Laptop fails to see HDD/SSD new MB, new SSD, new Cables, even tried a working mechanical HDD...

[Screwedover]

Title says it all... Aside from what has happened outside of the problems (real life).

Problems started, daughter was having lock ups, hdd was making nasty noises... Ok, she probably dropped it, but it's working. Lets upgrade to SSD. Power off, remove battery, press power button to purge power... Open service panel, remove hdd, insert SSD. Power on to go to bios... 3F0 (missed the bios button apparently, learned that it's F10... So 3F0 gives advice to press F2 to diagnose *** NOT THE UEFI VARIANT). Pressing F2 Hard drive does not exist... OK... Power off, power on, F10... Bios has NO options to see hard drives, only to diagnose... Ok... Lets diagnose in Bios (Hard drive does not exist) SURPRISE!!! Same tests as the F2 (not UEFI variant as HP suggests it is).

I think it needs a bios update since it isn't UEFI Bios, but I notice people have had problems with the HDD cable, seems delicate, so maybe I was too rough with it, so we bought 2 from China. Since HP refuses to acknowledge the issue when I spoke with them (OUT OF WARRANTY ~Here's what it sounds like when I hangup on you~). Great, ok so China parts come in. Put one on/in and 3F0. Ok, so no Bootable OS found, or no HDD found, bios reports HDD Does not Exist!...

Try 2nd cable from China... Same results...

Took in to a computer repair shop... Ohhh your motherboard is bad, it should be seeing the HDD with everything you have tried... Motherboard arrives, EXACT SAME ISSUE... Pulled hdd's and SSD's aside, tested all of them, 100% functional, even the original drive boots to another PC (noisy but functional).

What gives? Please do ask me for all these silly codes you want, because I already told you 3F0 is the only ones we've seen. Reviewing the diagnostic log shows same results. Only 3F0...

2 laptop motherboards, even tried different ram, DVD boots from both ports on both laptops. So to me that didn't show signs of needing a new motherboard, but hey, worth a shot. Do we need a special driver for this to function. Possible my China cords are bad, but the original looks good and has the same result... Even tried it 1st on the replacement motherboard. I feel it's because the orignal hdd doesn't boot any longer to Windows 10, Bios calls for Win7. SSD is blank, and other hdd is blank. Restore DVD starts, gets to what hdd to install to and none listed... What voodoo doctor do I talk to?

[Screwedover]

Could this be due to a faulty CPU? That's about the only other thing I could think of, unless I just got some botch cables from China. Not surprising as that's where HP stuff comes from too (and everything else in the world mostly now), so nothing against importing, until it don't work anymore. 😛

[Screwedover]

Could the CPU be to blame for this issue somehow? I would like to extend my thanks to all that has replied... Clearly I don't know a guy...

[Vucci]

Sometimes it can be just simply making sure it's in the correct boot order.  Make sure USB Drive is the first to boot.  I formatted my HP laptop and was only able to reinstall windows by doing this and also boot into LEGACY MODE.  

Combination of legacy mode and booting up with USB drive as first order fixed my problem with fresh formatted Hdd for my

HP 15-bs115dx 

Let me know how it turns out.  Good luck.  

[Jaxon321]

I have a similar issue with my hp spectre too. 3f0 code, wont boot up, no boot system found, legacy mode, secure mode, change boot order, i can name them all cause i tried everything. i took the laptop to a repair place and they told me it need a new motherboard which would cost $500. of course I don't have that much money laying around. plus after seeing your post, new motherboard probably won't fix it anyway. however, the hard drive test did pass on my laptop but it just wont boot up!!! A flagship premium HP laptop should last for more than 2.5 years!!!  and customer service won't help because it's out of warranty of course. they treated you like god for the first year but once your warranty expired, it's like you never brought a laptop from them........ 

