No KB or touchpad in windows, works in BIOS just fine, Envy x360

[briand_tech42]

I have an Envy x360 15m-es0023dx, SN: [Personal Information Removed]

Enormously frustrating problem here, losing my mind. Laptop is a client's, I am an IT tech.

Replaced the screen and back part of the top after the hinge pulled all the screw moorings out of of the upper part of the laptop. That went fine (after a very long wait from HPs parts vendor). Now I have no keyboard or touch-pad. Externals work fine. I have no idea if it was working before I got it unfortunately but as described above, in the BIOS or the hardware diagnostics, both are working fine. And some linux distros I can boot to they will work. They work in our own hardware testing linux thing, but not just regular mint.

List of things I have tried.

1. deleting drivers from device manager and rebooting

2. installing different drivers from snappy driver.

3. updating BIOS, running all outstanding windows updates.

4. Disabling the Intel integrated sensor solution device, and reinstalling its driver

5. sfc scan, dism scan, all that stuff

6. replacing the SSD with a different one, and reinstalling windows from scratch.

     6a. Weird interaction here, in the installer and when I get into windows i have keyboard but no mouse. Once I connect the laptop to the network, after a bit the touch-pad will start working. Then after a few more minutes, BOTH the keyboard and touch-pad stop working again.

My only lingering guess is that the computer THINKS the screen is flipped around, and is disabling the keyboard and touch-pad. But that's just a guess, and as far as I can tell, there is no way to tell what state the computer thinks it's in.

I have been fighting this for days and the client is rightfully breathing down my neck wondering why this is taking so long to fix. HP offers NO chipset drivers for this laptop on their site. Or KB or touchpad drivers.

HELP

EDIT: added item 4 to list of things I've tried

[briand_tech42 · Accepted solution]

Well it started working as much out of the blue as it stopped. I'll put the answer here for posterity, so future generations will learn not to buy anything from HP.

Re-flashing the BIOS, for a SECOND time, finally fixed it. Googling about this problem I saw other people with x360s say much the same. A second CMOS reset fixed it...a second reload fixed it...etc. Why didn't the first re-flash do it? Lord only knows.

Let's not forget this whole problem started with the hinge yanking the screw inserts right out of the back plate. Why is opening and closing a laptop hinge (on a laptop specifically designed to be flipped around and back) causing breakages of that kind?

As an IT tech I've worked on hundreds of laptops. HPs always seem to be cutting corners like that. How much e-waste is HP responsible for by being penny wise but pound foolish. It's been a few years since I've been advising my clients to avoid HPs and things like this just continue to justify my point.