I don’t mind if the UUID is wrong, I don’t think I use software that requires it.
Anyway, I’m not sure if the Z170-AR with Z170-A BIOS no-boot issue is because it can’t detect the SATA system, because Windows starts to boot, but freezes regardless of BIOS settings (I tried many setting combos, including disabling all hardware I could). The only apparent difference between the A and AR boards is that the -A has VGA and DVI out, the -AR doesn’t. But who knows, might be more different than they seem.
The -A bios is very old (Version 0050, while the newest is 3802), and I think it’s "leaked" from Asus, rather than being a "mod." From the forum where I got the -A BIOS:
"der8auer January 2, 2016 at 4:35 pm My contacts are back in office next week. Will let you guys know as soon as I have news."
And:
"der8auer January 6, 2016 at 11:41 am ASUS will release BIOS soon for the other boards. Stay tuned."
So that makes me think they were being pulled from Asus directly. Regardless, der8auer said later that s/he would not be releasing the Z170-AR BCLK BIOS. So maybe it can’t be done…
I read in some other forums about people "disabling" the ME in order to use a Xeon processor with boards that don’t support them (can’t remember where). Could "disabling" the ME help here?
As requested, here are the images of each menu of the AI Tweaker and Advanced areas, as well as each main page of the stock Z170-AR BIOS. The forum system wouldn’t allow me to upload a 7zip file so I dropped it on my google drive. There may be a duplicate screenshot or two, sorry if there is!
Thanks again for explaining this to me, and for all your hard work and help!
@fust - I think that was just badly modified BIOS, as I mentioned I read at least 10x or more other users with that same complaint about that BIOS as mentioned/linked at #2 on post #38
Disable ME might be an option, if you have flash programmer, but we should leave that for last resort, since it will mess up much if not all of what you want (Me controls the Bclk/OC) I’ve had test BIOS almost ready, but paused and was just waiting on your images to unlock all currently missing BIOS settings. Will edit in bclk unlocked + full unlocked BIOS soon!
Yeah, I saw all the no boot posts in that thread, so you’re probably right, a bad mod. Or maybe an engineering pre-BIOS never meant for public release. Either way, doesn’t work so yeah… thanks so much for being willing and able to put this together for me!
Side note, I got my flash programmer working completely now, in fact I think the problem was that the programmer didn’t like the USB 3.1 port(s) I was using. On my old Win7 machine with only USB 2.0, it works flawlessly. I was even able to flash the original chip that I couldn’t flash before!
@fust - I do think it was, for some reason, or at least bad copy of that same file others might have a good copy of from some other source. That, or since the BIOS is so old, maybe there is some bug/incompatibility with some drives or the use of some slots etc and no one ever debugged it down and figured out the issue? You’re welcome, hopefully we can get it sorted out! Great find about the flash programmer, sorry I didn’t think to ask about that before I use on 3.0, but on Z87 so older USB3.0 OG
Try this one, if it fails, then we’ll go to ME 11.00 instead of 11.6 - http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?fil…964293594641504 Also, main thing before testing, ignore bclk value shown in BIOS, not the setting area but wherever you might see “Current Bclk” like “current CPU speed”, always apply and check with CPU-z, some string made me think it might always show 100 bclk no matter what. Second, let me know right away if you don’t see Bclk option in Ai Tweaker page, if you don’t see it then I need to unsuppress + make visible << Only made visible right now
For the record, I tried the programmer on the Z170-AR board via the 3.1 ports again, and sure enough, got the same error as before. Went back to my old USB 2-only machine, and it looks like it’s working fine. It’s not Windows 10 either, because I just put win 10 on my old USB 2 machine, and it’s working exactly like it did with Win7. So now I’m pretty dang sure this programmer isn’t compatible with USB 3.1 ports, and that was the problem all along.
I’m flashing the new @Lost_N_BIOS file now, crossing my fingers, will report back when it’s done.
Danke!
EDIT: Flash completed successfully on USB 2.0. Wow, this BIOS has way more things than the official version! Will be educating myself as to the settings presented, will take some time. From my initial test, it will boot to Windows at stock speeds. Further testing to come re: BCLK.
EDIT: OK, can’t seem to BCLK past 102.9, as before. Setting voltage to 1.41, which should at least get me into BSOD territory when booting Windows, but I’m getting no POST. Does boot to Windows if the clock is set to under 103 though. CPU-Z shows the 102.9 OC.
