[Guide] Manual AMI UEFI BIOS Modding

BIOS/UEFI Modding BIOS Modding Guides and Problems
141



wow, that would be really awesome ! i will upload the files you need ! :slight_smile: will edit this reply then when finished :slight_smile:

EDIT: here you can get the original bios files. https://www.asus.com/de/Motherboards/H17…pDesk_Download/

i am using at the moment version 1803 and want to mod version 2003 with the actual SATA mod. I’ve attached the needed one from this board.

Intel-RSTe_EFI-RaidDriver_v15202649_without-header.rar (77.7 KB)

142

If anybody want to mod the BIOS to add the SED option (HDD/ATA password) you can ask to the ASRock support (If you have a ASRock motherboard of course) they will do it in less than 6 day but please share it (for other people looking the same modded BIOS with this feature)

143

Hi to all,

I am new to modding UEFI bios but have (thanks to the excellent resources on these forums) in the past modded legacy bios. Following related queries in respect of appropriate RST drivers elsewhere on these forums, I understand from Fernando that the Aptio5 EFI modules can be updated using the UBU tool but advice contained on that forum indicates that there are limitations with Aptio5 and suggested manual modicication using the UEFI Tool linked here.

The BIOS I am attempting to mod is an Asus X99-Deluxe Aptio5 BIOS (X99-DELUXE-ASUS-3402.CAP) to include the latest RST Orom/efi modules for both of the SATA Controllers (Intel Chipset SATA RAID Controller - DEV_2822) and (Intel C600+/C220+ Series Chipset SATA AHCI Controller/Intel C600+/C220+ Series Chipset sSATA AHCI Controller - DEV_8D62) together with orom/efi modules for both LAN Controllers (Intel Ethernet Connection I218-V - DEV_15A1 & Intel I211 Gigabit Network Connection - DEV_1539) and any other module (eg. NVMe??).

In addition I would also like to update the CPU MicroCode to the latest version and given the comments suggesting that the MicroCodes will require updating manually with an Aptio5 BIOS I elected to use this as a starting point however I’m not sure what I am doing wrong as the updated MicroCodes don’t show when examining the saved (updated) BIOS in the UBU Tool.

This is the proceedure I followed:

1. Using the UBU Tool identify which MicroCodes are held in the above unmodded BIOS (Option 7)
2. Using the UBU Tool see what MicroCodes are available (Option 1)
3. Locate the corresponding updated 2011v3 module in the latest UBU (V1.65.3) Module directory
4. From the MicroCode in 3. use the Hexadecimal start code to search for the EFI Module locations for both the Haswell & Broadwell CPU’s in UEFI Tool noting the end address for use in 7. below
5. Copy the entire Hex contents to use with the updated module
6. From each location identified in 4. extract the file (‘extract body’) saving to a new folder location
7. Open the files extracted in 6. in the Hex editor and paste the Hex contents up to the corresponding end address from 4.
8. Saving resulting file from 7. for use as the updated EFI module
9. Using the EFI Module locations identified in 4. select ‘replace body’ for each corresponding module location
10.Save the resulting BIOS File

Can anybody suggest were I am going wrong with the MicroCodes and advise the correct proceedure for updating the other Oroms and EFI Modules. Finally, I would appreciate your guidance in respect of flashing the Final modded BIOS compilation to the board. NB. The X99-Deluxe does have the BIOS Flashback feature…

Any assistance is much appreciated,

Thanks,

PC Pilot

144

@PC_Pilot :
Since your questions are very complex and belong to different topics (usage of the UBU/UEFITool/AMI Aptio V MMTool and manual update of the CPU Microcode) and since I am not an expert regarding all these topics, my personal help will be rather limited.
Nevertheless I have some questions to you:

  1. Why do you want to update the LEGACY mode Option ROMs of your mainboard BIOS? Does your current system use/need these modules at all?
    My comment: An up-to-date X99 chipset system like yours should be able to run in UEFI mode or even in “clean” UEFI mode (with the disabled CSM BIOS module).
  2. Is there any specific reason why you want to manually update the CPU Microcode of your BIOS?
    My comment:
    a) According to my knowledge the UBU tool is able to update the CPU Microcode of an AMI Aptio V BIOS.
    b) Since your mainboard is rather new, you can expect within the next months new BIOS versions offered by ASUS for your specific mainboard. So you will either may have done your work to no avail or will have to repeat it from scratch with each new BIOS.
  3. What lets you think, that your mainboard BIOS contains Intel RST Option ROM/EFI modules for your on-board “Intel(R) C600+/C220+ Series Chipset SATA AHCI Controller” resp. “Intel(R) C600+/C220+ Series Chipset sSATA AHCI Controller” - DEV_8D62?
    My comment: AFAIK no modern Intel chipset mainboard contains any Intel AHCI Option ROM/EFI module.
    What you certainly mean are the IRST Intel RAID modules, which will support your on-board Intel RSTe SATA Controller, if it should run in RAID mode (DEV_2826 resp. DEV_2827).

