[Request] Asus P9x79 BIOS with NVMe support

@MeatWar - This is the first time I’ve done this hence a bit lost. The reason I was looking at that thread is because the instructions stated:

  • “Don’t forget to re-insert the original capsule and to save the modded BIOS as *.CAP file according to [>this< ] guide written by MeatWar.”

I’m not sure how to ‘re-insert the original capsule and to save the modded BIOS as *.CAP file’.

I was following this thread [HowTo] Get full NVMe Support for all Systems with an AMI UEFI BIOS

I don’t know or understand the process of re-inserting the original cap which is the next step I need to complete in the guide above as it states:

“Don’t forget to re-insert the original capsule and to save the modded BIOS as *.CAP file according to [>this< ] guide written by MeatWar.”

If anyone can give clarity on what to do here I’d be grateful. Thanks.

@drjarmin
Just to make it clear:

Your quoted text is not and was never part of my Guide about how to get full NVMe support (=start post of >this< thread)!
Question:
Did you remove the capsule header of the BIOS at all? Note: This procedure is only required for ASUS mainboards, which don’t offer the USB Flashback feature!
If you followed my guide and inserted the NVMe module into the original (untouched) BIOS *.CAP file, you can simply rename and save the modded file named “P9X79-ASUS-4801-Mod.ROM.fd” as “‘P9X79-ASUS-4801-Mod.CAP” file, but don’t forget to rename it by using the ASUSRenamer tool before you are going to flash it.
If you are unsure, please attach your modded BIOS or give me a link.

Hi Fernando, thank you for looking into this. Yes, I am sure I’m following your guide. Under Step 1 - Preparation, the third bullet is:

*Only for ASUS BIOSes with the suffix .CAP

My motherboard is an ASUS P9x79 and the latest version of the BIOS file from Asus is called “P9X79-ASUS-4801.CAP” which has the suffix .CAP so I followed the steps outlined in that section using the UEFITool as outlined in the guide.

Is this step unnecessary? I’ve zipped the modified BIOS file and attached as you recommended.

Thanks again, I’m new to this and still learning so apologies if I’m overlooking something obvious.

P9X79-ASUS-4801-Mod.ROM.fd.zip (4.6 MB)

@Fernando I’ve followed your steps and ignored the 'Extract the body of the original *.CAP BIOS". After I inserted the module, I got a message “Saving secure capsule as unsigned” in the MMTool (v5.0.0.7). Is that an issue? I’ve attached a screenshot and a copy of the resulting BIOS file.

Thanks
P9X79-ASUS-4801 (Untouched).zip (4.6 MB)

Use MMTOOL 4.x

Take it, NVMe mod only, USB BFB method only.
P9X79-ASUS-4801.rar (4.2 MB)

Thank you! I’ll try this BIOS, appreciate you sharing it.

I followed this video for my ASUS P9x79 and it worked for NVMe and rebar:
video guid x79 ASUS then MSI

Make sure to run rebarstate and set “32” for unlimited. Also flash from rear panel with PC off and hold down button for 5 sec. Here is my bios file

P9x79 CAP file:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/u9k43pfzellxp6hgt4iy4/p9x79.cap?rlkey=eua3yccu0vqpt5lp0mi6klcnx&st=3rpl97jc&dl=0

GPUzCPUzRebarNVMe

I have been using the bios Asus Bios P9X79-4701-Mod-NVME-SA-Switch. I have a date of 1-19-19. It works great, I have no performance issues. Other than, I need to keep the surge setting disabled. And, that may be my power source because I have a good power supply.

My question is: Is there a PCIe bios setting keeping my drives from going into sleep mode? I never messed with the PCIe settings.

PCIe settings like ASPM would only have impact on disks connected to a PCIe card storage controller, in this motherboard, other than this edit your power plans in Windows regarding disks.
Some hdd’s power management can also be changed/balanced with some disks utils.

Well, Auto ASPM did nothing. I am using Intel 760p drives with the 760p Solid State Drive Client PCIe drivers. The white paper states it supports both levels of PM. I tested other drivers as well.

I came here because this is the P9x79/ NVMe place where I received the bios

Why didn’t you mention this initially… what i wrote are for standard HDD disks on internal SATA chipset of the motherboard.
Modern SSDs and NVMe disks are often managed by their internal controller and driver if specific OEM model is used/required, not using MS OOB standart drivers.

ASPM is very often disable by default in bios, cause they cant deal with all kind of hw devices, brands and models around in the market.

So its you choice to engage them and see how the system/power management reactes, some do not even boot when some ASPM seetings are modified or some power managment apps stop responding…resuming enabling ASPM in certain systems configurations can be very unstable, specially desktop user builds.

P9X79_4701_NVMeStd_(08-2021).zip (4.6 MB)
Asus Bios P9X79-4701-Mod-NVME-SA-Switch.zip (4.6 MB)

The ASPM setting do nothing on my system that I can find. I tested all of them for several days each. Same with the ErP Ready setting - nothing. I have both hardware switches off. And, I don’t have Asus utilities loaded on my system. I found them buggy.

My PCIe NVMe drives work at full NVMe 3.0 x4 speeds but no power management in Win 7 or 10

Also, I would add a USB 3.0 card. But, I only have a PCIe 1x slot available. I think this motherboard supports 1/2 USB 3.0. Not full USB 3.0 speeds. About 1/2

CrystalDiskMark_20250115192532
CrystalDiskMark_20250115192151

More than enough bandwidth for the USB3.0 card addon.

The USB3.0 on this mb comes from the ASMEDIA ASM1042 chipset on her, not from Intel X79 chipset.

Several FWs avaible for it, from Asus officially and 3rd party, as drivers also.

I am using a direct connection (no hubs) to the USB 3.0 ASMEDIA ASM1042 ports. The speeds I get are many times faster than USB 2.0. Plus, the ports are clearly noted in the manual. Right now, I am using the ASMedia USB 3.0+3.1 Drivers & Software Set v1.16.61.1 WHQL.rar Driver. I find them a little slower than the old driver ASMedia Technology Inc, 8/16/2013, 1.16.12.0. I think the problem is the link to the motherboard. About the same speed as a USB 3.0 card hooked into a 1x slot - It even has that in your image 1x. I think USB3.0 should hook to a 4x link. Or, you will get 2.5 GT/s. Just like my speeds are. Thanks for the image.

Correct me if I am wrong

Its Asus design to link the ASM into the mb PCIe bridge.
The image was from my older P9X79 HWinfo report.

I advise you to update the firmware for the ASM1042 chip:

Download MPTool Version 1.7.1.2
Latest firmware: 130125_00_02_00

  1. Run ASM3142_MPTool.exe as “Administrator”.
  2. Enter password “Asmedia” on ASMEDIA MP Tool windows.
  3. Check “Firmware Upgrade Enable” and Check “Firmware Check Enable”
  4. Choose the file on package "210330_70_02_40.bin "
  5. Press “Start” below to processing.
  6. When finish restart Windows 10/11 once to running new firmware.

If you are using Windows 11, I found it better to use the standard USB driver from Windows Update rather than the latest driver from ASMedia. On the ASMedia driver, several devices connected to the HUB in the monitor, e.g. the fingerprint reader, do not work. Everything works with the Microsoft driver.

1 Like

FirstEver,
Thanks for the help on updating the Firmware.