I have been working with a HP Z200 Small Form Factor Workstation that we are wanting to re-deploy to a new user and I have run into several issues with it.
1. After updating the BIOS to the latest 1.19 version (7H4_0119), the BIOS splash screen now shows "Management platform in manufacturing mode.
2. Also after the BIOS update, the PC will shut down after 30 minutes, regardless of whether it is idle, being used, even left at the BIOS screen, which rules out any OS problem.
3. I am unable to download the current ME code because fptw reports "Error 26: The host CPU does not have read access to the target flash area. To enable read access for this operation you must modify the descriptor settings to give host access to this region."
4. I have gone through all of the steps to pull the current BIOS, use the Intel ME System Tools v6 IBX r2 to try and replace the ME portion of the code, but when I try to load the new BIOS file using fptw I get "Error 280: Failed to disable write protection for the BIOS space!"
5. When I attempt to load the new BIOS from the system’s BIOS, I get the error "File is missing or damaged."
I worked with HP Technical Support yesterday and their suggestion was to replace the system board, needless to say I think that is a crap answer considering the issue started after applying their BIOS update.
I’m not sure if anyone can help with this issue but I would really not like to throw the towel in on this system just yet.
You need to unlock access to the ME region of the SPI chip so that we can re-flash its firmware. HP probably has a few jumpers on the motherboard and one of them should be able to perform a Flash Descriptor Override. What jumpers do you see?
I thought that I had looked everywhere on that board for jumpers but I looked again after reading your message. I ran across E15 which was unjumpered, a Google search found a manual that shows that as being the Crisis recovery header/jumper. Placing a jumper on those pins caused the system to go into BootBlock Emergency Recovery Mode and forced it to load the BIOS file from a USB. After it loads the BIOS file the computer shuts down, if the jumper is still in place then it runs through the process again. If I boot into DOS, I get a Error 9255: Fail to read FW Status Register value 0xFFFFFFFF when trying to run MEINFO -FWSTS. Would there be anything in the BIOS configuration that would allow the unlock to occur?
I also found jumper E1, but having that jumper on did not make a difference either. I am unable to find any documentation anywhere concerning that jumper either. I have continued to work with this today and do have a full download of the existing BIOS, but I haven’t had any luck with trying to get it pulled into the FITC program to make any modifications to it.
I did just find on the system board that it says FDO next to the E1 jumper, but like I said, it didn’t make any difference in what I was trying at least.
Yes, it should be E1 or whatever says FDO. To test the effectiveness of the jumpers you have found, set them and then try to dump the ME region with Flash Programming Tool via “fptw -me -d me.bin”. If it completes successfully then you have gained access to the ME region and can thus repair it with further instructions from my side. As for MEInfo, enabling access to the ME region could cause it to be disabled so it would be normal to not be able to retrieve its status.
That worked! I was able to successfully run the fpt -me -d me.bin command, I was booting to DOS to try and keep things simple. What are my next steps?
Once I pulled the me.bin file, I was able to open it in HxD and compare it to the 6.2.61.3535_5MB_DT_PRD_EXTR.bin from the Intel ME 6 Firmware Repository Pack r21, this is the version that matched the version reported on the me.bin file. I had to add a bunch of data at the end of the file to the repository version which then made it the same size as the original. I was able to use fpt to upload the "me-new.bin" file, did a fpt -greset and all of the options were in the BIOS, plus the "Management platform in manufacturing mode" message on the splash screen had disappeared. I also noticed new items in device manager which pertain to the management platform.
With that said, things look like they are working fine now. Is there any other steps that need to be performed or should this system be good to go at this point?
I explicitly said to wait for further instructions. What you did is completely wrong as you just jerry-rigged & flashed a random system’s dirty ME region which could have caused a brick or at the very least wrong configuration and instability. For the future, you should read the red warnings at section B of Intel Management Engine: Drivers, Firmware & System Tools. If you have to use 3rd party EXTR firmware (you don’t in this case), then you should have followed [Guide] Clean Dumped Intel Engine (CS)ME/(CS)TXE Regions with Data Initialization. As for the proper fix, HP provides a full SPI image at their BIOS update so the included ME region is what should have been flashed since it is clean (no initialization) and configured specifically for your system. Download the attached archive and use Flash Programming Tool to re-flash the ME region via “fptw -me -f 7H4_0119_ME.bin” while the jumper is set to allow read/write access to the ME region. Once it is done, set the jumper back to its original position and run “fptw -greset” to restart the CPU + ME and apply the changes.
7H4_0119.rar (2.58 MB)
My apologies, I jumped the gun because I knew that I was going to be out of the office all week last week and I was trying to have it done before I left.
I have performed the steps that you outlined ("fptw -me -f 7H4_0119_ME.bin" while the jumper is set to allow read/write access to the ME region. Once it is done, set the jumper back to its original position and run "fptw -greset" to restart the CPU + ME and apply the changes.)
Is there anything else that I need to do or are things good at this point?
As long as you learned something new and managed to get away with it, it’s alright. Yes, the steps are proper. You should be good to go. Verify that everything looks good via MEInfo and MEManuf tools if you like.
And I did learn quite a few new things during this process.
Thanks so much plutomaniac, I really do appreciate all of your help.
Hello,
I had an HP Z200 MT (BIOS vers.7H3_0122) with the same error.
I have been through this article and have taken the file (7H4_0119.rar) from plutmaniac, renamed it and can update the ME.
The workstation has been running for 3 weeks without error and since today I have got the following error while loading the BIOS:
2233-HECI error during MEBx execution
MEBX status = 0301
ME BIOS extension module halted.
Update BIOS or ME firmware if problem persits.
I think the ME needs an update again.
Can someone give me the file for the ME for the BIOS ver. 7H3_0122 available.
Thanks in advance!
Make sure you have updated to the latest BIOS from HP. Then set the jumper and dump your SPI/BIOS chip via “fptw -d spi.bin”, follow [Guide] Clean Dumped Intel Engine (CS)ME/(CS)TXE Regions with Data Initialization using the latest ME 6 5MB DT firmware and flash the output via “fptw -f spi_fix.bin” followed by “fptw -greset”. Don’t forget to set te jumper back when you’re done.
Hello,
Unfortunately I can not find a file with the properties "PRD_RGN" for the ME version 6.2.50.1062 in the "Intel ME 6 Firmware Repository Pack r21".
Only the versions for 6.0 with the RGN property are included in this pack.
Where can I find the appropriate version or what file from the pack can I use?
Yes, for ME 6, we only have old RGN firmware. However, it turns out that you don’t need to do these in your case since HP includes a full SPI/BIOS image at their support website. First of all, before you do anything, make sure that you have kept a full SPI/BIOS backup via “fptw -d backup.bin”, just in case we need it.
I took 7H3_0122.bin and cut some irrelevant data from the end (0x800000+) because for some reason HP includes another ME firmware blob there, probably for some flashing tool they use, but we must delete it for FPT/Programmer use. I’ve also extracted the ME region only from 7H3_0122.bin which you can flash via “fptw -me -f 7H3_0122_ME.bin” followed by “fptw -greset”. Don’t forget to set the jumper back when you’re done. Afterwards, you shouldn’t see the error anymore. If you do, try removing all power (PSU cord) for 1 minute and try again.
If that doesn’t help either, it means that the BIOS is problematic, not ME. In such case, you can re-flash the entire SPI image via “fptw -f 7H3_0122.bin” (the one attached which has been cut, not from HP softpaq) followed by “fptw -greset”.
7H3_0122.rar (2.59 MB)