Z840 - 40 minutes to boot Windows 10?!?!

[wmc]

Brand new with Win 10 installed on internal drive.  The system sits with just hp logo on the screen for 40 minutes or more, quiescent disk light, keyboard disabled (cap / num lock do not change lock light indicators on keyboard) before the Windows "whirli-gig' shows and the lock screen appears.  I have added nothing to the HP os install.  I completed the install, created a local account, rebooted (waited in excess of one hour) then ran Windows Update.  That reboot took 3 hours.   Now I just changed the computer name for my small in-house 5 computer, two printer network which requires a reboot.  I am 30 minutes in still waiting for the lock screen.

I looked at the disk layout and it was flat out WIERD!!.  It was a GPT, with the SYS partition starting 300 MB into the disk, then an empty gig, then a 10 GB recovery partition whose drive letter can't be changed.  The recovery disk has three entries in the disk manager all of which point to two "partitions" - the empty one 900 mb, and 10 gb lettered recovery partition.

Ooops  Now I have an all white screen with system information, followed by the line

"SERVICE--------------------------------------------------"

then SN, SKU, UUID, Asset Tracking No, Ownership tag, Feature Byte, System Board ID. 

I guess that means a bad product?

Do I need to return it?

[erico]

It does appear to have issues.

I will ask to have your issue escalated.

This is Sunday, so please be patient and wait to be contacted by a Moderator or an HP service Engineer.

[wmc]

Man, I did not realize how screwed up HP really has gotten since my z800 (whose MB died which is why I decided to get the z840). 

I somehow inadvertanty got into the diagnostic menus and ran the "extensive" system test and some individual component tests, all of which passed.  After a power down for the machine and a little sleep for me, I powered it back up, this time I only had about 4 mins of HP logo before the whirligig appeared and about 45 seconds later, the lock screen.

This machine is set for UEFI, and for some reason, they decided not to load keyboard drivers until the OS is loaded.  So, with a bootable Windows 10 install disk in the optical drive, you cannot "Press any key to boot from CD...."  You also cannot access the F10 setup menus unless you happen to have an older PS2 keyboard laying around (which fortunately I do).  So I tried to figure out how to turn on the messages while UEFI is booting so I can see what is going on (like the old days of the BIOS loading messages) but once I FINALLY could get to the F10 menus, there was no option to turn on messages during boot.  So all I get is the HP logo - I have no way of knowing what is loading in which order or if there is anything in the UEFI  menus that can change that.

It also appears I can't change boot order like I could on the old machine.  It seems optical drive is the last option after several networking options (IPv4, IPV6, VPN, LAN etc.) and USB - but since the USB drivers appear not be loaded until the OS starts to load, I don't know how this would even work.

Anyway, now I have a bare, fresh SSHD installed and a PS2 keyboard hooked up with the Windows install disk in the optical drive.  Time to see if I can just install Windows from scratch and get a system that doesn't create a user directory I don't want (and that doesn't have the same name as the user) and trash the disk HP sent with the OS install on it.  Just can't do anything with it - change drive letter on the recovery partition, convert to MBR or even execute the recovery to start over from scratch.  (Supposed to be able to do that with "Windows One Button Reset" but God knows how to execute that...)

[Malygris1]

Hi @wmc,

I have brought your issue to the attention of an appropriate team within HP. They will likely request information from you in order to look up your case details or product serial number. Please look for a private message from an identified HP contact. Additionally, keep in mind not to publicly post serial numbers and case details.

If you are unfamiliar with how the Forum's private message capability works, this post has instructions.

[Ro808]

In my experience (even HP) computers sometimes seem to behave like humans, i.e. strange and unpredictable.

Recently, I tried to perform a Windows 10 upgrade on a brand new HP ProBook 450G3 which came with Windows 7 pre installed and a seprate Windows 10 DVD (which is remarkable because the 450G3 lacks a DVD station).

After numerous efforts to push the upgrade (from the standard Windows update procedure to the use of the Media Creation Tool), I ended up converting the BIN  DVDimage to an ISO image with PowerIso, which I then installed on a bootable USB with Rufus.

Voila! I finally managed to install Windows 10. I had to perform some manual tweaks, update the Bios and solve some driver issues, but since this June my neighbour is very happy with her 450G3.  This tiny laptop boots to the Windows 10 desktop in 5-7!!! seconds after pushing the power button, it is near-silent and runs most apps without breaking a sweat (even Adobe Photoshop). 

