HP joins Dell in BIOS “fix” for nVidia graphics chip problem
We told you recently about nVidia’s chip problems that caused Dell to issue a BIOS update to deal with the potentially dangerous problem. HP also had to join Dell in issuing BIOS updates as they had notebooks in customer’s hands with the defective chips. Making matter worse (or fanning the flames if you will) today comes word that the BIOS fixes just force the notebooks’ internal fans to run on high all the time. I guess the feeling is the defective chips run too hot so Dell and HP have fixes that simply keep the fan running. Now, don’t even imagine what this will do for generating unbearable noise not to mention how that would hammer battery life. As if this whole situation wasn’t bad enough HP has made it clear that customers who apply the BIOS update and then want to roll it back due to the issues I’ve mentioned cannot do so. Once you apply the "fix" that jams the fan on you’re stuck with it for perpetuity. Or at least until the fan wears out.
HP has been quietly doing this since late last year, what is sad, is that several tx1000/2000 users have fallen prey to the bad motherboard/chipsets and have had damaged machines and HP has not included the tx1000/2000 in their list of recall machines.
I’ve been compiling user complaints on Tablet PC Review
http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/announcement.php?f=8&a=9
but users who’ve had their components fail, say that the bios updates don’t solve the problem, components continue to fail despite this.
I should not say recall, of machines that they are offering extended warranty service on.
I had bought a Compaq V3000 in August of 2006 with AMD Turion and Nvidia 6150 graphics. The bottom would get extremely hot, even when playing a simple game like Sim City 3000. I had thought it was the Turion processor as I hear they run hot.
I gave it to my brother and it died this Feburary while he was playing a game on it, the computer froze, the display froze with glitches on it, he turned it off and it powered on but with nothing on the display. I suppose the motherboard or GPU fried.
We finally found out about this fiasco in July and my brother send it to HP two days ago for a free repair, he’s to get it back August 8th at the latest, hope things turn out well. Since I gave the laptop to him for free, its not important if it gets fixed but he’s really like a free laptop. : )
Its a real shame, Nvidia has been my favorite GPU company but now it looks like ATI time, I love my HD4850, $200 and it has beat more expensive Nvidia cards!
Is there a list somewhere that lists the specific nVidia GPUs affected by this defect? I haven’t been able to find one anywhere.
I have a Gateway laptop with an nVidia GeForce Go 6100 graphics “unit.” I haven’t noticed anything unusual, but I haven’t really been looking for anything unusual, either. It would sure be nice to know if I have a possibly defective unit. Gateway hasn’t provided any updates for this model (BIOS, drivers, etc.) since last July — and the Gateway-supplied nVidia video driver for Vista is actually from Dec 2006.
Man this sucks, I blew a ton on my tx2000, it was my major tech purchase for the next couple of years. I felt a bit embittered that the tx2500 came out soon after but hey that’s technology. Then last week mine went BSOD on me regardless of what I did, it did sneak in something about graphics drivers being corrupt before it just never booted into windows again.
It’s due back on Monday, “repaired”, now I just feel I’m stuck with a lemon that will be flaky until I replace it. I really don’t appreciate this from companies such as HP and Dell who you’d believe would have the capability to push these issues harder for their customers. Next time I’ll get the cheaper alternative and at least not pay a premium for shoddy goods and service!
There’s no such thing as a great laptop. The most expensive and cheapest laptops around use the same parts inside. Buy what you need, skip the warranty, and start saving for the next one when it finally goes.
I’m totally with you there but I’ve had mine for less than a month, I sort of expect the failure and problems to start occurring at least after the 12 month warranty has expired and usually due to good honest, heavy, usage.
At least when I pay for a cheap unit I expect a few cut corners in build quality and customer service. Those are the compromises you make. From HP/Dell though, I thought the premium was paying for exactly this kind of thing to either not occur or at least be dealt with swiftly and professionally. All I got was several web chat sessions, a check list of things to try and then a box turn up for the repair return. That’s not going to help me if the laptop fails while I’m away in a few weeks.
From the quick google I did it seems like the chipset can overheat if you use wifi heavily. This would be about right as I’d stream content from my media server and watch it in bed. Guess I’ll be doing some intensive 24/7 testing when I get the unit back.
I hope that now jkOnTheRun now have some more time on their hands they’ll be able to do us some stress testing of the hardware they get sent.
BTW – Was there any further impressions on the Blueant headset? I’m thinking of buying one.
Kevin, can you get us a link to a list of the actual GPU models affected? I’ve had no luck searching for it as of yet.
I haven’t found any list, yet. But I have found lots of others complaining that they can’t find a list, either. The consensus seems to be that nVidia has intentionally chosen not to provide a list publicly. I suspect they only want to deal with the OEMs and not with the public directly. If that’s the case, however, then the OEMs need to get their act together and provide their own lists. Some have, some haven’t (I’m looking at you, Gateway).
I’ve heard it said that its a chipset that has the problem, the actual list from HP doesn’t mention the chipset (http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=1842189〈=en&docname=c01300427), but apparently all the models have this chipset in common (nforce 430)