*HP dv8 Owners Lounge*

Does anyone know of a protable external hard drive that does not have rootkits installed?

Do you know if USB flash drives have rootkits?

thank you, Larry

 

I think it could be. Do something to get the heat under control. I would think you can overheat the CPU and cause errors leading to crash. It you have such events in the future, and the reference is to different events, that randomness suggests erratic CPU errors.

Regards,
- - Phil

 

Video drivers are one thing I don't trust windows update to mess with.. seems they rarely get it right........

I've just learned to never allow video drivers from windows update.

 

In medicine I prefer to deal with the cause rather than the symptom.

I"m concerned why there is a heat issue.. whatever is running so much causing the processor to heat could most likely be the same thing causing the other issues.

While heat could in fact be the final causative agent, whats causing the heat?
Adding coolers etc is not a good solution.... getting rid of the source of the heat is.

I can only speculate what could be causing it... all I know is that my dv8t runs cool..... I don't know if its because I did a clean install or whether those folks with heating issues didn't do a through clean of the OEM system, or something else entirely.

But there shouldn't be all this heat.

I have my bios set to "Not" run the fan constantly.. you would think that if there were heat issues, that setting alone would aggravate the problem or at least cause the fan to keep cycling or revving up to cool things down and then slowing back down again.

My fan stays slow all the time so I can't hear it "unless I stick my ear down to it" except times when I"m doing something unusual.. like DVD encoding etc.

 

Well, nothing in particular. I think the system is running just fine.

The problem is that the city where I live in is very hot, as I said. So, idle, my notebook runs at 58-60. If I'm gaming, this temperature gets pretty high. Although, not high enough I think, because...

...mine runs this way, too. And when I'm gaming, it doesn't kick in very often. The option on the BIOS is set to "fan always on". But I can't hear it normally. Sometimes it gets really loud, that's when I think it's working hard, right?

I don't think this can be a big deal, I just wanted to improve the life span of my computer. Since I can't get a cooling pad (and maybe it's not worth it), well...think I'm gonna live with it.

About the BSOD, I'm hoping and believing it was an unique episode. Maybe because the torrent got interrupted when put to Sleep Mode (while writing data to HD) and, when it woke up, something strange must have occurred...I don't know. It seems to be healthy again. Now it's wait and see.

Thanks, guys.

 

So do I! I was concerned that he FIRST get to heat down so it wouldn't cause more of the damage he's already seeing. As in medicine, I'm a believer in the principle of "Ocham's razor" - the simplest cause is the most likely and easiest to correct in many cases. I certainly was NOT saying, "take two aspirin and see if the problem is gone by morning!"

Perhaps you weren't aware from his previous posts but he's operating in a very warm room where he said it was 90F. He's previously confirmed that the fan is blowing strongly and noisily and vents are unobstructed.

Perhaps his video driver is running at too high a frequency in the gaming applications he's running.

Regards,
- - Phil

 

That's right, Phil, you got it just right! I need something to deal with the heating problem. Nothing out of extraordinary, just a hot city, a hot room.

I'm thinking seriously about doing something I saw on post #3290 ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...ial-hp-dv8-owners-lounge-329.html#post6254123) by Sweet Pikake.
Just need to know how to get it right about the connectors, voltage, type of plug, etc...I know NOTHING about this kind of thing.

Thanks!

 

Can anyone comment on the Seagate ultra portable free agent go external hard drive?

 

Seagate Ultra Portable Free Agent Go External Hard Drive

 

Thank you Family Guy. Can anyone recommend a good and reliable external portable hard drive for a laptop?
Thank you,
Larry

 

You might want to try asking here: Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades

And perhaps even here: Accessories

You'll get more exposure. Be sure to state your notebook and if you are looking for USB or USB +eSATA external HDD.

 

Thank you very much for that information. Can you tell me what the advantages of USB +eSATA external HDD are?

 

USB speed will be capped at about 20MB/sec. whereas eSATA is equivalent to the SATA interface inside the notebook. So if you are able to achieve 60MB/sec+ internally, the eSATA will do the same. Most eSATA enclosures can be powered by one of your USB ports as the eSATA connection does not supply enough power to run an HDD. It's a data only connection. Most newer notebooks have a combined USB+eSATA port to provide both power(USB) and data(eSATA). But you will need a special USB+eSATA combined cable. Otherwise you will need 2 separate cables - eSATA cable and a USB cable.

