Harddisk error 3f5

Jochen5 · ‎08-06-2025

Hi, I have an Desktop PC 500 which shows a blue screen with Harddisk failure "3f5"; all HP (&seagate) disk tests were successful; also after after installation of a new harddisk (2TB) error message is still there. According to that error message BIOS seems to be thinking I have 6 devices. but I do not have. I have already reset BIOS, without success. There are no BIOS updates available. Windows 10 (22H2) and newly installed Linux Mint 22.1 Cinnamon run successfully if PC gets finally startet (Dual Boot). What can I do to get rid of "3f5" in order that PC starts again without running that diagnosis tool beforehand ? Thanks for any help, Jochen

Max3Aj · ‎08-08-2025

@Jochen5, Welcome to HP Support Community.

Thank you for posting your query, I will be glad to help you.
The Hard Disk Error 3F5 is unusual and typically indicates that the BIOS is detecting a problem with a drive in the boot sequence often beyond the primary OS drive. Since you've already:

Replaced the hard disk with a new 2TB drive,
Verified all HP and Seagate diagnostics pass,
Reset the BIOS,
Installed Windows 10 and Linux Mint successfully,

…yet the error persists, here are some steps to help resolve or suppress the 3F5 error:

Step-by-Step Troubleshooting

Reload BIOS Defaults Properly

Even if you've reset BIOS, please ensure you're doing a full default reload:

Power on the PC and press F10 repeatedly to enter BIOS Setup.
Navigate to Exit > Load Setup Defaults (or similar wording).
Save and Exit.

Check Boot Order and Disable Unused Devices

BIOS may be scanning for devices that aren’t present:

In BIOS, go to Boot Options.
Disable boot options for devices you don’t use (e.g., Network Boot, USB Boot).
Ensure only your primary drive is listed first.

Clear CMOS (Hardware Reset)

If BIOS still thinks there are 6 devices:

Power off the PC and unplug it.
Open the case and remove the CMOS battery for 5 minutes.
Reinsert the battery and power on.

This forces a full hardware-level reset of BIOS memory.

Check for Ghost Devices

Sometimes BIOS retains ghost entries for previously connected drives:

Boot into Linux Mint and run:

sudo lsblk

or

sudo fdisk -l

to verify only one physical disk is detected.

Disable HP Hardware Diagnostics at Boot

If the system always runs diagnostics before booting:

Enter BIOS and look for Diagnostics or POST Behavior.
Disable automatic diagnostics or set POST to minimal.

Update BIOS (if possible)

Even if no updates are shown via HP Support Assistant, manually check: Official HP® Support

Enter your product number to verify if a newer BIOS exists.

Additional Notes

The 3F5 error may indicate BIOS is scanning for a sixth device (drive 5 in boot order), even if it doesn’t exist.
This could be a leftover configuration or a misread SATA port. Try disconnecting all other SATA cables except the one for your OS drive.
If the error persists, consider disabling unused SATA ports in BIOS (if supported).

>HP PCs - Hard disk error displays before the computer starts in Windows 10 | HP® Support
>HP PCs - SMART hard disk error 301, 302, 309, 30A, 30B, 30C, 3F1, 3F2 | HP® Support

I hope this helps.

Take care and have a good day.

Please click “Accepted Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. Select "Yes" on the bottom left to say “Thanks” for helping!

Max3Aj

HP Support

Jochen5 · ‎08-09-2025

Hi Max3Aj,

Thank you very much for helping me and your comprehensive answer.

Just to clarify, PC originally came along with Windows 8 and I have upgraded it to Windows 10, working flawlessly since then for years. Only after installation of Linux Mint in Dual Boot Mode, the harddisk error message started to appear every time I start PC (also from standby or hibernation).

I was not yet able to try out all options. Let me describe which Options I have carried out and the results. I have

numbered the options you have described.

1. Reload BIOS Defaults Properly

I have finally managed to open BIOS again and followed your steps:

I loaded Menu => “Standard”, => Save and Exit.

