dv5t BIOS boot order changed, but has no effect

I changed my BIOS boot order, but it has no effect. Can anyone tell me why?

I'm in the middle of making my dv5t dual-bootable, so I've done a bunch of things... I'll list the steps I took, below.

I thought I'd write a quick how-to for re-partitioning your drive when you've got just the OEM installed Vista, and the HP recovery partition, and you're opposed to buying more software, but I need to understand what I've done to the bootloader first.

(Oh yeah, it works... but something's hinky here with my BIOS boot order.)

* Steps I took: *

First, I burned restore dvd's using the hp recovery utility-- don't do what I did next without them.

I did some backup, clean up, and defrag things to get ready to shrink my C: partition.

I used the hp recovery utility to delete the recovery partition, D:

I used GParted (on a live linux cd) to shrink my C: partition and create new partitions.

When I re-booted, the Vista boot loader asked me which installation I wanted to boot into, Vista or Ramdisk, and I chose Vista. It didn't boot right away (as expected), but prompted me to repair the installation. I said yes, it ran chkdsk, and then booted.

I shut it down b/c I wanted to boot again off the cdrom. While I was at it, I thought I'd change the BIOS boot order so the cdrom was first.

When I turned the machine on, I used "ESC" to interrupt the startup procedure and F9 to change the Boot device options. This lets me choose b/w the hard drive or the internal optical drive as my boot device. Well, that's great, but that wasn't what I wanted-- I meant to change the priority in the BIOS.

So I went back to the same menu (as accessed by "ESC" on power-on) and chose the option to get to the BIOS.

In the BIOS now (for real), I changed the Boot Order so that "USB key/hard drive" was first, cd-rom was second, and hard drive was third; I left the network adapter disabled. I chose to "exit and save" my changes.

With the cd I'd just booted from in the cdrom drive (so I *know* it's bootable), I let the machine decide for itself how it wanted to boot, and instead of booting off the CD into live linux, it booted Vista.

I thought, "Huh!" and after I shut down, I checked the BIOS, and my settings were correct. However, unless I use ESC and then F9 to choose a different boot device (i.e. each time I want to boot from the cdrom), then it always boots from the hard drive. Also, under F9, a USB drive is not available as an option. Hrm.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm happy Vista still works and C: is shrunk... but what's going on with the boot order?

Thanx!

 

Hi, Sorry I'm a bit confused! You said 'I changed the Boot Order so that "USB key/hard drive" was first, cd-rom was second' ??? If you want the machine to boot from CD first you need to set the CD ROM to the first device don't you?

 

The BIOS checks to see if any of those boot devices are present, and the first one that is, it boots from. No USB drive? Move along. No bootable cd in CD-ROM? Move along. Bootable hard drive? Ok, I'll boot.

If the hard drive is first but you want to boot from the cd-rom, then you have to interrupt the startup sequence (on my machine now, it's ESC) and then tell it you want to specify a different Boot Device (F9). So I can make it boot off the cd-rom, but why can't I alter the BIOS boot order?

Furthermore, the way it is now, I can't specify a USB drive under the F9 Boot Device menu, so that could be annoying.

I think I've munged something. I don't want to write up instructions that will tell people how to mung things up. D-oh!

 

Have you tried flashing the BIOS?

 

Have you tried flashing the BIOS?

 

Nope. The BIOS appears to be functioning properly-- it's more like somebody else (perhaps the Vista bootloader?) is ignoring what it says.

I know my partition changes have caused changes in the bootloader's behaviour... so I suspect it's the bootloader, or the bcd, or heck, I don't know. But I'm reluctant to flash the BIOS when I haven't done anything *to* the BIOS (beyond changing a setting within it)-- whereas I have done things to the bootloader, by virtue of deleting the recovery partition.

Maybe I should keep going, install linux and let GRUB decide what to do about it all. If that fixes it, then that would suggest that it's the Vista bootloader.

Thanx for the reply!

 

The bios should still control the boot order regardless of the boot manager settings as the boot loader only kicks in when the unit starts to boot from the hard drive. It should still boot from CD first if you have set it to.

 

Agreed. But it doesn't. Therefore, my question.

Seriously... I don't understand why I'm seeing this behaviour, and I can't figure out where to find an answer.

I know what steps I took, but I don't know which one(s) caused this behaviour, or how.

 

Have you tried removing the HDD from the boot order all together and then tried to boot from CD?

 

The BIOS doesn't have that as an option.

Do you know if it's possible that there are somehow two boot managers on my system?

Thanx for thinking about this.

 

Yeah I think there may be both GRUB and the Vista boot loader there probably fighting with each other LOL! Have you read any walkthrough's for dual booting Vista with Linux?

 

I haven't put linux or GRUB on it yet, so unless there's some kind of phantom boot loader, that can't be it!

There was a new version of the BIOS so I flashed it a few hours ago, but it still behaves exactly the same way! Grr.

Since I had removed the hidden recovery partition (but with its own removal utility, come on!) the vista boot loader thought there was a second vista installation from the [removed] hidden partition. I found this out by using EasyBCD to look at the Vista BCD, and then I fixed it by removing that entry (the one with the null pointers) in the Vista BCD. I thought, Ah-hah! This will fix the strange BIOS behaviour (although how the two are related, beats me). But it didn't help.

