C700 / CQ40 / CQ45 / DV4 / DV5 / DV6 / HDX18T - Insyde BIOS RECOVERY using a USB THUMBDRIVE

[0.0]

It's looking like the BIOS boot block recovery may have been damaged. I still got usb flash disk activity even without the right file being on there.

Sorry to say you but looks like you'll probably have to send it back to HP or the supplier for repair.

[carl8888]

i just want to make sure, is flashing the bios covered under the warranty? specifically downgrading instead of upgrading?

i mean, would they acknowledge the warranty if you do a downgrade of the bios to be able to install and work with win xp on the laptop?

[0.0]

I guess you'll have to ask HP to find out for sure. Personally I would be surprised if they charged you as it was their BIOS update (f.04) that failed. If they didn't want you to down grade then they could easily disable flashing an older BIOS with the included software. You said you flashed from f.13 to f.04 but according to HP's site f.13 isn't available for the cq40-121tu, f.12 is current.

From what little I've seen on the web you may have to wait one or two weeks before you get your notebook back. Let us know how it goes.

[carl8888]

sent the laptop to the hp service center the other day. by the way, i'm here in the country, Philippines. rep that entertained me and my friend from the service center, told me that before doing any flashing of the bios, customers must call tech support first. this statement does seats well with me. he also said that sound will not work if xp is installed on it. i think he knows that it is a known issue and does not want to tell more. his advice is to just get vista a the cheap ver of vista, vista basic. i told him that we bought the laptop to save money, since we already have xp. he did not reply back.

i'm a computer tech from a phone tech support dept. for a competitor brand of laptops and desktops, we do not tell people that they call us first before doing such a thing. funny things is if that is the case, it should not be listed on the download page for that model where you see all the downloads for the drivers. the laptop did not came with a driver cd, the os is freedos. how will you connect and download the bios and the drivers if your using freedos? looking at the download page for the drivers and seeing the bios listed there, any owner may assume that it is part of the download that needed.

about f13, your right, i did double check, f12 is current one. i think i got from cq20 or cq45 series that has intel chipset. it was able to flash successfully, still was able to boot and working in winxp. funny thing again, it is the f4 bios image that's for the cq40 121tu that the flash failed.

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IMHO flashing the BIOS should really not be a problem unless you use the wrong file or interrupt it during the flash but sadly it seems not always to be the case.

Yes, it seems strange telling you not to flash the BIOS when they're coming out with 1 to 2 BIOS upgrades per month for some machines.

What about this enhancement in f.13

Fixes an intermittent issue where the notebook may hang (stop responding) when upgrading the BIOS version.

Better hope one doesn't suffer 'an intermittent issue' to get it fixed.

Seriously though, if HP didn't list f.13 for the 121tu there may be a good reason for doing so. Hope it all works out ok.

[carl8888]

update:

they said that they have to replace the mobo, and it has to from singapore. they don't have a spare part locally.

i and my friend who bought the laptop are getting worried, this is one more delay in using the laptop for his work. and we might not able to have it just replaced from the retail store since it is cover for a replacement with in the month of purchased we are consider getting a different model or a different brand all together. we really want to install winxp as it will be easier for me to support him on the laptop with winxp that win vista.

[chevka]

do anyone have f.11c?? i try to search in P Official but can not find it.
I've just damaged my Compaq CQ40-116TU by downgrading the BIOS from f. 12 to f.11c using INSYDE.

Now my laptop can not Boot, ONLY power ON and show BLANK LCD.

Thank you in advance for all your kind attention and help....

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If you download f.12 for the CQ40-116TU you will need to extract the proper BIOS file since there are two. As far as I know for your machine it would be 30F7F12U.FD but you should check this is right before flashing. If it is then rename 30F7F12U.FD to 30F7.BIN and try the procedure in post 3. Good luck.

[chevka]

Yippiieeee...............................

Now my Notebook is alive again, THANKS for all of you who help me eith this beautiful Posting
Now back to my Original Problem, Using WinXP causes this notebook DIDN'T recognize the Audio Devices.
what should i do now??

FYI: Compaq Presario CQ40-116TU is using 30F7F12U.FD to 30F7.BIN cause its use share VGA Memory.

[0.0]

Yippiieeee...............................

Now my Notebook is alive again, THANKS for all of you who help me eith this beautiful Posting
Now back to my Original Problem, Using WinXP causes this notebook DIDN'T recognize the Audio Devices.
what should i do now??

FYI: Compaq Presario CQ40-116TU is using 30F7F12U.FD to 30F7.BIN cause its use share VGA Memory.

Glad it worked for you and thanks for the confirmation.

If you want to try f.11c for your audio device problems I would be happy to help but it would be better to start a new thread rather than place it under BIOS recovery.