Okay so you have a different mobo than me then because Maximus VIII Ranger doesn’t have 2 BIOS.
Okay I will try that when I get home from work.
@plutomaniac : 1. I will try this when I get home from work
2. Okay I’ll consider trying it if the chip is in fact easily removable and if nothing else works. Would this one do the job: eBay link Another thing I might add that I would definitely buy another chip to test this process since I don’t want to end up with a bad flash with my original chip and possibly make the whole computer unusable. Could you point me to the right direction for cheap BIOS chip compatible with ASUS Maximux VIII Ranger mobo?
3. If the BIOS FlashBack does flash only the BIOS region then why is the new version number of ME Firmware shown in the BIOS? I also tried to FlashBack older BIOS with the older ME Firmware and it did those additional steps (guessing that’s where the ME Firmware is installed) and a few more reboots like it did the first time when installing. Still the version number remained the same new one in the BIOS.
4. I tried to flash the official 1701 BIOS via EZ Flash from BIOS. Did not work.
EDIT by Fernando: Unneeded fully quoted text and blank lines removed (to save space and to improve the readability)
If you have an updated MEI firmware and use the flasher inside that firmware, the MEI region will be updated. I tried this on my Rampage V Extreme, which has all descriptors locked and it flashes MEI only if I upgrade it to a newer version.
MeInfo and MEManuf do not report any error at all and says it is OK.
Absolutely right, but many users have never seen an eeprom programmer before and they do not know how to use it. But I agree with you that it is the best choice to avoid any bios issues.
Totally agreed.
On some gigabytes mobo there was a tool which allowed to unlock the MEI region, but it does not work on ASUS motherboards (I tried it). The only thing (very strange) I tried is that if you use the same flasher used before to upgrade MEI firmware, it allows to flash the same version or a newer one, so it allows upgrade but not downgrade.
Exactly, I mean the bin file with no platform settings or adjusted settings via FIT, but if you flash this bin as is, Mobo will not boot anymore, you will experience a loop Qcode 00. So it is needed to put the correct settings (Platform/chipset) and matching settings of this bin with the Asus original one.
I know it is compatible/suitable but for some strange reason @gordmul and @superino experienced same problem, while other users not (and I can assure everyone I modded maximus VIII series bios in the same way).
Anyway, for the time being, as far as this issue is not solved, modded bios for these motherboards are removed. Even if each user knows that this operation is at his own risk, I do not want to cause more problems.
Thanks for your info @plutomaniac . Have a nice day.
2. Yes any CH341A, like the one CodeRush’s guide suggests, should do the job fine. As for the spi chip, I suggest you get another identical to what is currently installed.
3. To my current knowledge, BIOS FlashBack deals only with the BIOS region. I could be wrong though as my information is Pre-Skylake and I don’t have an ASUS motherboard, thus hands-on experience. It is also possible that ASUS has extended that feature’s capabilities now to include updating but not downgrading the ME region. Exactly how their procedure works, I do not know. It could be via actual ME region reflashing by temporarily disabling the ME and only for updating. It could also work with some custom FWUpdate efi modules that have made their appearance on post-SKL ASUS SPI images in conjunction with an AMI GUID which holds another ME region for recovery or update purposes. The latter is speculation.
@ Sylar76:
What do you mean "flasher inside that firmware"? Also, a quick correction: MEI is only used for the Drivers as the "I" stands for "Interface".
2. The only reason I mentioned that is because it was mentioned above that desoldering was needed or similar which is not in this case.
4. What Gigabyte tool are you refering to? Gigabyte tends to a) have two (soldered) SPI chips and b) leave the Flash Descriptor unlocked for easy reflashing if need be. Personally I like their approach as far as modding is concerned. By the "flasher", do you mean BIOS FlashBack? If yes, it could be what I said above to gordmul. Maybe ASUS has changed it’s behavior recently.
