HP Pavilion ze5155 BIOS problem...

[nickcaughman]

I have a serious problem with my HP Pavilion ze5155. Let me start from the beginning of the story to give you the "full detail". I was interested in an HP Pavilion laptop, so I was recommended for the HP Pavilion computers. I purchased an HP Pavilion ze5155 and everything ran fine for a while. It came to about 4 months ago and the power plug on my computer (which is connected to the motherboard) shorted out. I sent it in and they replaced the motherboard for $450. Now, I am having more motherboard problems. It ran fine when I got it back, and just a week ago the fan started making "odd" noises. On my desktop, the power supply fan made this noise because it was dirty in the tower. After vacuuming it was fine. I thought this was the problem but emailed HP support just in case. They said that I needed to install a BIOS update. I noticed that when I tried installing it that it said it wasn't compadible with my PC. I emailed them back about it and they said that it should work, since the download site matched with my product name, so I ran another file and then it restarted and now when I boot I get a blank screen. I've built a handshare of computers, and from what I recall there are a few different ways to reset the BIOS on this kind of laptop. I was wondering if anybody has ever pulled this kind of procedure, and if it is for sure the motherboard BIOS. I think there is a reset button or some battery? Anyhow, I'd appreciate the support....thanks!

[moderate_rock48]

yes there is a CMOS battery, which saves all the BIOS settings. If you open up your laptop and get to the motherboard, you should see a large round battery, it looks like a watch battery. If you pull that out for a while(30 min. should do it) then put it back, it should reset the BIOS. Now if the CMOS battery is soldered on(which, unless its really old it shouldnt be) instead of in a bay, I would suggest not trying to pull it out, but that should not be a problem and it should be in a bay type thing where you can easily remove it. well there ya have it.

[nickcaughman]

Well, the only problem is that this laptop is about 2 years old, so I don't think the motherboard on it would be soldered.

[moderate_rock48]

yea, the CMOS battery shouldnt be soldered on, so you probably dont have a problem there.

[nickcaughman]

Now, two questions, if it soldered on, how do I remove it without damaging the surface of the motherboard (knowing how sensative it is), and if it is not soldered, how do you remove it. Is there a lever like with the processor, where you place the processor in and pull down the lever? Is that how this battery works?

[moderate_rock48]

if it is soldered on, i would not recommend trying to pull it off at all. Now there is no lever to pull it out, its just a matter of pulling it out, here is a pic of what it should look like http://www.infopackets.com/graphics/cmos+battery.gif if your battery looks like that just pull the battery off, its not too hard :) and make sure you look hard over your motherboard because every motherboard is different, and will have the battery in a different place.

[Thong_Ispector]

Let me clarify this...

You flashed the BIOS with a disc that said it was not compatible..?

Once it rebooted you have a black screen...

If this is the case... You will not be able to reset the bios...

A few machines like the one I am on have a dual bios feature so that if one gets flashed wrong or is attacked by a virus I can set a jumper and restore from a ROM...

Taking out the battery will not fix that type of a problem...

Exactly what tool did you download/use or execute..?

[nickcaughman]

Ok, I was having fan trouble, as I stated, so I emailed HP Support about it. They gave me some excutable to download that would update the version of the BIOS and fix that problem. I downloaded and ran the BIOS update and after it made the updates the computer immediately turned off before I got a "finished" screen or anything. It warned me it would restart before it finished and turned off after the last step. Now I get a blank screen, where I used to get an HP logo.

Now, by a jumper, what do you mean?

[nickcaughman]

Oh yeah, by the way, I wish I was informed this sooner, because I just took the entire laptop apart, took out the battery for 30 minutes, and put it back in and put the entire thing back together...lol.

[Thong_Ispector]

I gather from your response that pulling the battery did not fix the problem...

Sorry to hear it...

Updating BIOS can go tragically wrong...

Did you get the update direct from HP...

Do you still have the link...

Did the disc have any menu or alert messages?

Be as concise as possible...

My gut feeling at this point is that you will need to replace the bios chip or find someone that can burn/flash it for you, on an EEPROM burner...

