HP Pavilion 15-cc104no blank screen and bios problem

[dicky96]

Hi guys
I have this HP Pavilion laptop for repair

I've asked about this over at bleeping computer forum but getting conflicting info. I also asked at HP support forum and basically got told to sod off by one of the moderators (thread locked/closed)

The fault is that the laptop will power on but I get a blank screen. I have back lights, the screen is black and I can't hear the hard drive loading the OS.

An external monitor also gives a blank screen.

If i press any of the function keys I get a loud bleep. After I pressed several letter (maybe 20 I didn't count) keys, I then get a bleep whatever key I press. If I press Enter then I can press about 20 keys before it starts bleeping again.

If I hold Windows + B + Power On the I get some text asking for a USB BIOS update. So the screen does work After some seconds that message goes away and I get a blue box asking for an Administrator or Power On password.

The owner only knows his Windows Password.

I downloaded a 'BIOS' from HP website which was actually an exe file and made a USB BIOS flash drive. I can also use that to create a .bin file on my PC

If I insert the USB and power on with Windows + B I get a page telling me it is loading the BIOS. The laptop restarts a couple of times, it says it is writing the BIOS (do not power off) but then it goes back to the blue box asking for a power on password ?

If i just press enter 3 times it says the password is incorrect each time then gives me another blue box 'System Disabled' and a code [i 60509505]

I've tried some BIOS password generator websites for that code but they don't work

After flashing the BIOS from USB, if I power on the laptop without holding down Windows + B, I still have a blank screen

So this leads me to some questions that I have not been able to get clear answers to elsewhere.

1. I found this link where I can buy a pre-programmed BIOS chip on ebay that says it will remove the password http://vi.raptor.ebaydesc.com/ws/eBa...98124000&ver=0

If that is the case, then why does rewriting the BIOS from USB not delete the password, or set it to some default value?

2. What if I use my TL866A to erase and program the BIOS? Either by un-soldering it or in circuit. However I would only be writing the same BIN file that I got from HP so would that be the same as doing the USB BIOS update?

3. Does that Eprom from ebay have some different BIOS file in it, and if so can I get that file myself?

4. How about getting a blank Eprom and programming that?

5. Is the Password stored in some other chip (stored in the NVRAM, not the BIOS as someone says on bleeping computer) and if so then can I erase or program that with the TL866A?

I'm hoping (and to be honest quite confident) that I will get more sense here than I did at the other forums and hopefully fix this damn thing.


best regards
Rich

[piernov]

Re: HP Pavilion 15-cc104no blank screen and bios problem

1. BIOS recovery procedure, similarly to a BIOS update, won't overwrite the whole SPI ROM. several information will be kept as-is.
2. Writing the update file from HP may not work. You may have to use a complete dump.
3. A lot of the eBay chips are just random SPI ROM programmed with files from Vinafix or from here… Some don't even work properly. I don't recommend buying them.
4. Won't change anything than reprogramming the existing one — as long as you make a good backup.
5. NVRAM is part of the BIOS. And yes the password is part of that NVRAM. You can erase it if you know where it is stored. On some machines (Lenovo ones are a great example) it may be stored in another chip.

I'd recommend dumping your BIOS with a external programmer and posting the dump, asking for an unlocked file in the BIOS request section.

PS: I hope this is not a stolen laptop.


EDIT: Make sure you tried to turn on the laptop after disconnecting HDD and ODD and all peripherals. An issue with a storage device can cause the BIOS to get stuck.

[dicky96]

Re: HP Pavilion 15-cc104no blank screen and bios problem

Thanks for the info
I have a TL866A programmer so I can get the bios dump.

I also hope it is not a stolen laptop - it was brought to me by someone I know quite well, for repair

[mcplslg123]

Re: HP Pavilion 15-cc104no blank screen and bios problem

Btw, which kbc is used in this motherboard?? Post your bios backup here as @piernov suggested. Someone will remove the password here.

[dicky96]

Re: HP Pavilion 15-cc104no blank screen and bios problem

You know what I've learned more in two posts here than I did in two pages at Bleeping Computer! I only posted there because I thought it was more a software than hardware problem.

[dicky96]

Re: HP Pavilion 15-cc104no blank screen and bios problem

OK I now have the power on password from the owner :-)

So that is no longer a problem. What I do have is the laptop gives a blank black screen with the 2.5" HDD fitted

With the HDD not fitted, after entering the password, it says there is no operating system

However this laptop also has a 128Gb SSD so I would have thought it did have an OS loaded. The laptop says the SSD is good (when I press F2 and chose to run the diagnostic)

I'll download and install windows 10 from DVD and see what happens

As for the HDD, I connected it to my Windows 10 desktop PC and it is detected in the BIOS, it doesn't hang the computer, but does not appear as a drive letter in Windows.

Probably it has a corrupted (or no) partition table

[piernov]

Re: HP Pavilion 15-cc104no blank screen and bios problem

Sounds like a dead HDD to me. If there's valuable data in it, I'd recommend not to mess with it and send it to a data recovery company.
As for the SSD, I'd think it contains the operating system, but the manipulations with the BIOS probably ended up clearing the boot menu entry for Windows. You can either reinstall Windows or use the bcdboot utility to restore the boot menu entry.

[dicky96]

Re: HP Pavilion 15-cc104no blank screen and bios problem

I've finally got somewhere with this.

I refitted the 1TB HDD

I go into the system diagnostics (F2 when booting) and I can test both the SSD and HDD and the laptop says they are both good.

I downloaded Windows 10 and made a bootable DVD but the laptop kept saying there was no boot device. I tested the DVD on another PC and it boots fine so I know that is OK.

I then made a bootable USB flash drive with Windows 10 but the laptop stilll says there is no bootable drive

I checked in the BIOS and the boot sequence is USB then DVD then HDD but the laptop is not having any of it!

Then I noticed there is an option in the BIOS for UEFI boot sequence and another for Legacy boot sequence. I turned on legacy support and set the boot priority to USB-DVD-HDD there as well. When I restarted the laptop it asked me to confirm the change in boot mode - and then it booted from the USB. I didn't try to install Windows 10.

Instead I removed the USB and DVD disk and restarted it. The laptop now boots Windows 10 from the SSD and I can see all the customers programs and data are there. So it is working once i set legacy support to on

The only problem now is the 1Tb hard drive is not recognised (no drive letter) though it is recognised in the BIOS and the F2 hard drive test says it is good

Unfortunately according to the customer there is a lot of data on this hard drive. I've put it back in my desktop PC and it is recognised in the BIOS there but also does not show up as a drive letter.

So that's where i got to so far. Why do I have to turn on Legacy Support to get the laptop to recognise there is an OS on the SDD?

I need to try to recover the data from the HDD. Any suggestions?

Rich

[piernov]

Re: HP Pavilion 15-cc104no blank screen and bios problem

I guess someone reinstalled Windows wrong on the SSD. It should be installed in UEFI mode, not Legacy mode. But if it works in Legacy mode, whatever…
When you want to install from a USB key, you have to create it with a GPT partition table. Using Rufus for example, you want to select the GPT/UEFI option rather than the MBR/BIOS one.
DVD… not sure, maybe some UEFI implementation don't work correctly with DVD.

As for the HDD, I'll repeat what I said before: Sounds like a dead HDD to me. If there's valuable data in it, I'd recommend not to mess with it and send it to a data recovery company.

If the data isn't really valuable and it's not that much of an issue if it's lost, you can at least check what it says under Disk Management.