Z800 Bios update - please help

[EricPDX]

Thanks SDH ... sounds like I have some work to do this weekend installing a fresh version of Windows 10.  I am going to update the BIOS and see if that has any effect, and will report any success or failure.

[SDH]

For the Z800 I'd personally deactivate the LSI SAS "device" in BIOS, under the Security tab, Device Security, before the clean install.  I'm guessing you'll never be using SAS and there have been some reports of difficulty with the drivers for that so if you make the device invisible to the OS this way you should not have to deal with any of that.  I don't have a Z800 to work with, so that is an educated suggestion.

For sure first make sure your BIOS SATA Emulation is set to RAID + AHCI (or if that option is not present setting it to RAID will get you the same result.  Agree with first updating to that latest 4/16 BIOS from HP.

Looking forward to hearing about all the fun.

[EricPDX]

One word ... Acronis.

I was hesitant to do a fresh install, and re-install eveything I had before.  I did some digging and found a windows 10 forum where there were 100's of complaints similar to mine.  There were many suggestions, and I tried a couple without any success, but a few suggestions indicated Acronis 2014 and 2015 were culprits.

I had originally got an OEM version of Acronis 2014 with my Crucial MX100 256GB SSD.  A few people had indicated that once they upgraded their versions of Acronis, the hanging stopped.  

So I bit the bullet and spent $60 on a five system upgrade to Acronis 2016, and lo and behold my system hanging has stopped.  Also, I noticed that (at least) one of my backup drives (have 2 additional regular drives in the z800) was constantly being read and the disk head was clicking every few seconds.  That problem has also stopped.  I have rebooted a couple of times, and my system has been up at least five hours without it hanging.  Everything seems normal again.

I never did have to upgrade to the new BIOS.

It's pretty lame that Acronis seems to be causing a lot of people grief, and that it required a purchased upgrade for my system to be useable again.  It also doesn't help that Microsoft allows an install without indication that this software on the system may not be compatable.

SO .... I also have a z400 that is running Windows 7, that I may also upgrade now since I think I may have found the issue.

Thanks for all your help SDH!!

Eric

[alexanderhernan]

Yes,

I upgraded my HP z800 bios to the latest version. I had Windows -7 installed and I downloaded the latest bios update and extracted the zip file and then ran the HPQflash.exe . reboot and your good. I run Windows-10-Pro today.

z800 Works Great with Windows-10 !.....

http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/swd/public/readIndex?sp4ts.oid=3912036&swLangOid=8&swEnvOid=4059

I am using a Samsung Evo 850 SSD with PCIe adapter ( Works good )

SSD benchmarks are 520mb/s read and 505mb/s write.

PCIe Adapter

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/SSDACL6G.S/

Samsung SSD

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-2-5-Inch-Internal-MZ-75E500B-AM/dp/B00OBRE5UE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=...

[nstratica]

Hello,

My Z800 worked very well until HP Assist suggested a BIOS update.
He had V.3.57 and updated without problems at V.3.60! With this bios Power On-BIOS option (from Monday to Friday start at 😎 does NOT work.
I tried to get back to V.3.57 taken here: http://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp63001-63500/sp63463.exe but it was not written OK (BIOS error code was 0xF0 - FLASH_FAILED ). I had to put V.3.60 back and understand it still does not work Power On-BIOS!
My successive attempts to write V.3.57 and then V.3.60 were also including deleting data from the Power On-BIOS.
Can anyone help me with a suggestion or need a new BIOS to solve this problem and where should I ask for such a problem?
Thank you in advance.

[alexanderhernan]

Download the 3.57 bios update then read the instructions.

You can create a bootable USB flash drive or Burn a bootable CD.

https://rufus.akeo.ie/

Bios Flash Update  

This BIOS Flash Update SoftPaq contains utilities and images that can be used to restore or upgrade the system BIOS on Hewlett-Packard workstations. Several methods for changing the BIOS version on your computer may be chosen. Included are the various ways to perform the update. Each folder provided has self-contained files to perform the BIOS update and any unwanted folders may be deleted.

• I want to update my BIOS in Windows Vista, Windows XP, or 2000.
• I want to update my BIOS from F10 setup.
• I want to build a CD to update my BIOS.
• I want to update my BIOS from a USB flash media device in Windows Vista, Windows XP, or 2000.
• I want to update my BIOS from a DOS bootable USB flash media device.
• I want to use System Software Management (SSM).
• I want to use HP Client Manager Software (HPCMS).
• I want to use network BIOS flashing capabilities.
• My system tells me that my system flash ROM image is corrupted.
• Folder and flash methods general descriptions.

