Latest on Vista upgrade and drivers from HP

Hi, I work for HP Total Care and wanted to provide some information that may be helpful. I know it's been frustrating to try to register for the HP Vista Express Upgrade. The web site has been slow and the phones have been clogged because the volume has been much higher than we anticipated. We're sorry about that.

Just to let you know, HP is working on fixing the web site and has pitched in some extra agents to help to man the phones. The best place to go to register for the upgrade is still www.hp.com/go/windowsvista/upgrade.

HP is going to start shipping out the upgrade kits in March in the order they were ordered.

As for software drivers, HP has included many of them in the installation kit. You can also go to http://h20219.www2.hp.com/services/cache/454897-0-0-225-121.html to get the latest drivers. The majority of products less than 7 years old are supported.

If you have any more questions, go to http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/contact/email_1.html to email an HP Total Care agent.

Anna – HP Total Care

 

Thanks for the update Anna, it's nice to have somebody from within HP give a real time update of where things are and an honest take on the situation.

 

Are you going to make all of those Vista drivers available online? A few of our members are having issues with notebooks that have had Vista installed that were not eligible for the program (aka ordered to early)...they would sure appreciate getting all their drivers. Audio seems to be the biggest problem.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post here, Anna. It is very much appreciated.

As night_2004 implied, though, there are a number of us with dv2000t and v3000t models who have been informed by supervisors at HP that no "proper" Vista audio drivers are being made for our notebooks. The newly shipping (dv2200 series) notebooks use a different HD audio codec, and that is the only one HP has provided audio drivers for. Those of us with "older" (read: more than two weeks old) notebooks are being advised that the only audio solution is to use either the XP audio drivers or the included Microsoft ones, both of which cause some major issues on Vista, and can't be said to be working audio drivers. This is being discussed in several threads on this board, and many of us are quite upset. If you read this, if you could pass on our "frustration" to the appropriate people at HP, it would be appreciated.

 

Thanks Anna,
I am also relatively new here, but as a member of other product related forums, I can say that it is pleasant to see an "official" from the company that makes the product drop its consumers a line through the forums. It adds an appreciated personal touch and shows that someone is listening.

I do have a question. This does not affect me, but I have to ask anyway. There are customers on this forum that purchased the dv2000 series before Vista arrived and was told that the notebook was Vista Capable. They are having some very complicated issues with their sound card, and even installing the latest drivers does not work. Is it true that HP is not going to support the sound hardware that was released on the dv2000 series before Vista? I am concerned because my newly purchased dv9000z is the 5th computer that I have purchased from you guys (Compac desktop, HP notebook, Compac notebook, HP tablet PC, and this one), not to mention the numerous amounts of PDA's I have purchased. I always brag about HP being the best and am always recommending customers to purchase your products. So, it kind of saddens me when I see a company like HP not look at an issue that these people have. Also, that could have easily been me. I was almost tempted to get this notebook before Vista, but that logical gremlin on my shoulders kept telling me to wait. That way I know everything works OK and is compatible. Boy, am I glad I did.

 

anna - thanks for the update!

quick question. does the information you have provided regarding the update relate to the EU distribution of the software as well as US?

kind regards

 

There are a lot of questions about drivers. We are constantly adding new ones. You can either go to http://h20219.www2.hp.com/services/cache/454897-0-0-225-121.html or you can sign up to be alerted of new drivers as they become available at http://h71036.www7.hp.com/hho/cache/3618-0-0-225-121.aspx.

As for the issues around audio drivers, I’d like to get a bit more information to see where the trouble is. We need to know:

1. Exact Model number of your Pavilion and Presario (for example DV6205US, not DV6000)
2. Version of Vista
3. Detailed description of problem
4. What steps you have taken to solve the problem

As always, if you have any more questions, go to http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/contact/email_1.html to email an HP Total Care agent.

Anna – HP Total Care

 

Thank again, Anna. Let me see if I can give you all the information on the dv2000t audio driver problem.

1. Exact model: CTO version of dv2000t (dv2100) -- this problem has been reported by all dv2000t users who have a 2000 or 2100 series machine (ie. not the latest dv2200 series)

2. Version of Vista: applies to all -- both 32-bit and 64-bit

3. Description of problem: HP has provided Vista audio drivers for the dv2000t series machines (sp34387.exe), but that driver is only for "Venice" (device id: 5045) audio codecs. That audio codec is only found in the new dv2200 series machines. The machines that originally shipped with XP all use a "Waikiki"-type (device id: 5047) audio device, which HP has not provided a driver for. Our various attempts at getting a response from HP have yielded the results of 1) claims that the driver posted should work, 2) claims that the generic Windows Vista Driver should work, or 3) That for our audio codec the HP-posted XP driver should be used.

4. Attempts to fix:

a) Attempting to install the driver HP posted results in a "Unable to locate MEDIA device" error, due to the device id's not matching. Force installing the driver HP posted, or adding the correct device id string to the .inf file will allow the driver to install, but will result in a "Code 10: Unable to start device" error in device manager and no audio output. Obviously, since this driver is for a different device that is somewhat to be expected.

b) Using the generic Microsoft Windows Vista audio driver results in the following issues: 1) no sound after resume from standby, 2)no internal microphone support, 3) no mute/sound control through the Quickplay controls, 4) sound always output simultaneously through speakers and headphones.

c) Using the XP drivers HP has posted on its website (sp33543.exe) results in the following issues: 1) no compatibility with Vista-64, 2) no compatibility with the new more advanced HD Audio environmental settings found in Vista, and, as a result, a much poorer sounding audio output, 3) incredibly low recording level through the microphone, to the point of it being unuseable, 4) driver conflicts with other audio devices, such as USB headsets, and 5) various system slowdowns, lagging, and lockups using this driver.

