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HP Recall on 900,000 Notebooks

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the thats-a-lotta-laptops dept.

phycoman writes "900,000 HP and Compaq laptops have potential memory issues and are being recalled. The RAM chips from four manufacturers can possibly lead to system corruption and lockups. The affected notebooks are Compaq Evo Notebook N610c, Compaq Evo Notebook N610v, Compaq Evo Notebook N620c, Compaq Evo Notebook N800c, Compaq Evo Notebook N800v, Compaq Evo Notebook N800w, Compaq Evo Notebook N1000c, Compaq Evo Notebook N1000v, Compaq Presario 1500, Compaq Presario 2800, Compaq Presario x1000, Compaq Presario x1200, HP Compaq Business Notebook nx7000 and HP Pavilion zt3000. As a result, HP has created a website whick allows users to download a program to test for faulty RAM chips."

21 of 224 comments (clear)

  1. Memory replacement, not recall by Covener · · Score: 4, Informative

    Laptops aren't being recalled, memory is. Writeup is too sensationalized

    1. Re:Memory replacement, not recall by crow · · Score: 3, Informative

      Just like an automotive recall, there's one part that's bad, and they ask you to bring it in to be replaced at their cost (parts and labor). I once had a recall on my car to replace the radiator cap. They mailed me the cap and said to take it to a dealer if I didn't want to swap it myself (apparently the original cap wouldn't release pressure if it overheated).

      A recall doesn't mean they'll replace the whole thing, just the bad part. This is a recall.

  2. yes that bothered me too by spacerodent · · Score: 2, Informative

    The only HP product I had installed on my system was a HP 935 digital camera and it installed no less than 3 TSRs and was gobbling up a total of around 32 megs of ram

    1. Re:yes that bothered me too by mangu · · Score: 2, Informative
      Well, for some cameras, at least, you don't need to install anything. I have an HP Photosmart C20 and all I have to do is pop the chip into the PCMCIA holder and mount /dev/hde1. Of course, it's an old camera and they may have worsened it.


      For scanners, OTOH, the situation is terrible. I have an HP3570 and will not recommend to anyone buying an HP scanner. The software is buggy, slow, bloated, has no Linux driver, has no scripting capability, is hard to use, and that's the most positive review I can make of it.

    2. Re:yes that bothered me too by slittle · · Score: 2, Informative

      FWIW, my HP scanner works fine in WXP without installing any drivers.

      I can either use the Windows scanning thing (I prefer not to, coz it wants to warm up the lamp before every scan, even if it's been on for an hour), or most Windows graphics progs, like Photoshop.

      The HP scanning app sucks MAJOR. Some retard is storing free space as bytes in a 32bit integer - if you have 4GB + 1 meg of space left, it thinks you have 1MB left and refuses to scan.

      Maybe if I had some funky feeder or something I'd need the drivers, but it's a plain no-frills dealie that Just Works {tm} Not that I'd necessarily buy any more HP products though...

      --
      Opportunity knocks. Karma hunts you down.
  3. Re:HP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative
    Funny you mention that, a just threw a default install of XP Pro on an old 450MHz AMD box next to me. I was amazed to see on boot it used only 56 megs of RAM. Having mostly used OEM versions, I always figured XP was more bloated than that.
    It's even smaller if you disable unnecessary services. I have a Win2K laptop win 128MB ram that uses around 40MB on startup. The only services that startup "Automatic" are: DHCP Client, Event Log, Plug and Play, RPC and Security Accounts. I can still read mail, browse the web (through the LAN, dial-up needs some extra services), use office programs, media players etc. etc.

    Probably the only thing missing is network shares, which I don't use. All my important stuff is on the laptop, with a backup on an external HD. The default services settings are crap: almost everything ought to be "Manual" or "Disabled". The people who really need them can turn them on themselves.

  4. RTFA My bad - Self Refresh explained. by msgmonkey · · Score: 2, Informative

    Having read the article properly this time, it would appear to be a memory chip problem. These chips would probably be fine in a PC since Self Refresh is a power saving feature that is n't used in desktop PC's.

    All DRAM needs refresh cycles in order to top up the capacitor charges, normally every 64ms. These refresh cycles are generated by the memory controller. SDRAM introduced 'Self Refresh' in which the memory chip would refresh for keeping the memory contents whilst being in a power-down mode.

    From the article it seems that the timing circuitry required to generate the refresh cycles is faulty on these chips so the memory is n't refreshed properly becoming corrupted.

    I'd hope HP are shipping out new modules with new chips on them, if they wanted to be sly they could just replace the SPD on the modules with one that just tells the BIOS not to turn on self refresh.

  5. Agreed by mfh · · Score: 2, Informative

    I agree. My Fuji FinePix A205 was really cheap, for a Fuji (like about $200 CAD), and I just plug it in and XP recognizes it as a removable disk. I think cameras don't need fancy software for pulling images down, and anything extra is a waste of time. Let software like Photoshop, ACDSEE and others be the progs for image manipulation. I think camera mfctrs should stick with what they know, and leave the other stuff alone. Oh and we bought a nice 256meg RAM for this camera, for under $90 CAD at Costco. Pretty cheap, and it works great.

    --
    The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
  6. Possitive experiences by mst76 · · Score: 2, Informative
    Since this seems to be turning into a HP bashfest, let me add some positive experiences. I've personally bought two HP products (both a few years ago), an old i8100 CD-RW that I never had problems with (just a bit slow), and an ancient LaserJet III (pre-owned I don't know how many times, still working like a champ). Maybe these older products were from better times?

