Odd HP Stream 7 issue

[Hugh Jass]

Right now I'm running my Stream 7 plugged in all the time as kind of a second screen/PC in addition to my desktop. It very rarely gets unplugged at the moment.

Now the odd issue I'm having is this...while I have it plugged in most of the time it will say "Fully charged (100%)".

But every now and again I will notice it has lost 4-5% of its charge and says either:

"Plugged in, Not charging (96%)"
or
"Plugged in, Not charging (95%)"

Of course depending on how much charge it is showing it lost (like I said, usually 4-5%).

Now this is with it not being taken off the charger or otherwise losing connection to the wall outlet and I am using the original charger that came with the device.

When I notice this I can unplug it and plug it right back in and it will start charging and regain the 4-5% it lost until it is once again back to saying "Fully charged (100%)".

Anyone have any ideas why it does this and should I be concerned?

 

[Hugh Jass]

One other quick thing...is there any way to keep the wireless connection from cutting out when the device goes to sleep?

Every time it goes to sleep I lose connection to what I am streaming whether it be video and audio off the internet or streaming my personal music collection from my desktop PC to the Stream 7.

 

[Hugh Jass]

No one?

 

[lupi]

Device does seem very sensitive for charging. Wouldn't be surprised if a momentary voltage flucuation caused it to stop charging.

As for sleep, can't you go into power settings and kill off any sleep mode?

 

[Hugh Jass]

Device does seem very sensitive for charging. Wouldn't be surprised if a momentary voltage flucuation caused it to stop charging.

Kind of what I was thinking as we do seem to have some not so 100% clean power here and may be getting some voltage fluctuations and whatnot. Been looking into getting a better UPS as a precaution for that.

As for sleep, can't you go into power settings and kill off any sleep mode?

I have as a temporary solution.

But seeing as I live with some other folks I'd really like to have it be able to go into sleep mode and require the password on waking without it losing the wifi connection so I don't lose any streaming or downloads I may have running.

 

[VirtualLarry]

First, the charging thing: This normal, and to prevent excessive charge cycles or overcharging. It will charge to 100%, then not charge. Leaving it plugged in, the battery can simply drain a little bit over time. It's normal. It doesn't initiate another charge cycle, on purpose, just because the battery dropped a few percent from max.

Second: I don't think that these devices support "connected standby". And even if they did, that's not going to help downloads. "Sleep", causes the state of the OS to be saved in RAM, and the CPU shuts down into a sleep mode. It's not computing when this happens. If you want to keep computing (downloading, etc.), then disable "Sleep". Possibly, set the Power Plan to High Performance.

Edit: It sounds like you want to disable all sleep modes, and enable a password-protected screensaver / "lock screen".

 

[Hugh Jass]

First, the charging thing: This normal, and to prevent excessive charge cycles or overcharging. It will charge to 100%, then not charge. Leaving it plugged in, the battery can simply drain a little bit over time. It's normal. It doesn't initiate another charge cycle, on purpose, just because the battery dropped a few percent from max.

Second: I don't think that these devices support "connected standby". And even if they did, that's not going to help downloads. "Sleep", causes the state of the OS to be saved in RAM, and the CPU shuts down into a sleep mode. It's not computing when this happens. If you want to keep computing (downloading, etc.), then disable "Sleep". Possibly, set the Power Plan to High Performance.

Edit: It sounds like you want to disable all sleep modes, and enable a password-protected screensaver / "lock screen".

Thanks for all that.

And for the record, there is no High Performance power plan on the Stream 7 like there is on my desktop. All that's available is Balanced.

 

[MSCoder610]

As mentioned, Sleep would cause downloads to be cancelled in a browser like Chrome.

So the closest thing would be:
- Disable Sleep (Control Panel > Power Options)
- Configure the display to turn off after some time: Power Options, Change Plan Settings, Change Advanced Power Settings, expand "Display", set a time in "Turn off display after"
- Require password when display comes back on: go to the Settings charm (swipe from right), Settings, Change PC Settings, Accounts, Sign In Options, Password Policy, Require a password after the display is off > "Always require a password"

So then, once the screen turns off, you can turn it back on via the power button, then you have to enter a password / PIN, but downloads are still going.