General Descriptions

Utilities and appropriate BIOS images are contained in each of the directories as follows:

DOS Flash - DOS utility that can be used locally or with a Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE) management application to update or restore the system BIOS.

HPQFlash - Windows-based utility to locally update or restore the system BIOS on individual PCs through the Windows or Windows Vista environment. No backup will be made of the current system BIOS.

BIOS CD - Creates a CD containing the BIOS binary image that can be used to locally restore or upgrade the system BIOS through F10 setup or FailSafe BootBlock Recovery Mode.

This Softpaq can also be used with the following methods of updating the system BIOS:

System Software Manager (SSM) - Use this SoftPaq with System Software Manager (SSM) to update the system BIOS on target PCs on a network. Place this SoftPaq in your SSM Filestore folder then update the database. SSM is a free utility provided by Hewlett-Packard Company. For information on SSM, see http://www.hp.com/go/ssm.

HP Client Manager Software (HPCMS) - Use this Softpaq with HP Client Manager Software (HPCMS) and Altiris Notification Server to remotely target, distribute, and update the system BIOS on network PCs. Place this SoftPaq in your HPCMS Filestore folder then update the database. HPCMS is a free management application provided by Altiris and Hewlett-Packard Company. For information on HPCMS, see http://www.hp.com/go/EasyDeploy.

NOTE: The Workstation BIOS Utilities SoftPaq is available on the web that contains additional utilities to support Hewlett-Packard Company products. This SoftPaq will be shown when searching for software support of products in the category ROMPaqs/BIOS and Firmware.

Windows BIOS Flashing

HPQFlash.exe is a utility which is designed to flash the System BIOS within a Windows or Windows Vista environment. To display the available options for this utility enter [Path]\HPQFlash -?. If the system has a Setup password enabled, then HPQFlash will prompt for the password to be entered before completing the flash process. For more information, view ReadMe.txt or HPQFlash.txt, both located in the HPQFlash folder. If you wish to update your BIOS using HPQFlash, click the link below. If prompted with a File Download dialog box, please select "Open" or "Run from current location".

Launch HPQFlash F10 Setup BIOS Flashing

The HP Workstation system supported by this Softpaq provides a BIOS upgrade option through F10 setup using the “Flash System ROM” feature.  Reboot the PC and press F10 to enter setup.  In the File menu, select the “Flash System ROM” item.  This flash utility will present the user with the option to select the media containing the BIOS image file (XXX_MMmm.bin).  The binary image file is contained in the DOS Flash directory and is named XXX_MMmm.bin where "XXX" is the abbreviated BIOS family, "MM" is the major version number, and "mm" is the minor version number.  F10 ROM based flash can accept the binary file from the root directory of any removable media such as USB or CD. On the Z800, Z600, and Z400 platforms the floppy diskette is no longer supported as a BIOS flash device as the ROM image is too large to fit on the floppy disks.  The BIOS CD Media file, included in this Softpaq, should be used to create a BIOS image CD.  When flashing with F10 ROM based flash, the CD media must be El-Torito compatible.  The user is prompted when the process is completed.  The new BIOS code will not take effect until the PC is rebooted.

View Contents of DOS Flash Folder

BIOS CD Media

This image creates a CD with the BIOS binary that can be used to locally restore or upgrade the system BIOS through F10 setup or FailSafe BootBlock Recovery Mode. This feature requires that a system is available with CD burning software and a compatible CD-R\RW drive installed. This CD image is not a self-contained flash utility.  It is simply a binary image of the BIOS that can be used by various flashing algorithms.  If you wish to build a BIOS image CD, click the link below. If prompted with a File Download dialog box, please select "Open" or "Run from current location".

View Contents of BIOS CD Folder USB Flash Media BIOS Flashing in Windows

HPQFlash.exe is a utility which is designed to flash the system BIOS within a Windows or Windows Vista environment and can be run from USB flash media device, including HP Drive Key and M-Systems DiskOnKey®. To display the available options for this utility enter [Path]\HPQFlash -?. If the system has a Setup password enabled, then HPQFlash will prompt for the password to be entered before completing the flash process. To run HPQFlash from USB flash media device, copy HPQFlash.exe and ROM.cab to a properly formatted flash media device. HPQFlash can then be executed from its location on the flash media device. For more information, view ReadMe.txt or HPQFlash.txt, both located in the HPQFlash folder. To view the contents of the HPQFlash folder, click the View HPQFlash Contents link below.

