Elite e9150t Feezes/Locks up

[BTscarlett]

Is anyone getting this message on their Elite e9150t?  Display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding and has successfully recovered.  I have had this PC for 2 weeks.  The first week I constantly got blue screen with display driver error and constant freezing.  I was instructed to system recover 3 times, but it didn't fix the issue.  My HP case manager sent a tech to my home who was here for 7 hours doing various diagnostics.  I know he did disable all sleep modes.  He left and within 10 minutes the blue screen was back.  He returned and performed chkdsk which took a couple of hours.  In all he was here for almost 11 hours.  I haven't gotten the blue screen or any freezing just the nvlddmkm error and little squares will appear like broken graphics.  Help!  This PC is a replacement for a PC (Elite m9340f) I originally purchased with a NVIDIA graphics card (GeForce 9500 GS) issue.

The case manager has stated to me that HP obviously can't provide me with a computer that meets my needs and offered me 75% of my purchase price.  This is a ridiculous statement.  They haven't provided me with a computer that works.  If the PC's worked properly they would meet my needs.  75% of my purchase price wouldn't allow me to replace the PC with a comparable PC from another manufacturer.

I reinstalled the graphics card driver on Sunday and didn't get the message again until today.  Today screen has gone black twice and I have gotten this messege in yellow yield sign in right hand corner.  I went on NVIDIA website and everyone complaining of this error are serious gamers.  I get this message when PC is left idol with screensaver or without.  Typically when I get up in the am.

Is this a NVIDIA graphics card issue with Vista?  A motherboard issue?  Don't know what to do next!

[TazL]

Hey guys, 

another one with lock ups here. I got my pc 5 days ago and I've had about 10 freezes. They are sometimes accompanied by the sound starting to stutter before it freezes. I have 

Board: PEGATRON CORPORATION TRUCKEE 1.04

Serial Number: 100979010001675
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz

BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 5.18 07/06/2009 

May God have mercy on us all. I don't know whether I should try and get them to send me a new one. 

[Cee-Cee]

BTscarlett, given that they have not been able to fix your problem, namely, your being able to make reasonable use of your brand new computer which they provided for a price, I would demand a full 100% refund and send it back.  They should be paying you for the time you have wasted with their crappy computer and incompetent teckies.

I wish I could tell you what to do, except change to a different graphics card at their expense.  HP (and the world) is not what it used to be.  Too many teachers unwilling to tell some students that they need to grab a pick and shovel as it might traumatize them for the rest of their lives by lowering their overinflated self-esteem.

[Cee-Cee]

TazL, you have the latest version of everything for that model.  My replacement e9150t had a few glitches and somehow (I wish I knew how) it has been working fine for the last 8 days or so.  I got the replacement on 7/28.  It has the same MOBO, except I have the older BIOS 5.13.

I am beginning to think that it is a toss of the dice.  The MOBO or something in the HP computers is poorly made and it causes intermitent errors, more to some victims than to others.  HP needs to stop selling these, recall all of them out there, hire more knowledgeable teckies, and get better suppliers of parts.

[eots]

HP offered me full refund on the purchase price of the computer but nothing on the extended warranty, so I turned it down and told them I want the problem fixed!

[MrHDTV]

Well I have found myself in the same boat as most of you.  I got a new e9180t about a week and a half ago, and it has crashed or frozen on average once a day, despite relatively light use.  I went back and forth with HP email support several times, but they really didn't have any helpful suggestions.  Between downloading and installing ALL available updates for Windows, etc., and rolling all the way back to the factory recovery image, I have seen some variation in the type of crashes, but the crashes still keep coming.  It seems that out of the box with the factory image, it tends to lock up periodically.  After I installed all the updates, it didn't do that nearly as often, but it did blue screen about once a night, in the middle of the night, after I had Windows Media Center record a TV show. It looked like it successfully recorded the show each time, but then as it was shutting down the recording, or perhaps trying to go to sleep due to inactivity, it would hit a blue screen in ntoskrnl.exe.  

I suspect that there is actually a combination of at least one HW problem, plus a SW bug of some sort.  The HW bug would explain the intermittent hangs and blue screens, while the SW bug would explain the fairly consistent blue screen in the middle of the night.  Since the middle-of-the-night crash always seemed consistent inside the NT kernel, it is probably a SW bug of some sort that came down in one of the Windows updates.  