I may be an oldskool overclocker, but to be honest, this is my first OC project in years. Any tips?
Must be 3.1 issue then! Good luck with the new test BIOS, hope it works this time, if not we try 11.0 ME instead. I have to run for now, but will be back tomorrow night with new BIOS if you need it, just post your update/info once you’ve tested and checked it out.
After further delving into the BIOS following several guides and also educating myself with the new settings (Thanks for unlocking them!), sad to report I am still unable to BCLK past 102.9.
So @Lost_N_BIOS , what do you think is the next step then?
It’s listed as version 0050. It will BCLK in UEFI, and the POST screen shows the correct clock. Windows starts to boot, but freezes during the rotating dots screen. Can’t boot to other OSes (like Linux live disk) or boot/install media either. Same thing on all of them: starts to boot, then freezes. Doesn’t matter if I’m booting to USB or SATA or M.2 (I should mention that my M.2 drive is SATA protocol, not NVME).
@fust - Did you use same exact settings before and now (disable turbo, or enable, C-States, boot performance mode, etc) I’m not sure what needs set, but I know certain things need enabled or disabled for it to work.
SATA vs NVME doesn’t matter to me, the boot issue with that BIOS is it’s a broken BIOS Mod, as I linked you to the thread about it (Maybe same you linked above, can’t remember) many 10+ people said same issue as you so it’s not a good mod (Even if Asus made it, it’s broken BIOS)
Here is same BIOS mod, but with ME 11 instead, also include one more with 11.6 (please try first, I changed one setting that was missed previously at MW FW side, may be the key) With Either of these, make sure ME FW is reflashed and then issue FPTw.exe -greset or fully drain power for 1+ minute - http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?fil…756596539038339
If both these fail, I can put in exact microcode from the other BIOS, instead of one I’ve been using which was marked by UBU as “Last for Bclk OC”
Yes, same settings. I even went back and tried the 0050 Z170-A BIOS using the guides I followed for testing your modded BIOS (and also using my personal knowledge), but neither BIOS would boot. However, I’ll make triple sure I had everything right.
I’ll also test both new versions and get back to you.
Good you double checked on settings, I was reading about it before and remembered it seemed to require some unusual or seemingly abnormal to OC settings
Let me know how those go once you have change to test, if still no luck we can do that original ucode from that messed up BIOS.
Just to keep this thread alive, I’m still doing testing, but it doesn’t look good. I havent been able to BCLK with either of the newest BIOS files… Still, give me a bit more time to dig deeper…
@fust - OK, will do! If worse comes to worse, we can get you back on that broken BCLK BIOS for the other board, and I can try to resolve the issues it had originally.
As I continued to beat my head against all BIOS settings, I decided it was time to step back and basically start over. I marked each of my BIOS chips, and burned a different bios version to each one so I could systematically go through them and try the same settings on each.
Stepping backwards through the different BIOSes custom crafted for me by @Lost_N_BIOS (THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!), each refusing to BCLK past the same point (102.9), I decided to go back even further and look at the old BIOS linked in Post 36. I also went back to my previous BCLK info resources, and scoured for anything that I might have missed.
Since I have extremely slow internet (1.3 Mb…and not good cell service either… ouch!), I generally go for text guides, since with videos I have to choose between pixelated or stuttering while buffering. But, I decided to check out some videos anyway. As I watched, I took notes on the steps this time.
That’s when it hit me: one of the steps in all the text guides I had been working from WAS INCOMPLETE!! When you turn on the XMP feature, a dialog box pops up asking if you want to apply “all the core enhancements with the XMP setting for improved performance…”.
NONE of the guides said that you have to pick NO instead of YES (yes is the default, and to me, makes logical sense), BUT THE VIDEO I WATCHED DID!!!
As it turns out the Z170-A BIOS IS BOOTABLE WHEN BCLKED IF YOU SELECT NO!!!
It’s just that the ASUS “core enhancements” mess up booting after the OC. Note that none of the Z170-AR BIOSes would clock past 102.9, even with this revelation. I’m not even sure which settings are affected, but by choosing NO (with the Z170-A BIOS), THE BOARD IS STABLE WITH A BCLCK OF 4.62 Ghz (RAM clocked at 3174)! I ran Prime95 for 6 hours without error (although with RAM at around 2600), but I’m doing the final test when I leave for the weekend, so I’ll run it for a couple of days straight. If successful, that’s a 1.32 Ghz OC, which is a 40% increase, on air cooling! Not too shabby for a lowly Pentium G4400 @ 3.3 Ghz stock!
