m9500f 5.08 BIOS update -- don't do it

[camattin]

I just started playing with my new m9500f yesterday, and after getting all of the windows updates I came to HP to check for any updated drivers.  The only thing that's newer is a bios update.  Since I've done plenty of bios updates on my old Dells and IBMs I thought this would be uneventful.

The bios update completes... I click ok, the machine reboots and then gets stuck at "Scanning for drives" on the AMD RAID screen.

I'm not the only one this has happened to - at least 2 other people have had this problem (see http://www.vistax64.com/drivers/207658-bios-update-problem.html).

It's a shame that they're still leaving this firmware update for the m9500f's given that it has bricked at least 3 machines.  Probably more that just haven't posted about it.

[erico]

Updating advice.

Never do it all at once. Try a few updates at a time. Do not update the drivers Windws says it has for your third party self installed hardware if it is already working. Especially wirelless adapters!!  Mixing every Windows update possible and BIOS update... Yow!! Sorry to tell you...but that was a bad idea with good intentions.

Changing BIOS with OS in a  RAID installation is never a good idea. Always use a spare drive to do it with a non-RAID OS installed.. Reason: you can corrupt your RAID installation. and the BIOS RAID functions might have changed. It is too bad that HP does not list release notes with the BIOS updates. That is probably what happened to you. 

I know you might flame me for telling you the truth, but these are the rules of thumb that knowlegeable people who do not want surprises generally follow. 

[camattin]

All the updates were not done at once... it took 3 or 4 reboots to get all of the Windows updates loaded.  The system was good after completing all of those.  I had no bad ideas nor intentions.

Also, I don't have a RAID configuration.  This system ships with the RAID controller whether you have one more multiple drives.  I only have one single drive in the system.

I'm not flaming you, but it is interesting the incorrect assumptions you made.

HP are the folks that need to remove this BIOS update for the m9500f systems as it is clear I am not the only one who has experienced this issue.  There was no user error here.

 

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erico wrote:

Updating advice.

Never do it all at once. Try a few updates at a time. Do not update the drivers Windws says it has for your third party self installed hardware if it is already working. Especially wirelless adapters!!  Mixing every Windows update possible and BIOS update... Yow!! Sorry to tell you...but that was a bad idea with good intentions.

Changing BIOS with OS in a  RAID installation is never a good idea. Always use a spare drive to do it with a non-RAID OS installed.. Reason: you can corrupt your RAID installation. and the BIOS RAID functions might have changed. It is too bad that HP does not list release notes with the BIOS updates. That is probably what happened to you. 

I know you might flame me for telling you the truth, but these are the rules of thumb that knowlegeable people who do not want surprises generally follow. 

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[erico]

I extend an apology for my incorrect assumption.

I would, and you might have already done so, downgrade the BIOS back to the previously installed one. 

[camattin]

As I told the chat support rep yesterday, that is not an option.  This model is unable to boot off of any device (USB, hard drive, CD/DVD) until it can get past the AMD RAID ROM init/scanning drives screen.  Hence why I've been referring to it as a 'brick'.  The materials to return the machine should be here tomorrow and hopefully I'll have my new machine by next week.

This thread was just a warning to any other m9500f owner not to do the bios update.

[erico]

Yep. a true "Brick" does make a fancy paperweight.

So... even tapping on F10 during startup does nothing?

[camattin]

Not a single thing.  All of the bios options (F-10 - setup, F-11 - diagnostics, nor ESC - boot order) help out here since all three of them can't go anywhere until the 'Scanning drives' screen is done.

[TheOldMan]

Just a question, but have you tried booting with no hard drive connected? (disconnect the hard drive) This would force that thread to stop, I would think.  Then maybe you can boot to a CD or floppy to return the BIOS to the older version, or at least get into the setup. 

[erico]

@TheOldMan

That is an excellent suggestion. It will probably work

[camattin]

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TheOldMan wrote:
Just a question, but have you tried booting with no hard drive connected? (disconnect the hard drive) This would force that thread to stop, I would think.  Then maybe you can boot to a CD or floppy to return the BIOS to the older version, or at least get into the setup. 

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I did indeed try that... and not just the hard drive, but the DVD as well -- nothing was connected.

A brick is a brick is a brick.

I'm really amazed that HP hasn't removed this update from their downloads for this system yet.