Overheating, WIFI crashing, Keyboard backlight failing - ENVY 13-ar* needs new BIOS + Drivers

[djaan]

I also have this problem with my HP Envy X360 13-AR0xxx, but I'm not sure if it appeared since new. I have owned the laptop since new, approx. 3 months, and noticed this problem just a few weeks ago.

I'm not sure if it's even worth adding a new case to the community and addressing HP support. I'm so disappointed.

[schildzilla]

Your model is definitely affected from the beginning by the faulty BIOS and there will never be a fix.

Send it back to the dealer, these 13-ar* Envy devices are dangerous.

HP haven't done anything since these models are on the market since over a year. They definitely know there is this problem but they ignore it.

Save your time, HP would waste it like my time anyway.

They didn't fix this problem since October 2019 when they definitively know about.

[Derk1]

Hi everyone,

i can report that my problem got fixed at least. The hibernation / sleep issue was caused by a bad graphics driver. 

The following solution helped:

- Install newest BIOS

- Install newest Windows (Update)
- Go to device-manager -> Display Adapter -> AMD Radeon -> RIghtclick -> Update driver

I had no sleep related issues since then and i did not notice any overheating while asleep. 

Maybe that helps one of you aswell.

Greetings,

Derk

[EonOfBlack]

I followed the steps of the person above, but now my device's display's refresh rate is stuck at 15 Hz, with a blue line running across the screen. Time to reinstall Windows again.

[djaan]

• My BIOS is up to date.
• All the latest windows updates are installed.
• My AMD display driver is already up to date.

Problem still persist.

[schildzilla]

l would wonder if a graphic driver would fix that problem, because I've tried many drivers from different sources.

You all can stop wasting your time with trying, I'm an IT professional myself and I've really tried EVERYTHING.

I had the same problems on the 13-ar2012ng and the 15-ds0001ng and the reason is definitely a faulty BIOS.

And to make it clear: They both have the same BIOS!

Instead of implementing a true fully functional standby, someone in the development of Flex(tronics) thought it's easier to shutdown some components together with the screen and ignore all communication with Windows.

CPU goes to sleep with connected standby S0 enabled only,

S3 isn't even supported (it's a standard and supported by Ryzen 3rd Gen by default), but at some point it doesn't wake up from that fake-standby anymore.

The Windows Event Viewer already is giving you all answers you need for each (or most) standby-crash:
"The embedded controller (EC) returned data when none was requested. The BIOS might be trying to access the EC without synchronizing with the operating system. This data will be ignored. No further action is necessary; however, you should check with your computer manufacturer for an upgraded BIOS."

Right after the that message the system locks up.
I did many tests with waking the device always a bit later and found out, this message appears in combination with the crash only!

Stop wasting your time everyone, HP had 5 months in my case to fix that BIOS and I've already told them the solution.

Nothing happened - as I already wrote in this thread and the history with HP and Flextronics.

There will never be a Fix!

They don't even care about that problem and just tell, that they tested everything as ok.

That's why I made the German government starting investigations because they are not matching with actual law due to the overheating issue and that devices are dangerous.

Send them back to the dealer and tell the dealer to send all devices starting with 13-ar* and 15-ds* back to HP.

[sebgrae]

Hello community!

First of all, thank you all, especially Schildzilla for all the effort you put in in order to clarify this problem so detailed. I know that there isn't much to add on this topic as everything important was said here. Nevertheless this thread extremely helped me understanding the problem and saved me probably hours of troubleshooting which would've led to nothing. As Schildzillla said, writing and contributing to this is better then just reading so I figured I could add some thoughts.

I own an envy x360 15-ds0007ng since just over one month now and I noticed the exact same problems since day one. It didn't really bother me that much at first because I thought that I will fix it easily at some point, which led me to this thread.

