Recovering the ME on a Fujitsu computer...

Special Topics Intel Management Engine
1

Hello!,

So i got this computer, a Fujitsu ESPRIMO E400 (H61 chipset) and it can’t boot due to the next errors:

(A7) Me FW Downgrade - Request MeSpiLock Failed

And two seconds later the computer freezes with the next error:

Error sending End of Post message to ME, System HALT!

Before i get into the first error, the ME FW Downgrade … i can actually get into the BIOS setup. But, past the BIOS post those two errors show up and the computer halts and can’t boot anything.

There are 3 different versions of the motherboard for this computer, D2990-A1x; D2990-A2x and D2990-A3x.

This computer has a D2990-A1x motherboard, and this issue appeared when the BIOS got updated using the D2990-A3x BIOS rom, the reason is because the D2990-A3x which is almost exactly the same but supports a lot more processors than D2990-A1x and we/i needed to upgrade the processor on this computer so i went crazy and updated (modding the D2990-A1x BIOS and updating the microcode doesn’t help with supporting more processors).

After some investigating, the motherboard has a jumper called Desc Override Enable, odd enough if i plug that jumper, the computer boots just fine!, so i guess it disables Intel ME or something like that.

Apparently the computer is working fine like this and i can even use the processor i needed so i achieved what i wanted BUT i’m not sure how is it gonna affect running without Intel ME or whatever that jumper does so i’m trying to somehow recover the ME firmware.

Dumping both bios versions on ME Analyzer i figured where is the error; the D2990-A3x has a more modern ME version (v8 vs v7)…

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-------[ ME Analyzer v1.7.0_21 ]-------
            Database r74
 
File:     D2990-A3.UPD
 
Firmware: Intel ME
Version:  8.1.51.1471
Release:  Production
Type:     Region, Extracted
FD:       Unlocked
SKU:      1.5MB
VCN:      2
PV:       Yes
Date:     28/08/2013
FITC Ver: 8.1.51.1471
Size:     0x17D000
Latest:   No
 

 
-------[ ME Analyzer v1.7.0_21 ]-------
            Database r74
 
File:     D2990-A1.UPD
 
Firmware: Intel ME
Version:  7.0.10.1203
Release:  Production
Type:     Update
FD:       Unlocked
SKU:      1.5MB
Date:     22/02/2011
Platform: CPT
Latest:   No
 


So the first thing i did was to extract the ME region from the D2990-A1.UPD bios and try to flash it with FWupdate BUT i get the next error: Error 8193: Intel (R) ME Interface : Cannot locate ME device driver

So now i'm out of ideas...

In case you need the BIOS versios i uploaded them >here< .
2

I’m trying to figure if i can follow the process you described >here< about cleaning the DATA section of a dumped SPI image with the BIOSes i have and flashing it… ?

Let’s say i pick the firmware 7.0.10.1203_1.5MB_CPT_PRD_RGN.bin from the repository which matches the same ME firmware that comes with the D2990-A1.UPD bios rom and i dump it on FIT v7 to extract the ME Region.bin from it, then i dump the D2990-A3.UPD on FIT v??? and replace his ME Region.bin with the extracted one from the repository and then i build and flash with FPT… ?

If this could help, which version of FIT should i use when i dump D2990-A3.UPD ?, v7 or v8?, i tried and it actually works with both without errors…

What is the command line i should use to flash with FPT?, just FPT -f bios.bin and after FPT -greset ?

Thanks again!

3

Ivy Bridge cpus require ME8 firmware. The jumper you have found disables the Flash Descriptor lock to allow read/write access to the ME region and also sets the ME to Recovery mode. It’s essential if you want to do ME firmware reflashes. If you have a SNB cpu then don’t bother with such a change. Otherwise try a fptw -greset first and the set the jumper to default/locked followed by a restart. If that fails you can try cleaning the ME8 region of the BIOS you flashed as the guide says and flash it back while the jumper is set/enabled. The problem should be mostly ME settings due to the flashing of a different major version for a different system.

4

Yes the new CPU i want to use is an Ivy Bridge while the old one was a SB. I will try to clean the ME region tomorrow then and leave it with v8 ME then, the greset i already tried but didn’t work.

5

The error that you get seems to indicate that the BIOS is trying to downgrade the ME firmware because a change was detected but fails to do so while the Flash Descriptor lock is engaged (jumper at default position). I can think of two possible cross-flash issues: a) you kept the A1 BIOS with the ME of A3 → not going to work as ME8 requires a BIOS with support for it or b) the new ME8 BIOS has some check to verify the board type and try to flash back or similar. What I would suggest you try is to take the D2990-A3.UPD image, follow the ME cleanup guide on it and then flash it at the entire 4MB SPI chip, of course with the jumper set to unlocked. Shutdown, lock the jumper, enter BIOS and restore defaults, restart and disable any security options such as BootGuard, AntiTheft, PPT etc at the BIOS and after another restart do a "fptw -greset" to reset the platform and test if it works.