Unfortunately, my neighbour would never have succeeded on her own. 

Ok, now on to your Z840, a nice beast of a machine. 

To cut a long list of possible (hardware related) issues short to a few simple check points:

- Is your Z840 Hardware Configuration different from the 'Base System'? Sometimes Raid controllers or specific harddrive(s) setups may cause similar problems like you have encoutered.

- Are there any peripherals (external hardware) connected? Please disconnect them before you have the bare system running properly.

- Remove the bios battery for at least 1 minute and put it back in the slot, this will clear your cmos.

- Check the UEFI settings in the Bios, before installation of Windows 10. 

Judging from the GPT (GUID) partition table, you have installed Windows 10 in 'UEFI only mode'.

You may need to set up your BIOS to enable 'legacy mode'  in order to get rid of your boot issues.

For more information on this topic, I would suggest you read this:

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Operating-Systems-and-Recovery/Boot-UEFI-or-Legacy-tips/td-p/21...

- Please, check: 

http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/swd/public/readIndex?sp4ts.oid=6978843&swLangOid=8&swEnvOid=4192

and perform updates in this specific order of importance:

1. Bios
2. Chipset
3. Storage
4. Other drivers/software.

- Finally, once you manage to have your Windows 10 activated, I would suggest to perform a clean install by using the Windows 10 media creation tool and a usb-pendrive as mentioned in the first part of this post.

Link tot the Microsoft site:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

You could format/delete the current partitions before installing Windows. In doing so, you are likely to gain a significant amount of disk space and some performance by getting rid of some unnecessary bloatware etc.

Remember to check for missing drivers in Windows' Device manager after a clean install.

Hope this helps and please, report your findings.

[wmc · Accepted solution]

Turns out to have been faulty hardware.  (It finally "gave it up" with the POST error:  "929 Fatal MCA Error
CBO / LLCO error in CPU0  Core 671 08864 Data L2 Cache Data Read Error CPU0" after being powered on for 45 minutes one day.)

So I got an RMA, boxed the unit up and dropped it off at FedEx with the pre-paid labels HP sent.  The next day they processed a refund.  Apparently, since I ordered without a GFX card, they do not exchange faulty units in the first 30 days as the web store states.  So I had to duplicate the config for a new order.

The bad news was, after waiting 19 days for the new one, spending nearly 5 days trying to get the thing to work properly (or give some concrete info as to whether the problem was software, hardware, faulty product, or cockpit error) then having to re-order the workstation, the price went up $200 for the exact same product.  

And I am now waiting again on a replacement for the croaked z800, so it will likely be 5 - 6 weeks from the time it died just to get working replacement hardware (laptops and tablets are no substitute, I can ASSURE you), and another month before I get all the apps back on, configured and running "as usual".   So a total of 10 - 11 weeks of much reduced productivity because of a workstation failure - makes one think seriously about having a "hot-spare" just in case.

Anyway, I guess we get to mark this one as "resolved".

wmc

[Calaudude]

whats the main difference from z800 - z820 - z840?

[wmc]

z800 was in the first generation of z workstations ( got mine in 2009).  The z840 is the latest, and z820 was in between.

[Ro808]

Do you have to pay the $200 difference due to the raised price for a specswise identical unit?

I advise you to refer this matter to HP Business Support, because it seems very unreasonable to pay the extra 200 in this  

'warranty' case.

Quote:

And I am now waiting again on a replacement for the croaked z800, so it will likely be 5 - 6 weeks from the time it died just to get working replacement hardware (laptops and tablets are no substitute, I can ASSURE you), and another month before I get all the apps back on, configured and running "as usual".   So a total of 10 - 11 weeks of much reduced productivity because of a workstation failure - makes one think seriously about having a "hot-spare" just in case.

I guess you meant "croaked z840" ? 

I very much agree with you that Laptops and tablets are by no means a (serious) substitute for a PC, let alone a Workstation.

[Ro808]

Either a Z800, Z820 or Z840 would crush the performance of any laptop or tablet, especially with regards to high end computing (3D/CAD Design etc.)  

In this respect, my EliteBook Workstation doesn't even come close to my good 'ol xw6600.