Corrupted BIOS

[J03M]

Problem started when my daughter added a second HD and we installed Linux on that drive. There were no BIOS boot entries for Linux to change the default boot order, and all attempts to make any changes only went from not good to worse. We tried to go to legacy mode, which promtped a reboot and subsequent screen to enter a code to take effect, and a prompt about boot options, which never came up. When we went back into BIOS, it shows Legacy is still disabled. Enabling secure boot likewise reboots to a code to enter, but that also fails. Currently, we have tried to enable either (both secure boot and legacy are disabled). Win 10 had an ACPI_BIOS_ERROR error before secure boot disabled. We can get into the BIOS, and go to Boot Options, navigate to the efi file and securely boot her Linux. Linux is working fine, we haven't been able to boot to a Windows 10 DVD to try to repair Windows 10, and at this point cannot get secure boot nor legacy boot to enable. We have also tried enabling a BIOS administrator password but no change, still cannot enable.

We have tried F9 to restore BIOS defaults, no change. We have tried the Exit menu to restore BIOS defaults, no change. We tried, thinking maybe something has corrupted the BIOS, to upgrade or reflash the BIOS with the same version BIOS. She currently has F.66. Her System Board ID is 1965. The problem with all BIOSes listed and downloadable for her HP Envy Touchsmart 17-j043cl is they only have BIOS files for system board id 1966 and 1961, but hers is 1965. Without an exact match, we are at our wits end to get this problem resolved. Any ideas? Does this sound like a corrupt BIOS? Why does it seem impossible to enable either secure boot or legacy? Is the boot options so locked down as to only allow booting Windows normally from the BIOS? Any pointers or other ideas to help are appreciated.

Joe

[J03M]

We have an HP ENVY TouchSmart 17-j043cl, and the BIOS has seemed to get corrupted (see other post). My more simple question is why all 4 BIOS softpaq files available for download, the newest being F.66 which hers is, are for system board ID numbers 1966 and 1961, while her system board ID is 1965? Is there a BIOS file for system board ID 1965?

[doughjohn]

Hi

I assume this is the one you have tried....

This package contains the WinFlash utility and a system BIOS image for the supported notebook models running a supported operating system. The WinFlash utility is used to locally flash the system BIOS (ROM) on notebooks operating in a Microsoft Windows environment.                           File name: sp73289.exe

Release details   Released: Oct 19, 2015   Version F.66 Rev.A

Fix and enhancements:- Provides improved security of UEFI code and variables. NOTE: HP strongly recommends promptly transitioning to this updated BIOS version which supersedes all previous releases.

############

I may be wrong but board ID 1965 is for a NON US country.

There is a linux utility called MOKUTIL (and also look at El Repo) which may help with ID ing the secure boot keys.

My lappy has W 10 , Debian and OpenSuse Leap 42.1 all residing on the same HDD, and during install the Grub boot loader is only a beta and can / did cause problems.

===========

We can get into the BIOS, and go to Boot Options, navigate to the efi file and securely boot her Linux. Linux is working fine,

Mine works from a boot screen, and so suggests there was a hiccup in the install.

[J03M]

Hi Doughjohn,

Thanks for the reply. My daughter bought it in the US, but knowing her she bought it online so maybe the Mainboard is non US and thus 1965 instead of 1966 or 1961. I will check with her to get more info.

She is running OpenSUSE Leap 42.1, but we did have a slight install hiccup, mostly since we tried to upgrade her older 13.1 HD from her old laptop. Her Envy has 2 drive bays, so she installed it there as we initially tried bo upgrade. It was an MSDOS partition type (not GPT) and was a mess to upgrade. It wouldn't finish the install (when it surely could have corrupted the BIOS), so we backed up her data and installed new.

I guess if I can find out if she knows where she got it from, and we can find a BIOS update at a non US hp website we can reflash it with, maybe we can conquer this problem.

Thanks for the ideas, and for knowing it should be bootable in a more normal fashion.

Joe

[doughjohn]

Hi

Indeed it could be the placing of the boot sector, writing over the windows area and not just the BIOS problem.

As you may see above, I triple boot W10, Debian and Leap 42.1 and there is an EFI boot partition and my C:\ is set as Bootable.

You cannot mount a Windows 10  volume in Debian or Opensuse if the "Turn on fast start up" is a chosen option, because the file system is not closed down cleanly.  There is an option in Gparted to correct these errors and mount the partition, but eventually you want to uncheck the windows option, and you can change the flags, from/to Hidden, Bootable etc.

So if there are further steps or anything else I can help with.

If in doubt please ask.

[J03M]

So far, UK, HK, SG, PH, MX and CA have the same F.66 BIOS filename (sp73289.exe) for the Envy 17-j043cl. I saw the files created by the softpaq, and for sure it only has a 01966.bin and 01961.bin. According to the HP docs, she should update with 01965.bin. Since it is the same file for so many different country's websites, is there any way to find out where we can get the F.66 BIOS for system board ID 1965? I can see this is the first step in solving our problem, and it shouldn't be this hard, but it is. Any ideas are welcome!

[doughjohn]

Hi

==========

This package contains the WinFlash utility and a system BIOS image for the supported notebook models running a supported operating system. The WinFlash utility is used to locally flash the system BIOS (ROM) on notebooks operating in a Microsoft Windows environment.                           File name: sp73289.exe

Release details   Released: Oct 19, 2015   Version F.66 Rev.A

Fix and enhancements:- Provides improved security of UEFI code and variables. NOTE: HP strongly recommends promptly transitioning to this updated BIOS version which supersedes all previous releases.

