nx7400 freezing for 5 seconds

Hi!

I have the following problem:

occasionally my nx7400 will freeze for about 5 seconds (if I am listening to music or watching video, it produces looping sounds) and then continues to work normally.

Any ideas what it could be? I am running Windows XP Pro SP2, all the latest software. Using wireless and uTorrent.

Regards, VidKo

 

I found out, that the CPU usage rises to 100% at that freezing moment. Notebook isn't overheating.

 

i have exactly the same problem.
NX7400 freezing for 5 seconds sometimes without any reason. CPU not loaded, or there's no running software except the OS(winxp pro)
have upgrade it to 2gb of ram hoping to get rid of these freezing issues. no joy, still frezzing up.
have contacted HP, aparently i'm the first one who has ever reported something like this.
pls advice.

 

was one of those "svchost.exe" using like 100% of CPU power?

If yes, then I know how to solve it, because I used to have this problem of having the "svchost.exe" using like 99% of my CPU power, and the whole system would just stop until it's back to normal.

 

Try with the new hard drive firmware from the HP support site for nx7400. I installed it, and didn't have a freeze since then. Perhaps it's related.

 

Interesting, I've seen that freeze on my nc6320, usually with Azureus running, but not working super hard.

Which drive brand is in that nx7400?

 

It's a Seagate Momentus:

Manufacturer Seagate
Hard Disk Name Momentus 5400.2 120GB 6812
Form Factor 2.5"
Formatted Capacity 60 GB
Disks 1
Recording Surfaces 2
Physical Dimensions 100.5 x 69.85 x 9.5 mm
Max. Weight 100 g
Average Rotational Latency 5.6 ms
Rotational Speed 5400 RPM
Max. Internal Data Rate 336 Mbit/s
Average Seek 12.5 ms
Interface SATA
Buffer-to-Host Data Rate 150 MB/s
Buffer Size 8 MB

Device Manufacturer
Company Name Seagate Technology LLC
Product Information http://www.seagate.com/products

 

Oh mine's Hitachi..must be something else.

 

Well, yesterday evening I got another 5 second freeze. Obviously the drive firmware upgrade didn't solve it

 

I have the same problem but I think mines is because it is overheating

 

I don't have an overheating problem:


Sensor Type Analog Devices ADM1021 (SMBus 4Ch)

Temperatures
Motherboard 42 °C (108 °F)
CPU 45 °C (113 °F)
CPU Diode 47 °C (117 °F)
Seagate ST96812AS 29 °C (84 °F)

 

have you guys both double checked that your hd is udma mode and not pio mode.

 

Yup, I did.

 

Mine's fine also.

I've gone from a 100gb Hitachi drive to a 120gb Samsung and it still does it. Failed to mention I also have 2gb installed, using latest bios and drivers up to date. I can't yet put my finger on what the deal is.

I'm now going to scour the net for anything similar and then get in contact with HP. It's not a disasterous problem but if it happened when I was processing/editing audio I wouldn't be overly pleased.

 

I don't think it's hardware related as much as its a software issue (driver, service, etc). You need to check task manager to see what program took up 100% cpu. And also check for memory leakage (a process that increases in memory usage and idle cpu usage the longer you run the cpu).

I had a problem like this with my dv600t, it sucked up 20% cpu at idle, turned out to be my nvidia graphics driver. If you really think it's hardware related, check some software communication layer (like Intel Maxtrix Storage driver, Intel IDE Controller, etc). I'm guessing it's either some driver for storage, communication, graphics, or sound.

 

hp is famous for these little freezes. Everyone I have ever had has done it. They will always tell you that "no one else has reported this problem before"

Yeah right!

 

Well I've had one for the first time while I was playing back music and got the looping effect.

I'm none the wiser, the only common thread in my incidents appears to be Azureus usage and it happens when I am actively using the machine..i.e. moving the pointer, selecting etc.

Is there any way of checking system usage via something other than task manager? Currently I do notice that System Idle Process is saying CPU 90% even though at the bottom and on the performance tab it's like 5% usage. Not sure if that's a clue or not.

Can't say I'm happy to hear that this is a common HP issue and they don't want/like to acknowledge it. I might have veered towards a Thinkpad if I'd known.

