Yes, the fix must be in the 11.6.10.1198 FWUpdate, i used FPT to flash the backup BIOS that contained FW 11.6.10.1196 i made right Before updating to FW 11.6.13.1208,
Then used the 11.0.0.1205 flasher with the 11.6.13.1208 EXTR image, and i got Error code 1.
FW Status Register3: 0x00000420 wiith 11.6.13.1208 also.
Ok, great. I changed the message at MEA and adjusted to NOPDM for that firmware.
Intel ME 11.6 Consumer PCH-H Firmware v11.6.13.1208
Thanks to Pacman/SD for the new firmware and helpful observations. Also kostar20071 for letting me know. 
Hi, thanks for the informative and rich ME tools thread.
I tried to update ME on my Gigabyte GA-P67-DS3-B3 MB with the latest official BIOS F5 including ME FW 7.1.20.1119. First I tried preconfigured ME_8.1.51.1471_Z68-P67 from Tweaktown thread. I injected ME blob directly into my BIOS image. It starts at 0x1000 and there was plenty of free space until 0x1ff000 where some ACPI tables follows. So no problem to fit bigger ME8 inside, still some 400kB lefts in the region. I flashed the modded BIOS, make a power cycle and it booted normally. I checked with MEInfo 8.1.56.1541 and MEmanuf 8.1.56.1541 and seems to be OK except one error:
Error 9405: Intel(R) ME internal communication error (EPID GID)
- any idea if it is several and what i means? My OâC settings works the same as with previous ME7 and I didnât observed any instability in OS yet.
Later I picked up a bit newer ME FW 8.1.56.1541 from packages here on 1st page and I manually configured it in FIT utility exactly according to settings of my original ME FW 7.1.20.1119. I built the image and injected new ME FW blob to my BIOS image. MEManuf 8.1.56.1541 reports all tests passed but there is still the
Error 9405: Intel(R) ME internal communication error (EPID GID) message.
I didnât find any option related to EPID or GID in FIT ME configuration tree or in saved XML config. This error didnât occur with original ME FW 7.1.20.1119 but MEManuf 7 didnât report anything about EPID GID at all so itâs probably new ME8 feature that older MEManuf doesnât check. I think it may not be a problem if itâs not used anywhere in the systemâŚ
Full MEManuf test log:
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Intel(R) MEManuf Version: 8.1.56.1541
Copyright(C) 2005 - 2014, Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.
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FW Status Register1: 0x1E000255
FW Status Register2: 0x66000106
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CurrentState: Normal
ManufacturingMode: Enabled
FlashPartition: Valid
OperationalState: M0 with UMA
InitComplete: Complete
BUPLoadState: Success
ErrorCode: No Error
ModeOfOperation: Normal
ICC: Valid OEM data, ICC programmed
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Get FWU info command...done
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Get FWU version command...done
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Get FWU feature state command...done
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Get ME FWU platform type command...done
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Get ME FWU feature capability command...done
Feature enablement is 0x100C40
gFeatureAvailability value is 0x1
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Request Intel(R) ME test result command...done
System is running on consumer/1.5M image, start Intel(R) ME Runtime Test
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ME initialization state valid
ME operation mode valid
Current operation state valid
ME error state valid
Verifying FW Status Register1...done
OEM ICC data valid and programmed correctly
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Request Intel(R) ME test result command...done
vsccommn.bin was created on 04:35:50 08/08/2012 GMT
SPI Flash ID #1 ME VSCC value is 0x2005
SPI Flash ID #1 (ID: 0xC22016) ME VSCC value checked
SPI Flash ID #1 BIOS VSCC value is 0x2005
SPI Flash ID #1 (ID: 0xC22016) BIOS VSCC value checked
FPBA value is 0x0
No Intel vPro Wireless device was found
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Request Intel(R) ME Runtime BIST test command...done
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Get Intel(R) ME test data command...done
Total of 12 Intel(R) ME test result retrieved
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MicroKernel - Internal Hardware Tests: Internal Hardware Tests - Passed
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Policy Kernel - Power Package: Package 1 supported - Passed
Policy Kernel - Power Package: Default package supported - Passed
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MicroKernel - Blob Manager: Set - Passed
MicroKernel - Blob Manager: Get - Passed
MicroKernel - Blob Manager: Remove - Passed
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Policy Kernel - ME Configuration: Wlan Power Well - Passed
Policy Kernel - ME Configuration: PROC_MISSING - Passed
Policy Kernel - ME Configuration: M3 Power Rails Available - Passed
Policy Kernel - ME Recovery: ME Recovery mode check - Passed
Policy Kernel - Embedded Controller: Power source type - Passed
Policy Kernel - SMBus: Read byte - Passed
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Clear Intel(R) ME test data command...done
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Error 9405: Intel(R) ME internal communication error (EPID GID)
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EPID Group ID: 0
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EPID GID Check passed
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MEManuf Test Passed
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 Intel MEI Driver v11.6.0.1047 MEI-Only Installer
Intel MEI Driver v11.6.0.1042 (Windows XP & Windows 7) INF for manual installation
Thanks to Fdrsoft/SD for the newer drivers!
