[Help please] Dell Optiplex 7090 - Enabling Intel ME

Special Topics Intel Management Engine
4



10th Generation Intel Core i7- 10700 (8-Core, 16MB Cache, 2.9 GHz to 4.8GHz, 65W) - both systems have the same.

PCH Information
PCH Name TGL
PCH Device ID 4384
PCH Revision ID A1
PCH SKU Type Production PRQ Revenue
PCH Replacement State Disabled
PCH Replaceable Counter 0
PCH Unlocked State Disabled

PCH info taken from MEInfo output:

Non-AMT system 

Intel (R) ME Info Version: 15.0.35.1951
Copyright (C) 2005 - 2021, Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.

General FW Information
                                                 
    Platform Type                                Desktop
    FW Image Type                                Production
    Last ME Reset Reason                         Other
    BIOS Boot State                              Post Boot
    Boot Critical Code Redundancy                Enabled
    Current Boot Partition                       1
    Factory Defaults Restoration Status          Disabled
    Factory Defaults Recovery Status             Enabled
    Firmware Update OEM ID                       68853622-EED3-4E83-8A86-6CDE315F6B78
    TCSS FW partial update                       Disabled
    Crypto HW Support                            Enabled
    Intel(R) ISH Power State                     Disabled
    OEM Tag                                      0x00
    FW Update State                              Enabled
    TLS State                                    Enabled
    CSME Measured Boot to TPM                    Enabled
    BIOS Recovery State                          Enabled
                                                 
Intel(R) ME Code Versions                        
    BIOS Version                                 1.2.1
    MEBx Version                                 15.0.0.0003
    GbE Version                                  0.4
    MEI Driver Version                           2204.2.62.0
    FW Version                                   15.0.23.1777 H Consumer
    LMS Version                                  Not Installed
                                                 
IUPs Information                                 
    PMC FW Version                               150.2.10.1014
    OEM FW Version                               0.0.0.0000
    LOCL FW Version                              15.0.23.1777
    WCOD FW Version                              15.0.23.1777
    SAMF FW Version                              1.17.0.0000
    PPHY FW Version                              12.14.214.2014
    PCHC FW Version                              15.0.0.1013
                                                 
PCH Information                                  
    PCH Name                                     TGL
    PCH Device ID                                4384
    PCH Revision ID                              A1
    PCH SKU Type                                 Production PRQ Revenue
    PCH Replacement State                        Disabled
    PCH Replaceable Counter                      0
    PCH Unlocked State                           Disabled
                                                 
Transactional FW Information                     
    Original image type                          Corporate
    Current sku type                             Consumer
                                                 
Flash Information                                
    Storage Device Type                          SPI
    SPI Flash ID 1                               C84019
    RPMC                                         Supported
    RPMC Bind Counter                            1
    RPMC Bind Status                             Post-bind
    RPMC Rebind                                  Supported
    RPMC Replay Protection Max Rebind            15
    BIOS Read Access                             0x000F
    BIOS Write Access                            0x000A
    GBE Read Access                              0x0009
    GBE Write Access                             0x0008
    ME Read Access                               0x000D
    ME Write Access                              0x0004
    EC Read Access                               0x0101
    EC Write Access                              0x0100
                                                 
FW Capabilities                                  0x31319100
    Intel(R) Protected Audio Video Path          Present/Enabled
    Intel(R) Dynamic Application Loader          Present/Enabled
    Intel(R) Platform Trust Technology           Present/Disabled
    Persistent RTC and Memory                    Present/Enabled
                                                 
End Of Manufacturing                             
    NVAR Configuration State                     Locked
    EOM Settings                                 Lock(Flash,Config)
    HW Binding State                             Enabled
    Flash Protection Mode                        Protected
    FPF Committed                                Yes
                                                 