145

Hi Fernando,
…and thanks again for involvement in my queries, very much appreciated.

Now let me see if I can offer some insight behind my reasoning:

Perhaps this owes a little to my ‘previous’ (positive) BIOS modding experience gained with earlier Legacy BIOS’ and the assumption (probably incorrectly!!) that ‘some’ of that understanding might translate to the Option ROM side of the UEFI BIOS and thus help to gain a more thorough understanding of the overall process.
I have always considered it expedient to develop my computer knowledge through personal experience and from which, in turn, I have generally learned by understanding the procedures and processes developed by experts (such as those like yourself who kindly frequent these forums) and through that in turn to broaden my knowledge of complex topics such as BIOS and beyond to share that knowledge in the form of help to others. In short education by experience!!

So, back to your question. I perhaps failed to appreciate that the ‘Legacy’ mode Option ROMS play little significance in the BIOS however, even with this extremely modern system I had to set up an initial (Windows 7 in that instance) install (for a variety of reasons) in ‘full legacy’ mode to successfully complete the OS install. Obviously under Windows 10 and with UEFI in compatibility mode (GPU VBIOS does not support GOP and thus full "clean" UEFI) that was more straight forward but it did at least illustrate that there may be occasions when a board requires to fall back to legacy and the Option ROMS installed therein. Not withstanding both of my observations above, as always I am happy to bow to superior knowledge…

To answer each point in turn:
a) Once more I bow to your superior knowledge…however I was basing my understanding of the limitations of the UBU tool entirely upon the following advice note accompanying the summary of the UBU Tool found here.

b) Point taken, but also appreciating that this board is now approaching 3 years since first introduction and has already been discontinued in favour of it’s ‘next generation’ update the "X99-Deluxe II" model. Accordingly, the time is fast approaching when OEM’s typically drop their updates to concentrate upon the newer available tech, so when is the right time to boost one’s learning to preserve functionality going forward?

Pure ignorance I’m afraid, probably linked to earlier generations when such RAID/AHCI functionality came from a single source and yes, I can see that almost certainly it is the IRST Intel RAID modules which support the on-board Intel RSTe SATA Controller, if it should run in RAID mode (DEV_2826 resp. DEV_2827).

Hope this clarifies the situation.

Regards,
PC Pilot

EDIT by Fernando: Unneeded blank lines removed (to save space within this thread and for a better readability)

146

@PC_Pilot :
Thanks for your detailed reply and answers to my questions.

Zitat von PC Pilot im Beitrag #145

This does not mean, that you cannot or should not use the UBU tool, if you want to update the Intel CPU Microcode of your X99 mainboard BIOS.
The tool will work properly unless you get the message "Error in Replacing File". Only in these cases you may have to do the CPU Microcode update manually.
147

Ahh…I see
Thanks for clarifying that and apologies if I misunderstood…so does the same apply then to:

?
The summary I referenced goes on to state:

This was primarily why I was evoking the procedures summarised by member CodeRush in respect of his excellent UEFI Tool which is included in the UBU Tool bundle…

Thanks again
PC Pilot

EDIT by Fernando: Unneeded blank lines removed

148
Zitat von PC Pilot im Beitrag #147
...so does the same apply then to:

?


Yes, this is just an information for the UBU users, why the Option ROM modules, which are within the related GUID module, have not been updated by the UBU tool.