@ RayeR:
I agree that the proper way to do such an upgrade is to manually transfer settings and not take pre-built stuff. Does MEInfo show any error? I think you should ignore the Group ID error as long as MEInfo is ok, the rest of MEManuf tests are ok and the system works with IvyBridge cpus. Itâs funny, Gigabyte did add IVB support at the BIOS but apparently forgot to update the ME. I suggest you ask them to fix that. If you tell them that they added IVB support but left ME to v7, they should give you some beta with proper firmware.
Hello,
I have the ME Firmware Version 0.0.0.0 problem.
The issues started when I flashed the latest BIOS, no problems until the reboot, but once it restarted, the board was stuck in a BIOS flash loop, always resetting to EZ Flash and asking for the BIOS file to continue flashing.
I tried a EPROM programmer to load the bios directly into the chip, did not work. I then tried an identical board, switching BIOS chips, but the other board did not have the latest BIOS so it did not work. Updated to the latest BIOS on the new board, then switched BIOS chips again, it worked.
However, my board, which now works fine as far as I can tell, no longer has any ME Firmware at all, it seems, ME Driver no longer appears in Device Manager, nothing.
I reflashed the latest BIOS several times, hoping to solve the issue, even a full flash using AMIBIOS Firmware Update Utility from Windows, using BUpdated from DOS, using EZ Flash from BIOS, no luck
I then tried all the suggestions I read here, again, nothing worked.
FPTW64 saves the SPI.bin file just fine, but by the size I suspect itâs simply a dumb of the BIOS chip.
fptw64 -d spi.bin
Intel (R) Flash Programming Tool. Version: 11.6.10.1198
Copyright (c) 2007 - 2016, Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.
Reading HSFSTS register⌠Flash Descriptor: Valid
â Flash Devices Found â
W25Q128FV ID:0xEF4018 Size: 16384KB (131072Kb)
- Reading Flash [0x1000000] 16384KB of 16384KB - 100 percent complete.
Writing flash contents to file âspi.binââŚ
Memory Dump Complete
FPT Operation Successful.
MEInfoWin64 returns these errors :
Error 86: Communication error between application and Intel(R) ME module (FWU client)
Error 81: Internal error (Could not determine FW features information)
meinfowin64
Intel(R) MEInfo Version: 11.6.10.1198
Copyright(C) 2005 - 2016, Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.
Error 86: Communication error between application and Intel(R) ME module (FWU client)
Error 81: Internal error (Could not determine FW features information)
FWUpdLcl64 again has no access :
fwupdlcl64 -f firmware.bin
Intel (R) Firmware Update Utility Version: 11.6.10.1196
Copyright (C) 2007 - 2016, Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.