Then -surprisingly- Ubuntu Boot Loader started (Linux Mint,Windows, , I have entered UEFI firmware settings,

Boot sequence is as follows:

Ubuntu
USB Floppy/CD
USB Harddisk
UEFI IPv4 Realtek PCIe Family Controller
EFI Ipv6 Realtek PCIe Family Controller
[Legacy: Disabled]

=> Windows Boot Manager does not appear

=> Secure Boot: is “enabled”

=> Load “standard & exit

=> Ubuntu Boot Loader (“Grub”) starts now all the time, which gives me a choice between

Linux,
Linux advanced options,
Windows BOOT Manager and
UEFI firmware settings.

2. Check Boot Order

Since Windows Boot Manager does not appear, I skipped disabling other devices for a moment.

3. Clear CMOS (Hardware reset) [O/S]

Not yet done.

4. Check for Ghost Drives (in Linux)

Results of “sudo lsblk” (in German):

NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS

sda 8:0 0 931,5G 0 disk

├─sda1 8:1 0 1023M 0 part

├─sda2 8:2 0 360M 0 part /boot/efi

├─sda3 8:3 0 128M 0 part

├─sda4 8:4 0 186,4G 0 part

├─sda5 8:5 0 6,6G 0 part

├─sda6 8:6 0 400,6G 0 part

└─sda7 8:7 0 336,3G 0 part /

sr0 11:0 1 1024M 0 rom

Results of „sudo fdisk –l (in German)”

Festplatte /dev/sda: 931,51 GiB, 1000204886016 Bytes, 1953525168 Sektoren

Festplattenmodell: ST1000DM003-1CH1

Einheiten: Sektoren von 1 * 512 = 512 Bytes

Sektorgröße (logisch/physikalisch): 512 Bytes / 4096 Bytes

E/A-Größe (minimal/optimal): 4096 Bytes / 4096 Bytes

Festplattenbezeichnungstyp: gpt

Festplattenbezeichner: 2A69AA83-A478-48AD-AB88-5316523ED923

Gerät Anfang Ende Sektoren Größe Typ

/dev/sda1 2048 2097151 2095104 1023M Windows-Wiederherstellungsumgebung (Recovery)

/dev/sda2 2097152 2834431 737280 360M EFI-System

/dev/sda3 2834432 3096575 262144 128M Microsoft reserviert

/dev/sda4 3096576 394082067 390985492 186,4G Microsoft Basisdaten

/dev/sda5 394082304 408002559 13920256 6,6G Microsoft Basisdaten

/dev/sda6 408004608 1248189013 840184406 400,6G Microsoft Basisdaten

/dev/sda7 1248190464 1953523711 705333248 336,3G Linux-Dateisystem

5. Disable HP Hardware Diagnostics at Boot

Boot menue offers me under “Systemstart-options”

POST-messages: ”disabled” /enabled
After electricity failure: “Off”/on
POST Delay (in seconds): “None” / 5

Therefore, I am not able to disable automatic diagnostics.

6. Update BIOS

I had already entered Serial-No previosly, there is not Boot update available.

Current BOOT ID is 80.13.

7. Additional Notes

There is only one SATA cable to HDD1 (and a second line for a second HDD, which is not connected), so I can not disconnect other SATA cables.

In BIOS under “devices-safetey”, I find

System Audio
Netzwerk-Controller
SATA0
SATA1
SATA2
SATA3
M-Sata

All of the say “device available”. The other option would be “hidden”.

=> Should I change something here ?

NEW: 8. BIOS Rollback

In the HP diagnosis (<F2>), there is an option to “Manage Firmware settings” and offers me a “BIOS-Rollback”. Following options are available

Windows RE tools (Partition 1)
SYSTEM (Partition 2) [=EFI partition]
Windows (Partition 4)
Volume (Partition 5)
DATEN (Partition 6) [which is a partition for personal data]

Should I eventually perform a rollback, e.g. to “Windows (Partition 4)” ) ? Could that be of help ?

Please note, I do not care about Linux, I would like to continue with Windows 10.

I really appreciate your help !

Kind regards,

Jochen

Max3Aj · ‎08-09-2025

@Jochen5, Thank you for your response,

I'm sending a private message to assist you with the next action.

Please check your Private message icon on the upper right corner of your HP Community profile Next, to your profile Name, you should see a little blue envelope, please click on it or simply click on this link.

I hope this helps! Keep me posted.