From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sun Nov 4 21:02:37 2012 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [69.147.83.52]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1C10DA4A for ; Sun, 4 Nov 2012 21:02:37 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from mexas@bristol.ac.uk) Received: from dirg.bris.ac.uk (dirg.bris.ac.uk [137.222.10.102]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C48ED8FC08 for ; Sun, 4 Nov 2012 21:02:36 +0000 (UTC) Received: from ncsc.bris.ac.uk ([137.222.10.41]) by dirg.bris.ac.uk with esmtp (Exim 4.72) (envelope-from ) id 1TV7Kv-0005l6-E9 for freebsd-questions@freebsd.org; Sun, 04 Nov 2012 21:02:29 +0000 Received: from mech-cluster241.men.bris.ac.uk ([137.222.187.241]) by ncsc.bris.ac.uk with esmtpsa (TLSv1:AES256-SHA:256) (Exim 4.72) (envelope-from ) id 1TV7Kv-0006Gz-40 for freebsd-questions@freebsd.org; Sun, 04 Nov 2012 21:02:29 +0000 Received: from mech-cluster241.men.bris.ac.uk (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by mech-cluster241.men.bris.ac.uk (8.14.5/8.14.5) with ESMTP id qA4L2S6i044628 for ; Sun, 4 Nov 2012 21:02:28 GMT (envelope-from mexas@mech-cluster241.men.bris.ac.uk) Received: (from mexas@localhost) by mech-cluster241.men.bris.ac.uk (8.14.5/8.14.5/Submit) id qA4L2Sxx044627 for freebsd-questions@freebsd.org; Sun, 4 Nov 2012 21:02:28 GMT (envelope-from mexas) Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2012 21:02:28 GMT From: Anton Shterenlikht Message-Id: <201211042102.qA4L2Sxx044627@mech-cluster241.men.bris.ac.uk> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: BIOS update saga - the end X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.14 Precedence: list Reply-To: mexas@bristol.ac.uk List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 04 Nov 2012 21:02:37 -0000 I can't find my original thread, so starting a new one. So I bought a spare laptop disk, installed freedos on it, made a usb memstick with HP BIOS updating executable, and booted from it, only to stop at: "The BIOS on your notebook PC can not be updated. Refer to HP Customer Advisory C01457784" So I found this customer advisory and there it is: "WinBond customers cannot update the BIOS" [1]. So not only I am stuck with a broken BIOS, but I can't update to a fixed one either (nevermind the wasted hours spent following HP instructions on how to update the BIOS on my laptop!). I quickly found another thread where somebody claims that HP asked for nearly 400 euros to update the motherboard, "to be able to update the BIOS!" [2]. I was angry at HP for this initially, then I started laughing. This is a ridiculous situation. Anyway, now I'm wondering - I wanted to buy an HP laptop because I've used quite a lot of Compaq/HP server gear and it generally is/was of excellent quality. And the manuals still are of very high quality too. So I wonder, am I just unlucky, or did I want a good quality too cheaply? Anton [1] http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&taskId=125&prodSeriesId=3368540&prodTypeId=321957&objectID=c01457784 [2] http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-HP-ProBook-EliteBook/6715s-black-screen-problem/td-p/915244/page/5#.UJRCK1JvmnI