My HP laptop (NC6120) with Win XP professional is not working properly since last 4-5 days. All of a sudden, it stops responding and the mouse freezes. Here are a couple of my observations:
- The machine responds if I press the area around the keyboard
- The machine responds if I place the laptop at a certain angle.
- The machine responds if I literally slap it a couple of times.
I have already scanned the system 4-5 times for virus. None found.
Please help as this is affecting my work seriously.
Thanks,
Arminder
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The Hard Drive is the first suspicion have. I've replaced quite several of these on this model of laptop. If the Hard Drive self-test came out fine, the next thing I would suspect is an Operating System issue. Defrag and run system cleanup. If this doesn't fix it, run an OS repair from disk. If problems continue, reformat and reload Operating System.
It would also be helpful to download the latest bios update, chipset utility, system enhancement disk, and drivers. If problems persist after this, you may need to send the unit back to HP for repair.
If you pickup your nc6120 in the right corner, next to the touchpad, it freezes. if you tilt the machine to the right it freezes. looks to me hardware related.
looks like the harddrive is not makeing connection to the motherboard, when that happens.
Arminder, does only mouse freeze or does the whole system not react anymore? How is the situation when using an external mouse?
From all of what you report, it sounds like either loose cable or something broken in the motherboard. Check the cables for the keyboard and the TouchPad.
The complete system stops responding. Nothing moves, everything just freezes.
I just now took out the hard drive and re-inserted it. But still no success.
I have noticed that when I pick up the laptop from my desk and put it on my lap for working, while I am siting in bed, it freezes. As long as there is some hard surface beneath it, it tends to freezes less often. As soon as I place it between the stomach and bent knees (for holding it upright), it freezes after 10 seconds or so and I have to tap it to make it work. Tapping on the left side of the touchpad, helps unfreeze the system more quickly than tapping on the right side (above the Hard disk slot).
Hope this info helps you in guiding me to fix this problem.
Same happening here. nc6120 bought in The Netherlands in May 2005. Since two days ago it stops responding when moved on a certain way, which I have not isolated yet.
Checked that memory modules, wifi card, CD and HD drives and cpu are securely fastened.
Didn't check about the kb or touchpad connectors, though.
I think it is not just the input frozen, but the whole system, since it happens also during the boot process or even before booting from HD. I will try some network interaction when the machine is frozen and post the results here.
And it is definitely NOT software related. It happens on WinXP, on Linux and even before booting, as I stated before.
The association with the movement of the unit is clear and consistent.
I tried opening and closing the screen, but this doesn't trigger it. It is more a slight tilt or shake or just the vibration of fast keyboard typing that does. I didn't notice sensitive shiatsu (pressure) points, yet :P though I will definitely look for them .
The freezing condition appears when the chasis of the unit is subject to a deformation strain. For instance, when you have the screen open and lift the laptop holding it at both front corners (where the PCMCIA and the audio connectors are respectively located.) If you hold it carefully at opposite corners (rear-right and front-left, for instance) you have a better chance of moving it without freezing it.
- Full setup HD test: OK.
- I tried removing the HD and the DVD. The freezing still happens (used the setup program to test it.)
- I disassembled and reassembled the unit (until and including step 5.19 of the service manual, removing the top cover.) Didn't notice anything strange but an unconnected cable that it is supposed to go to an optional USB/audio unit that I guess I don't have in my configuration. All the connectors seem to be properly fastened.
As of now my guess is that some connector or chasis contact point is breaking contact when the chasis is slightly deformed.
I don't really know how to further diagnose the problem. Someone step in?
I would hate having to have my unit serviced, since you never know how long it is going to take and I need it badly. Furthermore, this could be consequence of some design flaw and could keep happening (didn't happen to me during the first 9 months, so it seems that something has loosened or worn off.) Does someone know how frequent is this condition?
Bingo!! Yes, I have exactly the same behavior. I have been following up with HP support team, unfortunatly their standard reply is to take the unit to the nearest ASP. And I also have the same issue that I cannot leave the laptop with these guys for 24-48 hrs.
