Bootup Takes Two Tries

Aha! thanks
I read that wrong many times, guess I sort of merged 4 and 11 into locked up

- sorry 'bout that chief!

I'll wait for your next update ... I gave you a lot of things to do in post 106 and some things to think about or answer in post# 107.

I looked for the HP_TOOLS (UEFI support) Softpaq on HP and there's about 12 updates after the one HP lists on my machine's download page. I've updated my machine and the Pavilion dv7 / Win8 is listed as supported, so when you catch up, you can try that.

Bill
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Slartybart said:

I looked for the HP_TOOLS (UEFI support) Softpaq on HP and there's about 12 updates after the one HP lists on my machine's download page. I've updated my machine and the Pavilion dv7 / Win8 is listed as supported, so when you catch up, you can try that.

Bill
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But this dv7 doesn't have UEFI. Only the legacy BIOS.

Are you by chance saying that I could have UEFI if I want it? And I'm not at all sure why I would want it.

Slartybart said:

No, I'm saying HP has a diagnostic utility called HP Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) Support Environment - but that's too much to type every time

HP said:

Description
This package provides the HP Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) Support Environment for the supported notebook models and operating systems. HP UEFI Support Environment provides UEFI based hardware diagnostics used to validate if a system is functioning correctly. Additional support is provided for updating and managing the system BIOS and other device firmware on the system.

I've tried to get UEFI on my dv6, but you need firmware that supports it, HP doesn't open up the firmware they make available on most consumer machines.

Just think diagnostics when I mention HP UEFI.

OK, will do. That takes a lot of confusion out of the equation.

Slartybart said:

So how abut the other things

First, let me say that the schematics in Chapter 4 are nothing like my dv7-1245dx. Here're a couple of snippets to show what I'm talking about:


Snippet #1 - Innards


Snippet #2 - Bottom of dv7-1245dx

Slartybart said:

- having only the Win8 HDD in the machine and posting a disk management shot

Done, as can be seen in the first Snippet

Slartybart said:

- remove the laptop battery, AC power and reset CMOS

This is something I will have to think about and research. My memory is a tad foggy on CMOS and I don't remember what all is entailed in the aftermath, i.e. getting things back to where they were.

Slartybart said:

- Cleaning the keyboard

The keyboard is regularly cleaned.

Slartybart said:

- answering the question about a small power button (Quickweb)

No small power button

Slartybart said:

- replacing the CMOS battery

And this is something else I'm going to have to think about, simply because I will have to go at least 50 miles to get a new one. I used to keep them on hand, but since I've pretty much stopped building my own, the ones I may have on hand would probably be goners. Besides, all my building stuff is in storage.

Slartybart said:

Chapter 4 of the service manual.

As I've noted above, the service manual and my dv7-1245dx disagree on the schematics. If you look above at the snippet of the bottom of the laptop, there's a round disk just above the battery compartment. Would this possibly hold the CMOS? It surely looks as if it could.

Slartybart said:

Read the guidelines, cautions, and other preparatory information before beginning.
Here's the page relevant to the CMOS battery (aka RTC, coin ...)

Oh, I'm well versed in the dos and don'ts of getting inside a computer, since I've built my own for years; this being the first time I've actually bought a desktop since somewhere in the '90s. I even have the static strap that goes on my wrist.

Since I had Lappy tumped over with her backside in the air (stop giggling, StarFerret), I couldn't get the screenshot of Disk Management, but here it is now:

gregrocker said:

I've been checking this marathon every day to see what were the results of installing EasyBCD to add a Dual Boot menu?

For the moment, Greg, we're holding off on dual boot. I've been switching out drives so much that it's just confusing, so for now it's Windows 8.1 without a second hard drive installed.

CMOS isn't (shouldn't) be anything difficult-don't sweat this too much, just try the easy clears (no power AC or DC, press and hold the power button for a full two minutes)

I can't see what you see, so thanks for the info on a mismatched manual. I'll look again, but it might be better if you searched HP for dv7 Service Manual- I might find another mismatch
If you can't locate one, don't sweat that either - you've built machines before.

The round section on the bottom is your subwoofer (Chapter 2, pg12): http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01613127.pdf


I found this Service manual - see if it's the one for your machine:
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01689926.pdf

It looks like the CMOS (RTC) battery is near the memory modules, but it's hard to tell in the image.

Don't try to do too many things at once and please do what I suggest in the order suggested. There's a reason - one suggestion might affect the next or even better, the first suggestion might solve the issue, but something else sidetracked both members. What I mean is the CMOS clear or replacement takes precedence over HP_TOOLS. I'm fairly certain the HP UEFI diags will work on your machine, but the HP support page doesn't list the software. The SoftPaq release notes do list the dv7 though.

The HP_TOOLS part MUST be
File system format: FAT32
Volume Label: HP_TOOLS

The drive letter is not important - it can be any letter.

I manually created it on my machine with 3.9 GB (that's because it also held the QuickWeb software). Your other machine only shows 103 MB. That's probably enough for just the diagnostic software. You might want to make it a little larger - say 150 MB or 200 MB.

In keeping things simple - please only present information specific to the machine with the issue. Members help on more than one thread and seeing information from another machine might be confusing.

Bill
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Slartybart said:

CMOS isn't (shouldn't) be anything difficult-don't sweat this too much, just try the easy clears (no power AC or DC, press and hold the power button for a full two minutes).

I had my hands all over the CMOS/RTC battery last night! On this system it's encased in blue, is a 3M battery and is plugged into a second small circuit board beside the hard drives. If I choose to reset the CMOS, how long should I leave it unplugged? And that would be much more convenient than holding a power button down for two whole minutes for this hyperactive gal!

Slartybart said:

I can't see what you see, so thanks for the info on a mismatched manual.

After being sent in circles on the HP site, I resorted to looking on the Internet and Bing found it for me. Note the different shape of the service cover on page 54. That's what alerted me to the fact that the schematic was all wrong. The dv7-1245dx manual can be found at http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c02842278.pdf

Slartybart said:

Don't try to do too many things at once and please do what I suggest in the order suggested. There's a reason - one suggestion might affect the next or even better, the first suggestion might solve the issue, but something else sidetracked both members. What I mean is the CMOS clear or replacement takes precedence over HP_TOOLS. I'm fairly certain the HP UEFI diags will work on your machine, but the HP support page doesn't list the software. The SoftPaq release notes do list the dv7 though.

OK, I'll regroup tomorrow morning and do what I need to do, one thing at a time in the order you've prescribed.

Slartybart said:

The HP_TOOLS part MUST be
File system format: FAT32
Volume Label: HP_TOOLS

I am sooooooooo glad I asked that question!