Helios 500 (i9) BIIOS update 1.16 MYSTERY!

OK, so I check back a couple times a day to various sites for driver updates and so on. This time, the mysterious 1.16 BIOS update for the PH517-51-98Y7 showed up. Now normally the title says what basic changes are made in that release, but this time, it only says "BIOS". Add to that, that the v1.14 BIOS is not completely gone from the downloadable versions.

So, being a risk taker from time to time, I downloaded the update, and installed it as usual. The PC rebooted, flashed the new BIOS, then things got a little hairy. The first reboot after the BIOS updated, hung. As in, for 5 minutes. Screen wasn't on, not keys lit, but the power and macro keys were on. Then it powered off, and back on again automatically. Again, hung for 5 minutes or so, then rebooted again, and hung for another 3 or so minutes, before FINALLY starting back up into Windows.

About gave me a heart attack at 36 years old! I have ALL my streaming stuff, in-progress downloads, college papers, everything, on this laptop.

So, after I walked away for a couple hours to relax, I came back to try to figure out what the changes actually were. I'd been through my BIOS MANY times, and there really isn't hardly anything there to begin with. I've looked at every option before, I so know what it's capable of.

Well, nothing seems to have changed. Behavior, layout, options, readouts, it's all there, just like v1.14. So what was the deal with the soul-ripping BIOS update?

Accepted answers

PredatorHelios500

ChevyCam94 said:

So, being a risk taker from time to time, I downloaded the update, and installed it as usual. The PC rebooted, flashed the new BIOS, then things got a little hairy. The first reboot after the BIOS updated, hung. As in, for 5 minutes. Screen wasn't on, not keys lit, but the power and macro keys were on. Then it powered off, and back on again automatically. Again, hung for 5 minutes or so, then rebooted again, and hung for another 3 or so minutes, before FINALLY starting back up into Windows.

I just upgraded from 1.14 to 1.16 myself. The first reboot took about 2 full minutes and several cycles. This is the same thing that happened when I upgraded to 1.14. It does go through a moment or two were it makes you think the laptop bricks. But eventually it does spring back to life. In all the computers I've owned this one definitely has the scariest first post-BIOS-update boot but it definitely did NOT take a literal 13 minutes or more though on my machine. Although it feels longer I'd say that the whole thing takes mine just 2 or maybe 3 actual minutes.

About gave me a heart attack at 36 years old! I have ALL my streaming stuff,

in-progress downloads, college papers, everything, on this laptop.

At 36 you are surely wise enough to have a backup before upgrading the BIOS of a computer, right? What do you mean by "in progress downloads", are you talking bit-**** seeds or something?

Well, nothing seems to have changed. Behavior, layout, options, readouts, it's all there, just like v1.14. So what was the deal with the soul-ripping BIOS update?

I wish I had glanced at the 1.14 menu right before the upgrade. There was nothing too obvious different in 1.16. I noticed that the "Secure boot" option was now under the "Boot" menu whereas I vaguely thought it was under "Security" before. And I didn't remember the "Erase secure boot" stuff in 1.14 but maybe that's just my memory. Otherwise everything looked identical. They need to start publishing change logs for these BIOS updates. Changes might also be "under the hood" hardware support changes.

All comments

xapim

Might had been some update in the locked(hidden) functions of your bios those you will never be able to see unless you have a modded bios which is not recommended as it voids everything ( u would have to dump you bios first via a programmer and get someone to mod it it's not even worth the hassle believe me lol) and has to be flashed via programmer directly to the mobo

ChevyCam94

xapim said:

Might had been some update in the locked(hidden) functions of your bios those you will never be able to see unless you have a modded bios which is not recommended as it voids everything and has to be flashed via programmer directly to the mobo

Well, gee, that sucks. I figured it was some kind of security flaw fix or something similar to Specter or Meltdown.

xapim

ChevyCam94 said:

xapim said:

Might had been some update in the locked(hidden) functions of your bios those you will never be able to see unless you have a modded bios which is not recommended as it voids everything and has to be flashed via programmer directly to the mobo

Well, gee, that sucks. I figured it was some kind of security flaw fix or something similar to Specter or Meltdown.

Well it's a bit more complicated that root a phone looool might be anything but usually u will never know (inside well kept secrets

) all the bios have all the functions and configurations for the cpu/gpu/memory clocks and temps fan control sensors voltages but its all locked by factory only manufacturers can access it its not only laptops its all in general

ChevyCam94

xapim said:

ChevyCam94 said:

xapim said:

Might had been some update in the locked(hidden) functions of your bios those you will never be able to see unless you have a modded bios which is not recommended as it voids everything and has to be flashed via programmer directly to the mobo

Well, gee, that sucks. I figured it was some kind of security flaw fix or something similar to Specter or Meltdown.

