Hewlett Packard Desktop Fails to Boot After BIOS Upgrade

A Hewlett-Packard desktop computer may fail to boot after applying a BIOS upgrade. The screen shows the initial “HP Invent” splash screen, but progresses no further.

This may occur if the machine has a Logitech webcam attached. Unplug the webcam, power off the machine and power-on again.

Once started, the webcam may be attached and it operates normally.

This behaviour was observed on a HP Compaq DC7900, with BIOS 1.23. Downgrading the BIOS to 1.22 allowed the machine to boot with the webcam attached, but there was a noticeable delay when the machine starts before the operating system boots.