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

[Lighthouse37]

Yes, the battery was removed (since it was required to get to the scews anyway). I did put tape on the ribbon, but mostly over the ribbon connector to hold it in place as a I had lightly folded the connector over, onto itself, so only one side was even exposed. However, I am not saying that was a great job and perhaps I shouldn't use electrical tape? Would you recommend anything different there?

Thanks,

Mike

[HaggisCat]

I don't think electrical tape would make any difference, I am sort of grasping at straws here, if the tape you used was ordinary scotch tape, maybe something inside the laptop was sharp enough to pierce it and short the cable out. Yes sorry, of course the battery was out _ the removal of the four screws.

 Maybe try do a system restore to rule out a hardware problem, I know if you called HP, that is what they'd have you do.

 If you had another hard drive you could use that and this link to download a W7 install disc.

 http://www.mydigitallife.info/download-windows-7-iso-official-32-bit-and-64-bit-direct-download-link...

 Open up the hard drive bay and replace it with a spare drive, use the burned version of W7 to load in the OS, see if the battery problem goes away. The idea behind this method is so you don't have to save all your work and programs.

 The download link takes a bit of time, but it does work, install it as a trial. You wouldn't need to spend much money on a small hard drive, it can also be used as an external storage device later.

[Lighthouse37]

I have dual drives so I assume only the drive with the system on it would need to be swapped, right? Do you know off hand which order they would have the disks in the laptop, to know which one to swap? I agree, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to have an extra, cheap disk laying around but I will need to get one first so I won't be able to test this right away...

Thanks,

Mike

[HaggisCat]

This is an empty case from an HDX18, but it demonstrates where the primary drive is _ it''s marked with a number "1".

 

 Here is a tutorial which works best, not that it matters, but it will ensure that you install W7 on the spare drive only with out wiping any information on the secondary drive.

 http://pcsupport.about.com/od/operatingsystems/ss/windows-7-clean-install-part-1.htm

 W7 works beat when you install it on unallocated space. The resolution will be all wrong and there will be missing drivers, but you will still be able to see if the battery problem will be solved. (the icon should be there and behave normally)

 The image was taken at a high resolution, so it will expand well.

[Lighthouse37]

Great - thank you so much for that!! I think I may however wait a little bit. For no apparent reason, I have had 50% progress. I had the machine in sleep for a few hours today (not the first time either) and upon awake, it now presents the battery meter. I then also tested coming out of Hibernate which it was able to do without the power adapter. The only remaining issue - and it is for obvious reasons still severe - is it shows that the battery is not charging. Based on the percentage of battery it is reporting, (from when I ran it for 30 mins off power), I would say that is accurate.

So...I am optimistic... even though I have no real foundation for hoping it all self-corrects. But here is to hoping anyway .... ;-}

Mike

[Snooker]

Hi All

After also having this problem for over a year I am at my wits end with this following my latest battle with HP.  They say that as my warranty has now expired they will not help me any longer despite the fact that they have still not solved the original problems that I phoned and emailed about on numerous occasions during warranty.  This is really poor customer service and I have contacted the Head of Complaints.  Anyway it looks like I am resorted to doing this fix and as someone that has never dealt with electroncis or taken a computer apart I would be interested if you think that I would be competent enough to do it or should I take it to a local repairer?  If anyone could give a step by step instruction on what to do once I have got the computer open that would be much appreciated.  I have no real understanding of grounding or why what I would be doing would work.

Many thanks

Darren

[HaggisCat]

Look on message 204 in this link and the picture in message 195.

 http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Lockups-Freezes-Hangs/Problem-with-Pavilion-dv8-top-slider-bar...

 http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Lockups-Freezes-Hangs/Problem-with-Pavilion-dv8-top-slider-bar...

 I am going to try and make a youtube video this weekend, so if you want to wait. I just have a small digital camera, so I don't know if it will work out.

 If you don't feel comfortable taking apart your machine, then I would not. Show the repair store this thread and link and they will have no problem dealing with it.

[Snooker]

Hi Haggis Cat

I will wait for your video and decide from there.  I have tried holfing down the bar at the f9 point and when i do this the wireless and,volume and treble bass slide bars work as expected.

Thanks very much

Darren

[andresdom]

hi guys. I have the same problem plus. for sometime now, my dv8 goes on battery even when plugged to the wall. sometimes it starts charging and goes to 100%, sometimes, like right now it just shuts down whe totally discharge. any suggestions?

[Lighthouse37]

That sounds like a different issue than what is in this thread and the remedies addressed here. My case is probably why it appears related. My issue as is/was the others had to do with the touch panel (WiFi for example) going on and off constantly. One of the hacks was to disconnect a cable which is what I did and I think in the process, caused an issue with my battery being detected.

So unfortunately, I think you have a different issue altogether...but maybe someone here might have some insights. But you may want to post in another thread to increase your chances.

Mike