So, I believe this journey is over for now, and I want to thank everyone who helped along the way, especially Lost_N_BIOS for being so helpful and willing to try things out for me, to educate me, and for the patience! It’s great to have support of a community when you are splashing out into rough waters, so THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!
After the Prime95 test, I’ll post my final results and also the PROPER steps to OC using the Z170-AR BIOS.
SALUDOS!!!
P.S.: I would also like to apologise if anyone felt like they were jumping through hoops when the solution was already there, although hidden behind incorrect info I was working from…
OK testing is over! The Z170-A BIOS successfully works and OCs on a Z170-AR motherboard!
I was able to BCLK my G4400 from 3.3 Ghz to 4.6 Ghz, voltage at 1.40, RAM speed set to auto, RAM voltage at 1.38. This was 100% stable and ran Prime 95 all weekend without error! I then swapped to my i5 6400, BCLK from 2.7 Ghz to 4.3Ghz, voltage 1.42, RAM speed set to auto, RAM voltage at 1.38. Again, 100% stable for 24 hours!
Settings were as follows:
Advanced > CPU Configuration > Boot Performance Mode: Turbo Performance Advanced > CPU Configuration > CPU Power Management Control > Intel(R) SpeedStep™: Disabled AI Tweaker > Ai Overclock Timer: XMP
(-----> VERY IMPORTANT!! CLICK NO ON THE DIALOG BOX!!! <-----)
AI Tweaker > BCLK Frequency: 133 (a starting point, try increasing after stable) AI Tweaker > DRAM Frequency: Auto (a starting point, try increasing after stable) AI Tweaker > DIGI+ VRM CPU > Load-Line Calibration: 7 AI Tweaker > CPU Core/Cache Voltage: Manual AI Tweaker > CPU Voltage Override: 1.35 (a starting point, try increasing if not stable, but not past 1.45) AI Tweaker > DRAM Voltage: Auto (a starting point, try increasing if not stable, but not past 1.35 unless you really know what you’re doing)
Great you finally got this working @fust - and thank you for taking the time to lay out the steps for others!
So, I think from what you say, XMP disabled would also work too, and many would disable XMP anyway to set their own memory speed/timings/voltage etc. But, you’d have to test to confirm this one.
You’re welcome, sorry I was not able to directly fix this for you . I’m surprised none of the AR BIOS I made for you work with those steps, must be something Asus blocked or removed, other than the usual stuff.
Hi mate, I am having exactly same problem (MX25L12873F) chip, HP Elitebook 840 G2 model. I read and dumped successfully, but when tried to write the chip had same error messages as you mentioned in your post. I tried quiet a few times but no luck, used various versions of ch341a, used asprogrammer as well but get a message possible protection is enabled. But when i read this chip it has almost data at all, and it doesn’t match with the original backup. Is it possible that chip is gone?
Second question is can i put any (make) bios chip on board or it has to be same make and model? I will appreciate you guys if you can help me with this.
ASProgrammer always says that, you can click to “remove protection” if you want, but it’s not protected. Whenever you read chip, if software isn’t compatible you could see anything (valid data, or not), so you can’t look into what you see at all (I mean, it means nothing, may not even be what’s there) “Original” backup may not be valid either, could be corrupted data from bad read (even if chip was bricked, what you dumped may be 100% more corrupted than that, if bad read due to incompatible software etc, even if 100% verified during dump/save) Hopefully you’ve not erased or wrote anything yet! If you have, then all system specific data may be lost now (serial, UUID, MAC ID etc)… Please give me your “Original backup” so I can check it, and what software and version did you make this dump with?
As to replacement chips that may be more compatible with programming software, I can say from random dumps I found online (unknown BIOS version), the following chips are compatible (there may be more, if you have updated BIOS on board, I’d have to see your dump first) But, you don’;t need to replace the chip, just need to use compatible software I linked above 20BA18 (Micron N25Q128) C22018 (Macronix MX25L128) EF4018 (Winbond W25Q128) 1C7018 (EON EN25QH128) C84018 (GigaDevice GD25x128)
I use on 3.0, but on Z87 so older USB3.0 OG
Setting voltage to 1.41, which should at least get me into BSOD territory when booting Windows, but I’m getting no POST. Does boot to Windows if the clock is set to under 103 though. CPU-Z shows the 102.9 OC. 
