Solved: Re: Disk image needed for BIOS update HP6715b - HP Support Community

roses2fr · ‎01-08-2019

Can some kind person out there provide me with an ISO disk image with which I can burn a CD-ROM or make a bootable USB Stick with Rufus, in order to update the BIOS of my HP6715b from F07 to F20.

The relevant SoftPaq is SP55556 and according to its read me file, it should work from within Windows (but doesn't specify which version). I've tried it in XP, Vista and Win 7 but all give the same error message "cannot be updated from Windows" which is in direct contradiction to the accompanying documentation.

I've tried for myself making a bootable USB stick using various utilities, based on MS-DOS and FreeDOS, adding the SP55556.exe and HPQFlash.exe files, as well as the ROM cabinet file to the root directory, but DOS reports the exe files cannot be run in DOS mode. So what am I missing?

Talking to HP Chat is futile: you get three different representatives and they all give conflicting opinions and solutions, and the left hand doesn't seem to know what the right hand is doing. One of them said use SDM in Win 7, but no BIOS updates are found. The other suggested using a previous version of SDM in XP or Vista, but all that happens is that it updates itself immediately after installation (and can't be stopped from doing so) - and the new version then reports an error "this version not compatible with your OS".

Also what's amazing is that HP seem not to have tested F20 with Win 7. How remiss of them is that? Their reasoning is that they believe that any remaining current owners only want to use XP or Vista. Their word for it is 'obsolete'. But in my opinion, a machine is only obsolete until there are no functioning examples left on this Earth - until that time, HP have a moral and corporate duty to provide support and updates. Everybody say "Yeah!!"?????

So I'm going round and round in circles and pulling my hair out, and all I want is a nice easy disk image file please. Anyone???

I've done BIOS upgrades before on other manufacturer's stuff and it's always been a nice/simple/quick process. Why does HP have to make it so hard?

roses2fr · ‎01-09-2019

[SOLVED]!!!!!!!!!!!!

BIOS update of HP6715b to Rev F20 was successful (with a million thanks to Huffer for his help and
encouragement)....

...but with one slight problem: my Win 7 Ult 32-bit drive doesn't boot up from it anymore.

EDIT: It does actually work now. Not sure why it didn't go the first time. Maybe I was just not patient enough.

Luckily I have Vista and XP hard drives which can boot up from it, and I can still read my data and files from the
Win 7 HDD via a SATA-to-USB adapter cable.

Here's how I did it:
(Disclaimer: this may or may not work for you. I accept no responsibility for loss of data or hardware damage or
bricking your laptop. You do it all at YOUR OWN RISK.)

First, check whatyour current version of BIOS is (in my case it was F.07). As Huffer suggested to me, it may not be
possible to go direct to F20, you possibly have to go in two steps via version F.0D.

If you are running XP or Vista, first download SP55556 and follow the on-screen instructions.

DO NOT attempt to run it from W7 or higher - there is a known issue that may make your laptop permanently
inoperative (bricked).

According to the readme file, it is designed to run from within Windows (but they DON'T specify WHICH version!!),
but if it doesn't, you will have to make a bootable USB disk and run the program from DOS.

To do this download SP40572. Right click on it, and extract it to your desktop. The files you need for the first
step to BIOS version F.0D are inside the Rompaq folder.

Then using the latest version of Rufus (e.g. 3.4), format a USB stick with Fat32 and with the FreeDOS option.
Choose Quick Format.

Add those files from the Rompaq folder onto your USB stick. Change the name of the bin file to 68YTT.bin. (I don't
know why - it seems as if the exe can only accept upgrade files with this name. (Unlike other BIOS updates I've
done on desktop mainboards, this time you don't get to choose which bin file to use for the update).

EDIT: I think 68YTT is like a code name for the BIOS of this particular machine, so all versions of the the BIOS (eg F.07, F.0D, F.20) all have a bin file called 68YTT.bin. So be careful and don't mix them up as there is no way of knowing which is which. All I know is that for the rompaq.exe program to find it, it must be called 68YTT.bin.

Do all the following procedures ALWAYS with a fully charged battery inserted AND the mains adapter cable plugged
in. Any loss of power during a BIOS update could be disastrous.

Shut down the PC. Reboot using F9 boot option into the USB Hard Disk.

Choose your keyboard layout if requested.

From the C:/ prompt type dir & Return/Enter to check all your files are there.

Type rompaq.exe, Return/Enter. The update program should start.

First, choose backup and save your current BIOS to the stick. It will be saved as 68YTT.bak.

Next, choose update and follow the on-screen instructions. Check the date of the update file corresponds with the
same date of the F.0D file.

DO NOT PRESS ANY KEYS or disturb the update process in any way.

At the end, you will be asked to press F10.

Reboot. You may need to reboot several times in order for the update to be 'seen/recognised'.

Boot into Vista or XP and using a program such as CPU-Z, check your BIOS version now says F.0D (or check it by
booting into BIOS via F10).