[Thong_Ispector]

Oh, were you running on battery? Or plugged into the wall...

Those notebooks are power hogs (less than 2 hours on a charge)

If you lost power or even got close it could really mess things up...

[moderate_rock48]

oh, i am so sorry for giving you the wrong advice. Please know that i was only trying to help, I feel badly about the trouble you went through. :sad:

[nickcaughman]

Well, I don't know what you really mean, but we took the actual battery for running the computer without power and unpluged the AC. Should we have waited 2 hours before opening it up? Is there still power in there or something?

Oh yeah, the update was direct from hp.com. I'll look, but I don't think I have a link for that, I just know it had: "For model: HP Pavilion ze5155 running Windows XP" and that it was at hp.com.

Now, you say about some disk that needs to be burned? Could you burn that disk and mail it to me? Or, do I need to purchase this disk? Well, by running a disk I am not sure what you mean. I tried a boot floppy and a Windows XP recovery disk, and no activity other than the drives reading the disks occurred. No computer reaction.

[nickcaughman]

oh, i am so sorry for giving you the wrong advice. Please know that i was only trying to help, I feel badly about the trouble you went through. :sad:

Oh, I understand completely. You probably don't know a lot about my model of HP. I just can't believe it didn't work after all that trouble. I really don't want to have to send it back to HP, since I am starting to hate that organization...lol.

[Thong_Ispector]

Rockman,
We are all just trying to help...
Sometimes the questions are crystal clear and sometimes they are not...
Sometimes we go by intuition and get lucky...
Even if your response did not fix the problem it could not hurt...
Personally, I think he will be pulling the bios chip and a little experience tearing his laptop down is not a bad thing...

[nickcaughman]

Suggest YIM Chat?

I really need this laptop quickly for work or need to know its fried and needing work, so I think that we can get answers transferred a whole lot quicklier with an instant messanger product? I currently have Yahoo and AIM installed, and I think that just a group conversation between me, moderate_rock48, and thong_inspector may help find the problem. My instant message for Yahoo is sixflags_overgeorgia.

[Thong_Ispector]

I just did a quick check and http://www.biosman.com/ offers replacment bios for $25 including shipping...

Their site says 1 in 100 flashes fail and result in a dead motherboard...

I dont know if they do HP, but I am sure someone does...

Nick
Did you see a removeable BIOS chip when you had it apart

[nickcaughman]

Not that I recall. But I only tore down to a small portion of the motherboard. There were hundreds of layers of chipboards, and I saw the battery after tearing the keyboard out.

I didn't go any further than that...but you think I need to get a new BIOS chip. Is my BIOS a dual?

I just did a quick check and http://www.biosman.com/ offers replacment bios for $25 including shipping...

Their site says 1 in 100 flashes fail and result in a dead motherboard...

I dont know if they do HP, but I am sure someone does...

Nick Did you see a removeable BIOS chip when you had it apart

[Thong_Ispector]

Sorry but I don't do IM anything..
Besides this public forum helps everyone....

Here are a couple more sites that do replacement bios chips...
FlashBIOS.org, BIOS Wizard, and BadFlash.com,

I can only offer an opinion, I think you lost your BIOS and nothing can be done...

[nickcaughman]

I am not afraid of spending any money. The problem is, I do not know which chip to buy or anything. I've built computers, and when I do so, I just screw the motherboard to the risers and thats that. I never thought of anything with BIOS. Now, would HP carry this BIOS chip? I also read for an extra 10 bucks they will determine the appropriabe BIOS chip by me sending in my current BIOS chip?

Oh, the IM thing, I am fine with not using it...I didn't know if this problem would go on and on, and if IM would get the "diangnosis" done quicklier. Thanks for all your support though!

Sorry but I don't do IM anything.. Besides this public forum helps everyone....

Here are a couple more sites that do replacement bios chips... FlashBIOS.org, BIOS Wizard, and BadFlash.com,

I can only offer an opinion, I think you lost your BIOS and nothing can be done...