Also, most eSATA enclosures come with a power supply so you don't need to power the enclousure via USB.

 

Hey, after HP sent me a factory refurb replacement hard drive for the one that was failing in my DV8, they sent me a survey about my "support experience." So I expressed my disappointment about receiving a refurbed hard drive for one that was only about a month old, plus the refurb unit was causing excessive vibration coming through the palmrest. At the end of the survey, it asked if I wanted someone to contact me and follow up with my issue, so I said yes.

A couple of days later, HP actually did contact me and assigned a new case manager. After I explained the problem half a dozen times, they agreed to send me another hard drive which arrived the day after they said they would replace it again. That's pretty nice service.

The good thing is this drive appears to be new (not a refurb) and it passes all the tests I've thrown at it. The bad thing (maybe) is it's a Toshiba 500 GB 7200 rpm laptop drive. I've never had a Toshiba before and haven't heard much about them. At least the specs aren't too bad. Anyway, going to clone it and install it shortly. Hopefully it will transmit less vibrations through the palmrest than the refurbed drive did.

 

Thank you very much for that information. That is very helpful and I do appreciate it.

 

Congrats, Peter! That's great. Goes a long way towards restoring one's faith in large HP to do the right things! Happy for you!

Regards,
- - Phil

 

After removing this edge to edge glass, the image quality is super but it requires AR Coating. ( Therefore I did ).

Edge to Edge Glass--> Glossy

Original LCD Screen for DV8t---> Anti-Glare

Edge to edge glass is useless, period.

Please remove this edge to edge glass if you want to spend long period of time with this machine.

 

The problem with existing DV8t Screen is clear and simple--> The Edge and Edge Display Glass.

Once you remove it and place 2 AR coating films on the naked laptop screen.

It's more vivid than you think of.

btw, DV8t features Samsung LTN184HT03-001 ( 90% Color Gamut).

 

Mine's plenty bright enough ... have brightness turned down to 70% even on AC.

Regards,
- - Phil

 

Actually, what screen you get is somewhat of a lottery. HP uses at least two different screens for the DV8t. I've had two DV8t's the first one had an obscure Chinese screen made by a company I never heard of. But it was an outstanding screen.

The second DV8t I got, has the Samsung you mentioned. It is still quite good, imo, just not as amazing as the one on my first DV8t. But if you never saw the other one, most people would be very satisfied with the Samsung.

Actually, I don't mind the glossy screen as much as I thought I would. I would prefer it if the screen had a matte anti glare finish, but I don't want to remove the edge to edge glass. It hasn't been a problem for me.

 

The obscure Chinese screen as you mentioned, comes from CMO.

Notebookcheck: Review Clevo M980NU Notebook

->CMO1800, N184H4-L01.

 

I will post my naked LCD screen( No edge to edge glass) footages within 2 days.

The visual image is amazing and superb.

 

It would be interesting to see that.

 

@CH81:

I have tested many coolers in a wide range of ambient room temps and I can attest that any good cooler that generates strong wind power with at least two strong fans and a multi speed switch. There are several such coolers out there that fit the criteria. As it happens, I have found the largest temperature reduction from the Targus AWE19 Amazon.com: Targus AWE19US Chill Mat XC for Laptops from 13.3-Inches to 17-Inches: Electronics It is small (claims to fit 13-17" laptops, but covers all the intake vents on my dv8), it is plastic, which will not last as long as the aluminum ones, say Zalman (which I found did not reduce core temps by nearly as much), but the thing generates a mini-hurricane of wind that is at least 10-15F cooler than the ambient temp in the room (put your hand under it, between the surface it's on and the bottom of it - it raises up in the back, both tilting your keyboard angle and giving you room to place your hand underneath it, and the air flow I can feel there is almost as cold as air conditioned air, 10-15F cooler than room temp). This may defy physics, but it is true - I measured it with a thermometer!, and in a 75F room, it keeps the idle temps of my dv8 cpu and gpu at or below 40C and, under stress tests (I do not game), it kept it at 70-75C. When streaming HD video for an hour, core temps stay around 50C. I don't know what will happen as your ambient temps go into the 90s, as in your location, but while others on this forum are not fully on board with coolers, I'm here to say the coolers are well worth trying, whether you make your own with multiple fans as in the post you refer to, or buy one of the better commercial ones. Can you order from Amazon or somewhere similar where you live?

