[Request] Asus Z10PE-D8 - microcode removal and exposing hidden memory settings

BIOS/UEFI Modding BIOS Modding Requests
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I was looking for a way to unlock my workstation’s hidden powers
and apparently this is the right place.

I already looked at guides on how to remove the microcode and exploit the Xeon bug … but I got confused rather quickly and I also couldn’t find anything about un-hiding the memory settings.

So hopefully there’s a kind soul on this forum who knows what they’re doing and who’s willing to mod the bios for me.

bios file: Z10PE-D8 bios from asus.com

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@protator



Have you only been researching, or have you already tried to modify the BIOS yourself?

If you have already modified the BIOS in ANY way, you will need to re-flash it back to factory defaults!!!

The factory firmware DOES NOT have your system information in it. A BACKUP of your firmware will, generally, be required.

Anyone that might be willing to assist you will, likely, need you to do AT LEAST the following:

If you have already modified the BIOS in ANY way, you will need to re-flash it back to factory defaults!!!

Check your BIOS’ main page and see if ME FW version is shown.
If not then > DOWNLOAD HWINFO64 HERE <

Once HWINFO is open, look at the large window on the left side, expand motherboard, and find the ME area.
Inside that section is the ME Firmware version. Take note of the version. (ie. write it down or get a screenshot).

Once you have that, go to the thread linked below, and in the section “C.2” find and download the matching ME System Tools Package for your system.
(ie if ME FW version = 10.x get V10 package, if 9.0-9.1 get V9.1 package, if 9.5 or above get V9.5 package etc)
DOWNLOAD HERE: > Intel Managment Engine - DOWNLOAD HERE <

Once downloaded, inside you will find Flash Programming Tool folder, and then inside that a Windows or Win/Win32 folder (NOT x64).
Highlight that Win/Win32 folder, then hold shift and press right click. Choose “open command window here” (Not power shell!).
If you get an error, reply to this post with a screenshot of it, OR write down the EXACT command entered and the EXACT error given

((If “open command window here” does not appear, look for the “Simple Registry Edit” below…))

Now you should be at the command prompt.
You are going to BACKUP the factory un-modified firmware, so type the following command:
Command: " FPTw.exe -bios -d biosreg.bin "
Add the saved " biosreg.bin " to your next post!!!

Right after you do that, try to write back the BIOS Region dump and see if you get any error(s).
Command: " FPTw.exe -bios -f biosreg.bin "
^^ This step is important! Don’t forget! ^^

If you get an error, reply to this post with a screenshot of it, OR write down the EXACT command entered and the EXACT error given.

Here is a simple registry edit that adds “Open command window here as Administrator” to the right click menu.
I suggest this method. It’s quick and simple.
Double-click downloaded file to install. Reboot after install may be required
> CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD CMD PROMPT REGISTRY ENTRY <

If you are stuck on Win10, cannot easily get to the command prompt, and the method I mentioned above does not work for you, here are some links that should help:

If the method(s) above do [b]NOT work for you…
Then you may have to copy all contents from the Flash Programming Tool \ DOS folder to the root of a USB Bootable disk and do the dump from DOS
( DOS command: " FPT.exe -bios -d biosreg.bin " )


GOOD LUCK!!!

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@GooballDiesel - This system has USB Flashback, so FPT usage is not required or suggested here (at this point)

@protator - Are you saying this BIOS does not show you memory timings? If not, what the heck is Asus thinking here! Can you see IntelRCSetup in BIOS at all?
For the Xeon thing, only thing I know to do about that is the MSR 0x194 edit, is that what you need done on that part of your request? Rest is all done on your end, not in the BIOS

There is a hidden from you setting in Advanced called “Show all setting (ASUS EE RD Only)” I assume if I change that to enabled, you may see a lot more settings, possibly entire IntelRCSetup section too, if you can’t see it already, but I’m not 100% sure what this does.
We should start there, but before I make that change for you, please confirm you also want that 194 edit for Xeon turbo too, correct?

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@Lost_N_BIOS

Yes, that’s why I included the "likely".

^ This was my "main" point… My apologies for the confusion.

@protator

Now "The Great " @Lost_N_BIOS is here to assist you! I’m sure he will get you sorted out as best he can.

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@GooballDiesel

Still, I appreciate the help.

@Lost_N_BIOS

What the heck indeed. I spent 600 bucks on a premium WS motherboard and Asus sent me a “thing” with 90s vibes gray-on-blue Phoenix bios and a serious lack of settings.
The ram modules show up in the system overview and there are some ecc related options tucked away in weird places but that’s it. No menus for frequencies or timings anywhere.
I already spent hours infront of that bios screen when I first setup the machine, trying to get the cpus to boost normally at least cause the power management is also broken af.^^
After that experience I checked every submenu and tested every option to see what it does compared to what the manual says it does.