5. Obviously the platform won’t work properly or even at all if you flash a pre-configured ME region from another system. Generally, for all your mods, make sure you use the ME region of the given BIOS (SPI image) to mod and not from other (even almost identical) motherboards. Since transferring ME settings can be a bit of a drag sometimes, it’s also a good practice to leave the ME region of the SPI image intact and instruct the user to use FWUpdate afterwards which doesn’t care if the new firmware is EXTR/RGN and does not need any settings to be transferred. FWUpdate also allows some downgrading as long as the VCN of both current and older firmware is the same. Check my ME thread for more details. In the case of ASUS, this downgrade with FWUpdate won’t be accepted as ASUS is probably the worst when it comes to updating the ME region and thus the "stock" firmware theiy include has a lot older VCN. The fact that they still include a ME firmware from 08/2015 (that’s slightly before official SKL release by the way) it just impressive. ASUS and Gigabyte suck when it comes to ME region updating, MSI is generally very good.
6. After reflashing the ME region and obviously after making sure the settings are for that exact motherboard, always run Flash Programming Tool with the command fptw -greset once and there shouldn’t be any weird behavior afterwards. Only when using FPT or a whole ME region flasher, not required after FWUpdate.
Okay I tried that one too and the flashing went through without errors. Still the Ethernet didn’t start to work. I’m starting to believe that the problem is not related to ME Firmware. Is it possible to flash just the GBE Firmware?
Here’s the MEInfo:
D:\ME\MEInfo\WINDOWS64>meinfowin64.exe
Intel(R) MEInfo Version: 11.0.0.1205 Copyright(C) 2005 - 2016, Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.
Intel(R) ME code versions:
BIOS Version 1701 MEBx Version 0.0.0.0000 GbE Version 0.7 Vendor ID 8086 PCH Version 31 FW Version 11.0.10.1002 H LMS Version Not Available MEI Driver Version 11.0.5.1189 Wireless Hardware Version Not Available Wireless Driver Version Not Available
TLS Disabled Last ME reset reason Power up Local FWUpdate Enabled BIOS Config Lock Disabled GbE Config Lock Disabled Host Read Access to ME Disabled Host Write Access to ME Disabled Host Read Access to EC Disabled Host Write Access to EC Disabled SPI Flash ID 1 EF4018 SPI Flash ID 2 Unknown BIOS boot State Post Boot OEM ID 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000 Capability Licensing Service Enabled OEM Tag 0x00000000 Slot 1 Board Manufacturer 0x00000000 Slot 2 System Assembler 0x00000000 Slot 3 Reserved 0x00000000 M3 Autotest Disabled C-link Status Disabled Independent Firmware Recovery Disabled EPID Group ID 0xF85 OEM Public Key Hash FPF 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 OEM Public Key Hash ME 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 ACM SVN FPF 0x0 KM SVN FPF 0x0 BSMM SVN FPF 0x0 GuC Encryption Key FPF 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 GuC Encryption Key ME 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
FPF ME — – Force Boot Guard ACM Disabled Disabled Protect BIOS Environment Disabled Disabled CPU Debugging Enabled Enabled BSP Initialization Enabled Enabled Measured Boot Disabled Disabled Verified Boot Disabled Disabled Key Manifest ID 0x0 0x0 Enforcement Policy 0x0 0x0 PTT Disabled Enabled PTT Lockout Override Counter 0x0 EK Revoke State Not Revoked PTT RTC Clear Detection FPF 0x0
MEInfo is ok. I download the modded file today and compared the ME region settings to the stock one. Despite the version, the settings (DATA) are not the same. I assume that ME region was taken from another similar model, which should not happen. I have created a proper .CAP of the 1701 BIOS which has the newest ME firmware with the settings from your exact ASUS model (ASUS Maximus VIII Ranger). If ASUS BIOS FlashBack does indeed flash the ME region under certain circumstances nowadays despite the FD lock, I hope that it can do the same even when the version is the same. The attached file is of the same version but with correct DATA settings. Maybe that’s where the problem lies. The GbE of the stock and modded BIOS that you originally flashed are identical, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Another impressive accomplishment from ASUS is the fact that they still include GbE 0.7 which is more than a year old at this point with 0.8 being the latest as of 11.0.0.1202 which I am aware of. But for now your main concern is to get the system working properly again. Hopefully that will do it but I have reservations regarding whether BIOS FlashBack will reflash the same ME firmware version. We’ll see.
