TX2500 Dead after 18 Monts.

[dongbuen]

I am also one of the unfortunate HP laptops buyer, I got 3 bought way back 2009. One of which is Tx2550ee, same story blinking caps and num lock on it. I felt I have been robbed by a giant IT firm. I am not buying anymore HP products and I am relaying this bad products experience to all my contacts.

Are they recalling the faulty units for repair or replacement? I don't think so.

[hrimhari]

Count me in on this problem.

[itguy78]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the info on this thread. I have a tx2500 which was a company laptop and had the same everybody here (blinking lights indicating CPU fail) - right about 18 months from purchase. Since this was a company laptop, they sent it out to be fixed in NY ($125) . They fixed it and it worked till about one month after their service warranty. Since the company was unwilling to send it over and over for repair (which makes sense), I just got another work laptop to replace it.

With the above in the past, I set out to try and "fix" this laptop so I could use it for myself... I've read all the posts here and in many sites. I tried all but no luck, however, after seeing a post on the palm thing for the TX1000 I tried putting pressure in all different kinds of spots to see if it would do anything.. guess what ? pushing down right on top of where the GPU sits (from the top side - not on top of the GPU) made it boot up - not only that but seems that the one push was enough to make it continue to work without having to press it everytime you turn it on.

I know this may only be temporary, but I thought it was worth posting it in case anyone else wanted to try their luck. In my case who knows, they already did the heatsink upgrade and bios is the latest so maybe it'll keep it from overheating and going dead again.

It's incredible the number of similar HP machines had similar issues: dv2000,dv6000,dv9000,dv7,tx... who knows what more -- for some models I know HP acknowledged the issue and had some sort of extended support for the problem models. I for one will never buy HP laptops again, I mean, I can understand a design flaw the causes the device to malfunction way down the road (I can see it being hard to detect it prior to launching the product), but to not acknowledge and support these design issues is just bad business practices - I'll be sure to warn all the people I know about it.

Thanks for all the info here and Good luck to anyone reading...

[itguy78]

So just to update my story above.. the fix worked for a little bit, but seemed as the laptop got cold it would stop working again...

Having nothing to loose (I was not going to pay to fix it) I did what many others did: BAKED the motherboard.. it's a simple process: took the motherboard out, removed cpu, all wires, foam/pads/plastic covers (some people say you don't need to remove everything - didn't want the chance of melting stuff on the board) and principally the BATTERY. Pre-heated oven at 385F, put the mb on a flat cookie sheet with aluminum foil on it and a couple of aluminum foil "balls" just to keep it suspended off the sheet - let it bake for 10 minutes. Turned the oven off and opened the door to let it cool off until room temperature (takes some time but it's better not to move it immediately as all the solder may not be dry yet). Put it back together and it works perfectly now - has been for 2 days without any issues (done plenty of burn-in tests).

Here's my motherboard ready to bake:

Don't forget the tips on this thread while at it: remove the foam pad on GPU, use a clean penny with thermal compound on both sides. UPDATE to the latest bios and have FAN ALWAYS ON ENABLED. Lastly (this one I saw on a video and my results were unbelievable):

When running a burn-in test (100% CPU load) for a few minutes I noticed the CPU temperature would get to 180F (and way more if I let it) very quickly. So I went under Control Panel->System and Security->Power Options then for each power plan, click "Change plan settings" then click "Change advanced power settings" and under "Processor power management->Maximum processor state" changed both from 100% to 99%. After doing that, when I run THE SAME burn in test, the temperature will NOT go above 150F - no matter how long I run the test. It's only 1% throttle down but makes a HUGE difference and stabilizes the max temperature (and is so simple), so honestly I'm not expecting to have to bake the motherboard again, just remember to do it for all power plan settings -- plus the fan runs so silent now that it's totally worth it.

Hope this helps some one out there!

[Sylquest1]

I loved the way you repaired you're TX2500..I'm not sure if I would bake the whole motherboard since not all of it is bad (quite a daring solution..Bravo) and I'm Glad it worked out -    You also may consider using a cooler pad with a fan inside, it seems to dissipate the extra heat as well.   Keep us updated, this is quite amazing.

[Rosa418]

I am presently dealing with a similar issue as my screen went black after 20 months. I did send it in for repair, paid $272 and it was returned with a line down the right side that appears to be spreading. After getting the runaround for 2 1/2 weeks, finally sent it back but they now want to charge an additional $85 - $300 to re-repair. What happened to Randy Mueller"s, client industry executive, Global Communications, Media & Entertainment Industry, Enterprise Services, HP

claims of The New Edge: Differentiation Through Superior Customer Service ?

Was your issue ever resolved?

[hrimhari]

I finally sent my tx2508ca to a repair shop in Buenos Aires for 700 pesos (+- US$ 170). Guy said he gets a lot of these tablets, always with the same heating problem on the video chip. He said the problem was bound to reappear but gave me a 3 month warranty, which is unlikely to be useful to me since I live in Canada.

I asked what I could do if it ever happened after the warranty expired, but he only said that it required a special machine to fix it. I can only presume it's the heat gun.

I plan to try the "baking" solution if problem reappears.

[mariol90]

itguy78: setting the maximum processor speed to 99% is the same as it being at 50%. these processors will run at 3 different clock speeds, 25%, 50%, and 100%. check CPU-Z or another program that tells you the current speed of the processor. that's why it's running cooler.

after a few bios updates hp also capped the speed on battery to 50%. F.05 was one of the last revisions that allowed the processor to run at 100% speed on battery, but it had other bugs.

if anyone still has their tx series laptop, i'd recommend just selling it if it still works.

[Pik]

If the cmos issue is resolved, try this simple fix, it seems to work for me.  Remove the first memory stick. Just pull it out and put it back in, and turn the laptop on.  If this does not work, take the first memory stick out,     "LIGHTLY" make one mark with a #2 lead pencil across the contacts on the memory chip, blow off any excess graphite, and replace the memory.

I've had the same issues with my TX2510us.  It appears there is a loose connection on the memory module where ti attaches to the motherboard, or the module connector is loose and will not make good contact with the memory chip. I discovered this myself after spending $600 in repairs.

Please let me know if this works for you.

pik

[Doubleclickitto]

How much copper do you believe is in a penny to cause it to cool down?  My test show that in the TX1000 series that copper shims and pennies do more damage to the system than good.

The articles I have showing the damage are overwhelming and span the globe such as persons using Euro cents in the Netherlands to pennies here to copper shims to aluminum foil.  Nothing properly displaces the heat like the Artic Silver and the TIM that is designed to displace the heat.

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