Pavilion ze4805 laptop power-on issue

[Bryan]

All:

Posting here in hopes that someone can offer some additional
troubleshooting suggestions....

I bought a Pavilion ze4805 laptop in July for my wife. Worked GREAT
for 3 months--no problems. All of a sudden (and I do mean all of a
sudden), several keys on the keyboard started typing "\b n" instead of
their expected chars, even when in the machine's BIOS. To make a long
story short, I contacted HP support, sent the laptop in (as it was
under warranty), and they ended up replacing the system board.

Now begins round two. IMMEDIATELY after taking the laptop out of the
return box from HP support, I began having problems booting the
machine consistently. Normally it takes 10-12 attempts to get the
thing to power on to a point where I even get video (and a chance to
enter the BIOS setup screen). Most of the time it just powers on
(with all of the LEDs lighted) and hangs (will not accept keyboard
input, display video, etc) and I have to hold the power button down
for 10 or so seconds to get it to shut off.

So, needless to say, I tried all of the standard stuff I could think
of. I switched power sources, removed the battery and just ran on AC,
and removed the crucial memory chip that I'd purchased aftermarket to
boost performance. It still exhibited the same intermittant behavior.
On the occasions where I can get it to boot successfully into Windows
XP, the laptop functions normally--it's just getting there that seems
to be the difficulty.

I contacted HP support once again, and after extensive phone
troubleshooting (tasks such as resetting the machine, reflashing the
bios), the laptop still exhibited the behavior and they agreed that it
needed to be services YET AGAIN.

Two days ago I got a call from a technican who was assigned to my
laptop. He claimed that the issue was being caused by the third-party
DIMM that I had installed, and that the problem "went away" when he
removed it. On top of that, he wanted to charge me $269.00 to replace
the chip with an HP-approved one. Frustrated and flabbergasted, I
asked him to cancel the service ticket and send the laptop back. I
wanted to do more testing on my own.

So, as I suspected, the error condition has absolutely nothing to do
with the third-party chip, as I can reproduce it with the chip that
came with it only, the third party chip only, and both in at the same
time. It doesn't make sense that the ram would cause this sort of
error--especially when it functioned FINE before I sent it off to them
for keyboard repair.

Needless to say, I am at my wits end. This experience has pretty much
guaranteed that I'll never purchase another HP product ever, but that
doesn't help me at this point as my wife needs this machine for class.

Can anyone offer any sort of troubleshooting steps that I can attempt
in order to get past this?

Thanks very much for your time!

Bryan

[Elector]

"Bryan" <bryan@bryanandtonya.com> wrote in message
news:829c5a23.0411171848.50e49ee7@posting.google.com... All: Posting here in hopes that someone can offer some additional troubleshooting suggestions.... I bought a Pavilion ze4805 laptop in July for my wife. Worked GREAT for 3 months--no problems. All of a sudden (and I do mean all of a sudden), several keys on the keyboard started typing "\b n" instead of their expected chars, even when in the machine's BIOS. To make a long story short, I contacted HP support, sent the laptop in (as it was under warranty), and they ended up replacing the system board. Now begins round two. IMMEDIATELY after taking the laptop out of the return box from HP support, I began having problems booting the machine consistently. Normally it takes 10-12 attempts to get the thing to power on to a point where I even get video (and a chance to enter the BIOS setup screen). Most of the time it just powers on (with all of the LEDs lighted) and hangs (will not accept keyboard input, display video, etc) and I have to hold the power button down for 10 or so seconds to get it to shut off. So, needless to say, I tried all of the standard stuff I could think of. I switched power sources, removed the battery and just ran on AC, and removed the crucial memory chip that I'd purchased aftermarket to boost performance. It still exhibited the same intermittant behavior. On the occasions where I can get it to boot successfully into Windows XP, the laptop functions normally--it's just getting there that seems to be the difficulty. I contacted HP support once again, and after extensive phone troubleshooting (tasks such as resetting the machine, reflashing the bios), the laptop still exhibited the behavior and they agreed that it needed to be services YET AGAIN. Two days ago I got a call from a technican who was assigned to my laptop. He claimed that the issue was being caused by the third-party DIMM that I had installed, and that the problem "went away" when he removed it. On top of that, he wanted to charge me $269.00 to replace the chip with an HP-approved one. Frustrated and flabbergasted, I asked him to cancel the service ticket and send the laptop back. I wanted to do more testing on my own. So, as I suspected, the error condition has absolutely nothing to do with the third-party chip, as I can reproduce it with the chip that came with it only, the third party chip only, and both in at the same time. It doesn't make sense that the ram would cause this sort of error--especially when it functioned FINE before I sent it off to them for keyboard repair. Needless to say, I am at my wits end. This experience has pretty much guaranteed that I'll never purchase another HP product ever, but that doesn't help me at this point as my wife needs this machine for class. Can anyone offer any sort of troubleshooting steps that I can attempt in order to get past this? Thanks very much for your time! Bryan


My guess is if the memory was tested and it still occurred then it
would have been a short in the system when they replaced the
mainboard. However having said that many times HP and other
manufacturers will use refurbished parts in the repair that were so
called tested. I doubt that claim but hey I am not in the factory or
repair center.

