Unable to go to bios, straight to system diagnostics

[Trace87]

I reset this old laptop I found in a box to give my household another browser to use. I wiped the drive using gparted during the Ubuntu install. However, no amount of installing and reinstalling led to the startup recognising the OS. I tried to look into bios settings, but it always went straight to system diagnostics which all returned "fine". I was convinced I bricked it until this video showed the way. After simply removing the battery, holding the power button for 10s, plugging it back in, F10 then successfully loaded the BIOS...Wild! I came back to post this here, as I visited this forum earlier hoping for a solution and never found one. I hope your helps someone else. 

https://youtu.be/jdbTxoxl3J0?si=JYW_EukEcTBkiBNj

[Sneha_01]

Hi @Trace87,

Welcome to HP Support Community.

Thank you for posting your query, I will be glad to help you.

It’s great to hear that you were able to access the BIOS on your laptop using the method you described! The steps you followed—removing the battery, holding the power button, and then accessing the BIOS with F10—are useful for resetting the system and accessing BIOS settings when the laptop defaults to other diagnostics or recovery modes.

Summary of the Solution

Remove the Battery:

• Disconnect the battery from the laptop to cut off all power.

Hold the Power Button:

• Press and hold the power button for about 10 seconds to discharge any residual power.

Reconnect the Battery:

• Plug the battery back in.

Access BIOS:

• Power on the laptop and immediately press the BIOS access key (often F10) to enter the BIOS settings.

Additional Tips for Similar Issues

If you encounter similar issues in the future or if others do, here are some additional troubleshooting tips:

Accessing BIOS:

• Different Keys: Depending on the manufacturer, the BIOS access key might be F2, F12, Esc, or Del. Check your laptop's manual or the HP website if F10 doesn’t work.

BIOS/UEFI Settings:

• Boot Order: Once in the BIOS, you can set the boot order to recognize the installation media (USB or DVD) if you’re reinstalling an OS.
• Secure Boot: Sometimes, enabling or disabling Secure Boot can help with OS installation issues.

Power Reset:

• Hard Reset: Removing the battery and holding the power button is a common method to perform a hard reset and can sometimes resolve boot issues.

OS Installation:

• Check Installation Media: Ensure that your installation media (USB drive or DVD) is properly created and bootable. Tools like Rufus can help create a bootable USB drive for OS installations.

System Diagnostics:

• If the system always goes to diagnostics, it might indicate a hardware issue or a default setting in the BIOS. Checking BIOS settings or running thorough diagnostics might help identify the problem.

I hope this helps.

Take care and have a good day.

Please mark this post as “Accepted Solution” if the issue is resolved and if you feel this reply was helpful click “Yes”.

Rachel571

HP Support