Upon updating a BIOS, I need to use custom BIOS settings (not default) but can't do that.

[Moulton45]

I have an HP Sprout with the original Windows 8.1 BIOS (80.09).  Unbeknownst to me, the BIOS settings had been custom set to use the main RAM for the NVIDIA GeForce GT 745M Graphics Chip.  Evidently, the previous owner had told the BIOS not to use the NVIDIA built-in Video RAM because of an issue with it.  When I upgraded the OS to Windows 10, I determined I needed to upgrade the BIOS from CAM-80.09 to CAM-A0.09 for Windows 10.  This upgrade evidently lost the custom BIOS settings and reverted to the default — namely to use the (faulty) built-in RAM in the NVIDIA Graphics chip.  It turns out the A0.09 BIOS is the only one that detects and reports Video RAM issues (with an 8-Beep code that AMI documents as Video RAM issues).

Upon installing the A0.09 BIOS, the BIOS Recovery manages to turn on the Video just fine, but subsequently issues the 8-Beep code after restarting, without providing any option to instruct the BIOS to bypass the native Graphics RAM and use Main RAM.  The older versions of BIOS also can be installed (blindly) and don't beep and don't provide any video at all.

How can I install a BIOS that lets me fix the settings to use main RAM instead of the native built-in Video RAM in the NVIDIA Chip?

As far as I know, the only reported fix is to replace the entire system board – a solution that would be unnecessary if I could get the new BIOS out of default and into the custom setting that prevailed when I first acquired this unit.

The video includes a brief window of time to press the ESC key, but it's inoperative in this BIOS Recovery scenario.  So how do get around this issue, short of installing a new System Board?

[BeemerBiker]

The Spout is  no longer in production and is unlikely to have the bios upgraded.  It does not hurt to ask for a bios fix.  

https://www.hp.com/us-en/contact-hp/ww-contact-us.html

Have you tried resetting the CMOS after you downgraded to 80.09?

Possible motherboard

Unplug from wall press the power switch 2-3 times then move both blue jumpers to adjacent pins on the right.  After 10 seconds return the pins to original position an see if the you can get into the bios.  Or remove battery, whatever is easier.

Are you sure the bios that worked was 80.09?  There are older bios available for download

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/swdetails/sprout-by-hp/7471144/swItemId/cp-154105-2

[Moulton45]

When I first installed A0.09, it just looped endlessly, reinstalling A0.09 and beeping 8 times every cycle. So I'm pretty sure it must have cleared the CMOS back to default from the gitgo.

After I fully explored the HP driver download page for the HP Sprout, I subsequently tried to reinstall 80.13, the newest BIOS version for Windows 8.1.  Eventually, I downloaded and tried every Windows 8.1 BIOS version and every Windows 10 BIOS version.  The only version that would turn on the video was A0.09 (which subsequently provided the 8-Beep code).  All the other BIOS versions installed silently and blindly (no video).  I then looked up the AMI documentation to discover the meaning of the 8-Beep code which explained the no-video issue.  That's when the original owner told me about the BIOS setting to bypass the built-in Video RAM for the NVIDIA GeForce  GT 745M Graphics Chip.  But with no video, there was no way to bring up the BIOS Setup to change the settings.  As far as I know, the HP All-In-One series have no serial console and no way to hack the CMOS settings without a working video.

Last month, on a wonky Dell Latitude D630c laptop with a buggy NVIDIA NVS 735M Surface-Mounted Graphics Chip, I successfully reflowed that problematic chip by putting the bare motherboard in a 400° oven for 10 minutes.  If I cannot find a way to resolve the issue with the HP Sprout, short of replacing the whole system board, I might as well try the same tactic, as I would have to disassemble the machine and remove the existing system board anyway.  In other words, the issue could be the same as it was with the Dell Latitude.  But first I might just try a 400° heat gun directly on the NVIDIA chip, without cooking the whole system board.

[Moulton45]

It looks like this issue is so arcane and so deeply technical, and so challenging, it's going to require a deity-level guru to devise a solution that I can employ.  If there is anyone who knows of a cognizant deity-level guru who can be summoned here, please sound Gabriel's Trumpet on my behalf. I've just issued an "HP Friend" request to a dozen "Experts" on this HP Forum, in the hopes that someone here knows of a super-expert who can advise me on how to recover from the issue described above.

Since there is one (and only one) edition of the HP Sprout BIOS Update (namely the American Megatrends AMI CAM-A0.09 version) that can actually turn on the wonky surface-mounted NVIDIA GT 745 Graphics Chip, there must be a way to 1) turn on the video and 2) immediately get into the BIOS Settings to judiciously edit the flags in the CMOS to tell it to only use main system RAM (and not the wonky built-in NVIDIA VRAM) to bring this machine back to useful life.

So, once again ...  "Calling All Experts!  Calling all Super-Gurus!"

[Moulton45 · Accepted solution]

I gave up on this issue and purchased a replacement system board, which solved the problem of no video.  My attempt to use a heat gun to reflow the solder on the NVIDIA Graphics Chip was an unsuccessful gambit.

[BeemerBiker]

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@Moulton45 wrote:

I gave up on this issue a purchased a replacement system board, which solved the problem of no video.  My attempt to use a heat gun to reflow the solder on the NVIDIA Graphics Chip was an unsuccessful gambit.

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 The one and only time I used an oven to reflow a PCB the chip on the bottom of the PCB fell off.

[Moulton45]

Alas, now I'm back to the original problem that I erroneously thought I could fix with an updated BIOS.

Even though the new board is fully updated with all the requisite drivers, the Sprout Workspace Calibration still fails.

But now I think the calibration failure is due to the projected rectangle not quite overscanning the white rectangle on the surface of the TouchMat that allows the system to precisely find the edges of the white rectangle.

[BeemerBiker]

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@Moulton45 wrote:

Alas, now I'm back to the original problem that I erroneously thought I could fix with an updated BIOS.

Even though the new board is fully updated with all the requisite drivers, the Sprout Workspace Calibration still fails.

But now I think the calibration failure is due to the projected rectangle not quite overscanning the white rectangle on the surface of the TouchMat that allows the system to precisely find the edges of the white rectangle.

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Post the calibration problem in a new discussion so readers with experience will recognize the problem.

[Moulton45]

Yep. That's my next order of business and my next plan.