 

Actually, not from Amazon. It only delivers CDs, DVDs and books here in Brazil.
But I REALLY appreciate you took the time to answer me with all those details. It seems that this temperature control would fit perfectly for me. I don't know Fahrenheit (and I'm kinda lazy right now to convert it ), but I assume the temp here is something like you said, 90F (30-32 C)...so having my Dv8, running at maximum, at actual idle temp, oh wow, that would be GREAT!
I'm gonna try to find this Targus on eBay. This is the only place I know that delivers here in Brazil. I see it says it can only support up to 17-inch laptops, but if you say it can handle a Dv8, I'm gonna take your word for it (I'm just afraid the Dv8 will become unstable on it?). If you know some other model that could also be worth buying, please, you can post it here (or send me a PM). I was worried about gaming, but I don't play games a lot. On the other hand, I'm a 3D/VFX artist, so I'm always relying on After Effects renders and 3D apps as well. They can be a lot CPU consuming. So if I'm working, CPU is being used a lot. If I'm gaming, CPU is being used a lot...that's why I really need something to cool the system here.

Thank you so much, lovelaptops!

Edit: Oh, btw, if Targus is the best, what about the Targus Chill Hub XC? Would it provide the same cooling as the one you mentioned? Because it has some spare USB ports and it's black. Not that these are very important things, but well...was just wondering.

 

The USB ports on our dv8t laptops are 2.0 correct?

 

I hope I'm not saying some absurd, but as far as I know, the DV8 has 3 USB 2.0 and 1 USB/eSata combo port.

I won't go further on this matter, as it's something I'm not so familiar with.

 

Thank you for that information. I think you are correct. I was not sure. Thanks alot.

 

iI have no problems with stability with that cooler, as long as you have it on a level surface underneath. If there is a slight "rock" you can retract the legs in the back of the cooler and it will sit perfectly flat. I don't believe that will reduct the cooling significantly. You will want to fool around with the positioning to get it just right. There are even larger cooling pads with multiple fans that will probably work as well, I just have not tested one that does as well as this. At $30US there is not much risk to trying it. Oh, one last thing: you can power it with USB or AC power. If you have 110 volt power in Brazil, I recommend you use that rather than the USB, as it does seem to give the fans more speed. Alternatively, you could get a Y-connector and connect two USB ports to the cooler for more power. Good luck, and please report in.

EDIT: I must clarify something: it does wobble just a little bit if you don't have it positioned just right. I have gotten used to it and don't even notice it. I found that I can make it rock solid by placing a small rubber or felt "spacer" underneath the front sides of the cooler. Also, you do want to keep the rear "feet" up, at the spacing does help generate the cooling velocity.

EDIT2: The model I have is formally called the Targus Chill Hub XC AWE19, and it is black, and it has multiple USB ports as wll as a three position power switch (I always run on high, there is some noise but it doesn't bother me, it is a constant "din" not an annoying mechanical noise. Again, the reason I recommend this for you - ti's overkill for me in the northeast US - is because of it does the best job of cooling. I really think it's worth a try.

 

Well, we run on 220v here in Brazil. But I could easily find a Y-connector, I think. Or a voltage conversor, this is not a big deal.

No problem, it will be a lot easier to correct this wobbly problem than to build a homemade cooler from scratch.

Well, I can't find your model exactly. I can only find Targus Chill HUB XC AWE01US or Targus Chill Mat XC AWE19US. I've read some reviews and saw people complaining about the compatibility of the USB ports running on 64-bit systems. They were saying the ports are not recognized and thus don't work.

Yeah, based on reviews, after being introduced to this model by you, it seems to be one of the best if not the best, really.

Thank you, lovelaptops, and I'll post about it as soon as it arrives from the long journey of buying, paying, shipping, waiting for brazilian post office to deliver it here (this being the slowest part of the process, for sure )

 

Was "Seiko" the name of the company that made your first screen for your dv8t? Because that's what I have on my dv8t-1100, which I received in late January 2010

 

Ok, I really must have done something to deserve this. Woke up today and the air conditioner had spilled some drops of water over my keyboard. Now it is not functioning. Only some keys work, sometimes it's like a key is being pressed constantly when it's not ([[[[[[[[[[[[ or the down arrow key...and keeps going), sometimes some keys work, sometimes they don't.

