HP Pavilion DV5000 Random Shutdown Problem

could this be a clue?

and here is an interesting twist re: laptop video chips

http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl...

HP Pavillion dv5000 laptop that is 25 months old.and has the same problem, powering down for no reason and running hotter than it should.
no resolution yet

larry -

i have been using compressed air - blowing it into the open fan grid on bottom of laptop with little or no effect. gritting my teeth facing the possibility of having to completely disassemble the laptop to get to the fan assembly. desperate with cpu core reaching temps of 199F and above then shutting off, i directed the compressed air into the long grated opening at the rear of the laptop - on the same side as the bottom fan vent. the initial result was even worse - the laptop would shut down almost immediately when i tried to boot it and the bottom was extremely hot - i think the fan had completely stopped working.

i let it completely cool down to the touch. i then set about examining it - holding it upside down, on its edge, basically shaking it up. finally opened it and set it vertically in a docking station. was shocked that it booted up and stayed on. now the cpu core temp is running 30 degrees cooler and so far not shutting down. i managed to loosen up and dislodge a bunch of dust/dirt/gunk is what i'm thinking. so i plan to give it a shot of compressed air thru that back vent every week to keep the fan assembly clean. and i truly hope that this was and is the full extent of the problem.

don't know if my story will help you, but i wanted to pass it on.

best, claire (with crossed fingers)

I have an HP Pavilion dv5224nr WinXP Media Center (SP3) from Best Buy July 2006 (just out of warranty)

First I did a partial dissassemble of the laptop to get at my cooling fan. I spent about 2 hours and stopped as soon as I could see the fan to vacuum it out.

(Warning!!!!! DO this carefuly since there are lots of very delicate parts that Vacuums love to suck up.)

Once I re-assembled it I found that the problem still existed, No change at all. It still ran way too hot and shut down at random.

After a lot of online research, reading about people experiencing similar hardware problems, it led me to the conclusion that what we are dealing with is a case of "Scrambled Hardware Drivers". So I did an experiment with my laptop.

I booted it with a "live" (that means it runs from DVD) version of Linux called KNOPPIX to see if the Overheating, Maxed out CPU, random Shutdown issue were related to the WinXP installation.

You can download and burn a copy to try yourself: <url:http: />

I was able to boot the Laptop from DVD and the what do you know, the cooling fan operated normally, venting only normal amounts of heat The CPU was not spiking the performange meter for no logical reason, and the system performance was what I expected from my PC. In fact, it ran for 2 hours straight without any problem.

I shut it down and rebooted it from the hard drive with WinXP (SP3) and the cooling fan went nuts, the case got hot and the system barely made it to fully logged on before it shut itself down.

I figured that the OS which has drivers that control both the cooling fan and the voltage to the CPU must be screwing up. I figured that the best thing would be to wipe the drive and re-install the OS.

Only one problem, I wanted to get my latest files and favorites and cookies and such to re-build my install with everything I had currently. Since I had install disks for the OS and software, I only wanted my data and config info but I couldn't get my Laptop to stay in operation long enough to get the data off.

Since KNOPPIX is running from DVD, I couldn't just access my drive and burn a copy since the DVD drive was in use. I had a data key but it did not hold enough to help.

I hit upon a temporary solution. I set the laptop onto 2 blocks of "BLUE ICE", the plastic wrapped gel stuff you freeze to put in your cooler that won't make a puddle when it thaws. That worked!

I was able to boot XP and log on as administrator so I could burn a DVD with everything in the C:\ "Documents and Settings" folder which gave me the desktop and files of all the configured users at once.

I also went ONLINE and downloaded XP SP3 and I also went to HP's Website and downloaded al the various drivers for my laptop. (Search for your Model # on <url:http: /> and look for Software & Driver downloads") on the page. You can even download driver to RE-FLASH the Bios.

I After backing up the data, and burning a copy of SP3 and the drivers, I formatted the laptop's drive and re-installed WinXP, Upgraded it to SP3, re-flashed the Bios, installed all the hardware drivers and then copied my data back on.

My laptop is now running better than ever and it's not overheating or chutting down or maxing out the CPU.

It may be possible to just in-install the drivers and re-flash the Bios without re-installing the OS, but I figured that a clean sweep was called for after 2 years of MS updates and patches clotting up the system. I also only re-installed the application I actually use not all the crap that came pre-installed with the system.

I can't say it will work for your Laptop, but it did so far for me.

Good Luck,

Larry

wow - great information, Larry AND very timely for me since i am about to swap out my hard drive for a larger one and will be re-installing the OS and all the apps. i will keep your notes to refer to and if it results in an even cooler-running laptop, i'll be sure to post the info... thanks again.

