Grey rectangles on display after using OneNote in Tablet mode

[PiotrJJ]

I am using OneNote for Windows 10 (Version 16001.11629.20028.0) with my HP Spectre x360 13 Convertible laptop.

When using OneNote in Tablet mode (e.g. keeping the laptop in 'portrait' view and writing with digital pen), if I flip the screen back to Laptop mode and let the display Autorotate back to 'landscape', one or more grey rectangles appear on the screen.

After I close OneNote app, these rectangles stay 'in front' of Windows desktop or any app windows, masking that part of the screen. They do not move while I scroll through content, just staying in one place. Also, I cannot write on the rectangles with my digital pen.

 

The shape and location of the grey rectangles seem random - i.e. every time this happens, they would take a different shape. Sometimes, it would be just one rectangle, other times - two or three, often overlapping. To me, they look a bit like 'echoes' of pop-up windows, though I have no way of telling whether that is indeed a fact.

Restarting the graphic card doesn't help, and rebooting the laptop is the only way to get rid of the rectangles - which, as you can imagine, is quite annoying...

I wonder if anyone experienced similar issues.

Best,

JJ

[Riddle_Decipher]

@PiotrJJ Welcome to HP Forums Community!

Here's what you need to do, to identify the issue and resolve it accordingly:

• If not done already, check if it works fine on the BIOS screen to identify if it's either a hardware or a software issue:
  • If it works fine on the BIOS (Accessed while tapping F10 during a restart) it's a software issue & I suggest creating a new user account to check if that works better, for starters)
  • However, if it doesn't work within the BIOS either, I'm afraid it's a hardware malfunction.

While you respond to that, I have a few more steps that should help: 

Perform a power reset (no data loss) using these steps: Click here, proceed to next step if this works

Attempt to run a test from the HP hardware diagnostic tool, using this link: Click here for details.

If the issue appears on the diagnostics, it could again, determine a hardware failure,

If they don't appear on bios & the hardware tests passed: please update the BIOS & Chip-set drivers from the HP website using this link: Click here

if the issue persists, reinstall windows using the recovery partition or the recovery media to fix the issue,
use this link for details on performing the recovery: Click here

Let me know how that pans out,

If you feel I was helpful, simply click on Accept as Solution to help the community grow,

That said, I will have someone follow-up on this to ensure you've been helped,

Just in case you don't get back to us within 24 - 48hrs, and have a good day, ahead.

[PiotrJJ]

@Riddle_Decipher, thank you for your reply.

As per my original post, rebooting the laptop resolves the issue temporarily - hence, quite naturally, it would not appear on the BIOS screen. Also, the issue is related to changing Spectre x360's mode from 'Tablet' to 'Laptop', and to Windows autorotating the display from 'portrait' to 'landscape' - I don't think the latter functionality works on BIOS page. This avenue does not seem relevant.

I performed a power reset, as instructed. The issue continues popping up the same way it did before.

Prior to writing my original post, I had run test using HP Hardware Diagnostics Tool quite a few times. It found no issues with laptop's hardware.

All laptop's drivers are up-to-date, including BIOS and chipset - again, I made sure of that prior to posting on this forum. By the eway, it is a brand new laptop, sporting Windows 10 Signature Edition - a result of collaboration between HP and Microsoft to offer better perfoermance and user experience. 

Finally, reinstalling Windows would be my last resort, and I don't want to go that way just yet.

Now, considering that

1.  so far, OneNote for Windows is the only app that is causing the issue (in other words, during my tests, no other app caused the issue),
2.  the 'grey rectangles' appear to sit on top / in front of everything else on the display (i.e. Windows desktop and all other apps' windows), 'masking' portions of the screen, and
3. I am unable to write on the 'grey rectangles' with my HP Tilt Pen - i.e. if I start drawing a line on the screen moving towards any of the 'grey rectangles', continue drawing the line over and past the 'rectangle', and then scroll the screen, I can see the line I just drew 'breaks' when the tip of the pen touched the side of the rectangle and then reappears after the tip of the pen left the rectangle area,

I am inclined to think this is a combination of software and hardware issue.

If anyone using Spectre x360 Convertible 13-ap000na ('gem cut') is reading this, would you mind firing up OneNote for WIndows, flipping the screen to 'Tablet' mode, scribbling something on a blank page, and then flipping back the screen to 'Laptop' mode? Do you see 'grey rectangles'? I would me most grateful for a brief report.

[Riddle_Decipher]

@PiotrJJ If you've narrowed it down to an issue that appears only with the MS One note, I suggest you try repairing it followed by reinstalling the application to check if that resolves the issue if that doesn't work, perhaps, you could send a feedback to Microsoft about this issue and let them provide an answer that concerns their application alone.

Keep us posted.