Quick Launch Buttons

[tmcafee]

(previous posted as tmcafee)

Thanks for the reply HaggisCat.  I already had the nvdia drvier and reviewed the Microsoft patch that you suggested.  My DV8T has an Intel 5 Series / 3400 Series USB enhanced host controller chipset so I don't think that the patch applies.  Also, the problem doesn't occur when I'm transferring large amounts of data over my USB ports.  I do have 6gb of memory however.

My problem is very predictably related to high temperatures.  I can re-create the problem and then resolve the problem by using external fans or lowering the room temperature via air conditioning.  I've checked the air flow vents and they are all perfectly clean.  I've worked on large real-time computer systems for 35 years and have dealt with a number of  heat problems and this certainly appears to me to be the issue with my DV8T.   I have enabled the fan to run all of the time in the BIOS and that has helped a little.  I'm also considering raising the back of the computer with some adhesive feet to improve air flow. 

I'd really like to know if anyone else sees these same symptoms with their DV8T.  If others see that high internal temperatures are occurring when the problems appear, then a flaw in the design would be likely.  Isn't anyone else curious why the recent BIOS updates enabled the fan to work constantly?  It sure sounds like HP was trying to minimize a problem that they are aware of with a band-aid approach. 

Thanks,

Tom McAfee

[HaggisCat]

It is a design flaw. I took my dv8 apart and applied Arctic Silver and after the break in period it has generally dropped the temp's around 5 degrees over-all. The temps. are more even across all the cores as well. HP had goobered this grey chunky heat sink compound all over everything and they used too much. When I had it all to pieces I also noted that the in take air vent holes were few in number. There was room for another set to be made. If I choose to make more holes I am going to find a way to make them factory and not drill out a bunch of random red-neck holes that resembles something from the Red-Green show.

 When it's sitting on my leather top desk, the leather heats up and the temps. rise, so propping it up does help, as you now.

 I mentioned the thing about the NVIDIA driver because I had installed the latest one and it caused the laptop to crash and recover. I installed the update from Microsoft and all the temps. shot up to 60-70 degrees and stayed there.

 I don't have 35 years experience under my belt, but I thought it worth mentioning.

 I have the most recent BIOS update, but my fan runs according to how hot the machine gets. For the most part I don't notice it. If I am doing a lot of multi tasking the fan will run faster and the temps. hover at around 55 to 60 degrees.

 http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Hardware/Arctic-Silver-Placement/m-p/300655

 You can see here that the heat sinks are fairly adequate and are close to the cooling fins, but note the size of the air intake of the fan and look at the small amount of holes that are underneath the laptop in the plastic case on your dv8. Why didn't HP make more holes ? It doesn't make sense.

 The other flaw is that the intake and the exhaust are too close together. The intake is sucking back in some of the hot air from the exhaust. So yes raising the laptop is very helpful !

 Thanks for your input ! 

[Chucc]

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HaggisCat wrote:

You can see here that the heat sinks are fairly adequate and are close to the cooling fins, but note the size of the air intake of the fan and look at the small amount of holes that are underneath the laptop in the plastic case on your dv8. Why didn't HP make more holes ? It doesn't make sense.

 The other flaw is that the intake and the exhaust are too close together. The intake is sucking back in some of the hot air from the exhaust. So yes raising the laptop is very helpful!

Hhmm...Very interesting.

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[nhhockeyplayer]

Can someone please tell me where to buy this part?

DV8T 1100 - Touch button (bass/treble bar and wireless) part

My laptop is as follows...

HP Pavilion dv8t-1100 CTO Entertainment Notebook P - (model VF836AV)
Serial Number                  : CNF0151FQR (warranty from May 2010 thru May 20, 2011)
Product Model Number     : VF836AV
Description                      : HP PAVILION DV8T-1100 CTO ENTERTAINMENT NOTEBOOK PC

[nhhockeyplayer]

Can someone please tell me where to buy this part?

