HP Pavilion P7-1003w Win7-64 - Computer Seems to Go to Sleep/Hibernation; Becomes Unresponsive

[NXS]

A friend brought their computer to me to try and figure out why the screen randomly goes black/blank when in use.  When this happens, the system becomes completely unresponsive although the power supply light remains green, system fans are running, and the power light remains on.  

That said, the keyboard and the mouse become useless and there is no way to wake the system up other than to restart it.  Then it will work sparatically for less than 20 minutes before going black/blank and unresponsive all over again.  

The system currently has 11GBs of ram and has the AMD Athlon II X4 running at 3.20GHZ; a rather strong quad-core processor in my opinion for the time period in which the system was built.  I've inspected the system board, I've checked all of the cables, and there are no PCI Express cards (sound, graphics, or otherwise) that could be causing issues.  

Has anyone else experienced this problem?  Does anyone have any ideas as to what and why this malfunction is occuring?  It's not a case of system overheating; it's well ventilated and the fans are clean and working perfectly.  I've also inspected the motherboard and see no bulding capacitors or any other indication of damage... I'm stumped.  

Would someone mind helping a guy and a very nice lady out?  

[sandytechy20]

@NXS

Welcome to the HP Forums. I would be happy to help you with your HP Pavilion P7-1003w desktop. I understand that your computer freezes and goes blank and you have already done some preliminary troubleshooting. 

Don't worry though as I have a few steps to determine the issue and find a solution as well,

• Unlock the unresponsive computer.
• Update any available device drivers.
• Update the BIOS.
• Scan for and remove viruses and malware.
• Uninstall software associated with lockups.
• Use Microsoft System Restore in Safe Mode.
• Hard reset the computer

Click here and follow the steps mentioned in the document to fix this issue.

Run system diagnostics to check for hardware failures.

Click here and follow the steps in the document to run diagnostics.

Let me know how it goes.

Cheers.

[NXS]

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sandytechy20 wrote: 

@NXS

 Don't worry though as I have a few steps to determine the issue and find a solution as well,

• Unlock the unresponsive computer. - Computer isn't locked?  This is a brand-new hard drive I'm installing Windows 7 on.  The drive is in pristine condition.
   
• Update any available device drivers. - That was the first thing I did.  Windows 7 was able to generate drivers for everything except for my ethernet card; I downloaded it from the HP site on the computer I am replying to you on now and copied it over to the HP machine giving me issue.  It installed and allowed me to work on it for about 20 minutes before going back to the black/blank screen and becoming unresponsive until power cycled.  Upon restart, the driver for the ethernet card (LAN) is flagged in Device Manager with a "Code 10."  I used the "Original Drivers" as listed on the support site for the faulty HP system.
   
• Update the BIOS. - I am pretty sure this has already been done but I will double check and get back to you. 
  
  
• Scan for and remove viruses and malware. - No viruses or malware.  The hard drive is brand new and has a fresh install of Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit; activated and genuine. 
  
  
• Uninstall software associated with lockups. - There is no software on the system other than drivers and attempted Windows Updates.
  
  
• Use Microsoft System Restore in Safe Mode. - Tried that; took it back to the state prior to the LAN driver being installed (fresh install with generic drivers).  Issue still happened both before and after obtaining the system-specific original drivers as indicated on the HP support page for the computer.
   
• Hard reset the computer - As previously mentioned, the computer has a fresh, good, copy of Windows 7 64-bit. 
  

Click here and follow the steps mentioned in the document to fix this issue. - I will look at both the links provided and get back to you. 

Run system diagnostics to check for hardware failures.

Click here and follow the steps in the document to run diagnostics.

Let me know how it goes.

Cheers.

SandyTech,

Thanks so much for your reply.  I answered many of the steps you provided above.  I am beginning to think there might be damage to the LAN port on the motherboard.  I should point out that before getting the new hard drive, I tried installing Windows 7, Windows 8 and 8.1, and Windows 10 on a spare hard drive I keep around (it's not faulty either) and the same issues keep occurring.  This is why I am thinking there might be something wrong with either the actual LAN port or the provided driver for the Realtek LAN driver provided on the system's driver page.  I also tried the updated driver for the LAN but keep receiving the same results.  The reason I think it has something to do with the ethernet port is because sometimes when the computer fails, 

I am considering disabling the LAN port completely and using a wifi-only connection via USB connection to see if that will eliminate the black/blank screen and unresponsiveness.  Before I do any of that though, I am going to check the BIOS version and if it needs updating, I will do that to see if that also might eliminate the issue.  The entire reason I think there might be something wrong with the LAN port is because of the "Error Code 10" on the Device Manager for the Network Adapter--as an "Error 10" means that the hardware cannot be started coupled with the fact that I continually have to delete and reinstall the RealTek LAN driver multiple times before I can get the internet to work on the system... and once that happens... I'm lucky to get 10-20 minutes of use out of the system before it reverts to the black/blank screen and the unresponsive state.  

