WEIRD problem with HP dv4000

I purchased an HP dv4000 laptop about a year ago and I have been very pleased with it, that is, until about a month ago. I have encountered a problem that I have never even heard of before.

After working flawlessly, the laptop has a tendency to randomly freeze up. Everything would stop--the pointer, the clock, etc..
Over time I have discovered that I can get the computer to un-freeze by either pressing down rather hard in the middle of the mousepad, on either side of the mousepad, the bottom of the computer, on the back of the battery, or by holding the screen in a certain position. When the right amount of pressure is placed, the computer would suddenly unfreeze, and everything is fine. But once the pressure is released, the computer freezes again.

However, this problem is not consistent at all. After some time, the computer will sometimes come out of this moody state and work flawlessly without me applying any pressure. Sometimes I'll turn it on and not encounter a problem at all.

It's a strange problem and I can't figure out what causes it to happen, why applying pressure to certain parts of the computer gets it working again, nor how to permentely fix it.

Does anyone have any idea of what is going on and how I can fix it?

Thank you!

 

I suggest you open it up (if it's out of warranty) and clean the dust. It sounds like a contact problem in the motherboard. Do you have the X700?

 

Don't have the x700.
I will give your suggestion a try.
I'll tell you how it goes.

Thanks.

 

Open it and void the warranty.
Could be over-heating, does the problems have any connection when computer is heated up or the charger is heated up?
HP will diagnose things by running a non-stop benchmark or test program that stresses the computer in many ways to test all the components of the machine and memory test. If you cannot replicate the problem they will dick you around for forever before giving you a new machine with a ghosted drive put on your machine or anything of that nature.
HP isn't a bad company, its just how all companies work.

 

I have the exact same problem with my Compaq Presario V4125CL. I have spent so many hours with HP's online tech support, that I have been convinced to system restore twice. I took it to CompUSA (authorized service center) and they shipped it to HP to have it repaired. That was a week ago, and now it is doing the same thing again!

My problem is my 1 year warranty runs out on November 13, 2006.

Does anyone have any other suggestions on how to fix this?

Thanks for your help.

Jimmy

 

yes, tell them not to mess around with you to push you back to Nov 13. They know that can do that...they are trying to do that to a bunch of dv8000 users with keyboard problems.

if they don't do something right away, just ask for their supervisor or "for someone more competent"

 

I started using mobmeter to monitor my CPU temps, which were 50-60 degrees celsius depending on useage. On a whim, I decided to remove my battery to see if that made any difference. It hasn't been more than 50 since I pulled out the battery!

 

Had this exact same problem with my dv4000 6 months after purchase. Since I needed my laptop for school, I couldn't have it sent away. After a while, I needed to put a heavy textbook on top of the touchpad portion on one side of the laptop just to get it to run.

Pathetic, really.

 

It's not a dust problem, and it's not a software problem. You have an intermittent hardware problem. A bad connection somewhere. Finding these are hit or miss. Intermittents are the worse problems to solve.

If you want to try to fix it yourself and have some technical knowhow, here's what you need to do:

Try this first:

Disassemble the laptop and reseat all connectors. Memory, ribbon cables, all connectors. Reassemble and test.

If that doesn't work then try this:

Dissassemble it enough to expose the motherboard but still have it operational.

Get something on the screen that shows activity (ie an animated gif). This will give you the feedback to know if it's in working or freeze mode.

Grab something to poke around with - that doesn't conduct (like the back end of a plastic bic pen or something similar).

While watching the screen, gently probe different area's. Ribbon cables connection points are a good place to start.

If you find the area, you can narrow it down. Bad connections are usually solder connections, cable connection points, but rarely can be internal to an IC (in which case you are done).

If you don't want to do the above then:

Open your wallet and throw a bunch of money at it - I've done this in the past and it does seem to work. If you decide to send it in, they will most likely just replace the motherboard, might be cheaper to replace.

Hope this helps,

Zany

 

I think this is more and more likely a typical DV4000 problem. Mine started having the same problem a couple months ago while my warranty expired last month. First the network card sometimes not working all of a sudden. I did open it up and reseat the card then it works for several weeks without problem. The CPU temperature also went up from 47C (with NHC underclocked) to 55C at idle lately. One thing I have to confess that I usually leave it runs overnight for recording stream media. I guess I should have set up my desktop at home to do that from now on.

 

The pc is probably overheating. Like the pperson above said clean it out and see what happens

 

It sounds like the motherboard. I had that problem with my first dv4000, sent it back and got a new one. Since you said you've had it over a year, your warranty has probably expired, so you can try some of the suggestions in the above thread(s).

 

Has anyone had any further progress with this problem?

Also, is there a way to force a BIOS update? My dv4000 has F.03 and other versions from HP's site claim to not be for my laptop.

 

Has anyone figured out a sol'n to this strange problem? I am having the exact same problem- it started about 4 mos ago and my computer seems to be getting worse, although it has its good days here and there. I am afraid I am going to break my computer if I keep pressing on it, though it could be argued that it's already BROKEN!!