# [HP 2133 Mini-Note] Bios is write protected



## hansihansi23 (Jan 5, 2011)

Hello everyone

My 2133 bluescreens while booting:



> Error message: STOP: 0x000000A5


After a little googling I found out, that I need to update my BIOS to the newest version. My Problem is, that the mini won't boot from any USB media and has no optical drives. So I set up an environment to flash the BIOS via PXE. So far so good, but as soon as the flashing starts, I get the error ...



> BIOS is write protected


... and the machine restarts.

Does anyone know how to remove this write protection or how to alternatively flash this damned BIOS?

Thank you very much in advance.


----------



## LMiller7 (Jun 21, 2010)

Before proceeding with the BIOS flash it would be best to determine if it is really necessary. Where did you obtain this information from? Can you provide a link? A BIOS flash is inherently risky, particularly on a laptop. The only recovery from a failure is often a new motherboard, and you don't want to know how much that will cost.

A BIOS update must come from the computer manufacturer and they will provide detailed instructions on how to do it. The BIOS update must match your computer exactly or a failure is likely.

But be very sure it is needed before proceeding.


----------



## hansihansi23 (Jan 5, 2011)

Hi

Thanks for your fast reply. I got the information from this site:

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsuppor...Id=115&prodSeriesId=3687084&prodTypeId=321957

I cannot boot into windows - the bluescreen appears immediately after the boot screen. Recovery Mode doesn't work either...

I don't know what else I could do...


----------



## LMiller7 (Jun 21, 2010)

I would tend to doubt it is the BIOS. I am assuming that the system once worked. That being the case, something must have changed since that time. Since recovery mode doesn't work it appears that it must be a hardware problem. It is highly unlikely that the BIOS would have changed by itself. Also the HP article refers to a somewhat different situation.

A BIOS flash is a rather risky thing to do, particularly on a laptop. When you have unknown hardware issues the risks are multiplied. I don't think this should be done until other options are exhausted.

One thing you should check is the RAM. This can produce a wide variety of problems.


----------



## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

run memtest on the ram 1 stick at a time

http://www.memtest.org/

d/load and run the h/drive makers diagnostic utility on the h/drive

http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287


----------



## hansihansi23 (Jan 5, 2011)

Thanks for your suggestions. Just did a full memcheck - unfortunately there were no errors found...


----------



## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

hansihansi23 said:


> Thanks for your suggestions. Just did a full memcheck - unfortunately there were no errors found...


Don't you mean fortunately? :smile:

Memory errors are not good.

Did you run the HDD diagnostic?

When did the issue begin to occur, forgive me if I missed it.


----------



## hansihansi23 (Jan 5, 2011)

No, no, memory errors aren't good at all, but if there was one, I had found the problem and could have solved it... ;-)

I can't say exactly, when the error began to occur. It's my brothers notebook and... you know the stories: He did _nothing_, it just _happened_!

I didn't run any HDD diagnostic, but I can boot the system, if I plug the HDD in on another computer. So there has to be a problem with the note. It's not the memory, and not the HDD. Could the problem be CMOS related? Maybe the battery is dead?


----------



## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

It could still be a hard drive issue... whether you can boot or not
You should run the HDD diag to make sure


----------



## hansihansi23 (Jan 5, 2011)

No luck with that... Did a checkdisk - there were no errors with the HDD.


----------



## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

What version is your current BIOS?

Are you trying to Ghost the computer?


----------



## hansihansi23 (Jan 5, 2011)

Current BIOS version is F.03. When booting, the BIOS prints out



> Unknown BIOS error. Error code =8800


After hitting F1 the boot process goes on until Windows shows up with a bluescreen. I don't try to ghost it or whatsoever. I just want to boot it! ;-)


----------



## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

Enter the BIOS and reset settings to factory defaults. If your BIOS is throwing errors you do not want to update it. High likelihood of bricking the system.


----------



## hansihansi23 (Jan 5, 2011)

I've done this already. But no luck with that either. I think the system is already bricked. Seems like there's something wrong with the mainboard.


----------



## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

run the hard drive check which is not check disk

they are 2 different things


----------

