Need newest/current Bios for the HP Pavilion A6614F

[wabrooke]

I tried searching the HP support site for the a current bios since one isn't listed with driver updates, etc.. and I found one that was dated for September 2008, but once I downloaded and started the install, it showed a lower revision (v5.13) than what came installed (v5.14), and an older bios date (5/2008).

I tried the online chat support, and their solution was the stupidest I've ever heard... remove the CMOS battery and it would restore it.

I am a PC technician, and after explaining the unknowledgable customer service chap from India that it only resets the bios to factory defaults, not restores it to a different bios version, he informed me that I would have to send my new computer in to have the bios flashed on the "bench". What a doofus.

All I need is for a Tier 2 Support tech or someone above the foreign dollar saving customer service reps to simply send me the correct spXXXXX.exe file so I can reflash the current bios back to the bios chip.

If the bios I flashed actually worked as it should have (like real bios files do), by preventing it from flashing if it was an older version unless I forced it to do so, then I wouldn't be in this situation.

So if any friendly American techs are on hand, and can actually send me the proper or even updated bios file, I'd certainly appreciate it!

Cheers

[Bill_Hicks]

A few questions: 

Was there a problem that caused you to need to update your BIOS to begin with?

If there are no BIOS files available from HP for your PC, how did you update it previously?

If you haven't updated it previously, why wouldn't removing the CMOS battery work for you? Wouldn't the factory BIOS setting be the one that came installed?

But maybe I'm missing something. I'm certainly not an expert on HP BIOS defaults.

[wabrooke]

I searched the HP site for the motherboard, not just the A6614F (which is a one off production model specifically for the Black Friday sale at Best Buy, no longer even listed on their site or in store). The BIOS date reflected on the PC said it was dated for 06/2008, when searching on HP.com I found one dated for 08/2008, but once I clicked the spXXXXX.exe file and began to install, there was no way of stopping it.

Since this system uses the same motherboard many other systems did, I figured there'd be an updated BIOS, especially since the one installed was dated at least 5 months prior to it's sale (most new systems update their BIOS frequently, especially as new technology and processors are released).

No, I hadn't experienced and problems, but I wanted to update the BIOS to whatever the current BIOS was/is so I don't experience any problems. Rather I'm experiencing issues or not, I always like to have the most current BIOS and any firmware updates available.

For example, on the support driver page for the A6614F, it shows 3 different firmware updates for the optical drive, I have none of those 3 installed. Mine is a Name TSSTcorp CDDVDW TS-H653Q model, while the only TS-H653 model I find listed on the HP site is a TS-H653N.

[Bill_Hicks]

Hmmmm...I hear ya about wanting to stay updated. You may still want to try the CMOS clearing to see if you can get yourself running until HP makes updates...

[wabrooke]

That's not the problem, I know what clearing the CMOS does, again it just resets the BIOS settings to the default settings. The system runs, but now it has the previos BIOS version than what actually shipped on the PC. I now have 5.13, and 5.14 shipped on the system. 5.14 was dated as having a creation date of 06/2008, which tells me that more than likely there is even a more current BIOS version, since I believe without rebooting, that 5.13 is dated 05/2008.

[Bill_Hicks]

ah, gotcha.

HP may just be slow to getting a new BIOS update out or maybe the previous update had issues and they pulled it. I've seen that happen before.... Sorry for my confusion. I was just trying to make sure you got your PC working again.

[wabrooke]

Ok, if somebody that owns an A6614F could do me a favor and use WinFlash and backup their current 5.14 bios and send it to me, I would certainly appreciate it.

Here's a link to WinFlash. http://esupport.com/techsupport/utils/winflash.zip

Just download, extract, open and click file, then select to "Save Old BIOS".

By default, it'll save with the name "awdbios.bin" but you can rename it to 514.bin and save it to another folder if you choose.

This can also be helpful to you in the future if HP releases a BIOS update that causes you problems, and then you'd be able to revert back to your previous BIOS without problems.

Thanks,

Billy