BIOS corrupted-New SSD only tries to boot from Network-Can't see DVD or USB

[SpockusMax]

The original HDD finally failed on my faithful HP Pavilion p7-1410.  I replaced the drive with a Western Digital 2TB SATA SSD.  It booted up fine the first time I powered it up, but then I had to go and tinker with it.  Looks like I've accidentally set the BIOS to "LEGACY" settings.  Now when I power it up it only tries to boot from a network drive (which I don't have).  I do have a cable modem connex to the ISP @ 200MB but no LAN.

In an attempt to reset the CMOS to factory settings I've removed the battery, left it alone for more than an hour, then replaced the battery with a new 3v.  When I reboot - same problem.  It searches for the DHCP through a new Realtek 1GB NIC and when it can't resolve I get the message "Drive failed or not found".

Also tried disconnecting the Ethernet cable to the ISP's modem and rebooting with the same results.

Any help would be appreciated.  I have good backups, just need to get the hardware back up and running.

[WAWood]

@SpockusMax 

What you're seeing is not Legacy booting; instead, it's PXE booting -- in which the PC is using the network to look for a boot image to download and run.

You have to go into BIOS settings and change the PC to boot from the internal drive instead of PXE booting.

You generally do that by pressing the Esc key repeatedly while rebooting and then when the HP Startup Menu appears, choose the Settings, option -- usually F10.

[SpockusMax]

Thanks for your reply.

The problem goes a little deeper than perhaps my original post suggested.  Having read many of the available solutions to this problem, I have tried your proposed solution several times.  What happens is this:

By either holding down [F10] and keeping it pressed during the power-up procedure, or by pressing [ESC] about once every half-second after pressing the power switch, a text screen identifying the CPU mfr (Intel) and revision date (08/2012) is briefly displayed (for about 1 or 2 seconds). Then I am presented with the HP Startup Menu. However, when I press [ESC] as indicated on the Startup Menu (or [F10] as well), it will not go into the BIOS settings where I can select an alternate boot source (CD/DVD or USB) or change the boot device order. Instead, it simply goes straight into the Intel UNDI boot procedure (PXE-2.1 build 083).

After the Intel UNDI version and build are displayed, the patent notices are displayed, the PCIe controller is identified and the MAC address of the PC is shown. It goes through the process of searching for a boot image on the (non-existent) network and, finding none, the line "PXE-E53: No boot filename received" is displayed. Finally, the line "PXE-M07: Exiting PXE ROM." is displayed, followed by the line "ERROR: No boot disk has been detected or the disk has failed."

This makes me think that I may have inadvertently modified the BIOS settings to something that disallows the machine to see the other peripherals and saved the changes without intending to do so. Any thoughts on how to correct this problem would be greatly appreciated.

[WAWood]

@SpockusMax 

Sorry, no -- as we have no way to enter the BIOS settings other than what you have already tried -- and without getting into them, you are not going to be able to reset the settings to their default values.

You would have to take the laptop to a local repair facility to see if they have a way of getting into the BIOS settings.

[SpockusMax]

Thanks again for your reply.

This machine is a rather "dated" PC mini-tower so it's a little easier to get to the hardware components than inside a laptop.

I've heard that it may be possible to apply temporary jumpers to cause the Intel chips to revert back to factory settings.  However, these have all been discussed in the context of BIOS within servers.  I've never heard of that having been done specifically for a PC.  I will research the matter further to see what information is available online.  My hope was that someone in the HP Community had already encountered this problem and knew of a solution.

Thanks again for trying.  Your input was most valued and appreciated.

[SpockusMax · Accepted solution]

It seems a little strange replying to my own Post, but I found the solution.  I thought it would be helpful if the HP Community had this information.

Intel has a Support item that describes both the "Battery Method" mentioned in one of my earlier Posts.  More importantly, it also contains instructions for the "Jumper Method" mentioned in my last Post. A link to this item is provided below.  First, two important notes:

1. The jumper setting are entirely dependent on the motherboard's manufacturer.  They may be different from those specified in the Intel Support item, and the documentation makes this clear.

2. I can attest to the fact that this method, as described in the Intel Support item, works for HP motherboards (mine at least), but only to that.

Here is the link:

How to Clear CMOS to Reset BIOS Settings in Systems with Intel®...