HP ze4610us Freezes moments after switching to battery power, has new battery.

[Rory Deol]

I cant figure this out. I have been scouring the internet for a few
months on this issue thinking I could solve it on my own. But I am at
my wits end here. It is an HP ze4610us laptop with AMD Athlon XP2500+,
44MB of RAM, 1.8GHz processor, it uses a Proxim Orinoco Gold a/b/g
Wireless PCMCIA. The issue is that whenever I unplug the A/C power the
computer will work for anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes
and then freeze requiring a hard reboot. This only happens however
when I am connected to the internet. I thought that this was an IRQ
problem but cant change which request it uses. It is currently on 11
with my Ethernet, and a O2 Micro CardBus Controller oz6912 (whatever
that is?). Is this the issue and I just can't change it?
I thought also that it could be the BIOS so I was told by a person on
another forum to download BIOS KAM 1.60. It ends up I already have
that BIOS. So i tried to download BIOS KE.M. 1.73, and it said that my
computer was not compatible when I rand the WinFlash. The battery was
purchased about 6 months ago and has had problems since I first put it
in. I bought the computer that same month but it had a dead battery in
it, so there is no way to tell if it is the battery or the computer
causing the problem. But assuming that it is the computer what are my
options? when the computer freezes it can stay on for over an hour, so
I don't think it is necessarily the battery. Thank you for any time
and help, I would deeply appreciate finally being able use this as a
Laptop and not a Desktop.

 

[Paul]

I cant figure this out. I have been scouring the internet for a few
months on this issue thinking I could solve it on my own. But I am at
my wits end here. It is an HP ze4610us laptop with AMD Athlon XP2500+,
44MB of RAM, 1.8GHz processor, it uses a Proxim Orinoco Gold a/b/g
Wireless PCMCIA. The issue is that whenever I unplug the A/C power the
computer will work for anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes
and then freeze requiring a hard reboot. This only happens however
when I am connected to the internet. I thought that this was an IRQ
problem but cant change which request it uses. It is currently on 11
with my Ethernet, and a O2 Micro CardBus Controller oz6912 (whatever
that is?). Is this the issue and I just can't change it?
I thought also that it could be the BIOS so I was told by a person on
another forum to download BIOS KAM 1.60. It ends up I already have
that BIOS. So i tried to download BIOS KE.M. 1.73, and it said that my
computer was not compatible when I rand the WinFlash. The battery was
purchased about 6 months ago and has had problems since I first put it
in. I bought the computer that same month but it had a dead battery in
it, so there is no way to tell if it is the battery or the computer
causing the problem. But assuming that it is the computer what are my
options? when the computer freezes it can stay on for over an hour, so
I don't think it is necessarily the battery. Thank you for any time
and help, I would deeply appreciate finally being able use this as a
Laptop and not a Desktop.

I don't really know how you'd debug a laptop. There is not a lot
to poke at or tear apart, without making a mess.

I'd say, that the machine undergoes a transformation, when you unplug
the cord. The operating system has ACPI, which is software concerned
with power management. You may have a control panel called "Power
Options" or something similar, which is the user interface for
configuring it.

In the case of a laptop, when run on batteries, the computer
should immediately change the speed and power consumption of
lots of stuff in the computer. Some laptops, reduce the operating
frequency of the processor (and changing theat speed can be a
stability affecting event). The backlight probably drops in
intensity a bit. Individual subsystems could be put on
a starvation diet. Any device, like USB or networking, could
be told to go to a low power state, if inactivity is detected
on the hardware interface. All these moves are intended to save
power and help battery life.

So what you are seeing, could be related to the state change
brought on by unplugging the line cord.

One thing you could try, is going into the Power Options, and
forcing the computer to stay in the high power state.

Try the "Always ON" option, as I think that would prevent
pulling the line cord, from affecting the state of the
computer. Note that by doing this, this is not intended to be
a permanent fix, but as a debugging aid. If the computer does
not freeze with this setting, then that hints at some subsystem
in the computer, crashing things when put in a lower power state.
It is still going to be tough to figure out what is doing it.
Check the Event Viewer - a freeze will probably not leave an
entry in the Event Viewer, but it is something to check.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/maintain/powermgmt.mspx

Paul

 

[sdlomi2]

I don't really know how you'd debug a laptop. There is not a lot
to poke at or tear apart, without making a mess.

I'd say, that the machine undergoes a transformation, when you unplug
the cord. The operating system has ACPI, which is software concerned
with power management. You may have a control panel called "Power
Options" or something similar, which is the user interface for
configuring it.

In the case of a laptop, when run on batteries, the computer
should immediately change the speed and power consumption of
lots of stuff in the computer. Some laptops, reduce the operating
frequency of the processor (and changing theat speed can be a
stability affecting event). The backlight probably drops in
intensity a bit. Individual subsystems could be put on
a starvation diet. Any device, like USB or networking, could
be told to go to a low power state, if inactivity is detected
on the hardware interface. All these moves are intended to save
power and help battery life.

So what you are seeing, could be related to the state change
brought on by unplugging the line cord.

