Restoring BIOS after update failure for HP Pavilion G6 1351el

[Leo931]

Hi, I'd like to share the solution I found for restoring BIOS on a Pavilion G6 1351el, after a BIOS update failure. The guide I found from HP official site didn't work (https://support.hp.com/si-en/document/c02693833), because the BIOS softpaq for my laptop didn't allow me to make a USB, and the WIN+B method didn't work too. So the following is the solution I found; the necessary files are stored here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1HrgXyc54fg16htKOwcfkOFFbmpRL-9V5?usp=sharing. There is also a .txt file named "Compatible BIOS" but it isn't necessary to the procedure, it's only a list of compatible BIOS for my laptop.

1)Download the official BIOS softpaq (in my case it's the sp60864), right click on it and extract to a folder.

2)After extracting the sp, there are 4 BIOS files into it (beyond other files):

- 0166CF66.BIN;

- 0184DF66.BIN;

- 0338AF66.BIN;

- 01666F66.BIN.

You have to choose the right file. To do this, extract the battery from your laptop and read what is written somewhere there: in my case I read "Rev. 1670-130", so my motherboard ID is 1670. The right file for my motherboard is the 166C, because I searched on the web and I found that this is the right file. If your motherboard has a different code, try to search what BIOS type is the right one; otherwise you can follow the procedure trying all BIOSes you have in the folder.

3)Now copy the file you choose (in my case 0166CF66.BIN) and paste in another folder. Rename the folder in "Working".

4)Start Phoenixtool250 by clicking on "PhoenixTool.exe": in the field "original BIOS", put the BIOS file you copied in the folder "Working" (0166CF66.BIN). Phoenixtool250 creates other files in this folder.

5)Copy the file 0166CF66.BIN.DEC Phoenixtool250 created, and paste it to another folder. Rename this folder in "Ready". Caution: the file is named with .DEC extension, you have to copy this file, not the file with .BIN extension.

6)Make 3 copies of this file in the folder "Ready" and rename them like this:

- 0166C.bin

- 0166C.rom

- 0166C.fd

Now delete the 0166CF66.BIN.DEC file in the folder "Ready".

7)Come back to the folder "Working", you see a file named RSA.SIG (created by Phoenixtool250). Copy it and paste to the folder "Ready" and rename it to "0166C.sig". Now you have 4 files in the folder "Ready".

8)Insert a USB in the pc and format it to FAT32 mode. Start the program "uefi support sp61632", click "next", accept the terms, save files in folder "c:\swsetup\sp61632", click "next", choose "USB flash drive" and click "next" and "install". The program find itself the USB, and starts the install. When it asks to rename the USB to "HP_TOOLS", accept and wait for the installation.

9)Go to the USB (now named "HP_TOOLS"), navigate to "Hewlett-Packard/BIOS/Current" and paste here the 4 files you have in the folder "Ready".

10)Insert the USB in the pc, press power on, wait for about 40 seconds and the BIOS installation will start. If it doesn't start, unplug the pc and re-plug in, press "WIN"+"B" buttons and while pressing them, press power on. Now wait for 40 seconds. However in my case I didn't press Win+B.

For other Pavilion mode the procedure can be different, for example for Pavilion DV6. I don't know if this guide works for other Pavilion models.

If the Bios installation doesn't start, try another USB. In my case the first USB I tried was not compatible, the screen glowed but installation didn't start.

Bye,

Leonardo