Laptop Will Not Boot After BIOS Update

[gurs]

I have an HP ENVY 17t-j000 Quad Edition CTO Notebook PC running Windows 10 x64.  My laptop was running fine this morning, but I was nonetheless advised by the HP Support Assistant that I should download and install an available BIOS update (F.69 Rev.A).  I downloaded and ran the updater from within Windows and selected the option to update the BIOS on the host machine.  The updater ran, appeared to finish and told me that a restart was required.  The laptop shut down, restarted and then… nothing.  The fan was running and the base felt warm, but the screen remained dark.  The only signs of life were the fan humming, the power light on, the wifi/F12 light on, and the Caps Lock light blinking twice and repeating.  After a hour or so, I manually power-cycled the laptop, but was again greeted with the same thing. 

I then downloaded the same BIOS updated on another PC and created a USB BIOS recovery drive.  I manually power-cycled the PC again and tried to boot from the USB drive, with no success.  The light on the USB drive blinked for a few seconds upon powering up the laptop but then it was back to the same thing.  I have also tried removing the battery and power cord, holding down the power for 10 seconds and releasing, reattaching the power cord, holding Windows+B, pressing power for 5 seconds and releasing but continuing to hold Windows+B for 10 seconds.  Nada.  Also tried that with the battery installed, with the USB drive removed and using Windows-V instead.  Nada.  I can’t get this machine to budge.

I contacted HP, but was told by several representatives that my laptop is out of warranty so they can't help.  Ridiculous!  Yes, this laptop is out of warranty, but it isn’t the laptop that failed, it was HP’s faulty BIOS update.  HP should have liability for having provided it in the first place without appropriate warnings (e.g., this update is a POS and may destroy your otherwise perfectly good laptop). 

Anyway, enough venting.  Does anyone have any ideas of other things I can try to resurrect this laptop?  Much thanks.

[CherylG]

Sorry to hear about the problem. This sounds a little far fetched but I have seen at least one thread where the owner reported that unhooking his hdd allowed the BIOS to complete. Your milage may vary but it seems you have just about exhausted other options so nothing to lose.

[gurs · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the suggestion ChrylG.  I had it second on my list of things to try, but ended up not needing it since my first idea worked.  It was no less far-fetched than yours. 

I removed the battery and AC adapter, opened up the case and disconnected the CMOS battery, holding the power button down for 10 seconds to fully drain the system.  Then I reconnected the CMOS battery, reconnected the AC, held Windows+V, held the power button for 5 seconds and released it but held Windows+V for another 10 seconds, and...  the screen started flickering, and I was taken to the usual Win10 login screen.  It didn't even appear that the BIOS entered recovery mode, or if it did there was nothing displayed on the screen about recovery progress. 

All seems to be working normally now.  

[CherylG]

@gurs

Great news! Sometimes the less traveled path is the right one.  I assume the hard reset you did forced a BIOS redetect of hardware and allowed boot since no BIOS recovery screen appeared. Either way- can't beat the ending.

[Smittyo624]

The same thing is LITERALLY happening to me. I have attempted a hard reset several time's but when I turn the laptop back on, it's still nothing. The black screen where I can tell it's on but won't go to the logo screen. When I press any F function key nothing comes up. My laptop was fine a few days ago and now I can't get it to do anything
I've taken the battery out, I've left it in, I've held down the power key and nothing. My warranty ran out as of April so hp gave me the same bs answer

[gurs]

@Smittyo624 Did you try either the CMOS battery disconnect or hard drive disconnect methods outlined above?  Hope one of them works for you.

[tchrea]

I found this method to be very helpful and simple too.  https://support.hp.com/ca-en/document/c02693833

1. Turn off the computer, and then connect the power cord.
2. Press and hold the Windows key  and the B key at the same time, and then press and hold the power button for 2 to 3 seconds.
3. Release the Power button but continue pressing the Windows and B keys. You might hear a series of beeps.
   The HP BIOS Update screen displays and the recovery begins automatically. Follow any on-screen prompts to continue the startup to complete the recovery.

[ritchiefamily]

thanks a lot .This method saves ly pc.

[Sumitsky]

When I install update it say to restart after restart it not open and screen blinking after 2 seconds

[Sumitsky]

Not working not beeping my laptop