Yesterday, they even informed me that I should take a backup of my data when I go to the ASP, to avoid chances of data getting corrupted and to top it all, they may need to reinstall the OS which does not make sense to me at all! Also, I do not have the time to reinstall all my softwares again once they wipe the OS.
It is not uncommon for the HP service center to image the laptop and make sure it is not a software issue. If you send the unit to them without the hard drive, you won't have to worry about them imaging it and losing all of your data.
If you call before the afternoon, you should receive the shipping box the next day. If you ship out the box the next day, you should get your unit back in 2 to 3 business days. So, I always roughly estimate 3 to 5 business days to get the process done. But at least your unit will be repaired.
I have exactly the same problem on my NC6220. Whenever i move my laptop or press it a certain spot it just freezes. in my case when i repress the spot i starts working again. It's annoying , especially because whenever i turn my laptop off i need to find the spot to turn it on because if i dont find it a message comes up that i need to enter new embedded password which i haven't set up at all in the first place.
So what is the main suspect? i still haven't opened mylaptop and checked the contact but i've done all the checks and everything is in order so it's definitely a hardware issue.
Lets hope we figure this out because due to nature of my work i can't possibly afford right now to service it.
thanks for everything!
I sent my notebook to the service centre and as per HP, there was no issue found with it. So, they sent it back after 3-4 days. However, the day I received it back, the problem was very much there.
Note: I did not send my Hard Disk along with the notebook
So, I resent the notebook again with the Hard disk this time around and I have received a mail from HP that they have sent the unit back. There was no mention if they found the issue and addressed it or not. I am currently travelling, so the notebook has been delivered to my office in the meanwhile. So, I have yet to verify if the issue is indeed fixed or not.
Will keep you all updated.
Thanks.
PS: Right now I am using another notebook after copying all my data as I cannot afford to work for even a single day without it. I must say that I am VERY DISAPPOINTED with HP as such.
Yes, I got the motherboard replaced and all the problems vanished (also recovered one of the USB ports which had died.)
I would like to thank publicly KMC Systems (http://kmc.nl) for a very personal, proficient and fast attention. I got to meet the technician personally, demonstrate him the problem and agree with him to keep my hard disk at home.
HP was able to supply the replacement in 24h to KMC's service desk so I was only one day without my computer (I delivered and collected the laptop personally since KMC is located 15 min from home.)
This is definitely an hardware issue that requires replacement of the system board.
At my institution, we had 10 cases where the notebook froze up when the upper part of the notebookcase was held down, below the left part of the keyboard.
Of those machines, 7 had USB power issues with no USB device attached to the notebook.
I insisted to HP support to replace the main board, which they complied.
That fixed the problem.
I'm surprised HP has no issued any support alerts on this.
I have a nc6120 and I am having the same issue. A co-worker of mine also has a nc6120, and has the same issue. We are both trying to convince HP to replace the mainboard, but seems no one wants to listen to us. I am getting fed up with being asked if something was recently installed or told it is a software or hard drive issue. I have replaced the hard drive, and that did nothing (so returned the hard drive). Before that, I reinstalled the operating system and nothing changed. Like everyone else, if I press on the laptop to the right of the mouse pad or tilt the laptop it will start working. Also, my CD Drive and USB ports radomly stop working, even if the laptop is not frozen. Sounds like a system board issue to me. It is getting worse as time goes on though, and hope they resolve this. I cannot believe a co-worker has the same issue, and I found a message board with more than one person who has the same issue as us. This model obviously has defective mainboards. I am sending it in yet again, and pleading with them to replace the mainboard. *crosses fingers*
I have a NC6120 that exhibits the same issues as everyone else here in this forum has described. The laptop completely freezes and becomes unresponsive until you squeeze the area around the touchpad or hold it at a certain angle. Also the USB ports have surge errors when nothing is plugged into them. The cd-rom drive only works about 25% of the time. I have shipped it to repair directly to HP, they are saying there is damage to the mainboard and keyboard and they will not fix it (that is, unless I pay over $850) This is the most frustrating experience I've ever dealt with as far as HP goes. I am waiting for them to get back to me regarding the exact "damage" to the laptop, as I have taken good care of it in the time I've had it.