Well it's a bit more complicated that root a phone looool might be anything but usually u will never know (inside well kept secrets ) all the bios have all the functions and configurations for the cpu/gpu/memory clocks and temps fan control sensors voltages but its all locked by factory only manufacturers can access it its not only laptops its all in general

Believe me, I used to root phones, both personally and professionally, even today. I used to have unlocked BIOS's in the last few laptops I had, and actually used several of the options that opened up. Maybe one day I'll poke into this one.

PredatorHelios500

ChevyCam94 said:

So, being a risk taker from time to time, I downloaded the update, and installed it as usual. The PC rebooted, flashed the new BIOS, then things got a little hairy. The first reboot after the BIOS updated, hung. As in, for 5 minutes. Screen wasn't on, not keys lit, but the power and macro keys were on. Then it powered off, and back on again automatically. Again, hung for 5 minutes or so, then rebooted again, and hung for another 3 or so minutes, before FINALLY starting back up into Windows.

I just upgraded from 1.14 to 1.16 myself. The first reboot took about 2 full minutes and several cycles. This is the same thing that happened when I upgraded to 1.14. It does go through a moment or two were it makes you think the laptop bricks. But eventually it does spring back to life. In all the computers I've owned this one definitely has the scariest first post-BIOS-update boot but it definitely did NOT take a literal 13 minutes or more though on my machine. Although it feels longer I'd say that the whole thing takes mine just 2 or maybe 3 actual minutes.

About gave me a heart attack at 36 years old! I have ALL my streaming stuff,

in-progress downloads, college papers, everything, on this laptop.

At 36 you are surely wise enough to have a backup before upgrading the BIOS of a computer, right? What do you mean by "in progress downloads", are you talking bit-**** seeds or something?

Well, nothing seems to have changed. Behavior, layout, options, readouts, it's all there, just like v1.14. So what was the deal with the soul-ripping BIOS update?

I wish I had glanced at the 1.14 menu right before the upgrade. There was nothing too obvious different in 1.16. I noticed that the "Secure boot" option was now under the "Boot" menu whereas I vaguely thought it was under "Security" before. And I didn't remember the "Erase secure boot" stuff in 1.14 but maybe that's just my memory. Otherwise everything looked identical. They need to start publishing change logs for these BIOS updates. Changes might also be "under the hood" hardware support changes.

ChevyCam94

PredatorHelios500 said:

I just upgraded from 1.14 to 1.16 myself. The first reboot took about 2 full minutes and several cycles. This is the same thing that happened when I upgraded to 1.14. It does go through a moment or two were it makes you think the laptop bricks. But eventually it does spring back to life. In all the computers I've owned this one definitely has the scariest first post-BIOS-update boot but it definitely did NOT take a literal 13 minutes or more though on my machine. Although it feels longer I'd say that the whole thing takes mine just 2 or maybe 3 actual minutes.

At 36 you are surely wise enough to have a backup before upgrading the BIOS of a computer, right? What do you mean by "in progress downloads", are you talking bit-***** seeds or something?

I wish I had glanced at the 1.14 menu right before the upgrade. There was nothing too obvious different in 1.16. I noticed that the "Secure boot" option was now under the "Boot" menu whereas I vaguely thought it was under "Security" before. And I didn't remember the "Erase secure boot" stuff in 1.14 but maybe that's just my memory. Otherwise everything looked identical. They need to start publishing change logs for these BIOS updates. Changes might also be "under the hood" hardware support changes.

I do a lot of GIT work, and personal file sharing on my website (not tor ents) I DO have a backup of most everything important, but the reason I still get touchy about is how long it woudl take to set everything back up the way it is. So much is customized it's actually a big pain.

PredatorHelios500

EDIT: This was a test. Can be deleted.

PredatorHelios500

I didn't type the asterisks in "bit-*****". It's one thing to censor posts that promote illegal downloading, as the the Community Agreement, but censoring even the word **** is annoying. BitTorrent has legal and legit uses. I've never once used it to illegally download anything but I've downloaded just about even Linux distribution I've used in the last 10 years or so with it. And I use it when any website requests BT downloads to to lighten the load on their servers. Censoring the word in a post that did does not promote illegal downloading or break any aspect of the the Acer Community User Agreement means that the non-user side is breaking the agreement.

EDIT: And if there's going to be redaction of text whether by a person or software, please make sure the censored characters are replaced with the same number of asterisks.

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