Intel(R) Active Management Technology            
    Intel(R) AMT State in FW                     Present/Disabled
    Auto-BIST State                              Enabled
    Localized Language                           English
    Wireless C-Link Status                       Enabled
    Intel(R) SMLink0 MCTP Address                Unknown
    Intel(R) Manageability HW Status             Disabled
    Discrete vPro NIC on-board State             Disabled
    On Board Discrete vPro NIC SMBus address     0x00
    vPRO TBT Dock State                          Disabled
    On dock vPro NIC SMBus address               0x00
    Thunderbolt Port1 SMBus Address              0x20
    Thunderbolt Port2 SMBus Address              0x21
    Thunderbolt Port3 SMBus Address              0x22
    Thunderbolt Port4 SMBus Address              0x23
    AMT Global State                             Enabled
    Redirection Privacy / Security Level         Default
                                                 
Trusted Device Setup                             
    Signing Policy                               Seal Signing Required
    Reseal Timeout                               0x06
    Seal State                                   Disabled
    Trusted Device Setup Supported               Disabled
                                                 
Intel(R) Protected Audio Video Path              
    Widevine provisioning state                  Not Provisioned
    Attestation KeyBox                           Not Provisioned
    PAVP State                                   Yes
                                                 
Security Version Numbers                         
    Trusted Computing Base SVN                   1
                                                 
    Anti Rollback SVNs                           
          PMC                                    0   [minimum allowed: 0]
          CSE                                    2   [minimum allowed: 0]
          ROT KM                                 0   [minimum allowed: 0]
          IDLM                                   0   [minimum allowed: 0]
          SECURE BOOT BSMM                       0   [minimum allowed: 0]
          OEM KM                                 0   [minimum allowed: 0]
          SECURE BOOT KM                         0   [minimum allowed: 0]
          UCODE                                  0   [minimum allowed: 0]
          SECURE BOOT ACM                        2   [minimum allowed: 0]
                                                 
HW Glitch Detection                              0x08
    TRC Polarity                                 Rising Trans
    TRC Mode                                     Full-cycle polarity trans
    TRC State                                    Disabled
                                                 
Intel(R) Unique Platform ID                      
    UPID supported                               Disabled
                                                 
Intel(R) Platform Trust Technology               
    Intel(R) PTT initial power-up state          Disabled
    Intel(R) PTT State                           Disabled
    SMx State                                    Disabled
    RSA1K Support                                Disabled
                                                 
FW Supported FPFs                                FPF         UEP
                                                 *In Use
                                                 —         —
1st OEM Key Hash Revoked                         Disabled    Disabled      
1st OEM Key Hash size                            Enabled     Enabled       
1st OEM RSA Key size                             Enabled     Enabled       
2nd OEM Key Hash Revoked                         Disabled    Disabled      
2nd OEM Key Hash size                            Enabled     Enabled       
2nd OEM RSA Key size                             Disabled    Disabled      
BSMM Anti Rollback                               Enabled     Enabled       
DAL OEM Signing                                  Disabled    Disabled      
DNX Anti Rollback                                Enabled     Enabled       
EOM Flow                                         Full        Full          
Error Enforcement Policy 0                       Enabled     Enabled       
Error Enforcement Policy 1                       Enabled     Enabled       
Flash Descriptor Verification                    Disabled    Disabled      
Glitch Detection Disabled                        Enabled     Enabled       
Glitch Detection Enabled                         Disabled    Disabled      
IDLM Anti Rollback                               Enabled     Enabled       
Intel PTT Encryption Key                         Not Revoked Not Revoked   
Intel(R) Manageability HW Fuse Status            Enabled     Enabled       
Intel(R) PTT                                     Enabled     Enabled       
OEM ID                                           0x00        0x00          
OEM KM Anti Rollback                             Enabled     Enabled       
OEM Key Manifest                                 Enabled     Enabled       
OEM Key Revocation State                         Disabled    Disabled      
OEM Platform ID                                  0x00        0x00          
OEM Secure Boot Policy                           0x3F9       0x3F9         
CPU Debugging                                    Enabled     Enabled       
BSP Initialization                               Enabled     Enabled       
Protect BIOS Environment                         Enabled     Enabled       
Measured Boot                                    Enabled     Enabled       
Verified Boot                                    Enabled     Enabled       
Key Manifest ID                                  0x0F        0x0F          
Force Boot Guard ACM                             Enabled     Enabled       
OEM key Hash RSA key size                        Enabled     Enabled       
PID Refurbish Counter                            0x00        0x00          
PMC Anti Rollback                                Enabled     Enabled       
PTT Lockout Override Counter                     0x00        0x00          
Persistent PRTC Backup Power                     Enabled     Enabled       
RBE Anti Rollback                                Enabled     Enabled       
ROT Anti Rollback                                Enabled     Enabled       
RPMB Monotonic Counters                          0x00        0x00          
RPMC Rebinding                                   Enabled     Enabled       
RPMC Support                                     Enabled     Enabled       
SOC Config Lock State                            Enabled     Disabled      
SPI Boot Source                                  Enabled     Enabled       
SPIRAL CPU                                       Disabled    Disabled      
Secure boot KM Anti Rollback                     Enabled     Enabled       
TXT Supported                                    Enabled     Enabled       
UFS Boot Source                                  Disabled    Disabled      
USB Port ID                                      0x00        0x00          
uCode Anti Rollback                              Disabled    Disabled      

