Botched BIOS update on my laptop - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

SecretMethod70 · 08-01-2009, 10:48 PM

So, I formatted and reinstalled the OS on my laptop (HP Pavilion dv9930us). While downloading the various necessary drivers from the HP website, I saw that there was a BIOS update available. I installed everything else, restarted to complete the installations, and then downloaded the BIOS update. I ran the update - it used WinFlash - and I followed the instructions: closed everything else (even the Windows Explorer window I had open) and made sure the laptop was plugged into an external power source the whole time. It automatically restarted after finishing the update and then... nothing.

The hardware powers up (fans, optical drive), the lights above the keyboard (volume, various quickplay buttons) light up, but the screen is just blank. Nothing.

I called tech support and was told my laptop's warranty ended July 2009. They had me take out the laptop battery, disconnect the external power, and hold the power button for 30 seconds. Afterwards, I put the battery back in and plugged in external power, and tried to boot it up: still a black screen. The best part is, when that didn't work, I was told that I needed to pay in order to get more phone support (I think it was $30 for 14 days or $99 for a year). If I wanted to send it in to get fixed, it would cost somewhere between $300-400.

Now, this laptop is pretty much exactly a year old. It's not a hardware failure that I face, the problem was caused by the software I got on HP's own site.

Anyone here familiar enough with laptops that you can walk me through how I might fix this on my own? It's really not worth the shipping and $300-400 it would cost to have them do an hour or two of work when it's probably something I could accomplish in the comfort of my own home.

I'm really annoyed, because this is the first time I've ever had a botched BIOS flash, and I did everything like I was supposed to do! Just reminds me why I prefer desktops.

jewels · 08-02-2009, 04:26 AM

I hope a techie has a quick and simple answer. If not, may I suggest going back to tech support. Request a supervisor and if that doesn't do it, find out the CEO's email or snail address.

That's bull that you're days over warranty, plus the bios update was a mandatory proprietary update, right? Make sure HP takes care of you.

Hopefully, it was just a bad dream. :snore:

SecretMethod70 · 08-02-2009, 06:10 AM

Next day... not a bad dream

I do plan to try tech support again... I could barely understand the lady I was speaking to last night and not in the mood to argue at the time. My warranty ended July 29... warranties should absolutely be one of those things where, internally, they actually end something like 14 days after the advertised date, kind of like how the speed limit in most places is actually 5mph over the posted number. It's pretty damn ridiculous to have to pay hundreds of dollars for service because the one year warranty ended 3 days before. It's also a quick way to create an upset customer.

The BIOS update wasn't mandatory, but when it comes straight off the HP website for my laptop it shouldn't be causing problems. Looking around the internet, it seems a number of people have had problems with the WinFlash BIOS updater.

Wyodiver33 · 08-02-2009, 07:32 AM

Although I have never had a problem, flashing any BIOS from within Windows is always much riskier that doing it from a boot disk. I've gambled several times, cringed, crossed fingers. Never had a problem. Sounds like you just had some bad luck. Can you boot from the cd/dvd drive? If so, you might have some options. Let me know.

catback · 08-02-2009, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SecretMethod70

My warranty ended July 29... warranties should absolutely be one of those things where, internally, they actually end something like 14 days after the advertised date, kind of like how the speed limit in most places is actually 5mph over the posted number.

Off-topic but the speed limit is the speed that's posted. The 5 mph over is a leeway where you can't be solely stopped for the 1-5 mph over. If they stop you for something else they can give you a 1 mph speeding ticket. I live near a lavish city notorious for ticketing ANY and ALL infractions so everyone knows not to even be 1 mph over, the posted limit, when passing through that city.

SecretMethod70 · 08-02-2009, 09:42 AM

Well yes, and the warranty actually ends when it ends, but cops rarely stop you if you're less than 5 over, and companies should honor warranties when they've just barely ended. Cops have the luxury of annoying people by pulling them over for 1mph over if they so choose, but companies generally don't want to get bad reputations. Which is why it's interesting that police rarely pull anyone over for under 5mph over, yet companies are frequently assholes about "oh, sorry, your warranty ended yesterday."

