Problem with Pavilion dv8 top slider bar (treble/bass control)

[CNYBrian]

I've now experienced the problems that you guys are talking about.  First it was $99 for a new 1 year software warranty.  Then it was $357.10 for a repair service wotj 90 day warranty.

Needless to say  I'm going to do the grounding and reactivate the Bass/Treble and hope that this is truly a grounding issue. I believe it is because it is very dry here in CNY thus a plus for generating that static.  I am intermittent with the WiFi but it did start a few days ago.   I will keep everybody posted once I get the tape in....  

Thank you guys for the posts....

[Markus99]

This problem is driving me insane.

I have tried to get the speaker cover and keyboard off without success. Can someone please post what screws need removing and where to tweak the speaker cover and keyboard to get them off. I pretty much removed every screw I could see.

[HaggisCat]

There are some tutorials here from the Media Services Library, give the one page around 30 seconds to load, it can take a while. Maybe you have already been here, but this is all there is. If I have a chance I will try and make a youtube video on how to remove these things. The problem is that I just have a little digital hand held camera, so it will be a little tricky.

 HP has you remove the optical drive _ you do not have to do that to remove the speaker cover or have to remove it at all to apply this repair.

 http://h20574.www2.hp.com/default.htm?lang=en&cc=US&hpappid=psml

 

[dwhauss]

same problems here,

machine is about 7 months old, problems started within 1st month. fingerprint reader, treble/bass, internet, desktop mystery, pain in the ass. I am not as savy as most of you, so not willing to start taking it apart to remove strip.

My friend ended up sending theirs back, and so far it works. BUT, from the sound of things, it maynot hold.

HP is blowing it here!

Add my voice to the disgruntled masses that own this POS.

[mudy1]

you guys no need to open up your laptop. there is a simple workaround to solve this. go to taskmanager and kill a process called "hptonectl.exe" and you should be fine. this is a really annoying problem but you should be fine now. i thought it was happening to me because the laptop is heating, because i'm in the middle ease so it is hot as hell here, but even putting the laptop on an AC unit didn't solve this one. would appreciate if someone could tell us how to solve this once and forall instead of workarounds.

[HaggisCat]

@mudy1

 A variation of this was done in this thread on page 2, post 14 of 155, by carmamd. While this does work, it does not actually solve the design flaw of improper shielding on the cable and Hot-Key bezel button board.

 The WiFi button is also susceptible to static discharge and misfires, which cause the button to turn off and on by itself.

 There is no application that can be defeated in the task manager or msconfig to disable the WiFi, other then to disconnect the hot-key bezel cable from the motherboard.

 If there was an application you could switch off then you would loose the ability to connect wirelessly.

 If you are satisfied with your fix then that's great, but if you start experiencing problems with your WiFi button, you will have to do some more drastic procedure(s) to cure that.

[mudy1]

@HaggisCat actually after killing the hpTonectl.exe process everything is fine. before killing the process the wireless connection was always disabeled, but now it is not.

thats why i called it a workaround because it solved the issue but not in a normal (or you can say official) way.

[HaggisCat]

That's excellent that disabling the tone control has fixed yours, many, it has not. I Have been keeping track of this problem for more then a year now and it can be intermittent. Brain's fix is the only one that has come along that so far has fixed this so far.

 Good for you that yours is solved ! 

[mudy1]

well not exactly, last night it started to disable the wireless connection. **bleep** it man, it was working fine before. and i don't brain's fixing is the solution either, i leave my laptop on at some nights to download a file or something else and it disables the connection after half an hour when i leave it idle. there must be a solution or a hack that solves this issue. i am willing to do anything (even tearing the laptop down) to solve this issue. i am trying to consult electrical engineers about this issue but they say it's impossible for them to know. i think they don't want to trouble themselves for such a small issue. i'll keep looking for a solution and if i find anything i'll post it here.

cheers

[HaggisCat]

Well that sucks, I guess I must of jinksed you ! ( Yes I am a little superstitious). First of all check your power settings and make sure they are set to high so the WiFi does not turn itself off, but I am sure you have already done that.

 I have been keeping track on all the threads about this problem since I have been here well over a year now and Brians' is the only solution that has worked on a permanent nature. (I have a dv8 too)

 I suspected it was a rouge static problem and he confirmed it. Brian is an engineer with some up to the minute test equipment, he took an x-ray of the button board expecting it to be a piece of junk, when in fact it was very well made.

 The buttons work on static electricity and as ridiculous as it sounds the cable and board need additional shielding around them to divert the static away to stop causing the misfires, it has to be done properly though. Static is like lightning on a miniature scale, the additional shielding acts like a lightning rod to divert static away from the board and cable.

 The other thing that need to be done is to clean the ribbon cable connections them selves with Isopropyl alcohol , the slightest bit of oil from your skin here will also screw things up.

 If you want the WiFi to behave and you don't want to apply Brian's fix, then disconnecting and removing the cable will cure this, but when you shut the machine down the WiFi button has to be blue. You can use the button in "Windows Mobility Center" to turn it off and on afterwards, it's located in the control panel.

 There is a work around if the cable is disconnected when the button is orange, but it's buried in one of the other threads. If you remove the cable while it's orange there is no way for the BIOS to turn it on and you can't turn it on in WMC if it's orange when the button board cable was removed.

 If you want to wait for another solution, you are going to have a long wait. All the threads have exhausted all possible solutions to fix this and none of them work. The dv8 and HDX series that have used these button boards have been discontinued as well as all models with these static buttons. HP just washed their hands of the whole mess.

 The dv7 as well as a few other models do not have the button board either on their new models.

 One of the solutions that you may have luck with is to remove the battery and adapter and hold the power button down for 30 seconds to dissipate the static build up in the laptop, but this is temporary as well, the static will return.