HP's Shonky Touch Screen

Electronics & Technology
1

Settle in for a wild ride about my laptop… possessed by a ghost mouse laptop.

I purchased a HP Pavilion x360 Convertible two years ago. I purchased this laptop specifically for the touch screen to make notetaking easier whilst at university. However, there is an issue with the touch screen that makes the mouse jump erratically around the screen - making using the computer impossible.

The first time this happened was six hours before an assignment was due in the peak of assessment hell. I requested assistance through the phone and online support and was told to seek assistance instore. So off I went to the store I bought it and they said the only way to stop it is to disable the touch screen which is almost impossible as random applications keep opening and closing. After trying to find a way around the screen (using another monitor or a different mouse) we gave up and settled down to battle the ghost mouse. This lasted for a good three hours until I managed to turn it off. Once it was off, the computer worked fine just without the touch screen - again, the main reason I had purchased this computer. Unfortunately, thanks to HP’s ghost mouse, I didn’t submit my assignment on time and had to plead my case to the university who didn’t appreciate a 20-year-old crying in their office at 8:30am on a Monday morning. Also, pro-tip, don’t let your computer lock because putting a password in with the mouse jumping everywhere is almost impossible and you will likely scream in the middle of a busy electronics store.

Fast forward a year and new Windows updates were available. I went ahead and installed the updates only to find that this had turned on the touch screen again so I had to go through the whole battle again! It was so infuriating that I decided never to update my computer again. Jump forward to two days ago and the Windows 10 update occurred. I kept putting it off because of the struggles of last time. Then Windows forced it to restart and low and behold, the touch screen started having a mind of its own again! I decided to uninstall the touch screen driver this time assuming that if it wasn’t installed, it wouldn’t be able to turn back on if Windows ever force-updated again. Unfortunately, this backfired completely and the touchscreen driver was reinstalled when I shut down (not restarted) my computer. So for the second time in less than 48 hours, I had to battle the screen again! The whole laptop very nearly flew out my window.

I’ve tried contacting HP again for support but because the warranty has now expired I was unable to access online or phone assistance. I am also now living in the UK so no longer have the option of accessing support in-store.

So please, do yourself a favour and don’t buy a HP laptop with a touch screen! It’s really not worth it! And if you have one, godspeed my friend.

4 Likes
2

Notwithstanding that, the problem emerged within the warranty period and was never resolved by them. So you could have a case to get support anyway.

If you only or mainly bought the computer for the touchscreen and that never worked properly, a case could be made that it’s a “major failure” and you should have been able to get a full refund.

One difficulty that inevitably emerges is that hardware will blame software and vice versa. Is it a hardware problem or is it a Windows problem?

That’s more of a problem. Not for HP, as a global company, but for the store where you bought it - and for pursuing your remedies generally.

A left field option might be to test (liveboot) Linux on the laptop. The touch screen probably won’t work at all (no driver available for it at all), which might not be a bad option. :slight_smile:

5 Likes
3

You may have ended up with a mis-installed driver that is not the correct one or it has been corrupted. One possible cause is that the touch screen has been wrongly identified as a MS Serial Mouse. If it has been misidentified I suggest you disable the MS Serial Mouse driver in Device Manager (also if possible disable the Serial Port in UEFI BIOS & disable the port in Device Manager if it is showing up there) and see if this stops the erratic behaviour. It may also be linked to NVidia Graphics Drivers and these should be updated to the latest version at https://www.nvidia.in/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us.

Whereever possible I suggest you install the HP latest provided drivers for your model (do not be concerned if the date is previous years just choose the latest date possible from the choices), the following link is to the 14M model but you may be able to refine your choice by looking up your serial number at the link I will post as the second one.

There is a Touchscreen Firmware update available in the list as well but you will need to ensure it is suitable for your model.
https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-pavilion-14m-cd0000-x360-convertible-pc/20283986/model/21837214

The link to input your exact model serial number:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/laptops

Safe Mode may be a way to test if it is a driver issue:

As it is likely very hard to get to any screen while the mouse pointer is acting errantly you will need to try 2 possible ways of entering Safe Mode. You will want to have your Touchscreen enabled before testing if this is a driver issue and so is why I suggest the following methods of entering Safe Mode.

First way that might work is to try and enter it from the Login screen, to do this start your PC/Laptop

At the login screen hold the Shift key down and click the Restart option.

You can release the Shift Key after clicking Restart

After your machine restarts you should be offered 3 choices 1st is Continue 2nd is Troubleshoot 3rd is Shutdown, from these choose Troubleshoot.

From the Troubleshooting Screen choose Advanced options

From the next screen choose Startup options then click Restart

After your machine Restarts and you are presented with a list of choices press number 4 on your keyboard (or 5 if you want to have network access). 4 is the best option in this case of driver issues.

Your machine will restart in Safe Mode

You will be able to remove drivers & some drivers can be installed (some will not be able to be installed), check if your machine has erratic mouse movements, and similar tasks you may not be able to successfully undertake in Normal mode of operation.

To enter the same Safe Mode without using the login screen you will need to power your machine on & off rapidly (well as rapidly as possible) by pressing the power button to power on and then pressing & holding it until the machine powers off…this will need to be repeated at least twice and eventually you should see the Automatic Repair info bar come up. If you fail to get it to do so just retry the same process (but slightly vary how long you wait until powering off) until you have success.

Once this appears allow the machine to get to the stage where it offers Shutdown & Advanced Options. Choose Advanced Options.

Then follow the same Troubleshoot options as the previous method.

6 Likes
4

@bethanyfitz, that’s easily the most entertaining story about a laptop touchscreen issue that I’ve read. A shame to hear that the haunting occurred for so long, the next time you run into trouble of this nature please let us know and we may be able to assist (or if you’re still in the UK, you might wish to contact Which? for similar help).

5 Likes
5

Sitting in the US as I type, my spousal unit (pardon the engineering nomenclature) got so irritated with my aging notebook she suggested I might buy a new one with her blessing. A quick survey found an HP model that looked brilliant for the ‘right price’ excepting the reports about the touch screen and randomized mouse problem. Seems a pervasive issue that could be their drivers or a manufacturing issue in the screen, but I digress.

Curious see if the model is available at home I discovered our model is under-speced against the US model. While ours has the venerable 1920x1080 format, the US model is a 2560 x 1440. It highlights how manufacturers have differing products for different regions resulting in a plethora of mix and match issues for drivers and interfaces to contend with.

It seems the industry is consciously, eyes wide open, creating and honing an environment where their profit is maximised and we users are collateral damage.

6 Likes
6

We are probably digressing slightly but whether that really matters, depends on the size of the screen (and your visual acuity).

7

That was not the intention of my post. That manufacturers produce products with such variations adds to the complexity of hardware interfaces (more of them) as well as software drivers (that have to cope) which by itself makes it more probable that there will be glitches.

The difference in resolution between those two screens might not be visible to most of us but might be noticeable to gamers (the reference was not a gaming PC) or when using some specific application so a reasonable conclusion it is there for marketing.

The KISS (keep it simple stupid) principle that supports reliability seems long gone in such cases.

3 Likes