HP Pavillion not booting and crashing

[Ryanbird123]

Hello, I seem to have a problem that seems that a few others are having, however I have had no luck in finding a solution.

My HP Pavillion 15-cs0016na has been playing up for the past few months and despite trying almost everything the problems persist. I should point out that all of these issues seems to of appeared after a BIOS update (F.28) and have gradually got worse to the point of where my computers is now unusable. 

Common issues experiencing is, 

- The computer will lock up and crash unexpectedly. Upon restarting I would be met with the blink code error relating to a RAM issue or error 3FO boot device not found. 

- Booting will  fail sometimes, with the 3F0 Boot Device Not Found error. The diagnostics and BIOS setup screens indicate that no hard drive is installed. Although you can restart it again and works fine like nothing happened. 

- The system will randomly (without warning) freeze, as if all hard disk activity has stopped. It will then BSOD with the error "CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED". Importantly, it will not create a crash dump.

Error Messages received

Boot Device Not Found

Please install an operating system on your hard disk.

Hard Disk - (3F0)

F2   System Diagnostics

For more information, please visit:  <a href="http://www.hp.com/go/techcenter/startup" target="_blank">www.hp.com/go/techcenter/startup</a>

Pressing F2 and doing the test all come back fine apart from this. 

No hard drive installed. Please check that the power and data cables are connected properly.

I’ve tried the below to try and fix the issues that have been suggested by others but still left with “Boot Device Not Found” or blink code errors. But strangely enough sometimes will just start fine and work as like nothing is wrong sometimes even a few hours. Some of the fixes also seem like they worked however after leaving my pc for a few days and the coming back to it I’m met with all the same problems again. 

- Running diagnostics tests while the system works - all passed fine, including those in the HP PC Hardware Diagnostics software for Windows, and the diagnostics in the firmware. 
- Updating the firmware and drivers using the HP Support Assistant. 
- Switching from UEFI to Legacy boot. This seemed to be a fix aimed more towards incorrect/old OS installations to fix an actual missing boot device, I have seen somewhere that my computer may of been originally setup for windows 8 however windows 10 was the latest OS at time of purchase so came pre installed. 
- Factory resetting the BIOS settings.

- Reseating the SSD and securing it 

- Switching the upgraded ram back to the original ram that came installed. 
- Resetting the CMSO, (This seems to fix the issue about 70% of the time and if not if I keep trying it will eventually start up. However the pc will still crash at some point and we are stuck in the endless loop of no hard drive or blink code ram error) 

- Reinstalling the BIOS version, I’ve also tried to roll back and it will not allow me. 

I have managed to fix the blink code errors regarding the ram by removing one of the ram sticks and re installing on of the ram sticks that came with the pc, but even with the upgraded one this now seems to of fixed the issue that end with the ram. It seemed touching that area of the pc made it crash prior to removing one of the ram sticks. The is no signs of damage to the pins or motherboard however I’m still left with the no boot drive detected. All the other ram works fine when it’s in the other slots too and swapping them around. Strangely the pc will just work as normal too upon restating on many occasions like nothing is wrong and without changing anything. 

I’ve ran out of options of what to do next and my head is mashed. I don’t want to be spending money on fixes if it’s beyond salvageable. It would be a shame though as when it’s running its still a great pc, fast and can handle a fair amount. Any other suggestions on where to go from here would be greatly appreciated. 

[banhien]

@Ryanbird123 

Please use the following Official Guide:

                        HP PCs - Hard disk 3F0 boot device not found error

Regards.