Envy x360 AMD laptop unusable after updating to BIOS F.19

[gridironking81]

I'm not having that issue. My screen looks just fine. I also don't experience the green frame glitch you were talking about.

[UnloadedOne]

I am so glad I found this thread.  I followed the steps and it worked but I am concerned how this latest round of updates cripples this line of laptops so badly.  It happened right as my warranty expired and HP wanted to charge me 60 bucks to just look around.  I seriously doubt they would have found this solution.  

Since getting this laptop, I have had constant and nagging video issues.  Youtube, at times, was stricly off limits.  

The lack of support for this laptop is troubling.  It's been out for a little over a year and It's hard to rely on this machine.  I do hope HP releases another update soon that resolves this soon.

Anyway thanks for the tips.  The laptop is working splendidly, for now.  

[UnloadedOne]

For those still following this thread, I wrote to the office of the president of HP and was put in touch with someone from executive services.  From there I was put in touch with HP Smart Friend Support and I specifically pointed out this thread.  

At first, the rep claimed that Bios F.19 doesn't need to be installed despite HP support assistant prodding you to do so.  He also said that no all the updates in HP Support assistant are correct which I found odd.  

Anyway, I spoke of how the actual driver for the 2500u on the HP support page is wrong and the rep said that HP wasn't necessarily responsible for AMD driver updates.  

Again, to me, this was odd.  HP should indeed be working to push updated drivers for the APU especially since they have an old outdated one on the support page for this model. In essence, they are perpetuating a problem that is rendering many of these laptops unusable.  They keep steering people to the wrong driver that's outdated and AMD does not seem to acknowledge that the 2500u even exists.  

The rep said they will have someone look into the "backend" of how updates are pushed.  I am supposed to get a call back later as a followup which I will press them on this issue again.  

Does anyone know if the driver will automatically update with new 2400g drivers now that it's installed on our machines?  

[proxyx]

There are more complaints about the F.19 BIOS, go check/search this forum to see them.

As a result of HP's urgent message to update the driver due to security risks ("HP recommends driver be updated immediately" that was more or less the message with a red exclamation mark) I did so and still suffer from crashes.

There is no sulution posted in the driver/software update section.

The "fix" posted above was not meant for this processor/chipset. It may work as a TEMPORARY solution only for now, and only for some users. Keep in mind that HP supports only what comes from HP and installing updates not meant for your laptop may give HP a reason to invalidate your warranty or refuse help due to forced installation of an unsupported driver.

Since the issue arose from Envy BIOS update the fix must come form HP and has to be on the BIOS level. A modification of laptop software such as BIOS affects all functionalities of a laptop. No one here can conclusively say that this "fix" resolves ALL the issues F.19 BIOS update introduced, no one here has the tools or expertise to make such claim. Giving others a false sense of security may be detrimental to them in the long run if they do not pursue a proper resolution with HP.

Think about it.

Driver update with unsupported drivers that were not meant by AMD and HP for this line of products CANNOT QUALIFY AS A FIX and claiming the problem "is solved" is rather irresponsible.

[UnloadedOne]

I agree. The fix is temporary and not something a non savvy user would figure out. 

This is something I kept reiterating to the “Smart Friend” team and the indication I got was that they could care less and even though I told them these were drivers intended for different hardware, the reaction I received was, “Well it’s working now, right? What do you want?” 

Totally unacceptable response.  

When I told them of others here reporting problems, they halfheartedly thanked me and said they’ll let someone know.  This was after yet another call.  Other than that I received canned/scripted responses on how computers work. I told them I have built my own desktop gaming rig and get it.  

Im not confident ithat any escalation will come of this. 

So I wrote back to executive services outlining the problem and imploring them to take my notes and the complaints on the forum to someone higher up to look at. 

Waiting on a response for that.  

Just totally unacceptable how HP is handling this. 

Please visit sit here, if you have the time, and drop the CEO a note. Someone will contact you and you will see some results.  

https://ssl.www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/connect-with-hp.html

[proxyx]

Don't forget you need to disable Windows update. Windows will repeatedly try to unload this driver as incompatible (correctly!) so in order to at least keep it for some time you need to prevent Windows update unloading this driver.

But wasn't the F.19 BIOS released to address security issues in the first place?

Now you have to kill windows update to be able to use the laptop and this is what some call a solution... and some really "smart friends" from HP are condoning? You can ask them: are you supposed to turn windows update off? Is this offficial policy? 

