HP Pavilion Screen, WIFI, Webcam Hell

Hi everyone,

I'm using an HP Pavilion dv2166eu (AMD Turion 64 x2), purchased in JAN 2007. Like a lot of people who bought this laptop I loved the design, but have had endless issues with it.

It functioned perfectly for 8-9 months and then the trouble started. First thing that went was the WIFI. At first it would work sporadically. Now the wireless/bluetooth card manages bluetooth only and doesn't even register it as a wireless card. I switched to an external wifi usb.

Then the BATTERY, which had been slowly 'shrinking' over year one would struggle to manage a couple of minutes without the AC. By the end of year two, I was lucky to get seconds - so I make sure the AC is never at risk of disconnecting mid-sentence!

On its second birthday, the SCREEN packed in, operating in one in five boots, even though everything else concerning a regular boot was working well.

As the laptop fell out of warranty, HP were bugger all help...
I had used the online support chat thingy with them on many occasions previously (mainly regarding wifi), but a succession of 'fixes' (driver updates) had never helped and only served to delay me on taking more drastic action until I crossed the warranty deadline. I told them that I was aware that the Pavilion range was flawed and that they should replace the model, but they could only offer to fix or replace at around the £300 mark. No way!

So I took the laptop to a local engineer...
Given the model, they were unsurprised by the sequence of failures (i.e. year one: wifi and battery / year two: screen). Like me, they couldn't get the screen to work. They advised I write it off or they could replace the battery and motherboard for £200, but could ony offer me a 3-month guarantee. I declined their offer, took the HD out and gave up, first using my work Lenovo for 6 months, then buying a nice little Samsung Q320 last summer.

Like a Phoenix...
However, a month ago, when discussing the HP with a friend, I was advised to do what seemed like nonsense:

- Wrap the HP in a blanket whilst switched on for an hour to heat it up.
- Switch it off and 5 mins later power up again.

The the screen went on!!! I then:

- Formatted the HD (I had been using this as an external drive with the Samsung).
- Installed XP Pro (I don't have the Vista CD for the Samsung and the HP only came with a partition OS for XP, which I never backed up and which I wiped months ago when I formatted the external drive).

And it all worked... sort of. Needless to say, the screen needed some extra warmth upon switching on. But it's failing more and more once again...

Of course, the forums are still coming up with ideas...
I've tried the "remove battery and AC outlet" solution which requires you to then:

- Hold the power button for 30-60 seconds.
- Put the AC back in.
- Switch it on and it should work, then (if desired) pop the battery back in.

I've also tried the "fn and f6 key hit upon switching on" solution.

As with the "blanket wrap" 'fix', these are hit-and-miss. Evidently, these are not reliable or permanent, but ridiculous and short-term fixes.

Oh, and now the WEBCAM has stopped working:

- It doesn't register it in device manager at all.
- It doesn't recognize it as new hardware.
- Skype and MSN don't see it.
- It's NOT driver issues, as I have them installed.
- And it sure as hell is well connected to the motherboard - I have cheked.
- It's not OS issues either
- there is no section in device manager that says "imaging devices".
-Webcam software that comes with the drivers says there is no webcam connected.
-after long struggle to get imaging devces back in (seems like a bypass for it to appear, not the actual hardware) under the HP pavillion webcam, says device cannot start (code 10)

So it's as if the webcam doesn't exist at all - just one cool HP optical illusion that I see at the top-centre of the screen!

So here I am, writing this from the 'beloved' HP (I'm using it now, keeping an eye on the power lead and the wavering usb wifi!) and wondering what the problem might be.

Sure, the hardware is flimsy. The motherboard may be dying. The power supply is dodgy - I am not sure if buying a new battery will help, even though I am tempted.

Point is, I want to get this thing working again; it would be great to have a backup should the Samsung fail!

So, I would like to hear all opinions and possible solutions to the HP screen, wifi and webcam issues. I have trawled the forums, but what have I missed?

And I prefer to stick to XP Pro rather than splash out on Vista or 7. Oh, and PLEASE - I do not want a MAC!!!

Thanks in advance.

 

What about an Acer?

 

Got an Acer, had to repair it myself after i was told to write it off due to a faulty motherboard. In fact, it just required running without the battery in. I just think it would be neat to get HP back up and running. Update is, i figured how to bypass the screen not switching on, seems to be a problem with the power button because when i hold it a bit longer (as if i was about to do a hard reboot) and release it just befre it switches the laptop off, and then hit the top of the keypad (anywhere) it switches right on. So in the past 24 hrs i've managed to get the crack of that. Not a solution, just less annoying. Webcam is a ghost though cannot even enable it in BIOS, and as stated - wifi as well...