I have a dv 6748us. It does the same thing. I found that it occures when I lift the laptop from directly underneth the memory cards. When I lift it there is a strange box in the center of the screen looks like red and green bars that run up and down. The longer that I hold it the longer I see the box. Making this really stupid design flaw is that this is the balance point of the computer directly in the center. What makes this really serious is that I have to mannualy turn off the computer causing more damage to the hard drive. I have already noticed that several files have been corrupted because of this.
I've had this model and headache (I had to send in literally 100 of these units) - it must be serviced, they will re-place the system board. I believe a short occurs when the palm rest is moved around the lower left or right corner of the top case.
I am Sorry to say this but replacing the Mother Board is not a ver good option, especially if your machine is out of warranty like mine's. Crucio; This might be the clue you are waiting for or am I too late?
I am having HP NX6120 NoteBook (Out of Warranty) and stripped the whole thing down till the Mother Board alone was in my hands (Mind it there is a lot of work involved in stripping a Laptop). I somehow fired it up using AC power, an external monitor, an external USB Keyboard & an external USB Mouse and it still Locked-up OR Froze OR had a Startup-Blues OR hanged(OR whatever is your terminology). So, obviously problem does not lies with PCMCIA Slot Holder OR WirelessLAN Module or anything else that is not required for a nomal operation of NoteBook and could be seperated from Mother Board. Note: Although I used external keyboard, I used the Note Book keyboard once initially after strip down to enable external monitor via the use of 'fn' + 'f4' combination keys.
I also notice one very peculiar thing ( I don't know whether it happens with other or not as I was unable to find the same in other posts) that say after 20 Minutes of Note Book being powered on (in any case; does not matter whether Mother Board stripped down or not) the Note Book resumes its normal operation and does not freeze further, until the Note Book is Powered Off for a long period of time say half day, 12 hours. When Note Book resumes its normal operation it does not matter how many times you restart or you let it Off for an Hour or so, it works normally. This gives me one very basic observation that this problem has something to do with Heat; since in 20 minutes Note Book gets sufficiently heated up (This Heat might cause automatic soldering of some broken joint on Mother Board or something else). So, here is a new clue to start up with finding a solution to this evergrowing problem.
Note: This message was posted using same NX6120 Note Book which was in its normal operation mode as it was powered for more than 20 minutes.
Having same problem, but laptop is out of warranty. Have to press gently on left or sometimes right of the touch pad. Works most of the time... I noticed when I take it to an air conditioned room, it works.. no pressing needed. But at home at room temp approx. 24 - 29 degree C (I live in Fiji), it fails and I have to press down on those points. Just adding more clues to the mystery.
I have a couple of these nc6120 laptops exhibiting exactly the same problem. Trouble is, a new motherboard is not really an economic repair for a machine out of warranty. If it's a motherboard design issue, HP should fix regardless of age. End of.
We have had the same issue with 3 other computers and replacing the system board has taken care of this problem in each case. We now have a fourth with the same issue and it is 2 months out of warranty. I have asked HP to cover this under warranty since it is an inherant problem with this model. However, after sending in support requests and talking to technical support and customer relations they are determined not to extend the warranty. I agree that HP should do the honorable thing and replace the system boards for anyone reporting this issue.
Same problem here. It seems this is an issue with many, if not all, of this make (nc6120). I have no solution, but I too have a feeling that heat is a factor, in addition to motion. Anyway, HP should fix this, warranty or not. It's clearly a design flaw.
I have had this problem since January. I treat my computer with the utmost respect and care. And was suprised when it started acting up. At that time i was using windows xp and I thought it was the installation so i attempted to back up my files but the usb ports were not reponding. So i had to do a network transfer to another system in my home. I switched back to Ubuntu Linux because it rocks and I guessed it would work better. It did but the USB ports still did not work and the computer wiuld randomly freeze until I inclined the right side of the system. Then it unfroze but the USB still does not work. I decided to try something new and I started up my computer with the right side held up by a AAA battery, a jar lid, or any onther item. And after the boot the USB's worked (YAY). But if the object moved and the computer went back to its natural position the ports would stop working, until next time. I even bought a port replicator/docking station. Everything but the usb ports worked. Arghh My system is under warranty until September 1. But hp said my y5 cable or something and would cost 800 dollars to repair. If I had 800 dollars why would i spend it repairing the computer when i could just buy 2 new ones and a 5 dollar foot long.