Error 8193: Fail to load MEI device driver (PCI access for Windows)
Above error is often caused by one of below reasons:
Administrator privilege needed for running the tool
ME is in an error state causing MEI driver fail
MEI driver is not installed
Also, the AMIBIOS Flasher in Windows, when it loads the BIOS files, greys out the options to flash the ME firmware, I suspect itâs because they do not contain any ME Firmware at all.
I should confess, before updating the BIOS I did have the latest 11.5 or 11.0 ME Firmware (which ever does not require the Kaby Lake updates) flashed by myself, and all worked perfectly fine.
Suggestions ?
@ Ataemonus
You never mentioned what motherboard you have. Regardless, dump the SPI chip image and follow the cleanup guide.
The motherboard is an ASUS B150i Pro Gaming WiFi Aura. I figured it makes no difference at all, thatâs why I did not mention.
I will try to follow the guide you so kindly provided, but to be honest, right now the motherboard is working fine, I am in no rush, plus, in âŚ22 years of building custom PC and modding and such, this is the first time I ever get a corrupted BIOS flash that cannot be fixed quickly, if I screw it up again itâs going to be hard to fix as I donât have the spare mobo anymore, lol.
Here is the SPI file.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-MspkâŚV21hcks4Qm9iejQ
There is no point in going into so much hassle for a desktop board like this. Reflashing the entire SPI image as provided at the ASUS website (remove AMI Capsule first with UEFITool, proper size for programmer/FPT flashing is 16MB or 0x1000000) is enough to fix everything. Unlike laptops, there are no serial numbers etc. You just reflash whatever ASUS gives. You were able to dump with FPT the entire SPI but you donât actually have write access to the ME region at the SPI in order to fix its firmware (cleanup guide or fptw -f asus_bios_no_cap.bin). To unlock write access to the locked regions like ME, you need to either use a programmer on the removable SPI chip or find a jumper/BIOS option which sets the ME to Recovery/Disabled mode such as âEnable ME ReFlash, ME Disable, HMRFPOâ or similar. Another possible way to have write access at the ME is to use the ASUS in-BIOS flasher, not the ones from OS such as DOS, Windows etc. By the way, doing a BIOS/SPI chip hotswap wont help you unless the ASUS in-BIOS flasher is capable of reflashing the entire chip, including normally locked regions like ME. In your case, the ME is write locked only, reading is allowed. Thatâs why you can dump but not reflash. This is interesting as usually OEMs lock both Read/Write access and you cannot even dump to check.
Fixing the ME is important at such systems because it controls various functions of the system like clocks etc as described at the introduction section of the first post. Your system has ME. It cannot be removed without a bricked system, just become corrupted. In your case, first try the command âfptw -gresetâ and check if the problem is resolved after the reset. If not, you will need to do what I said above with the in-BIOS flasher (check Manual on how to use), BIOS options, maybe a jumper etc.
No jumper, so no luck there either.
fptw -greset did not work, sadly.
Neither did flashing the entire BIOS, if that is what you mean by SPI image from ASUS site, with no tool, not the in-BIOS flasher, which does not even bother to flash the entire BIOS, only a small final portion, I have no idea why, not with Windows flasher from AMI site, which for sure flashed the entire image, all blocks were read, erased, written and verified, or DOS flashers, which I am not sure if it flashed the entire image.
No option in BIOS to Recovery or Disabled for the ME Reflash.
One option would be to flash an older BIOS image, then flash the new version again, but I am not sure that is possible, some BIOS version prevent flashing older versions.
If I understand correctly, what you are saying is that the cloning process of the BIOS chip info did save the ME info from the good BIOS chip, but writing it into the corrupted BIOS chip did not happen. Sound very plausible.
However, why the board did not work with the new BIOS chip when it was having the older BIOS image, that I do not understand at all.
I did not have the time or patience to run more tests, putting the corrupted chip into the new board, see the behavior, and so on.
From my little knowledge on the subject, sounds like the ME portion of the BIOS was corrupted when flashing, and itâs still corrupted.
Perhaps I can flash it in DOS mode, since the Windows flasher returns the error of drivers not found, and no drivers in DOS.
