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HP bricks ProBook laptops with bad BIOS delivered via automatic updates — many users face black screen after Windows pushes new firmware (www.tomshardware.com)

submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

141 comments fedilink hide all child comments

On May 26, a user on HP's support forums reported that a forced, automatic BIOS update had bricked their HP ProBook 455 G7 into an unusable state. Subsequently, other users have joined the thread to sound off about experiencing the same issue.

This common knowledge regarding BIOS software would, then, seem to make automatic, forced BIOS updates a real issue, even if it weren't breaking anything. Allowing the user to manually install and prepare their systems for a BIOS update is key to preventing issues like this.

At the time of writing, HP has made no official comment on the matter — and since this battery update was forced on laptops originally released in 2020, this issue has also bricked hardware outside of the warranty window, when previously users could simply send in the laptop for a free repair.

Overall, this isn't a very good look for HP, particularly its BIOS update practices. The fragility of BIOS software should have tipped off the powers at be at HP about the lack of foresight in this release model, and now we're seeing it in full force with forced, bugged BIOS updates that kill laptops.

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[–] recursive_recursion 17 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (3 children)

On the offhand chance that someone with a bricked HP laptop stumbles here looking for what to do (prob via smartphone or public library computer),

I'd recommend on removing the M.2 SSD (gumslice-shaped PCB that contains your data) to protect your data
- this can be found by googling your laptop's serial number and looking for the manual, after downloading the PDF file you'll be able to open it with Firefox
- you'll typically need a philips-head screwdriver to remove the laptop's case and remove the SSD

I'm assuming the users might be coming from Windows

hopefully this helps someone out there

[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 months ago

To expand: said M.2 SSD contains all of your data, and can be plugged into another computer to recover it, put it on a USB drive or upload it to an online drive. A local PC repair shop is going to be unable to make the PC work again at present, but they can help you with extracting the SDD and your data for less than $100.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago (2 children)

I'd strongly recommend against that at this point since it will be useless without your Bitlocker key form the laptop's TPM.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Since probably 99% of Windows PCs don't run Bitlocker, I think your recommendation is a bit overblown.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Even if it isn't "bitlocker" branded, most Windows PCs ship with "BitLocker" enabled. The distinction between Windows Home disk encryption and "BitLocker" is that BitLocker additionally allows external management of the key material, while Home only supports the TPM and your microsoft account for the key/recovery codes.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

most Windows PCs ship with "BitLocker" enabled

No, they simply do not. Microsoft branded hardware, sure. But I've never seen a Dell or an HP with Bitlocker enabled from the factory, and at this point I've put my hands on thousands of them.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I can tell you every factory preload of windows on a Lenovo I have seen for the past few years has disk encryption on by default (windows home, so not "bitlocker", but it's the same thing with respect to being tied to TPM.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

When did you last check the statistic you just pulled from your ass? Bitlocker is on by default on all machines that support it, which is all pc's and laptops being sold the past few years.

The only exception used to be when you bypass oobe to create a local user account, which also isn't supported anymore.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

Part of my job description includes repairing PCs. I see quite a lot of them over the course of a month. I also set up lots of new PCs for people when they buy them. All I see Bitlocker enabled on by default are Surface devices and the occasional Lenovo laptop/tablet hybrid POS. So I pulled that statistic from my own personal observations.

[–] recursive_recursion 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

~~yeeesh is this with Windows 10 and/or 11?~~

still not a fan of Windows

edit:
just remembered this is Windows 11, unfortunately I know some people that got forced to use it with most modern laptops

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Assuming BitLocker wasnt enabled and if so you backed up your key. Otherwise your data is gone.