Need clean ME for 14.1.72.2287 (Corporate H)

[jeremy.b]

I’m working to enable AMT on a Dell Precision 3440 SFF (Xeon W 1250, W480 chipset all appear to support it).

I’ve successfully dumped out the entire SPI and the ME bin files. (The service jumper pads on this Dell do still work to enable service mode, even without a jumper soldered in place).

I modified the menus to enable AMT/KVM per [Help] Bricked BIOS DellPrecision 7520. Help needed for recovery - #16 by lfb6 (and the main ME cleaning link there in).

I didn’t find a clean/stock ME partition close to my current version, and reflashing with the modified SPI with the AMT menus enabled didn’t seem to help (after power cycle etc).

I assume, based on further reading, that I DO need a clean/stock ME partition for the AMT changes to work.

I’m looking suggestions and help to find a cleaned 14.1.72.2287 ME partition.

Links (to my FW dumps etc):

(SPI.bin, ME.bin, config.xml etc): BiosMods – Google Drive

See below for MEA output:

╔═══════════════════════════════════════════╗
║         ME Analyzer v1.307.0 r348         ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════════════╝

╔════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║               SPI.bin (1/1)                ║
╟─────────────────────────────┬──────────────╢
║            Family           │    CSE ME    ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼──────────────╢
║           Version           │ 14.1.72.2287 ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼──────────────╢
║           Release           │  Production  ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼──────────────╢
║             Type            │  Extracted   ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼──────────────╢
║             SKU             │ Corporate H  ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼──────────────╢
║           Chipset           │ CNP/CMP-H A  ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼──────────────╢
║ TCB Security Version Number │      1       ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼──────────────╢
║ ARB Security Version Number │      12      ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼──────────────╢
║    Version Control Number   │      41      ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼──────────────╢
║       Production Ready      │     Yes      ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼──────────────╢
║      OEM Configuration      │      No      ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼──────────────╢
║       FWUpdate Support      │  Impossible  ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼──────────────╢
║             Date            │  2023-06-24  ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼──────────────╢
║      File System State      │ Initialized  ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼──────────────╢
║             Size            │   0x8D5000   ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼──────────────╢
║       Flash Image Tool      │ 14.0.33.1125 ║
╚═════════════════════════════╧══════════════╝
╔═════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║         Power Management Controller         ║
╟─────────────────────────────┬───────────────╢
║            Family           │      PMC      ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼───────────────╢
║           Version           │ 140.2.01.1018 ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼───────────────╢
║           Release           │   Production  ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼───────────────╢
║             Type            │  Independent  ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼───────────────╢
║         Chipset SKU         │       H       ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼───────────────╢
║       Chipset Stepping      │       A       ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼───────────────╢
║ TCB Security Version Number │       3       ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼───────────────╢
║ ARB Security Version Number │       3       ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼───────────────╢
║    Version Control Number   │       0       ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼───────────────╢
║       Production Ready      │      Yes      ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼───────────────╢
║             Date            │   2021-02-22  ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼───────────────╢
║             Size            │    0x14000    ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼───────────────╢
║       Chipset Support       │      CMP      ║
╚═════════════════════════════╧═══════════════╝
╔═════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║         Power Management Controller         ║
╟─────────────────────────────┬───────────────╢
║            Family           │      PMC      ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼───────────────╢
║           Version           │ 140.2.01.1018 ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼───────────────╢
║           Release           │   Production  ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼───────────────╢
║             Type            │  Independent  ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼───────────────╢
║         Chipset SKU         │       H       ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼───────────────╢
║       Chipset Stepping      │       A       ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼───────────────╢
║ TCB Security Version Number │       3       ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼───────────────╢
║ ARB Security Version Number │       3       ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼───────────────╢
║    Version Control Number   │       0       ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼───────────────╢
║       Production Ready      │      Yes      ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼───────────────╢
║             Date            │   2021-02-22  ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼───────────────╢
║             Size            │    0x14000    ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼───────────────╢
║       Chipset Support       │      CMP      ║
╚═════════════════════════════╧═══════════════╝
╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║         Platform Controller Hub Configuration         ║
╟─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────╢
║            Family           │           PCHC          ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────╢
║           Version           │       14.0.0.7002       ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────╢
║           Release           │ Production, Engineering ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────╢
║             Type            │       Independent       ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────╢
║ TCB Security Version Number │            0            ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────╢
║ ARB Security Version Number │            0            ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────╢
║    Version Control Number   │            0            ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────╢
║       Production Ready      │           Yes           ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────╢
║             Date            │        2020-06-12       ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────╢
║             Size            │          0x1000         ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────╢
║       Chipset Support       │           CMP           ║
╚═════════════════════════════╧═════════════════════════╝
╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║         Platform Controller Hub Configuration         ║
╟─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────╢
║            Family           │           PCHC          ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────╢
║           Version           │       14.0.0.7002       ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────╢
║           Release           │ Production, Engineering ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────╢
║             Type            │       Independent       ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────╢
║ TCB Security Version Number │            0            ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────╢
║ ARB Security Version Number │            0            ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────╢
║    Version Control Number   │            0            ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────╢
║       Production Ready      │           Yes           ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────╢
║             Date            │        2020-06-12       ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────╢
║             Size            │          0x1000         ║
╟─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────╢
║       Chipset Support       │           CMP           ║
╚═════════════════════════════╧═════════════════════════╝

Error: Detected MFS Low Level File 12 which has not been parsed!

[lfb6]

@jeremy.b

SPI.bin, ME.bin, config.xml etc)

Is SPI.bin your original dump?

[jeremy.b]

Yes

[lfb6]

Which file did you use to replace ME Sub Partition in the Decomp folder?

[jeremy.b]

I didn’t use any of the files. I simply enabled the AMT/KVM menus in FIT and re flashed.

The closest ME file I could find per the guide is 14.1.53.1649_COR_H_A_PRD_RGN.bin in CSME 14.1 Repository r9. The file size was quite a bit different than my OOTB ME.bin file, so that’s why I didn’t replate the ME Sub Partition.bin.

Edit: Since I’m not using a SPI programmer I wanted to be extra careful

[lfb6]

Try:

@lfb6

CSE ME 14.1.72.2287 Prod CorpH CNP CMP-H A.bin.zip (5.0 MB)

If you open outimage again in FIT, save config to xml and compare xml ‘before’ and ‘after’ it shows no difference, just the file locations for the decomposed files differ. No need to flash then!

(For AMT to work you need a compatible NIC, too)

EDIT
Otherwise the link in the first post of this thread is still valid for latest versions (latest is 14.1.74.2355, slightly newer)

Intel (Converged Security) Management Engine: Drivers, Firmware and Tools (2-15)

Intel (Converged Security) Management Engine: Drivers, Firmware and Tools for (CS)ME 2-15 Last Updated: 2022-09-08 Intel Management Engine Introduction: Built into many Intel-based platforms is a small, low power computer subsystem called the Intel Management Engine (Intel ME). This can perform various tasks while the system is booting, running or sleeping. It operates independently from the main CPU, BIOS and OS but can interact with them if needed. The ME is responsible for many parts of a…

[jeremy.b]

We have success!

What is really interesting is I did re-open my first modified BIN file and none of the AMT changes I made “stuck”.

This time, along with using the 14.1.72.2287 ME partition, they did “stick” and the flash worked.

I have a second Precision 3440 SFF I’ll be doing this to and we’ll see how that one goes.

Thanks for your help!

[lfb6]

Thanks for the feedback.

It’s not possible to re-use an already initialized ME sub partition for FIT. It simply get reused, no fresh initializing, no changed settings.