Elite e9150t Feezes/Locks up

[Arbitard1171]

just when i thought i wouldn't need to be here again, here i am. another blue screen after 6-7 months. Machine Check Exception with error code 0x0000009c.

i don't even know weather or not to contact HP though. the warrenty expires july. this would be my third time sending it in, so wouldn't they have to give me a new one (which would be impossible since mine has been discontinued: the Pavilion Elite E9180F)?

what do u guys think? i might have gotten another BSOD inbetween those 6-7 months but i forgot

[lowbar]

I don't know what that particular error message means but a blue screen can happen for many different reasons including hardware, software, conflicts, etc.  In my opinion one BSOD every 6 months is no big deal.  I personally have not had any problems in about 2 months which is about the time I installed the 5.27 firmware and subsequently 5.28.  I still have the 1.03 MB but I am not having errors.  As an insurance policy I went back and purchased the 2nd year warranty.  I usually don't buy extended warranties but when you have a product with a shaky history I thought it was a good idea.  You might want to consider it.

[Arbitard1171]

i turned on my computer when this message poped up in Action Center: Consider sending additional information about a problem with your graphics driver.

it says its had a problem twice: February 8th and April 24th...not exactly a good sign

Its solution was to fill out an HP questionnaire. i did so but i'm sure it won't help.

Oh i also have BIOS 5.22. didn't want to upgrade since everything has been fine and i didn't want to risk anything

UPDATE: does anyone know if these 2 things will fit in my computer case?

PSU: http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=45039&vpn=W0388RU&manufacture=Thermaltake
Graphics card: http://ncix.com/products/?sku=51927&vpn=N470GTX%20M2D12-B&manufacture=MSI%2FMicroStar

please reply back

[dwansmith]

Refurb...  with old motherboard...

    I read all of the info in this thread, and then went ahead and bought a m9600t factory refurb two weeks ago. 

It arrived with a 1.03E motherboard and 5.25 BIOS.  I updated the BIOS to 5.28 tested for a few hours, and decided to call HP support noting the frequent BSODs on pre 1.04E01 mobos.  They agreed to repair it after about two hours of verifying things (I spoke to a pleasant sounding young woman from India). 

Came back and...

   Well, it came back today.   Yes, they replaced the mobo, but NO, it is not 1.04E01.  It is 1.03 this time.  A paper sticker says it is PN 594415-001 Rev A03.  The motherboard has 1.03 painted on after the Pegatron name.  I just ran the PC-Doctor stress test, and it passed (about 10 minutes worth), but I'm still quite afraid of BSODs and hangs.

Words to the wise for refurb buyers

   I've seen a few refurbs of the Pegatron based models listed in different places (ubid, ebay...), and I suspect they are trying to clear out the stock of the units that they were forced to take back.  Don't assume that you are getting a refurb that has a stable motherboard!  Also, beware that your warranty is not really 90 days.  They told me I had 70 days left on the day I received mine.  Their clock starts when they ship it to the refurb reseller, not you... I have heard that if you send HP your dated invoice from a retailer that they will reset the 90 day warranty from then.

What do do?

    1)  So how do you get them to replace the motherboard with a 1.04E01 version?  

    2) Can anyone here suggest a diagnostic that will stress test the motherboard and make it likely to fail?

I'm considering just buying an ASUS P6T and pulling the parts I can salvage out of the case (CPU, ram, DVD, HD...). 

Thanks for your work Freezin_Jake and Big_Dave!

[sumsolstice]

Look for an "E" in the motherboard revision.   You don't have to have 1.04E01 as many here on the forum have stated. Older motherboards can be reworked to the E revision.  

I personally have used SIW.EXE from Gabriel Topala's website to determine the motherboard revision.   If you have BIOS 5.24 or later - the utility should indicate the motherboard revision correctly.

If you feel the motherboard is causing your problems, call back and ask to have this escalated to a case manager.   If that still gives you no joy - send me a private email with your contact information, serial # and call history and I'll see what I can do.

-dm (an HP employee, but the comments/suggestions here are my own, not my employer's)

[Big_Dave]

You need to get back on the horn to HP and insist on a motherboard replacement.  I haven't seen any posts out here where the 1.04E01 motherboards have been an issue.

[dwansmith]

I rechecked the replacement motherboard rev, and it shows 1.03E in CPU-Z.  Bios os 5.28.  That may map to part number 594415-001, Rev A03,  Other posts (hanspuppa, page 350) report that rev 1.04E01 shows 594415-001 Rev A06. 

I called HP support yesterday, and I talked with 'John' from India.  He insisted that going from rev 1.03 to 1.04E01 would not be possible since my original machine had 1.03.  I insisted that it was the same part number, just a different rev.  I asked to have the case escalated, was on hold for quite a long time, and he came back with the same story.  He said he had updated the case information.

I did a search and found some bad news from Bob979 on page 345 of this forum about 1.03E.  His post did not list the part number or rev of his mobo.

Anybody out there have any experience (good or evil) with Pegatron 1.03E? 

Thanks

[sumsolstice]

I'm running a m9600t with 1.03 (without the E rework) and have had no problems - but not every motherboard has had problems.

If a system is sent in for service, where a motherboad is replaced, a refurbished part will likely be used.   The motherboards are all brought up to current rework specifcations, but the original motherboard # is used, so as to differentiate between them.  So a 1.03 revision motherboard becomes a 1.03E. 

It is always possible that even a particular refurbished motherboard could have an issue, and if this is the case - a re-repair should occur - it should be covered in the original warranty - I believe most repairs have a 30 day warranty for that particular repair (I'm not versed on all the warranty processes, however).

This being said - what blue screen errors are you running into?  There have been issues attributed to nVidia GT220 graphics adapters - there is a video BIOS update as well as a new driver to address them.  Maybe the issue is not with the motherboard.

Again - if you like - private email me here in the forum with your contact information and we can discuss this directly if you like.

-dm (a long-time HP employee, but the comments/suggestions here are my own, not my employers)

[dwansmith]

Ran Sandra burn-in for about 100 total hours so far. Had to turn off some of the tests to keep Sandra from stopping. No hangs or lockups on this 1.03E board yet.  It does get pretty toasty though (up to 74C per CoreTemp when CPU is pegged).   The peak temp seems to be trending down a few degrees though, which may be due to the break-in period for the thermal grease.

So it appears that HP/ASUS/Pegatron were able to find a way to re-work the boards (change the faulty resistors?) to make them more stable.  Is there some public notice on exactly what they do for the re-work fix, and that HP stands behind it?   Short of that, I'm still a little iffy on trusting this hardware.

I'm still considering buying a 'real' ASUS motherboard and transplanting the parts into a new case (with beefier power supply and better cooling). 

[hpsad]

You need to shut off the computer over night and cold start it the the next day.  Do this for several days and if you still don't have any freezing or BSOD's then and only then can you be fairly safe in assuming your 1.03 motherboard isn't complete crap.  HP has a colossal nerve to continue using the known faulty motherboards when customers send computers back for repair!!!  They absolutely can change your motherboard to the 1.04E01, the HP tech you spoke to is clueless or simply B.S.ing you!  Get your case escalated to a case manager if they continue to refuse to replace the motherboard with the 1.04E01.