Installed UEFI Diagnostics but it doesn't seem to run

[nbf]

This regards an HP Pavilion dv6t-7000 CTO Entertainment Notebook PC.

I'm trying to run hardware diagnostics to find out whether my motherboard has a problem. (New battery is plugged in but not charging.) I downloaded HP UEFI Support Environment (Version 5.3.3.0), shut down the laptop, then pressed the power button, followed by the ESC button. The BIOS and diagnostic test screen was displayed but when I press F2 I don't see the HP PC hardware Diagnostics UEFI screen which has the Component Tests. I see the old diagnostic test UI without component tests.

What am I doing wrong? I have repeated the UEFI Support Environment install multiple times.

Thanks,

Neil

PS. I tried to correct a typo in this message using the Edit feature in the pulldown menu on the right-hand side of the forum window. The body of the messgae did not appear for editing when I used Chrome as my browser. I needed to edit the message in Safari. I find it surprising that the HP forum doesn't work well with Chrome.

[BHK6]

Hi @nbf

Welcome to the HP Support Forums, I hope you enjoy your experience! To help you get the most out of the HP Forums I would like to direct your attention to the HP Forums Guide First Time Here? Learn How to Post and More.

I saw your post regarding the problem with the UEFI tools. However, if you think it is motherboard or system board just because of that “plugged in, not charging” then let's look at a couple of other things that might have caused this first. You didn't mention your operating system so I have included two documents below to test and calibrate the battery.

Testing and Calibrating the Battery (Windows 7)

Testing and Calibrating the Battery (Windows 😎

Try resetting the Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery which is basically the driver that communicates between the computer and the battery. There is a chance that it is corrupted.

Step 1. Go to Device Manager
Step 2. Select Batteries
Step 3. Right click the "Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery" that is listed there
Step 4. Click Uninstall
Step 5. At the prompt put a check in the box to remove the current driver
Step 6. Shutdown the computer
Step 7: Remove the battery for minute and then put it back in

When the computer comes back up it should automatically find the driver.

Step 8. Go to Device Manager
Step 9. Select Batteries
Step 10. Right click the "Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery" that is listed there
Step 11. Click "Search automatically for updated driver software"

Do the same thing with Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Embedded Controller.  If that doesn't work please reply back with your operating system and I will see what else I can find for the UEFI tools.

[nbf]

Hi @BHK6,

Thanks for the help. I'm running Windows 7. I tried the steps in the link you sent (Testing and Calibrating the Battery (Windows 7)) and did not see a Battery Test option when I selected F2 System Diagnostics. I had also done this before several times and the battery test option never seems to appear. (My battery charge is 42% and I did this with the AC adaptor unplugged.)

I also tried the steps 1-11 in your message for "Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery". By the way, this HP laptop doesn't have a "Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Embedded Controller". The Device Manger, under Batteries, has the following:

Microsoft AC Adaptor

Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery

Microsoft Composite Battery

Previously the laptop used to say "plugged in, charging" but wasn't in fact charging. After doing steps 1-11, it doesn't detect the AC adaptor at all. The battery charge is down to 39%.

Thank you,

Neil

[BHK6]

Hi nbf,

I have never seen it get worse following those steps. There is a first for everything. I took a look for the latest version of the UEFI tools that I could find and this link seems to be the latest one.

[nbf]

Thank you. I downloaded the software at the link you provided. (I was logged on to an administrator account.) I installed the software successfully and then shut down the computer. Then powered on the computer and immediately after that pressed ESC. This is what happened:

1) With the battery out and only using the AC adaptor for power, the diagnostic test screen did not apear at all (tried that several times).

2) With the battery inserted but not using the AC power, the old-fashioned (not UEFI) diagnostic test screen DID apear, but there was no battery test option. I only see

  F1 System Information

  F2 System Diagnostics

  F9 Boot Device Options

  F10 BIOS Setup

  F11 System Recovery

3) I also tried it with both the battery AND the AC power supply: I shut down the laptop, disconnected the AC power supply, removed the battery, then re-inserted the battery, connected the power supply and started the laptop and immediately pressed ESC. The exact same thing happened as in (2) above. The AC power supply was not detected and the laptop was on battery power.

