My Attempt to Fix Boot Device Not Found on HP Stream Laptop

It’s been a long time since I had to deal with laptop issues.

My last challenge was when I had to do a factory reset to my Toshiba laptop. Before that I added extra 4GB memory.

Conclusion: I will never ever open a Toshiba laptop again. Ever.

The latest challenge was brought up by a Hewlett Packard laptop.

Issue: Boot Device Not Found (3F0)

It isn’t my laptop. One day my friend’s HP Stream Laptop 14 – ax010oa showed an error.

Boot Device Not Found
Please install an operating system on your hard disk.
Hard Disk (3F0)
F2 System Diagnostics
For more information, please visit: www.hp.com/go/techcenter/startup

After going to the link above, I head on to HP Notebook PCs – Boot Device Not Found Error or Hard Drive Not Detected and follow the five steps.

Step 1: Perform a hard reset. Tried but didn’t work.

Step 2: Restore BIOS default settings. Tried but didn’t work.

Step 3: Test the hard drive using HP PC Hardware Diagnostics.

I cannot do the Quick Test and Extensive Test. It just went back to the menu. I even downloaded a UEFI on a USB but the laptop wasn’t able to read from it.

Step 4: Reseat the hard drive. Not possible at all.

Based on the product specification, the laptop comes with a 32 GB eMMC.

What is eMMC? It stands for embedded Multi Media Controller. It has an MMC drive embedded on a motherboard.

I’ve never seen an eMMC before. I upgraded laptops and desktops with HDD or SDD before.

This is what it looks like inside. I found the RAM and that’s about it. At that moment I appreciated my Toshiba laptop even more.

If you are interested on how to dismantle an HP Stream Laptop, I found a video and can’t be happier to find the screws.

Step 5: Perform an HP System Recovery. I’m already confused to follow the instructions but I did try to no avail.

After going through all the steps, I decided to do a factory reset by pressing F11 which also didn’t work. Oh well. Maybe it’s time to throw the towel.

Last-Ditch Effort: Legacy Support

I was about to give up but decided to try one more trick that worked for others. Maybe I could be one of the lucky ones.

1. Turn on the computer and press F10.
2. Go to System Configuration > Boot Options.
3. Go to Legacy Support > Enabled.
4. Press F10 to save and exit.
5. Wait and enter the 4-digit that appears on the screen then press Enter.

Result: This didn’t fix the error Boot Device Not Found. The screen display a message and seemed like it make things worst. My bad.

No bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key

This is the video that I followed in case you’re interested.

Conclusion

I gave up and stop troubleshooting the HP Stream Laptop 14. I also disabled the Legacy Support because it didn’t fix the issue.

My friend thought of buying a new laptop or an iPad Pro.

I hope my friend would take it to Staples or Best Buy so that a professional could have a look into it. Maybe just maybe it can still be saved and use for browsing or watching Netflix.

Do not buy this laptop because there’s no way to update Windows 10. It’s cheap (CAD 250 on Best Buy) but wouldn’t last that long especially if you have to install many software.

Have you found a solution for this issue? Share your tips in the comment.