One thing you could try, is going into the Power Options, and
forcing the computer to stay in the high power state.

Try the "Always ON" option, as I think that would prevent
pulling the line cord, from affecting the state of the
computer. Note that by doing this, this is not intended to be
a permanent fix, but as a debugging aid. If the computer does
not freeze with this setting, then that hints at some subsystem
in the computer, crashing things when put in a lower power state.
It is still going to be tough to figure out what is doing it.
Check the Event Viewer - a freeze will probably not leave an
entry in the Event Viewer, but it is something to check.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/maintain/powermgmt.mspx

Paul

Paul, your suggestions sure sound plausible (as usual!), but while
troubleshooting don't you think it'd be a good idea when that problem is
sorted for Rory to increase the memory? Sure seems minimal, at best, to me.
I'm sure that cpu is one of the Barton mobiles that runs on like 1.35-1.45
volts and also runs on a wide array of multipliers and fsb's.
Don't you think it'd be interesting to boot from scratch on ONLY battery
power, and see if by by-passing the normal instantaneous drop in
source/amount of power experienced when ac is removed, there is a smooth
operation of the computer? If so, that should also confirm your theory.
Then, to find the subsystem culprit! s

 

[Paul]

Paul, your suggestions sure sound plausible (as usual!), but while
troubleshooting don't you think it'd be a good idea when that problem is
sorted for Rory to increase the memory? Sure seems minimal, at best, to me.
I'm sure that cpu is one of the Barton mobiles that runs on like 1.35-1.45
volts and also runs on a wide array of multipliers and fsb's.
Don't you think it'd be interesting to boot from scratch on ONLY battery
power, and see if by by-passing the normal instantaneous drop in
source/amount of power experienced when ac is removed, there is a smooth
operation of the computer? If so, that should also confirm your theory.
Then, to find the subsystem culprit! s

It's worth a shot. A second test case to try.

And maybe the RAM in the machine was listed as 440MB Like
512MB minus whatever the built-in graphics are using. Could
be a zero got dropped along the way. Running on 44MB would be
a squeaker.

Paul

 

[Ed M.]

I cant figure this out. I have been scouring the internet for a few
months on this issue thinking I could solve it on my own. But I am at
my wits end here. It is an HP ze4610us laptop with AMD Athlon XP2500+,
44MB of RAM, 1.8GHz processor, it uses a Proxim Orinoco Gold a/b/g
Wireless PCMCIA. The issue is that whenever I unplug the A/C power the
computer will work for anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes
and then freeze requiring a hard reboot. This only happens however
when I am connected to the internet. I thought that this was an IRQ
problem but cant change which request it uses. It is currently on 11
with my Ethernet, and a O2 Micro CardBus Controller oz6912 (whatever
that is?). Is this the issue and I just can't change it?
I thought also that it could be the BIOS so I was told by a person on
another forum to download BIOS KAM 1.60. It ends up I already have
that BIOS. So i tried to download BIOS KE.M. 1.73, and it said that my
computer was not compatible when I rand the WinFlash. The battery was
purchased about 6 months ago and has had problems since I first put it
in. I bought the computer that same month but it had a dead battery in
it, so there is no way to tell if it is the battery or the computer
causing the problem. But assuming that it is the computer what are my
options? when the computer freezes it can stay on for over an hour, so
I don't think it is necessarily the battery. Thank you for any time
and help, I would deeply appreciate finally being able use this as a
Laptop and not a Desktop.

I had an HP with an AMD XP3200+ and it was NOT a mobile but a regular
Barton desktop processor. The exhaust from the CPU cooler was so hot it
would almost burn me. I am sure that laptop could heat a small room in the
dead of winter......... I had nothing but problems with it from day one,
I expect from the heat. If yours is the same and you have any options to
return or exchange it I would do so. The mobile Bartons were fine because
they would scale down and up depending on demands, but the desktop versions
just run too hot all the time. I was lucky enough to have purchased it
locally from a store that allowed me to exchange it for a Toshiba 1.85Ghz
Core Duo-M laptop that has been running flawlessly (and cool) for a year and
1/2 or so.

EM

 

[Paul]

I had an HP with an AMD XP3200+ and it was NOT a mobile but a regular
Barton desktop processor. The exhaust from the CPU cooler was so hot it
would almost burn me. I am sure that laptop could heat a small room in the
dead of winter......... I had nothing but problems with it from day one,
I expect from the heat. If yours is the same and you have any options to
return or exchange it I would do so. The mobile Bartons were fine because
they would scale down and up depending on demands, but the desktop versions
just run too hot all the time. I was lucky enough to have purchased it
locally from a store that allowed me to exchange it for a Toshiba 1.85Ghz
Core Duo-M laptop that has been running flawlessly (and cool) for a year and
1/2 or so.

EM

It is listed as AthlonXP-M 2500+ here.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...9242&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

Paul

 

[Ed M.]

It is listed as AthlonXP-M 2500+ here.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...9242&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

Paul

Great, at least you don't have the major heat problems.

Ed