 

[Hugh Jass]

Configure the display to turn off after some time: Power Options, Change Plan Settings, Change Advanced Power Settings, expand "Display", set a time in "Turn off display after"
- Require password when display comes back on: go to the Settings charm (swipe from right), Settings, Change PC Settings, Accounts, Sign In Options, Password Policy, Require a password after the display is off > "Always require a password"

Sleep is totally disabled for when it's plugged in and I set the display to turn off after 1 minute and after a minute passes nothing happens...the screen still stays on.

EDIT: Went and looked and re-did it and now it works. Not sure why it didn't take the first time. Now I can be streaming music or downloading data and the screen will turn off without losing the stream/download. And when I tap the power button to bring it back it goes to the lock screen. Thanks a ton. I actually feel stupid for not figuring this out as it is very similar to how I have my desktop set up.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

i wouldnt leave something like that plugged in all the time. youll ruin the battery, and hence the device. ive ruined 3 phones in the last year doing that

 

[Hugh Jass]

i wouldnt leave something like that plugged in all the time. youll ruin the battery, and hence the device.

Seems like this posted earlier would debunk what you're saying:

First, the charging thing: This normal, and to prevent excessive charge cycles or overcharging. It will charge to 100%, then not charge. Leaving it plugged in, the battery can simply drain a little bit over time. It's normal. It doesn't initiate another charge cycle, on purpose, just because the battery dropped a few percent from max.

I'm taking that to mean that the device essentially has a function built into it to allow it to be plugged in all the time with no negative result. But someone can feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

Seems like this posted earlier would debunk what you're saying:

I'm taking that to mean that the device essentially has a function built into it to allow it to be plugged in all the time with no negative result. But someone can feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

i dont believe that, i cant tell u ive ruined three motorola phones this year doing what your doing.

 

[Hugh Jass]

i dont believe that, i cant tell u ive ruined three motorola phones this year doing what your doing.

Well...I can tell you for a fact that my device does indeed drop a few % points every so often even while being continuously plugged in.

Now whether it is doing what Larry said I can't say for sure but I have no reason to doubt it unless I'm given verifiable proof it is bunk.

 

[Hugh Jass]

And with the lithium ion battery, the charger turns off after reaching full charge so I'm not sure how it could damage anything.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

And with the lithium ion battery, the charger turns off after reaching full charge so I'm not sure how it could damage anything.

just be prepared to have to buy a new one twon months from now...

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Wifi is the one thing I dislike about the Stream 7. I frequently have to disconnect/reconnect manually to get online again.

 

[Hugh Jass]

Wifi is the one thing I dislike about the Stream 7. I frequently have to disconnect/reconnect manually to get online again.

What LAN driver are you using?

I've read that the last couple updated drivers put out by HP have caused more of those type of connectivity issues.

Driver 3007.10.1031.2014 dated 11/21/2014 and the one just released in January 2015 are both questionable.

The 3007.10.1031.2014 driver dated 11/12/2014 is supposed to be better in that regard. In fact, I'm trying to track down a copy of that driver so I can rollback and am coming up short.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

Wifi is the one thing I dislike about the Stream 7. I frequently have to disconnect/reconnect manually to get online again.

man, that would be a total dealbreaker, is it that bad. is it possible to use a usb adapter?

 

[Hugh Jass]

man, that would be a total dealbreaker, is it that bad. is it possible to use a usb adapter?

It's not that bad for some folks but is that bad for others.

In fact, mine ran fine before I updated the LAN driver. That's why I'm looking for the older driver to rollback to.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

It's not that bad for some folks but is that bad for others.

In fact, mine ran fine before I updated the LAN driver. That's why I'm looking for the older driver to rollback to.

I'll have to look into the driver thing - that's for the tip.

man, that would be a total dealbreaker, is it that bad. is it possible to use a usb adapter?

I use it mostly as an eBook reader, so it's not the end of the world, but I have to toggle it off and on pretty much every time I use it.

There's no USB ports, so no external USB.

 

[Hugh Jass]

I'll have to look into the driver thing - that's for the tip.

No problem. If you find that driver please give me a head's up.

There's no USB ports, so no external USB.

You could use a microUSB OTG multi port hub.

 

[Hugh Jass]

For the LAN issue, until I can find the driver I mentioned above I uninstalled the one from January 2015 and restarted the Stream and let Windows reinstall the original LAN driver that was on it when I got it and so far I've had no disconnects whatsoever.