[Discussion] Firmware for Asmedia Sata 6G Controllers

[Anonymous_148]

@boombastik

I added the header from the 0.951 o rom to 0.97 bin and i rename it to 0.97 o rom. This means that i can flash it? Maybe some expert take a look?
modded 0.97 o rom: -http://www.uploadmb.com/dw.php?id=1507466171

Anyone tried flash or could report if is working on a pci-e adapter that came with 0.xx rom?

[Fernando]

@boombastik :
To be honest, I do not recommend to update the ASMedia AHCI Option ROM from 0.951 to 0.97. The big majority of the users, who tried it (incl. myself) were disappointed and reflashed a BIOS with the stock ASMedia Option ROM version.

@gpvecchi :
>Here< is my guide about how to manually update the ASMedia Option ROM module of an AMI Aptio IV UEFI BIOS.

@Bugger Vance :
AFAIK it is not possible to update the Firmware of an add-on ASMedia SATA adapter by modifying the mainboard BIOS. You have to flash the Firmware into the related chip of the PCIe adapter.

[Anonymous_148]

@boombastik

I added the header from the 0.951 o rom to 0.97 bin and i rename it to 0.97 o rom. This means that i can flash it? Maybe some expert take a look?
modded 0.97 o rom: -http://www.uploadmb.com/dw.php?id=1507466171

Well I give it a shot and tried this modded rom version 0.97 for SPI flash pcie and it works like a charm.

Thanks!

[Fernando]

@Bugger Vance

Well I give it a shot and tried this modded rom version 0.97 for SPI flash pcie and it works like a charm.

That is interesting.
Questions:
1. Where did you insert the modded Option ROM resp. how did you flash it?
2. Are you booting off a SATA drive, which is connected to the add-on card?
3. Which improvements did you realize?
4. What makes you sure, that the add-on ASMedia SATA Controller really uses this Firmware?

[Anonymous_148]

@Fernando

Questions:
1. Where did you insert the modded Option ROM resp. how did you flash it?
2. Are you booting off a SATA drive, which is connected to the add-on card?
3. Which improvements did you realize?
4. What makes you sure, that the add-on ASMedia SATA Controller really uses this Firmware?

Hi, I used the 0.97 modded rom from boombastik post #139 http://www.uploadmb.com/dw.php?id=1507466171 and flashed using the station-drivers 0.951 archives (106spi.exe,dos4gw.exe,ahci.bat and the modded ahci097.rom from boombastik), renamed inside the .bat to flash de ahci097.rom. I’m not booting from a sata of the add-on card, I’m booting from an onboard sata. My motherboard support UEFi and the pcie sata is displaying the OROM boot option version 0.97 after the bios post. Following eierfrucht’s logic, must have the header for the pcie add-on boards. I didn’t notice any improvements.

[Fernando]

@Bugger Vance :
Thanks for your answers to my questions.

@Bugger Vance

I’m not booting from a sata of the add-on card, I’m booting from an onboard sata.

As long as you are not booting off any SATA device, which is connected to the add-on PCIe card, the updated ASMedia AHCI Firmware will not be used.

@Bugger Vance

Well I give it a shot and tried this modded rom version 0.97 for SPI flash pcie and it works like a charm.

You obviously meant only the flashing procedure, because you haven’t yet tested, whether the updated ASMedia AHCI Firmware works at all or works better than the old one.

@Bugger Vance

I didn’t notice any improvements.

That is no surprise, because the updated Firmware was not yet in-use.

[Anonymous_148]

@Fernando

Hi again

I swapped the sata cables and now the boot drive is on the pcie add-on board. Set on bios the CSM storage UEFI and legacy, and on boot options I could select the drive with the OS. It does boot the os but I noticed it is more slower than the onboard sata.

[boombastik]

It is easy for you to share a link of your model pcie add-on asmedia board?
It is a generic one?
thanks

[Tallguy297]

I have attached an image of my ASMedia 106x driver & firmware disc.
Just burn the ISO image to a CD and reboot from the CD.
There is a menu program that will allow you flash the 106x card to either AHCI or IDE mode using firmware 3.80, 3.70 or 0.97.
Very easy to use.

Only use if your ESATA/SATA addon card displays the following in the Device Manager under IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers > ASMedia 106x SATA Controller > Details > Hardware IDs
PCI\VEN_1B21&DEV_0612&SUBSYS_10601B21

Click HERE to download the ISO image.
Contains firmware versions: AHCI - 0.951 , 0.97, 3.80 & 4.27. IDE - 0.951 & 3.70.

IMPORTANT!! Only works with ASMedia 106x Add-On cards.

[boombastik]

Where did u find this cd ?
It is provided form startech or you created it?


edit:

Your 0.97 firmware has no header So it will not work in a pcie add-on card.
I have flashed the original 0.97 without header and it dont works in pcie add-ons. it makes the card do nothing and windows see the card as an pata card.


I tried my 0.97 modded asmedia firmware, And it works also in secure enabled motherboards.
In bios screen i see crearly asmedia 0.97, so it works!

I tried only with pci-e addons card with asmedia 1061 rev 2 silicon.
PCI\VEN_1B21&DEV_0612&SUBSYS_10601B21&REV_02

[Tallguy297]

Hi boombastik, I corrected the error and reuploaded the ISO image.

In answer to your question. The card is from StarTech.
I found the drivers & firmware on the supplied CD outdated and caused my PC to lockup when I used the ESATA port.
So I found some more appropriate drivers & firmware from Station Drivers and also from this forum and made a custom CD that works with minimal effort from the user.

Thanks.