 

Guys, this is NOT an HP issue. Microsoft has a problem with their Windows Update Manager and is planning an update for it on the 22nd. The symptoms of the problem are that svchost.exe goes to 100 percent CPU usage. Why it happens for some and not others is not known and they have tried to fix this problem with a number of patches so I don't even know that they are fully on top of this yet. There are some quick fixes out there if you search for svchost 100 percent cpu usage on google. Another fix is to turn off automatic updates until they fix the windows update manager. I had to fix this problem yesterday on my gf's Toshiba laptop.

Like I said, search google for 100 percent cpu usage svchost.exe and you'll find a ton of blogs on this as well as Microsoft technical bulletins.

 

Interesting..I've found Process Explorer..so I'll get that running at startup and see if I can spot a svchost.exe hitting100% after a freeze.

Had a very quick google check and some of what's been posted suggests much longer freezes than 5-10 seconds, read one up to 10 mins, others which require a reboot. I've never needed to reboot in these instances or noticed any obvious hogging..i.e. sudden available ram drop or fan activity.

I hope it is this though.

 

Try this. Run "msconfig" and select "Diagnostic Startup", then reboot. This will disable all nonvital services and proccesses. If you problem goes away, then you can try and turn services back on. First the microsoft ones, then the non-micosoft ones, and finally the startup programs.

This is how I solved my problem.

 

Well that Windows Update on my nc6320 didn't change anything as it happened again a few minutes ago. Unfortunately I didn't have Process Explorer running, so I can't trace it. .

What was different - Azureus wasn't running but I was heavily downloading using another app. One additional thing..I do use Microsoft Update rather than Windows Update if that makes a difference.

That Diagnostic Startup would be a very slow process, similar to an elimination diet. It's more of an irritation but If it comes to it I'll try it.

Is there any process monitoring app that can do long term logging?

 

Hi all, new to the forum. I found this thread while googleing for "hp laptop freeze", damn, didn't know it's such a common problem.

So, i own an pavilion dv9051ea laptop and ever since i aquired it, few months ago, i've been having this annoying random freezes for a few seconds (while idle, while browsing, while gaming, while working and rendering), afterwards the system works as nothing ever happened, the system clock loses the few seconds every time.

The os is xp sp2, latest bios&drivers. I don't have any windows update running, no processor consuming side apps and my assumption is that the freeze has something to do with the hard drive. The moment the laptop unfreezes i hear a "click" sound coming from the hard drive. I changed the unit from a fujitsu to a western digital, problem still there, therefore it's not the hard drive itself causing the problem (SMART tells me there are no read/write/seek errors). Maybe the sata controller has something to do with this, not enough power or something like this.
My second assumption is the USB port, i had the same problem long ago with a desktop sistem and logitech mx310, i solved it by increasing the mouse rate from 125ms to 500ms. I have the same mouse on this laptop but it freezes even without the mouse plugged in.

That's about it for now, hope this helps.

 

Welcome and thanks for that extra info.

I'm not sure I've seen it when completely idle but then my laptop is rarely so. Has it ever affected anything you were working on? If it happens when I'm recording or editing audio realtime then I'll have to bin it.

From what you've said the SATA controller is certainly a possibility, as it doesn't seem to be HDD dependant.I think we need some expert knowledge here. Are HP using the most up to date software/driver(s) for the controller (Intel I believe)?

I'm sure this must be solveable by some means.

 

It has not corrupted my work, everything went on as if the freeze never happened. With registering realtime audio it's a problem, you lose those freezing second from your recordings.

The annoying thing is that i don't know the cause and it seems totally random. The room temperature, the uptime, the cpu load, the running app are not freezing factors. It's like the os is trying to access the hard drive and it causes the freeze. I'll look for some hdd monitoring software, which process is accessing what sector/file. Or maybe i'll install OSX and see if it still freezes.

Sometimes it goes on for hours and even days without freezing (like today, not a single freeze), but sometimes.... so f#%^1$ annoying. And i repeat, every single time the hard drive makes that sound.

I traded my 14" dell inspiron 640m for this 17" dv9051ea laptop, the dell was worse built but a lot smarter (bios options, everything customizable) and reliable, seems that hp is the opposite (retard bios, random freezes). It's the first and last hp for me.

 

Well I've noticed the HDD light stop (and any external drive too) when it freezes. Not heard any sound but since I changed to a Samsung drive from Hitachi you can't really hear seeks or noises above the ambient drive noise.