DV8T 1100 - Touch button (bass/treble bar and wireless) part

My laptop is as follows...

HP Pavilion dv8t-1100 CTO Entertainment Notebook P - (model VF836AV)
Serial Number                  : CNF0151FQR (warranty from May 2010 thru May 20, 2011)
Product Model Number     : VF836AV
Description                      : HP PAVILION DV8T-1100 CTO ENTERTAINMENT NOTEBOOK PC

[nhhockeyplayer]

Can someone please tell me where to buy this part?

DV8T 1100 - Touch button (bass/treble bar and wireless) part

My laptop is as follows...

HP Pavilion dv8t-1100 CTO Entertainment Notebook P - (model VF836AV)
Serial Number                  : CNF0151FQR (warranty from May 2010 thru May 20, 2011)
Product Model Number     : VF836AV
Description                      : HP PAVILION DV8T-1100 CTO ENTERTAINMENT NOTEBOOK PC

[nhhockeyplayer]

Yeah I'd like ribbon cables and ziff connectors too

Is HP going to help us with this ?????????????????????????????????????????

[joeusersmama]

So is there a fix for this yet? Has HPacknowledged this yet?

[brian220x]

HaggisCat is right on the money with the reason for the problem but I did find a fix that works.

Some have said that heat is the cause. It is not caused directly by heat but heat does add to the existing design flaw. Capacitive touch circuits are sensitive to environmental changes such as heat and humidity. That is why this issue can occur at random. The programing of the touch controller is designed to monitor and adapt to gradual changes such as wear and tear, contamination as well as the environment. The big issue with cap touch has been the loss of sensitivity over time but the newer controllers have made it a viable option. In this case, the controller has no way to distinguish static discharge/EMI from a genuine touch. HP did revise the firmware for the cap touch but there is no way to solve a static discharge issue with programming. The only way to fix it is by adding shielding and improving the path to ground for the LED board (touch panel).

It is not a software or driver issue... The only issue that is partially software related is the tone control but it is caused by a hardware issue. The main problem that really got to me is the Wifi turning itself off. I permanently fixed my laptop and found the actual cause. I am an engineer and I design and research electronics test equipment. I am actually very surprised that HP has not invested a small amount of resources to solve this design flaw. I was able to do it in a few hours along with some research. Other users have done a fix that is almost like this but mine is a permanent and complete solution. After applying my fix, I found that my Wifi signal strength seems to have improved.

For once I can say that my DV8T works without any problems. I no longer have to avoid using the volume or mute button...

Keep in mind that this fix will only work for the design defect that it is meant to solve. If you have other contributing issues they may still remain. The cause that is addressed by this fix is the most common issue so chances are that if you follow the instructions, you will have good results.

Here is my post from another thread on HP about my fix:

I just finished putting it back together and it works perfectly! On my system it was very easy to test because when I pushed just above the F9 key the mute and Wifi would go crazy %100 percent of the time. Well, it does not malfunction, no matter where I press or how hard. I can press any of the capacitive touch buttons without any issues for the first time ever.

There are two parts to the problem. The first is the static grounding and shielding. The second is the exposed metal end caps of the LIF connector. This is the connector that the ribbon cable plugs into on the LED board. When I pressed on the LED before the revision, the exposed metal case of the connector would transfer the static charge to the housing just below it and cause a misfire of the cap touch circuit, triggering an actuation when it was not desired. This also occured randomly when the static charge potential reached high enough levels and jumped to ground also causing an unwanted actuation.

The solution was to shield the ribbon cable with high temp thin foil tape and increase the surface area of the existing foil tape ground pad that it rests on. I also secured the ribbon cable to the ground pad with additional strips of foil tape. Next I covered the LIF connector with Kapton tape to insulate it but left enough room to still plug the cable in. Once the metal connector housing was insulated I placed thin strips of foil tape over it still leaving the connector open for the ribbon cable. A good reference to use is the plastic slide lock that is pushed in to secure the end of the cable to the LIF. Cover only the plastic/metal housing of the LIF but not the slide lock or else you will not be able to secure the cable into the connector. Cover the kapton with foil tape to shield and ground it. You also do onto want to cause anything to short out on the foil tape that is being added.

