HP dv4000 problem

Ideas:

Bad connection (as you noted)
Bad solder
Break /crack somewhere. (solder, trace, board)


If it was me, I'd pull the unit apart and use a non-ferrous (wood/plastic) probe to "push" in the various places you noted, then look for a bad solder, a crack... and/or reseat /look/probe any connections on that area.


You can download a copy of the MAINTANCE AND SERVICE GUIDE for most any HP /Compaq at www.HP.com after typing in your model number.

HP Pavilion dv4030us same problem with having to put pressure in order to boot. I also have to do this sometimes to get the keyboard to work! Do any of you have problem with Texas Instruments PCIxx21 Intergrated Flash Media Controller ? I need to get a driver download for this...any advice will be appreciated. I cant get my wireless or bluetooth to work either. Very frustrated with this laptop after all the $ I spent. Newbie so pls help..I not very tech saavy.

Workaround

I have discovered that for me, if I leave off the memory/wireless cover on the underside of the laptop I do not experience the locks ups that I was experiencing. As soon as I put the cover back on and try it, Lock Up City. I would think this is a overheating problem, except for the fact that even when the laptop hasn't been on for hours, with the cover on, it will lock up almost immediently.

YMMV

I am still determined to figure out why this is.

This must be a common dv4000 problem as I had one doing almost same thing, only tapping hard on the keyboard a few times would boot it up. Then it would work fine. Figured it was a system board. I took it back and they gave me a new one at the computer store. This dv4000 has worked perfectly since.

there is an issue with these boards that can be repaired. just need to run a trace due to cold solder

I had the same problem with the touchpad and keyboard. I think I solved the problem by removing both memory modules and cleaning the gold contacts of the mem modules by wiping with a soft cloth to "polish". I then reseated them about 5 times. The unit has not failed in the last 24 hours. Before it would fail in about 10 minutes and could only be restored by pressing on the top of laptop surface at about 10 0clock position just off the touchpad. Maybe this will help you guys, it seems to have worked for me. By the way HP on line tech said they've not had this problem reported until I went on line?? HP was very helpful.

If you can give a general location for the trace that is bad, that would be great. I have a customres DV4000 with this same problem. Can the trace be repaired with the board in the case, or is dissassembly required. I am competent in either way. Less work the faster return to the customer and less damage to the computer.

I know this sounds nuts, but it was too much trouble to disassemble and hunt for the next day or so for the culprit. What I did to "repair" was to open the memory door. I cut a 1 inch length of fuel ine hose. I then split it and placed over the top of the 2 memory modules, closed the door and tightened the screws. What appears to be happening is the modules are losing their tight connection. The rubber hose puts slight pressure yet is flexible and is not conductive. It certainly not what I would normally do but my customer is thrilled. I showed them what I had done and explained the strange and unconventional repair. I hope this helps.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread. I just received my dv4000 back from HP service after having an issue with freezing. This notebook is 11 months into a 12-month warranty.

After reading this thread, I realized that I could get the notebook to unfreeze by pushing down on the palm rest just to the left of the touch pad.

My problem started when the USB mouse I was using would occasionally freeze. Later, my notebook would freeze while I was typing in Word Docs. Still later, it would freeze upon start-up. I was sure I had a virus, but reformatting did no good. Using another hard drive also did no good. That is when I found this forum. The strange thing is that sometimes the computer would work just fine. At one point, in the middle of all of this, I went a week without a problem.

On the telephone, HP techs had me try to reseat the memory modules. After that they had me do a hard drive test through the Bios menu. After speaking with 3 different techs, they decided that I had jumped through enough hoops, and had me send the computer in for repair.

According to HP, they replaced the system board and the palm rest unit. I have used the computer for 3 days and it seems to be running fine now. I will probably buy the one-year extended warranty ($99) before this original warranty runs out.

Thanks again for the information.

i know the repair but i can not say what it is. i can do it and do them all the time. there are also issues with the usb ports with these systems that i can repair.

if i gave away that repair, i might as well give away money.

its not an easy fix, you definately have to know what you are doing. its not something anyone can do. you need proper equipment and knowledge of what needs to be repaired. these motherboards sell for a pretty penny and there is money in repairing them.

i dont get paid a lot at work and this is how i make money on the side. hope ya understand where im coming from.

this problem has nothing to do with the ram socket. put pressure on the area everyone is talking about and it will happen again.

Give these a while.. They'll have more problems than this popping out. Trust me..As for the pressing on the palmrest? Is a conection issue and probably repairable easy enough. Cold/opening joints are an issue on all machines..Trick is finding them.

not with this board. hope you have a BGA machine. this has nothing to do with cold solder at all.

im here to help out people i can over the forums, i dont need help with anything; yet

hello,

I have the same problem with freezing of dv4040us. Finally together with friend we took notebook apart. Using magnifying glass we looked for cold solders, we didn't find any. When we had an access to opened notebook, we turned it on and we started pressing mainboard in various of places. It was hard to notice the point at which notebook was freezing. From our observation (we may be wrong) pressing the mainboard in the place to the right from right-bottom corner of touchpad caused it to restore from "frozen: state. It seems to be something with MainController which is nearby of point where we pressed motherboard. Finally we took a piece of paper, wrapped it (to create stiff cube) and put between mainboard and notebook cover (in the place where we pressed notebook). It helped, since for 2 weeks laptop didn't freeze at all. I was using it a lot and I suppose our cube from paper might be loosen now. It freezes again, but not as often as it used to. I live in Poland, my warranty has expired, I don't have a chance to send my laptop directly to USA. In my country HP doesn't not support Pavilion series. I was thinking about buying new mainboard but it is quite expensive. I can still try to sell my broken laptop and get at least some cash for it. What would you recommend me?

Mikolaj