[Guide] Using CH341A-based programmer to flash SPI EEPROM

I didn’t run a bios update on the new motherboard but it was from the same generation as the processor b450. So it would have been compatible out of the box.

I’m hopeful that I’ve managed to return my old motherboard to its original state due to it behaving the same way as before I started flashing it. However you might see me back in a few weeks.

@bib - That does not always mean compatible. Check the BIOS version and CPU QVL list to be sure it should be compatible, before you decide for sure it’s dead CPU.
Yes, please stop back in once your other CPU arrives to let us know how it goes

I was in a process of upgrading my X9SRL-F BIOS using CH341a programmer because couldn’t be able to upgrade the BIOS through normal means or Recovery mode by creating SUPER.ROM. I managed to get the image dump from the corrupted X9SRL-F bios, but also i have similar motherboard as a spare just in case i loose my current motherboard with image dump taken from it also. i was in a process to follow this guide https://forums.servethehome.com/index.ph…slm-ln4f.27652/ . which he stated that at the end “At this point I downloaded the latest bios update from supermicro website and opened the file in the programming tool” that means he didn’t do any modifications and everything went well. My questions:

1- Can I download the latest image from supermicro support and flash as it after erasing the bios?
2- Can I flash an image taken from identical motherboard without modification?
3- if none of the above what is the best methods available?

Hey @Lost_N_BIOS ! I hope you’re doing well. I don’t know if you remember me, but I accidentally broke my BIOS. Here’s my original post:



Unfortunately, life really got in the way and fixing my laptop really wasn’t my priority anymore, but now I’ve sorted out everything and I’ve finally dumped the contents of my BIOS. I would be really grateful if you helped me and I thank you very much for your patience. Attached is my BIOS dump. If you need anything else, let me know! Once again, thank you

PD: my BIOS chip ID is W25Q64FVSIQ

BIOS_dump_toxiccow19.zip (4.02 MB)


I just noticed you mentioned me, sorry for the late reply.
I doubt I can help much since my (Z170-A) BIOS is also not original. I used FD44.exe, too.
I still had the UUID in some old report.txt files, but also checked the barcode on sticker on the motherboard. It matched the serial number.


But let me know if i can help somehow anyway…

@msbxa - CH341A should not be used to do BIOS updates, not unless you know how to edit/modify BIOS, and dump your original BIOS first and then put in your system specific details into the stock BIOS before programming it back
1. No, I would not, but yes, it’s possible that maybe you can and it’s bootable (I have not looked at BIOS, so this is general comment, and I advise against anyway), if you do not care about your serial, UUID, Windows Key, Ethernet LAN MAC ID
2. Yes/No, see #1 above and my comments before that, same applies here.
3. Dump current BIOS, give to me, link me to stock BIOS download page and I will fix you latest BIOS properly to be programmed in

What is the BIOS chip ID here? Not all software or versions can read or write to all chips, so you may need to use certain software/version

@ToxicCow19 _ Sorry for the delayed reply!! Not sure how I missed this threads replies for so long
Before I do anything with the attached file. What software/version did you use to dump that? For W25Q64FV you should use 1.30 or 1.34 and W25Q64BV ID
Also, do you want unlocked BIOS menus, or just fixed BIOS?

@C_con_con - Sorry also, for my late reply to you now too
Thanks, yes FD44 will change some things and sometimes not always correct, but I do not believe it will affect what I wanted to check about MAC ID in GbE region
If you want, and you don’t mind, please dump GbE region for me (feel free to edit your MAC ID out, but please tell me what you change it to, so I know) >> FPTw.exe -gbe -d gbe.bin
But, if you really want to help, please also dump BIOS region >> FPTw.exe -bios -d biosreg.bin
And tell me your actual MAC ID, for both LAN Ports. This was what I was trying to sort out, where/if second MAC ID goes into BIOS, or not etc (it may be stored in on-chip FW only, we are not sure, still)
@ibsajc has this all sorted out now, but I will like these files/info from you, so I can put into this boards folder, so I know for sure next time we run into this issue.

Hey @Lost_N_BIOS ! No worries! I used v1.30 and I did use the W25Q64BV. I would like only fixed BIOS please, I don’t think I’ll ever use the other menus

Thank you very much!

