Hey, i have encountered the infamous issue with the USB-BiosFlashback that bricks the MB. After a whole bunch of digging, i ended up on this forum and followed the guides, there is only one issue…
I have made a SPI Dump of the ME chip, and have checked it with ME Analyzer and have confirmed that there is infact an issue with it, however the files are too corrupt to be loaded into FIT. I figured that my only option is to get my hands on a SPI Dump from a healthy ROG Z490 board.
Any help would be greatly appriciated!
(Im also open to other solutions if anyone has any) I Will attach my ME-File if anyone want to poke around in it.
I keep getting "error 9: Failed to Decompose Image" and "Error 42:Failed to open with processed commands " with FIT, so im unable to proceed with the cleaning process. I did an experimental read of the chip containing the ME (the chip number wasnt supported, but i found one with identical specs the first time) but this time i set the storage parameter to 16MB and now it show Descriptor Region, ME region, and BIOS region. I do however get the same errors when attempting to run it in FIT, so im guessing that i would still have to combine the original 8MB file with the 16MB BIOS file, but im at a loss of how to do this.
I have attached the file if you want tot check it out. ALL the datasheets of the Chip in question (25Q64JVSIQ) indicate that it is a 8MB chip… Again, im confused.
Your ME-Dump-16MB.rar ist the first file you posted x2? That won’t help much.
Open the 8MB file in HxD, open the 16 MB file in HxD, select the complete 16 MB file and copy it at the end of the 8MB file, save with new name. Should be exactly 24 MB. If you don’t have the dump og the bios region and just need the ME region (and not your own bios regiosn) take the bios region of an asus update file. Structure should look like:
This file will open fine in FIT. (You could even fill 16 MByte wirh FF, put it at the end of the 8MB file and call it a Bios region- would work, too) FIT doesn’t care if there’s meaningful content in the bios region, it’s FD (PCH straps) and ME here, otherwise it’s just the file size.
BUT that doesn’t solve the problem of the dummy volumes in the first ME Boot partition. See "unknown 41" and "unknown 42" (SAMF and PPHY) in the original ME to the left, cleaned ME to the right:
They’ll be needed when updating the ME to version 14.1 at least.
@plutomaniac I tried to add "41" and "42", edited IFWI header and BPDT partition table, but that’s first time. Would you mind having a look into the result? Would there be an easier solution?
Yes, they do indeed update the ME through the BIOS update, thats how i ended up with a bricked board. The USB-Biosflashback has a bug when updating from 10th-Gen support BIOS to 11th-Gen Support BIOS, causing it to crash when flashing the ME. (Wish i had known that )
Do you think the updated ME from the bios may be viable, considering that its most likely supposed to be flashed over in the update process?
I have attempted to flash and test a couple of my own and the edited from your last post, but no sauce yet it seems. The board is still not reacting to Power button presses and are just displaying Standby power.
I will keep poking around, and keep you posted if i figure something out!
Yep, that’s not only a ME region, it contains a FD, too. Open the bios region in UEFIToolNE, go to 63F23E9D-5FDA-415E-9C2A-64C4E2A6ECE8, select RAW section, choose "extract body"! This will give you the exact content of the 8MB chip, should be precisely 8MB.
What bios version were you on before the update? Do you have a backup/ dump of your bios region (= the second chip with 16MB)?
There are some additional settings and some of the settings configured in FIT will be stored in Flash Descriptor so you should flash the complete 8MB- not just the ME region. And there might be a connection between these settings/ ME revision and bios version.
It’s unclear to me if this update process began with bios or with FC/ME, but you can actually see where the update process stopped- FD and ME are identical to the updated region in bios up to a certain block, then there’s an empty block:
Theoretically the board should work with a combination of latest bios and this FD/ME region stored in bios. But don’t overwrite the 16MB bios chip without having/ making a valid backup! There’s your machne specific data like UUID/S/N…
Thanks a lot! Good to hear that you got it working again
(As written before: If you flashed an Asus stock bios, you have probably lost S/N, UUID, maybe MAC… If that’s of interest you you’d have to lock into your backup, most often these are recoverable.)
I’m new here and I have the same problem after bios update (ME update ) mobo bricked. I see that you solved with that bios file , do you have for me to upgrade my bios.
Buy a CH341 programmer, dump all firmware chips (at least 2 a 100% identical dumps with a structur UEFIToolNE recognizes) and attach them to your next post.
Very late back to the show, but yes i can confirm that my BIOS is not modded.
The update package (Downloaded directly from ASUS’s homepage) contained the BIOS and the ME that i needed. I used a cheap CH341 programmer from AliExpress to read/flash the chips
I did not transfer any of the unique data like S/N, UUID and MAC, i figured since it’s an old board i wouldn’t need it anyways
) 
