500-029 BIOS Failure - Any way to recover?

[PXA]

Hey all. I'm hoping someone can help with this as I'm pretty frustrated with this PC at the moment.

A client of mine has a 550-029 desktop and I was doing some maintenance on it for him. As part of maintenance that I do for people, I check for BIOS updates. There was one available for this machine. The download page lists two different BIOS updates with no clear explanation of which one I should use. I've dealt with HP for years and know this is par for the course. I tried the first one and it said "Wrong update for this machine." No problem, I got the other one and it gave no such error. It did the pre-flash operations in Windows, rebooted and did the full flash operation in UEFI as one expects and which I've seen a million times on HPs. Then it rebooted, beeped a bunch of times and sat at a black screen.

I let the machine sit for the better part of an hour, thinking it was still doing post flash operations. Nothing. So I looked up the recovery procedure and did that. I held Windows+B, turned on the system, kept holding the buttons down for about 30 seconds and the recovery mode came up and re-flashed the BIOS. Perfect! Nope, I rebooted again and now it doesn't do anything at all. No beeps, nothing. I tried to do the recovery procedure again and now even that won't launch.

I'm pretty ticked off as while this system is out of warranty, it was HP's own update from their own site that has seemingly bricked this board. And needless to say, I have a client who is none too happy with me right now.

I'm wondering, does anyone know if additional procedures that can possibly ressurect this board? Because of the terms of service I offer clients, it's going to be on me to replace this board if I can't bring it back to life and I know HP charges obscene markup for out of warranty parts and even if I could find another board on eBay, it will probably cost half the price of just replacing the machine. If there's no way to bring it back, does HP offer any kind of post-warranty support when their own updates brick their own hardware? I'm suspecting not but it can't hurt to ask.

Can anyone assist here? I'd really appreciate it. And due respect, please don't reply with "You shouldn't update the BIOS unless you have an issue." It's part of the service I offer and I have literally updated over 1,000 machines before this without an issue. Thank you all!

[Chimney_83]

Greetings @PXA, 

Thanks for the post. 

I understand that you are unable to boot the computer to the desktop. Happy to help. 

Kudos to you for trying to troubleshoot the issue.

Were there any hardware changes done on the computer?

Recommend you to try restoring the BIOS again. Click here for assistance. 

Do a hard reset on the computer. 

Connect only the USB keyboard, monitor and the power cord to the computer and turn the computer ON. 

Keep tapping ESC on startup and check if the Startup Menu comes up.

Refer to this article for other troubleshooting steps. 

HP Desktop PCs - Display or Monitor is Blank (Black) after Starting the Computer

HP Desktop PCs - Computer Starts but Monitor Remains Blank (Windows 10, 😎

Let me know if this helped. 

Please click ‘Accepted Solution’ on the post that solves your issue to help others find the solution. To show appreciation for my help, please click the ‘Thumbs Up’ Icon below.

[PXA]

Hi there. Thanks for the suggestions. As I said, I have tried the recovery mode several mode times with no success. After it ran the first time and started failing to boot again, now the recovery mode won't even come up. There have been no hardware changes to the machine, it's still in stock configuration. I've also tried what you suggested and get nothing from the machine. No picture, no response to key presses, no beeps, nothing whatsoever.

I don't suppose there is any kind of out of warranty support available for when your own BIOS updates bricks your own board? Thanks.

[Chimney_83]

Thanks for the reply and trying the suggested steps. As you are not getting any display on your computer, recommend you to contact our phone support for any service options. 

If the information I've provided was helpful,

Please give us some reinforcement by clicking the "Accepted Solution" and "Kudos" buttons,

That’ll help us and others see that we’ve got the answers!

Good Luck.

[PXA]

Will they even speak to me if the machine is out of warranty? I'm not prepared to pay for out of warranty part replacement on this system as it's not worth it. However, I'm feeling kind of burned here because it was your own recommended update that broke the board.

[Chimney_83]

Thanks for the reply. 

I have brought your issue to the attention of an appropriate team within HP. 

They will likely request information from you in order to look up your case details or product serial number. 

Please look for a private message from an identified HP contact. 

Additionally, keep in mind not to publicly post personal information (serial numbers and case details).

Thank you for visiting the HP Support Forum.

[PXA]

Thank you very much for your help. I'll watch for that PM.