Pushing HP BIOS Settings - Error 11

[Adurrant]

Hi guys,

Hoping to find people that have managed to push HP BIOS settings via OSD (Windows 10), I've pretty much followed this guide (only the folder structures are slightly different) but I'm having issues actually deploying the settings, setting the BIOS password seems to work okay and I've read that for certain TPM settings to be pushed then a BIOS password must be set prior.

My folder setup:

BIOS Config settings to push:

BIOSConfig 1.0
;
;     Originally created by BIOS Configuration Utility
;     Version: 4.0.24.1
;     Date="2018/03/20" Time="14:53:23" UTC="0"
;
;     Found 215 settings
;
Virtualization Technology (VTx)
    Disable
    *Enable
    Reset to default
TPM Reset to Factory Defaults
    *No
    Yes
Reset of TPM from OS
    *Disable
    Enable
OS Management of TPM
    Disable
    *Enable
Activate TPM On Next Boot
    Disable
    *Enable
TPM Device
    Hidden
    *Available
TPM Activation Policy
    F1 to Boot
    Allow user to reject
    *No prompts
    Hide
TPM Device Security Level
    Change
    *View
    Hide
OS Management of TPM Security Level
    Change
    *View
    Hide
Reset of TPM from OS Security Level
    Change
    *View
    Hide

Task sequence setup:

The bios password sets just fine, but in the SMSTS log I see the following for BIOS settings - HP EliteBook 840 G2 itself:

Have attached the SMSTS.log.

Any help would greatly be appreciated, I've been working on this for the last couple of days without success, I've tried:

• Adding CMD.exe /C prefix (same error)
• Changing the format of the file to repset (same error)
• Ran the command manually on the device and works just fine with the same configuration files (as .txt and .repset)
• Tried running the steps in WinPE rather than in the operating system (same error)

Thanks in advance.

[Patty-B]

Hello @Adurrant,

Thank you for visiting the HP Forum.  After discussing your post with one of the experts, I received the following content:

#####
HP BIOS Configuration Utility (BCU) - User Guide
https://whp-hou4.cold.extweb.hp.com/pub/caps-softpaq/cmit/whitepapers/BIOS_Configuration_Utility_Use...

HP BIOS Configuration Utility - FAQ
http://whp-hou4.cold.extweb.hp.com/pub/caps-softpaq/cmit/whitepapers/HP_BCU_FAQ.pdf

Error Code 11: Config file not valid.
BCU was unable to locate the configuration file or unable to read the file at the specified path.
#####

[Patty-B]

Hello @Adurrant,

Thank you for visiting the HP Forum.  After discussing your post with one of the experts, I received the following content:

HP BIOS Configuration Utility (BCU) - User Guide
https://whp-hou4.cold.extweb.hp.com/pub/caps-softpaq/cmit/whitepapers/BIOS_Configuration_Utility_Use...

HP BIOS Configuration Utility - FAQ
http://whp-hou4.cold.extweb.hp.com/pub/caps-softpaq/cmit/whitepapers/HP_BCU_FAQ.pdf

Error Code 11: Config file not valid.
BCU was unable to locate the configuration file or unable to read the file at the specified path.

[soccer_dan]

as mentioned in the other answer, error 11 is - BCU was unable to locate the configuration file or unable to read the fileat the specified path - you will need to make sure that both the answer file and the password bin files are available on the client at the time the utility runs

in addition, run BCU with just the pwd change (no config file) and then run bcu with config changes as needed for the BIOS. From the User Guide:

Use the following sample command to create a setuppassword on a system with no existing password:

     BIOSConfigUtility.exe /nspwdfile:"new password.bin"

.

[Adurrant]

Thanks everyone, the file is now set to .repset format and is in the same directory, I'm still getting the error code 11 message, however if I copy the exact contents of the folder and copy and paste the cmd and run it directly on the machine itself it works just fine.

Should I perharps use the 32bit version of the biosconfig tool?

[Adurrant]

Just to add, the set bios password step works just fine...

[soccer_dan]

if i was troubleshooting this, i would disable the 2nd bcu command step and just run the 1st setting the BIOS password. After knowing that it works, then i would add the end bios setting task step. from your dirst post, since setting the bios password failed, the 2nd bcu run would fail as well

also, for testing, i would hit F8 in Winpe on the client after it boots, and see if all the files for BCU are where it expects it to be. just some ideas

[Adurrant]

Hi Soccer_Dan,

Setting the BIOS password works fine.. it's setting the BIOS settings itself is where it fails.

[soccer_dan]

i notice that there are discrepancies running the 2 BCU steps. in the first one you use CMD, while the 2nd one (that fails) you do not. is there a specific reason for that?

i would also make the BCU answer txt file as small as possible removing any settings that are not required, except for the very first line, which must be there

[baker_999]

Did anyone get a solution to this? I'm having exactly the same issue - BIOS pw reset works fine, but applying a configuration doesn't . I've checked NTFS permissions on the config file (the SCCM service account has full access) - but same error everytime.