I HAVE HAD SO MANY PROBLEMS! I'm 16 and for my 14th birthday I got this laptop for my birthday! My specs are : Intel Centrino Duo 1.66ghz precessor with 1 gb RAM, Nvidia Geforce 7400 256MB graphics card Windows XP Home. Ever since I got the laptopi have had problems first the grill for my speakers rusted a few days after buying it. I got it from Singapore and when i flew back home in the Caribbean it started rusting. It used to shut down one or twice not much. The mouse pad then started to lose its color and turned white, while weird dots formed on the screen and my charger brok. A year later i went back Singapore to HP cuz they told me i can get it done only there. so I told them my problems they took it in and were even laughing at me because of the screen and that i needed to just clean it but the smiles were gone when they realzed they wont disappear. So they replaced everything for me All the problem parts got replaced. When I flew back home the screen they replaced just broke it started showing lines and etc. I had to pay $350 to change the screen! It wasnt hp it was a Samsung screen that is so much more reliable and clearer!. Then my charger broke again i paid $75 for a universal one. My battery lasts now no more than 3 minutes. My computer has random problems it would automatically turn on when on hibernate or the disc drive opens when no one touches it. there is even a section above the card reader that broke and can be removed. Now the computer even shutsdown 5 times a day atleast even with the cooling pad! I think HP has ruined my birthday gift and they should replace each persons laptop with a brand new one for their problems! Where are our rights??

got the same overheating problem , keeps shutting down , running vista , had a new hard drive fitted as the old one gave up after around 6 months , problem is still there.
i just want my money back , i dident pay 600 pounds for this kind of agro.

I have this problem as well. I took it to Staples where I purchased a warranty and they said they could not identify any problem after keeping it overnight. The next day they offered me a new lap top. I declined because this is my third HP. My first one crashed after day one ... it would not start up. My space key fell off the second one and was not able to be repaired so they offered me a new one. This shut down problem has only been happening with my current (third) notebook. The interesting thing is I run it all day at work and it never shuts down; it only happens at home when I am working in bed. Is it possible if the lap top is on certain surfaces it helps maintain the level of heat? If so, I am going to get one of those lap desks.

Well sunnydays140 its not my fault my parents want to visit their family in Singapore and btw the problem was the processor and fan was clogged with dust and fabric! I sent it to a place here and they cleaned it up for $69. Every other problem i had was a defect and now my laptop works fine without HP's help! I would buy another HP product but I would only take it to HP if i had a warranty and something is actually broken because they use refurbished parts that might not even function properly. I buy so called junk from singapore because its a good $1000 cheaper and I wouldn't know all of that would happen. Other HP service centers won't except it they tell me to go to Singapore and fix it.

I have an HP Pavilion dv8327, running XP Pro. I usually left it on overnight so AVG could run their daily virus magic-AVG slows Pokey (pc's alias) down considerably during the day. No problem until recently when I would awaken to what Windows(? ) called a deadly error: "Blue Screen". But now Pokey appears to be in a standy/hibernation state each morning. Lights are on, but nobody's home. Can't get cursor, task manager, ZIP. Only alternative is a manual shutdown, but upon rebooting, nothing seems awry-business as usual. Under Power Options, Pokey is NEVER to be automatically shut down when plugged in, which it almost always is. Now I have to choose between AVG protection and using Pokey. Any suggestions will be appreciated. And thanks!

I suggest you uninstall AVG you can get the Avast it runs smoother and offers better protection! Check download.com for the free download.

I was having an overheating problem with random shut downs. As my DV5000 is nearly 3 years old, the battery length was horrible barely reaching an hour. I went online and bought a new after market high capacity battery and now having used it for one day, it appears the overheating problem has vanished. I read on some other forums that there may be a defect in the battery because the heat usually came from the rear left side of the case and the left side of the battery. As of now, the fan as slowed down considerably to a barely audible noise, there is little to no heat in the same region it was yesterday, and I've been using it for 3 hours with the screen brightness up and it still have 54% remaining. For $70, the high capacity battery seemed to fix all the problems... now if I can just figure out how to make it lighter... this thing weights a ton. (probably 6lbs region)

Jeff

I have a dv5097ea and had the same problem, even on bios menu it would just shutdown from overheating. I've opened mine, cleaned the fan, puted some wd40 on it, and replaced the thermal compound, and now it is absolutly fine

i am ABSOLUTELY convinced that this problem of overheating is due to the laptop body design. they took a casing that was fine for a "standard" video and a single CPU and used it for a duo CPU and top-end video.

i replaced this with a Toshiba with duo CPU and top-end video - the toshiba case has a large vent on the left side and, not one, not two.... but FOUR separate air vents on the laptop bottom.

i am using it very CPU and video-intensive apps just as before and it is zooming along with not a hint of a heat problem.

so i've found the solution - a different brand of laptop.

I believe that replacing the thermal compound (and cleaning the fan, of course) is a good solution. At least for me it was. My DV5097 has an AMD processor, witch heats a lot more than intel's, and now, after doing what i have said, i almost do not ear the fan, as it is off for some time because the laptop is not heating so much anymore.

i'm with you, burnol, good solution... i am just pointing out what i think causes the numerous problems with this particular laptop. if HP had designed a case with more air vents for the souped up innards i don't think there would be such a problem. and you have to remember that the majority of consumers do not have the savvy to do what you did to remedy a problem that should not exist in the first place.

I found I had a similar/same problem when I had to replace my harddrive. (HP wouldn't honor my warranty - big surprise). I took Larry's advice but noticed that the problem continued even after flashing the bios as long as I had SP2 or any subsequent service packs or operating systems from windows on the system.