Yes, I do want to fix the ME firmware, however, I am not sure I know how, plus, I donât have the patience to do things all over again in case the BIOS gets damaged, the board is in a very small mITX case, taking it out is a freaking pain.
You donât understand correctly. The SPI chip in your system is 16MB. The SPI chip image consists of firmware regions. Flash Descriptor (FD), GbE, ME, BIOS and EC. The FD controls, among other functionality, what regions you can read and write from via software methods. Your FD is locked and allows only reading all the regions but writing only at the BIOS. So no matter what tool you use at an operating system (AFU, ASUS, FPT etc), it cannot write and thus repair locked regions such as the ME. These BIOS options or jumper I mentioned, have the ability to disable the FD lock to allow both read/write access for servicing purposes. If you donât have these, you cannot fix the ME region firmware with any software tools. What might work is the in-BIOS (EZ Flash or whatever) flasher which in some cases (OEM dependent) can flash the entire SPI image (even locked regions) because the FD lock is set after the BIOS has completed its operations. Maybe ASUS has set their in-BIOS flasher to reflash only the BIOS region and not the entire 16MB SPI image which is downloadable from their website. I know that this is what the ASUS USB BIOS Flashback does which is NOT the same as the in-BIOS ASUS flasher. Try EZ Flash, not ASUS USB BIOS Flashback as the latter only reflahes the BIOS region whereas maybe the former can reflash the entire SPI chip. With those chip hotswaps, you were just flashing back and forth the BIOS region of the chips only, which is useless as the problem is not there but at the ME.
Long story short, since you have a locked FD and no way to unlock it by jumper or BIOS option (try EZ Flash if you havenât already and confused it with USB BIOS Flashback), you need to use a hardware programmer to reflash the removable SPI chip manually. Otherwise, claim the warranty and a get a replacement board. If none of these suit you, you can leave things as they are even though itâs not recommended.
Thank you for the clarification.
Now I understand.
I did not hotflash, just swapped the SPI chips between boards, well, actually, just from the good board to my board, to be precise.
The good board came with an older BIOS version, just putting that chip into my board fixed nothing, it simply did not work at all, no POST, just blank screen.
Then I put the chip back into the good board, updated BIOS by EZ Flash on the good board, took off the chip and put it in my board, it worked. However, I did not check the ME Firmware version with that chip installed.
Took the chip off again, copied the info from it via a hardware programmer, flashed it into my boardâs chip via the same hardware programmer.
Now my board works, but no ME Firmware, or rather corrupted ME Firmware.
Perhaps the hardware programmer did not read all the info, or it did not write all the info, I cannot say, as I did not do that operation myself, some service guys did it (I do have access to hardware programmers, but I loaned them to some guy and now heâs not answering his phone).
Strange thing is that by flashing my chip via the hardware programmer with the .cap file from the ASUS site did not fix anything, itâs the first thing I tried. Board would not POST, booted up, reset after 3 seconds, and so on, nothing on screen.
But as far as I remember, I did not try an older version of the BIOS, I always tried flashing the latest, in fact, even with EZ Flash I flashed only the latest version and I think it verifies the versions are the same and it does not write all the info, only a very small portion.
Now my only options are :
1. try flashing an older version of the BIOS via EZ Flash, if it work and it fixes things, either live with it or upgrade BIOS again
2. try again via hardware flasher and in case things go wrong, I still have the full .bin file dump from the good board
3. buy a BIOS chip already programmed from eBay, hopefully that one works
Obviously. As I said above, you must remove the AMI Capsule from .cap files before flashing the SPI image via a hardware programmer or flashers such as FPT. You do that easily via CodeRushâs UEFITool. If you flash the .cap file from ASUS website as it is via a programmer or FPT (if FD allows write access everywhere for the latter) you will end up with a bricked system. ASUS specific flashers (USB FlashBack, EZ Flash, bupdater etc) should remove the AMI Capsule automatically and in fact expect it to be there to verify SPI image integrity. But when using a programmer, FPT and maybe AFU, the capsule must be removed first.
