Recover from fundamental BIOS failure after BIOS version mismatch

[PeCo13]

Hi,

I tried to update the BIOS of my Pavillion 500-319ng based on the BIOS update files from the support page (https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-pavilion-500-300-desktop-pc-series/6879020/model...). However, I obviously missed out on comparing the versions properly and did not pay enough attention on the SSID of the board which in my case is 2B17, which doesn't show up at all on the support page - for non of the OS versions. 

I somehow managed to still flash one of the versions offered with the result that the system doesn't come up at all anymore: back screen, non LEDs blinks, no beeps and no access to any system startup screen nor any BIOS settings 😞

I now have two questions:

- how to recover from this fail at all

- where can I get the latest BIOS update for that mainboard SSID 2B17 (computer was initially shipped with the OS version Windows 8 which is not available on the support page...)

Thanks for any help or tip!

Cheers Peco13

[Grzwacz · Accepted solution]

Greetings,

Welcome to the forum.

I am not a HP employee.

Checked Windows: 10, 8.1, and 7 for a 2B17 BIOS update. None exists.

Try a BIOS recovery using this HP Support site (Link). A USB recovery is not possible because there is no 2B17 BIOS update available for your PC. Read the entire article. A CMOS reset may fix the problem.

Failure to recover the BIOS using the above link means you may have to Contact HP (Link) to fix this.

Regards

[PeCo13]

Thanks, Grzwacz, for the quick reply.

Actually, BIOS reset didn't work nor did any anywhere proposed recommendations to force an BIOS Update from USB stick etc. as the Board was literally bricke - not even POST messages had appeared...

I finally found the lates update for the Board with ID 2B17 listed for another very similar HP Pavillion Desktop, downloaded it and extracted the actual BIOS file from the Download.

Anyways the board was bricked so I decided to disassemble the PC and removed the board altogether with RAM and graphics card removed and all connectors pulled off the board.

Then I re-programmed the BIOS chip via the SPI protocol directly by connecting my Raspberry to the recovery header on the board based on this blog I found on the internet - which finally worked fine and the machine is perfectly up and running again for a few days meanwhile. Of course I had to identify the BIOS chip, check its data sheet and check PIN mapping from the recovery header before I started the actual procedure.

As this is definitely a rather questionable tinker approach, naturally the probably "right" solution would definitely have been to contact HP support instead. But I was really curious if I could get this accomplished myself 😉

Cheers Peter

[Grzwacz]

Hi Peter,

You know your tech stuff.

Great job!

You should take the solution.

Regards