---------- Post added at 12:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:41 PM ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wyodiver33

Although I have never had a problem, flashing any BIOS from within Windows is always much riskier that doing it from a boot disk. I've gambled several times, cringed, crossed fingers. Never had a problem. Sounds like you just had some bad luck. Can you boot from the cd/dvd drive? If so, you might have some options. Let me know.

No, unfortunately I can't...or if I can, I certainly can't tell, because the screen is pitch black. The screen just doesn't turn on at all, so if anything is going on, I can't see it.

jewels · 08-02-2009, 09:58 AM

Police departments aren't trying to breed happy clientele; they're protecting citizens and upholding the law.

Retail marketing includes helping your customer feel like more than a faceless consumer. No exceptions and unconditional policies do not create warm fuzzy feelings that will send them back for more.

I work for a high-end retail business and we have "guidelines" that we follow with our customers. So although we have a stated 90-day return policy, my guidelines tell me that if someone has a valid complaint that wasn't due to negligence or abuse, I will do what it takes to appease that customer. We want their business and they're important to us.

Vigilante · 08-02-2009, 10:57 AM

Bad flashes happen. As stated, it's usually a bad idea to flash within windows.

You could try to reset the CMOS. You'll have to find a disassembly manual and open it up to the battery or reset switch. Sometimes that gets it back to booting.

You could always buy a preprogrammed chip, IF you have a socket-style BIOS chip. If you can pull it, you can swap it. The chip is probably 25 bucks, I know who to get one from and can give you his email address, but first you have to see if you have a socket-style BIOS interface.

---------- Post added at 01:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:54 PM ----------

Also, if it's worth the shipping for you, and it happens to be mounted through the PCB with pins (not surface mount) then I can remove the old chip and put in a new one. You just have to pay shipping and buy the new chip.

Dragonlich · 08-02-2009, 11:38 AM

I had a similar problem with my desktop computer a while back. I managed to fix it by poking around on the motherboard, in order to get the backup bios to do it's magic. However... I don't know if a laptop even has a backup bios (usually called "dual bios").

As for the warranty... a year is a year, but they're still bastards for being so strict. But even if it were less than a year, I'm not sure if updating your bios voids your warranty or not.

And if they don't help you out, I'd certainly spend my money somewhere else from now on. And I'd tell that to their tech support too.

Rekna · 08-02-2009, 12:16 PM

Does your computer beep at all on boot up? If your bios is actually badly flashed you would require a new motherboard which would likely be close to the cost of a new laptop.

On a side note when ever I purchase a laptop there is an important decision that is made. And that is should I get a 3 year warranty or 1 year. If the cost of the laptop is substantial such that in a years time the cost of this laptop would still be significant (usually greater than $600) then I go with the 3 year otherwise I go with a 1 year.

Here is the thing about laptops. They are constantly being moved so they get bumped and they get dropped. They are very compact so they typically have heat issues. They are proprietary so you cannot easily replace parts with commodity parts. In general i'd say a majority of laptops will fail in some major way within the 1-2 year range. Thus when you purchase a laptop decide do you want this laptop to last 1 year or 3 years. As soon as that warranty expires you are on borrowed time. Laptops will fail often.

Shauk · 08-03-2009, 04:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SecretMethod70

It's not a hardware failure that I face, the problem was caused by the software I got on HP's own site.

Actually, it's not software in the purest sense of the word.

It's firmware.

basically you reprogrammed a ROM chip and it didn't like it. All the software on your hard drive is fine, all your hardware, technically, is workable. That one chip that got injected with code all wonky like? not so much. That chip has bad data on it and now the "brain" of your computer is damaged and doesn't even know how to be self aware or start it's boot process anymore likely.

