Wireless won't turn on

[R. Shank]

I just contacted hp support with this problem and they said my pavilion dv9000 is eligeble for factory repaire, even though it no longer has warranty. They will pay for shipping and the cost of a new WLAN card. Oviously they know there is a problem and it was their fault. Nice of them, although there's only some of us lucky few who will be able to take advantage of their offer. BTW, they call it an "Enhancement."

[Jay Levin]

Same problem! I was told that 100 days out of warranty means I must pay or go online for a chat with a technician. Chat link does not work! Called again and was told abruptly that my refusal to pay made me ineligible to speak to someone. Supervisor was more polite, but also not helpful.

Since this is clearly a pervasive issue (mine is a tx1417cl) I would have thought that customers would get the kind of service that Mr Shank expected and received.

Not sure what to do next. I don't think that HP is playing fair with this issue.

[R. Shank]

They are not playing fair.

They only replace the mother boards (NVIDIA chip is in MB) of the laptops that have AMD processors not ones with Intel. And only certain model numbers too.

Losing your wireless is only the first step of the NVIDIA GPU going bad. Next it will be the display. See this huge thread about the NVIDIA GPU problems.

http://forums.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/bizsupport/questionanswer.do?threadId=1274587

Rodrick

[Jay Levin]

After a series of reboots and updating, I was given a "lifeline" to actually speak with a live "case manager." Imagine my excitement at receiving a real HP phone number and a real case number. I called immediately and was received very courteously by the HP case manager who seriously explained to me the same situation that had been communicated to me by the "HP Total Care" staff via email -

1) that there were "not enough" ("not enough" - like "enough" is left undefined) complaints about this pervasive problem and therefore a recall has not been issued; and

2) that three large threads on this HP sponsored website (and other forums on the internet - try google) detailing this particular HP problem did not constitute a concern for HP; and

2) that a repair would cost $400 and a small discount would be offered as my computer was purchased in January 2008.

I have purchased a Belkin 802.11g netwpork adaptor, installed the software and am running wirelessly for around $30.

[Emil Versoza]

I bought a hp dv5-1002 July 31, 2008. The dumb wireless switch stop working on this dumb laptop. I notice that it started getting flaky around April 2009 I thought nothing of it because the issue was not that bad the wireless switch would come back with a restart. Now it won't even turn on it just stays amber been looking through forums and notice that the fix is to buy an external wireless usb or pcmcia device. Is that the only fix. HP what are you guys going to do about this your laptops are not to good.

[Skeeter Jenkins]

This is either a case of "planned obsolescence" or an honest problem that just isn't cost effective for HP to alleviate. PCs in general, and HPs in particular, just aren't the same as they used to be.

I'm beginning to experience the same problems as everyone else here. The external switch won't enable wireless detection, and stays in the amber hue. I've sent the machine in for both the wireless and the display before, and after replacing the motherboard that had supposedly burned out, I received the machine back only to go through it all again.

If this currently isn't a large enough problem to cause a profit drop for HP, then people need to start buying from a company that takes its products seriously the first time. All I can say to that end is, "good luck."

[Adrian888]

I GOT A SOULUTION! :D

All you gota do is buy one of thos wireless usp adapters and it will bi-pass the failed chip in your laptop.
I haven't tried it yet because my chip is still in the process of failing, but the tech said this should work.
I hope this makes people happy.

-Adrian

[Jay Levin]

This solution is unfortunately temporary.

The problem appears to be with the motherboard which WILL fail sooner (rather than later). I used the temporary "fix" of a Belkin USB wireless adapter which worked fine for a couple of months - but then the motherboard failed completely.

It now only engages the hard drive from a cold boot with vigorous pressing of F12.

HP want "between 450 to 650" US $ to replace the motherboard which lasted only about 13 months before starting to fail.

[adam we]

I have the same problem with the tx 1320 us. I'm appalled at the lack of integrity HP is showing here. A friend of mine is an attorney with a large firm in Philadelphia, PA - he is doing some discovery to see if the wireless problem qualifies for class action status. He said that the plaintiffs injuries need to exceed 5 million dollars - and if HP's preferred solution is to charge us $400.00 dollars a pop to fix our machines...well I think it will be way beyond 5 million. Hopefully HP will come to their senses and recall the faulty machines.

YOU LISTENING HP????

[FJ SAFRYN]

Hi,
I bought my dv9005 in 11/06 and just got the same problem.

Am now using an external Link Sys WUSB300N card. Works ok for now.