DNX SVN                                          0x00        0x00          
IDLM SVN                                         0x00        0x00          
OEM KM SVN                                       0x00        0x00          
PMC SVN                                          0x00        0x00          
ROT KM SVN                                       0x00        0x00          
Secure boot ACM SVN                              0x00        0x00          
Secure boot BSMM SVN                             0x00        0x00          
Secure boot KM SVN                               0x00        0x00          
Ucode SVN                                        0x00        0x00          


1st OEM Public Key Hash FPF                      CEC5BBA33899D87B16D38581F3DB0DBF5920F6094074437A94DD6756CEC56923D3747EE0ACE7F56E0577B97592C84096
1st OEM Public Key Hash UEP                      CEC5BBA33899D87B16D38581F3DB0DBF5920F6094074437A94DD6756CEC56923D3747EE0ACE7F56E0577B97592C84096
2nd OEM Public Key Hash FPF                      000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
2nd OEM Public Key Hash UEP                      000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000


AMT system: 
Intel (R) ME Info Version: 15.0.35.1951
Copyright (C) 2005 - 2021, Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.

General FW Information
                                                 
    Platform Type                                Desktop
    FW Image Type                                Production
    Last ME Reset Reason                         Other
    BIOS Boot State                              Post Boot
    Boot Critical Code Redundancy                Enabled
    Current Boot Partition                       1
    Factory Defaults Restoration Status          Disabled
    Factory Defaults Recovery Status             Enabled
    Firmware Update OEM ID                       68853622-EED3-4E83-8A86-6CDE315F6B78
    TCSS FW partial update                       Disabled
    Crypto HW Support                            Enabled
    Intel(R) ISH Power State                     Disabled
    OEM Tag                                      0x00
    FW Update State                              Enabled
    TLS State                                    Enabled
    CSME Measured Boot to TPM                    Enabled
    BIOS Recovery State                          Enabled
                                                 
Intel(R) ME Code Versions                        
    BIOS Version                                 1.4.3
    MEBx Version                                 15.0.0.0004
    GbE Version                                  0.4
    MEI Driver Version                           2204.2.62.0
    FW Version                                   15.0.35.2028 H Corporate
    LMS Version                                  Not Installed
                                                 
IUPs Information                                 
    PMC FW Version                               150.2.10.1019
    OEM FW Version                               0.0.0.0000
    LOCL FW Version                              15.0.35.2028
    WCOD FW Version                              15.0.35.2028
    SAMF FW Version                              1.17.0.0000
    PPHY FW Version                              12.14.214.2014
    PCHC FW Version                              15.0.0.1013
                                                 
PCH Information                                  
    PCH Name                                     TGL
    PCH Device ID                                4384
    PCH Revision ID                              A1
    PCH SKU Type                                 Production PRQ Revenue
    PCH Replacement State                        Disabled
    PCH Replaceable Counter                      0
    PCH Unlocked State                           Disabled
                                                 