The idea of taping the ribbon cable down to the existing small section of foil shielding is not a new idea but the exposed metal end caps of the LIF has not been mentioned. This is the main reason that most people have failed when performing the "tape down" method of the cable to the foil ground pad. My cable was actually secured well to the pad with adhesive. The only problem was that the shielding on the cable was not long enough and the ends of the LIF (low insertion force) connector where exposed.

I also placed some shielding on the under side of the entire cap touch board (LED board) and over the round mini sub woofer as well as wrapping the power and wifi harness to limit the EMI to the cap touch board (LED board). This can be done by placing foil tape over the channel that the wire harnesses reside in. I am not sure how much the shielding over the harness really had because usually that kind of problem causes a lack of response and not auto actuation. The foil tape shielding that I placed on the under side of the LED board did help to provide a nice path to ground for any residual static charge so I would be sure to include that step but you can likely omit the harness wrap.

After taking X-rays of the LED board I could see that the design and fab was actually very good so that left the static issue. performing the above will resolve the problem as long as you do not have some other underlying issue such as a defective LED board or power supply. After finding the cause I can almost for certain conclude that the Blu-Ray drive is not part of the problem.

On another note, I found a lot of loose screws and adding in the thin layers of foil tape made the entire keyboard and LED button panel feel much more robust and rigid. Almost as if it was designed correctly. Unfortunately the loose screws did not end up being the cause of the problem nor did the flexing of the LED board. This is ruled out due to the fact that I could trigger a false actuation without coming in direct contact with the panel. Just getting close enough to it with the tip of my finger would cause it to go nuts, all with no actual load being applied to the assembly.

That is all I can include for tonight but I will post some more info later. I did not take any pictures since I had planned on taking it apart again not expecting to fix it on the first try.

I am looking into trying to design & manufacture a kit that would come with die cut shielding gaskets or at least put out the info for anyone that wants to get the capacitive touch buttons working once and for all. It is not very hard to apply the foil tape but it is not fool proof since everyone may interpret and apply the fix differently. The goal is to put out a kit as well as the needed information that would allow a repeatable retrofit.

The panels are a little scary to take off since you feel like they are going to break but they do come off with a little patience.

Let me know what everyone thinks.

Thanks,

Brian

[Chucc]

I had the same issue that everyone here is having. Strange thing though, after about four months of having this issue... it disappeared. It just went away.

I haven't had one single issue with it since. It's now been about 6 months. It still get hot sometimes, but it mostly happens when I play games.

Has anyone else had the same luck?

[nhhockeyplayer]

Folks,

This issue is as follows... and it explains ALL the intermittent symptoms.

Ziff connectors break and cannot be order anywhere... dont dare try to pop in a backlit keyboard... you will destroy your ziff connectors and void warranty.

Ribbon cables are cheap as hell and flimzy and the connection is weak and touches and grounds to other frame parts. They just folded it up and stuffed it in underneath. This explains ALL the intermittent issues. if you tilt the display a certain way it will work... other times not.

These laptops are amazing... I also got a 2nd one too.

Parts are a bitch to find and some we cannot just get. We cant.

Everything is outsourced to china and talking thru tech support is a let down.

Unfortunately... abide by your warranty... ship the thing back to HP and have them repair it in house.

And if you ship it back... be prepared for them to erase everythign on your hard drive. thats standard for testing.

I use to work for Hp and that company quality has degraded to bad support. If you buy anything today... not just HP you may end up screwed.

I wish the good old days were back when contractors could get $175 per hour writing software and EVERYTHING WAS AMERICAN MADE.

The amazon jungle civilization will outpace us sooner than later.