[Anonymous_148]

@boombastik

It is easy for you to share a link of your model pcie add-on asmedia board?
It is a generic one?
thanks

Hi

My pci add-on is a generic one from aliexpress
here is the link: https://pt.aliexpress.com/item/PCIE-PCI-Express-to-SATA3-0-2-Port-SATA-III-6G-Expansion-Controller-Adapter-Card-K400Y/32829187588.html
Working great with your 0.97 modded rom.

Thanks!

[boombastik]

Surelly it works because…

I have the same card

[kublai]

Hello Everyone,

I have a question regards to flashing the v0951 FW on my ASM106x onboard for my Asrock Xtreme 79 mobo. I have downloaded the asmedia_asm106x_firmware_N0951 pack and put it on a bootable USB drive using FreeDOS. I tried flashing the 106N0951.BIN but it keeps saying Option ROM not found? My current FW is v.093 and I would like to go to v.0951 so can someone please shed some light.

Thanks in advance.

[ColumbusOH]

@Fernando

To make it easier for all users, who are interested in updating the Firmware of their add-on PCI card with an ASMedia ASM-106 SATA Controller, I have merged all posts about this topic into this one and customized the thread title.
Furthermore I have added some general remarks about the differences between on-board and add-on ASMedia ASM-106 Controllers into the start post of this thread.

Is it THIS forum thread or another? If another, please give the link. If this is it, I still don’t see how to do it. Thanks!

[ColumbusOH]

@Tallguy297

Hi boombastik, I corrected the error and reuploaded the ISO image.

In answer to your question. The card is from StarTech.
I found the drivers & firmware on the supplied CD outdated and caused my PC to lockup when I used the ESATA port.
So I found some more appropriate drivers & firmware from Station Drivers and also from this forum and made a custom CD that works with minimal effort from the user.

Thanks.

Hi Tallguy297,

Thanks for doing this. I downloaded your image & made a cd. When I boot do a boot from CD, all it does is go to the Windows 10 login screen. What am I doing wrong?

EDIT: I figured it out. I have an HP 510 and it has a "Secure Boot Configuration" that you have to disable. Best to go to HP website to get details at: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c03653226#AbT3

[ColumbusOH]

One more question… I ran the firmware update, but how do you check the version of the firmware in Win10? I looked at Device Manager>Hardware ID. It shows the same numbers as before the flash.
PCI\VEN_1B21&DEV_0612&SUBSYS_10601B21&REV_01
PCI\VEN_1B21&DEV_0612&SUBSYS_10601B21
PCI\VEN_1B21&DEV_0612&CC_010601
PCI\VEN_1B21&DEV_0612&CC_0106

Is there something else? Or did my flash not "take"?
Thanks again!

[Tallguy297]

In answer to your question, Windows will only report the vendor & device id of installed hardware.
On some devices like DVD writers it will display addition numbers referring to the bios version installed.
For example in the device manager under DVD/CD Rom drives → Details → Hardware IDs … SCSI\CdRomHL-DT-STBD-RE__BH16NS40_1.03 refers to a LG BH16NS40 Bluray burner with firmware 1.03 installed on the drive.
However, this information is generally only displayed for attached storage devices like DVDs, hard-drives, USB DVD, hard-drives.

Regarding the SATA PCIe add-on card, the firmware version will appear when you reboot your PC.
It will typically appear for a few seconds after the bios screen post.

FYI, you will know if the flash procedure has been successful with the flash OK appearing after the bios flash procedure.
When you flash the Asmedia 106x firmware, you might get a message stating that the firmware version or chip is unknown. Ignore that message.
The flash procedure works with all Asmedia 106x SATA PCIe add-on cards.
Do not use this firmware to flash integrated motherboard Asmedia 106x SATA firmware, the firmware flash procedure will not work.

I hope this information has been useful.

[Hans]

@Tallyguy297

I’ve successfully used your CD-image in order to update my eSATA Controller to version 0.97. Thank you very much for this tool!

Unfortunately it did not solve my issue.

I am using Win10 pro, 64bit and a Delock PCIe Card with one internal SATA and one external eSATA ports. In the past I used two 1TB harddrives without any Problems (firmware 095).
Now I connected a 3TB harddrive (Toshiba DT01ACA300) to the external eSATA port. The System now stops at the bootscreen of the ASMEDIA Rom, it displays the firmware number and the data of the internal harddisk but never displays the data of the new external drive. Even if I connect the drive after the system was bootet without the external drive, it never detects the new 3TB drive.
The answere from the Delock Support to this issue was: “The card is end of life. This ussue is unknown to us”.

I was hoping that a firmware update would solve this issue but it din’t ( I understood from this thread, that firmware 3.xx must not be used on this card. That’s why I used version 0.97).
The specs of the Card are:
external 1 x esata 6Gb/s
internal 1 x SATA 6Gb/s, 1 x PCI Express x1, V2.0
Supports SATA port Multiplier
Supports Native Command Queue (NCQ)
Supports ATA, ATAPI-7
Supports ATA Master and Slave

The HW-IDs of the Card are:
PCI\VEN_1B21&DEV_0612&SUBSYS_10601B21&REV_01
PCI\VEN_1B21&DEV_0612&SUBSYS_10601B21
PCI\VEN_1B21&DEV_0612&CC_010601
PCI\VEN_1B21&DEV_0612&CC_0106

If I connect the this HD via USB or via SATA to another PC,it works fine.

Does anyone know about this issue? Is the card maybe unable to Support 3TB drives?

Thank and best regards

Hans

[boombastik]

it is gpt partition? This chip has problems with big hard drives in gpt patitions.