149

Hi again Fernando,

Can I briefly summarise what I believe you have outlined in the posts above…

  • a) With the exception of the DXE driver contained located within GUID A0327FE0-1FDA-4E5B-905D-B510C45A61D0 other EFI modules (including IRST RAID for SATA & AMI NVMe Driver - at Option 1 plus Intel Gigabit Undi & Intel Pro/1000 Undi - at Option 3) will correctly update using the UBU Tool together with CPU MicroCode Updates under Option 7. Indeed, only where the saved BIOS reports errors would a manual EFI procedure necessitating the UEFI Tool be required.
  • b) The Legacy Option ROMS shall require a full manual procedure again using the UEFI Tool.
    NB. I would appreciate/welcome some clarification in regards to these ‘manual’ procedures as my present understanding may be muddled??
  • c) The UBU modded BIOS must be saved in accordance with the BIOS Flashback naming convention for Asus X99 Boards (X99D.CAP for X99-Deluxe) of this generation as explained >here< before flashing to the X99-Deluxe Mainboard using the procedure more generally developed here:

1.Rename the modded BIOS file according to ASUS “USB BIOS Flashback Rules”. The ASUS support is offering a tool named “BIOS Renamer for USB BIOS Flashback” for all mainboards, which support the USB Flashback feature. Furthermore the UBU tool offfers the renaming procedure as well.
2.Copy the modded and renamed BIOS file onto a FAT32 formatted empty USB Flash drive and insert it into the special “USB Flashback port”.
3.Shut down the computer, but don’t power it off.
4.Hit the USB BIOS Flashback button. A LED light will start blinking. Press the button for some seconds (LED light should have blinked 3-4 times).
5.Wait until the LED light doesn’t blink anymore. This means, that the BIOS has been successfully flashed into the BIOS chip of the mainboard.
6.Then all is done. You can power off the computer and remove the USB Flash drive

…but also taking into account the following additional advice:
By the way, good news. The USB BIOS Flashback method on the ASUS X99 boards to flash a modded BIOS does work.

I just thought I would give the USB BIOS Flashback method one last try and I discovered that on the Asus Rampage V Extreme X99, once
you’ve flashed the board with a certain BIOS version, it won`t re flash fully again the same BIOS version you have already applied.

To flash the modded BIOS successfully onto my board BIOS using the USB BIOS Flashback method, I had to downgrade my BIOS
to an earlier one first before flashing the modded one so it could preform a full BIOS flash.

This info will come in handy for those that have a Asus X99 board that has the USB BIOS Flashback feature
and want to be able to flash their modded BIOS.

Thanks again to you SoniX for the help you gave me with the finding the BIOS OROM modules on my
board and letting me know the correct way to replace them.

I think it would be best if Fernando updated that topic about flashing modded BIOS so that people will know
that the USB BIOS Flashback method does work on the newer X99 platform from ASUS to flash modded BIOS.

Aside from the Legacy OROMS does this seem to make sense to you?

PC Pilot

EDIT by Fernando: Enumeration code added (for better readability) and blank lines removed (to save space)

150

@PC_Pilot :
I am neither the author of the UBU tool nor do I have an Intel X99 chipset mainboard. Nevertheless I have tried to answer your questions according to my knowledge.
If you want to be sure, whether your summary regarding the usability of the UBU tool for X99 mainboard BIOSes is 100% correct, you should better ask SoniX than me.
He is the creator of the tool and knows the best what it can and what not. To be sure, that he reads your questions, please post them into the UBU Discussion thread.

CodeRush, the creator of the UEFITool and our BIOS Guru, has promised a long time ago to write a guide about how to use his tool, but until now he obviously didn’t have the time to do it.
Nevertheless there is a short guide, which may help you. It is written by our Forum member sinders about how to update the Intel RAID ROM of an Intel X99 ASUS mainboard by using the UEFITool. You can find the short guide >here<.

151

Hello Fernando
Thanks for the hard work that you are doing to us.

I have a problem that i can’t change or replace the orom irst raid for sata -13.1.0.2126 with orom irst raid for sata -14.8.0.2377 and
efi irst raid for sata -14.8.0.2377 i want them to v11.2.0.1527 trim with the update intel cpu microcode to the latest.
I can’t upload the bios file because the capacity it’s RAMPAGE-V-EXTREME-ASUS-3501.CAP i upload the images.
Can you help me do the rom for me or anyone else? it will be much appreciated.

ubu.png

ubu2.png

ubu3.png

152

@rom :
Welcome at Win-RAID Forum!

