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HP Recommended
HP Pavilion dv6-6b90ec

Hello all,

at first let me describe the problem with notebook:

Friend of mine give me a laptop to check, so I'm not sure what exactly was last done on the laptop.

After turning on, the fan is spinning. No indication of loading anything from HDD. Screen is blank, the same if I connect external monitor. Caps-lock is not blinking.

I tested option with "Windows key and the B" Caps-lock start to blink.

Then I tested with USB stick with a BIOS recovery took "Windows key and the V". USB stick started to blink, then it stopped and Caps-lock start to blink.

Laptop is able to indicate, when I completely remove RAM modules by beeping. I tested with only 1 of 2 RAM modules plugged, the same result - blank screen.

I don't have spare RAMs or CPUs to test. Only option I can try is to try to flash the BIOS as the last option.

So, one question would can I try something else beside of BIOS flash?

 

Regarding BIOS flash.

I downloaded latest version of BIOS for HP Pavilion dv6-6b90ec from official HP page, what is sp59755.

I took 017FC.bin out of that sp59755 firmware.

I decrypted the bin, using InsydeFlash.exe v.4.5.4.0 (that  version I took out of firmware sp66805).

On motherboard I found 2 flashes. 4MB and 512kB. I'm not sure if the BIOS is somehow split across these two memories, but even after decrypting the file is still 0.1MB larger then could fit into that 4MB flash.

I saw, some discussions, where were people removing part of BIOS, or combining with backup of BIOS loaded by programmer.

Any advice how I can try to fit the BIOS into that memory? Side question, what is that 512kB flash good for, if it's not part of BIOS.

 

3 REPLIES 3
HP Recommended

@martin152 

My own advice -- leave the BIOS alone!  I don't know why everyone seems to think that the Miracle Cure to anything that ails a {C is a  BIOS update, but that simply is not the case.  If you got the update from HP, then go back and look a the detail information for the BIOS update.  If that update is not fixing a known issue with the PC, then do not try to flash it.

 

Blank screen can be faulty video drivers, so if you have a boot USB stick, then boot from that, and if you get a display then, it is likely the video drivers.  If that still results in a blank screen, then the video chip has probably failed and that can't be replaced.



I am a volunteer and I do not work for, nor represent, HP
HP Recommended

Hi WAWood, thank you for advice. Can you recommend what to put on USB stick. As I mentioned, I tried HP repair tool, but after a few seconds of blinking USB stick the CAPS-LOCK started to blink. I am not able to start the computer, so booting live OS is not an option here.

I think I will need to inspect from logs on HDD what was last done on computer, if there was some firmware upgrade.

 

I was going for BIOS recovery option, because also official guide says, that BIOS can become corrupted also due to power issue or virus infection, not only BIOS upgrade itself: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c02693833

 

So, if there is some better ideas than to put the laptop into trash, I would like to try it.

HP Recommended

OK, so the new info you provided indicates that you simply might not be able to do anything.

 

My suggestions was going to be to use a utility to format a boot USB on another PC so you could use that to boot the faulty PC and see if then, you get a screen display.  If you did, then that would confirm that both the video chip and screen work and that it is a video driver issue.  But, if you can not boot the laptop from a USB stick, then you can not do that.

 

If the CapsLock key is blinking or there is beeping, read this HP information on the likely cause of the hardware failure based on the blinking or beeping patters.

For laptops, this HP thread describes the different blink and beep codes: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01732674?jumpid=reg_r1002_usen_c-001_title_r0001
--------------------
To determine the cause with hardware failures, you have to be able run diagnostics. We have no way of accessing your PC from here, so we can not do that for you. You have to do it yourself.

You do this by pressing the Esc key repeatedly when rebooting and then, when the HP Startup Menu appears, selecting Diagnostics (usually F2) and letting it run.

If it is NOT possible to run diagnostics, or if that does not work, then there is NOTHING more you can do by yourself -- and there is NOTHING we can do because we have no way of accessing your PC from here to run diagnostics or repair hardware.

You will need to have the PC physically examined in a service facility by folks that can run their own diagnostics to determine what is wrong with it.



I am a volunteer and I do not work for, nor represent, HP
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