Transactional FW Information                     
    Original image type                          Corporate
    Current sku type                             Corporate
                                                 
Flash Information                                
    Storage Device Type                          SPI
    SPI Flash ID 1                               C27519
    RPMC                                         Supported
    RPMC Bind Counter                            1
    RPMC Bind Status                             Post-bind
    RPMC Rebind                                  Supported
    RPMC Replay Protection Max Rebind            15
    BIOS Read Access                             0x000F
    BIOS Write Access                            0x000A
    GBE Read Access                              0x0009
    GBE Write Access                             0x0008
    ME Read Access                               0x000D
    ME Write Access                              0x0004
    EC Read Access                               0x0101
    EC Write Access                              0x0100
                                                 
FW Capabilities                                  0x3DF6D107
    Intel(R) Active Management Technology        Present/Enabled
    Intel(R) Protected Audio Video Path          Present/Enabled
    Intel(R) Dynamic Application Loader          Present/Enabled
    Intel(R) Platform Trust Technology           Present/Disabled
    Persistent RTC and Memory                    Present/Enabled
                                                 
End Of Manufacturing                             
    NVAR Configuration State                     Locked
    EOM Settings                                 Lock(Flash,Config)
    HW Binding State                             Enabled
    Flash Protection Mode                        Protected
    FPF Committed                                Yes
                                                 
Intel(R) Active Management Technology            
    Intel(R) AMT State in FW                     Present/Enabled
    MAC Address                                  74-86-e2-19-a3-a3
    IPv4 Address                                 0.0.0.0
    IPv6 Enablement                              Disabled
    Configuration State                          Not Started
    Provisioning Mode                            PKI
    Auto-BIST State                              Enabled
    Wired AMT Link Status                        Link Down
    Localized Language                           English
    Wireless C-Link Status                       Enabled
    Intel(R) SMLink0 MCTP Address                0xFF
    System UUID                                  4c4c4544-0030-3710-8042-b4c04f444e33
    Intel(R) Manageability HW Status             Enabled
    Discrete vPro NIC on-board State             Disabled
    On Board Discrete vPro NIC SMBus address     0x00
    vPRO TBT Dock State                          Disabled
    On dock vPro NIC SMBus address               0x00
    Thunderbolt Port1 SMBus Address              0x20
    Thunderbolt Port2 SMBus Address              0x21
    Thunderbolt Port3 SMBus Address              0x22
    Thunderbolt Port4 SMBus Address              0x23
    AMT Global State                             Enabled
    Redirection Privacy / Security Level         Default
                                                 
Trusted Device Setup                             
    Signing Policy                               Seal Signing Required
    Reseal Timeout                               0x06
    Seal State                                   Disabled
    Trusted Device Setup Supported               Disabled
                                                 
Intel(R) Protected Audio Video Path              
    Widevine provisioning state                  Not Provisioned
    Attestation KeyBox                           Not Provisioned
    PAVP State                                   Yes
                                                 
Security Version Numbers                         
    Trusted Computing Base SVN                   1
                                                 
    Anti Rollback SVNs                           
          PMC                                    0   [minimum allowed: 0]
          CSE                                    4   [minimum allowed: 0]
          ROT KM                                 0   [minimum allowed: 0]
          IDLM                                   0   [minimum allowed: 0]
          SECURE BOOT BSMM                       0   [minimum allowed: 0]
          OEM KM                                 0   [minimum allowed: 0]
          SECURE BOOT KM                         0   [minimum allowed: 0]
          UCODE                                  0   [minimum allowed: 0]
          SECURE BOOT ACM                        2   [minimum allowed: 0]
                                                 
HW Glitch Detection                              0x08
    TRC Polarity                                 Rising Trans
    TRC Mode                                     Full-cycle polarity trans
    TRC State                                    Disabled
                                                 
Intel(R) Unique Platform ID                      
    UPID supported                               Disabled
                                                 