@ToxicCow19 - Thanks for the info, and you’re welcome! I cannot find CDCN28WW on their site anymore, are you OK if I use the latest version instead, or do you want me to dig through google to find this older version?
They have ONLY CDCN54WW there now, but I have CDCN53WW I downloaded in April
Also, if you have it, send me your LAN MAC ID (507B9D999A50, confirm?) and serial, so I can more easily locate it in your dump, thanks!

@Lost_N_BIOS - Yea, I’ve been looking for CDCN28WW for ages now and I haven’t been able to find it unfortunately. There’s absolutely no problem if you use the latest, but in case you need an earlier one, I’ll attach the earliest I could find (file). Also, I just found a picture I took from the BIOS info screen a while back and it contains a serial, it may be useful.

Unfortunately I don’t have the LAN MAC ID. If there’s someplace I can find it, tell me and I’ll look it up for you.

Thank you!

@ToxicCow19 - Ha, I was actually going to ask you if you have the exe or not, but forgot. I bet I can find in Google
MAC ID I put above, I believe this is correct. You may be able to see it in router logs, if you’ve used the system recently and your router keeps long enough logs.
I can’t find it either, must be too old! I found good change log here though, but you probably already seen too - https://forum.onliner.by/viewtopic.php?t=16610316&start=380
I’ll just use latest BIOS version then. Thanks, yes, that BIOS image is very helpful, AND confirms the MAC ID I put above is correct (it’s end of UUID)!

Sadly, I don’t see the MTM or SN in this BIOS anywhere, so it may have been lost/corrupted during the bricking. Not sure if we can put back or not, I’ll have to find dump from same model and see if I can find system info in it anywhere
Ahh, I have one! @felix - What is your MTM and serial number, MAC ID too, if you don’t mind, so I can confirm it’s location inside your dump, to fix ToxicCow19’s BIOS - Thanks!

@Lost_N_BIOS - I found a backup bios in this forum. I hope it’s useful. If not, we’ll just wait for felix.

Link to BIOS: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0…MnM?usp=sharing

EDIT: I found another entry (message #48) in that forum that contained another dump: http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=48439551668808212708

Thank you!

Hi all. Greetings I am new here. I have been trying to get my CH341A programmer working off and on when I get a chance (I have a 2 year old daughter) so certain nights I can dedicate about 2 hours to tinkering to keep my sanity :slight_smile:

I have a Gigabyte GA-Z87-D3HP that has been failing to boot, and goes into a boot loop. Tried several things to try to get it to the backup bios, but no success, so I decided to get a CH341A programmer. My issue is that my programmer is not able to ID the bios (It has an MXIC MX25L6473E soldered on bios chip). Tried several version of the software, on my main system and on a laptop (both running Windows 10 latest version). I don’t have a 4th generation CPU for this motherboard. I thought there may be something wrong with my programmer, so I tried to ID the motherboard of my working system and it still reads FFFF and can’t find anything.

My latest attempt at the Z87 motherboard, I connected the power supply 24-pin and the 8-pin CPU power, with nothing else connected (no cpu, no memory) except for a brand new CMOS battery.

I’m just looking for assistance on things to try. Or maybe I just got a bad programmer?

@ToxicCow19 - Thanks, I was going to look for dumps from users asking for mod BIOS too, but ideally we need someone to reply that will confirm their MAC ID and system info details for me so I can easily locate it in their BIOS
For now, we wait, unless you want to contact those users and ask them if they will help you by giving you a unedited image of their BIOS Main page so we can see their system details.

@arc1880 - Sometimes you need to leave main power cables connected, or remove them you’ll need to try both ways until you know which works for this board. I start with removed usually.
AND, sometimes it may take 10+ tries until the clip is on their just perfectly, otherwise it seems like it is and no valid connection is made. So I suspect this is maybe the issue, unless you have a bad cable, or your not connecting everything perfectly.
Make sure jumper is in first 1-2 position on the programmer, on lever side, towards the middle. And that area is also where the cable should connect as well, with pin1 red on lever side
Here is guide with lots of images if you are not 100% sure your setting it all up correctly - [GUIDE] Flash BIOS with CH341A programmer

This does not matter in regards to detection or anything like that, but for valid read/write to this MX25L6473E chip you should use >> CH341A v1.31(1.4) (CH341AFree) << This is name of folder in link below) - choose 8MB/64Mbit
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?fil…213094641136166

Yes, it’s possible your programmer is DOA, especially if you cannot get anything working on a few other boards too. I would suspect the cable/clip first though, and that is usually the cause of most pain getting it to work as well (even with good cable/clip)

Be sure you are trying to read the “MAIN” BIOS.

