Can not do system restore due to Tattoo says supplier.

[Guest]

Two days ago after failing to record some songs to CD-R, I figured it was time to
reinstall XP Pro, Mce software which seems to be a solution to remedy a problem
that can not be solved in any other way. During burn attempt, the DVD/CD write
device on this HP M370n Media Center Edition computer was spinning up/down
like it had a breathing troubles. I wiped the hard drive and when I gave my CD or
DVD restores to boot up, they were both rejected as not being acceptable to this
computer though they have restored it many times. Another anomaly that has
occured in the same time frame, is Bios default settings cause messsage Cpu Fan
Fail, system will power off in 5 seconds which it does unless F2 is used allowing
bios process & boot. The default setting now enables Cpu fan check, disables
System fan check, and the Cpu fan, since I bought the box has always shown up
in bios as 0 rpm in red letters. It seems that something (not me) rearranged the bio
and the Tattoo whatever a Tattoo is. Calling HP service and describing this to them
I hear that the motherboard must be "tattooed" again, and for that action I must send
it by air (for the third time, for similar but for somewhat different reason) at their expense
to the service center
I am hoping that someone can shed light on this before my HP 1 year service runs out in
6 months because if it happens after that I'd be best to buy a computer that won't do it and
throw this one away. It did allow my Xp Home installation from CD, now in place, but not
the system that belongs in here.

 

[Jim Macklin]

Send it to HP and either buy an extended service contract or
try to get your money back. System restore discs don't
allow many options and those are all at HPs bidding.

Next time, buy a DELL or build your own.


message
| Two days ago after failing to record some songs to CD-R, I
figured it was time to
| reinstall XP Pro, Mce software which seems to be a
solution to remedy a problem
| that can not be solved in any other way. During burn
attempt, the DVD/CD write
| device on this HP M370n Media Center Edition computer was
spinning up/down
| like it had a breathing troubles. I wiped the hard drive
and when I gave my CD or
| DVD restores to boot up, they were both rejected as not
being acceptable to this
| computer though they have restored it many times. Another
anomaly that has
| occured in the same time frame, is Bios default settings
cause messsage Cpu Fan
| Fail, system will power off in 5 seconds which it does
unless F2 is used allowing
| bios process & boot. The default setting now enables Cpu
fan check, disables
| System fan check, and the Cpu fan, since I bought the box
has always shown up
| in bios as 0 rpm in red letters. It seems that something
(not me) rearranged the bios
| and the Tattoo whatever a Tattoo is. Calling HP service
and describing this to them,
| I hear that the motherboard must be "tattooed" again, and
for that action I must send
| it by air (for the third time, for similar but for
somewhat different reason) at their expense
| to the service center.
| I am hoping that someone can shed light on this before my
HP 1 year service runs out in
| 6 months because if it happens after that I'd be best to
buy a computer that won't do it and
| throw this one away. It did allow my Xp Home installation
from CD, now in place, but not
| the system that belongs in here.

 

[M]

It would appear that Tattoo relates to bios locking the OS. Since this is
part of the BIOS code it maybe that what you actually need is a BIOS update.
At least some HP motherboards are made by Asus
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...0&lang=en&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&docname=bph07293
and if yours is you should be able to obtain a BIOS upgrade from their site.
If your version of XP is BIOS locked its unlikely to work after updating and
your warranty will also be void. Only a last resort solution.