If there is nothing of value on the machine (programs, videos, audio
files, etc) I would recommend that you wipe the system clean and
reinstall the operating system from scratch with all original
equipment and programs as when purchased. See if the unit now
functions. If it does then it could be the OS that was the problem.

You can also try to boot from the CD and see if the system boots up
normally. Sometimes if you have a program like Norton (Symantec)
System works the computer may not start properly for one reason or
another due to the settings. If you this software or one like it check
the settings and see if that helped.

I noticed you said they had you reflash the BIOS. Did they have you
flash it with the original one that came with the system or did they
have you upgrade the BIOS? If you placed an original BIOS on a machine
that was upgraded that can also cause problem as you described. Do a
BIOS/CMOS clear and redo it with either/or.

Another cause of this type can be a hardware conflict. When they
replaced the mainboard they may have installed a device incorrectly.
Again this is something for HP to correct unless you are certified to
repair these units yourself.

They may have also had a exposed part of the metal case touching the
motherboard which also can cause that same problem your describing.
Again it needs to be looked at the service center.

I hope that gave you some sort of idea and I hope it helps in your
situation.

Elector

[Joe]

On 17 Nov 2004 18:48:44 -0800, bryan@bryanandtonya.com (Bryan) wrote:
All:Posting here in hopes that someone can offer some additionaltroubleshooting suggestions....I bought a Pavilion ze4805 laptop in July for my wife. Worked GREATfor 3 months--no problems. All of a sudden (and I do mean all of asudden), several keys on the keyboard started typing "\b n" instead oftheir expected chars, even when in the machine's BIOS. To make a longstory short, I contacted HP support, sent the laptop in (as it wasunder warranty), and they ended up replacing the system board.Now begins round two. IMMEDIATELY after taking the laptop out of thereturn box from HP support, I began having problems booting themachine consistently. Normally it takes 10-12 attempts to get thething to power on to a point where I even get video (and a chance toenter the BIOS setup screen). Most of the time it just powers on(with all of the LEDs lighted) and hangs (will not accept keyboardinput, display video, etc) and I have to hold the power button downfor 10 or so seconds to get it to shut off.So, needless to say, I tried all of the standard stuff I could thinkof. I switched power sources, removed the battery and just ran on AC,and removed the crucial memory chip that I'd purchased aftermarket toboost performance. It still exhibited the same intermittant behavior. On the occasions where I can get it to boot successfully into WindowsXP, the laptop functions normally--it's just getting there that seemsto be the difficulty.I contacted HP support once again, and after extensive phonetroubleshooting (tasks such as resetting the machine, reflashing thebios), the laptop still exhibited the behavior and they agreed that itneeded to be services YET AGAIN.Two days ago I got a call from a technican who was assigned to mylaptop. He claimed that the issue was being caused by the third-partyDIMM that I had installed, and that the problem "went away" when heremoved it. On top of that, he wanted to charge me $269.00 to replacethe chip with an HP-approved one. Frustrated and flabbergasted, Iasked him to cancel the service ticket and send the laptop back. Iwanted to do more testing on my own.
Hi Brian,

This seems to be a common problem with pavillions and XEs and I'm
convinced that people are being fobbed off with ridiculously expensive
"new motherboard" response...you were lucky. This es *exactly* the
same problem a I have on 2 XE3s aand if you look at the HP forum you
will see many more . Does the fan spin up for a few seconds, then
stop? Be careful not to leave it on as the chip is still getting juice
and will get very hot even though it doesn't appear to be on.

Have a look at my post for some the things I tried that have partly
helped one of my machines:

Message id is <cjt5p0pggb1pa11mmulhipfvs6jf2hq22a@4ax.com>

or

Widespread problem with HP Omnibook XE3-GFs?

Also, if you've never opened up a laptop before it is *essential* to
get the service manual. There are all sorts of fragile ribbon cables
and jumper wires that seem almost perfectly placed to tear if the
case is opened wrongly.