Any solution that works around MS Windows default drivers is not a solution.

Windows has to load and work as designed based on MS signed drivers ONLY as supplied with Windows 10, and unless MS releases a driver for a HP laptop crippled by the HP F.19 BIOS this cannot be accepted as a solution.

So far, thanks to HP's new BIOS, laptops keep dying with Windows drivers... isn't this great? Truly a Christmas gift from HP.

Whether HP likes it or not, this problem will bite them back. Just watch.

PS. I suggest to keep sending complaints to CEO as posted above via HP Connect and ignore his "smart friends", they are not decission makers anyway. One pen stroke by a CEO and problem is fixed tomorrow even by renaming F.17 BIOS to F.20 and allowing this "upgrade". It's this trivial, only needs someone from HP to authorize this.   

[touyets]

Obviously this is only a temporary workaround. I marked it as solved because the temporary workaround made the laptop work again. Nobody here is deluded into thinking the issue is fixed and leaving it be.

i have a ticket open with HP and I’m not allowing them to close it until the underlying issue is fixed by HO and they seem to understand the issue lies with them.

Once the issue is fully fixed then I will post here what HP did to fix it for me but until then the workaround is good enough for my laptop to work. Marking this as solved helps provide a beacon for those lost souls who require a quick turnaround and fix but everybody who does this has enough technical knowledge to understand that putting a bandaid on a severed limb won’t fix the wound and reattach the limb until a licensed doctor gets to work on it.

[proxyx]

I get it. No ill will here.

It would be worthwhile to edit the "solution" to make it clear, or clearer, that this workaround does not address the core of the problem which is F.19 BIOS incompatible with current Windows causing graphics drivers appear out of bounds to Windows and internet browsers.

Giving affected users false sense of control or security, was, I think, rather unintended consequence of naming it a solution.

A solution has to come from HP, sadly, the only viable way to undo what has been damaged.

I'm not criticizing your post, good that ppl spend inordinate amount of time to help themselves, but just trying to keep it  grounded. 

Thx.

[UnloadedOne]

I too went through the adventure of having both the HP Support Assistant and Windows update undo the workaround. 

What fun! 

While the Smart Friend at HP thought it was a swell idea to uninstall the Support Assistant, I really am not keen on disabling  Windows Update as well.  And I also don't think it's a great idea to uninstall the Support Assistant.  Such frustrating support calls.  

I am sure if the wrong person at HP looks over this thread and sees it "solved" they will simply call it a day and say it's no longer a real issue.  But since there seem to be other topics discussing this and our contact with phone support is ongoing, we will hopefully be able to move things in the right direction.  

Speaking of which, I just got off the phone with level 2 support and they said my complaint had been lodged and they are looking it over and will be calling me back.  

This is HP's mess and they will need to clean it up.  Hopefully they move quickly.  

[ron_valen]

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@UnloadedOne wrote:

For those still following this thread, I wrote to the office of the president of HP and was put in touch with someone from executive services.  From there I was put in touch with HP Smart Friend Support and I specifically pointed out this thread.  

At first, the rep claimed that Bios F.19 doesn't need to be installed despite HP support assistant prodding you to do so.  He also said that no all the updates in HP Support assistant are correct which I found odd.  

Anyway, I spoke of how the actual driver for the 2500u on the HP support page is wrong and the rep said that HP wasn't necessarily responsible for AMD driver updates.  

Again, to me, this was odd.  HP should indeed be working to push updated drivers for the APU especially since they have an old outdated one on the support page for this model. In essence, they are perpetuating a problem that is rendering many of these laptops unusable.  They keep steering people to the wrong driver that's outdated and AMD does not seem to acknowledge that the 2500u even exists.  

The rep said they will have someone look into the "backend" of how updates are pushed.  I am supposed to get a call back later as a followup which I will press them on this issue again.  

Does anyone know if the driver will automatically update with new 2400g drivers now that it's installed on our machines?  

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It's mostly AMD's problem since the driver code signer is AMD. 

For my bq100cto model,

After installing Adrenaline 18.12.2 (Windows driver store version: 25.20.15003.5010) via force insall method, Windows Update process will attempt to install Windows driver store 22.19.655.1 (Catalyst 17.x era drivers), but my group policy setting has block Windows Update for a specfic device ID.