As I said, my problems exactly match up with those stated in the first posts, as well as the YouTube video. Besides the massive overheating and the failing backlight, which is heavily unacceptable, the Wifi issue is something that heavily bothers me as well. The connection is so unreliable, it just disconnects randomly (already happened twice while writing this), sometimes it works again right away, sometimes it says "unable to connect", sometimes "connected, no internet". Also, I tried using a USB wifi adapter, which helped me with wifi problems in the past, but now it did almost nothing. Due to the current situation, I have much schoolwork to do on this device and have to attend courses online, constantly worrying about my internet connection is just beyond inconvenient at this point.

It just wont't go in my head why these notebooks are still on the market if they all are faulty?  Plus, they could just fix it by a simple BIOS and driver update couldn't they? I really like this laptop and it fits my needs pretty much perfectly, but this problem just leaves me hugely unsatisfied and frustrated. Hp is such a big company and have such a good reputation, the fact that they're just consequently ignoring all this leaves me speechless.

I am from Austria and I think the electronic stores are slowly opening up again, still I reckon I will have to wait until things are relatively normal again to return the device or communicate with the seller. Especially after Schildzilla describing how dangerous these devices seem to be, thats very inconvenient. I'm thinking about calling hp support and reaching out to a technician and asking about this, even though I figure my chances are a slim actually getting out something useful because of what I read here.

Thats it from me, thanks for reading. Have a good one.

[djaan]

Short update from me:

I returned the laptop to the store I purchased it from, asking to cancel the purshcase. The clerk told me they had to send it off to the workshop to assess/confirm my story about HP not having a fix.

After a couple of days I got a text saying "We are working on your PC. Parts  have been ordered."

This was 11 days ago. No more news so far. I'm curious what parts they are replacing, and I'm fearing they will throw me into the process of trial-and-error of replacing various parts instead of letting me cancel the purchase.

[schildzilla]

They replaced my Mainboard, , CPU and SSD, so the core of the Laptop was new.

The second time I've forbidden them to change the hardware and told them to fix the BIOS.

They did nothing, not even check the device but they made it dirty before they sent back the device and just said they've checked it.

In Germany by law you have to offer 2 chances to fix the product, a 3rd chance in rare situations that wasn't given and then the dealer is forced to take the device back.

Whatever they change, that will not fix it. It's a BIOS problem! The power/standby management is crap and doesn't work well.

[TaziDevil]

Yes when mine went away for repair I noticed it came back extremely filthy which I was disappointed with (Australia here so not even the same continent ... they must have hired monkeys for the job).

After I burned myself on mine I didn't give them the 2nd chance rule rather claimed it as a dangerous device and demanded a refund since the unit had already cooked itself literally.

I got my money back after a lot of bs mismanagement from their end (long story but they couldn't even read their own notes on where the unit was) and sunk some extra money into buying an MS Surface Book 2.

I love my SB2 and my only complaints are the backlight kb doesn't stay light (power saving thing they didn't have the hindsight to allow us to modify) and it doesn't have a number pad on the right (fark I miss that numpad when working with finances etc!!!!!). Beyond them 2 complaints ... I wouldn't look back in a heartbeat. It's lighter, has a better quality finish, doesn't burn me, is EXCEPTIONAL with it's S2R and S2HDD abilities (aka sleep and hibernate).

About the only thing HP have left with me that I don't question is servers and network switches. They make them fine but obviously just cannot make general consumer computers up to standard and will forever be bypassed now when we replace anything and will be warned against when anyone else asks for suggestions purely because of their botched handling of these devices. What's worse, I *WAS* going to replace my Envy with a Spectre i7 model but the useless twits after 1 month of waiting were not able to deliver AT ALL. THAT is when I gave up on them and just rolled the SB2 and I'm glad I did .. so is my back since it's so much lighter and fits better in my backpack lol. I love being able to use it as a pure tablet without the weight of the keyboard etc (dang it's light as a 15" tablet) and it's extremely handy to be able to flip the monitor around when watching vids or showing the old man his accounts and bills etc. HP could learn from MS on these devices I reckon.