Two-part question about BIOS flashing

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sorcerer

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I feel I should know the answer to the first part of this question but, on the basis that the only stupid question is the one not asked, here goes......

I've got an HP DV6-2010SA on the bench with the two LEDs near the Caps Lock and Num Lock keys flashing in the sequence of two flashes then pause, two flashes then pause etc., which according to the HP website, indicates "BIOS corruption"

Looking to download a new BIOS file, the website asks you to choose an operating system, which is where I have my first problem. The laptop will not boot and the COA has been worn off but I do know from the customer that it's Windows 7, but not sure if it's Home Premium, Pro, 32 or 64-bit or whatever.

Am I right in thinking that it shouldn't really matter? The BIOS file relates to the BIOS chip on the motherboard doesn't it, and the machine could even be running Linux for that matter, so I really don't see a problem with just choosing a random flavour of Windows OS - or am I wrong?

Second part of question: from what I can see, even if you make a choice and get to download a BIOS file, it is apparently in a format called 'Winflash' and the instructions guide you through downloading said file to your desktop, then double-clicking to run it, ie, from within Windows - which is very difficult if a corrupted BIOS is stopping the machine from booting into Windows!!!

Every BIOS I've ever flashed has been outside of Windows via a boot disk, so how do I do this one?
 
Thanks for that Mark. The 'key press' didn't work but I see that you've edited your post to include a link to the HP Tools, so I'll give that a try.

Thanks again - enjoy your holiday my friend :)
 
OK, after downloading and putting the HP_TOOLS onto a USB flash drive, then doing the 'Windows key and B key' thing, something's happened, but I don't know what.

The two flashes then pause, two flashes then pause sequence has now changed to one flash per second without any pause - just a blank (black) screen with no beeps and the two LEDs flashing at the rate of one flash per second until the power button is pressed to turn the machine off.

Any more ideas anyone?
 
DV series !

First you had the Caps and Num lock flashing twice for BIOS failure and now they are flashing once for CPU failure. You may want to try draining the flea power, unplug the AC adapter and remove the battery and then hold down the power button for at least a minute to dispel any residual charge in the motherboard. Then plug in just the AC adapter without the battery in and see if that makes any difference at all.
 
Cheers B, it did indeed make a difference - it's now back to the sequence of two flashes then a pause, two flashes then a pause etc., so we're back to the first question of how to flash the BIOS :confused:
 
sorcerer said:
Cheers B, it did indeed make a difference - it's now back to the sequence of two flashes then a pause, two flashes then a pause etc., so we're back to the first question of how to flash the BIOS :confused:
Click to expand...
OK good, other than the flashing LED's is the laptop doing anything else, is the screen black or is the screen dead? have you tried an external monitor? You don't see POST or hear/feel the hard drive spinning up? Have you tried removing anything you don't need to boot like hard drive, DVD drive, etc.?

Have you tried again to re-flash the BIOS?

If this wasn't a DV series I say replace the CMOS battery, you may want to do that anyways after you perform further diagnostics.
 
sorcerer said:
Cheers B, it did indeed make a difference - it's now back to the sequence of two flashes then a pause, two flashes then a pause etc., so we're back to the first question of how to flash the BIOS :confused:
Click to expand...

If I remember correctly the HP key combination is supposed to load the BIOS image from the USB stick. So you need to have those files on the stick.

Have you ever flashed a HP printer or Cisco router before. Very similar in concept. Except, instead of using telnet, ssh, tftp, etc to upload the image, the key combo is supposed to perform the process.

Here is another thread.

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Other-...P-BIOS-update-uefi-utility/td-p/337347/page/3

That all being said let us not forget that many of the DV's have problems related to the NVidia chipset. Those are heat related. Does this machine have one of those video chipsets?
 
WOOHOO!!! I'm back!

Sorry folks - lost all phone and internet here due to a JCB ripping up a feeder cable to one of the housing estate cabs (768 working circuits affected) on Thursday. My old cable-jointing colleagues on BT have been working hard to get us back on service and I'm now back on.

Thanks for the suggestions and further help you've posted guys, I'll act on it as soon as I can but for now, I'm off for a few beers and to see a Led Zeppelin tribute band :D
 
Right, back to this machine again :eek:

B Trevathan said:
OK good, other than the flashing LED's is the laptop doing anything else
Click to expand...

No, it isn't

is the screen black or is the screen dead? have you tried an external monitor?
Click to expand...

The screen appears black/dead only because there's nothing being sent to it to display rather than being a faulty screen. Nothing is displayed on an external monitor either.

You don't see POST or hear/feel the hard drive spinning up? Have you tried removing anything you don't need to boot like hard drive, DVD drive, etc.?
Click to expand...

Hard drive spins up fine but there's no POST at all, same with everything removed.

Have you tried again to re-flash the BIOS?

If this wasn't a DV series I say replace the CMOS battery, you may want to do that anyways after you perform further diagnostics.
Click to expand...

Replacing the CMOS battery was the first thing I tried but no joy. I have tried many times to reflash the BIOS after following the links Mark posted, but all to no avail.

