A.j.

Greetings all, After many trusty years of smooth operation, my 2570p touchpad is acting up. Actually, the touchpad itself works fine -- but 3 of the 4 touchpad mouse buttons have stopped working. (The top left button still works; the rest do nothing). Any thoughts on how to fix this? It happened all of a sudden; no drops, or other obvious cause. I'm comfortable opening up the case, if that helps (and replacing something, if necessary).

No skin guard on mine, or any the others I've seen in the wild... probably after-market? I think you could just peel it off (if you don't like it). I've had my skinless 2570p for years now, and the thing seems damn near indestructible

Thanks... I'm thinking you're right. I just read Intel's spec sheet for the QM77 chipset, which says it contains "an integrated eXtensible Host Controller Interface (xHCI) host controller that supports up to four USB 3.0 ports." So, must be Intel... unless someone here knows differently!

Quick question... does anyone know what USB 3.0 chipset is used by the 2570p? Is it Intel? (Or perhaps Renesa?) Thanks much. Can't seem to find this info.

Ok, I just wanted to report that I have also had success with the G.Skill 2133mHz Ripjaw dual channel 8GBx2 kit on my 2570p. CPU-Z reports a DRAM frequency of 1064.2 mHz - which I believe is a correct reading for a dual channel 2133mHz set-up (correct me if I'm wrong). I didn't fiddle with anything in the BIOS; just popped in the chips & gave 'em a spin... Some further details in this related thread: http://forum.techinferno.com/hp-business-class-notebooks/10856-2570p-igpu-flicker-freeze-high-speed-ram.html#post144220

Ok, the G.Skill 2133mHz 8GBx2 RAM kit has arrived and is installed... works great, as far as I can tell. No odd flickers, unusual behavior, etc. I'm not a big gamer, but I was able to run a few games with no problems (Outlast, Hitman: Absolution, Vanishing of Ethan Carter Redux at medium settings with 1368 res. and everything ran stable/fine). I'm no expert at benchmarking memory, but my Windows Experience Index (on Win7 64 bit) reports a Memory subscore of 7.7 and both the Desktop & the Gaming Graphics subscores (with the Intel HD4000 onboard chip) are at 6.5. I don't recall what these were before. But ... so far so good! Overall, along with the Samsung SSD upgrade I did recently, the laptop feels very snappy. I'm good to go for at least a couple years now! .

Ok, thanks for the useful follow-up... good to know. I just ordered a pair of these (G. Skill 2133mHz 8GBx2 kit): G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB (2 x 8G) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3L 2133 (PC3L 17000) Laptop Memory Model F3-2133C11D-16GRSL - Newegg.com Will try them out with my 2570p i7-3520M and report back. If anyone has thoughts on the best way to (torture) test a new set of RAM chips, let me know! A.j.

Thanks Aikimox... since we have different CPUs (I have a i7-3520M), I guess there's no guarantee I can get it working here on my PC. Worth a try though, I may just pull the trigger next week & see what happens.

Curious to know if you've had any updates on this... ! Considering trying the same thing. (although I may go with a different brand of 2133mHz memory given your experience with flickering.)

Any updates on this Aikimox? Is that 2133mHz RAM still working out for you? I'm also curious what OS and processor you're running. I'm thinking about buying the same RAM, and trying it out on my Win 7 i7-3520M 2570p -- if yours is working fine, might give it a go! Also, just noticed this related new thread, where sangemaru seems to have had flicker problems after installing a Kingston HyperX Impact 2133 cl11 16gb kit of this RAM. Hmmm.... A.j. (Edit: Researching this further, I'm now not sure my i7-3520M can even handle 2133mHz memory... can someone confirm if this is true? If so, what's my next best memory option for a 8GBx2 kit? Thanks...!)

Don't know if anyone's succeeded at that yet! But in reading further, I found it is indeed quite common for Hackintosh users to just use a third-party USB WiFi dongle in their laptops (and skip all the white list issues, hardware compatibility challenges, etc that often come when trying to get another WiFi card to work, cross-platform). This recent article on MacBreaker recommends a bunch of specific models, Excerpt:

Thanks again Nando... I just read through your FAQ link above (about the optical drive weight saver), and the best option for me might be to add a drive caddy, attach my OD's existing faceplate to it, and then just leave the caddy empty. I'm guessing the empty drive caddy might weigh a hair more than HP's plastic spacer - but probably not much, and it leaves me the option to add a second SSD if I choose at some point down the road. I did notice that the link for the Fenvi drive caddy (in your FAQ above) has gone dead. The working link below is (I think) the same 2570p compatible Fenvi drive caddy you mention in the FAQ - incidentally, pretty affordable too at $13.98 shipped (at least here in the States): Amazon.com: OEM SATA to SATA Hard Drive HDD Caddy Bay Adapter 9.5 mm for HP EliteBook 2530p 2540p Sony SR26 S115 S117 S118 S119 etc: Computers & Accessories

Thanks for this thorough write-up... a very useful addition to this thread's already comprehensive coverage of the 2570p (is there a dedicated Elitebook wiki somewhere? if so, the info at the top of this thread could create an awesome 2570p Wiki page).So it looks like I'll be deep sixing the optical drive - .26 lbs is a decent weight savings. I never use it anyway. Also I already have an SSD, so the OD seems like the only "heavy" item I can ditch. If I remove the optical drive assembly, what do people use to "cover" the hole on the side of the laptop? Can the front part of the OD be removed and reattached somehow? Or is there another way...? Cool tip on that slim AC adapter - had no idea those existed. If only they were cheaper! Aj

On a different note (and still showing the flexibility of these little units)... A few weeks ago over on TonyMacx86's site, user Tyraenor reported getting a fully running version of OS 10.8.5 (minus WiFi) on a 2570p. Note it may be possible to get the WiFi working by swapping in an OSX compatible WiFi card - not sure if anyone's tried that yet (or if there would be whitelist issues). I assume you could just use one of those tiny USB WiFi dongles instead of going through that hassle. Again, if there's any interest in Hackintoshs here - this is pretty exciting news. Thought I'd mention it. Aj

Here's a suggestion for you Nando4... now that you have HP's ear (temporarily at least), ask them to consider unlocking the BIOS for all discontinued Elitebooks (2530p, 2540p, etc.- obviously, the 2570p will soon join the list of no longer made Elitebook models). Ask for schematics for all discontinued models as well. Since the enthusiast community here is pretty self-sufficient in solving many of its problems (given the right tools), this seems like a reasonable request, and could be a nice public relations move for HP. In order to even have a chance for this to happen though, we should probably first demonstrate that there's an actual demand. Perhaps an online petition asking for these things. All current 25xxp users on the forums could sign it. Spread the word here, at NBR, etc and get a few hundred signatures. I'd sign in a heartbeat. Just an idea. But even if we only get the schematics, it'd be worth doing, no? Aj