with a sharpie next to it to get some perspective
back

Right side, with sandisk flash drive sticking out

I'll try to get an image of the machine turned upside down to get a perspective of the 9 cell.

 

Finally got my DV7. Loving everything except for a few oddities:

1. The LED monitor looks great except that with this distinct display, I can see what appears to be fine grid-lines (maybe the individual pixles?) when using the laptop from a normal distance (2 feet or so from the screen). I don't care for that at all. I haven't seen something like this on a laptop screen before, ever. I wonder if all the new LED screens look like this?

2. The memory/HDD bay being screwless was a nice gesture, but it was horribly implemented. I've opened it twice and already snapped two of the cheap plastic tabs.

3. You can't change the HDD boot order in the BIOS. That is inexcusable.

Other than that, good stuff. I love having an SSD and a large HDD in the same laptop.

 

The battery life sounds very nice! As you can see in my signature, I've ordered the 6 & 9 cell batteries:

6 cell running low ? => Hibernate => switch batteries => Resume Awesomeness!

Earlier I mentioned that I wanted to test with some cores and HT disabled, with bluetooth, trackpad light off, as well as using Processor Power state restrictions and Wifi of and/or with restrictions. I will let you guys know what I find.

Oh yeah! What about disabling the fingerprint reader? I'm pretty sure that thing takes a lot because it's always on?

 

Thank you for the pics! Rep+ for you

Wow, it's slimmer than I expected... I saw the Dell XPS15 one and was bigger! Or perhaps it's the different shape of the laptop that make it looks different...
Another thing to think about...

 

Haha! Nice war strategy

For the power considerations... First of all, it's clear that everything powered on will shorten the autonomy of the battery, but I think there's some features that makes sense to be deactivated for battery duration, and these in my opinion are excessive screen backlit intensity, wifi when not in use, and the halo ring around the touchpad... Someone my want to limit maximum processor use (this will need less wattage, but more time at high power to complete every task) in power saving profiles, deactivate Aero and 3D effect... But turning off HT and fingerprint reader for me doesn't make a big difference... fingerprint might have power saving functions, ie. it will reactivate only when touched by a finger, but I don't think that little guy will need >0.5W peak...

 

Please post link!

 

I like the 9 cell, it's shorter and just a bit thicker than the battery on my old asus v1s (great machine), whjich I was lucky to get 2 hours on. I've got a solid 5.5 hours doing stuff, not letting it sit idle and still had 11% juice when I plugged it in. It's a good choice.

When I ran gentoo as my linux choice I remember on the laptop wiki they had a power breakdown. The screen was by far the biggest consumer of juice, followed by radios (wifi and bluetooth), and cpu was lower on the list (of course this depends upon what you are doing). I had my screen set to 70 or 80 rather than 30, I ran wireless (for an hour, solid use transfering many gb of files), switched to wired as it was faster (I think the battary profile reduces throughput to save juice on wireless). I did not have any of the maximize power settings enabled (though the intel graphics which was set to balanced, and the out of the box win7/hp modified balanced profile). I had external devices plugged in that drew power (older notebook drive in an external enclosure, and the cruzer).

I'm sure you can google stuff to find out where the effort to save battery is worth spending. I like your plan with two batteries, I almost did that too. With a bit of effort, you can get some really good battery life.

Ya know, this is a da** fine notebook!

 

Same here. Repped.

 

HP pushed a bunch of updates yesterday for my DV7:

Intel Wireless Drivers for Microsoft Windows 7
HP Software Framework
HP Systems Diagnostics UEFI
HP Bios Update UEFI
HP Notebook System BIOS Update (Intel Processors)

I am happy to report that the Intel 1000 wireless card is playing very nicely with my Apple Airport Extreme now! It was unusable before, taking minutes to load pages or not at all.

 

Got my dv6tqe in the mail today. chatting with HP about an RMA for full refund. Too much plastic, there was a nice scracth accross the entire back.. and theres no way i can deal with a 720p screen. Not when my 10 inch netbook has that resolution.

 

I agree completely! This post has been simply amazing. After reading a few posts, when I first found this thread on G00gle, I decided to read it from the beginning. Everyone here has been very helpful and the information it contains is outstanding. Thank you all.

All of you who are new to the thread please do not forget to rep those who make this thread so amazing!
Click on the scale (center icon) on the bottom left of the post/poster you wish to increase in reputation and click on Add to Reputation.

So how does the Rep Power rating work EXACTLY? A certain # = 1 rep power?
Thanks again.

 

not sure if this has been posted, but here is a great video showing off the dv6t quad ed YouTube - HP Pavilion dv6 Quad Review

pretty hyped for mine, but having to wait a month for it to arrive is pretty grueling..

 

I know that HT will have barely any effect (maybe even negative) and turning that off would not really matter. Just wondering what we could squeeze out of the battery.
See for me, I have a 6-cell for my old Dell. It was the family's first Laptop, which was almost never unplugged from the AC adapter, and so has been completely dismal in terms of battery life. Right now, with Wifi off, Brightness minimum, sound off, idling, it might get 6-7 minutes max on a 100% charge.

:cry:​

I've just been waiting to get my hands on a multi-core laptop to test out these things (like Processor Power management and disabling cores) for knowledge in general and how practical these things are.

When I was watching a review of the DV6, the fingerprint reader kept blinking (and LED take very very very very small amount of power) and to be ready to scan a fingerprint (would that really not take noticeable power?) but I guess I'll see once it's delivered Monday how practical turning it off it.
Some people might think it is a gimmick, but from what I've read, it's quite usable, MUCH better than Facial Recognition, and actually able to detect all 10 fingers (although most of us will be too lazy to scan the left hand) and you can set shortcuts or (WHEN MODDED) run custom commands and batches with each finer, like 5 extra hot-keys!