HP 24-r159c locks up when booting up

[Séb]

Thanks for helping, but sorry to disapoint, a hard disk having issues would not prevent me from going into the BIOS.

I should be able to enter BIOS even if all drive , working or not are connected.  Here's what happen: this pc see my F10 keystroke (I see "setup" in down right) and then I still have the blue screen and hard disk error 3F4. 

This is clearly a motherboard/bios/cmos issue. Other reasons that all points toward that is that for the few times I'm able to enter the BIOS  to change boot order or disable, after a while all my changes are gone! A disc in error will not do that. 

Even if I disable the boot partitions and leave only my rescue USB key and try to boot from there it still says hard disk error (3F4). 

Even the error itself points toward motherboard/bios/cmos issue as there is no hard disk in position 4.

Is there any motherboard replacement for that model ?? The fact that it broke 2 month after the initial warranty expiration leaves me really disapointed toward HP.

[Gregjdyck]

Just a quick update on this.  I'm now running advanced diagnostics using the HP UFEI hardware diagnostics.  I've been running it for 24 hours on the "loop until error" setting and so far no errors!  Very strange given I had a couple of blue screens during the Windows reinstall.  The diagnostics are unable to run the DST test on the SSD or the 1TB spinning disk because it is unavailable but everything else seems to be running fine so far.  The only other thing I can think of is that there is an issue with the 1TB HDD.

[itsmyname]

@Séb -- 

1.  a hard disk having issues would not prevent me from going into the BIOS.

Maybe. If a disk-drive does not respond at power-up, the BIOS could "freeze", waiting for a response that is not forthcoming.

2. I still have the blue screen and hard disk error 3F4. 

Sometimes, a BIOS can be configured to "require" or "ignore" any SATA device that is connected.

So, if your BIOS is set to "required", but there is nothing connected, you will get an error-message.

Also, remember that "SATA 1" is associated with "3F0". 

This implies that "SATA 5" is associated with "3F4" -- "five" versus "4".

Also, your computer may have 4 SATA ports,: 3F0/3F1/3F2/3F3,  and one M.2 socket which is "3F4".

3. after a while all my changes are gone! 

That could be a failing CMOS battery on the motherboard -- not giving any "trickle" of power to the CMOS, causing the CMOS to revert to its "factory" settings.

4. Even if I disable the boot partitions and leave only my rescue USB key and try to boot from there it still says hard disk error (3F4). 

Can you experimentally disconnect the data & power cables from the 1 TB disk-drive, and then restart?

Do you still get the error-message, or did the disconnection of the 1 TB disk-drive "solve" your issue?

Further, remove the M.2 stick, without reconnecting the 1 TB disk-drive.

Do you still get the error-message, when the M.2 device is not attached?

That would be strange!

5. there is no hard disk in position 4

See #4 -- whlie  the SATA ports could be 1/2/3/4,  those ports are associated with "3F0" through "3F3" - not with "3F4".

So, which "4" do you mean: 

* SATA port #4,

* the device associated with "3F4" ?

[Gregjdyck]

So I was very optimistic and thought the SSD replacement had fixed the problem after running the UFEI hardware diagnostics and coming up with no issues, I even upgraded it to Windows 11 and thought it was clear sailing.  But sadly, when I moved it back to it's rightful place on the desk in the kitchen, after using it for a couple of days with no issues, back to the exact same problem.  It's hanging at the HP logo again.  I've also had a couple of blue screens as well.  Any thoughts  @itsmyname on where to go from here?

[Séb]

Already did all the tests possible with no errors (HD an SSD). Sent to a  computer technician : computer is going to the junk. Cause : Motherboard  intermittent issue. Fortunately I bought it with my credit card and am eligible for an extended warranty so I will have a brand new pc. But no HP this time.

[Gregjdyck]

Yes, I think that's the likely outcome for mine as well.  If that's the case I definitely will not buy another HP.

[Gregjdyck]

So I still have not resolved the issue.  I actually took it in to a repair shop.  They had it for three weeks, ran diagnostics on it and didn't have any problems with it at all!  I brought it home again, used it for 10 minutes, tried using the HP Scan and Print software to scan a document and it hung again.  Rebooted and back to the same exact issue.  Freezing at the HP logo when the hourglass is spinning.

I thought I would try to update the BIOS, thinking maybe it's a BIOS or CMOS problem.  I tried updating that and it hung in the middle of that.  I've tried resetting the BIOS on the motherboard and now it says it's corrupt.  I've created a USB Flash drive with the BIOS software on it and it won't read the USB.  It tries and then says that "BIOS recovery files can't be found or the files are corrupt."  Almost ready to brick this thing just like my last HP AIO.

Any suggestions?

[Séb]

My old hp-24r59c, may it rests in peace now, got Its usable parts thar now helps other people as it was salvage. I have a new pc and never been happier since. 

As a thought I think you are in the throw away phase of Ecclesiastical 3:6 "A time to keep and a time to throw away"

[itsmyname]

@Gregjdyck --  "BIOS recovery files can't be found or the files are corrupt." 

Have you tried removing all the sticks of RAM, except for one stick, and then running HP Hardwaer Diagnostics against that stick of RAM?  Repeat, one by one, for each stick of RAM.

If a friend writes information on a greasy chalkboard, and you cannot clearly read 100% of what was written, anything you try to do with that information may cause a "fault".  Think about "rocket science" -- one "period" in some programming where a "comma" should have been caused a situation where an "auto-destruct" command was necessary to be sent to the missile.  Similarly, bad RAM can manifest elsewhere.

[Gregjdyck]

I can't even get the BIOS recovered from its corrupt state so I don't think I'll be able to even get to the HP diagnostics and I don't have another PC to use for this unfortunately. I did try removing one stick of RAM at a time to see if it makes a difference but the BIOS recovery process still hangs.  Ironically, removing a stick of memory allowed it to get to 70% recovery before it hangs instead of 50%.  But it still hangs.  Not sure if that provides more of a clue as to why it won't finish the recovery?  I've tried recovering from multiple different sources (SSD, different USB drives) and also different BIOS versions and it always does the same thing.

I've seen a number of reports of BIOS issues with HP AiO machines and people saying they can't get it resolved and having to brick the machine.  I hope that's not where I am.