XP on HDX18t

[petermichaelw]

THIS IS WHAT WORKED FOR ME - PLEASE MESSAGE ME IF ANYTHING IS NOT WORKING, OR YOU HAVE AN IMPROVEMENT.

Hello, I am starting this thread, because there was good information over in the 18 owner's lounge, but at 550 pages deep, it's hard to find. I'm going to organize this by putting the dedicating the next 4 posts to specific information and updating as often as I can. I will not be going into detail outside of XP Pro 32 and 64 bit varieties, and I only did a 64 bit section as a courtesy, since I have no reason to use 64 bit with anything i am doing. If information, such as drivers, applies, it will be listed. My configuration is the 1020us model, with no TV Tuner, or SSD drive, so I will have no first hand knowledge about them, but will be relaying anything I find.

AS I SAID MY CONFIGURATION MAY BE DIFFERENT THAN YOURS SO WHEN I MENTION DEVICES BELOW - YOURS MAY BE DIFFERENT

For the record, I am no guru. I am just someone who was fed up with Vista, and had to use XP to run certain applications. As such, I will need and welcome the help of any of those out there who come up with a better way. No one person can accomplish this, and it is a community effort.

Windows 7 is going to make Vista go and hide itself as soon as it is officially released, (the beta is already proving that), but in the meanwhile, XP offers the quickest, most trouble free existence available.

Please lets keep this to as much information as possible, with no Vista pro/con arguments. There are plenty of those who want XP, and this is a thread for them.

Here is the organization of the next 4 posts.

1. Initial install of XP
2. Windows XP Professional 32bit
3. Windows XP Professional 64bit
4. Miscellaneous XP-HDX18 information

Please personal message me with any relevant suggestions. All information will be credited to the original poster from either information sent to me or information taken from the owners lounge.

IF ANYONE HERE HELPS YOU, DON'T FORGET TO THANK THEM WITH A CLICK ON THE REPUTATION BUTTON (MIDDLE ICON ON THE LOWER LEFT OF THEIR POST)

[petermichaelw]

New installation of XP

The SATA controller used to control the hard drives in your HDX are not located in the standard XP installation disc. You will have to create a modified startup disc with a process known as slipstreaming. This involves basically just adding the appropriate drivers to those that load up when XP's startup program initializes.

From Yarseyer

Installing XP

First, you will need one of the following drivers below
32 bit driver or 64 bit driver

Second, you will need the dotnet framework, to install the nlite program
32 bit or 64 bit

Third, you will need the nlite program
download

Lastly, a thorough tutorial from mujjuman can be found here - tutorial
NOTE
WHEN YOU GET TO STEP 10, DO NOT USE THE ICH8 DRIVER, AS MENTIONED BY MUJJUMAN. THE HDX16/18 USE THE ICH9M-E/M DRIVER SO DON'T FORGET TO SELECT THE CORRECT DRIVER. - thanks to hbofinger.

[petermichaelw]

xp pro 32 bit information

Upon installation of XP 32 bit with SP3 you should see the following "other devices" in the device manager.
(right click my computer -> properties -> device manager)

1. audio device on high definition bus
2. audio device on high definition bus
3. base system device
4. base system device
5. base system device
6. ethernet controller
7. hp integrated module
8. network controller
9. pci data acquisition and signal processing controller
10. sm bus controller
11. unknown device
12. usb device

Drivers In the order I would recommend installing them - you may have to right click and "save link as"

Chipset / Motherboard
1. Intel Chipset Identification - from intel's site
2. Matrix Storage Manager - also from intel's site

Video
9600M GT - (straight from the nvidia website) this works absolutely fine, and includes the hdmi audio driver.

SD Card
JMicro

Audio
IDT High Definition Audio This is an HP release - May 6 2009 (IDT is the devil as far as I'm concerned, no support from the company itself. This driver package has no bass treble adjustment (but it's not like there aren't 1000 other software EQ's to use) it does have is a functioning amber light when the sound is turned off with the button.)

Network
1. Ethernet Controller - (the easy way is the file on the first row)
2. Wireless - from intel
3. Bluetooth "integrated module" you should see this after you activate your wireless (above the keyboard) - do not run setup - just direct driver update to the 32 folder.

ENE CIR - (infrared receiver)
Infrared this is a 7z file - will open with winrar or 7z (a free zip tool)

TV Tuner
Avermedia

Fingerprint
Validity

HP Quicklaunch Buttons
Quicklauch

OHCI Compliant IEEE Host Controller - Firewire Controller
JMicron Firewire 2008 update to windows default 2001 driver

Software

Fingerprint Download this package (from stefanotn68 in the dv5 thread) and run setup32.exe to install digital persona 4.0

HD DVD
There are 3 parts to getting XP to deal with HD content.
1. The UDF File System
2. A Method of dealing with the copy protection scheme.
3. The proper Video Player and associated codecs (codes used to read / write video)


1. The UDF File System
Blu Ray & HD DVD use a different file system than DVD/CD. This standard is called UDF 2.5, and is available here.
Download, and unzip.
Then rightclick the .inf and select "install".
Reboot. These drivers will allow you to explore HD content, drag and drop, etc.

2. A method of dealing with Copy Protection
This is alot of shenanigans. You bought a disc and you have certain rights with that disc. The people who made the disc are constantly messing about, and in their general opinion, they would really prefer it if you just played the disc, and never backed it up, or stored the information on your computer. As a result, they are constantly messing with the copy protection code built into the HD content, and that leaves us having to periodically update our players, as they suddenly may not be able to deal with the content. There is a solution, and it happens to be in my opinion (and MANY others) one of the most essential apps in existence) ANYDVD - residing in a legal loophole, by not being a dvd burning or ripping application, this software is dedicated to rendering any and all protection methods on your HD disc useless, and it is the king and simultaneously the standard. The content is immediately playable, burnable, rip-able, etc.