It probably wouldn't even do you any good to try and boot up from a cd, as the bios controls that as well, basically you get one shot at it and if it fails, it's time to replace the bios chip. Just see if it's possible to have it replaced somehow.

as a general rule of thumb, updating the bios is pretty worthless unless you're somehow suffering from a current limitation (ram cap, chipset support) or bugs/stability issues.

SecretMethod70 · 08-03-2009, 05:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shauk

Actually, it's not software in the purest sense of the word.

It's firmware.

basically you reprogrammed a ROM chip and it didn't like it. All the software on your hard drive is fine, all your hardware, technically, is workable. That one chip that got injected with code all wonky like? not so much. That chip has bad data on it and now the "brain" of your computer is damaged and doesn't even know how to be self aware or start it's boot process anymore likely.

Yes yes, so I used the wrong word, I do know the difference... still not a hardware failure and, more importantly, a failure caused by HP's provided update

I called it a software failure because, as far as I can tell, the source of the problem is WinFlash, the software they provided to do the update. There have apparently been a lot of complaints about WinFlash on the HP forums. My laptop doesn't work because the firmware didn't update properly; the firmware didn't update properly because they provided buggy software to perform the BIOS flash.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shauk

It probably wouldn't even do you any good to try and boot up from a cd, as the bios controls that as well, basically you get one shot at it and if it fails, it's time to replace the bios chip. Just see if it's possible to have it replaced somehow.

Right... but it never hurts to try booting from the CD, just like I knew taking out the laptop battery and replacing it wouldn't do anything, but I did that too when tech support suggested it. It's often easier to just do it than explain why I already know it won't work. As for replacing the BIOS chip, that's kinda the point of the thread here... I either need to roll back the BIOS somehow (not unreasonable on a desktop, but I don't know how to do it on a laptop), or replace the BIOS chip and/or mobo (again, something I can do on a desktop, but I need guidance on a laptop). It would cost me $300-400 to have HP replace the mobo even though I'm only now 5 days past my warranty... they don't deserve the money, and the amount of work they'd have to do plus parts certainly isn't worth that much anyway. If I can convince them to honor the warranty, or do it for free anyway since it was caused by their BIOS update, then I'm happy to have them do it instead of doing it myself. I spoke to a new person from tech support yesterday who apparently had better English comprehension, and he escalated my case. Hopefully when the new person calls my in the next day or so, I can get them to fix it free of charge.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shauk

as a general rule of thumb, updating the bios is pretty worthless unless you're somehow suffering from a current limitation (ram cap, chipset support) or bugs/stability issues.

Yes, and this BIOS update was intended to fix speed issues in the SD card reader, which would move at a crawl when I used it and slow down everything else on the laptop at the same time.

Come on, I do have some idea of what I'm doing here

I understand though, even the most computer literate of people are sometimes caught by that first tech support question: "is it plugged in?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rekna

Does your computer beep at all on boot up? If your bios is actually badly flashed you would require a new motherboard which would likely be close to the cost of a new laptop.

Nope, no beep :/ I'm pretty positive I need a new mobo seeing as how apparently laptops are made assuming you'll never have a bad BIOS flash. I'm talking with a guy on the HP forums who might know of a way to roll back the bios, but I'm not holding my breath. The $300-400 HP wants to replace the motherboard would still be less than the laptop is worth today, but I'd much rather do it myself if I can. Just need to find someone with experience working on laptop insides to give me some pointers. Unfortunately, not many people do.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rekna

On a side note when ever I purchase a laptop there is an important decision that is made. And that is should I get a 3 year warranty or 1 year. If the cost of the laptop is substantial such that in a years time the cost of this laptop would still be significant (usually greater than $600) then I go with the 3 year otherwise I go with a 1 year.