I installed SP1 and life is good in terms of getting it to run without shutting down, but I am unable to keep my computer up to date with virus scanning, and in addition, there are two drivers that seem to be incompatible with XP SP1 - both Conexant drivers - one for the modem, the other for the sound. I have informed HP of this problem, and what do you know - after going through the general b.s. - "install the drivers from here... copy them there, etc." with tech support they forwarded my issue to a supervisor. It's been 2 weeks and I haven't heard anything back. Much like the first time when I told them my problem with the hard drive and they wouldn't honor my warranty or contact me back regarding my issue. I love this company.

I'm fixing an HP Pavilion DV5000 that has these random shutdown problems, and i gotta say, it really made me angry trying to figure out what it was, and even the solution made me angry, because its all HP's fault!

I tried all configurations, to see if it was one of the installed components, such as the CD/DVD, RAM, Mini NIC, etc. I thought I had it tracked down to the Mini NIC, but after the new one came in, it did the same thing. Grrrr.....

I was about ready to get out the hammer, when I had one more last idea. I noticed that right before it shut down, even in BIOS Setup, the fan would jump to max for about 1 second and then it would power off. So I took it all the way apart, and removed the heat sink/fan assembly, and looked at the heat sink where it coupled with the CPU. There wasn't much thermal compound there. So I ran up to my parts store and picked up some new thermal goop, applied it to the heatsink, and put everything back together.

Whaddya know, it hasn't shut down yet, and the fan speed hasn't even gone above minimum yet.

So the problem is HP's choice of CHEAP thermal solution. It seems like they bought stuff that just barely outlasted their warranties.

This is why I will never by an HP.

Hope this helps!
Jim

I have a hp pavillion zv5000 (5240us) for several years now and I put up with HPs lack of drivers and poor choices on parts but lately it has been running very very hot... not crashing though.. and it got really bad...

So I decided to flip it over and open it up (few tiny screws taking off the main black plastic, then 2 screws each for the silver fan covers) and see how the fans look. To my surprise they were COMPLETELY clogged. I simply removed the dust and my laptop now is cooler than ever. Thanks to everyone who hinted at the dust issue... drivers help for management but nothing will fix dust filled vents/fans.

now its cool and the battery runs much longer thanks to not fighting to cool itself.

Your "problem" is HP's business model of planned obsolescence. I'm sorry that happened, but that's just how it is.

"planned obsolescence" is an old business model followed by most companies that produce consumer goods.

add to this the "walmart" model of outsourcing overseas (china for HP and Walmart) in order to use the cheapest materials and the cheapest employees to make their "american" products.

it is the story of our sad economy, it is the story of the multinational corporations' raping of the american economy.

we'd better get used to it.

i have the same random shut down problem with my hp pavilion dv500 of mine. this laptop was given to me by my uncle because of the same problem. he sent it many times to hp only to be replied that there was nothing wrong with it. he tried to replace the battery with new ones but the problem was still there.. by the time he gave it to me, he has not used for quite some time because he bought a new laptop. i tried it out to see if the problem was still there but when i did, there was nothing wrong with it... the battery's fine, the ac is working, no problems at all. until three days later..

while playing a dvd on the laptop, it shut down on its own which i have never experienced the past three days.. i tried rebooting it but still the same problem comes up.. it shuts down 2 to 3 minutes after start up.. it also doesn't charge the battery, which charged fine before.. when i tried to turn it on with just the battery, it doesn't even turn on.. when i reattach the ac, it magically boots up on its own without even pressing the power switch of course with the same problem.. it became very annoying, so i tried 'removing' the battery and used just the ac alone to run the laptop.. it worked.. i ran it for 5 hours without shutting down.. but, if i run the laptop with just the ac, it becomes a hassle to find a plug so that i could use it..

i tried bringing the laptop to a repair shop to know what's wrong with it.. its most probably just the battery but if was, then the problem would have been solved a long time ago.. i told the technician the problem and he said its most probably from the processor overheating, citing the AMD processor it had.. but that also didn't make any sense because if it was the processor then it would have turned off when the laptop was running on ac alone without the battery..

for now, im thinking that the problem lies between battery and the laptop itself.

I have the DV5129US which develop overheating issues after reinstalling the OS. Mine didn't reboot like you guys but instead would run everything at a crawl. Before I could run 720p video file fine but now it barely wanted to open a program and the harddrive was access like crazy when opening notepad. After reading about the thermal paste here, I tried that but it didn't help any either. I remember when I was running Ubuntu or reinstalling the OS, everything was fine again.

Like Larry, I was going to reinstall the OS but remembering him writing about the "driver being scramble" so I tried going into the device manager and uninstalling some of the drivers like the harddrive, nic, and some random one under the system and rebooted. After the computer restarted, most of the driver was reinstalled automatically except the modem driver which was missing files. Once all the drivers was reinstalled, everything ran fine. I'm typing in Firefox while watching a movie and having some other program running in the background, everything is running like it used to.

Hope this help some of you. Please reply if it does.