HP Sure Start - HP Z6 G4 Xeon CPU

[TechMan33]

Hey guys, I have a client with a HP Z6 G4 that was purchased about a week ago or so. It’s been running great with no issues until this morning.

When he goes to boot up the machine it is stuck at the HP Sure Start screen and he’s already hard reset it, unplugged it, and so on.. I looked it up online and I’m assuming it may be a BIOS issue where I may have to either upgrade the BIOS firmware or roll it back to an earlier version.

I haven’t been on site to check it out yet, I’ll be going tonight.. but just to get a head start, has anyone out there experienced this HP Sure Start issue before? And.. possibly have any information other than the BIOS suggestion?

Thanks

 

[seashore]

Purchased a week ago? He shouldn't have to be messing with the BIOS - he should be asking questions of the supplier.

 

[nlinecomputers]

One week old. Return it that is what warranties are for.

 

[Markverhyden]

Was it brand new or a refurb? Where was it purchased?

 

[fincoder]

If this happened out of the blue without any change of BIOS settings, then it could be a faulty SSD. The 'HP Sure Start' is just the BIOS splash screen you get just before it starts loading the OS, looks like the SSD isn't responding.

HP onsite warranty service might be easier/quicker than a DOA return and replacement.

 

[frase]

I would be asking the client to go back to the supplier. If the client has messed around in BIOS and the supplier sees that, it may void warranty. Then get the client to bring the device to you. I had purchased a refurbished laptop of a supplier I had never used before as was urgent. I got the laptop and when I attempted to enter BIOS, it has a password! I got in touch with the supplier and they stated they need to contact their supplier lol. Ended up the suppliers supplier puts a BIOS password on the systems so client does not "Void" the warranty. In short, I told this supplier to go jump off a cliff as never had this before.

 

[Computer Bloke]

he’s already hard reset it, unplugged it, and so on.

Scary words.

If the client's been messing around in the BIOS then the first (and possibly only) thing to do is reset the BIOS to factory default and see if it boots. Return the computer if it still doesn't boot, smack the client explain to the client that it's best not to fiddle about if it does.

 

[TechMan33]

Was it brand new or a refurb? Where was it purchased?

He actually bought it on Amazon brand new a week or so ago.

 

[TechMan33]

Scary words.

If the client's been messing around in the BIOS then the first (and possibly only) thing to do is reset the BIOS to factory default and see if it boots. Return the computer if it still doesn't boot, smack the client explain to the client that it's best not to fiddle about if it does.

He didn’t touch the BIOS and wouldn’t know how to. I personally researched online and that’s what I found. But I was able to access the machine and it turns out that the 1TB hard drive may have been no good as it doesn’t show up in the computer anymore when it had previously. All connections are good and even running “diskpart”.. it doesn’t see it. I’m wondering if that drive was affecting the boot up.

Just to avoid possibly voiding any warranties, I’ll see if he can get an HP tech onsite to diagnose the issue further as it seems that it may be a hardware issue.

 

[TechMan33]

If this happened out of the blue without any change of BIOS settings, then it could be a faulty SSD. The 'HP Sure Start' is just the BIOS splash screen you get just before it starts loading the OS, looks like the SSD isn't responding.

HP onsite warranty service might be easier/quicker than a DOA return and replacement.

Good call, the secondary 1TB HDD seems to have crapped the bed. But to avoid voiding any warranties, I’m keeping my hands out of her cage.. this time. Lol

 

[fincoder]

Yes sometimes a failed secondary drive can affect boot, e.g. if it hangs when the BIOS is detecting drives which seems to be the case here. Hopefully the HDD was fitted by HP (covered by onsite warranty), and not a customisation done by the reseller.

 

[TechMan33]

Ok so.. I called HP... ready for this?

The Hard Drive that went bad is an entry level Western Digital HDD (in a friggen Workstation ) which HP doesn’t supply nor cover under warranty. They use Seagate for Desktops and Toshiba for Laptops. The SSD is a M.2 which is also not covered by HP.
The Workstation itself is covered under warranty but some of the internals don’t seem to be.

So that makes sense why the hard drive crapped out. It sounds like it couldn’t handle the resources Bloomberg Terminal was looking for. Now I have to contact the third party company and explain this to them (since my client is not too computer savvy other than his stocks lol) and try to get a legitimate replacement sent.
Thanks for the input guys and sorry for the long messages.

 

[Porthos]

He actually bought it on Amazon brand new a week or so ago.

The SSD is a M.2 which is also not covered by HP.
The Workstation itself is covered under warranty but some of the internals don’t seem to be.

Amazon will take care of you/client. Now it might take a bit but, The client needs to decide either to just pay you to replace the drive etc. Or wait for a replacement or possibly only money back.
Wish you could provide the purchase link so we could look at the listing "fine print".

 

[HCHTech]

Yes sometimes a failed secondary drive can affect boot,

This nonsense happens when you connect the secondary drive before you install Windows. This fact caused us to change our procedure for such builds so that we install windows first, then once it is booting and updated, we insert the secondary drive. The supplier's supplier made the mistake during the build. If it were mine, I'd "fix" this by doing a fresh install with just the SSD connected once they send you a new machine if it is configured the same way.

 

[Markverhyden]

Ok so.. I called HP... ready for this?

The Hard Drive that went bad is an entry level Western Digital HDD (in a friggen Workstation ) which HP doesn’t supply nor cover under warranty. They use Seagate for Desktops and Toshiba for Laptops. The SSD is a M.2 which is also not covered by HP.
The Workstation itself is covered under warranty but some of the internals don’t seem to be.

So that makes sense why the hard drive crapped out. It sounds like it couldn’t handle the resources Bloomberg Terminal was looking for. Now I have to contact the third party company and explain this to them (since my client is not too computer savvy other than his stocks lol) and try to get a legitimate replacement sent.
Thanks for the input guys and sorry for the long messages.

Then it wasn't brand new. Plug the serial number into partsurfer.hp.com and it'll give you the BOM.

 

[TechMan33]

Amazon will take care of you/client. Now it might take a bit but, The client needs to decide either to just pay you to replace the drive etc. Or wait for a replacement or possibly only money back.
Wish you could provide the purchase link so we could look at the listing "fine print".

I talked with my client and got the link. This is the product/store he bought it from. He said it was the brand new one, not one of the used ones.
<edit>
I already emailed the store and they are supposedly sending a new - upgraded hard drive. We’ll see what happens.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HR522XG

 

[fincoder]

Hopefully the HDD was fitted by HP (covered by onsite warranty), and not a customisation done by the reseller.

Ha... I had a feeling about that.

That amazon listing has lots of alternative RAM and drive config options, I'm pretty sure they could only be doing that and keeping the price low if they're installing aftermarket parts. Very misleading of the seller to state 3/3/3 warranty.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Sold by ProPrime. That is a third party seller that buys unsold HP surplus items and then upgrades them. It's new only in the sense that it hasn't ever been sold retail but it's not the original configuration.