Right now, I'm so pissed about this computer and my bad luck with it that I just turned if off before I threw it out the window of my 18th floor.

Maybe it's a better idea to leave it alone and wait for it to dry. It was only water, I think only a few drops and I may be "lucky" to get it working after it dries, right?

I know it has nothing to do with HP now, but I'm growing an enormous traumatic experience inside of me with this Dv8. It is a pity, being the great computer it is.

So, for the 10947th time, any suggestions? It's so ironic I was mentioning I needed to cool my system, looking for cooling mats and all...and then I wake up with a cold wet malfunctioning computer. I wish I could laugh out of this situation, really.

 

Nope. Can't recall the name but it was something I've never even remotely heard of.

 

Well, iirc, (not going to unplug all the various connections to mine to look now) there are some drip holes that are supposed to drain water off the keyboard out the bottom of the computer. But I would recommend removing the keyboard and putting it in front of a hair dryer on low to dry it out really fast. You can find the keyboard removal instructions in the Maintenance Manual which is online at HP's site. With any luck (and sounds like you are due for some about now), the keyboard will work properly again after it's fully dried out. Also try to dry the computer out as well with the hair dryer.

I would disconnect the battery and not power the computer on again until it's completely dried out.

 

Hey, Peter, long time no see. Well, I´m afraid I may break parts/void warranty if I attempt to remove it. I've already seen the manual, but there are a lot of things to remove and I got scared. As to dry the computer out with the hair dryer, I did it already. Spent some good 15 minutes blowing warm air on low speed.

Done that, too. What I'm afraid is about the "finding out" part of the problem. It went like this:

1. Water drops fell on it specifically over the I O P [ ] " : L K and Enter keys (maybe 8 to 10 drops - it was nothing like half glass or something to drench it)
2. I wiped it off. Computer was on all the time.
3. I realized the problem by typing and noticing bad behavior.
4. Turned it off and did the procedure with the hair dryer, turning upside down, etc. It's off ever since. A fan is blowing past it to speed up drying.

I'm afraid this "typing test" short-circuited something and did permanent damage. I'm kinda angry and not believing I didn't turn it off imediately.
But I hope it will turn out ok, because I've read cases in which people spilled a full glass of water or cool aid and the computer was working out fine after drying out.

Guess all I have to do now is wait, right?

 

Is there a review for this laptop?

 

I guess so. Just wait several hours and hope for the best.

I can understand being afraid to get into much dissassembly of the notebook, but at the very least I would think you could simply remove some of the covers from the bottom of the computer to see if any moisture made it down there. This is as simple as just loosening some phillips head screws and lifting off the plastic "doors" or covers. I can't see how doing that would void the warranty. And by opening up those sections it might help "air out" the computer and you could see if any moisture had worked its way through to those points.

I've had the large plastic cover that covers the two drive bays and the memory slots (among other things) off several times already to replace drives. I'm sure that doesn't void the warranty and it just takes a couple of minutes to remove. If it was me, I would at least want to take a look to see if there was any moisture visible there and to just hit it from that side with the hair dryer. But good luck with it. Hopefully, it will dry out and be fine.

 

Thiago,

I don't want to give you false hope, but I once spilled about 3oz of water on my keyboard, dried it out, and never had a problem since - and that was 4 months ago. I did remove my keyboard and blew the hairdryier underneath it. It is really not hard to take out, and does not void the wtty. There are tutorials earlier in this thread, when people were trying to get a backlit keyboard from an HDX 18 to work. I would explain it, but frankly I just followed the instructions and it worked. Very easy. May be late now, so I would give it some more hair dryier (not too how) on the keyboard still on, then boldly try again, though take the advice of others more savvy than I as well. Good luck.

 

I am having a horrible, horrible, horrible experience with my DV8T CTO-1000 purchased online November 2009. Apparently, I have a $2,200 machine that doesn't like to work with any USB devices (particularly frustrating when it comes to my mouse and iPhone).