Here is the thing about laptops. They are constantly being moved so they get bumped and they get dropped. They are very compact so they typically have heat issues. They are proprietary so you cannot easily replace parts with commodity parts. In general i'd say a majority of laptops will fail in some major way within the 1-2 year range. Thus when you purchase a laptop decide do you want this laptop to last 1 year or 3 years. As soon as that warranty expires you are on borrowed time. Laptops will fail often.

Yeah, with the laptop I suppose I should have gotten the 3 year warranty, knowing I can't fix problems as easily as I could on a desktop. That said, I take spectacular care of the laptop and don't do much in terms of moving it around: it goes between my desk at home and my desk at work. If it weren't for this shitty BIOS situation, I'm pretty positive I wouldn't run into any issues within even the three year warranty period.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dragonlich

I had a similar problem with my desktop computer a while back. I managed to fix it by poking around on the motherboard, in order to get the backup bios to do it's magic. However... I don't know if a laptop even has a backup bios (usually called "dual bios").

From what I've read, it doesn't seem they bother with these precautionary measures on most laptops. Pretty ridiculous.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dragonlich

As for the warranty... a year is a year, but they're still bastards for being so strict. But even if it were less than a year, I'm not sure if updating your bios voids your warranty or not.

It's true, a year is a year, but, like jewels said, a retail business needs to consider their image when dealing with customers. I used to work for one of the mega-chain bookstores - prime suspect for draconian adherence to the written policy - but we would frequently take back books that were past the 30 day return length, or even without the required receipt, so long as they were in good condition and the customer was being reasonable. We could have turned them away and pointed to the back of the receipt (and we did when the customer was being a jerk or clearly making shit up), but a little leniency goes a LONG way toward creating satisfied customers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dragonlich

And if they don't help you out, I'd certainly spend my money somewhere else from now on. And I'd tell that to their tech support too.

Absolutely. The guy that I spoke to last night (or the lady the night before) wouldn't be the right person to tell that too - the first level of support is typically just people reading out of a manual, so I don't want to make their lives difficult for no reason - but when the next level person calls me back I plan to tell him exactly that. I've been quite happy with my HP laptop up until this point, despite initially wanting a Dell, and this experience will absolutely factor into who I buy from the next time I need a laptop.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vigilante

Bad flashes happen. As stated, it's usually a bad idea to flash within windows.

Lesson learned. I've never had a problem flashing from Windows before, but my past experiences were on my desktop so it would have been relatively easy to fix even if I had. Certainly not something I'll be doing on a laptop again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vigilante

You could try to reset the CMOS. You'll have to find a disassembly manual and open it up to the battery or reset switch. Sometimes that gets it back to booting.

Apparently when the tech support person on the phone told me to remove the laptop battery and external power and hold the power button for 30 seconds, that was supposed to reset the CMOS. Odd to me that I wouldn't need to deal with a separate motherboard battery, but I'm less familiar with laptops. I finally found the manual though, and sure enough that's what it says to do to reset the CMOS.

Scratch that, I took a closer look at the manual and there is a clock battery to be removed. It seemed stupid when the tech support person just had me remove the laptop battery, but hey what do I know, they're tech support! Sure enough, it was as stupid as I thought. Anyway, I'm going to try resetting the CMOS now and see if that helps...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vigilante

You could always buy a preprogrammed chip, IF you have a socket-style BIOS chip. If you can pull it, you can swap it. The chip is probably 25 bucks, I know who to get one from and can give you his email address, but first you have to see if you have a socket-style BIOS interface.

Also, if it's worth the shipping for you, and it happens to be mounted through the PCB with pins (not surface mount) then I can remove the old chip and put in a new one. You just have to pay shipping and buy the new chip.

I'm not positive yet, but based on comments I've seen while searching for solutions to my problem it seems I do not have a socket-style BIOS chip. I've seen a lot of comments about soldering. I'll know more after I get a chance to read through the manual and deal with the next tech support person: if he won't help me, I'll probably take a look inside and see what I can find out.