I acctually was able to partially solve the problem. I took apart the computer and duct taped a penny right under where the Multi-Card Reader would go.
I bends the motherboard in all the right places.
this worked for me, but is still a risk. The computer was not made to fit any more than what it comes with inside it. So everything in that area is SQUEEZED in place. ANd I did not replace two of the screws that secure the card slot in place back.
It may work for you it may not.
I love HP systems this is just a flaw that HP most likely discovered and payed attention to for later models of computers that they manufacture. Its still bad that it had to come to pennies in my case.
In theory in cost me one cent to fix my computer rather than the $800 hp suggested
IF YOUR SYSTEM IS STILL IN WARRANTY DO NOT DO THIS FIX
Hi, I have two systems doing pretty much the same thing. One is a nc6120 and it freezes occasionaly, but resume operation with a little upward pressure on the corner by the pcmcia slot. The other unit is a nx8220. This one freezes at random, sometimes won't even post, and stays that way unit the battery is removed for awhile.
I took the nc6120 apart this morning and inspected the motherboard, but could not find any visible signs of poor connections or cold solder joints. The only thing I did notice when re-assembling it was that there is one cable that is under the hard drive tray that is not in use (black cable with a small white connector)that could possibly short to the chassis. I covered the connector with tape and re-assembled the unit. It has been operating for a few hours now without freezing. I also reseated all of the connectors and ram.
I did a bios flash on the nx8220, but it made no difference. Left it running a hard drive test in the bios and it didn't freeze. Installed SETI and let it run all night and it didn't freeze. It only seems to freeze when it is being moved or the keyboard is being used.
Both units will be heading to ebay as parts if I can't get them going.
I have the same problem with my dad's nc6120. it worked great for 5 years when he was with his company...and then right when they yanked all the company material off, it started acting up. When I push down on the base near the mouse pad, it unfreezes...starts this after 15 minutes...idk. Weird. If this is just a motherboard defect, that would be considered a recall in the automotive world and HP HAS to replace what's wrong on all models regardless if it's under warranty.
Since this is on hp's website...HP I hope your watching all these posts, because I've read through them and it seems to me that people are mentioning that you should fix each of these defect computers...hmmmm...I wonder what that's hinting...
Jim, this forum is no place to reach HP. It's just a peer-to-peer forum where volunteers are trying to help other users.
And: the nc6xxx models (all suffering from the problems) are rather old meanwhile. So O don't see any chance to get HP to "re-call" the machines which meanwhile are far outside of the normal life-cycle if laptop computers.
The only chance would be to following the reports on repairing the broken part. Go through all if the treads for the nc6000. There's quite some valid information.
I had the same problem with my hp nc6120. And I found a solution for it, just disable all your USB ports and the computer shpuld not freeze again, but then you can not use your USB ports and Bluetooth.
Hi, after again following all the strip down and rebuild steps I found disabling the USB drivers in the driver manager (xp) worked a treat - OK so the USB doesn't work anymore but its a laptop so I guess free from add-ons will have to do.
Fault has to be short on the usb power line but which and where no idea. Previous posts about taping plastic and pennies to the chassis should be avoided as someone will nodoubt bung some folded cardboard in and have themselves a fire.
I also had this problem,
I know the reason for freezing. All Hp nx series has this problem. Motherboard had small bend under the mouse pad.can't see it eye. that bent place is in USB controll section. this is mechanical failure which cause because heat.and bad motherboard materials. unmount mboard and fix again as motherboard straightly. i am still learn the problem i will send more after correctly fixed it.
I think best solution is bypass that bent place using wires. but i still don't know that place. but i think it can fixed by bypassing.(i think 4 wires must bypass)
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