Technology

Jeez, I am currently trying to install Linux on my HP ProBook and having issues with it - one thing I noticed was my bios was last updated in 2014 so I was going to see if updating helped... Might hold off on that now

i rarely victim-blame, but if you're buying HP anything, then yea...

Thanks for Update HP But I use Linux :)

and since this battery update was forced on laptops originally released in 2020, this issue has also bricked hardware outside of the warranty window, when previously users could simply send in the laptop for a free repair.

Anyway, they break it, they fix or replace it.

There's even laws in some countries about computer sabotage. Germany for one.

Is it just for ProBooks?....I think something similar is plaguing my Pavilion Gaming as well.

My experience when I worked in support for a device manufacturer is that if you get high enough in the support tree and can demonstrate that this effects you (and the support person will also have a matrix of affected devices) you'll still get a repair/replacement outside of warranty for them bricking your computer with a bad update.

We had a specific instance where a specific budget model of phone sold by Boost mobile would brick after a specific update for people who had subsidy unlocked it and taken it to a GSM carrier such as T-Mobile (this was shortly pre-merger) or AT&T. This update rolled out about 2.5 years after this devices release, so most customers were ~12 months outside of warranty. Since the scope of affected devices was so narrow our directions from the top was to replace affected devices regardless of warranty status, and the replacement would come with a standard 30 day replacement warranty

So in short, I would expect HP to repair/replace affected devices that bricked after this BIOS update regardless of warranty status, but I would expect some amount of hassle in terms of reaching a specific support department before you get assistance and standard refusal of service for customer induced physical damage (smashed screen, smashed ports, mashed potatoes in the ports, badly bent, etc.)

The article doesn’t say/clarify. Was it some crap HP software that performs driver updates, and it decided to force a bios flash? Or was it windows update itself?

If it was windows itself, holy crap, that’s a serious over reach on Microsoft’s part. Like “this is insanity windows needs to be removed” bad.

I read this as talking about BadBIOS at first - did that ever turn out to be real, or was it just paranoia?