Shauk · 08-03-2009, 06:29 AM

yeah the only time i've found a use for removing the battery is when i locked myself out of the bios with a password, removing it for a while reset it (along with everything else)

anyways, yeah, i talk to everyone to same or I wouldn't talk to people at all, when it comes to computers.

If everyone knew what they were doing they probably wouldn't be asking in the 1st place

SecretMethod70 · 08-03-2009, 07:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shauk

yeah the only time i've found a use for removing the battery is when i locked myself out of the bios with a password, removing it for a while reset it (along with everything else)

anyways, yeah, i talk to everyone to same or I wouldn't talk to people at all, when it comes to computers.

If everyone knew what they were doing they probably wouldn't be asking in the 1st place

True enough

I don't expect resetting the CMOS to help, because if it did then I would think I'd have seen it as a common response to this problem, but we'll see. The procedure is actually pretty easy, so it's worth a shot.

---------- Post added at 10:29 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:37 AM ----------

UPDATE: Sure enough, resetting the CMOS didn't work. Right after I finished trying that, I got my followup call from HP tech support. This lady was barely more helpful than the first (and equally difficult to understand), but I made some progress. After trying three different times to get through to her what the problem was (at one point, she offered to send me recovery discs... which might be useful if the computer would boot!), she finally offered to send me a box so I can send it in for repair. This time, there was no mention of "your warranty is expired" or "this will cost $300+," and my confirmation e-mail for the customer service order says the warranty status is "in warranty" and that the charge for this (so far at least) is $0.00. So, I'll send it in and see if they fix it for free, and if I get a call from someone telling me it will cost money then I'll be ready to complain.

She suggested that I take the laptop to Staples or Best Buy and have them back up my data before sending it in, which is a good idea... not because I can think of any reason they'd need to format the hard drives in order to fix the BIOS, but because I don't trust that they'll be smart enough to do it without also formatting the drives anyway! Of course, I also don't trust Best Buy not to create backups of my data for themselves, so I guess we'll see how Staples is, unless someone has any other suggestions.

Actually, maybe I'll just do the backup myself now that I have the laptop manual. I'm certainly at least as knowledgeable as the friggin' Geek Squad.

Rekna · 08-03-2009, 07:47 AM

Just don't send in the hard drive. I know when I had to depot my dell laptop they specifically say don't send in your hard drive if you have important data on it. To do the repairs they do not need your hard drive.

Martian · 08-03-2009, 08:01 AM

I'd go to Staples and have them do it as a CYA thing. I don't know HP's specific policy, but often opening the case and poking around inside is grounds to void the warranty. If there's no hard drive in the laptop when they get it, they're obviously going to know that you were in there, and may decide that's reason enough to charge you. Since the tech support agent told you specifically to use Staples or Best Buy to back up your data, you have a case to argue if that's the route they take.

Vigilante · 08-03-2009, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SecretMethod70

UPDATE: Sure enough, resetting the CMOS didn't work. Right after I finished trying that, I got my followup call from HP tech support. This lady was barely more helpful than the first (and equally difficult to understand), but I made some progress. After trying three different times to get through to her what the problem was (at one point, she offered to send me recovery discs... which might be useful if the computer would boot!), she finally offered to send me a box so I can send it in for repair. This time, there was no mention of "your warranty is expired" or "this will cost $300+," and my confirmation e-mail for the customer service order says the warranty status is "in warranty" and that the charge for this (so far at least) is $0.00. So, I'll send it in and see if they fix it for free, and if I get a call from someone telling me it will cost money then I'll be ready to complain.

She suggested that I take the laptop to Staples or Best Buy and have them back up my data before sending it in, which is a good idea... not because I can think of any reason they'd need to format the hard drives in order to fix the BIOS, but because I don't trust that they'll be smart enough to do it without also formatting the drives anyway! Of course, I also don't trust Best Buy not to create backups of my data for themselves, so I guess we'll see how Staples is, unless someone has any other suggestions.