I was all set to tell you that flashing the BIOS (as per your suggestion) had fixed it, too.

I'm starting to think I've lost my mind.

Can anyone with an unmodified HP dv5t please change their BIOS boot order, and tell me it worked as expected? I'm stumped!

 

I have been searching for you but every one says that its a hardware problem. If it is a hardware issue then it must be intermittant or the media its self may have an issue. I know the CD has booted in the past properly as you said. Does the CD boot ok every time you use the 'boot from' menu? If so then I'm sorry I dont know why the bios change makes no difference. You could also try searching www.linuxquestions.org/ , www.linuxforum.com/ or some other linux forum. Good luck!

 

Oh and why isn't anyone else posting??? Someone out there must have more ideas!!! Anyone ??????

 

Try moving the CD to the fist option on the boot order. I understand that it should work how you have it set up, but I would try to rearrange the boot order and see if that helps.

 

If you read earlier posts in the thread 'Dark Girl' has allready done that in the BIOS but it still will not boot from a (known) good bootable CD. The only way it boots from CD is to use the boot menu.

 

I did read the entire thread. Dark_Girl never stated that she put the CD first in the boot order, just that it was before the HDD. If she changes the order of the boot devices it might have some effect.

 

Ok, I went through the BIOS and set every possible combination that still left cd-rom before hard drive. I also tried disabling and re-enabling other devices (remember disabling the hard drive was not an option).

I don't have a bootable USB, but I suppose I could learn how to make one and see if it'll boot off of that before the hard drive.

I carefully paged through all of the BIOS settings to see if there was anything else going on. I also tried re-setting the BIOS to its default settings (which, for boot order, are [usb floppy disabled], cd-rom, hard drive, usb key, [network adapter disabled]). That didn't help either.

So it was a good suggestion, but I still have the same problem.

Oh and to confirm, it's also true that my bootable cd boots every time (but only by interrupting the startup sequence and specifying it).

I'm liking Everway9's suggestion that it's a hardware problem. I looked through about 20 pages of Google results, and the only 2 that weren't "I can't get into my BIOS" were hardware related-- changing memory, or changing drive cables fixed their issue.

Do you think I should call HP and request a repair/replace? Because I'm thinking, with my luck, there's something hinky with the motherboard, and the day after the warranty period is up, I'll have a dead computer.

I really appreciate the help!

 

Yeah get on to HP (0870 842 2339). They can be a bit of a pain sometimes so if you get any problems get back to me and I'll speak to them for you as the company where I work are HP partners/resellers and I speak to them very often regarding warranties etc.

Good luck

 

Thanks very much for the assistance! I waited on the phone with HP and got disconnected (d-oh!) so then I tried my luck with tech support via chat.

To my surprise, it was very easy. They are going to arrange a replacement. Everyone seems to agree that the BIOS is messed up.

Thanks for all your help. I'd still be sitting here poking cd's in the drive and muttering at my computer, without you guys.

 

Nice one! Good on ya! Well I never, HP accepting there is a hardware fault!!! WOW! thats a first! LOL! Hope all goes well with the replacement. Do not hesitate to msg me if you need any more info!

 

HAH! Should have known that was too easy. The 1st tech support guy said he would arrange for someone to call me to set up ordering the replacement.

Somebody did call, but when they started telling me the new price, I interrupted and said, "Wait! Wait! Tech support arranged for you to call me b/c they said it needed to be replaced-- I'm supposed to return my defective unit, not buy a 2nd pc." They demanded my case #, but I never got one from the chat guy, and when I pointed out that it was *they* who had called *me*... they transferred me around the world a few times (literally-- india, US?, india, canada).

I was told I would be transferred back to customer service to resume ordering a replacement, but when I got there, they sent me BACK to a new tech support guy, who is (finally) sending me a box so they can see about repairing it.

I didn't see that I had any other options, but now I'm thinking, the fact that I now have *two* tech support case numbers and a service order number, really does not bode well. Bother!

Please let me know if you think I should have said something different, or if you think there is something I should say next to expedite this whole process.

And can I say thanks for the help, again? Those guys' troubleshooting questions were ridiculous. No one ever asked me if I could actually boot off the cd, which would be the first question I would have asked.

 

They are pretty DUMB!!! You feel like you wanna hit them.. HARD... VERY HARD! LOL! Anyway, did we find out if your laptop is in warranty? Sorry hav'nt time to read my last posts. If it is in warranty and any chargable work is mentioned by HP then they are talking rubbish. You may (I know its time consuming) want to call them and give any case reference you have E.G 1610358423 and ask for an update on the case. The case owner (HP dumb ***) whoever it was should have updated the call and whoever you speak to should be able to tell you what action HP are taking.

If they are going to charge or you do not get an acceptable response then feel free to Msg me the case ref number(s) and i'll have a word with them if you want. I do enjoy winding them up sometimes! LOL!

Good luck again

 

Thanx bunches! (And yeah, it's in warranty- I just missed the 21 day return-for-any-reason cut-off by about a week.)

Yes, I do want to hit them... very hard!

 

Keep on at them. Do NOT let them mess you around in any way at all!