Firmware Rollback F.57 to F.55 " Unable to open Signature file"

[Windy-Bill]

Hello Mike360g1,

I have been trying to follow the string of posts "Firmware Rollback F57 to F.55 "Unable to open Signature file",  but most of it is over my head and I am very reluctant to attempt a rollback if I don't thoroughly understand the process for fear that I will make a bad problem worse. 

It appears to me that you have been able to walk Radway through resolving his issue with F57 on a different machine.  I have not seen anyone else post that their problem was "Solved".

My issue is very similar with slightly different symptoms, but I believe the cause is the same.

My PC seems to run fine "most" of the time unless it is idle for 10 or 15 minutes.  It will freeze and won't respond to, mouse, keyboard, or CTRL/ALT/DELETE commands.  Power off and reboot seems to be the only way to restore normal operation.

The issue began after I installed F.57 BIOS prompted by the HP Support Assistant app on my Pavilion Gaming Desktop 690-0067c running Windows 10 Home 64-bit version: 19045-2546.  (I assume Firmware F.57 is the same as BIOS F.57.)

I know this is a LOT to ask, but I wonder if you would be able to provide a "BIOS Rollback F.57 to F.55 for Dummies" if I provided you with all my system info.  If this is a "Bridge too far", I completely understand.  I can still use my PC with limitations, at least, and will be content to hope that a new BIOS will come out eventually.

Thanks for all that you do for the Community,

[Wildsoldier]

Windy-Bill if you know how to run commands in DOS you should be able to do a rollback. Is really easy I kind of explained the process in this thread: https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Boot-and-Lockup/Computer-is-freezing-after-Bios-Update/m-p/861...

I hope you are able to do it. I have your same model of computer. I tried to explain things here as best as I can but my primary language is not English.

So far no freeze. But be warned if you are able to rollback. The update is still there on windows update. Just don't select to update again the bios.

[Iplayretro]

Hello again everyone. Just wanted to say that after a ton more testing, my computer is completely fixed and stable. I'm even able to use ryzen master and take my ram up too 3200Mhz from 2666Mhz (Each sticks default is 1333 x2 hence 2666Mhz, a bump up to 1600 x2 makes it 3200Mhz and much faster for gaming with 2 8GB sticks in dual channel mode, and it's absolutely stable!) This ami bios tool recovery method is definitely 100% the solution! Thanks again and this is probably my last post. Take care and good luck everyone! 👍 

[Wildsoldier]

Same here. I was even able to re-install a fresh copy of windows 10 without freezing. Something that I was not able to accomplish before with the F.57 firmware. Going back to F.55 using the Ami Bios flash utility with the HP F.55 .bin firmware is the solution to the freezing issue for the 690-0067c model and similar models.

I haven't experience a freeze in this computer since I rollback. F.55 bios firmware is rock solid stable.

[ihutch101101]

HI RadAway 

Apologies for not replying sooner, and hopefully, someone else might have already replied to you and helped you out ( I have been catching up on the additional posts)

A big thank you "Mike" for helping out while I have been busy with other work jobs and for having a go with the AMI flashing utility.

I would emnpty Both "Current" and "New" directories.

The "Previous"  will contain your previous version of the BIOS image which you last upgraded from 

E.g.

• Current will be Version F.57 ( in my case, but the number will vary  depending on the model and troublesome BIOSes)
• New would have anything Higher than 57 ", e.g. F.62, but New is usually empty.
• Previous will be Version F.55 or lower. 

So what I suggest is

1. Clearning Previous is probably not required.
2. Ensuring "Current" is cleared is important because the Windows+B key (possibly V key on laptops) will cause the HP machine to do a BIOS recovery from the Current Folder.
3. Ensuring the "New" is cleared in case somehow HP sees we have flashed "rollback" the BIOS to a version below the one in the "Current" directory and then move the Image from "Current" to "New"

Any thoughts on mounting the EFI partition from inside Windows instead of using a live CD/USB stick? Thankfully I did not re-install Windows, so I might be able to pull this off via remote control.

---

Yes, it is doable, but I have not found a GUI way to see what you are doing.
The only way to mount the EFI partition and remove the files is via DOS Prompts " Command Line"  and in Admin mode.

I have tried to, after assigning a Letter to the EFI partition via the DISKPART command, then access it via Windows Explorer, but it gives me a security warning and is visually inaccessible in the GUI.

Regards

Iain

[ihutch101101]

Hi all

Thank you to Mike360g1, and the suggestion to use "AFUWINx64.exe" helps me.

My method is a little long-winded as using "AFUWINx64.exe /P /B /N /REBOOT" causes the BIOS to be corrupted, and then HP self-restore "recovery" using HP's own BIOS recovery tool and the Image in "EFI/HP/BIOS/Previous"

I am using the same "Aptio_V_AMI_Firmware_Update_Utility" as you have done, from what I can tell, so I am not sure if I am missing something.

I can do everything from Hirens Boot CD, including removing the F.57 image file from "Current" using "mountvol" command.

Basically, I am doing. 

1. first flash with "AFUWINx64" to deliberately corrupt the bios version F.57 to force point 2 below to occur
   
2. force the HP computer to launch BIOS self-recovery and recover the BIOS to a working state using the image version F.55
   

Regards

Iain

[Mike360g1]

Hi Iain

Can't think what you would be missing, maybe the bios file for your PCs aren't compatible with AFUWIN. I had a BIOS flash result in a corrupted BIOS which I hadn't been able to recover, until seeing you post. Which lead me to try using a SSD from another PC and copying the BIOS files into "EFI/HP/BIOS/Previous" it then recovered. So thanks for that.

Are you putting the new BIOS in the "EFI/HP/BIOS/Previous" when deleting the contents of "EFI/HP/BIOS/Current". As I think I might do that from now on in case I have any others fail on Flashing, since my "EFI/HP/BIOS/Previous" has been empty. That might be good practice for others to make sure there is a BIOS image in Previous so HP self-restore can work.

Regards

Michael

[RodrigoReis]

Is anyone here still getting a blue screen (whea uncorrectable error) even after the firmware downgrade?

[Wildsoldier]

I haven’t experienced any blue screen of any kind.

[ihutch101101]

Hi Mike

I have fixed the bad BIOS image issue by taking the F.55 image file from "EFI/HP/BIOS/Previous".  

I am still getting it constantly detecting an F.57 image somewhere, and it wants to update.

I am trying to flash all parts of the BIOS ROM using AFUWIN  in case there is an embedded image on the ROM chip

Regards

Iain