Actually, maybe I'll just do the backup myself now that I have the laptop manual. I'm certainly at least as knowledgeable as the friggin' Geek Squad.

Excellent. Give that a shot then. I have soldered in several components on motherboards, such as resistors, capacitors, voltages mods etc. It's not difficult, but in this case it is definitely a last resort.

If all else fails for some reason, someone on ebay is bound to have the system board for your model laptop. I've bought more than one full replacement board on ebay in the past.

rlbond86 · 08-15-2009, 09:19 PM

Did you buy your laptop with a credit card? Most cards will double a standard 1 year warranty.
http://www.moneybluebook.com/get-a-f...a-credit-card/
I suggest you call your credit card company.

allaboutmusic · 08-16-2009, 01:53 AM

Buy a hard drive enclosure, put your hard drive in it and back it up using another computer. This has been a couple weeks now, any progress?

SecretMethod70 · 08-16-2009, 06:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by allaboutmusic

Buy a hard drive enclosure, put your hard drive in it and back it up using another computer. This has been a couple weeks now, any progress?

Yeah, sorry. No need for a hard drive enclosure, laptop hard drives use the same connection as any other hard drive (SATA in this case). I should be getting the laptop back on Monday, no charge. I'll believe it when I have it in front of me, booting up, and with the latest BIOS version.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rlbond86

Did you buy your laptop with a credit card? Most cards will double a standard 1 year warranty.
» Get A Free Extended Warranty By Purchasing With A Credit Card
I suggest you call your credit card company.

I didn't, actually, but that's good to know.

On another note, turns out the insides of laptops aren't that much more difficult than the insides of PCs. Maybe I'll try to build my own the next time around.

Martian · 08-16-2009, 07:04 AM

The real challenge to working inside laptops is simply space -- everything's a lot more crowded in a typical laptop case.

Building your own isn't generally possible, because a lot of the fittings are specific to one line. Making upgrades is a simple enough prospect, though.

SecretMethod70 · 08-16-2009, 07:10 AM

It's possible, it's just that there's much less choice in parts (and they're harder to find). That may be enough to keep me from doing it when the time comes down the road, but we'll see. The cost benefit is still present though; I know a few people who have built their own with success.

allaboutmusic · 08-16-2009, 04:20 PM

Didn't realise laptop HDDs used the same interfaces as desktop, I learned something new today.

I believe you can buy barebones laptop chassis (what is the plural for chassis) and put everything else in.

08-01-2009, 10:48 PM	#1 (permalink)
SecretMethod70 Human Administrator Location: Chicago	Botched BIOS update on my laptop So, I formatted and reinstalled the OS on my laptop (HP Pavilion dv9930us). While downloading the various necessary drivers from the HP website, I saw that there was a BIOS update available. I installed everything else, restarted to complete the installations, and then downloaded the BIOS update. I ran the update - it used WinFlash - and I followed the instructions: closed everything else (even the Windows Explorer window I had open) and made sure the laptop was plugged into an external power source the whole time. It automatically restarted after finishing the update and then... nothing. The hardware powers up (fans, optical drive), the lights above the keyboard (volume, various quickplay buttons) light up, but the screen is just blank. Nothing. I called tech support and was told my laptop's warranty ended July 2009. They had me take out the laptop battery, disconnect the external power, and hold the power button for 30 seconds. Afterwards, I put the battery back in and plugged in external power, and tried to boot it up: still a black screen. The best part is, when that didn't work, I was told that I needed to pay in order to get more phone support (I think it was $30 for 14 days or $99 for a year). If I wanted to send it in to get fixed, it would cost somewhere between $300-400. Now, this laptop is pretty much exactly a year old. It's not a hardware failure that I face, the problem was caused by the software I got on HP's own site. Anyone here familiar enough with laptops that you can walk me through how I might fix this on my own? It's really not worth the shipping and $300-400 it would cost to have them do an hour or two of work when it's probably something I could accomplish in the comfort of my own home. I'm really annoyed, because this is the first time I've ever had a botched BIOS flash, and I did everything like I was supposed to do! Just reminds me why I prefer desktops. __________________ Le temps détruit tout "Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling

