HP BIOS update renders some ProBook laptops expensive paperweights
- Reference: 1718044209
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/06/10/hp_probook_faulty_bios/
- Source link:
A [1]thread of woe in the company's support forum details the problem, where a 1.17 BIOS patch appears to break laptops – in this case, the ProBook 455 G7.
According to users, the update can make its way down via Windows Update or HP's own Support Assistant and leave some computers irrevocably borked. Some reported the screen going forever black, while others noted that the computer's fan also seemed to ramp up. After the update, the computer was left in an unusable state for all affected.
[2]
According to HP's [3]support site , the last supported BIOS and System Firmware update is 1.16A. One user reported that updating from 1.14 to 1.17 appeared to be OK, but going from 1.15 or 1.16 to 1.17 resulted in the problem.
[4]
[5]
The Register contacted HP, but the supplier did not respond.
While one user stated that "HP needs to find a solution to prevent bricking all these PCs," others have taken matters into their own hands. One managed to revive their Probook 445 G7 by [6]unsoldering the BIOS chip from the motherboard . Though we salute such bravery, the approach is unlikely to find favor with all affected users, wondering how something that could so comprehensively break their machines ever made it out into the wild.
[7]HP CEO pay for 2023 = 270,315 printer cartridges
[8]HP customers claim firmware update rendered third-party ink verboten
[9]HP sued over use of forfeited 401(k) retirement contributions
[10]HP reveals bonkers $5k foldable tablet/laptop/desktop
As a customer said: "HP deserves a red flag for such careless and neglecting attitude of putting not thoroughly tested BIOS upgrades online and forcing them onto our machines."
That particular seventh generation laptop turned up in 2020 so it is out of warranty for many. However, with an AMD Ryzen 7, up to 16 GB of RAM, and up to 1 TB of storage, it's more than sufficient for today's productivity applications, which makes the fault all the more frustrating.
[11]
Another user [12]noted that HP had quoted €400 for a replacement motherboard, "which I refused because I don't intend to pay for HP's mistakes."
We will update this article should HP issue a statement on the situation. ®
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Operating-System-and-Recovery/HP-Probook-BIOS-Upgrade-1-17-failed/td-p/9081096
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Zmd3gZ2gE7zTFWOywMn8pQAAAEQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/hp-probook-445-g7-notebook-pc/32764491
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Zmd3gZ2gE7zTFWOywMn8pQAAAEQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Zmd3gZ2gE7zTFWOywMn8pQAAAEQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Boot-and-Lockup/Bios-update-crash-problem-HP-ProBook-445-G7/m-p/9087185#M228650
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/15/hp_ceo_pay_for_2023/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/09/hp_class_action_ink/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/16/hp_pension_fund/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/15/hp_reveals_bonkers_5k_foldable/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Zmd3gZ2gE7zTFWOywMn8pQAAAEQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Operating-System-and-Recovery/HP-Probook-BIOS-Upgrade-1-17-failed/m-p/9088532/highlight/true#M661593
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
If there is a good reason to believe the BIOS update did this, there should be free fixes no matter the age. Time that big companies are forced to fix software bugs of any sort.
Citizen, you WILL buy new hardware. One way or another.
The more I have to work with HP laptops, the more I appreciate Lenovo!
Update and pray ..
Update and pray .. because there's no way of undoing the potential damage, 21st century technology my a(r)se.
--
“ [1]Taylor Swift should be studied like Jonathan Swift ” :o
[1] https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/taylor-swift-lyrics-university-study-b2557405.html
Brickage
Hi, this might be why some of the OhHellNo SFFs are failing seemingly at random.
Seems that the cause may be a specific piece of hardware left plugged in during restart drawing too much power.
End result is a $400+ brick.
In my case, the symptoms suggested a CPU failure but CPU tested fine in another system as did the RAM.
You'd think that just reprogramming a chip would fix this but it alas isn't that simple as the chip is "special"
and not a standard unit.
Complicating this is these units requiring the special thermal sensor on the RAM chips without which it won't
initialize at all.
Some of the MFFs of the same era also had an annoying habit of running the processor at less than its rated FSB
with the multiplier also turned down so it ran terribly slow: Updating BIOS fixed this.
> Customers not amused
I'm pretty sure some customers are amused. It means now a bunch of dirt cheap machines "for spare parts" will hit places like ebay.
The manufacturers even advises people *against* updating their BIOS if the machine is functioning as intended. It is a compulsion for people at this point.
What happened?
I used to buy HP laptops (and, to a point printers) because 'they just worked'. Where my colleagues bought other stuff they were plagued by work-arounds, fixes and tweaks to keep things rolling, I somehow managed to operate without fuss or stress. My programs and links worked without interruption. Data was retrieved and flowed. On-site, off-site, in the Test area, complex data collection and analysis provided solutions to some (to my mind) extremely complex issues. The laptop(s) were a great tool, a real workhorse: reliable and predictable. What more could I ask for?
Then, about 12/15 years ago something went seriously wrong. The new workhorse trundled out of the stable and ate hay. It ran hot. It shut down unexpectedly. Slooowwww..... Niggling errors occurred. Data was lost. FFT's became slowFT's. It wasn't the (my) software because..... it wasn't. The laptop was forever phoning home despite being off any network or remote connection.
An update/replacement HP was no better.
A move to IBM/Lenovo solved the issue. I haven't bought an HP machine since, personally, for business or for my staff. (There's enough already been written about HP printers.... No further comment....)
From the company that brought you
The DV2000 series and it's brethren where the GPU fell off the board and denied all knowledge of the issue for years while recalling them in other countries for the same issue
Time for a class action lawsuit
or other legal action.
IF HP won't fix it then they could be falling foul of consumer protection laws. They might be able to get out of a warranty fix but consumer laws win every time.
Re: Time for a class action lawsuit
Car analogy...
You take your car to be serviced at an official dealership.
Mechanic recommends an oil change. You agree. He uses the wrong oil and your engine presently seizes.
Not his problem because you consented to the work. See how that flies in court.
Same deal here - you agreed to install HP's recommended software and it bricked it - pretty sure the law says they have to fix it.
Also reckon they could fall foul of some anti-hacker laws if someone pushed it - distribution of harmful software etc.
Re: Time for a class action lawsuit
Agreed... not! now they push their garbage bios updates through windows update (as if the new fancy-pants mouse-enabled bios wasn't already bad enough). unless you disable updates from within the bios itself (and trust me, settings are lost from time to time) you are gonna get aligned with the program and be thankful
There is a reason I never try a bios update on a computer that's already in use.
HP knows that most will not bother ...
to take them to court as the cost of litigation (legal costs, bother, etc) will exceed the cost of a new laptop.
OK: you might get costs but what with the time waste you lose big time.
The best thing to do is to make sure that the world knows what shits HP are.
Did someone from their Printer dept work on this BIOS?
Non genuine HP electron detected at charging port. This laptop will now self-brick