Upgrade HP ProDesk 400 G3 MT with 7th generation Intel processor went "wrong"

[DEATH-DFC]

Let me tell you a story

For a long time I had intended to boost one of my "old" computers, for fun, or to use it as I often do.
This time as indicated in the title it is for a 400 G3 MT, a computer which sometimes comes up in questions in particular to know if it supports 7th generation Intel. Notably because the Chipset supports the 7th generation, the USDT model officially supports the 7th generation, and a note in the N03 BIOS updates of MT version implies that it supports the 7th generation.
So, a long time ago I set out to test a 7th generation Intel on it, which is not easy because some models are "very expensive" and I didn't want to spend a "fortune" on something that will not work. In the meantime I still started testing certain things, notably Windows 10 then Windows 11 (via media creation tool.bat) and I had updated the BIOS in 2021 to version 2.47 (note, 2.47, very important). Everything worked perfectly without any problems.
Recently I went back to this PC to upgrade it in order to use it. 1st incredible thing: impossible to get hold of BIOS 2.47 on the HP site! The latest one is 2.37 and nothing else, not a trace of 2.47 anywhere. Even searching on the Internet, BIOS 2.47 cannot be found. It is sometimes mentioned on 2-3 forums, sometimes there are even links, but they no longer work! I even tried to find it manually in HP's FTP files, but it doesn't exist/anymore. But hey, anyway, the PC is already in BIOS 2.47. I don't know if I kept the exe but whatever...
I then bought an i3-7100 for a few dollars to do the "ultimate" test and find out if I could upgrade to an i7-7700 later which costs MUCH more. I installed it and RESET the BIOS as it is advised to do. And... it didn't work. The PC turns on... and that's it. Absolutely nothing else happens. No display, nothing.
It's important to note that I have absolutely no way to check if the processor is really working. I don't have any machine supporting the 7th generation on hand. So we'll assume for the moment that the processor may be defective, but I was still very disappointed...
So I put back the old processor (an Intel i5-6500), RESET the BIOS, and... and there was a problem. Now when Windows starts, after a few seconds with the logo spinning, the computer suddenly shuts down, then restarts on its own. I say brutally because after 2 cycles like that the automatic repair starts, which means that it was not really planned.
I did tests in all directions, tried to boot with USB sticks of all kinds, Windows 10, UBCD, tried to boot in repair mode, unplugged disk, etc. Every time Windows starts after a few seconds with the logo spinning, the computer suddenly shuts down, then restarts.
It is therefore not the Windows 11 installed on the disk which has a problem. Otherwise, I can go into the BIOS, do whatever I want, for as long as I want, no problem. I can run the BIOS, memory, disk tests, everything is fine.

For the moment I stopped there in my search because it bothered me. I have several guesses, the first of course is that the i3-7100 damaged the motherboard in one way or another. The second could be BIOS settings. BIOS 2.47 has disappeared from HP, there may be a reason for that, it may have been defective. I may have been lucky that it worked but by doing a RESET I may have lost the parameters that made it work... This could also come from the power supply which would have failed at that moment by coincidence and which no longer gives enough power. I have to test this with another power supply.

And finally, for the BIOS there is something even stranger. BIOS 2.47 is therefore no longer available, there is only 2.37. I could rollback, with this model it's very easy there is very complete BIOS update management included in the BIOS. And in fact, there is an option to automatically search for a new BIOS. And this one offers me.... version 2.44!! WT... Which version 2.44?? It doesn't exist on the HP website either!!!

There I am. I am waiting for your suggestions to try to resolve this problem.
Should I rollback to BIOS 2.37. Or try the 2.44 that the BIOS offers me? And if I want to go back to 2.47, how can I do it since it is no longer available? Should I test a new power supply first...
Thanks in advance

[NonSequitur777]

@DEATH-DFC,

[EDIT:] Your HP ProDesk 400 G3 MT has the Intel H110 Express chipset, which is a single-chipset design which supports 6th and 7th gen Intel Core, Pentium and Celeron processors.  However, the manufacturer can restrict CPU compatibility if it so chooses.  And it so happened that HP has restricted processor compatibility to 6th gen processors only as confirmed here by actual HP System ProDesk 400 G3 MT Users: UserBenchmark: HP ProDesk 400 G3 MT Compatible Components.

According to HP's driver link for your desktop, the most current aka approved aka stable BIOS version is 02.37 Rev.A.  I would recommend you switch back to that.