Delete the file 68YTT.bin from your stick. Copy from the Rompaq folder of SP55556 the bin file (this is for F.20)
onto your stick. Rename it to 68YTT.bin.

Reboot into DOS, and do the same update procedure. Again, check the date of the file to be upgraded is the same as
the Rev F.20 from SP55556.

When finished, reboot (several times again) and boot in XP/Vista. Check again you now have F.20.

EDIT: Yes, it does now boot into Win 7, so I leave the following paragraph in for legacy reasons.

(I am still doing investigations as to why Win 7 won't boot with the new BIOS.

I intend to try to do a fresh install from scratch on another disk of Win 7 and see if that works.)

Thanks again Huff

View solution in original post

roses2fr · ‎01-09-2019

Huffer said ?01-08-2019 02:50 PM

The easier way to do this is with a usb floppy disk, but if you can make a DOS bootable USB disk that will work, too. If you go to the download page there is a recent windows based executable BIOS flash which, as you say is not working for you. There is also a DOS-based BIOS flash tool there but it only has the .bin file for older BIOS. I would make the DOS bootable floppy and then substitute the .bin file found in the newest file for the older .bin on the floppy disk. I was able to extract out the F.20 .bin file from the executable using 7-zip. The DOS flash program will ask you to point to a .bin file and it should flash with the newer one as easily as with the older one.

End of quote

Aah, yes, I see you're referring to SP41979. (The reason I didn't see that before was because I had the Drivers page for the HP6715b website set to operating system Win 7 instead of XP or Vista.)

Main problem is that I don't have a USB floppy (and no money to buy one) so the bootable USB stick is for me the only way to go at the moment.

The only annoying this is that when running FirmwareUpdate.exe and trying to create a bootable USB drive is that the Quick Format Option is greyed out, meaning it takes a VERY long time (over an hour!!) to format a 16GB stick. (Although if you run HPUSBFW.exe directly you can use quick format.)

But after all that.....the USB stick is not bootable (non system disk error).

So I used the latest version of Rufus (3.4) and used the FreeDOS option. Then added Rompaq.exe file from SP41979, and the four files from the expanded ROM.cab in SP55556 into the root directory.

Booted into DOS, from the C:/ prompt typed rompaq.exe, and the update program started. I chose File>>>Update, but it said no ROM file was found (even though my F20 ROM was in the root directory). It didn't give me a choice of which bin file to use.

So I thought, maybe it's looking for a file called 68YTT. Renamed my ROM file to 68YTT.bin, and this time the screen told me I was about to update to the date of the ROM version I want (Dec 02 2011), but the error message said "Current BIOS version is incompatible with this update. Update to F.0B or later, up to and including F.1F"

Which doesn't make sense, as the current version is F.07.

So near and yet so far....

Huffer · ‎01-09-2019

It is not uncommon to have to update BIOS in stages. I think F.1F might actually be newer than what you have.

roses2fr · ‎01-09-2019

@Huffer wrote:
I think F.1F might actually be newer than what you have.

Edit. My bad.

Oh, newer than F07. That makes sense.

So now I have to find the bin file for F1F...

Getting close to giving up on this, I have to admit (although usually I'm not a quitter).

Huffer · ‎01-09-2019

No you are almost there. Do you have 7 zip? Just go into the history page for the BIOS updates and extract out the .bin files and keep flashing to newer ones until you get to the latest. Replace the .bin file in the bootable DOS disk you have already made. I think at this point you just need to do it twice...get to the minimum level for the F.20 and then do the F.20.

roses2fr · ‎01-09-2019

@Huffer wrote:
It is not uncommon to have to update BIOS in stages.

Yes, I've heard of that, and probably encountered it also. But why does the readme file for SP55556 not mention that? It leads you to believe that you can go straight to F20 with no intermediate steps.

I wish I could get some straight answers out of the HP support staff, but all they can do do is keep telling me (like a broken record) that my machine is 'obsolete'. For me, that word should only be applied when there are no physical examples of this laptop left on earth.

Huffer · ‎01-09-2019

Your expectations are unreasonable. Do you think if you called Ford Motor Company and asked for help with a Model A they would have Call Center people who could help? They are "obsolete" yet there are plenty of examples around and a thriving enthusiast community. If you have a "vintage" or near vintage laptop you get your help from the old enthusiast guys, not the manufacturer support site. And here we are.

roses2fr · ‎01-09-2019

@Huffer wrote:
Your expectations are unreasonable. Do you think if you called Ford Motor Company and asked for help with a Model A they would have Call Center people who could help? They are "obsolete" yet there are plenty of examples around and a thriving enthusiast community. If you have a "vintage" or near vintage laptop you get your help from the old enthusiast guys, not the manufacturer support site. And here we are.

Not sure I concur with you on that, but let's agree to disagree. I think your analogy is not a fair one- although I do see where you're coming from.

roses2fr · ‎01-09-2019