HP Insyde BIOS recovery steps.

Discussion in 'BIOS Mods' started by kallisti5, Jul 23, 2012.

  1. LatinMcG

    LatinMcG Bios Borker

    Feb 27, 2011
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    sounds like bad ram so it got stuck when it was flashing .. and now its really dead bootblock ?
     
  2. macns

    macns MDL Novice

    Mar 22, 2013
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    it's completely dead. The only led on is the one next to the power input!!
    don't tell me there is no hope!
     
  3. LatinMcG

    LatinMcG Bios Borker

    Feb 27, 2011
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    i had that happen. was battery.. or reflow overdone
     
  4. macns

    macns MDL Novice

    Mar 22, 2013
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    but it happened after it failed to update the BIOS, it stuck with all lights on, no usb activity, so I had to pull the power cord to reboot (long press on the power button didn't work either)
    It has to be a failed BIOS flash, but is it possible to completely brick the laptop with a failed flash attempt?

    sorry for being such a nuisance .. I'm really desperate and this is the first time for 7-8 yrs of repairs that I'm actually posting to a forum than just reading up on others for answers :(
     
  5. LatinMcG

    LatinMcG Bios Borker

    Feb 27, 2011
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    yah ive seen failed flash do no power.
    try reset cmos batt.
     
  6. hpg62

    hpg62 MDL Novice

    Mar 25, 2013
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    Hey Latin,
    Just a thought, can you please post the files that he is supposed to be using.
    Let's rule that out. If you did not post the files for me, I would likely still be searching. I had no clue that you had to decrypt the files as others just kept posting to rename them.
     
  7. macns

    macns MDL Novice

    Mar 22, 2013
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    Mine was not encrypted I used the phoenix tool and it only produces 2 BIOS files no DEC no sig
    Anyway I'm having a bigger problem now, it's completely dead.
    I tried what LATIN said about the battery, I removed it, and tried to short the pins with no luck.
    Though I'm not sure if I'm doing the short battery thing properly.

    I also made a post in the HP support forums, and there's been a day with no responses .. :(


    BTW hpg62 did you get my response to your message, I've sent it 3 times already but it's not showing up at sent folder
     
  8. macns

    macns MDL Novice

    Mar 22, 2013
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    I just can't believe how could something like that happen when updating BIOS with a USB key.
    It was booting when I tried to flash, stuck with all lights on and then I had to remove the cable to shut it down.




    It doesn't make any sense, one minute working with all lights on, and then it's completely dead.
    Though the light right next to the AC input is working properly, which means the system board is getting AC power and reporting back to the LED.


    Searching for a board, but they're too expensive, how would you repair a board like that?
     
  9. LatinMcG

    LatinMcG Bios Borker

    Feb 27, 2011
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    the pins i talk about short are cmos battery not the regular battery.
     
  10. macns

    macns MDL Novice

    Mar 22, 2013
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    Yes I understand, below is a photo of the battery with the pins pointed at, how do you short those?
    I mean, I already removed the battery and pressed the power button for a long time, isn't that supposed to have the same effect?
    Thnx so much for your help Latin, do you suggest that I re-reflow the board ?

    View attachment 21410
     
  11. asitis

    asitis MDL Novice

    Nov 15, 2009
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    Hey guys,

    Can anyone help me please? I tried to update my bios in HP Pavillion dv7-7170er and something went wrong - computer was trying to shut down but couldn't and I had to force it to shut down. Now it turns on but nothing shows up on the screen. Tried to recover bios using usb and holding win+B keys but to no avail. Tried to figure out the name the file must have on that usb stick but andy's tool doesn't accept the bios file as Insyde - but it is...Here's the link to the current bios file
    "can't post liks"

    How come Andy's tool doesn't detect it?

    Thanks
     
  12. Tito

    Tito Super Mod / Adviser
    Staff Member

    Nov 30, 2009
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  13. asitis

    asitis MDL Novice

    Nov 15, 2009
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    Hi Tito and LatinMcG,

    It tried, but don't see the laptop actually trying to read the USB.... The platform ID is 181D - It's under the battery + I saw the same ID in the Insyde flash utility window.
    Aslo I'm not sure F0A is proper to use as my current one was F0B.
    Well, as of right now I see only that USB flash drive is not being read and I think its crutual.

    Sucks
     
  14. Tito

    Tito Super Mod / Adviser
    Staff Member

    Nov 30, 2009
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    Try different USB ports and USB drives.
     
  15. asitis

    asitis MDL Novice

    Nov 15, 2009
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    Thanks Tito, doesn't work.
     
  16. asitis

    asitis MDL Novice

    Nov 15, 2009
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    Hi, and thanks. As suggested by JeffJG i removed my SSD and the USB started blinking! But.. it just keeps blinking, no nothing on the screen indicating the flashing process as he described. I'm trying now to put those bios files into different folders - "current", "new", "previos" - maybe it'll help, i don't know.
     
  17. asitis

    asitis MDL Novice

    Nov 15, 2009
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    LatinMcG, Tito, JeffJG - thank you guys! I'm back in action! Actually writing from my resurrected HP.
    I just wanted to share my little experience just in case it might help someone else. I'm not sure which step actually did the trick but here they are. Well, I used a newer version of "HP Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) Support Environment" than was suggested on my laptop support page. The newer file is called sp60202.exe
    Then i put 2 files from decrypted bios image F0A (thanks to LatinMcG for providing those) into "current" folder on my USB stick, renamed them according to my system ID - 181D.bin & 181D.sig respectively. This didn't work. I then added to the same folder the same files but left their original names - 01818.bin & 01818.sig.
    Now I have 4 files in my folder - and this combination worked for me - bios flashing process started and everything went just fine.
    Now, I don't know if just 2 files named 01818.bin & 01818.sig would do the trick but I would suggest to have 4 of them - just in case.
    My question now is how the heck to I flash the newest bios F24 without damaging my computer again? Should I make a bootable USB and flash from DOS? Which Insyde flash utility should I use then? The one that comes inside the update archive?
    Thank you guys once again! You saved me from a lot of trouble!

    P.S. Oh, yeah, take out your HDD or SSD whichever you have if you see that USB stick is not being read. (Even though USB was 1st to boot from in bios...go figure)