View Contents of HPQFlash Folder USB Flash Media BIOS Flashing in DOS

DOS Flash (flashbin.exe, flsh.cpu) is the DOS compatible system BIOS flash utility that can be used from DOS bootable flash media device. Flsh.cpu is the required driver for flashbin.exe. Assign Password (assignpw.exe) can be used with DOS Flash if a Setup Password has been previously set on the target system. To flash the system BIOS from a USB flash media device, you will need to copy the contents of the DOS Flash folder to a bootable USB flash media device. To see a more complete description of the DOS flash utilities, view Flashbin.txt located in the DOS Flash folder. To view more information on making a DOS bootable flash media device, view DOSFM.txt in the DOS Flash folder.  This folder also contains a binary image of the BIOS.  The binary image file is named XXX_MMmm.bin where "XXX" is the abbreviated BIOS family, "MM" is the major version number, and "mm" is the minor version number.  This file can be copied to the root directory of any removable media for use with the F10 setup "Flash System ROM" option or FailSafe BootBlock Recovery Mode.

View Contents of DOS Flash Folder System Software Management (SSM) BIOS Flashing

Use this SoftPaq with System Software Manager (SSM) to update the system BIOS on target PCs on a network. Place this SoftPaq in your SSM Filestore folder then update the database. SSM is a free utility provided by Hewlett-Packard Company. For information on SSM, see http://www.hp.com/go/ssm

HP Client Manager Software (HPCMS) BIOS Flashing

Use this Softpaq with HP Client Manager Software (HPCMS) and Altiris Notification Server to remotely target, distribute, and update the system BIOS on network PCs. Place this SoftPaq in your HPCMS Filestore folder then update the database. HPCMS is a free managment application provided by Altiris and Hewlett-Packard Company. For more information, see http://www.hp.com/go/EasyDeploy

Network BIOS Flashing

To assist the system administrator with flashing the system BIOS and setting the Setup Password, the several utilities have been developed. DOS Flash (flashbin.exe, flsh.cpu) is the DOS compatible system BIOS flash utility. DOS Flash uses a small memory footprint that is compatible with the limited DOS memory available and the DOS extended environment that may exist while running Altiris eXpress. Flsh.cpu is the driver for flashbin.exe. Assign Password (asign_pw.exe) can be used with DOS Flash if a Setup password has been previously set on the target system. To see a more complete description on the network BIOS flashing utilities, view the Flashbin.txt located in the DOS Flash folder. To view contents of the DOS Flash folder, click the link below.

View Contents of DOS Flash Folder BIOS Flashing on a System without a Floppy Diskette Drive

If the target system has a CD-ROM drive and you would like to build a BIOS image CD that can be used to update and\or restore the BIOS, see the BIOS CD Media section of this file. If you prefer to update the BIOS in the Windows environment and\or no CD-ROM is available on the target system, see the Windows BIOS Flashing section of this file. If you have a USB flash media device that you would like to use to update the BIOS on the target system, see the USB Flash Media BIOS Flashing in Windows or USB Flash Media BIOS Flashing in DOS sections of this file.

FailSafe BootBlock Recovery Mode

Most Hewlett-Packard desktop systems include 64 KB of write-protected boot block ROM that provides a way to recover from a failed flashing of the system BIOS ROM.  FailSafe BootBlock Recovery Mode will boot the PC in a recovery mode and search the root directory of the removable media sources (USB or CD) for a compatible binary image.  The BIOS CD Media file, included in the Softpaq, should be used to create a BIOS image CD, if the user or administrator desires to use CD media for BIOS recovery.  When flashing during recovery, the CD media containing the BIOS image file must be El-Torito compatible.  USB media source can simply contain the BIOS binary image file in the root directory.   Once a binary image is located, the BIOS update process will be attempted again.  The automatic flash recovery will continue until the BIOS is successfully updated or restored.  If no binary image is found, the system will attempt to boot to USB flash media.  The boot media must have DOS in order for the disaster recovery mode to successfully boot.

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[nstratica]

10x. But not work. I don't write correct BIOS file V.3.57 after V.3.60 !!!

Thanks in advance for anyone.

[SDH]

Are you aware that with some of the later BIOS updates for HP workstations you cannot go back to earlier verson(s)?

[nstratica]

yes, of course, reinstalling the lower version is NOT guaranteed by any manufacturer.
I can not believe the Power On BIOS function (very important to me!) Has been corrupted by V.3.60.
However, HP has to offer a solution if it proposes major operating changes and they have problems.
However, I would not want to wait 3 years to solve this (that's what was the difference between BIOS!).
Thank you in advance

[alexanderhernan]

I no longer have my HP z800 however some HP computers have a bios reset button on the motherboard.