Yes, let’s see if it holds for more than 30 minutes. At least we now know it’s either the BIOS or RAM. Could be either one since you also only have one DIMM in place. But very good so far. 
THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!
Laptop passed the 30min mark twice, first with only one DIMM and now it just passed the 30min with the 2 DIMM.
Looks like the bios was faulty even though I remember trying to flash it many times (even with older version) from the BIOS built in flasher.
I don’t know how to thank you and and all the people helping on this forum, I can only let you know how happy I am.
And I am REALLY VERY VERY HAPPY.
Is there anything to do now or I just keep it as is ?
EDIT : I just think about it now but I forgot to do the “fptw -greset” after flashing with v3.
Shall I do it now ?
Perfect, so the BIOS was corrupted all along. The stock ASUS BIOS lacks some laptop specific info such as Serial Number, Windows Key etc. Normally I don’t know how to transfer these but I think it is very simple in your case when using UEFITool. So I created a v4 which has stock ASUS BIOS with Laptop info (can you verify these at the BIOS menu?) and a Cleaned/Configured/Updated ME 9.1.37.1002 firmware. That should be the ideal SPI to flash. Then boot, do a “fptw -greset” and after the restart I suggest that you run MEInfo and MEManuf tools to make sure the ME is proper. Also, for good measure, do a memtest as well to know for the future that your RAM is certainly ok.
jeanphil_N550JV_fix_v4.rar (3.21 MB)
Hum this is strange, the v4 is indeed working but it puts me straight to the BIOS and I can’t boot on any of my internal device.
I can see them in SATA configuration but impossible to set the BIOS to boot on it even with secure and fast boot disable.
Also noticed that Anti Theft is activated by default and disabled it of course.
The serial number was indeed present.
I will go back to v3 now and see what is different in the BIOS infos.
Last, after flashing v4 I plugged the battery and CMOS battery thinking it was ok. I’ll make a few more test to see what is wrong.
EDIT: BIOS options are indeed different between v3 and v4
v3 have no serial number and options that weren’t present before but the windows key is working under windows.
I’ll take some picture to show you.
Ok, we have fixed the ME firmware. Now, instead of using the stock BIOS which works but lacks laptop info, lets see if we can figure out how to add them back without the weird behaviour you just mentioned. After looking into it, it seems that the problem is actually at the BIOS NVRAM (settings). By comparing the stock ASUS BIOS and your initial (corrupt) dump, the only difference is at NVRAM and Padding 2 (which holds the laptop info like Serial Number, Windows Key etc). At my SPI v4 above, I only replaced Padding 2 at the stock ASUS BIOS and nothing at NVRAM. I guess something more needs to be done.
Since I don’t really know how to fix the NVRAM, I will ask @CodeRush instead who may be able to help. We’ll have to wait for whenever he has the time to look into this.
Thank you, most important is that the laptop is now usable normally, I didnt notice any strange behavior under windows for now.
One strange thing I noticed though is that after flashing the v3 and doing “fptw -greset” I then cannot enter the BIOS anymore.
But that is not a real problem for now.
Here are the pictures if needed. First 3 are v3 and last 3 are v4. (edit: image 1 and 4 are inverted)
I will leave for 2 months on Monday so I won’t be able to access the laptop during that time.
But for the light use my brother is doing of it, you did wonderful job and cannot thank you enough.
I am very happy with it and he will be even more without the scheduled 25min sleep I set up before to counter the shutdown. (used it for almost 2 years that way …)
I’ll wait for the NVRAM fix but it is in no hurry at all.
You already invested a lot a time for us and for this we are very grateful.
Thank you again plutomaniac, I wish I could do more.
Hello.I have same issue
Hi I have encountered the same issue after upgrading intel celeron 2nd gen to i7 2620m. I did not realise that though it was compatible socket-wise intel had it’s stupid management engine to prevent upgrading. My motherboard is hm70. Laptop is lenovo e49 3464. Any idea how I can work around it?
No workaround, you cannot use Core series CPUs with HM70.
Hi plutomaniac. I’ve been reading your papers for some years now and you have all my respect for them. This time, your blunt sentence “no workaround” caught my attention. Is it then that the great tools created in recent years such as me-cleaner or similar can do nothing to prevent the pc from turning off after 30 minutes when placing a Core series CPUs with HM70?
Nope, you cannot use Core series CPUs with HM70.
I have same problem with 30minutes shutting down. Please help me. I dont know what to do next have done cleaning fan, replacing thermal paste and also thermal pads. Please help me
Hi,
Can you please a proper steps from the beginning ? or at least write the changes which needs to be updated on .bin file
Thanks
Best regards