I'm going to call phone support today to see about getting a replacement machine.  Does getting a replacement machine reset the 21-day evaluation period?  I certainly would expect so, but you never know.  If it doesn't reset the 21-day period, then I'll probably have to send the system back for a refund.  That would be a shame, since the machine is really fast and nice to use when it is not locking up or hitting a blue screen.

BTW, it is very disappointing that my system is this flaky, since it looked like the 1.04 motherboard + BIOS 5.18 was working better for some people.  My system includes both, but was still very crash-prone.

For posterity, here is the system info about my system (mostly from CPU-Z, some from PC-Doctor):

System:  e9180t

Software Build:  93NAv6PcA3

Vista Home Premium 64-bit, built 6001

HDD:  Seagate ST3750528AS (750 GB), Firmware HP22, driver 6.0.6001.18000, 6-21-2006

CPU:  i7 920 (2.67 GHz)

Family 6, Model A, Stepping 5

Ext Family: 6, Ext. Model 1A, Revision D0

Motherboard:  Pegatron "Truckee", 1.04

Chipset:  Intel X58, Rev. 13

Southbridge:  Intel 82801JR (ICH10R)

LPCIO:  Fintek

BIOS:  American Megatrends 5.18 (7/06/2009)

Memory:  8 GB (4 DIMMs) - Micron Technology, Part #16JTF25664AY-1G4D1

Graphics:  NVIDIA GeForce GT220, 1 GB

BIOS:  70.16.6.0.8

Driver:  7.15.11.8586, 5-1-2009

Blu-Ray drive:  ATAPI BD O DH4O3S, firmware WH1A  (this drive showed some read problems when running diags, but that can't explain the hangs & blue screens, since I haven't used it at all for real yet).

DVD drive:  ATAPI DVD A DH16AAL, firmware LHD3

Display:  HP2159 (1920x1080) (via DVI)

I also have the machine plugged into my TV:  Sony KDS-55A3000 (1920x1080) (via HDMI)

TV Tuner:  Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1800 (Model 78xxx, Combo ATSC/QAM)

Driver:  1.32.26337.0

Connected to my Comcast cable connection, using QAM

[eots]

It's 21 days from the date of purchase, so exchanging it will not reset the 21 day return limit.  Disappointed to hear systems with the latest BIOS and motherboard are still having the same freezing issue.  HP should just recall every last one of them!  It wouldn't surprise me at all if the next series of Core i7 systems has a completely different motherboard since Pegatron doesn't seem capable of resolving the issues with the IPMTB-TK  (AKA Truckee-UL8E).  If the next model is crash free then HP owes every customer an exchange to the new one.

[Hoping4TheBest]

I clicked the link for "Return & Exchange Policy" on my confirmation E-mail ( http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/return_exchange.do ) and it states:

We accept returns and exchanges for up to 21 days after delivery...

I am expecting my e9150t in about 5 days or so, and am watching this thread very closely.  Unfortunately we don't know how many people get well-running machines, since they probably don't seek out this group.  Either way I will post my results once I get my system up and running.

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eots wrote:
It's 21 days from the date of purchase, so exchanging it will not reset the 21 day return limit.  Disappointed to hear systems with the latest BIOS and motherboard are still having the same freezing issue.  HP should just recall every last one of them!  It wouldn't surprise me at all if the next series of Core i7 systems has a completely different motherboard since Pegatron doesn't seem capable of resolving the issues with the IPMTB-TK  (AKA Truckee-UL8E).  If the next model is crash free then HP owes every customer an exchange to the new one.

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Message Edited by Hoping4TheBest on 08-20-2009 06:45 AM

[Maxx]

Same here. Im expecting my e9150t in around 5 days also. Mine is in texas right now. Getting kind of nervous. I wonder why HP doesnt test their computers before selling them., it seems like a common sense thing to do..

[Cee-Cee]

To all victims of this fiasco:  It seems like ever since I went to the Power Options of the Vista Control Panel and prohibited the computer from going to sleep, I have not had a problem with the replacement e9150t.  I set it under Change Plan Settings to:  Put the Computer to Sleep = NEVER;  Turn off the Display = 20 minutes.  I have a new theory in that the computer suffers from narcolepsy when it should be awake and sleep apnea once it falls asleep.  The narcolepsy makes it fall asleep when it should not, and once it falls asleep, the apnea causes it to stop breathing (lockup/blue-screen).  This is a sarcastic analogy, but you might want to try it out.  I shut-down the computer every night allowing it to have at least 8 hours sleep and I turn it on in the morning.

HP has us grasping at straws, so we do the best we can.