I noticed my very first night with it that my wireless USB mouse (a Logitech VX Nano) would stop working until I restarted the computer (the mouse works fine with my old XP laptop). I was met with dozens of "USB device not recognized" error messages. Curiously, these USB failures happened concurrently with hisses and crackles from the laptop's built-in speakers. I tried everything I could (restarting, uninstalling everything mouse and USB related in the Device Manager). I e-mailed HP support once before, but the response (in regard to my audio issues) was in the line of "read the user manual and get back to us." After that, I decided to restore the computer to factory settings and decided to re-set-up my laptop, this time careful to do everything right with the USB ports (make sure all mouse software and USB drivers were updated before plugging in any devices).

The "USB device not recognized" problem came back the very same night I had restored everything. Even though my Logitech VX Nano is Windows 7 compatible and the laptop had the most updated mouse software installed, the mouse still stopped working. And when it stopped working it seemed to affect all of the USB ports. I even went out and bought a Windows 7 compatible $20 corded mouse. That too stopped working and I was met with the same "USB device not recognized" error message. Now both mousses do nothing when I plug them in (except like once out of 20 times--some combination of all my remedies will give me a functioning mouse for a few minutes).

In the beginning of February, the laptop USB port malfunctioned mid -sync (with a software version upgrade) with my iPhone. Of course, this killed my phone, with me losing all of my date and having to restore and re-sync on my old laptop.

After the iPhone incident, I didn't plug anything into the USB ports for about a week. Eventually, I plugged back in the corded mouse and it worked fine! Syncing my iPhone was also no trouble.

Over the last four months, I chalked up the whole thing to that damn Logitech mouse and software somehow screwing with my computer.

Well, for my birthday I received some USB speakers (Bose Companion 5). I followed the instructions plugging them in and everything worked fine for a week but now all of the old USB and speakers problems are back! Mouse and speakers don't register with the computer at all. And even with both unplugged for a few days now the laptop's speakers may work for a few minutes but then things begin to crackle, hiss, and mute. I tried connecting my iPhone, but nothing--no syncing.

I have the most recent BIOS and all Windows and HP updates have been loaded. I'm desperate and wishing I had never bought this laptop and wasted so much of my time and money. My friends with Macs are laughing at my misfortune. Please help me. Anything will be appreciated. Thank you!

 

Yeah, like I said, I think it's just a matter of time now. As I'm insecure about opening it, I'll just let it rest until tomorrow afternoon. Considering the amount of water spilled (few drops), it's not physically possible that something will still be wet inside. Not only because of all the time resting, but I did some hair dryer sessions on it already (plus I live in a hot city if you remember well).
I'm gonna wait and see the damage done. The crucial risky part was the time it spent on while still wet and the (dumb) testing made by me (pressing keys and thinking "oh, no! what now?") instead of turning it off.

Thanks a lot, Peter and Lovelaptops. Rest assured I'll post the results here. It's great having people like you to help people like me. Thanks

 

Seriously, this sounds to me like a hardware problem. You probably need a new system board (motherboard). Instead of suffering with this problem for months, you should have contacted HP support and arranged to send the laptop back for warranty service. I can understand your frustration, but occasionally with any product, there are units with faulty parts that need to have the faulty hardware replaced. It is not an indication that there is something inherently wrong with the design or manufacture of the DV8. Obviously, there are many happy DV8 owners, the vast majority in fact, who don't have any problems with their USB ports. You simply need to clearly articulate the problem to HP support and arrange to send the unit back for service so they can replace whatever needs to be replaced so the unit will work properly as designed. That is my opinion.

 

Thanks for responding so quickly.

At this point, mere days after the USB ports started going haywire again (after four months of playing nice with a mouse, an iPhone, and external drive and after a week of my new USB speakers working fine), I'm really hoping for a software solution. This computer gave me no problems for four months: mouse worked every day, iPhone synced, external hard drive connected when I needed it. I'm not the tech savviest, but I'm inclined to believe that plugging speakers in and my mouse not working is probably a software thing. I hope it's clear that I haven't been suffering for months: the pangs of the early frustration were memories--but this reoccurrence has resurrected all of my helplessness.

