Creating BIOS Recovery USB

[Doublequals]

Hey everyone,

yesterday I changed a setting in my bios called something like "primary display" to "PEG," upon which my computer shut down.  After turning it back on, the computer would remain on for a few seconds, then shut off, then go back on, and so on.  To remedy this, I took out my battery and charger and unplugged the CMOS battery, waited a few minutes, and then put it back in.  After doing this, my computer turns on (the lights on the power button and mousepad light up and the cpu fan and hard drive make noise), however the screen is completely black.  I figure I need to reset my bios via USB or some such method.  I tried holding windows key + b and pressing the power button, however this did not help.  I have looked at the hp guide to updating the bios here http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c00042629, but I am unable to follow the instructions for a usb recovery device up to a certain point.  The tutorial describes that after agreeing to the user agreement for the bios installer downloaded from the website (mine is named SP60655) I should be prompted with an HP System BIOS Update Utility window, however no such window appears.  Instead, the installer simply creates a folder in ProgramFiles(x86) named SP60655 containing 3 .exe files and one .bat file.

Hopefully the experts can help me with this, I really don't want to have to buy another BIOS chip,

Thanks.

[EmeraldAvenger]

Hi there @Doublequals, 

Welcome to the HP Support Community! I read your post and wanted to reach out to help you! I understand that you are having an issue creating a BIOS recovery USB. You had mentioned that you had already tried to do the reset the BIOS and that the HP System BIOS Update Utility window never appears. I also see that you are using Linux. 

Many HP notebook computers have an HP BIOS Restore tool to recover the BIOS from an earlier version and restore basic functionality on Windows Operating Systems. I know that you had already tried to do the BIOS restore. I am not sure that the BIOS restore would work on a Linux Operating System using the download you are trying to use. If I understand correctly the Windows BIOS download will not work on Linux. 

I am unaware of what the Linux process would be to Restore the BIOS. Unfortunately, you would have to find that information within the Linux Support Scope. Linux Support for any distribution (Fedora, Ubuntu, Red Hat etc...) is only supported through http://hplip.sourceforge.net/. Here is a link to a document called HP Notebook PCs - Frequently Asked Questions About Linux (FAQs) and Frequently Asked Questions About Linux (FAQs). We do not troubleshoot Linux OS.

If you had a Windows Operating System on your Notebook, the following instructions would probably have worked for you if you followed them one by one again to Restore the BIOS:

• Turn off the computer.
• Plug the notebook into a power source using the power adapter.
• Press and hold the  Windows key and the B key at the same time while the  computer is off.
• Still pressing the Windows and B keys, press and hold down the  Power button on the notebook for 1 second, and then release the  Power button and the keys.

The Power LED light remains on, and the screen remains blank for 30 to 60 seconds. You might hear beeping sounds. Eventually, an HP BIOS Update screen displays and the BIOS updates automatically.

If the HP BIOS Update screen does not display, find your condition from the following options and then follow the steps for that condition:

• Computer boots into Windows
  If your computer is able to boot into Windows, update the BIOS to the latest version using the standard BIOS update procedure. Follow these steps for your type of computer:
  • Updating the BIOS (Notebooks)
• Power LED light turns off
  The computer turns off if you press and hold the   power button too long. Repeat steps 1 through 4 above, this time press and hold the   power button down for between one to three seconds in step 4.
• After repeated attempts, the HP BIOS Update screen does not open
  Your computer does not support this function or it has a hardware problem that is preventing the tool from opening.

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Please re-post with the results of the troubleshooting.

Have a great day!

[Doublequals]

Hello,

thank you for your response, I am still looking into some of the resources you have provided, however I have a few questions.  My intention was to create a BIOS recovery usb from a machine running windows to reflash the BIOS on my notebook, which runs linux as well as (which I neglected to mention in my initial post) windows 7.  Would I be incorrect in assuming that, once properly created, a BIOS recovery usb would work indiscriminate of operating system as the operating system should not affect the BIOS?

Additionally, I believe it is worth mentioning that while my notebook dual boots both windows and linux, with both operating systems occupying separate partitions on the same hard drive, due to (atleast what I perceive to be) my corrupt bios, I am unable to boot into either of them.  This being said, unfortunately the instructions given to restore my BIOS have had no effect.

I appreciate the response and am currently still looking into the resources you provided, I hope to hear more from you,

thanks.

[Doublequals]

Also, I've noticed that upon extracting the exe files yielded from the installation process, I get a bin file named 017FC.bin.  Could this perhaps be the .bin file for the BIOS?  Could I simply put this on a USB to create a BIOS recovery usb?

[EmeraldAvenger]

Hey @Doublequals, 

I honestly cannot say for sure if you can use the bin file to create a BIOS recovery USB. It may or may not work. What you can do is you can try and make a BIOS recovery USB from another Notebook with the prerequisite Operating System. 

The software that you would run to create the USB drive was designed for a windows machine. Once it is created, it might work regardless of OS installed, most likely.

Have a great day!