    My recent experiences aren't bad either. Our company desktops are HP Compaq D330 desktops (P4 2ghz), that are cheap but pretty well designed. They are very quiet and require no tools to open the box and swap components.

  7. Guess I am stuck with bad memory by grink · · Score: 2, Informative

    I run linux so I can't check for the bad memory. Good job HP!

  8. Re:Uh oh... by ameoba · · Score: 2, Informative

    You mean they're not just using this?

    --
    my sig's at the bottom of the page.
  9. Re:HP= bad by csirac · · Score: 2, Informative

    I even got one of their dvd burners for a mere $99 year before last (when they were ~$300 normally) and then when it broke only 3 weeks after I bought it they said it wasn't covered under warrenty.

    That's not entirely unique to HP. Some HDD manufacturers seem to go by manufacture date too. It's not always the manufacturer's fault that some store somewhere can't sell old stock. Besides, if that were the case, can't you deal with the store instead of HP? The shop I used to work at would replace it for you at a loss in a case like this.

    That said, I do like HP laser printers. The post-warranty and even in-warranty service can't be beat. The HP partfinder site is just a couple of clicks away and certainly beats the hell out of Lexmark's PDF-based parts catalogue system. As for other manufacturers like Oki (though Oki make good printers and have decent parts support too), Brother (evil) and Epson, I'm not too sure.

    HP have some very nice, well engineered products. Non-consumer stuff like their managed ethernet switches and lab test equipment is fantastic. It's just that their cheap stuff is... too clunky. And cheap.

  10. Not HPs fault by phalse+phace · · Score: 4, Informative
    I just love how everyone's bashing HP for this flaw even if it isn't their fault.
    "The problem is tied to the interaction of DRAM from several manufacturers and several chip sets, all designed by Intel Corp."

    Shouldn't HP be commended instead since they're the only ones who are currently taking action to resolve this problem?

    "Although HP classified the problem as one that will affect the notebook PC industry as a whole, it appears that the company is the only one currently taking action. A representative from Dell Computer Corp. said that the company was "looking into it.""
  11. Re:Downtime anyone? by silas_moeckel · · Score: 4, Informative

    Nope HP ships the part you replace and then you ship back the defective part and they ship you a 32 meg usb flash drive for your trouble and returning the bad ram.

    --
    No sir I dont like it.
  12. Re:HP by DavidD_CA · · Score: 2, Informative

    I know exactly what you're talking about.

    You should check out their business-class desktop line, Evo. They come with hardly any pre-installed crap. We just got one in the other day and the only thing running that I can recall was the extra-keys-on-the-keyboard driver which was easily removed from startup.

    The Pavillion line, meant for consumers, definitely is pre-loaded with crap software.

    Of course, you can also buy hardware from HP without an OS installed.

    --
    -David
  13. Re:HP= bad by Karma+Star · · Score: 2, Informative

    The batteries only lasted about 2-3 picutres at a time

    Well, if you're using alkaline batteries, that will happen with any digital camera. You should be using NiMH batteries instead...

    --
    Me email iz skyewalkerluke at microsoft's free email service.
  14. Seems HP screwed the web site up in fact.. by Alan+Cox · · Score: 2, Informative

    Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server error '80040e14'

    Line 1: Incorrect syntax near '='. /mmrp/includes/common.inc, line 108

    Guess its running on an HP laptop they've not fixed yet 8)

  15. Re:HP - aargh by wolrahnaes · · Score: 2, Informative

    Just for a counterpoint:

    Compaq Presario R3000T notebook

    Did a fresh install of XP Pro the day after getting it, installed drivers from the included CD. Everything works fine

    I have since replaced the 802.11g drivers with upgraded ones from Broadcom (needed LEAP support) and installed newer ATI Catalysts using DriverHeaven's mobile mod tool.

    I agree that their drivers are bloated, but mine were easily replaceable.

    --
    I used to get high on life, but I developed a tolerance. Now I need something stronger.
  16. Re:Can people be convinced *not* to install driver by J+Nny · · Score: 2, Informative

    On the Contrary, quite alot of HP printers require that the device be plugged into a free USB port during the CD installation. If you don't, you are prompted to before the installation progresses any further.

  17. Re:HP - aargh by Hoser+McMoose · · Score: 2, Informative

    Just as a little FWIW, if you download the NIC drivers for WinXP, as opposed to the ones listed as being "For all operating systems", they are only 10MB. Still too big for a floppy, but at least it's a small improvement.

    As to why the system restore disks do not double as a driver disk, that one is completely beyond me. The drivers ARE all on the disk and you actually can access them, but doing so is definitely NOT easy, especially if you don't already know the SoftPaq number you need (you can't just look for Network drivers or anything sensible like that, gotta look for SP25763 or some such nonsense).

  18. Re:Not according to The Register by Covener · · Score: 2, Informative

    "..and after mailing in the current stick, receive a replacement..."

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/06/26/hp_ram_r ec all/

    Isn't that a tabloid?

    From the actual site where you sign up for the replacement memory:

    Returning Affected Memory Modules
    You must return your affected memory module(s) in the prepaid return envelope that is provided with your replacement memory module(s).

    ref: http://h30090.www3.hp.com/mmrp/default.asp?id=145& action=showinfo&linkvalue=3&button=Submit+ %BB