Intel(R) Platform Trust Technology               
    Intel(R) PTT initial power-up state          Disabled
    Intel(R) PTT State                           Disabled
    SMx State                                    Disabled
    RSA1K Support                                Disabled
                                                 
FW Supported FPFs                                FPF         UEP
                                                 *In Use
                                                 —         —
1st OEM Key Hash Revoked                         Disabled    Disabled      
1st OEM Key Hash size                            Enabled     Enabled       
1st OEM RSA Key size                             Enabled     Enabled       
2nd OEM Key Hash Revoked                         Disabled    Disabled      
2nd OEM Key Hash size                            Enabled     Enabled       
2nd OEM RSA Key size                             Disabled    Disabled      
BSMM Anti Rollback                               Enabled     Enabled       
DAL OEM Signing                                  Disabled    Disabled      
DNX Anti Rollback                                Enabled     Enabled       
EOM Flow                                         Full        Full          
Error Enforcement Policy 0                       Enabled     Enabled       
Error Enforcement Policy 1                       Enabled     Enabled       
Flash Descriptor Verification                    Disabled    Disabled      
Glitch Detection Disabled                        Enabled     Enabled       
Glitch Detection Enabled                         Disabled    Disabled      
IDLM Anti Rollback                               Enabled     Enabled       
Intel PTT Encryption Key                         Not Revoked Not Revoked   
Intel(R) Manageability HW Fuse Status            Enabled     Enabled       
Intel(R) PTT                                     Enabled     Enabled       
OEM ID                                           0x00        0x00          
OEM KM Anti Rollback                             Enabled     Enabled       
OEM Key Manifest                                 Enabled     Enabled       
OEM Key Revocation State                         Disabled    Disabled      
OEM Platform ID                                  0x00        0x00          
OEM Secure Boot Policy                           0x3F9       0x3F9         
CPU Debugging                                    Enabled     Enabled       
BSP Initialization                               Enabled     Enabled       
Protect BIOS Environment                         Enabled     Enabled       
Measured Boot                                    Enabled     Enabled       
Verified Boot                                    Enabled     Enabled       
Key Manifest ID                                  0x0F        0x0F          
Force Boot Guard ACM                             Enabled     Enabled       
OEM key Hash RSA key size                        Enabled     Enabled       
PID Refurbish Counter                            0x00        0x00          
PMC Anti Rollback                                Enabled     Enabled       
PTT Lockout Override Counter                     0x00        0x00          
Persistent PRTC Backup Power                     Enabled     Enabled       
RBE Anti Rollback                                Enabled     Enabled       
ROT Anti Rollback                                Enabled     Enabled       
RPMB Monotonic Counters                          0x00        0x00          
RPMC Rebinding                                   Enabled     Enabled       
RPMC Support                                     Enabled     Enabled       
SOC Config Lock State                            Enabled     Disabled      
SPI Boot Source                                  Enabled     Enabled       
SPIRAL CPU                                       Disabled    Disabled      
Secure boot KM Anti Rollback                     Enabled     Enabled       
TXT Supported                                    Enabled     Enabled       
UFS Boot Source                                  Disabled    Disabled      
USB Port ID                                      0x00        0x00          
uCode Anti Rollback                              Disabled    Disabled      

DNX SVN                                          0x03        0x03          
IDLM SVN                                         0x00        0x00          
OEM KM SVN                                       0x00        0x00          
PMC SVN                                          0x00        0x00          
ROT KM SVN                                       0x00        0x00          
Secure boot ACM SVN                              0x00        0x00          
Secure boot BSMM SVN                             0x00        0x00          
Secure boot KM SVN                               0x00        0x00          
Ucode SVN                                        0x00        0x00          


1st OEM Public Key Hash FPF                      CEC5BBA33899D87B16D38581F3DB0DBF5920F6094074437A94DD6756CEC56923D3747EE0ACE7F56E0577B97592C84096
1st OEM Public Key Hash UEP                      CEC5BBA33899D87B16D38581F3DB0DBF5920F6094074437A94DD6756CEC56923D3747EE0ACE7F56E0577B97592C84096
2nd OEM Public Key Hash FPF                      000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
2nd OEM Public Key Hash UEP                      000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000




Full dump of the I2C ROM in the mega.nz link in first post; will investigate extracting using FPTW and compare.

