Scummy Business Practice prevents Linux Install

Question

HP ProBook 4530s

The HP Probook 4530s is from a line of business notebooks manufactured by Hewlett-Packard (HP). It is from the S-Series (standard series), consisting of Intel powered screens.

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Josua Du Toit @josuadutoit

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crwdns2931729:0crwdne2931729:0: Maw 30, 2023

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Scummy Business Practice prevents Linux Install

Hi there!

I would like to ask if someone could help with the following issue?

I have a HP probook 4530 that I want to install Linux on, which I thought would be pretty easy, except little did I know that after installing Linux (And wiping the hard drive) I would not be able to anymore gain access to the laptops BIOS.

"The reason is that the BIOS was a UEFI type. A UEFI BIOS has a component that is on the hard disk. You wiped it with the "safe erase". That is why it won't invoke with the F10 keystroke."

Info on this link: https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-O...

Having blundered into that mistake, the next fix I tried was using a (Windows + B command while holding the power button)

Using info from this link: https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Bo...

This "useful" suggestion seems to have totally bricked the laptop :(

So with battery In, out, both with AC power and pressing the Power button only gives my 8 orange blinking lights, no screen turn on, no beeps, just the orange LED....

Is there anyway (By means of Software, hardware or both) that a person could fix the problem? My main objective is to use the laptop (Which is still in excellent condition) with Linux, its just HP been a bunch of A holes that is preventing me extending the life of this laptop.

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@josuadutoit let's see if our PC guru's @nick @aactech @jayeff can help you out. I am thinking reflashing the BIOS or replacing the BIOS chip, but I may be way off.

BTW it's not just HP. I have worked on a couple of TOSHIBA's that would only run under Vista. What a waste. But no surprise there since TOSHIBA is another paranoid, greedy, profit-before-people/planet company. I loathe that company.

crwdns2934271:0Maw 30, 2023crwdnd2934271:0 oldturkey03 crwdne2934271:0

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@josuadutoit let's see if our PC guru's @nick @aactech @jayeff can help you out. I am thinking reflashing the BIOS or replacing the BIOS chip, but I may be way off.

BTW it's not just HP. I have worked on a couple of TOSHIBA's that would only run under Vista. What a waste. But no surprise there since TOSHIBA is another paranoid, greedy, profit-before-people/planet company. I loathe that company. — oldturkey03

score 2 · Answer 1 · 2023-07-30T18:31:34-07:00

Hi @josuadutoit

Try a full power refresh. You never know it may work.

I realize that you said that you did remove the power source and pressed the power button but sometimes it is necessary to remove the RTC battery (Real Time Clock) from the motherboard as well to reset the BIOS back to its default state.

Here’s the procedure:

a). Disconnect the charger from the laptop if connected.

b). Remove main battery from the laptop.

c). Remove the RTC battery from the motherboard.

Here’s the maintenance and service guide for the laptop. (couldn't find one for a 4530 so hopefully the 's" model is the same) Go to p.91 to view the necessary pre-requisite steps and then the procedure to remove the RTC battery. Unfortunately with your model you will have to remove the motherboard to access the battery.

When the battery is removed measure its voltage. If it is <2.6V DC replace it. The part number is 449137-001. Search online using the part number only, to find suppliers of the part.

d.) Reconnect the RTC battery (or its replacement).

e). Reverse the above steps to re-assemble the laptop.

f.) When the laptop is completely re-assembled, connect the charger and try to turn on the laptop.

If it starts OK there may be a message about the date and time being incorrect. This is normal as the BIOS has been completely reset back to its default settings. Once the date and time have been adjusted the message won’t appear the next time that the laptop is started.

If you had previously changed any user defined settings in BIOS to suit whatever specific hardware configuration that you had for the laptop, then these will have to be set again.

If it does work you can always try upgrading the ram to 8GB (2 x 4GB PC3-10600, 1333-MHz, DDR3) as Win10 will work OK with that much ram