Since your X99 Chipset mainboard has 2 individually working on-board Intel SATA Controllers, the original BIOS contains 2 different Intel RAID ROM modules (v13.1.0.2126 and 14.8.0.2377). The UBU tool is not able to replace any of the Option ROM modules by another version (due to a bug of the AMI Aptio V MMTool). So if you want to update or downgrade the version of the Intel RAID ROM modules, you have to do it manually by using CodeRush’s UEFITool.
Question: Why do you want to replace the original Intel RST RAID ROM modules at all? These modules will not be used, if you are running or install the OS in UEFI mode (which is absolutely recommended for your modern system).

This is not possible, because the desired EFI RAID module version is not available (only the LEGACY mode Intel RST RAID ROM v11.2.0.1527 exists). Furthermore I doubt, that the BIOS of your X99 Chipset BIOS will accept and use any inserted Intel EFI RAID module, which belongs to the v11 or v12 series.

Regards
Dieter (alias Fernando)

153

@Fernando
Thanks

I don’t have good knowledge i thought if i do this will speed things up.
Can you please do me the efi irst raid for sata -14.8.0.2377 to v11.2.0.1527 only with Intel CPU microcode to the latest or if you can do something good for this rom RAMPAGE-V-EXTREME-ASUS-3501.CAP i mean i want it to be best for performance modified by you and upload it to me?



Best Regards
rom

154

As I already have explained, this is not possible.
You can update the Intel RAID ROM and EFI RaidDriver modules, which are within the original BIOS files of your X99 Chipset mainboard, but you will not be able to "downgrade" them this way. Furthermore I have already written, that an Intel EFI RAID module v11.2.0.1527 doesn’t exist.

155

I’ve several sata usb 3.0 pcie cards provided by vl805 or marvel chipset which hangs system if plugged into 4coredual-sata2 So what to do to implement thir bios into the bios of the mainboard and where to get those firmwares? PAY ATTENTION: the login into this site is claimed NOT SECURE BY CHROME (so if it is not secure toi enter this site try to make it secure! thanks)

156

Hey Fernando,

First off, I appreciate your taking the time to work on this for us.

My System:
i7-3930k
BioStar T-Power x79
Intel SSD6 M.2 256Gb
XINY M.2 NGFF PCIe x4 SSD to PCI-E x4 adapter card - It is NVME - link here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N4L…2?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Win10 Pro64 Bit

Here is what I have done:

Flashed my BIOS to most recent.
Disconnected my SATA Boot Drive (left 3 slave drives connected - no OS on any of them)
Booted from USB, the M.2 Adapter showed up as an option to install Win10 on, so I installed Win10 on the Adapter/M.2
Rebooted, and in BIOS, Windows Boot Manager DID show up as an option.
At this point, I was cheering!
However, it will NOT boot from it. Insert proper boot device error.

What I DIDN’T do:
I Modified the most current BIOS and inserted the NvmExpressDxE_2. It inserted successfully, no problems or errors, just didn’t flash the BIOS with the Modded File - scared to brick it.

What I tried:
UEFI enabled and Disabled - same Insert Proper Boot Device message.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks a ton!

-Gonz

157

@Gonzo1970 :
Welcome at Win-RAID Forum!

If you want to get the NVMe SSD bootable, you have to flash the modded BIOS into the BIOS chip of your mainboard.
The related guide is within the start post of >this< thread.

Good luck!
Dieter (alias Fernando)

158

Thanks! I think I am going to try it, I just hate to risk bricking the only x79 board I have. I may go ahead and get a spare, then try it.
Either way, I will let you know my results.

-Gonz

159

Hi,

I finished my firs BIOS modding. I want to ask is it ok and can i safely flash my bios.
Here is the original Bios:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AkAjWEhvld_j_XUzZ26cdEbAmwgn

Here is the modded Bios:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AkAjWEhvld_j_XZUsGJwkOybTcwP

I have a problem with windows 7, 8.1, 10 bootable usb. It shows me worker thread has returned at bad irql. I can successfully boot from FreeDos and linux usb. Does flashing my bios will solve this issue. Can i insert other firmware in this file like firmware for hd audio controller, usb 3.1 controller, WD10EZEX-08WN4A0 firmware. I suspect for firmware corruption. And when i update the LAN firmware it creates a file _BootAgentCL_15B8.lom https://1drv.ms/u/s!AkAjWEhvld_j_XgNpwjNi4RoK0mT . For what purpose is that file.

Best Regards

160

I forgot to tell you about my system:

ASUS Maximus VIII Ranger
i7 6700K
32gb kingston hyperx fury 2400
cooler master V650

Best Regards