============================

http://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-envy-touchsmart-17-j000-notebook-pc-series/539662...

If you follow the link it takes you somewhere close, the BIOS is there for W 8.1, and seemingly not for W10, but lots of drivers for W7 - W10.

#########################

NB: I am somewhat out of date, I use supercede and have done since...

The standard spelling is supersede rather than supercede. The word is derived from the Latin verb supersedere but has been influenced by the presence of other words in English spelled with a c, such as intercede and accede. The c spelling is recorded as early as the 16th century; although still generally regarded as incorrect, it is now entered without comment in some modern dictionaries.

and NO I don't regard it as incorrect, and I prefer the English word spelt rather than spelled, but I am sure you should be able to follow the HP instructions even though they are in a foreign language.

[J03M]

Thanks again for your help. I just want to be clear before I do something I will later regret. We have downloaded all 4 BIOS softpaqs, F.66 Rev. A, F.56, F.65A, and F.64 Rev. A, for that laptop. They all have 2 bios binary files, 01961.bin and 01966.bin. According to http://support.hp.com/lv-en/document/c00042629 I should use the .bin file that matches the system board ID, which in her case is 1965. I am looking for 01965.bin but am not finding it. All 4 versions listed have the same .bin file names, presumably for a system board ID of 1966 or 1961.

If I am understanding what you are suggesting, since F.66 supercedes previous versions (i.e. F64 and F.65), we can use that file to reflash her BIOS? I know there is supposed to be checking in the BIOS update program, and theoretically it should install a wrong BIOS, I am hesitant to guess which would be a better match, 1966 or 1961. I haven't found anything else, though, that makes any sense.

We have been in the Firmware Management part of System Diagnostics, and reached the point of choosing the correct .bin file, but since the link above says it should match the system board ID, we aborted.

I also checked her mainboard and found a manual online for that laptop. There are 14 listed mainboards for that machine, so it appears to me the system board ID must be something different than a reference to the mainboard, and the html file on the ftp site mentions that BIOS file works for several flavors of Envy, i.e.

HP ENVY 15 Notebook PC
HP ENVY TouchSmart 15 Notebook PC
HP ENVY TouchSmart m7 Notebook PC
HP ENVY 17 Notebook PC
HP ENVY TouchSmart 17 Notebook PC
HP ENVY

I have updated many BIOS's in my time, but so far this one leaves me less confident with all the data I have found. The only other option it appears, other than this forum, is to pay $60 USD for a one time phone call, just to get a clear answer if our system board ID is 1965, and the BIOS update has 1961 and 1966, which if either should we load, or is there a BIOS file for 1965? (There has to be, since the BIOS she now has, F.66, is newer than when she purchased that laptop).

Thanks again for all your help. If you have this same model, i.e. Envy TS 17-j043cl, may I ask what your system board ID is on your system. I have wondered if that got corrupted, since it can't be her mainboard.

Joe

[doughjohn]

Hi

Sorry no can do.

Mine is a 17-p100na.

So at this point I am no use at all.

Further research shows..... A slightly different model number but the correct MOBO

Computer Brand Name:                    Hewlett-Packard HP ENVY 17 Leap Motion SE NB PC
 [Motherboard]
  Motherboard Model:                      Hewlett-Packard 1965
  Motherboard Chipset:                    Intel HM87 (Lynx Point)
  Motherboard Slots:                      6xPCI Express x1, 2xPCI Express x16
 

 [BIOS]
  BIOS Manufacturer:                      Insyde
  BIOS Date:                              06/10/2014
  BIOS Version:                           F.63
  UEFI BIOS:                              Capable
  Super-IO/LPC Chip:                      SMSC SCH5317

Insyde Software, Boston Office, USA

1400 Computer Drive
Westborough, MA 01581, USA
Tel: +1 508.599.3999
Fax: +1 508.599.3990
E-mail: contact.us@insyde.com

and the listed bios is

http://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-envy-17-j000-leap-motion-se-notebook-pc-series/64...

Details

This package contains the WinFlash utility and a system BIOS image for the supported notebook models running a supported operating system. The WinFlash utility is used to locally flash the system BIOS (ROM) on notebooks operating in a Microsoft Windows environment.

File name: sp73289.exe

Release details

Released: Oct 19, 2015

Version F.66 Rev.A

AND

Details

This package provides an update to the System BIOS. The packagecontains the WinFlash utility and a system BIOS image for supportednotebook models running a supported operating system. The WinFlashutility is used to locally flash the system BIOS (ROM) on notebooksthat are running a supported Windows environment.

File name: sp66269.exe

[J03M]

Actually, you have been a big help. I finally had a breakthrough. http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c02693833 mentioned that:

Recovering the notebook BIOS using an external storage device

If the HP_TOOLS volume (Windows 7) or UEFI partition (Windows 10, 😎 on your hard drive has been deleted,

Which of course in this case nothing has been deleted. Using Linux, I mounted the Windows EFI partition to /mnt, and looked around. I found an HP folder under EFI, which had a BIOS directory. To make a long story shorter, I saw that it had been updated before with the 01966.bin update. That tells me much of what I need to know. I am trying to contact my daughter to reflash the BIOS, and I believe this will most if not all the battle.

Thanks a lot for all your help and research. You gave me much more info than HP. I am pretty confident, at least now, exactly what I need to do, and your help was crucial in firguring out what more than likely happened to cause this. Thanks, and hopefully my next post on this will be a Fixed post.

Joe