Hey guys, my laptop’s bios got updated yesterday (f40->f45, plundervolt vulnerability = I can no longer undervolt) and I can’t seem to be able to downgrade it to the previous version. The win+b recovery just recovers the same, post update version, and the usb recovery with the previous version gives me the Unable to open BIOS Signature file error. In most places on the internet they say it’s impossible to downgrade bios on hp notebooks, but some people here were successful - could you help me please? This is driving me absolutely nuts. Thank you very much in advance.
Stuff I tried but only got some more emotional damage:
-recovering cmos and bios with either f2 menu or win+b - nothing new, recovers the latest, updated version
-disabling sgx completely in bios - os (win10) still asks me to disable sgx apps (I have none) for whatever reason if I want to use undervolting
-hp_tools - recovery usb gave me a bunch of .bin and .sig files - can’t flash them, either missing signature file or tells me the version I’m trying to flash is older than the current one
-insydeh20 - doesn’t recognize those files
-universal bios backup toolkit - said it couldn’t identify the bios
-contacted hp support - rollback should be possible - it isn’t, the firmware management tool (when you boot from f2) says correctly that the current version is f45 and after the process it’s going to be f40, but then just doesn’t work, saying something about not finding signature file
-tried cinebench20 without my undervolt settings since I’m stuck with that, and got even more emotional damage as I lost 700 points on my cpu (3200 to 2500) : )
Same issue here but with an Omen HP 15-dh0005la. Temperatures drastically increased making the laptop almost useless.
Yep exactly that, I think I am going to try to send mine back under warranty, that update absolutely broke my laptop’s performance, not to mention the noise levels. I don’t know what they were thinking not letting any1 downgrade a bios at least to the previous version, something that should be easy to do has been driving me absolutely mad for a week now.
bump
I have, I annoyed the crap out of hp support (btw my next laptop is NOT going to be a hp one, compared to what I’ve had before (alienware, aorus and razer) - talking to those people was by far the worst experience I’ve ever had with customer support. They made sure to blame me for what happened, and despite obvious evidence I collected beforehand (bios versions in my laptop, on their website, in their update tool etc) they claimed that the newest version of the bios is not what I’m showing them cause the website had an older one. : ) Like for real, 2 people I spoke to were in absolute denial, about the updated bios version that was offered to me via windows update. 4 hours later after going through their troubleshooting they said they won’t take it back under warranty because I bought it in the UK and moved to Germany. Anyway I then contacted HP through their socials and whichever mail address I could find, and surprise surprise no response, but like 3 weeks later an updated bios version appeared with undervolting enabled. Not sure if it was my pastering or just a coincidence, but I did mention that I wouldve never bought this laptop if I knew they would strip it out of one of the main functions to me and cause of that I believe I deserve a refund. They still haven’t answered so we will never know. Lesson learned though - avoid HP around this price point. While I can’t complain about the performance, build quality and price (there was nothing below 2000 pounds with a 2070 and 240 hertz, and after 3 years my unit looks like almost new) - this is not the premium kind of customer support that I was used to for years buying high end gaming laptops.
PS: I even had to replace my fans when it was still under warranty cause they asked me to do some hours long software troubleshooting even though the fan sounded like a slowly dying buffaloo. I figured it would be quicker if I just order the right part and do it myself. As a contrast: aorus uk apologized and booked the pickup at my address at the time I wanted which was the next morning (they had to pay premium for that). I had my laptop back, both fans replaced (even though only the cpu fan got noisy), after 5 days I was emailed that they are sending the laptop and asked me when and where I wanted it sent, and again I chose the next day and they paid extra for that. With HP I felt like a kid who bought some cheap electronic that broke, and is arguing with the Cheap Electronic Limited, a company who produces electrogarbage, that it’s not his fault.
There, at least I vented a bit. Thanks for the opportunity. : )
Yes, and no. : )