Why HP have to make it so difficult to flash a BIOS I really don't know. It's more akin to witchcraft than a technical procedure - download BIOS file, extract Winflash.exe file from it, extract other files from that, find a file that looks something like 3635F13.FD and rename it to 3635.BIN then copy that to a location on a previously-prepared USB flash drive and attempt to boot from it whilst holding down a certain key combination.

Then the fun starts when it doesn't work. The laptop attempts to read from the flash drive but it's like it's looking for something that's not there and just goes back to the two flashes and pause, two flashes and pause etc. And then it appears to be complete guesswork after that with people renaming the file to .ROM, .SIG and others, oh and different numbers too, like 3536.bin or 3537.bin; put it here; put it there; try this; try that.

What works for one person doesn't work for another. Some people have tried using Phoenixtool to modify the HP BIOS and for some it works, for others it doesn't. All because HP will only let you flash the BIOS from within Windows and aren't bothered if a corrupted BIOS stops you from getting into Windows. AARRGGHH!!

Sorry, rant over :D
 
markverhyden said:
If I remember correctly the HP key combination is supposed to load the BIOS image from the USB stick. So you need to have those files on the stick.

Have you ever flashed a HP printer or Cisco router before. Very similar in concept. Except, instead of using telnet, ssh, tftp, etc to upload the image, the key combo is supposed to perform the process.
Click to expand...

No, I've never flashed an HP printer or Cisco router before but I have flashed many a BIOS in my time and it was never this complicated in the days of floppy disks and DOS :) Anyway, I've now got the BIOS files (maybe, maybe not - see my latest reply to B. Trevathan above for a deeper explanation of that) on the USB flash drive and still no joy.

Here is another thread.

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Other-...P-BIOS-update-uefi-utility/td-p/337347/page/3

That all being said let us not forget that many of the DV's have problems related to the NVidia chipset. Those are heat related. Does this machine have one of those video chipsets?
Click to expand...

No Mark, it's all AMD with an AMD Radeon - not a hint of Nvidia anywhere :)

Ah well, I shall persevere for a while longer yet. Maybe I need to stand on one leg while reciting a chapter from the Book of Counted Sorrows and waving chicken bones in an anticlockwise direction eh? :rolleyes:
 
If all else fails, there's always this. If you replace the chip and you still get the same issues, its probably GPU failure (even AMD chips fail -- its all dependent on the heat produced) and will need a reflow, or preferably, a reball. I do both in my shop. GL!
 
Last edited:
sorcerer said:
Why HP have to make it so difficult to flash a BIOS I really don't know. It's more akin to witchcraft than a technical procedure - download BIOS file, extract Winflash.exe file from it, extract other files from that, find a file that looks something like 3635F13.FD and rename it to 3635.BIN then copy that to a location on a previously-prepared USB flash drive and attempt to boot from it whilst holding down a certain key combination.

Then the fun starts when it doesn't work. The laptop attempts to read from the flash drive but it's like it's looking for something that's not there and just goes back to the two flashes and pause, two flashes and pause etc. And then it appears to be complete guesswork after that with people renaming the file to .ROM, .SIG and others, oh and different numbers too, like 3536.bin or 3537.bin; put it here; put it there; try this; try that.

What works for one person doesn't work for another. Some people have tried using Phoenixtool to modify the HP BIOS and for some it works, for others it doesn't. All because HP will only let you flash the BIOS from within Windows and aren't bothered if a corrupted BIOS stops you from getting into Windows. AARRGGHH!!

Sorry, rant over :D
Click to expand...

Makes you want one of these:


USB Floppy Drive
 
kisk said:
If all else fails, there's always this. If you replace the chip and you still get the same issues, its probably GPU failure (even AMD chips fail -- its all dependent on the heat produced) and will need a reflow, or preferably, a reball. I do both in my shop. GL!
Click to expand...

Now I hadn't thought about a BIOS chip replacement - cheers Kisk, it's certainly food for thought.
 
sorcerer said:
Ah well, I shall persevere for a while longer yet. Maybe I need to stand on one leg while reciting a chapter from the Book of Counted Sorrows and waving chicken bones in an anticlockwise direction eh? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

LOL!!! When I was a kid in Brazil in the 70's Macumba was very popular. So you might want try smearing the machine with a some chicken blood and blowing tobacco smoke all over it while it is surrounded by candles.

Kidding aside. Sounds like the mobo is toast. The BIOS chip kisk posted might do the job. But as he mentioned it might need a reflow/reball. I know this sounds second rate but many have successfully "baked" a board in their oven to fix the problem. But the oven temp control needs to be spot on.
 
Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who contributed to this topic, your knowledge and suggestions have been much appreciated and I'm just sorry that we couldn't get it working between us. I'm going to hand it back to the customer and suggest that they may want to try having the BIOS chip replaced elsewhere because I don't have the specialist equipment to do it, but to be prepared for bad news in case the mobo is completely fubared.

Oh, and I'll be sure to get some chicken blood and candles in for the next bad one I get in :D

Thanks again guys
 
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