ProBook 450 G3 Bricked (Boot-loop) (No UEFI)

[andycris]

I am unable to boot my notebook after reseting bios settings to factory defaults.

When powered on the laptop "turns on" with a blank screen and after 10 sec. resets itself repeatedly.

I am unable to enter the uefi menu (ESC),Boot selection (F9) and Setup Menu (F10).

I followed the hard reset instructions from here to no avail.

I created an UEFI recovery USB drive following instructions with the latest uefi.

As soon as the usb drive is accessed (observed thumb drive led) the laptop resets!

I also tried other bootable thumb drives with which normally boot with no success.

What else can i do?

[Radler]

Did you try booting only on ac without battery? Do you get any leds blinking or beeps? I'd try removing the ram memory, hard drive, and dvd drive, hard resetting again but holding the power button for a couple minutes, then letting the pc sit for a couple hours and in the end plugging the power supply directly into a wall outlet and boot w/o battery. If that doesnt change anything you might have a corrupted bios or something worse.

Good luck

[Radler]

Also check this out http://support.hp.com/rs-en/document/c03518165, it contains some steps for bios recovery.

[andycris]

I did everything you suggested here and probably beyond - swapped ram module - removed ssd and hdd.

I have no POST screen no hp logo [just display backlight turns on (black screen) ] and after a couple of seconds ~40 the

device resets itself and after first reset it resets even faster ~10 sec.

If i try the bios recovery procedure with the usb stick the laptop resets itself as soon as the stick is accessed - tried with a handfull of sticks.

[Radler]

Sounds to me like you need to visit a repair shop.

[Radler]

Oh and btw it says in the article that the bios recovery with the keypress combo uses source files from the last known good bios from the hdd, but im guessing the hdd has to have the factory image on it or those files in certain folders.

[Radler]

Heres the bios recovery doc for reference http://support.hp.com/rs-en/document/c02693833

Id try studying it carefully and trying all the options if you havent already. I guess its either that or the repair shop.

[Radler]

Oh and one last thing if you use a usb stick make sure its usb 2.0 and fat32 formatted

[andycris]

I did study a ton of docs and - i've been an it technician for many years now...

I don't think i have the factory image (was a worthless freedos) anymore, but i guess i could recreate the folder structure and try that. 

I've also tried  the HP PC Hardware Diagnostics 3-in-1 USB Key.

Used usb 2.0 sticks different manufacturers, fat32 formatted, tried fat16 also, MBR and GPT partition schemes you name it ...

My laptop is still under warranty (4 months old) and this is the second time this happens - the device was repaired once (mainboard replacement).

The problem is i am not very eager go to the service center again  because last time it was there they scratched my device in multiple visible places, forgot some screws, bent the lid ... i am very unsatisfied with their service....

Thank you for your time &  help Radler

[Radler]

Sorry to haer that. If it was bent and scratched id imagine esd damage is also possible.This was an Hp service center? If you have proof of purchase and its less than a year old i'd contact the official hp support channel for your country. If it was repaired by the retailers service shop id bust their balls and threaten loads of negative publicity on social media until they fix it or replace the unit. Oh and mentioning lawyers sometimes helps.

Good luck mate