So. I gotta say. I love(d) this laptop. It did remind me, however, why I haven’t owned a laptop in nearly 8 years; nor have I purchased a commercial computer in nearly 12.
Being a computer professional, hobbyist and general enthusiast, I have always built my own machines. If something goes wrong, I only have myself to blame. When something goes wrong with a commercial computer, all that lies ahead is drama. Drama, drama, drama.
Some of you may remember The HP Envy 15 Driver Nightmare — some of you may still be dealing with it (albeit, it’s much easier now than when I had to go through it). HP technical support seems to be ineffective at best. But more on that later.
Getting to the point… a few days ago, HP released BIOS version F.24 promising better fan operation. I figure, since it’s getting warmer, this isn’t a bad thing to have. Well, it bricked my laptop. Without warning or chance for recovery. That’s right, kids: no Envy for me; just a blank screen. Many had this same problem when F.1B came out. I did not have issue with F.1B, and I will explain why.
Negligence. Complete and utter negligence on HP’s part. I have a 15t-1100 CTO (customized) Envy using hardware configuration 1522. When you extract the softpaqs, then extract the Winflash.exe, you find 2 files ending in .fd.
- F.1B contained hardware configurations: 1522 and 7009.
- F.24 contained hardware configurations: 147D and 7009.
Ah ha. So that’s why I didn’t have any problems with F.1B — because it was supported. There was no warning, however, that 1522 was not packaged with the F.24 BIOS. Not only is this esoteric to an end-user, but it is provided on the support page for 15t-1100 CTO laptops with no indication within the documentation that you should check your hardware configuration — or any indication of which it supports, for that matter. That also explains why a handful of people had problems with F.1B when it installed just fine for me.
So I’m a fairly forgiving guy. In an attempt to recover this on my own using the Insyde BIOS emergency recovery method, I was unable to find the correct filename to put on my thumb drive. I did, however, find many accounts of harddrives being wiped and laptops being damaged by the HP service center. Sure, they’ll repair the problem for free; but they might damage it and you’ll have to start over from scratch.
I contacted HP’s technical support in an attempt to find a reasonable solution; and yet, none was to be had. It is their TotalCare practice to restore harddrives to their original factory state during repair. It was nice of them to offer to fix any damage incurred during repair for free… but who has that kind of time?
One technician said that, for only $49, I could have the service center perform a backup limited to My Music, My Pictures, My Videos and My Documents. Uh, thanks but no thanks — those of us in the computing biz have important things outside of those directories. And I have to pay for it?! No sir.
I was able to get in contact with an HP TotalCare supervisor who asked me to cooperate. He asked that I perform my own backup by removing the harddrive and placing it in an SATA capable computer. He also recommended that I erase the harddrive before shipping it to them. Great, so I have to take it apart before I send it to be taken apart. I would much rather fix the whole thing myself if that’s the case. Basically, I have to: find another computer with SATA and a large harddrive, disassemble the laptop, remove the harddrive, make a backup, erase the harddrive, send it to a service center, get it back, take it apart, put the harddrive back in the other computer, restore the backup, then put it back together.
So far, unacceptable. I purchased the laptop for work and often use it for work purposes. This is hindering my ability to do business. There is important information on that harddrive pertaining to business that I cannot lose. A newly-barred lawyer could win that case.
Has anyone else had problems with HP TotalCare, or more specifically, with this BIOS issue? Has anyone figured out the magic behind the Insyde BIOS emergency recovery? Are you a lawyer who specializes in IT matters and would like to take on a class action lawsuit? Do you have proper documentation and would like to join a class action lawsuit? Leave a comment with some contact info. (first name and e-mail address should be sufficient — these are default comment fields and invisible to end-users)
Another weekend spent arguing with HP TotalCare. Just what I wanted for Christmas.
My condolences..
Write me a mail, may have some ideas that can help you.
Exact same thing here. Ran the update, crashed halfway through the flash process, unzipped the package, didn’t see a 1522 BIOS file. The flash program had specifically mentioned it was ready to update with ID 1522 Version F.24, so I had assumed it did some kind of CRC check or something before hand. Apparently not… I get the feeling you could rename a picture of Mickey Mouse to whatever filename the updater is expecting and it would go merrily on its way trying to flash the BIOS with that.
Anyway, I tried downloading and running the previous BIOS update since my system was still functional, but it crashed at the same point. Even tried editing the platform.ini file to force the 1522.fd file through, but still got the same thing. Eventually I had to shut it down and now I’m where you’re at.
I’ve tried the BIOS recovery procedure with six different USB drives and a dozen different filenames and I think I’ve had a different result each time. Sometimes it beeps, sometimes it doesn’t, sometimes the activity LED flickers, sometimes it doesn’t, sometimes it blinks once every few seconds until what I can only assume will be the end of time… Nothing actually does anything useful, of course.
The infuriating thing is that it’s clearly trying to do something, but no one knows how to make it work, not even HP. It looks like the only option is to send it in so they can swap in a new motherboard, which is just absurd. I’ve had BIOS issues with past computers, but never anything that wasn’t relatively simple to fix.
First of all let me say I was one of those whose laptop was bricked by the F.1B update. I tried for two infuriating days to re-flash my BIOS with every version I could find but to no avail. Eventually had to send it back for a new board. I can’t believe HP is putting these BIOS updates out. It’s not only horrible for the end user, but costly to them as well. Absolutely absurd! I still like my Envy 15, but my patience is running thin with HP as a company.
I agree. I definitely have lost a lot of faith in HP as a whole.
Currently awaiting the return of my laptop. I’ve sent it to them for repair with the understanding that they’re not getting my harddrive and any damages incurred will be repaired for free.
Of course, they need to wait for the part to arrive (aka, the motherboard). A LOT of people have had this problem regardless of what they’ll admit.
This is the same exact thing that happened to me! And seriously, how does HP think they can get away with giving garbage support to people who have bought anything costing over $1000?!!! Mine was $2000!!!!! And all that money for a shiny paperweight and a group of people that can barely speak English and who don’t know anything about computers?! Even after I get mine back in the mail I’m NEVER buying another HP product again- not even a printer.