HP Envy x360 Ryzen F19 BIOS disaster DO NOT UPDATE

[proxyx]

First, do NOT rush, as much as I would like to have it fixed right away it needs to be researched and verified.

This is a HP branded MB, BIOS is in AMI format obviously with HP/AMD touch-ups. To what extent... hard to say.

Check the BIOS integrity first as described in my post. What are the results?

Google .rom vs .bin but these are interchangeable usually, so .rom may be renamed to .bin and vice versa, no guarantee though.

Is your laptop out of warranty?

I'm in the same boat, but before flashing all needs to be checked thoroughly.

Worst comes to worst BIOS chip will have to be replaced, physically, and/or programmed out of the laptop if flashing is unsuccessful or fails totally. You may brick the BIOS/laptop... so proceed with caution.

Several tools may be compatible, usually the tool will warn if something is about to go awry, but there's always a chance of failure. Some generic tools, not specific to the BIOS manuf. may work well so take your time. My list was not exhaustive by any measure, only to show there's stuff out there.

I cannot imagine this BIOS is sooo special, but research is the key.

Asus Aflash utility is also well known for it's good performance, hard to say which one is the right one.

I'm currently sorting out/backing up my data, once this is done I may do the re-flash, not today though I think.

[Redblind]

@Proxyx Thank you for your insight and effort. Please do keep us up to date when you have attempted to reflash. Fingers crossed.

[Redblind]

OK GUYS I found a potential fix for video issues.

https://www.dirtriverdesign.com/how-to-improve-hp-envy-x360-stability-amd-ryzen-2500u-vega-8-graphic...

Following this guys instructions (Step 2 only) I found that YouTube no longer crashes the system. Fired up an old XVID encoded video in VLC which worked fine. Tried a HEVC video but this displayed a green screen although the audio played fine. No crashes. Disabling hardware acceleration and restarting VLC before playing again fixed this issue.

Fired up a game and it's still running fine ten minutes in.

I downloaded the last set of drivers he tested and claimed to work fine and, so far so good for me

Follow his instructions and I have my fingers crossed for you guys!

Will update here if anything goes awry at any point.

[xxalazin]

No issue at all so far system is stable but I was updateing from the latest previous bios....

[proxyx]

Couple general thoughts: 

I'm thinking those who have laptops under warranty damaged by F19 BIOS update need to verify CMOS checksum, if invalid and recovery did nothing, should contact HP support.

For those out of warranty: possibly paid support/repair via HP or repair shop with expertise in programming BIOS.

Those willing to experiment on their own risk (out of warranty):

there are some universal flashers, like Uniflash 1.40. I'd flash with F19 first and if it goes OK but laptop is still limping, try lower version(s). Before reflashing try testing or backing up existing BIOS to see if the utility is a good fit.

In case of failure consider reprogramming BIOS EPROM with the last used good BIOS ver. by a qualified tech shop.

Mine is still under warranty so the answer is clear.

Edit: just tested Uniflash 1.4 on an old laptop, it did not recognise the chipset and manuf. data properly, so no go.

I'll check other tools too.

[proxyx]

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@MeMoL wrote:

The thing is that the file extension supported by AMI is .rom

but the file HP provides is .bin

Bios agent plus says that your bios is AMI, but when I open AMI flash it says it isn't.

whats should i do?

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Try making a backup  with this tool, save existing BIOS to a file, see if it can read BIOS and make a backup. That's least intrusive way of testing.

[pauln08]

  Workaround to stop freezing. Device Manager - Display Adaptors - AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile Graphics - Driver - Disable Device. I was having the same issue as you however this has stopped the freezing/crashing so far. 

[MeMoL]

Hi guys,

Amd just released an update for graphic drivers,

Download it here,

https://drivers.amd.com/drivers/Win10-64Bit-Radeon-Software-Adrenalin-2019-Edition-18.12.2-Dec12.exe

then update your graphics driver as previously been said. extract it, go to manage, drivers, amd vega 8, update, have disk, and select amd vega 8, update!

that's it. It would probably solve all of the problems you had.

Mine works like a charm! 

[Taqiiii]

Thanks. After hours of frustration, your solve worked!

Btw I used Ryzen 3 2200G desktop driver and it worked. 

[xxalazin]

I did update after I did a driver cleanup with DDU. The setup said installed 18.82.12 but no control panel installed and the drivers were stil MS basic display driver. I was able to force install the dec 6 2018 driver and it does work well so far. I cannot find a way to install the Radeon settings or control panel.....