I'm off to check those links you provided and will reply back upon my findings regarding those as well as the BIOS update if there is one to be had. 

Again, thank you VERY much for the reply! 

[sandytechy20]

@NXS

Thanks for the super quick reply.

Yes try the above mentioned steps and let me know the outcome.

Click here and follow the document to update the bios.

Let me know how it goes.

Cheers.

[NXS]

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@sandytechy20 wrote:

@NXS

Thanks for the super quick reply.

Yes try the above mentioned steps and let me know the outcome.

Click here and follow the document to update the bios.

Let me know how it goes.

Cheers.

---

SandyTech20 - 

I updated the bios but the problem is still occurring.  I've also tried all of the other steps but I do not have media to use the HP diagnostics yet (CDs or a Flash Drive) and I can't find one that will allow me to run it within Windows 7.  Is there hardware scanning software that can determine failures?  If so, do you have any recommendations?  I am going to try to obtain a wireless adapter tomorrow along with the blank media so I can make the diagnostic disc, but in the meantime--or as a substitute--if you know of and can provide any diagnostic software that can be ran from Windows 7 itself, I would greatly appreciate it.  I also appreciate you taking the time to help. 

[sandytechy20]

@NXS

Thanks for the reply.

Superb job on trying the different steps to isolate the issue.

Click here and follow the document to run diagnostics on the computer.

Keep me posted.

Cheers.

[NXS]

---

sandytechy20 wrote:

@NXS

Thanks for the reply.

Superb job on trying the different steps to isolate the issue.

Click here and follow the document to run diagnostics on the computer.

Keep me posted.

Cheers.

---

SandyTechy20,

I went and bought a pack of blank discs and burned both HP's support assistant and the Vision Diagnostics as well.  I first ran the Vision Diagnostics disc from boot.  It scanned through the memory, processor, memory, hard drive, CMOS, and so on... passing all tests.  Next, I downloaded and copied HP's Support Assistant over to the desktop, installed and ran it.  Since I cannot connect to the internet, I cannot directly use the tool to download the drivers onto the system.  Instead, I typed the system's Product ID and Serial into the HP support site, went to the drivers, and downloaded the original driver for my system;  Realtek PCIe FE Family Controller - Version  7.37.1229.2010 Rev. A.  It fails to work at all after saying the installation was successful; it gives me the Error Code 10.  I then tried to use the update provided through Windows Update (I guess it downloaded during the time the connection was working but kept causing the pc to go to the black/blank screen and unresponsive state) and that version is the Realtek PCIe Family Controller Version 7.105.123.2017 which was released January 23rd, of this year (2017).  This driver is now also giving me the Error Code 10 issue.  

I should point out that since I've been unable to utilize the LAN connection in any capacity that the computer seems to be working without a hitch.  The screen doesn't go black/blank, nor does it become unresponsive.  On the HP Support Assistant's Network Diagnostics, I recieve the message  "Driver issue (104) "The Realtek PCIe FE Family Controller adapter is experiencing driver (or hardware) related problems. 

Everything on the system has indicated that it is in perfect working order aside from this ethernet controller issue, and I sincerely think that it is the reason the computer is becoming unresponsive with the black/blank screen.  I am going to let the computer run all night tonight to determine whether or not it will become unresponsive with no internet connection and tomorrow I am going to try to obtain a wireless card or USB device to see if a different connection method will yield the same results, or if it will work just fine and eliminate the need to potentially replace the motherboard... which is something I fear might be the only fix, given that the ethernet port is built into the motherboard itself.  

What are your thoughts?  Thank you for your continued insights and patience. 

[Rainbow23]

@NXS,

Thank you for your reply, I'll be more than glad to help you.

I understand that you will keep the computer under observation overnight and also try with a different connection(USB).

Let me jump in with a solution for this issue in place of my colleague as he is out of the office today.

I suggest that you keep it under observation and let us know the results.

You have a good day ahead.

[NXS]

Okay guys,

First allow me to apologize for taking so long to reply; it's been a busy week.  Now, as for the system... I do believe I have isolated the problem.  I think it's the LAN port on the computer.  It can't be started with the original driver or the newest driver (Gives Error Code 10) and when I can by chance get the 2013 version of the driver to work (it appears and disappears at random) the system works fine.  Since I don't want the customer to have to purchase a new motherboard for the system, I've disabled the ethernet functionality in the bios in addition to uninstalling and disabling the ethernet drivers for Windows 7.  I've been using a 5G wireless USB adapter and so far I've not had any issues.  I've left the system running for over 24 hours now using the WAN adapter and the system hasn't messed up yet.  The only thing I can figure is something has malfunctioned with the ethernet port, but I've thoroughly inspected the system and haven't found any issues that are visible to the eye.  

This is what I have come up with since my last response... 

[sandytechy20 · Accepted solution]

@NXS

Good to that you have narrowed down to the solution.

Feel free to contact us in feature if you need assistance.

Cheers.