HP Omen 25L went dark during BIOS update

[ikeaboy]

Hi,

I just tried to update my HP Omen 25L BIOS via Windows update. The update started well and I could see the progress bar slowly advancing. During the update I went away from the computer for a while and when I came back, the computer was still on, but the screen was black. There is no power on the keyboard.

When I restart the computer, the screen reacts to it by switching away from my other computer - it clearly gets some impulse from there but no picture ever comes up. The keyboard never gets power, it just stays dark.

I tried resetting the BIOS by the HP instructions - no help. Tried recovering the BIOS by HP instructions, no help - probably because the keyboard doesn't even get power.

Is my BIOS permanently fried up and next step is replacing the MB?

Thanks,

_petteri

[JohnDeMol]

Seems our PCs all got broken by someone at HP pushing some update through the pipeline that wasn't supporting our CPUs.
I'm guessing you're running a 5000-series Ryzen CPU?
In any case, I fear our only solution will be either to reflash a proper BIOS or to replace the motherboard entirely.

To anyone coming across this post in the future, the initial recovery methods are described here, the rest of this post is only relevant if you have tried those and they don't work: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/ish_3966820-3438449-16

I have ordered a BIOS flashing tool and will let you know how that goes, you should probably make a ticket with HP support and see what your options are in terms of claiming warranty & repair.

Edit: FYI information to me the flashing process seems doable, albeit highly advanced. The alternative is to claim warranty & let HP sort it out.
They'll probably just replace the entire board lmao, or send you a functioning PC they have in stock, which potentially might run into the same issue in the future.
I tend to be too impatient to wait & prefer to be ready for this instance occurring again in my PC or those of friends/family.
I decided to take the risk because of the abovementioned points and the fact that it can't really get much worse, but you are hardware flashing directly into a chip.
For the love of god, try to find out what voltage your BIOS chip takes or don't even attempt it. I initially thought it would be 3(.3?)V, but the second video shows that chips can be 1.8V, looking up the product page for my chip gave me a range of 1.65V-2V, thus eliminating 3V programming and requiring the 1.8V Adapter for the CH341a Programmer. Honestly HP should step up and fix this, but depending on your location a technician might be impossible to get on-site.
Here's some people doing it:

He made it look easy, this guy however... makes it look hard, as he hits every possible pit-fall in the process:

[ikeaboy]

Yep, 5000-series Ryzen here...

[JohnDeMol]

So there are some options to recover the bios.

You should try those first, there is the one with just the keypress (windows+b & held powerbutton for 2-3sec on boot) or the one with a USB flash drive and the same keypress.

You should try those first, but they won't work if you've done a clean windows install (Non-HP).

See my post about bios resetting: https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Boot-and-Lockup/No-video-out-on-boot-after-Windows-11-update-H...

[Yoron]

Ouch John, that's rather advanced 🙂 What you're planning to do. But how come there is no power to the guys keyboard and screen? That's weird I think? Even without a working bios you should get power, shouldn't you? If it is a USB keyboard that's dark but with the computer chassis working, fans and lights etc, it's probably the bios though. You could try a ps2 keyboard and see if you can lend one, or have it, assuming a appropriate connection existing on the chassis. But then you say, if I got it right, that your screen stays black? Which should mean that you can't see if the bios is working anyway?

[Content Removed]

And John  https://www.wired.com/story/fix-bricked-computer-bios-update/

[ikeaboy]

Hi, tried those already. Problem is the kb not powered. Tried to reset bios via mb dip switch. No help. Contacted HP support and taking the machine to maintenance tomorrow. Luckily I have still warranty left. Just need to wait possibly up to 2wks 😬

[JohnDeMol]

It is indeed strange that @ikeaboy 's keyboard isn't lighting up. @ikeaboy have you tried other keyboards/F10/F11/ESC/DEL ?
My keyboard is powered, it's a pretty simple USB keyboard though, I assumed his might be a bit more advanced which might be why it's RGB isn't on. It might even just be that it's RGB isn't on but the keypresses are being recognized. It's kind of impossible to tell as long as there is no video out. @Ikeaboy I'm glad yours is getting some attention 🙂

Flashing straight to the chip does seem rather advanced, but I haven't even heard back from the local HP support so far. 
EDIT: Seems our forum activity has been noticed, I got a PM asking for some details so it could get handled.
I put in a ticket and the website insists they call you within like 10-15 minutes, so far over 24 hours have passed.
Unfortunately the fastest/easiest solution for HP support and myself would be to just ship me a replacement board, but they probably wouldn't do that. I imagine they want me to ship it to some random location, put it in a queue, wait for them to replace the board (which I could easily do myself) and ship it back.

Hell, I looked for a HP service centre, there are none in The Netherlands, Germany OR Belgium!
So if I can't manage to flash it myself I will probably RMA the board itself rather than the PC as a whole, if that is even possible, or as a last resort the entire PC.
Kinda sucks that the store I got it from got taken-over, makes going through them a bit more of a hassle.

[ikeaboy]

Yeah I know, the keyboard-thing is weird. Who knows what's going on there. The key presses (WIN+b or anything else) clearly had no effect on the machine though, so I assume either the bios is truly properly screwed or the keyboard just doesn't get power. It's a gaming keyboard so has all the lights and whistles. 😄

Nothing wrong with the keyboard or screen. Right now using the screen with my laptop, writing this 😄 and the keyboard lights up nice connected to the laptop.

I guess I got lucky there's a HP service center not too far from home here in southern Finland. 🙂 And I'm also really lucky that this thing happened now and not 4 months in the future, after my warranty expires! I wonder if HP would take responsibility of dishing out a firmware update that breaks a computer even in the case of warranty no longer valid....

Btw, I suggest calling the HP service phone rather than putting in a ticket. That way you get immediate answers. But not sure if you have a local support number, then, in the Netherlands.

[JohnDeMol]

😞Sucks to hear. I didn't manage to flash the bios fyi. So the RMA process is the only option open to me I fear 😞

Edit: I've spoken to an HP representative and since I had access to on-site support I might be able to get the device fixed without having to wait for it to return from Hungary, all depends on when I hear back from the On-Site repair guys.

[ikeaboy]

Wishing you luck with the fix! I carried my tower to the service depot today and got an estimate of getting it back around October 4th. They had to order a new mb...