I think the ROM is locked: "Error 185: FCERR is set":

C:\7090\CSME System Tools v15.0 r13\Flash Programming Tool\WIN64>.\FPTW64.exe -d all.bin
Intel (R) Flash Programming Tool Version: 15.0.35.1951
Copyright (C) 2005 - 2021, Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.

Reading HSFSTS register… Flash Descriptor: Valid

— Flash Devices Found —
ID:0xC27519 Size: 32768KB (262144Kb)


- Reading Flash [0x0000040] 0KB of 32768KB - 0 percent complete.
Error 185: FCERR is set. Hardware sequencing failed. Make sure that you have access to target flash area.

FPT Operation Failed.


I see no jumper on the motherboard to unlock it.

5

Both systems have a Q570 chipset and a vPro compatible CPU. Are you sure you have provisioned the non-AMT system to have AMT enabled via MEBx? The MEInfo status indicates that the capability is enabled in FW but soft-disabled (MEBx, BIOS maybe?).

6



Going into the BIOS settings ("BIOS Settings at a Glance") on the with-AMT system, I see "Intel AMT Capability" and "MEBx Hotkey" as options under "SYSTEM MANAGEMENT". Neither of these are present on the non-AMT system.

7

Do you have an equivalent programmer dump from the AMT-working system as well?

8

On the non- AMT system the firmware is Consumer H- does the ME 15 firmware change from Corporate to Consumer when AMT is disabled in Bios?

"Intel(R) ME Code Versions
…
FW Version 15.0.23.1777 H Consumer
…
Transactional FW Information
Original image type Corporate
Current sku type Consumer"

9


Yes, since CSME 12. It’s possible to flash COR on CON systems, and it will work with CON features only. Similarly, COR firmware on COR systems will work with CON features when AMT is not provisioned/enabled.

10



Dump from the AMT-working system is at 

https://mega.nz/file/ookkXDTL#FADZ8uJYoy_mMtfDUgdT4OWCmM4XPCH33m-nVH_iYuY

11


Yes, since CSME 12. It’s possible to flash COR on CON systems, and it will work with CON features only. Similarly, COR firmware on COR systems will work with CON features when AMT is not provisioned/enabled.



It sounds to me as if re-flashing the non-AMT system with a COR version of the firmware might be successful then. To do that, I guess I could use the dump from the AMT-enabled system - if I could open it in FIT!

12

Alright, for some reason, FIT refuses to work with the initialized/dumped SPI images, even though they seem healthy when checked/unpacked via ME Analyzer (MEA).

The only way to get them to work with FIT is to manually clean their initialized File Systems (MFS, EFS) by replacing those regions with the same stock ones. I used 15.0.22.1595_COR_H_A_PRD_RGN for “no-AMT-1” and 15.0.35.1951_COR_H_B_PRD_RGN for “with-AMT-1” because they include the same initial/stock MFS and EFS partition hashes.

Now, at CSME 15, we don’t need MFS and EFS to get the firmware settings before cleaning them using [Guide] Clean Dumped Intel Engine (CS)ME/(CS)TXE Regions with Data Initialization as FITC partition exists and contains the initial OEM configuration. So, replacing MFS and EFS with the stock ones is perfectly valid for getting the images ready to be cleaned via FIT.

Still, when comparing FITC settings between “no-AMT-1” and “with-AMT-1”, it appears they both use the exact same settings (AMT enabled). So both firmware are correctly configured. Which means that something else is disabling AMT. A quick look at the unpacked EFS file system using MEA shows that EFS 0000 [0x410000] > “DISABLE_MANAGEABILITY_HW (0010)” file has value 1 at “no-AMT-1” but 0 at “with-AMT-1”.

