Windows 10 nightmare: Stucked in preparing the notorious automatic repair screen

 

Dear HP & windows 10 user community, I hope this might help you bypass the vicious circle of windows 10 or even 11, never ending preparing automatic repair process.

My current laptop model is HP Pavilion Power - 15-cb007nv, which I used to teach & present IT lessons. One cannot image how much time I have spent in setting up the development environments, servers, database, middle ware and so on...  It seems a thermal sensor malfunctions only when I attempt to start windows 10. Oddly within the BIOS & UEFI, all tests for system, sole components and storage have been so far successful. The only finding was a 12% wear damage of the toshiba boot m2 drive. Could that be so crucial?

I have cleaned & switched the positions of the fans, in an attempt to trick the sensors. Directly after  the UEFI test the system has started windows successfully, only once. Since then it stalls, while booting or attempting to reset windows and finally shuts down.  A black background screen informs of a previous thermal shutdown, and that from now on operation ought to be normal!

I have already contacted a local greek HP partner, but they got 20 € only to tell me that there are no spare parts available, after a week. (Irreparable because of a broken right hinge, but the lid still closes ).A daylight robbery! What is worse, I cannot find any hints about the position of the sensors in any hp document. As always missing info is always what I find in technical documentation...

 Thinking of a format and  a fresh install of OS, perhaps Linux, would it bypass or solve the issue? Not a clue...Unfortunately starting from a usb stick to reinstall using the windows media creation utility, simply does not work... It is a pity having paid for a windows OS, but not being able to actually use it, and spending huge amounts of time and effort to make it work, or not?

A possible way out?

Starting up with a open suse tumbleweed os usb stick allowed me to setup and test the laptop, unlike the windows startup stick.

Up until now all works perfectly, including the now clean fans, except missing drivers, ie for the nvidia graphics geforce gtx 1050 card, and who knows what is next... Sadly the bios warning about an older overheating problem is still there, decelerating the  startup time!

All in all, linux might be primitive, complex, or whatever negative  adjective you name it, but for me it simply works! It is a shame that Plaisio computers in Athens, Greece, did not take any time to actually test the laptop operation, in an attempt to urge me buy a new one. In addition, it is strange that HP does not provide  all spare parts & drivers, support for such alternative OS like linux, which can extend the lifetime of the hardware. My old 2009 pavilion still works (upgraded to win10), because the quality of the old hardware was optimal then, allowing a regular cleaning. The present covers & cases of the newer hp laptop, which has not been cheap at all (bought in late October 2018 at a price of 1000 euros) now are made of plastic of lowest quality. The original screws do not fit in properly, any more!

I have heard so often that the EU law ought to enforce genuine  and fair technology competition, saving  the resources of the planet, money and the environment,the consumers' right to repair even any electrical appliance, isn't that true?

A technical review of LG 32LF650V smart tv 3d series

This new post describes my experiences regarding the use of the 32 inch  LG 32LF650V smart tv. More or less the contents of the other post concerning the LG 32 LB 650 still apply, but there are some news as well.
On the bright side, the refresh rate has been increased to 900 Hz offering a clearer high definition view then the predecessor, especially during satellite reception.  The initial assembly is also simplified and that might explain the brevity of the printed owner's manual. By the way, the manual authors have spent almost two pages describing the functions of the magic remote which is to be purchased separately for around 50€. Although Adobe flash player is still missing, one could experiment starting up some third party  software, such as the nova player, and attempt to update it. Hopefully the built in internet browser will be able to play online streaming content full screen, as provided by internet broadcasting services such as filmon.    Regular manual updating of the WebOS might also help, please bear in mind that auto updating does not always work!
On the dark side, the menu structure, browser,  the tv operation via the remote control remain as good, or bad, as before. A convenient and cheaper alternative to buying the magic remote, is connecting a wheel mouse to the usb port of the tv. Sadly connecting a microsoft natural keyboard for entering text, did not work for me! Moreover, some people claimed that the plastic stands are of moderate to low quality and that the tv does not allow to switch off entirely.  However, one can disable the standby led light by changing the settings in order to save energy. Another regular complaint is the so often "Out of memory error" appearing while browsing the internet. Hopefully the updates will solve that problem too. After several updates the situation worsened: some streaming providers such as dw.com, which functioned well, just ceased to work!
All in all, the software quality of the linux open source based WebOS remains disputable, I 'd rather have android installed instead. For a price of 369€ it seems to be worth the money, only for people having access to a satellite dish. Watching online streaming is still troublesome, since the broadband lines are still too slow and unreliable.The smart tv browser is so bad, that streaming is almost out of question, some web sites can not display correctly either. What is worse is the memory errors thrown often when a web page is big. Allowing to install another open source browser such as Tor, firefox or opera might help. Only the standard tv functions well, but if one has paid a high price for a smart tv, not only a plain one, that is purely a waste of money!