Be interested to see what you can find out (if anything) with some HDD monitoring app. All I know is that whatever this is it's not isolated..we just can't pinpoint it yet.

I'm now going through the tedious HP support system and giving it 24-48 hours to see how things go. Not confident TBH. I'd just wish you could get quickly uprated to the second and third tiers without having to go via the chat/telephone script readers. It's not something I can just replicate on cue while online with them, nor instantly come back saying whether a 'fix' has worked.

Anyway, while having a surf last night I found this

http://secure.ncix.com/forumpost/displaythread.php?threadid=1151648

Sounds very similar but with an Acer.

I'm kinda wishing I'd gone for a Thinkpad but went for the cheaper option. Having said that I've never had PC that didn't have some issues.

 

I read the thread about acer, the problem is similar, the thing is that i don't have an AV, memory checking background apps or software from HP. Also my typing is not buffered while in freeze, it just repeats the letter.
Anyway, i found a hard disc monitoring program, filemon. The laptop didn't freeze for some time now (few days). The only software update i did theese days is upgrading TotalCommander from 6.0 to 7.0, but i don't think that's related. I'm sure the problem is still there, but wouldn't show up, therefore i don't have what to monitor, maybe you could give it a try.

And i just remembered something. Besides the USB freeze i described in my first post, i experienced another freeze with my PC (when i had one that is). The problem was the power supply, not giving enough power to the hard drives and one of them would lock my system for a few seconds, make a "click" sound while in freeze and when resuming. The sound is made by the reading heads.
If it's a power problem then file monitoring won't say much about it.

 

did u guys try telling windows not to power off the HDD(s) every few minutes in power management?

 

I have it set to 1 hour, had it set to never. But didn't change anything.

Good thinking though.

 

I had a couple of days this week when it didn't freeze (at least not in my presence). I wasn't using the machine differently at all, so I can't pinpoint anything from that. Froze again today.

What you've said is interesting...as I was following things up on via the HP support chat this evening and the question of whether I run on battery or mains was raised.

95% of the time I use the AC adapter so I am wondering if something odd is happening either with that or on the main board. The agent did ask whether I have access to another adapter (sadly not). Perhaps an adapter swap might be worth trying.

I'll take a look at that utility but I'm now thinking it's not system related. Although there's a couple of things I still want to check.

@ Squallff8aus, mine's set to never so it's not that.

Tomorrow I'm going down the telephone support route to see if I can't get any futher. It's a bit like detective work I guess.

 

what about turning off C4 state for the CPU in bios?
i don't seem to experience this freeze anymore after i turned off C4 and told vista not to turn off my hdd 2 weeks ago.

oh, there is an exception to this though. that is when i first resume from hibernation. have to wait till everything is fully loaded first.

 

I don't appear to have anything related to C4 state on my nc6320, unless I've missed something in the Bios.

 

Well, I have an Acer build, but the problem is really similar...thanks to IdontexistM8 for directing us here. Below is just a brief description of the problem, from the Acer thread:

"It is a freeze when mouse, keyboard, and speakers become unresponsive. If you are playing a song, the speakers will loop the note/tune of the time, similar to a long stutter for about 5-10 seconds. Typing on the keyboard during the freeze will yield the letters you type, BUT only after the freeze.

HD light flashes sometimes after the freeze, but not during it. Task manager maxed out only once when I tried to look at it, other times not, so I think it is inconsistent."

For more details, go here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=96073

On my Acer Aspire 5601awlmi, the tech support has changed the motherboard (twice), ac adaptor, reloaded OS, and also checked the memory modules. They also did a 45-minute extreme test to overload the laptop but found no problems.

However, on this model there's a tendency for the freezing and a sound problem to co-exist. Therefore one user proposed that the sound problem is interrelated with the freezing problem. But no one has actually clarified it yet. The sound problem is now fixed; method includes uninstalling the primary IDE

More details: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=96084&highlight=acer+5601

 

Hiya, thanks for popping by, the similarities makes we wonder if there is a common thread between the brands.

Anyway, after wading through the HP support set-up I'm now getting mine picked up on Monday for checking over @ the UK service company. I'm going to write an extensive letter to send with it, detailing all that I and other people have put here, plus anything else I can come up with.

I don't hold out any great hope for a resolution but I think it's at least worth a try.

 

UdoexistM8

Please, inform us of any response you get from HP support! Thanks in advance!