Again, this is affecting many users, and there is a debate going on between which of those two current options is the "lesser of two evils". Obviously, neither is a truly workable long-term solution for providing audio on our notebooks. Worse, is the response many of us have received that no "proper" Vista driver is in the works, as the driver HP posted should work.

Any help you can provide would be extremely appreciated.


edit: to show the difference between the audio devices.

This is the device in our notebooks and cited in the XP audio driver:
%HdAudioFunctionDriver.Waikiki5047.DeviceDesc% = HdAudModel,HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_14F1&DEV_5047&SUBSYS_103C30B2

These are the devices supported by the Vista driver HP posted:
%HdAudioFunctionDriver.Venice5045.DeviceDesc% = HdAudModel,HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_14F1&DEV_5045&SUBSYS_103C30B5
%HdAudioFunctionDriver.Venice5045.DeviceDesc% = HdAudModel,HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_14F1&DEV_5045&SUBSYS_103C30CD
%HdAudioFunctionDriver.Venice5045.DeviceDesc% = HdAudModel,HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_14F1&DEV_5045&SUBSYS_103C30B2


Thanks again, Anna.

 

Anna:

I just spoke with an HP Tech Support representative about this issue. There is a difference in the audio codec used in the dv2000t CTOs before HP began offering Vista and the ones when HP began offering Vista.

Please look at case # 7337459231



Exact model: dv2000t CTO



Here is my experience from a previous e-mail correspondence with HP Tech Support:

This is the complete audio device name as shown in compatible drivers for the sound card in our dv2000t that experience this issue:
%HdAudioFunctionDriver.Waikiki5047.DeviceDesc% = HdAudModel,HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_14F1&DEV_5047&SUBSYS_103C30B2

Thanks.

 

Not to rain on your parade Anna, but I signed up for the driver notification over 4 months ago and have received a grand to of 1 notice and that was for a driver that had already been superseded by another version. Sounds great in theory, not so great in practice.

 

Well this predictably dried up just like the rest of the support I've received. I'm so angry about this issue. I bought a laptop in good faith it would be future proof and within a month it's become obselete through one missing driver. I can ill afford a new laptop, and now I'm shut out from new technology, essential to my job, because I've invested in a pile of junk.

Anyway - I'll throw my hat in the ring:

I've got an HP dv2130ea which originally had Windows Media Centre on it.
I've tried to install retail Windows Vista Business on it, and Windows Vista Home Premium.

It recognises the sound card both times with an "HD Audio Device" driver from Microsoft. Whilst the sound plays, most of the functionality of the card is broken including mute, SPDIF, microphone and line out and when sleeping the laptop, then awakening it, there is no sound at all.

I've tried the HP drive from the website and I get the "NO MEDIA DEVICE FOUND" message, because the hardware ID in the INF file mismatches mine, despite this driver apparently being for my laptop. This indicates this is the wrong driver.

On forcing an install through, Device manager claims the device cannot start.

What can I do - for the time being I've rolled back to XP (thank God for Norton Ghost) and will probably be staying with it until I can afford to get rid of this thing.

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to give us the details. We were able to recreate the problem and are working on fixing the driver. Stay tuned.

I am also checking into the driver notification service to see if getting only one driver alert in four months is a fluke or if there is an issue that needs to be addressed.

Anna – HP Total Care

 

Thank you, Anna! Your efforts are greatly appreciated! Looking forward to the updated drivers!

 

Thank you so much for your help Anna. Many of us have been incredibly put off by HP's customer support, but you have been very gracious in helping us on this forum.

Also, I'll put my comment in on the driver notification service. One of the (many) times I chatted with a tech about the audio driver issue, he had me sign up for the service. I've never gotten an email about drivers available, though I don't really mind. I'm sure others expect it to work.

One other thing: I just downloaded Virtual PC 2007. I turned on Hardware VT support in my system BIOS (dv2000t v. F.23), but Virtual PC won't recognize that hardware-assisted virtualization is available. I have a Core 2 Duo T7200, so it should be available. Do you know if that feature has been properly (and fully) implemented in the BIOS yet?

Thanks again, Anna.

 

Appreciate it Anna. It's not of overriding importance since I usually check the support site for updates on a weekly basis. Just letting you know that there may be an issue with the notifications for some people.

I echo jadedraverla's comment on tech support in general and you in particular. Hope you're here permanently.

 

Not to be a smart aleck...but how do we know Anna is whom she claims to be?

 

Andrew and I have looked into it and she is who she claims to be...an HP employee.

You probably need to change the 'allow hardware assist' option for the entire program - not just that particular VM. File->Options->Hardware Virtualization.

I made the same mistake.

 

Thanks Anna for looking into the problem. Like I said before, this issue does not affect me. i do have other gripes, but I will not discuss them here, and are hardly appropiate. Its like I said. I have spent Thousands of dollars on HP products and have much respect for the company. Knowing that you took the time to listen and gather information on a major problem that many HP customers are having justifies the respect that I have for your company. Thanks again, and don't be a stranger. Maybe you could chime in on some of the other threads and help out with a few questions/problems that we are having.

 

any updates on the audio problems?