Didn’t see anything that looked like it’d reveal more options. But just in case I didn’t see the forest for the trees I’ll check again.

I can change memory timings in Windows using Asus’ MemTweakIt tool, the settings aren’t hard-locked or anything …
but that tool doesn’t let you save settings and without a way to train tertiary+ timings it’s not a real solution anyway.

Oh oh oh … apropos ECC^^:
The board runs fine with regular dimms as long as there’s only one cpu installed. With dual cpus it only posts with reg ecc dimms installed.
This seems to be different from manufacturer to manufacturer, some multi-socket server boards with Haswell-Xeons run fine with unregistered non-ecc ram, others need ecc dimms even for single-cpu operation. I guess some marketing people think turning an optional feature into a requirement makes their produkt appear more “professional”. Or maybe they just don’t want to validate any more memory kits than absolutely necessary. Who knows.
Do you think there’s a way to get rid of that arbitrary restriction?
I mean, I have already forked out the money for ecc-dimms, but I still have 128GB of low latency memory from previous builds lying around and I’d jump at the chance to switch back.
That stupid server memory cost me 10% performance. If I could I’d turn it into an offering to the ebay gods in a heartbeat.

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"0x194 " ? I thought it was called “306F2 unlock” . Anyway, I do want to max the all-core-boost clocks.

--------------------------

Ok, I checked the bios options again.
There was a chance I overlooked it last time because I was so focused on cpu related options, but nope.
No “show me the good stuff” - button anywhere.

I’m going to do some updates and backups, write down some bios settings during the next forced reboot etc. … lube up the flashback port …

so in an hour or two I should be ready to try out some hacky bios builds.
If you need any additional info about my system, ask away. I’ll be stuck behind the desk for a couple days watching the puter slooowly render stuff.

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@protator


You will not be able to see it without the tools to extract/edit your BIOS, OR until @Lost_N_BIOS "un-hides" it for you.
You may not ever be able to "see" it at all, and only toggle it through "alternative" methods…

↓↓ This is a SMALL portion of text from "a" setup file… It is in something like this that @Lost_N_BIOS would be seeing the setting called "Show all setting" ↓↓
The "Suppress If" - "End If" statement below keeps the Chipset menu hidden…if it links back to a variable that == True

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0x11173  Form: Setup, FormId: 0x2710 {01 86 10 27 08 00}
0x11179 	Ref: Main, VarStoreInfo (VarOffset/VarName): 0xFFFF, VarStore: 0x0, QuestionId: 0x1, FormId: 0x2711 {0F 0F 0A 00 02 00 01 00 00 00 FF FF 00 11 27}
0x11188 	Ref: AiTweaker, VarStoreInfo (VarOffset/VarName): 0xFFFF, VarStore: 0x0, QuestionId: 0x2, FormId: 0x2713 {0F 0F 1F 00 02 00 02 00 00 00 FF FF 00 13 27}
0x11197 	Ref: Advanced, VarStoreInfo (VarOffset/VarName): 0xFFFF, VarStore: 0x0, QuestionId: 0x3, FormId: 0x2714 {0F 0F 20 00 02 00 03 00 00 00 FF FF 00 14 27}
0x111A6 	Ref: Monitor, VarStoreInfo (VarOffset/VarName): 0xFFFF, VarStore: 0x0, QuestionId: 0x4, FormId: 0x2717 {0F 0F 22 00 02 00 04 00 00 00 FF FF 00 17 27}
0x111B5 	Suppress If {0A 82}
0x111B7 		True {46 02}
0x111B9 		Ref: Chipset, VarStoreInfo (VarOffset/VarName): 0xFFFF, VarStore: 0x0, QuestionId: 0x5, FormId: 0x2718 {0F 0F 21 00 02 00 05 00 00 00 FF FF 00 18 27}
0x111C8 	End If {29 02}
0x111CA 	Ref: Security, VarStoreInfo (VarOffset/VarName): 0xFFFF, VarStore: 0x0, QuestionId: 0x6, FormId: 0x2719 {0F 0F 3C 00 02 00 06 00 00 00 FF FF 00 19 27}
0x111D9 	Ref: Boot, VarStoreInfo (VarOffset/VarName): 0xFFFF, VarStore: 0x0, QuestionId: 0x7, FormId: 0x271A {0F 0F 24 00 02 00 07 00 00 00 FF FF 00 1A 27}
0x111E8 	Ref: Tool, VarStoreInfo (VarOffset/VarName): 0xFFFF, VarStore: 0x0, QuestionId: 0x8, FormId: 0x271C {0F 0F 23 00 02 00 08 00 00 00 FF FF 00 1C 27}
0x111F7 	Ref: Exit, VarStoreInfo (VarOffset/VarName): 0xFFFF, VarStore: 0x0, QuestionId: 0x9, FormId: 0x271D {0F 0F 51 00 02 00 09 00 00 00 FF FF 00 1D 27}
0x11206  End Form {29 02}
 
