HP 290 G1 SFF won't boot after BIOS update

KevinMcA · ‎01-14-2021

Good afternoon,

I'm having difficulties with my HP290 G1 SSF PC, where the PC isn't starting after a BIOS Update. Please may I ask...

1) I understand I can perform a BIOS 'restore'. I've visited https://support.hp.com/gb-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-290-g1-small-form-factor-pc/21761568 and I can see 2 BIOS options. How do I tell if I have 'ROM Family SSID 843F' or 'ROM Family SSID 8440'? I'm concerned I could do permanent damage if I choose the wrong one.

2) This happened after I reinstalled Windows 10 Pro...after a restart (possibly as part of windows updates), the BIOS update screen was displayed. I opted to update to the latest, but after the BIOS update concluded, it was just a blank screen, and has been pretty much ever since. Using the power button / Win+B key command, I've managed to get the BIOS Update back again, but only once (and after it concluded, I still couldn't boot). All subsequent attempts don't result in anything being displayed...just a blank screen. A couple of times I've managed to get the 8 beeps, but again, nothing on screen. Are there any other options available to me??

3 If I can't recover the BIOS, do I have any other options? The only thing I can think of is to replace the motherboard...is that a possibility, and are there any better options before I get to that point?

I'd be very grateful for any help that could be offered.

Thanks,
Kevin

KevinMcA · ‎01-15-2021

UPDATE: Resolved

For any others that have similar issues, if you can, try plugging your PC into a VGA monitor (assuming you're using HDMI output in the first place). Although I did see the BIOS recovery screen once on my HDMI monitor, when I double-checked that the display wasn't the problem, by using an old VGA monitor, it turned out that the display was the problem, because straight away I saw the BIOS recovery screen and from then I was able to complete the recovery.

I suspected my PC wasn't totally dead as I would get occasional 8 beeps (or alternate lots of 2 loud, 2 quite beeps after performing the CTRL+B action on start-up), which indicated to me that the thing was alive - the beep patterns I believe indicating that this was a BIOS issue.

Just in case this is of any help to anyone.