Now that you can load “no-AMT-1__fix-15.0.22.1595” in FIT, I suggest you follow [Guide] Clean Dumped Intel Engine (CS)ME/(CS)TXE Regions with Data Initialization on it and flash the result back using the programmer. Remove all power for a few minutes afterwards (leave RTC) and check if you can now enable AMT. If it is still not enabled or even possible to enable, something else is the reason. Either HW (jumper, HW fuse) or BIOS (setting).

I have uploaded the aforementioned results in this temporary link:

1
 
https://mega.nz/file/XVkwwTbR#ygQwG3M7B6VYgXaRK_ujhYpcLsVLrY1lbQHvUwV0_TI
 
13

Is it correct, that a partition for the settings was first added in ME15 (I can’t find a FITC partition in ME 14 and ME 12)?

Otherwise one of those (many) odd threads that seem to peter out: Thread owner got good help three days ago, was online at least yesterday and today, but no reaction any longer…

14


Yes, first with CSME 15. Before, FIT Configuration was included within the MFS > File 7. A lot of times, File 7 would get deleted after initial power up (or FWUpdate operation) because it was no longer needed, so the only way to get settings was from the initialized MFS. However, with FITC now being in a separate partition, we no longer strictly need healthy MFS/EFS to get OEM configuration back during cleaning. In this case, MFS/EFS seem healthy, but FIT refuses to work with them for some weird reason (bug?) so FITC can be used.


Let’s see, I’m willing to give the benefit of the doubt, for a few days at least.

15



Sorry for being unresponsive - back in the office today after a week of unexpected child-minding at home. I’ll respond properly once I’ve had my second coffee, but I appreciate all the effort which has gone in while I’ve been offline.



Thank you for taking the trouble to check those images; it’s reassuring to know that a second instance of FIT rejects them too.



That really is extremely kind of you; I’ve downloaded that image and it opens in FIT. Furthermore, if I flash it to the machine which previously had AMT disabled, the option to enable it appears in the BIOS and I’m able to provision, which was the goal.

I have another fifty machines to do, so I need to investigate how to repeat your work of overwriting the EFS partition.

Thank you for showing me the way forward!

16


It’s great that it started working. Makes sense, as there was no configuration in place to disable AMT in the CSME firmware. It had been soft-disabled after the initial provisioning somehow.


Oh, that will become extremely tedious fast, haha. If the machines are all identical (exact same SKU, HW etc), then it will be easier because you can copy-paste the cleaned CSME firmware region from the first "fixed/cleaned" dump to the rest. But you must always work on the actual system’s dump and replace the CSE region only (i.e. BIOS is unique for each motherboard). Anyway, if you plan to do this, I can tell you what steps to take to make each dump work with FIT before following the cleanup guide and flashing back. It is not easy to understand on your own without prior CSE knowledge.

17


Oh, that will become extremely tedious fast, haha. If the machines are all identical (exact same SKU, HW etc), then it will be easier because you can copy-paste the cleaned CSME firmware region from the first "fixed/cleaned" dump to the rest. But you must always work on the actual system’s dump and replace the CSE region only (i.e. BIOS is unique for each motherboard). Anyway, if you plan to do this, I can tell you what steps to take to make each dump work with FIT before following the cleanup guide and flashing back. It is not easy to understand on your own without prior CSE knowledge.



I’ve done a few systems now and have come up with a script (below) to ease the pain a little. It uses MEA to unpack an SPI dump, checks that EFS is in the expected place (0x410000) then overwrites that with the empty EFS partition into a new image. (I should check the size of the EFS is 64k too, now I think about it…)

In an ideal world I’d have been able to automate the reading and writing of the image, too - but sorting that out might take much longer than just doing it by hand.

Many thanks for all your help.

