[Offer] ASUS ROG STRIX B760-I BIOS MOD - Unlocked Hidden Settings

BIOS/UEFI Modding Offers: Already modded special BIOSes
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Mobo
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ASUS ROG STRIX B760-I Guide

Intro and warning

Warning: Flashing this modified UEFI firmware may permanently brick your motherboard. Proceed only if you fully understand the risks! I am not responsible for any damage, bricked hardware, or other issues caused by this firmware. Flash at your own risk.

This is a modified UEFI firmware for the ASUS ROG STRIX B760-I mini-ITX motherboard (firmware version 1805 with Intel’s 0x12B microcode) to enable undervolting and overclocking. This modification unlocks the ability to set the Global Core SVID Voltage to adaptive or offset mode.

All settings remain at their defaults, so you’ll need to manually toggle the necessary locks before making any changes. The main reason I modified this firmware was to unhide CFG Lock, which improves power management in macOS with OpenCore for Hackintosh setups.

According to the official user manual, this motherboard includes ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3, which may allow recovery if something goes wrong and the system becomes unbootable. To recover, download the official ASUS UEFI capsule file, rename it to ASUS.CAP, and place it in the root directory of a FAT32-formatted USB drive. Note that I didn’t need to test this feature, and hopefully you don’t either.

Important Notes

  • Use only on ASUS ROG STRIX B760-I running firmware version 1805 or lower.
  • This motherboard was not designed for overclocking, and some of these hidden features may have been disabled by ASUS for good reason. While this firmware unlocks these features, their functionality and stability are not guaranteed. So far I haven’t noticed any issues though.
  • Advanced features present on higher-end ASUS Z-series motherboards are still missing from this modification. Features such as Extreme Tweaker, AI Features, and Silicon Prediction (SP Score) were not present at all in the firmware for the B760-I motherboard, so of course they can’t be unhidden.
  • Using UEFI-Editor, I modified the access level of hidden features from 9 to 1, which unlocked several menus and additional options dependent on the ones listed below. These changes also revealed many advanced settings, including options that may not have been designed for end-user access.

Unhidden Features

Unlocked Drop-Down Menu Options

Global Core SVID Voltage

  • New Options: Adaptive and Offset

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SVID Behavior

  • New Option: Trained

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Intel Default Setting

  • New Option: Extreme

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New Menus

CPU Lock Configuration
Advanced → CPU Configuration → Power Management Control → View/Configure CPU Lock Options

  • Includes options to enable or disable CFG Lock and Overclocking Lock

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OverClocking Feature
Advanced → OverClocking Performance Menu

  • Adds extensive overclocking capabilities, including frequency and voltage tweaking.

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RC ACPI Settings
Advanced → RC ACPI Settings

  • Unlocks power state-related options, including “Low Power S0 Idle Capability.”

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Security Configuration
Advanced → PCH Configuration → Security Configuration

  • Unlocks additional security-related settings tied to platform controllers.

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Instructions

Requirements

Introduction

To flash the firmware, we first need to unlock the BIOS lock. Since this is hidden in the stock firmware, we cannot simply toggle the setting through the BIOS interface. Instead, we’ll need to modify the values via NVRAM. There are several guides on WinRaid that use modified grub, setup_var, and RU.EFI tools to achieve this. However, all three of these applications encountered errors due to write protection.

The only tool that worked for me was AMI SCE / WinSCE. The others produced the following errors:

RU.EFI 5.34.0426-BETA:

Error: Write variable failed (0x0000001A)

Setup_var.efi (0.3.0):

Error: Failed to write variable  
Error: Failed to set content of variable CpuSetup (SECURITY_VIOLATION)

grub-mod-setup_var.efi (2.06):

Error: Unable to set variable using EFI (Error: 0x000000000000008a)

Preparation

  1. Boot into BIOS by pressing F2 at boot, press F5 to restore factory defaults, then press F10 to save and reset.

  2. Boot into BIOS again with F2. Enable the following two options (Use F9 to Search):

    • Setup → Tool → Publish HII Resources
    • Setup → Advanced → UEFI Variables Protection → Password protection of Runtime Variables

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  1. Press F10 to save and boot into Windows 10 or 11.

Downloading AMI SCE / SCE WIN

  1. Navigate to AMISCE/WINSCE (SCEHUB) and download the latest release. Launch DL_SCEWIN.exe, which will open a command prompt window. SCEWIN should begin downloading automatically. Be aware that it might take some time for any activity to appear; in my case, the prompt remained black for an extended period before progressing.

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  1. Optional: Once the process is complete, copy the contents from .\SCEWIN\5.05.01.0002 to C:\TOOLS.

Download Flash Programming Tool (FPTW64)

  1. Download FPTW64 from Intel Management Engine: Drivers, Firmware and Tools for ME 16+ and extract the archive.

  2. Optional: Copy the FPTW64.exe from CSME System Tools v16.1 r0\Flash Programming Tool\WIN64 to C:\Tools.

Create a backup

  1. Right click start, open PowerShell as Administrator and navigate to the folder where FPTW64.exe is located.

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  1. Run the following command to check if FPTW64 is working: .\FPTW64.exe -I

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If this is was successful you can now create a backup by dumping the BIOS, I recommend doing this at least two to four times and comparing the resulting file hashes to verify the integrity of the dump.

