Elitebook X 360 1030 G3 - no TPM-Module after repair?

[Direktor]

Hi everyone,

I'm Ralf (the "Direktor") from Germany - and I just became a member here 🙂
I was a happy user of an Elitebook X360 1030 G3 for some jears - until the display started to come out of the frame in one corner. Shortly after the warranty ended  -of course...

I decided to get it repaired anyways and a HP-technician came and changed the display - and the motherboard too, because of problems with some connectors.

Everything went fine and I was happy to have it working again...

Unfortunately, I did not recognize that windows did not update correctly until it told me, that my windows version (11 Pro) would be out of date??? The regular update procedure didn't help (I did that rgularly anyways).

So, after some digging, I found out, that windows can't detect the TPM-Module - and, without TPM2.0, - no Windows 11, so no updates anymore.

In the BIOS it says TPM ist present and everything looks fine there. I tried different settings there, but Windows keeps telling me: No TPM found. Updating drivers seems not possible, because even the Windows device manager doesn't list the TPM Module.

Any suggestions what I could do?

Thanks for any help 🙂

[Jupitero]

Hello.

The TPM chip is part of the system board (=motherboard). The replaced system board like comes with a very early - year 2018 - firmware versions for all the components, including TPM when this boards was manufactured. Your computer predates Windows 11 and the firmware update may bring additional Windows 11 compatibility.

When your Windows 10/11 installation was working, the firmware was downloaded as part of Windows Updates and kept current.

Download and run the latest HP firmware pack from HP:

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp157501-158000/sp157950.exe

The installation is simple, "next-next-finish" and will prompt you to restart the computer. The actual update takes place after the computer restarts. The update may take up to 15 minutes because the firmware pack will update several component in sequence. The progress is shown on the screen. The computer may turn off several times and stay off for several seconds before turning on automatically again as part of the update process. Be patient.

Check in BIOS that Secure Boot is enabled.

The the problem still persists, you need to contact the HP service and complain that the repair work wasn't satisfactory. Perhaps the replacement part is just faulty, and spare parts have a warranty.

[Direktor]

Hello Jupitero,

thanks so much for your reply 👍

Of course the bios was updated after the board was changed.

I decided to give it a try anyways and downloaded the current version. The tool told me:
Current Version 01.32.00 - New Version 01.32.00 - No Change.

I ran the program anyways, but - as expected - no change.

tpm.msc still tells me. "Es wurde kein kompatibles TPM gefunden" (German for no TPM found)

In DeviceManager there is no trace of anything TPM, even with "Ausgeblendete Geräte anzeigen" (show hidden components).

Security in BIOS tells me: TPM Version 2.0 and available.

I even tried to reset (delete) the TPM with the next start - still nothing.

Secure Boot is activated.

Any other suggestions?

I'm afraid there was only a half year warranty for changed parts (but I'm not sure of that) and it's been at least a year ☹️

[Jupitero]

Hallo,

There is a TPM test in HP UEFI diagnostics. Start your computer and keep hitting F2 when HP logo is shown on screen. If you get a black screen with only disk/memory tests then the HP UEFI diagnostics package is not installed. It can be reinstalled from https://support.hp.com/us-en/help/hp-pc-hardware-diagnostics - under the "Diagnose issues outside of the OS". The HP UEFI diagnostics is installed on a special EFI partition on the storage drive and pressing F2 on boot will then use this comprehensive diagnostics package instead of the BIOS built-in basic diagnostics.

The TPM is a separate chip on the system boards, and like any other electronics, it can fail. The chip cannot be replaced, you would need to replace the system board (again). System boards are the most expensive parts in laptop, along with touch displays.

The Maintenance and Service Guide for X360 1030 G3 lists all system boards models on page 31, so if you really want the board replaced I recommend searching for the different spare part numbers on the internet; there are a lot of online retailers who sell spare parts, not just HP. Another option would be to look for a used 1030 G3 with a broken screen.

The warranty period for replacement part is only 90 days, but I cannot see any harm contacting the service company and asking about it. "Warranty" is something that the manufacturer honors always but consumer protection laws in Germany/EU may entitle you to longer period of guaranteed functionality or perhaps reduced price of the part. If the laptop is bought by your company, then the consumer protection laws do not apply.

[Direktor]

Hello @Jupitero,

thank you again for trying to help me 👍

I finally found the time to try the UEFI Hardware-Test you mentioned.

The Version already installed was outdated (no TPM-Test to be found) - I checked everything regardless with no failures.

I thought, that maybe the newer version of the test would include the TPM-Test and downloaded the actual version, but no luck with that. No specified TPM-Module-Test in the UEFI Hardware Tests. So it seems, you are wrong here?

I again ran every Test available - everything seems to be in perfect condition.

I did not yet run the extended System-Board-Test - but as far as the explanation goes, there also is no TPM-Test included. I will run it this evening, but I'm quite sure it's not going to find anything.

I tried to update BIOS etc (again) - but everything is the latest version. It found a newer USB-Controller Firmware though.

The BIOS still lists TPM as Version 2.0, available and active - but apparently there is no way to check that.

I put the BIOS to "reset TPM at the next start" (again), but it didn't change a thing (again).

So it seems i'm stuck with a running Laptop, but an outdated Version of Windows 11, because I can't update it (the TPM would be required).

Frustrating...

Any more ideas - anyone?

[Jupitero]

Hello.

As far as I know, The UEFI Diagnostics does not show component tests for components that it does not detect.

The likely cause in your case is a failed System Board / TPM chip. Replacing the chip is not feasible outside of electronics repair shops. The only official course of action is to replace the System board.

Because the TPM is not an optional feature but included in every model, I think the BIOS setting is visible regardless if the TPM works or not. The "Reset TPM" option would ask for a confirmation on the next boot, so if you were not presented with a screen asking for this (typically entering series of numbers on screen) then it didn't work - possibly because TPM was not available.

--

I have not tried this, but this article at Tom's Hardware has a part in the middle, "How to Bypass Windows 11 TPM Check From Windows Update", which requires runnin a scripts file downloaded from Github. If you do try this and whether it works or not, please update this message thread for others as well. The script is almost two years old now and may not support latest or future Windows 11 versions.

At least the script looks like it will not intentionally do anything harmful to your computer.