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HP Recommended
Envy TS 15
Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit)

System had WIndows 8, upgraded to Win 10 and then wiped and reloaded with a fresh Win 10 install.

To try and fix the "plugged in and not charging" issue, I installed the F.68 Rev A firmware dated July 26, 2016. 

 

System won't boot to WIndows, says no OS installed.  When I switch to legacy mode I can boot (slowly) and run Windows.  I tried all the previous versions on the website but they all say they aren't compatible.  The ALT-B fix doesn't work to roll back the firmware.   I even did a full system restore of an Acronis True Image backup from pre- upgrade and it doesn't make a difference.

 

System didn't have the HP PC Hardware Diagnostics UEFI so I installed the version from the website but it can't find a version to roll back to and none of the versions on support seem compatible.

 

Can someone tell me where to get to correct firmware to load to fix this problem?

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions
HP Recommended

It appears that the problem is that the F68.A firmware is looking for an EFI partition, not a system reserved partition.

Because the system was upgraded from Win 8 to Win 10, the fixes involving BCDBOOT, system recovery, the HP BIOS reload methods etc were all useless.

 

The fix I came up with was:

1.) Backup system with Acronis True Image

2.) Re-install Windows 10, choosing a fresh install and deleting all the hard drive partitions when it asks where to install Windows

3.) Windows creates the correct partitions including an EFI partition.

4.) Recover the previous Windows partition using True Image (system won't boot correctly yet)

5.) Run Acronis Universal Recovery from a USB drive and point the driver search to the \windows\inf folder

6.) Remove the USB and reboot.

 

 

View solution in original post

11 REPLIES 11
HP Recommended

System info is:

 

Product# E3508UA#ABL

Model: 15-j078ca

Rev: 1963-100

HP Recommended

Hi @Ceresney

 

Welcome to the HP Forums!

 

Thank you for posting your query in this forum, it's a great place to find answers.

 

I understand that you wanted to know how to restore the bios.

 

I’d love to help!

 

Follow the steps in the below link.

 

http://hp.care/2bXONjA

 

Let me know how it goes! Looking forward to your reply.

 

Take care. Cheers!

The_Fossette
I am an HP Employee

HP Recommended

Thanks for responding.  I tried the Windows key + B combination but all that happens is the caps lock key light flashes and the screen stays black.  And all the other methods of reloading the BIOS will only let me load the same file that is already in the system.  ALl the previous versions say they aren't compatible with the system. 

 

Will the USB restore "force" a reload of the F.66A (or whatever is the right version)?

HP Recommended

Hi @Ceresney

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

I see that you are running windows 10 on your computer and I see there is no bios update available for windows 10.

 

The latest bios available for your computer is F.68 Rev.A and it is for windows 8.

 

I recommend you to create a USB BIOS recovery kit and try restoring the BIOS. If that doesn't resolve the problem then I suggest you contact phone support for further diagnosis.

 

Hope this helps! Let me know how it goes.

 

Cheers!

The_Fossette
I am an HP Employee

HP Recommended

"I see that you are running windows 10 on your computer and I see there is no bios update available for windows 10.

The latest bios available for your computer is F.68 Rev.A and it is for windows 8."

 

That statement is false, i have a (ENVY-17-E1S97EA#UUW) that ran (F.67Rev.A , Windows10) flawlessly, untill your recent BIOS update (F.68Rev.A) corrupted my computer.

Microsoft have in the last 1.5 years tried to push ALL capable hardware running windows, Vista/Win7/Win8 32bit & 64bit, including decade old PCs, over to Win10 for free.

 

The hardware specifications of my ENVY-17-E1S97EA#UUW tells the same story, my PC was not just guaranteed the Win10 upgrade, it was a logically forced upgrade.

 

A official hardware-code update is not supposed to be able to run unless it knows it qualifies, such as Product name, Operating System, if 32bit or 64bit, Previous BIOS, Windows 8 API compatible installer or Windows 10 API compatible installer so on so forth.

 

I have a failed BIOS upgrade too, from the same BIOS version, although a diffrent PC.

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Boot-and-Lockup/ENVY-17-j003eo-BIOS-corruption-report/td-p/58...

HP Recommended

I tried the USB BIOS recovery and that ran correctly, but didn't fix the problem, and did a refresh of Windows (re-install without changing my files) which seems to have made it boot quicker, but still only if I have legacy mode enabled.

 

 I looked at another HP laptop I own and it has a FAT32 partition labelled EFI system partition as the first item in the list.

The one that won't boot unless in legacy mode does not have an EFI partition.  It has an NTFS partition called System Reserved.

 

Do I need to create an EFI partition so the BIOS can find the UEFI boot information?  If so, does the EFI partition need to be first in the list, and if so how to create a new partition "ahead" of the existing ones?

HP Recommended

@Ceresney

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

I recommend you to contact phone support to further diagnose the issue.

 

You can contact phone support here: http://support.hp.com/in-en/contact-hp

 

Take care. Cheers!

The_Fossette
I am an HP Employee

HP Recommended

It appears that the problem is that the F68.A firmware is looking for an EFI partition, not a system reserved partition.

Because the system was upgraded from Win 8 to Win 10, the fixes involving BCDBOOT, system recovery, the HP BIOS reload methods etc were all useless.

 

The fix I came up with was:

1.) Backup system with Acronis True Image

2.) Re-install Windows 10, choosing a fresh install and deleting all the hard drive partitions when it asks where to install Windows

3.) Windows creates the correct partitions including an EFI partition.

4.) Recover the previous Windows partition using True Image (system won't boot correctly yet)

5.) Run Acronis Universal Recovery from a USB drive and point the driver search to the \windows\inf folder

6.) Remove the USB and reboot.

 

 

HP Recommended

This wont work with my PC will it? it is completely black screened. Regardless, i will mark this as the answer to my own thread, i am 100% sure this is my issue.

† The opinions expressed above are the personal opinions of the authors, not of HP. By using this site, you accept the <a href="https://www8.hp.com/us/en/terms-of-use.html" class="udrlinesmall">Terms of Use</a> and <a href="/t5/custom/page/page-id/hp.rulespage" class="udrlinesmall"> Rules of Participation</a>.