3. A proper Video player and appropriate codecs.
HP has chosen to leave XP users high and dry by making Mediasmart disfunctional in XP. There are 2 other possibilities. If you are only interested in playing HD discs on your notebook, and want the most simple solution, I would recommend just using a decent HD player, such as POWERDVD, which works fine in XP. I personally have used POWERDVD, but I prefer a free, more powerful, and more frequently updated alternative. Media Player Classic.

Media Player Classic Home Cinema is a free program, that uses the classic look of the early windows media, and yet is loaded with all the latest codecs, including the latest hi def ones, and gets updated much more often than any of the commercial software. It is part of the K-Lite Codec Pack. That is all you need for any media saved to your HDX, and DVD.

NOTE - In an effort to make drag and drop playing more difficult, the blu-ray folks are putting the languages into different files, so for instance, the main stream file has spanish as only language, and media player classic, will not be able to choose another language of audio, because of the way the audio is organized now. This, for now, basically takes us out at the knees with media player classic and the newer blu-rays. The only solution is to either convert the disc to x264, or xvid, or some other file, which will take only like at least 10 hours, and require another piece of software to do. Or if you have the space on your hard drive, rip the blu-ray to your drive as an iso image, and then play it with powerdvd, or another hd dvd player. You will need to run a virtual drive program to fool the software into thinking the iso is an actual optical disc. Slysoft, the anydvd folks, have the best one, which happens to be free, HERE.

I am still working out the kinks on a guidance to use the HP remote for Media Player Classic, (very close) but it's easily "googleable" for those interested.

Issues

The Mediasmart keys located above your keyboard do not work, with the exception of the volume, mute, and wireless access buttons.

[petermichaelw]

xp pro 64 bit information

In my opinion, this is a lesser way to go. The small gains made by running 64 bit, are not overcome by the fact that there are some driver/software issues, and I would not recommend people running a xp64 installation for anything other than experimentation, or a very particular application which required it. As an all around OS on this machine, and with functional Windows 7 being freely available for the better part of a year now, XP 64 is just not the way to go. By all means, if someone has a better way, please post it,

Upon installation of XP 64 bit with SP2 you should see the following "other devices" in the device manager.
(right click my computer -> properties -> device manager)

1. audio device on high definition bus
2. audio device on high definition bus
3. base system device
4. base system device
5. base system device
6. ethernet controller
7. hp integrated module
8. network controller
9. pci data acquisition and signal processing controller
10. sm bus controller
11. unknown device
12. usb device

Drivers In the order I would recommend installing them

Chipset / Motherboard
1. Intel Chipset Identification - from intel's site
2. Matrix Storage Manager - also from intel's site

Video
9600M GT - (straight from the nvidia website)

FYI - at this point you should have 9 "other devices" highlighted in the device manager. Restart at this point and enjoy a less fatiguing display

Network
1. Ethernet Controller
2. Wireless Controller - from intel
3. Bluetooth ( "integrated module") download this pack, do not use setup - manually point the driver update to the 64 folder.

SD Card
JMicro

Audio - 3 parts
1, UAA Bus Architecture install this first
2. IDT High Definition Audio
3. Registry Edit - for button function / color

TV Card
AverMedia

Fingerprint
Validity Fingerprint - from HP's site



Software

Fingerprint - this is the first fly in the ointment. currently there is no digital persona support for xp 64bit. i have tried every other available OEM biomentric app available, to include various versions of verisoft & omnipass. none of which recognize the validity sensor. Now I did not try any apps that I had to pay for. Obviously get some assurance from the vendor that they support the particular device ID -" Vid_138a&Pid_0001 " before you commit to buying anything.
This is a dead end for me. Please message me if you have found a functioning app.

Issues

The fingerprint software - listed above

Mediasmart is not supported by XP

I am having trouble waking up the machine, using the standard settings.

[petermichaelw]

miscellaneous xp - hdx18 information

For those wanting to see Stereo Mix or "Record What You Hear" as a recording option -
REGISTRY MOD - thanks to John Ogden Junk

[neo143]

did u succed to find any software such beyond tv,win pvr,etc..work with the tv tunner.. also the tv tunner remote control

[petermichaelw]

Originally Posted by neo143

did u succed to find any software such beyond tv,win pvr,etc..work with the tv tunner.. also the tv tunner remote control

Not having the tuner myself, I have not pursued anything personally with it. The only tuner stuff here was provided by others. If you find any, let me know.

[mujjuman]

great guide!!

[hbofinger]

petermichaelw - This is very useful summary you gave on how to make the HDX work on XP. I today did this on my HDX 16, and it is working really well.

One minor update: I have the HDX 16T-1200 CTO. On my machine, the correct Intel driver to be slipstreamed is the ICH9M-E/M, not the 8, as listed by mujjuman in the link you provided. My machine is only a little over a month old, so I am not surprised they upgraded the chipset. I produced a couple of coasters before I used Belarc to figure out what hardware I really had.

Trying XP on the machine is amazing - I bought this to be a screamer, and thought nothing of the performance under Vista Ultimate. Now with XP I actually feel I did get an upgrade in the performance of my previous laptop. The Vista Ultimate installation is now sitting in a couple of Acronis .tib files, hopefully to be deleted once I get my hands on Windows 7.

Congratulations for putting this together - a lot of help, and a huge time saver. Thanks!

[petermichaelw]

HBOFINGER, none of us should be using the ICH8 driver. Thanks for pointing that out. I will update the information above.