Run the following command to create the first backup:

.\FPTW64.exe -BIOS -D B760-I_1805_DUMP1.BIN

After the first dump is complete, repeat the process with a new file name for the second dump:

.\FPTW64.exe -BIOS -D B760-I_1805_DUMP2.BIN

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Next, compare the two hashes to ensure the files are identical and verify that both are 32,768 KB (32 MB) in size. If the files meet these conditions, store them in a secure location. This will allow you to recover the firmware using a hardware flasher if anything goes wrong.

To compare the hashes, use the following command:

Get-FileHash .\Filename.bin

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We can try to flash them back but you will see the BIOS lock prevents this. Try:

.\FPTW64.exe -BIOS -F B760-I_1805_DUMP1.BIN

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Extract the NVRAM variables

Next, open PowerShell with administrative privileges and navigate to the folder where SCEWIN_x64.exe is located (in my case, it’s the same folder: C:\Tools).

Then, run the command:

.\Export.bat

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A new file named nvram.txt should appear in the folder. Open it in a text editor, then open a new, empty file.

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Copy the first few lines from nvram.txt into the new file.

Next, use CTRL + F to search for BIOS lock. Once located, copy the block of code containing the BIOS lock to the new file and move the asterisk from [Enabled] to [Disabled]

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Run .\Import.bat through PowerShell.

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Reboot your PC, then open PowerShell as Administrator once more.

Navigate back to the folder containing FPTWIN64, and copy the modified firmware (downloaded from the bottom of this page) into the folder.

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Flash the modified firmware using the following command (it should succeed now):

.\FPTW64.exe -BIOS -F B760-I_1805_MOD.BIN

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Reboot your PC again, and you should see a screen prompting you to press F1 to enter BIOS and F5 to reset to factory defaults.

Don’t worry if the first boot takes longer than usual. This is normal after flashing new firmware. Once the process is complete, the GMAN should appear, and the hidden features will be accessible when you enter the UEFI BIOS.

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Download

B760-I_1805_MOD.BIN

Changelog

Edit 1 - 18/01/24: Revised several sections for clarity.
Edit 2 - 18/01/24: Included a screenshot of the boot logo.
Edit 3 - 18/01/24: Added Changelog

3 Likes
2

Reserved for instructions on modifying the firmware.

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@denisuu Thanks for sharing your modified BIOS and writing the very detailed guide so that others may benefit.

1 Like
4

@chinobino @denisuu
HELLO. I’m struggling for unlock bios FOR rz09-0484 laptop.

BUT error occured. because of error:168 FPRR IN FPTW64.EXE.

Can you advise this problem?

5

Thanks!

I had it all documented in my OneNote for personal reference, so I figured I might as well share how to flash it. I’ve also documented the BIOS modification process, but it still needs some rewriting before I can post it.

1 Like
6

Before attempting to modify your firmware, it’s important to determin whether Intel Boot Guard is enabled, If Intel Boot Guard is enabled, flashing a modified firmware will brick your laptop, so proceed with caution.

If Boot Guard is not enabled, you can try disabling the BIOS lock:

  1. Using UEFI-Shell:

    • Boot into UEFI-Shell.
    • Use the tool setup_var to set the correct offset and turn the BIOS lock off.

  2. If UEFI-Shell doesn’t work, try RU.EFI.

  3. If neither method works, you can try using SCEWIN. Note, however, that if your laptop is not an ASUS model, you may not be able to enable certain options like Publish HII Resources or Password Protection of Runtime Variables, which could prevent this method from working. Keep an eye on the GitHub repo, maybe a solution will pop-up there.

  4. As a last resort, check if your laptop has a SOP8 chip. If it does, you can:

    • Dump the firmware using a hardware flasher like the CH341A.
    • Turn off the BIOS lock in the firmware.
    • Write the modified firmware back to the chip.

  5. Alternatively, you can gain temporary full read/write access by performing the pin mod, an official Debug method by Intel which unlocks access to all flash regions.

Good luck!

1 Like
7

@denisuu
THANKS!

All of the errors described in the text above have occurred (RU, GRUBSHELL)
So I want to use SCEWIN but on the basic AMI APTIO bios screen I didn’t find any features
If it was similar, it was just SECUREBOOT option and key deletion.
HII RESOURCESPASSWORD was nowhere to be found, but in this case, all you have to do is use CH341A to dump it, modify it, and flash it, right?

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You’re probably out of luck if you’re relying on software alone. I updated my reply above to include the pin-method. If your laptop uses a Realtek audio chip, check which one it is, then find the spec sheet for that specific chip and identify which pins to bridge. For example, on my board, it’s an ALC1220. That said, I wouldn’t recommend this approach. It involves removing the chip’s shielding, and the pins are extremely tiny.

If you’re planning to go the CH341A route, I suggest practicing with some old hardware first, like an old PC, router, or modem you don’t use.

Either way, you’ll need to do some research on your own. This topic isn’t about my specific motherboard, and it’s not even close. I don’t mean to be rude, but I can’t spend more time explaining this.

1 Like
9

Thanks for your dedication.
I ll find the answer.