I've e-mailed HP twice concerning this. The response the first time was extremely unhelpful. The second time, right after the iPhone sync mishap, I was given a link to download new chipset drivers (which downloaded and installed didn't fix anything) with information about sending the whole laptop back. It never came to that as I decided to never plug in the wireless Logitech mouse and everything was working normally a week later.

The idea of preparing my laptop to be sent back to China is more than a little daunting, complicated by many concerns:

1. Doesn't one usually get back a totally wiped machine, one not necessarily yours? Also, as the USB ports aren't working, if I were to back-up my computer beforehand, I'd have to rely on DVDs to back-up my more than 100 GB of data. Backing-up is one thing, what about re-loading a computer with 15+ DVDs?

2. When restoring a laptop with DVDs does one's system come back like exactly like before? What about software key's and such? I'm concerned about getting all of my programs back on and adjusting all of the settings again.

If I have to send the whole thing back, I would of course rather do that than wait until the warranty period is over and be stuck forever with a handicapped computer. But, I really want try other solutions for now, before I get to backing-up and reloading my laptop. It's not hyperbolic to say that it will take days for me to get my computer ready and reloaded once it's back in my hands (not to mention the weeks in between when I'm without my laptop).

 

Well, my solution to this dilemma is to have two machines. I simply can't be without a machine for several days to several weeks while one is being serviced. A program like Acronis can even back up one machine and restore it to a different machine so it makes it pretty painless to migrate your installation to another machine. (I'm not advocating this but one perfectly legal, if morally questionable, option is to buy a second machine to use temporarily while your regular machine is being serviced at a place (such as certain warehouse clubs) that has a liberal 90 day return policy. And then when you get your regular machine back from being serviced, you can return the second machine before the return period has expired.)

Second, I really would never want to have to manually reinstall all my apps, reconfigure my machine, reconstruct my data etc. for any reason. This is why good backups should be an important part of one's regular computing routine. With a good back up solution, like for example, making regular backup images with a back up application like Acronis TIH, one can restore one's entire system with all ones programs, settings, data, etc., almost effortlessly in well under an hour. I just did it a couple of days ago when I installed a replacement hard drive that HP had sent me to replace a defective one. It took about 20 minutes to clone my current hard drive to the new one and then 5 minutes to swap out the old one for the new one. (Then, again using Acronis TIH, it took my computer overnight to securely wipe the old hard drive before I packed it up to ship it back to HP.)

Anyway, entirely aside from dealing with this specific problem you are experiencing, I really think you need to think about implementing a good back up strategy. Of course it will be a lot easier if/when you get your USB ports functioning properly again. But if your esata port is still working, using a hard drive dock that can connect via esata is a great way to go because it is not expensive and the transfer rates are much faster than USB 2.0 which is pretty slow. In fact, a hard drive connected via esata is just as fast as your internal hard drive(s) are!

 

G'day all,
So I took the plunge - I've fitted an A-data S596 128Gb SSD. Couldn't have been easier - this SSD also has a mini USB port so it was dead easy to clone my existing drive with Acronis. Switched over and voila! Boot time now at about 30s and apps open in an instant.
I took the kind advice given here and put my user folders on my 500Gb secondary, and blew away the Restore partition (I have it on the original HDD, and also on recovery disks). So I still have 80Gb spare on the primary.
Couldn't agree more with all here recommending this upgrade!

Thanks,
Simon.

 

Hi guys,

I have been lurking in the shadows of this Lounge for a couple of weeks now and I've just taken the plunge and bought a DV8 after returning a faulty DV6-2120. The collective wealth of information on here is fantastic and persuaded me to buy this beast of a machine, despite there being a few unhappy campers out there.

I know there are two schools of thought here when it comes to new machines: to clean install, or to not clean install? I am of the former - mainly because I like a completely fresh machine with no bloatware/crapware, and also because I enjoy the challenge of installing a new OS (although with Win 7, it isn't really much of a mission...). So, I went ahead and erased the HDD and have installed a fresh copy of Win 7 Home Premium x64 on it (and upgraded to Professional). I have downloaded and installed all of the necessary drivers (including the suspect nVidia 197.44) from Justin's thread (great work BTW - thanks mate!), and so far have not had any issues.