I believe @Lost_N_BIOS was going to check if just making one, simple, change to "Show all setting", making it True vs (what I assume is currently) False, will get ALL of the rest of the "hidden" menu items to show up for you. If the change doesn't work as hoped then items will, likely, have to be edited "manually" one at a time...
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@protator - 306F2 is a CPUID, that may or may not apply to your CPU. So no, I doubt anyone called this a 306F2 unlock, unless maybe they had a Xeon with this CPUID, then they may have thought about it in that way.
MSR 194 needs unlocked in BIOS (bypassed in disassembly/hex), then you need to do the rest on your end, what you read about at Andandtech forums.
And not always does the microcode need removed, and sometimes this = brick, so not ideal to test on your board without programmer (unless you already seen comment it’s OK by someone with same board)

Below is BIOS to test with “Show all setting (ASUS EE RD Only)” enabled by default and visible (@ Advanced >> ASUS EE RD Only), lets see what you can see in BIOS now!
Please note, there may/should be duplicate of this setting, since there is two entries I made changes to both in case only one or the other worked. It may be one controls the “Show all” for regular BIOS area, and the other “Show All” for IntelRCSetup (since 2nd one uses this one’s varstore)
Anyway, I was not certain on this, so I made both visible to you and both enabled by default.

Ohh, and you never answered me, can you right now (without this BIOS), see IntelRCSetup section? If not, after you test this BIOS, can you then see IntelRCSetup section? << This is where your all memory control stuff is located.

As for the ECC thing, that may be due to memory training error, it’s set to halt on memory training error. Try other kits, see if you find same issue or not.
Memory Support setting in general, is set to UDIMM and RDIMM, so should be no issue with either type. Hopefully you can already see IntelRCSetup, and if so I can make all visible for you. If not, hopefully with the above BIOS you will then have access to IntelRCSetup

Flash this via USB Flashback ONLY, do not flash this with FPT!! Small (128MB-2GB), cheap, old USB is best, 2.0, formatted to FAT32, do not rename BIOS and put it on root of USB
After flash, clear CMOS, enter BIOS, load optimal defaults and then save and reboot back to BIOS to look around.

For this test, I did not include a 194 edit, because I am not 100% sure I see the correct edit (only 99% sure). So, I would prefer you have flash programmer in hand and backup made and send to me to check, before we test that, in case it is wrong and bricks beyond allowing USB Flashback to recover the BIOS.
However, this is your board, so up to you. If you feel lucky and want to test it without flash programmer and backup made, let me know and I will send next.

http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?fil…817015894840021

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Ah… That explains why the string looked familiar somehow. I was considering 2683s for a while before I got my 2690s.
There were several ppl referring to "the" 306F2 boost mod in a thread about a 2697v3, so I didn’t make the connection. Mystery solved.

I’ll check again for the presence of IntelRCSetup in a minute. IIRC a section with that name is there but empty? I put together a system for a friend just the other day so maybe I’m mixing up things again. Damn, I need a vacation^^.

I still have the trusty old 2.0 stick ready that I used to update the board when I got it.

Regarding the ecc issue: I’ve read in several threads on anandtech, ovedrclockers and Asus’ forum that others experienced the same thing. And an Asus tech/mod pretty much confirmed that it’s about validation because they treat multi-socket ws boards as enterprise gear.
So my specific ram kit shouldn’t be the cause. The udimms work fine with only cpu0 installed.

I was going to simply order a pre-programmed chip as spare. Hadn’t looked into usb programmers until now but considering how inexpensive those things are I guess I should get one just in case.
I’ll make that order later today.

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@protator - Yeah, if you have E5-2690 then your CPUID and microcode would be for 206D6
As long as IntelRCSetup is there, empty or not, that would be great! On ECC, disabling that setting I mentioned in BIOS may still help error go away, once you have access Or I could make you quick test BIOS with it disabled.

Pr-prepared chip as spare is waste of Money, costs more than programmer which will help you MANY times in the future, and using a pre-programmed chip will make you loose your board specific data (serial, UUID, often LAN MAC ID too), and will give you only one recovery.
Best to order CH341a ($2.60) + SOIC8 test clip with cable if BIOS is soldered to board ($3.60), OR U Type Flat IC Extractor if BIOS is in socket ($1) << I assume this, since you mentioned ordering a spare and it’s Asus, so at most your talking $4 or less total
If you need linked examples to these items on ebay let me know

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So that does ASUS EE RD only does? Could someone confirm it unlocks all hidden settings?

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@eugene28 - @protator never replied back about that test BIOS I sent regarding this, so we do not know yet. Does your BIOS contain this? If yes, then we can test, otherwise there (and here), normal BIOS menu unlock would be applied instead.
I only mentioned that because I noticed it, and wanted to see outcome, it’s not a normal thing in Asus BIOS so I don’t know what it does and wanted to test to find out.