Do you know why the battery test option did not appear in (2)? Am I doing it correctly when I try to run UEFI Diagnostics by pressing ESC immediately after restarting the laptop? I am running Windows 7 Enterprise Edition. (Previously I omitted the "Enterprise Edition" part.)

Thanks,

Neil

[BHK6]

Hi nbf,

The link I gave does list Windows 7 Enterprise as a supported operating system. What options do you get when you go into the System Diagnostics? You should be able to access the diagnostic tools via F2 as mentioned in this HP document Testing Hardware Failures under the UEFI section.

[nbf]

Hi @BHK6,

  Thanks for the link. To answer your question, System Diagnostics has these options:

F1 System Information

F2 Start-up Test

F3 Run-In Test

F4 Hard Disk Test

F11 Error Log

ESC Exit

I followed the link you provided (Testing Hardware Failures) and did what it said: instead of using ESC after restart, I did F2. All it did was it took me directly to the System Diagnostics page (i.e. restart + F2 is the same as restart + ESC +F2). The important thing is that I DID NOT see the HP PC Hardware Diagnostics UEFI graphical user interface. No GUI at all.

That page also mentions updating the BIOS. I'm pretty I did that before wrote to the forum, but when I did it there were several versions of software listed and it wasn't clear which one to download. I think I downloaded the latest ones.

At any rate, while doing these tests, I depleted the battery. I can still neither re-charge the battery, nor run the HP PC Hardware Diagnostics UEFI to diagnose the problem whether the motherboard is at fault. Frustrating...

Neil

[BHK6]

Hi nbf,

The link I gave you was the latest one that I could find. You are going to have to take it to someone and have them test the motherboard to see if that piece is faulty or not.  You can contact HP Total Care at 1-800-474-6836 in North America or start here if you live outside of North America.

[nbf]

Thanks.

Regarding the original question which prompted me to post to this forum, why UEFI Diagnostics doesn't show up when I restart and press F2. We still don't know why that happens, right? I just installed it for the 5th time: downloaded from here to HP_TOOLS drive and ran it from that drive too. The install was successful and a dialog popped up saying: 'Completing the HP PC Hardware Diagnostics UEFI Setup Wizard. Click the "Finish" button...' Then restarted the computer and pressed F2. I was taken into the basic system diagnostic screen, instead of te UEFI diagnostic screen.

It's one thing for a relatively top of the line HP laptop to possibly have a hardware failure 2 years after purchase (it can happen), but entirely different thing for the test suite responsible for the diagnosis of the problem to not even run.

HP claims that "The UEFI System Diagnostic is available on most HP notebook PCs, manufactured after late-2008." This HP Pavilion dv6t-7000 CTO Entertainment Notebook PC was purchased in 2012. I really should be able to run UEFI and do a "System Board Check" and determine if the system board has a defect, without incurring the trouble of taking it outside.

Neil

[DennyC]

I can relate.  I have two DV6t CTO entertainments systems purchased 5 months apart.  One in Oct 2012, the other Feb 2013.  The newest one has the HP Advanced System Diagnostics version 4.2.5.0 and is a GUI with many test options.  The older machine, upon pressing ESC>F2 on boot gives me - HP PC Hardware Diagnostics - UEFI version 1.6.0.0 and only has (4) non GUI (text based) options...Memory Test, Hard Drive Check, Language, Exit.  I wish someone could explain why two identical laptops have these differences.  I should add that both machines received a BIOS update through HPSA.  The older machine would not complete the install (hung on reboot).  The newer machine did receive the updated BIOS which is version F.2D.  So, any HP wizards out there care to comment.  It would be nice to know why this is.