Okay thanks! I’ll try that one later today when I get home. I noticed btw that the modded file you used to compare is M8E_1701_MOD while the one I used for flashing was M8R_1701_MOD. Are you certain that the ME versions are identical in different mobo BIOS files (Extreme/Ranger in this case)?
Even if your message is for gordmul, I had to reply to make things clear. I took the ME stock file here, on this forum, I opened Flash Image Tool 11.x r7 tool, I extracted with UEFI Tool the ME Region from the Maximus VIII Ranger stock bios, and I matched the original Asus settings into the new ME firmware file. That’s all. I’ll take a look at your modded file to check these differences and which are these "correct DATA settings".
To compare, I downloaded the modded file from the link here. Indeed I checked against M8E_1701_MOD and not M8R_1701_MOD. Maybe that link got changed from Ranger to Extreme later down the line. Can I have the originally modded M8R_1701_MOD for Ranger to properly compare the settings this time?
I’m so sorry mate to have deleted 2 days ago the files inside the google folder (I’ve reuploaded only the Extreme 1701 bios mod).
Anyway, I’ve looked at your modded bios and done comparisons between your file and the stock Asus and I’ve found I made a mistake, the same I reported few days ago.
Furthermore, I’ve seen you’ve only replaced the ME Region and left the GUID module (which is a ME firmware) untouched to its version (which is not updated to the newest one). May I ask you why ?
Yes of course. I generally avoid replacing the recovery GUID because it’s use is BIOS/OEM dependent and I don’t know (without hands on experience) how the board will react to that change. For example, ASRock used to have a rather aggressive such check in the past and if the Engine firmware inside the GUID got updated, the system would end up in a boot loop because the “latest” ME version to look for at the GUID was hardcoded at the BIOS. I’m not saying that ASUS does that, they almost certainly don’t, but it could be a similar case. So to avoid any issues, I tend to leave the Recovery GUID alone unless the user wants to experiment.
Generally, if you guys have a programmer and can easily restore the SPI image in case of trouble, we could do some tests to determine how ASUS performs the ME update. Does BIOS FlashBack indeed work? Is it only for updating and not downgrading? Does the Recovery GUID play any role in all of this? All these questions need testers and time of course.
The file I have uploaded above is based on the stock ASUS BIOS so you can flash it. I compared the original mod and yes there are around 10 different settings and I found one which could be related to the problem you are facing:
So try the file I attached above and hopefully BIOS FlashBack will accept the same version.
@ Sylar76:
Hopefully it’s obvious but my posts are not meant to appear as I’m scolding your efforts. Just to be clear, it’s only constructive criticism which will lead to batter mods next time.
I know it and I really appreciate your words. After all we are only human and perfect things are unreachable. We are only trying to do our best for appearing them as "perfect".
P.S. Could you please tell me which is the tool you used to see differences in XML format ?
Please stop fully quoting other posts (inclusive the related pictures). We want easily readable informations and not a blown up thread, which contains all posts and pictures two or three times.
So probably BIOS FlashBack does not reflash the same version ME. Are you able to flash the BIOS (stock or modded) from within UEFI via EZ Flash 3? I’m not talking about USB FlashBack this time.
Also, can someone with an ASUS ROG board go to UEFI > Advanced > PCH Configuration and tell me the "South Bridge Stepping"? It should be xx/D0, I’m looking for the first xx number.
