[SOLVED]!!!!!!!!!!!!
BIOS update of HP6715b to Rev F20 was successful (with a million thanks to Huffer for his help and
encouragement)....
...but with one slight problem: my Win 7 Ult 32-bit drive doesn't boot up from it anymore.
Luckily I have Vista and XP hard drives which can boot up from it, and I can still read my data and files from the
Win 7 HDD via a SATA-to-USB adapter cable.
Here's how I did it:
(Disclaimer: this may or may not work for you. I accept no responsibility for loss of data or hardware damage or
bricking your laptop. You do it all at YOUR OWN RISK.)
First, check whatyour current version of BIOS is (in my case it was F.07). As Huffer suggested to me, it may not be
possible to go direct to F20, you may have to go in two steps via version F.0D.
If you are running XP or Vista, first download SP55556 and follow the on-screen instructions.
DO NOT attempt to run it from W7 or higher - there is a known issue that may make your laptop permanently
inoperative (bricked).
According to the readme file, it is designed to run from within Windows (but they DON'T specify WHICH version!!),
but if it doesn't, you will have to make a bootable USB disk and run the program from DOS.
To do this download SP40572. Right click on it, and extract it to your desktop. The files you need for the first
step to BIOS version F.0D are inside the Rompaq folder.
Then using the latest version of Rufus (e.g. 3.4), format a USB stick with Fat32 and with the FreeDOS option.
Choose Quick Format.
Add those files from the Rompaq folder onto your USB stick. Change the name of the bin file to 68YTT.bin. (I don't
know why - it seems as if the exe can only accept upgrade files with this name. (Unlike other BIOS updates I've
done on desktop mainboards, this time you don't get to choose which bin file to use for the update).
Do all the following procedures ALWAYS with a fully charged battery inserted AND the mains adapter cable plugged
in. Any loss of power during a BIOS update could be disastrous.
Shut down the PC. Reboot using F9 boot option into the USB Hard Disk.
Choose your keyboard layout if requested.
From the C:/ prompt type dir & Return/Enter to check all your files are there.
Type rompaq.exe, Return/Enter. The update program should start.
First, choose backup and save your current BIOS to the stick. It will be saved as 68YTT.bak.
Next, choose update and follow the on-screen instructions. Check the date of the update file corresponds with the
same date of the F.0D file.
DO NOT PRESS ANY KEYS or disturb the update process in any way.
At the end, you will be asked to press F10.
Reboot. You may need to reboot several times in order for the update to be 'seen/recognised'.
Boot into Vista or XP and using a program such as CPU-Z, check your BIOS version now says F.0D (or check it by
booting into BIOS via F10).
Delete the file 68YTT.bin from your stick. Copy from the Rompaq folder of SP55556 the bin file (this is for F.20)
onto your stick. Rename it to 68YTT.bin.
Reboot into DOS, and do the same update procedure. Again, check the date of the file to be upgraded is the same as
the Rev F.20 from SP55556.
When finished, reboot (several times again) and boot in XP/Vista. Check again you now have F.20.
I am still doing investigations as to why Win 7 won't boot with the new BIOS. (Any input on that greatly
appreciated.) I suspect it's becasue HP are lazy and brought out the new F.20, but couldn't be bothered to check
if it works with higher operating systems than Vista.
I intend to try to do a fresh install from scratch on another disk of Win 7 and see if that works.
Thanks again Huff