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@echo off
echo A tool to replace the EFS partition in a dump
echo.
set /P SVCTAG="Enter service tag: "
set BLANKEFS="MEA\Unpacked_no-AMT-1-with-clean-EFS.bin\EFS 0000 [0x410000].bin" 
IF NOT EXIST Raw/%SVCTAG%.bin goto filemissing
echo %SVCTAG% entered
 
(echo -unp86 & echo: ) | MEA\MEA Raw\%SVCTAG%.bin
IF NOT EXIST "MEA\Unpacked_%SVCTAG%.bin\EFS 0000 [0x410000].bin" goto badefs
 
dd if=Raw\%SVCTAG%.bin of=Process\%SVCTAG%-head.bin bs=4096 count=1040
dd if=Raw\%SVCTAG%.bin of=Process\%SVCTAG%-tail.bin bs=4096 skip=1056
type Process\%SVCTAG%-head.bin %BLANKEFS% Process\%SVCTAG%-tail.bin >New\%SVCTAG%.bin 2>NUL
echo Flash New\%SVCTAG%.bin, then reboot machine into BIOS (F2) and check AMT settings are present
 
goto:eof
:filemissing
echo File Raw\%SVCTAG%.bin is a prerequisite
goto:eof
 
:badefs
echo "MEA\Unpacked_%SVCTAG%.bin\EFS 0000 [0x410000].bin" does not exist
echo which means that the EFS is not where we expect it to be.
goto:eof
 

 
18

Oh, does it load in FIT only by resetting EFS? I was doing both MFS and EFS, but it’s possible only the latter is needed for that weird FIT bug, don’t remember.

You can get the start & end of the EFS from the Flash Partition Table (FPT). Use MEA with -unp86 -json to also generate json files. Read the .json starting with “FPT [0x” to get the EFS info.

Note that EFS is not static, it can change/update alongside new CSME releases. From a quick check I performed at CSME 15.0 COR H PRD firmware, there is one EFS from 15.0.22.1595-15.0.23.1777 (SHA1 1E50D85DD7CDA7B9477430F26292F06F6EBA23BA) and another for 15.0.30.1692-15.0.35.2028 (SHA1 092F351AC14359EFA466039CAC626682CBB271F0).

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Just checked and, yep, the images where the EFS only has been replaced open in FIT without a problem.



That’s good to know, thanks. (The re-flashing process could be smoother - but it’s only 50 45 machines to fix )



I’m making the assumption that all my machines have the same version of the firmware (and making backup copies of each as I go, just in case). (So far, I’ve found one or two with SPI chips from a different vendor, but the firmware version has been the same.)

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You could check the CSME firmware version as well by reading the json file FTPR partition > "FTPR.man.json". I mentioned this because the "no-AMT-1" and "with-AMT-1" have different CSME firmware versions (15.0.23.1777, 15.0.35.2028) which do use the two different EFS I mentioned.

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Good evening,

I know this is an old thread, but I believe it holds the key to helping me with some Precision 3450’s.

I have the same issue as the OP. There is no BIOS option for MEBx under “SYSTEM MANAGEMENT”. It appears to have been factory disabled.

I dumped the BIOS from the Precisions and compared them to a relatively similar set of machines, some Optiplex 7090’s. With both firmware dumps, I get the same error in FIT… Error 179: [Fit Actions] Failed to parse CSE region.

I can open and unpack both firmwares in ME Analyzer. The optiplex’s have full working AMT and the MEBx settings visible in BIOS…

MEA shows that EFS 0000 [0x410000] > “DISABLE_MANAGEABILITY_HW (0010)” file has value 1 for the Precsions and a 0 for the working Optiplex’s.

Trying to follow along on this OP’s journey, I see he figured the last part out on his own… Somehow replacing the EFS so that he could open the dumps in FIT…

Where and how can I either make the change to “DISABLE_MANAGEABILITY_HW (0010)” and repack the firmware or how do I get past the FIT error?

Thanks in advance. :slight_smile:

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Post a link to or attach a firmware dump of the Precisions

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I was able to do a little more reading and found another threat where you helped someone else out in this situation. I followed that advice and was able to replace EFS in my dumped bios image. From there, I ran it through FIT and it worked!

Thank you again!