08-02-2009, 04:26 AM	#2 (permalink)
jewels Eponymous Location: Central Central Florida	I hope a techie has a quick and simple answer. If not, may I suggest going back to tech support. Request a supervisor and if that doesn't do it, find out the CEO's email or snail address. That's bull that you're days over warranty, plus the bios update was a mandatory proprietary update, right? Make sure HP takes care of you. Hopefully, it was just a bad dream. :snore: __________________ We are always more anxious to be distinguished for a talent which we do not possess, than to be praised for the fifteen which we do possess. Mark Twain

08-02-2009, 06:10 AM	#3 (permalink)
SecretMethod70 Human Administrator Location: Chicago	Next day... not a bad dream I do plan to try tech support again... I could barely understand the lady I was speaking to last night and not in the mood to argue at the time. My warranty ended July 29... warranties should absolutely be one of those things where, internally, they actually end something like 14 days after the advertised date, kind of like how the speed limit in most places is actually 5mph over the posted number. It's pretty damn ridiculous to have to pay hundreds of dollars for service because the one year warranty ended 3 days before. It's also a quick way to create an upset customer. The BIOS update wasn't mandatory, but when it comes straight off the HP website for my laptop it shouldn't be causing problems. Looking around the internet, it seems a number of people have had problems with the WinFlash BIOS updater. __________________ Le temps détruit tout "Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling Last edited by SecretMethod70; 08-02-2009 at 06:41 AM..

08-02-2009, 07:32 AM	#4 (permalink)
Wyodiver33 Just here for the beer. Location: Ft. Lauderdale, Floriduh	Although I have never had a problem, flashing any BIOS from within Windows is always much riskier that doing it from a boot disk. I've gambled several times, cringed, crossed fingers. Never had a problem. Sounds like you just had some bad luck. Can you boot from the cd/dvd drive? If so, you might have some options. Let me know. __________________ I like stuff.

08-02-2009, 09:58 AM	#7 (permalink)
jewels Eponymous Location: Central Central Florida	Police departments aren't trying to breed happy clientele; they're protecting citizens and upholding the law. Retail marketing includes helping your customer feel like more than a faceless consumer. No exceptions and unconditional policies do not create warm fuzzy feelings that will send them back for more. I work for a high-end retail business and we have "guidelines" that we follow with our customers. So although we have a stated 90-day return policy, my guidelines tell me that if someone has a valid complaint that wasn't due to negligence or abuse, I will do what it takes to appease that customer. We want their business and they're important to us. __________________ We are always more anxious to be distinguished for a talent which we do not possess, than to be praised for the fifteen which we do possess. Mark Twain

08-02-2009, 10:57 AM	#8 (permalink)
Vigilante Broken Arrow Location: US	Bad flashes happen. As stated, it's usually a bad idea to flash within windows. You could try to reset the CMOS. You'll have to find a disassembly manual and open it up to the battery or reset switch. Sometimes that gets it back to booting. You could always buy a preprogrammed chip, IF you have a socket-style BIOS chip. If you can pull it, you can swap it. The chip is probably 25 bucks, I know who to get one from and can give you his email address, but first you have to see if you have a socket-style BIOS interface. ---------- Post added at 01:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:54 PM ---------- Also, if it's worth the shipping for you, and it happens to be mounted through the PCB with pins (not surface mount) then I can remove the old chip and put in a new one. You just have to pay shipping and buy the new chip. __________________ We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. -Winston Churchill

08-02-2009, 11:38 AM	#9 (permalink)
Dragonlich 42, baby! Location: The Netherlands	I had a similar problem with my desktop computer a while back. I managed to fix it by poking around on the motherboard, in order to get the backup bios to do it's magic. However... I don't know if a laptop even has a backup bios (usually called "dual bios"). As for the warranty... a year is a year, but they're still bastards for being so strict. But even if it were less than a year, I'm not sure if updating your bios voids your warranty or not. And if they don't help you out, I'd certainly spend my money somewhere else from now on. And I'd tell that to their tech support too.