 

Any news from the UK service company?

 

Nope, been away about 10 days.

 

Hi guys.

Just thouht I'd register here to let you know I spent all day diagnosing exactly this problem on a HP ZE4200 laptop (Kept freezing for a couple of seconds every 10-15 seconds) - most infuriating.

I finally solved the problem by replacing the microsoft supplied (built into XP) network drivers with those from the manufacturer.

Mike

 

Right...my nc6320 came back yesterday...new mainboard and sent a new AC adapter. Couldn't quite read an additional squiggle or two in the notes section.

The fascia just above the keyboard was bulging a bit in the middle so I removed the keyboard to find a cable jammed under a fascia strut..managed to get it out..wasn't overly pleased about that.

Anyway nothing to report on the freeze front yet, I'll see how it goes over the next few days. I've discovered that the pcmcia slot is hopeless but that's for another thread (soon to be written).

 

First noticeable freeze this afternoon while I was running a defrag on external drives, using usenet and playing music...so not fixed.

Not sure which way (if any) to go next.

 

HP phoned me up today..more general confusion and script reading followed. I said I believe it's not worth going back and forward to the repair place (especially when no-one has successfully diagnosed what the issue actually is). They offered me another repair trip and remote troubleshooting involving taking bits (bluetooth memory out etc). I said it wasn't convenient (true) and for them to call back another time. Whether they will is another matter...

 

I've posted all over the place about a vaguely similar problem with audio, and have a simple test that can make disaster happen to order. I'm building a list of machines affected (and the few that are not).

I'd be really keen to have anyone email me either via the personal message system here, or at ho300 at itsound.demon.co.uk (making the obvious change).

The test is simply to play 1kHz tone from the hard drive through the internal speakers with the volume low, then with the volume high. Here, I can make all sorts of strange things happen from audio glitches to blue screens via freeezing. I've got a suitable tone file up on a web site for downloading if necessary.

My current list of affected machines includes 4 HP models. It would be useful to add some more and I suspect this might be a related, or the same, problem.

 

Nope nothing happening at this end...looped some 1kHz tone with Cool Edit Pro. Nada.

 

Good. That means my problem is a different fault (so maybe not so good!).

Just to confirm, you did generate tone to the max level (ie 0dB volume), you did play it through speakers and you haven't loaded any of Microsoft's additional debugging tools?

 

Wasn't at max level but I can remedy that easily enough, was thru speakers, nothing MS going on.

Edit - No difference..the Soundmax chip is a bit rubbish, haven't got my M-Audio drivers installed so I can't check with my external Transit.

 

Test with external things isn't necessary. They all work fine, as far as any of 'us' can tell. It's just the internal audio. The MS things don't have to be going on, just on the machine. I'm struggling to find out exactly what they change. They presumably add 'hooks' to some drivers or dll's.

If you are sure it's OK, I'll look back here to see what machine you have and add it to the "good" list for this.

 

Well HP never called back..and nothing ever happened. We continue to freeze..So thanks HP

I now seem to have another screen issue to add to other screen niggles. It's like a faint white dead pixel patch (about 5-6 pixels), but you can only see it from off centre angles. Weird.

With the launch of the Dell Vostro range I'm very close to giving up on my machine.

 

Interesting thread. Was considering this particular model vs IBM or MacBook. Just enough tech and customer service nonsense to put me off of HP/Compaq.

 

It took me half a year of surfing to find the solution for this -I had exactly the same problem on an acer aspire 9424WSMi, XP Media edition:

Don't ask me why this worked, but beforehand I tried all tipps I could find in the net:

Go to the Device Manager (Start --> Control Pannel - System - Hardware Tab Button Deivce Manager)
Under "IDE ATA/ATAPI-Controller" I have three IDE:
The Intel one, a Primary and a Secondary.
Right click on the Primary IDE-Channel and then press "Uninstall"
After a restart the hardware is "reattached" and the Primary IDE-Channel is there again. After this I did not have the freezing anymore - since 3 weeks now

 

I give that a try later today.

 

Holy $hit!!!! IT WORKS! Everytime I would have this freezing problem I'd just format and reinstall and it would work fine for a few months, and then go right back to the freezing crap... I did the above, and it works flawlessly! You have to restart twice (once for uninstall, and once after it reinstalls)

THANKS GUYS!!!!