Can UEFI BIOS get corrupted?

eLPuSHeR · 14 May 2020

Good day

I have an HP laptop that out of thin air show the following message upon starting up:

"The following product information programmed into the system board is missing or invalid
System board (00A) - System Board CT number"

Now Windows 10 says it's not activated and everything run slow as molasses.

Any ideas?

I think I had a similar issue once with another HP laptop and reflashing BIOS cured it.

Advise is welcome.

Samuria · 14 May 2020

If you have hp tools installed check for bios update be sure to have it on mains if it does an update I had bios update on my laptop the other day

eLPuSHeR · 14 May 2020

Small progress and more weirdness.

After removing battery and doing a powerdown cycle, reinserted battery the message does not longer appear and w10 is reactivated again. But now the generic charger I was using isn't kicking in anymore. Only battery. W10 has also stopped booting so I guess the hard disk is on its way out too. That's why I don't like HP at all.

TV2 · 14 May 2020

Answer to question: yes.

You have a lot going on there in your post.
1. Resetting the BIOS by power cycling and remove/replace 3v motherboard battery corrected the issue?
2. This was a temporarily fix and now it's back, or that problem is fixed and now there is a new problem?
3. The generic charger will not charge the laptop?
4. And the laptop will not run off the generic charger if you remove the laptop battery?
5. Windows will not start. When, exactly did this start?
6. Are you getting any hard drive activity?
7. Can you boot from a bootable USB or DVD?

eLPuSHeR · 14 May 2020

I will try to answer your questions.

1. The error seems to be corrected after doing a powercycle.
2. Laptop still seems to work slowly even if the above issue (00A) seems corrected and w10 is now activated again.
3. The generic charger isn't working anymore. This laptop uses an input current of 19,5V - charger was set at 19V
4. Yes. Laptop isn't getting any juice if battery is removed.
5. After updating w10 to latest 18363.836 and shutting down booting could not proceed after restarting it again. I think the owner (not me) is doing a reset.
6. Yes, but I suspect hard disk may be starting to fail (thus the general slowness).
7. Yup. I can boot from usb stick. I have not tried DVD.

Forgot to say system is in legacy mode (bios), although it's UEFI capable.

TV2 · 14 May 2020

Well, it's kinda crazy to be attempting an operating system installation on battery power only. I think you should recommend to the owner that they get the charger issue fixed first.
The input voltage on a charger is important. It must match the OEM charger voltage. Damage could have been done. Once they have a correct charger then tests can be run. A HDD test would be in order, but not without steady (and good) power. If the battery runs out it could make toast.

They can do the OS install once they know they have a working laptop.

sygnus21 · 14 May 2020

To answer this specific question - "Can UEFI BIOS get corrupted?" - Yes it can. Examples would be a bad BIOS update, a failed BIOS chip, even a malware attack could do it.

That said, based on the rest of the thread, that doesn't seem to be the issue. Anyway I just wanted to answer that specific question.

And agree with TV2 about installing Windows on a battery - PC should always be plugged into a wall outlet. Same goes for doing BIOS updates (in fact some warn and others won't proceed without AC power).

Peace

eLPuSHeR · 14 May 2020

I agree about installing w10 with power cord attached to power outlet. I haven't heard anything new from owner though.

TV2 · 14 May 2020

If the battery runs out in the middle of the Reset we will hear the screams of agony from here.

Steve C · 15 May 2020

I suggest you run the built in HP diagnostics and contact HP support if covered. I've had a corrupted BIOS on my desktop PC which required the BIOS to be reflashed. See this method to recover a HP BIOS https://support.hp.com/gb-en/document/c02693833