Your case (desktop with no special info, full SPI image provided by ASUS) and tool availability (programmer) make this problem easy to fix. Just download the latest SPI/BIOS .cap from ASUS and either:
1) Use EZ Flasher with the .cap file (check board manual on what EZ Flash expects as input)
2) Use programmer with the AMI Capsule removed first by UEFITool (exact size 0x1000000)
If option 1 does not work because for some reason EZ Flash deals only with the BIOS region of the SPI image (I donât think so, otherwise its almost the same as USB FlashBack), then go for option 2.
If you want, you can unlock the FD read/write access at the SPI image before EZ/programmer reflash in order to be able to service the locked regions down the road. They are normally locked for security purposes and if you always have a programmer, you donât really need to unlock it. Itâs your choice.
MEInfo doesnât show me any error. I can try ask GB support but I doubt they will bother with 6 years old MB. BTW itâs interesting that there also exist GA-P67-DS3-B3 ver 2.0 that got UEFI beta BIOS but mine ver 1.0 didnât. I donât care about it I think that legacy BIOS is better for backward compatability and maybe has less overhead.
Also I found that there is attempt to erradicate ME FW for security reasons: http://hardenedlinux.org/firmware/2016/1âŚ_ivybridge.html
AFAIK ME remote network acces should be only possible with intel NIC not Realtek but who knows what else can this proprietary blob doâŚ
I guess that such disabling ME also disables turbo and OâC features at all, maybe EIST too.
I answered at the MEA thread here. As for me_cleaner, itâs not something new. As for risks, check the Introduction here to learn what wonât work and also this discussion. Everything else is up to each individualâs choices.
I get the following:
while:
I flashed that using FPT though (afaik FPT uses FWUpdater) and all went fine. But i got one question: will the ME FW not be flashed to the SPI chip? I flashed the mentioned FW, then replaced the chip with another one and the FW version remains same
I havenât updated MEA and the DB yet, thatâs why you get the ânot in dbâ message and the Warning is different. Iâll wait for some results before releasing.
Never flash ME firmware (that is not your own dump or not produced via the cleanup guide) with FPT. FPT doesnât preserve system specific settings, FWUpdate does. You now use the ME dumped from another system which could very possibly have a different configuration. Use only FWUpdate for simple updating from one version to another. If you flashed with FPT, download the latest BIOS from your OEM, flash it and then update the ME via FWUpdate.
@plutomaniac
Thank you for the clarification. But this is how the .bat file (meupd.bin) look like i updated with:
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@echo off
if exist me.bin goto UPD
echo File me.bin not found.
goto EXIT
:UPD
echo Updating ME firmware from me.bin
fwupdlcl -f me.bin
:EXIT
echo Thank you for using FTK. Have a nice day.
 Took it from here
Do i need to reflash BIOS and update ME FW anyway? If yes, what method should i choose: DOS or WIN64 (11.6.13.1208 or 11.6.10.1196)? Thank you
EDIT: OmG, i just realized it was FTK, not FPT! Sorry, but... is the v11.6.13.1208 still safe for me?
Ah, FTK. Not the same as FPT of course. As you can see it uses FWUpdate so you are good. If you have a Consumer PCH-H system them 11.6 is just fine, nothing has changed from whatâs written at the first post. Also, FTK is not updated anymore. Itâs best if you use the tools from the System Tools packages directly.
Yes, i have a Consumer PCH-H system, but i couldnât find the v11.6.10.1196 (PCH-H; need it for another system) at the first page. Is it for a reason?
Also, is it safe to downgrade firmware using FWUpdater under DOS?
If you are talking about firmware, 11.6.10 is older than 11.6.13 so obviously it cannot be found at the first post. Older firmware can be found at the Firmware Repositories thread. If you meant the message at MEA, that refers to FWUpdate toolâs version 11.6.10.1196 which as of now is the latest we have and can be found at the first post.
Yes, EFI and DOS are safer than Windows but less convenient sometimes. The choice is yours.