[Screwedover]

This laptop is supposed to have UEFI bios by now, but for whatever reason it doesn't. So there is no Legacy mode. My bios doesn't show any hard drives, or Optical drives for that matter. I am able to change boot order. I have tried that, but will try again as you say it's specific. I can boot to Windows 10 USB and start install, but it does not show hard drive. So install cannot continue. New motherboard has same bios (no UEFI) so I really thought that would fix it, I can't find support for Bios to get the proper bios on it, as HP is here for shills... This really shouldn't ever be this complex... Proprietary is **bleep**! We should never support this type of crap if we want long term machines... I can boot my Dell laptop up and swap HDD's all day long and install Windows 10 (or any variety) and it see's the hard drive all day... There is no boot order that removes hard drive support entirely. And if there is, it's worded incorrectly... I appreciate your help, but this one is really out there... It's bizarre! I'm a computer technician, and I really thought it was the motherboard. Now I feel like it might be the cable... Some incompatibility or wrongly wired cable. Or... HP just deleted the hard drive option in these bios to truly end support? I really am at a loss as to what to think. Seems pointless to support a company that makes such products...

[Screwedover]

@Vucci

This laptop is supposed to have UEFI bios by now, but for whatever reason it doesn't. So there is no Legacy mode. My bios doesn't show any hard drives, or Optical drives for that matter. I am able to change boot order. I have tried that, but will try again as you say it's specific. I can boot to Windows 10 USB and start install, but it does not show hard drive. So install cannot continue. New motherboard has same bios (no UEFI) so I really thought that would fix it, I can't find support for Bios to get the proper bios on it, as HP is here for shills... This really shouldn't ever be this complex... Proprietary is **bleep**! We should never support this type of crap if we want long term machines... I can boot my Dell laptop up and swap HDD's all day long and install Windows 10 (or any variety) and it see's the hard drive all day... There is no boot order that removes hard drive support entirely. And if there is, it's worded incorrectly... I appreciate your help, but this one is really out there... It's bizarre! I'm a computer technician, and I really thought it was the motherboard. Now I feel like it might be the cable... Some incompatibility or wrongly wired cable. Or... HP just deleted the hard drive option in these bios to truly end support? I really am at a loss as to what to think. Seems pointless to support a company that makes such products...

[Screwedover]

@Jaxon321

Silly question probably, but have you tried just putting a Windows 10 USB installation thumb drive in and booting to it to see if it will install? You've got a step further than me, so I would think from what I read you should be able to install Windows 10 (as Vucci said, boot order would need to be changed to USB device). I hope that helps you at least. Please let me know if that helps, or if it doesn't work still. Would be very odd if it didn't work I feel.

[Jaxon321]

yeah I tried that too. reinstalling window is like the ultimate solution to any pc software problem right? But sadly the laptop acted like the SD card is not there. Again, I tried to use the SD card on another laptop and it read the boot file just fine and i was able to proceed to reinstall windows.  But on my spectre x360 it was just the same error message. I tried every option in the boot order.  gonna try to use a usb stick to see if it would work. 

[Echo_Lake]

@Jaxon321

Thank you for posting on HP Support Community.

Don't worry as I'll be glad to help, I have a few troubleshooting steps we could try to fix the issue:  

Go into device manager and uninstall the card reader, it should be listed as IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers.

This will uninstall and reinstall the driver for the card reader.

1. Open Device Manager (Hold Windows + X key and select device manager)

2. Follow the instructions in the preceding procedure to uninstall the device.

3. If you are prompted to restart the computer, follow these steps:

   • Plugin the device and then restart the computer. The device will be detected and reinstalled after Windows restarts.
   • Follow any instructions on-screen to complete the installation.
      

4. If you are not prompted to restart the computer, follow these steps:

   • In Device Manager, in the Action menu, click Scan for hardware changes.

*Note: Scan for hardware changes will not reinstall a Plug and Play device if a driver is already installed on the computer. If the device has not been uninstalled, Scan for hardware changes will not detect the connection of the device as a change. You must uninstall a Plug and Play device for Windows to start an installation when you connect the device again. If the issue persists, try the first driver on the list from the link below: Click here

Hope this helps! Keep me posted for further assistance.
Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.