As yet, the machine hasn't had a real good workout, but I have been installing a lot of software and updates and so far there has not been a lot of heat generated. The BIOS was updated to F24 and the fan comes on briefly when needed then goes off. The machine is surprisingly quiet too. There is no flex in the keyboard and the screen is bright and clear. The only issue (if you can call it that) concerned the original hard drive - it was shipped with a 500Gb 7200 Hitachi drive. I could hear a little ticking sound coming from it, so I replaced it with a Seagate 500Gb 7200. I've retained the Hitachi and will install that in the 2nd bay when the caddy kit arrives (as a side note, I ordered one from the UK for 12 pounds (sorry, no 'pound' symbol on my keyboard!). I was going to order one from HP, but the price in NZD was criminal - $125 (USD$87)!!!).

Mine shipped with 6Gb of DDR3 1366MHz RAM and a 6200 AGN card. I know some of you have commented that your DV8s have had 1066MHz RAM and 5100 cards, so I guess HP have changed some of the components (my unit was built in early May).

I've also ordered one of the transparent keyboard covers from eBay, in an effort to avoid the same problem Chapter81 had with the dripping aircon and an accident I once had with a bottle of beer and a keyboard (wasted a perfectly good bottle too...!).

Sorry for my rambling, but as yet I have had none of the issues or quirks that some of you have had with your machines (although every time the machine restarted or shut down, I heard a loud popping sound which scared the hell out of me. I finally realized it was the sub powering down).

A couple of things I did want to check on - and I am hoping someone here can tell me:

1) does anyone know which bit of software gives the onscreen volume and bass/treble display? Is it the HP Smartmedia or IDT software? Mine is displaying the volume but not the bass and treble. I recall reading it in these pages somewhere but I cannot find it (it's also easier to ask than sift thru 395 pages too... .

2) what bit of software enables the DVDs/CDs to play, eject, etc from the touchpanel?

3) what is the best way of installing the HP Softpaqs? Is it best to double-click on them and let them install to the SWSetup folder, or can I download them to a USB stick, extract them to the same USB stick and double-click on the Setup/Install file and go from there? It may seem silly, but I really wanted to avoid having tons of extraneous folders hanging around on the system. If everything does need to be installed to the SWSetup folder, can this then be moved to an external drive without causing issues?

When I did the clean install, I used this method...so I'm wondering whether it is this that has caused the onscreen bass/treble not to display and the player controls on the touchpanel not to work.

Any help on this would be appreciated.

Thanks guys and keep up the healthy discussions!

Cheers.

 

Please explain how you remove the glazing as well.
Regards,
- - Phil

 

To whom may be of curious interest, my keyboard seems half-dead. A lot of keys came back to life and the erratic behavior ceased, but it seems I lost A, S, D, F, G, Enter, [, ], Insert, NumLock (thus, I can't test the numerical keypad) and Right Shift for good. This makes my keyboard useless.

Any encouragement to open the keyboard and check something or I'll be just wasting my time? I find it funny to lose the A, S, D (etc...) keys because the water didn't even get NEAR these keys. Not even a tiny droplet.

Do I wait some more? If I start using it, force typing it, can it come back to life? Is this a real possibility? Stimulate the contacts - does it exist?

Well, I don't even know where I can find a keyboard like this to buy. I've searched on eBay (because there are chances to deliver to Brazil) with no luck. It's a too specific part.
I have a "spare" keyboard here, the one they sent me with the up arrow missing. In the last of my efforts, I can try to make a Frankenstein out of these two, removing the up arrow from the non-working and replacing correctly in the working one (that I can't even tell if it's still working, would have to test it first).

If anyone can help me in ANY way, I'm still listening gladly.
Thanks everyone and sorry if I'm bothering you with this, but I just want to have it working again.

And Richie, congrats on your keyboard cover...I really regret I didn't have one of this soon enough. You see what I'm going through right now.

Found this: http://www.laptoprepairparts.com/html/details.asp?ref=1515&category=keyboards (and guess what? Brazil is not on the list to deliver, yay! )

 

I missed the parts about your choosing the particular SSD you did but, regardless, I'm very glad to hear you got it done and are happy with it. I knew you would be!

Regards,
- - Phil

 

I wouldn't try to modify the keyboard. You are lucky you have a spare. Simply follow the manual and remove the damaged keyboard and replace it with the spare and hope for the best.

Otherwise, you could buy an external USB keyboard and try to use that instead.