2015-04-30

My computer's Phoenix BIOS 3.08 Hard Drive Boot Priority menu does not respond after I highlight one of the hard drives. It just freezes. Otherwise, the BIOS works. I'm quite familiar with the BIOS and have contacted HP and Micro Star, the motherboard vendor. Their advice doesn't help. I think this is not an ordinary BIOS issue and only Phoenix can help.

My computer runs Linux Mint 17.1.

I'd like to know how to get in touch with Phoenix by phone or e-mail.

julianvb

Search for and find Phoenix Technologies via Google, go to their website, find phone numbers, call the numbers and explain your question/issue and see if there's a way to get support from them.

Is there a BIOS update you can get? When I got my Dell, that was one of the first things I looked for. If an update doesn't help, I'd try resetting it to defaults.

Are they even in business?

The chances of them fixing your system is about Zero. The computer maker is the one that would ever provide a new bios image.

Guess you could try to re-install the current version, replace battery (cmos or rtc), look at power supply, bios timings, as well even as ram and cpu settings.

Yeah, could be RAM or CPU. Don't know of a good CPU test, but there should be a memtest line in GRUB.

I used to work for Phoenix, but long ago. Just checked LinkedIn for updates on my former peers. Nobody's there anymore, and they were the BIOS team. Some of them had been there 20+ years too. So ...

Yeah, they have a website, hard to tell exactly what they're doing though.

According to their wiki page, they're still doing it. Lord knows when that was updated, though.

Still worth a shot to look for a BIOS update.

2015-05-01

Hi, Everyone,

Thank you so much. I've done everything you're recommending. I've also exhausted HP Tech Support's BIOS knowledge. I've e-mailed admin.pt@phoenixtechnologoes.com only to receive a meaningless reply with two words "Wrong email". I think Phoenix is still in business in Scottsdale, AZ but I've had no luck in getting through (571) 306-3055, their phone number in the last several weeks. I still remember talking to an engineer there some years ago on the phone.

By the way, I've been tinkering with Windows and Linux computers as a hobby for almost 17 years after retiring from electrical engineering in hardware-software diagnostics.

Many thanks again.

julianvb

Phoenix Technologies LLC in Scottsdale AZ is NOT Phoenix Technologies Ltd based somewhere in California that made your BIOS. Work in Scottsdale, familiar with the company you reference.

Did it ever work correctly?

Did you set bios settings to default or fail safe?

Is there some problem with this drive that you are trying to change?

Did you use bios to scan drives before you attempted changes?

jefro,

Thanks for your kind suggestions. I've attempted my best to solve this issue in a previous posting as best as I knew how by utilizing everyone's inputs as well as my own previous experience in over 35 years of hardware-software diagnostics. I finally arrived at the conclusion that nobody is more efficacious in resolving this mysterious matter than the BIOS creator.

My answers to all your questions are in the positive. All my hard drives are in good condition and the BIOS has no trouble in detecting all of them. I've tried selecting each one of them in the Hard Drive Boot Priority menu but nothing happens next when I use the + key to move the selected item to the top. In other words, this menu just freezes.

I think you can be a great help to me by telling me whether your BIOS has a working Hard Drive Boot Priority menu. If so, who is the vendor?

My sole purpose of this posting is to track down the whereabouts of the real BIOS creator and nothing else. Thanks very much.

julianvb

Erm, with respect, it's broken so you have to replace it.
Nothing lasts forever, even cold November rain.

2015-05-03
Hi,Everyone,

I am finally ready to close this question. Indeed, Phoenix Technologies is still in business with corporate offices in Campbell, California. Their major business is in SecureCore, namely UEFI. They have turned over their old BIOS business to e.support.com, which charges a fee for BIOS support or updates. Since my interest in the BIOS Hard Drive Boot Priority menu was and still is academic and my BIOS works in every other aspect, I'll now return to my daily Linux Mint 17.1 activities on this Compaq computer.

If anyone is intestested in pursuing this topic further, www.esupport,com, www.phoenixbios.com and www.biosagent.com are the correct websites to visit.

julianvb

Thanks for the info and the update.

As many users have discovered over the decades we have been in this business, no bios has ever been standard. No EFI implementation has been standard. Almost no one has ever been able to get Phoenix to solve any problem.

One of the more famous authors of software is the syslinux/isolinux guru who has noted many instances where a bios simply won't work. You are not alone.