A technical review of LG LB650 smart tv series

The  smart TV menu

This article mentions some technical characteristics and personal experiences of setting up and  using  the LG 3D smart tv series for a limited time. The specific model at hand is 32LB650, which comes with WebOS and also provides a satellite receiver.
On the bright side,  the tv offers trouble free ways of wireless and ethernet connection,USB and HDMI sockets, comes with 2 pairs of 3D glasses, which I have not been able to test, hence 3D content is still rather scarce to find in a reasonable price. The 500Hz refresh rate is good for watching sports, but when the background has stripes of different colours the picture quality deteriorates. The ecological function is wonderful, as the tv LEDs dim automatically while the daylight decreases.
On the dark side, the assembling   and installation procedure is rather poorly described in the manual. Furthermore, the remote control is practically suited only for traditional, non smart tv operation. One has either to buy a magic remote for 50 € by LG, or setup an application for the mobile called LG TV plus almost for  free. This offers a touch pad similar to laptop users, full access to the WebOS menu applications and normal functions of the regular tv use, such as switching off or lowering the volume. However, the application sends all user commands  via the internet and maybe the LG servers, to the tv, meaning that perhaps all user input is captured and analyzed for statistical, business,  or any other reasons. Therefore, an internet connection is required, no Bluetooth option as far as I can tell. On the other hand, Samsung offers an additional remote for smart tv operation at no extra cost.  What is worse is the primitive  web browser, which does not allow neither any downloads, nor acrobat plugin installation. Thus, playing the vast majority of videos or watching live stream tv channels on line is often impossible. Only newest HTML 5 pages are compatible. Having contacted the LG support for offering a solution did not brought back any reply or hint. Moreover, the browser throws often out of memory errors and the bookmarks cannot be organized in folders. I guess that internally a java virtual machine is running, or maybe not?
All in all, the menu and regular or satellite tv operation works well, the sound is crystal clear, but the WebOS seems in my personal opinion, not suitable for smart tv operation, Finally, the browser leaves a great deal  of bug fixes and improvements to be expected in future releases.

Review of Hewlett Packard Pavilion laptop series

HP keys can be faulty

I have used a minimum of three HP laptops, two of them Pavilions, still working. The older one running Windows xp flawlessly, came with many CD's such as drivers, including two CD's with versions of Windows in different languages. On the other hand, the newer one has been rather a disappointment!
Starting from unpacking I found out the printed configuration label mentioning an older memory type, other than the one advertised on their site.  Contacting HP Hellas for several times by phone, to report the error in the configuration, did not yield any result. Instead  filing a written complain at the Consumer protection agency and contacting the HP executive team did. Some weeks later I received a call to  fetch a replacement laptop of similar price.
In that case there were no DVD's at all, neither of drivers nor of operating system,  just an application to record the file images from the hard disk to three or four blank DVD's.  After two years of normal home, non office use, and numerous problems with the NVIDIA graphics adapter drivers, some keyboard keys stopped functioning. The backspace key, the backslash key beneath it and lastly the numerical 7 key. The price of a spare part keyboard in Greece was surprisingly  at least 20 € higher than in Germany and was due to be delivered in more than a month! On the other hand, within  3 working days  I received a new keyboard for  a total of 49 € in Frankfurt am Main. The search for a nearby dealer via the HP search page  returned either businesses which were closed or relocated. Hopefully the online manual for disassembling the laptop was clear enough (although some extra screws were not displayed) to replace it on my own, without paying a visit to a technician, at no extra monetary or time cost.Thus, be ware, it counts from where one places one's spare part order!
All in all, the HP pavilions quality seems to deteriorate in time, the newer models are more fragile and easy to break down. All of them are vulnerable to overheating, which forces the laptop to power  off automatically, so as to prevent any further damage, but leaving the user wondering whether his work has been saved! That applies not only to places with a hot summer Mediterranean climate but also to milder climates, such as Germany. Finally, one matter of essence is the shorter duration of  the HP  one year guarantee, when compared to the competition which offers two years of warranty.