I would suggest clearing your CMOS in order to restore your system to its default hardware configuration and BIOS settings.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[DEATH-DFC]

Edit: I saw that you changed your answer but I still put the answer I was making for information.
The HP ProDesk 400 G3 MT has an H110 chipset (at least what is stated in the documentation) which is compatible with the 7th generation. I can't take a screenshot because obviously Windows won't start anymore. However, the H170 is also compatible with the 7th generation: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/90595/intel-h170-chipset/compatible.html.
As mentioned this is a topic that comes up on the forums precisely because of this and a mention in the BIOS updates which suggests that the MT model could be compatible with the 7th generation. BIOS 2.18: "-Rollback the CPU microcode for Intel 6th generation processors (Skylake) to 0xBA, and 7th generation processors (Kaby Lake) to 0x5E as they may introduce higher than expected reboots and other unpredictable system behavior."
I know well that between the information at a given moment from a manufacturer and the future modifications made to a product there are sometimes big differences, but here the problem is that by going back I am stuck. I have already reset the BIOS, several times. I even took the battery out to be sure. Same result. As for the BIOS, I know that the latest available NOW is 2.37, but at least in 2021 (and even in 2022 I believe according to some forums) 2.47 was still available. If it was "defective" and was subsequently removed it would be nice for HP to put a note somewhere. And that also doesn't explain why the current BIOS offers me an update to version 2.44 which is also not found on the HP site.

[DEATH-DFC]

So to follow up: I tried with another power supply of which I am sure: same result.
I tried to downgrade the BIOS to 2.44 as suggested by the BIOS itself: same result.
I tried with a bootable USB key with Unbuntu to see if it wasn't a special Windows function that caused the shutdown: same result.
I went back to BIOS updates, and this time it offered me either a downgrade to version 2.37, or... an upgrade to version 2.47! So this version still exists at HP (as well as 2.44) even if they do not appear on the website... but: same result.
I don't know what to do anymore, I also tried to reset the TPM and secure boot functions but they weren't used anyway and I don't think it has that effect anyway.
I'm really starting to believe that the i3 7th gen damaged the motherboard. I don't have any computer to actually test it on.

[DEATH-DFC]

OH ! I found something!
I disabled all Powermanagement options in the BIOS, and it works again! The PC finally boots without stopping.
I don't know which option does this and why, I just have to figure out which one by testing one by one.
Is this normal or did the i3 gen 7 damage part of the power management?...

[NonSequitur777]

@DEATH-DFC,

That is possible, or it was just simply a power management setting!

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[DEATH-DFC]

Okay, so I've done a few tests and it looks like it's the “Extended Idle Power states” option in the "Power Management Options" settings that causes the computer to shut down unexpectedly when the OS starts up.

I don't know if this option was enabled before I updated the BIOS several years ago, I don't know if this option existed in the version before the upgrade and I don't know if the BIOS reset CMOS during an upgrade. In any case, when the CMOS is manually reset this option is enabled by default.

So I don't know if it's a BIOS bug or if the i3-7100 has damaged something. But for the moment everything's working again, except that I have to disable the option that's causing the problem (and I don't know what this option does, by the way) and I'm stuck on BIOS 2.37. Because I managed to recover BIOS 2.47. In fact, when I tried to retrieve it manually the 1st time, I made a mistake in the file name (case-sensitive).

For information, BIOS 2.47 N03 can be found at this address: https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp103501-104000/sp103811.exe

I'm stuck on 2.37 because it's impossible to upgrade or even downgrade the BIOS now! I can't update it at the moment, no matter what I do. I've tried to upgrade to 2.47 via Windows, via the various BIOS options (automatically via the “Check HP.com” option, via a USB key, via a Recovery key...), but nothing works!
The so-called Recovery key does nothing at all. Via the “Check HP.com” option it tells me “Failure while flashing BIOS image (failed image signature verification or image is incompatible” whether upgrading to version 2.47 or downgrading to version 2.36. As for the “Update BIOS Using Local Media” option, it finds the file 2.47, but when you click on update, the computer stops, then restarts without updating.
I've seen other people having this problem and I have the impression that it's the BIOS 2.37 that's buggy and preventing any updates. Maybe that's why HP removed the higher versions 2.44 and 2.47 from the website, because if you're on version 2.37, you won't be able to update anyway!
I'll try downgrading to much lower versions and see if it works...

[DEATH-DFC]

It doesn't work...
What an idea to put the BIOS update functionality in the BIOS itself without offering an alternative. If the BIOS is faulty, especially as regards the update system, you're stuck!

I'll have to find a way to update via an external program (like before) if it exists... Otherwise, I'll have to use an EPROM programmer...

Does anyone know if there is a program to flash the BIOS of these HP? Via Windows, DOS or Linux?
I found something under Linux but I don't know if it really works. It's called HP-FLASH, it's supplied by HP, but I don't know if it's really a program for flashing BIOSes or just the equivalent of the Windows program.

[jkomarek]

I never did this myself, but I heard of an executable called fwupd which can be used to flash the content of a file to the BIOS. 

You get the content by unpacking the .exe file with the BIOS in it. Apparently, these .exe files are what is called runtime-compressed. So with gunzip or a graphical (un)packer, you should able to unpack the file. As I said, I never did this, and the above is just hearsay. If you decide to try this: Best of luck!

Apart from that, you can also google "flash the BIOS under Linux" - that should give you some results.