I’ve been reading around on how to reflash the whole ME region with FPT while having an unlocked descriptor. I’m a bit lost on the subject . pinmod ? Can you tell me what exactly I need to do???
First things first, what motherboard do you have exactly? Have you verified that your descriptor is locked? A quick dirty check can be done using FPT -d test.bin command. If it succeeds, you have an unlocked descriptor. If not, it’s locked.
Mainboard: ASUS Z87-DELUXE 2103 Bios.
I ran the merefl.bat in dos from FTK9_0.11, I renamed my 2103 bios to bios.bin & it returned it was locked.
Asus locks the descriptor so as you said it’s not unlocked. The motherboard does not have a Dual BIOS system but uses Asus BIOS Flashback which is useless in this case since it doesn’t reflash the ME region. So, you need to try the pinmod method. You have a Realtek ALC1150 audio chip so this is the procedure:
1. Download the attached ME.rar file which is the ME firmware found inside your motherboard’s latest 2103 BIOS
2. Download FTK9_0.11 (FTK for 8-series systems) from CodeRush’s github
3. Extract the ME file from step 1, extract FTK9_0.11, go to Windows folder and copy the file bios.bin together with the .bat files
4. Shut Down the computer
5. At your motherboard, find the Realtek Audio chip
6. Use tweezers or a paper clip to short together pins 1 and 5
7. Power the PC on and wait for POST screen to show up
8. You can now stop shorting the two pins
9. Boot at Windows (you are now running the system with an unlocked descriptor)
10. At FTK Windows folder, open a command prompt as administrator and type merefl
11. After a successful ME restore, type poweroff to shutdown the system, restore the lock & reset the ME
12. Run MEInfo & MEManuf v9.0 tools from the ME thread to check that everything is working properly
ME.rar (1010 KB)
I’m having a hard time finding the audio chip, It must be behind my graphics card.
Bottom Left, you should see that image on top of the chip:
ok I found the chip but it is hard as hell to see the pins , I’ve tried a couple of times with no luck. Is there anything else that can be done?
Thanks
No, that’s it. Since the realtek audio chips are very small, the best way to try this is by having the motherboard plugged-in but outside the case; maybe on top of a non-conductive card-box (motherboard’s box for example) or something. This way you will have more space for your hands. Also, something very thin (and conductive of course) must be used to bridge/short the pins properly.
Thanks for putting all this great information here for members. I updated my ME firmware tonight and already have noticed better results. 
Right, I forgot. The HDA_SDO method ("pinmod") is the official from Intel but if you cannot perform it you can try other more advanced stuff.
1. Get a flash programmer and reflash your whole BIOS chip externally - this will not take into consideration the flash descriptor lock of course
2. Get a new pre-flashed BIOS chip which can be replaced by you fairly easily once acquired
For those two "solutions" (they both require some payment to get the system running properly again, thus the quotes) I suggest you ask lordkag and especially CodeRush who have experience with such things and can recommend affordable programmers which will do the job nicely.
Ok, this verifies, that it really was the Intel MEI driver, which prolongated the boot time.
Please check (right click onto the Intel(R) Management Engine Interface > "Properties" > "Driver" > "Driver Details"), whether the device is using the Intel ME driver named HECI(x64).sys or TEEDriver(x64).sys.
Just got back from the holiday. I reinstalled the 10.0.30.1054 driver to see what driver it was using and it was the TeeDriver, which was what I thought I remembered. But now the reboot cycle is back to 17s. Go figure.
Thanks
That makes sense, as I thought the ME driver has nothing to do with boot time. It was probably something else causing it, maybe even background Windows updates. Doesn’t really matter though.
Updated since 24/11/2014:
Added at ME System Tools v10.0: Debug Configuration Tool(DOS): 1.0.0.1405
Added at ME System Tools v10.0: ME 10 SW 1.5MB and 5MB SKUs HotFix Notes WW12 2014 documentation
Updated at ME System Tools v9.0: Flash Programming Tool(DOS) from v9.0.21.1452 → v9.0.22.1467
Updated at ME System Tools v9.0: Flash Programming Tool(Windows) from v9.0.21.1452 → v9.0.22.1467
Updated at ME System Tools v9.0: Flash Programming Tool(Windows64) from v9.0.21.1452 → v9.0.22.1467
Fixed ME7 MEManuf link title from v7.1.20.1119 to v7.1.30.1139
* A lot of text changes, removals, additions, moving etc to make the thread more informative & easier to read
General Notes:
→ Regarding Intel ME: Are you still wondering what the hell it does exactly? THIS should help you understand. Also added to the ME Thread on the top.
→ Regarding ME System Tools v9.1: As you can see this is the only incomplete package and that’s because it’s hard to track tools for it. The recently added HotFix Notes WW12 documentation that was added at ME System Tools v10.0 confirms my suspicions that the ME System Tools v9.1 are included with certain v10.0 packages + drivers that Intel releases at their VIP site. So, to find v9.1 tools we need to find a v10 package that is intended for 9-series systems. This makes sense since there were never v9.1 drivers but v9.0, v9.5, v9.6 and then v10.0. Almost always, same version firmware comes with same version drivers (v9.5 firmware + v9.5 drivers etc).
→ Regarding MEManuf Tool: MEManuf is clearly the most important tool when it comes to ME validation so make sure you use it. Keep in mind that the correct command to run is actually MEManuf -EOL which verifies that the ME is ready for consumers. However, this command will show errors if your descriptor is unlocked since it’s a security risk and thus not recommended by Intel. For example, my Gigabyte Z77 system came with an unlocked descriptor so the -EOL command will report 3 errors related to Mfg Mode, Mfg Done Bit & Flash Region Access Permissions.
Thank’s for updated tool
Intel® Management Engine Interface(MEI) Driver 10.0.31.1000 (1.5M)
http://downloadmirror.intel.com/24499/en…1.1000_1.5m.zip
Intel® Management Engine Interface(MEI) Driver 10.0.31.1000 (5M)
http://downloadmirror.intel.com/24500/en…31.1000_5m.zip
Dammit Intel, I just uploaded that 100MB file. 
Also, the correct version is 1000 not 1001 that can be found at Station drivers. Thank you Stasio for the Intel links! I added the pages from Intel, not just the links.
Updated Intel MEI Drivers & Software from v10.0.30.1072 → v10.0.31.1000 for 1.5MB systems
Updated Intel MEI Drivers & Software from v10.0.30.1072 → v10.0.31.1000 for 5MB systems
v4.2.10.1023 toolchain here:
http://dl.msi.com/download_files/ipc/dvr…4.2.10.1023.zip
edit: looks like the tools may be the same version as already here. may be some new other content though
Yes, these tools are already available. Still, thank you for the reply. 
It may be important to mention, that these new Intel MEI Drivers & Software packages v10.0.31.1000 contain exactly the same Intel MEI drivers (v10.0.30.1058 WHQL) as the previously offered v10.0.30.1072 Sets.
Conclusion: Intel has only updated the Intel MEI software, not the drivers.
Yes, if the drivers were updated I would have mentioned it. These are just software. Btw, a quick way to check what MEI & SOL driver versions are included within the SetupME.exe packages is to open the included .xml file.