@Lost_N_BIOS - Yea, that’s true. I messaged the people on the other forums but they haven’t answered yet. I guess we have to wait for felix then



@Lost_N_BIOS - Thank you for your response. I was able to read and reprogram the bios on the board. A guy named Miyconst suggested that I jump my power supply while connected to the motherboard (I used a paper clip to short the 24-pin) to give more power to the board and that did the trick. I just need to get a proper CPU to test out the board now to see if that was the issue.

@ToxicCow19 - If he does not reply in a few more days, I will send him a PM, in case he has tagging messages disabled.

@arc1880 - Glad you were able to get things with the programmer sorted out! Thanks @Miyconst



I got my CPU in yesterday and I connected everything to the main board. And it is till boot looping and I get no video output using the IGPU Intel Pentium G3220 LGA 1150. I did not however have a keyboard or mouse connected. My main board is a Gigabyte GA-Z87-D3HP. It seemed like it took longer for it to turn off and turn on again compared to before. I didn’t use the v1.31 version but Asprogrammer. I’m not completely sure if I erased the bios.

UPDATE: Mobo is alive. Every time I would turn off the power the boot loop took longer until eventually it started up the bios recovery. Now the bios is recovered and the mobo is alive!!

Hello @Lost_N_BIOS I hope you’re doing well.

Can you help me with my corrupt BIOS, my Lenovo Legion Y520 refuses to fully boot, when I turn it on the fans spin, the HDD starts, all the LEDs light on, but nothing on screen, then 5 seconds later it shuts down, I suspect a corrupt BIOS.

I have dumped my corrupt BIOS using CH341A programmer v1.34.

I don’t mind if you unlock all BIOS options as well.
And I can provide any necessary information you might need for this.

I can’t post links, can I PM you?

Thank you for your time and effort.
---------------------------

Sorry @Lost_N_BIOS for sending you a PM, I didn’t notice your signature when I PM you, it was an honest mistake.

@arc1880 - Could you boott the BIOS before? At post 595, it sounded like you fixed the issue and could then boot to BIOS, yes?
You need to use what I told you for your chip ID >> CH341A v1.31(1.4) (CH341AFree) << This is name of folder in link below) - choose 8MB/64Mbit
ASProgrammer may not work, do it again using what I mentioned. Erase >> Blank Check >> Open BIOS file >> Write >> Verify

Ohh!, you got it going, great! I would reflash the BIOS now using Qflash, and if asked during update, also reflash backup BIOS too. Or use hotkey combo and PS/2 keyboard to reflash backup from Main, that way both are on same BIOS

@qattos - Yes doing good here, thanks, hope you are doing well too!
What is BIOS chip ID? DO NOT erase or write anything to the chip yet, your 1.34 dump may not be valid.
Did you ever make any BIOS backup in the past, before this issue, using any tool or method? If yes, send this to me.
You can now post links

No worries about the PM, I only have that there because I can’t keep track of anything in a PM, so it’s major pain to try and help with BIOS issues in a PM

@Lost_N_BIOS
I’ll be doing well when my laptop starts booting :frowning: thanks.
Sorry for the late reply.

The BIOS chip ID is W25Q64FV, and because I was trying to fix this by myself, I have already erased everything on the chip :frowning: but as I said, I did backup what was on it using v1.34 beforehand, I hope the dump is valid.

I’ve never made a BIOS backup before this, but I have read a lot about it here and watched videos on Youtube before making this dump.

This is the dump I made using v1.34:
https://mega.nz/file/XZknUazC#P0jANM1-ZG…03J4PQfB6hznWSM

And this a link to the BIOS update from Lenovo website, which I used it to update my BIOS early 2019:
https://download.lenovo.com/consumer/mobiles/4kcn45ww.exe

Thanks a lot for your time and effort.