System Board (00A) - System Board CT Number (Missing or Invalid)

[ThomasHynes]

A couple of weeks ago my laptop started showing the message "System Board (00A) - System Board CT Number (Missing or Invalid)"  whenever I turned it on I could skip this message and boot into Windows but my battery was no longer charging while the computer was turned on (It charges fine when turned off) 

I need this laptop as I'm working from home at the moment so I decided to do some more research into the issue and rule out all the obvious things that I could. Different charger, uninstalling the Microsoft battery driver etc but after doing some more research I have found others that have the same issues when they have had the "CT Number missing or invalid error" 

The bizarre thing is if I unplug the charger the error message doesn't show up. In system information in the bios, the CT number is present and valid and matches the motherboard. No hardware has been changed, the laptop hasn't been damaged at all. The HP dmi tool confirms the numbers are present and correct so I'm totally stumped.

Does anyone have any suggestions? 

[ThomasHynes]

Any help at all, maybe a mod? 

[wampa007]

Hi Thomas, I'm new here, but I had the same problem.  I was able to locate the number under one of the SODIMM slots (had to remove one of the panels and remove the memory DIMM).  Programming it into your system is another story, you'll have to find a DMI encoding program on the internet and set that number back.  

If you are not technical, don't go that route.  See if HP can help you, or if you can go to a service center that can do it for you, especially if under warranty. 

Mine missing values was due to corrupted BIOS that I reprogrammed with clean version.  Its possible yours is due to the beginning of it getting corrupted, maybe do a BIOS update (or rollback to an earlier version if its saved on your disk).

[ThomasHynes]

I appreciate you taking the time to reply but I already have the board CT number from the motherboard and I can confirm it is correct. I have used the correct DMI encoding program to update it but it makes no difference, following some HP pdf files I found I have to put my bios into mpm mode to do it properly however I am unable to do this.

Bios update/restore did nothing and trying to get ahold of HP for out of warranty repair seems impossible due to their website just looping back on every contact point. I have to say I'm really disappointed in HP. 

[wampa007]

Hi Thomas, I was trying to PM you but I don't know if that is possible or maybe I'm too new.  To contact HP, I had to go through the chat option on the product page for my laptop to get to someone:  https://support.hp.com/us-en/contact-hp  , login and see if it shows "Chat Now" on the page.   I know what you mean about support pages looping back, but HP isn't anywhere near as bad as navigating ATT is, if that means anything.  

I was able to get a 'clean' factory BIOS from the BADCAPS . NET forum, and it actually reset it to programming mode as if on the assembly line.  I had to enter values for everything, featurebyte, build ID, CT number, etc.  Since you already know how to program the DMI values, you might be able to get along there or find someone that can provided you with what you need.

I actually programmed my BIOS (it was corrupted) with a CH341A USB dongle an a software called AsProgrammer.  Since your PC works, you might be able to apply the bios through Windows, though not sure how to do that if you have just the raw BIOS dump.  

My laptop was a 450 G3 and I found the files in post #12 on this site: https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpost.php?p=1033824&postcount=12  (though title there is for a G4).  

It's possible you might have bad hardware (power surge?) or maybe its a pure BIOS issue.  Good luck to you and let us know if you resolve it.