08-02-2009, 12:16 PM	#10 (permalink)
Rekna Junkie	Does your computer beep at all on boot up? If your bios is actually badly flashed you would require a new motherboard which would likely be close to the cost of a new laptop. On a side note when ever I purchase a laptop there is an important decision that is made. And that is should I get a 3 year warranty or 1 year. If the cost of the laptop is substantial such that in a years time the cost of this laptop would still be significant (usually greater than $600) then I go with the 3 year otherwise I go with a 1 year. Here is the thing about laptops. They are constantly being moved so they get bumped and they get dropped. They are very compact so they typically have heat issues. They are proprietary so you cannot easily replace parts with commodity parts. In general i'd say a majority of laptops will fail in some major way within the 1-2 year range. Thus when you purchase a laptop decide do you want this laptop to last 1 year or 3 years. As soon as that warranty expires you are on borrowed time. Laptops will fail often.

08-03-2009, 06:29 AM	#13 (permalink)
Shauk Confused Adult Location: Spokane, WA	yeah the only time i've found a use for removing the battery is when i locked myself out of the bios with a password, removing it for a while reset it (along with everything else) anyways, yeah, i talk to everyone to same or I wouldn't talk to people at all, when it comes to computers. If everyone knew what they were doing they probably wouldn't be asking in the 1st place

08-03-2009, 07:47 AM	#15 (permalink)
Rekna Junkie	Just don't send in the hard drive. I know when I had to depot my dell laptop they specifically say don't send in your hard drive if you have important data on it. To do the repairs they do not need your hard drive.

08-03-2009, 08:01 AM	#16 (permalink)
Martian Young Crumudgeon Location: Canada	I'd go to Staples and have them do it as a CYA thing. I don't know HP's specific policy, but often opening the case and poking around inside is grounds to void the warranty. If there's no hard drive in the laptop when they get it, they're obviously going to know that you were in there, and may decide that's reason enough to charge you. Since the tech support agent told you specifically to use Staples or Best Buy to back up your data, you have a case to argue if that's the route they take. __________________ I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said - Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

08-15-2009, 09:19 PM	#18 (permalink)
rlbond86 Insane	Did you buy your laptop with a credit card? Most cards will double a standard 1 year warranty. http://www.moneybluebook.com/get-a-f...a-credit-card/ I suggest you call your credit card company. Last edited by rlbond86; 08-15-2009 at 09:22 PM..

08-16-2009, 01:53 AM	#19 (permalink)
allaboutmusic Aurally Fixated	Buy a hard drive enclosure, put your hard drive in it and back it up using another computer. This has been a couple weeks now, any progress?

08-16-2009, 07:04 AM	#21 (permalink)
Martian Young Crumudgeon Location: Canada	The real challenge to working inside laptops is simply space -- everything's a lot more crowded in a typical laptop case. Building your own isn't generally possible, because a lot of the fittings are specific to one line. Making upgrades is a simple enough prospect, though. __________________ I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said - Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

08-16-2009, 07:10 AM	#22 (permalink)
SecretMethod70 Human Administrator Location: Chicago	It's possible, it's just that there's much less choice in parts (and they're harder to find). That may be enough to keep me from doing it when the time comes down the road, but we'll see. The cost benefit is still present though; I know a few people who have built their own with success. __________________ Le temps détruit tout "Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling

08-16-2009, 04:20 PM	#23 (permalink)
allaboutmusic Aurally Fixated	Didn't realise laptop HDDs used the same interfaces as desktop, I learned something new today. I believe you can buy barebones laptop chassis (what is the plural for chassis) and put everything else in.