Friday, December 9th 2016

AMD BIOS Signature Check re-enabled with ReLive, Locks out Polaris BIOS Modders

If you are using a modded BIOS on your AMD Polaris card, and try to install AMD's excellent Crimson ReLive drivers, you might be in for a surprise. This is because AMD re-enabled their BIOS signature enforcement with these latest drivers. Basically, if you modded your card's BIOS in search of higher overclocking, more voltage or customized fan settings, the hash in your BIOS is no longer recognized by AMD the driver, since it differs from the factory values.

On detecting such a modded BIOS with an invalid checksum, the Crimson ReLive driver won't load, meaning that the system will run with the VGA fallback driver only, without 3D acceleration and Radeon Settings will not start. However, you can force your modded BIOS to load on Crimson ReLive if you're willing to jump through some hoops.
Overclock.net user asder00 posted a pretty nifty guide that enables the user to install a modded version of Crimson ReLive's 16.12.1 drivers, with a modified kernel that doesn't include the BIOS hash check. His work, based on lordkag's own, makes use of the mentioned modified kernel driver and Pixel Clock Patcher, enabling you to access Crimson ReLive's features even with a modded BIOS:

asder00's workaround:
  • Download the modified kernel driver here
  • Download the Pixel Clock Patcher here (needed for the windows driver signature workaround)
  • Navigate to the AMD driver extraction directory, usually "C:\AMD" then go into" Win10-64Bit-Radeon-Software-Crimson-ReLive-16.12.1-Dec7\Packages\Drivers\Display\WT6A_INF\B309333"
  • Extract the modified kernel driver in the "\B309333" directory overwriting the file
  • Uninstall current AMD drivers normally and DO NOT REBOOT when asked
  • Reboot with advanced options like so:
  • Press and hold the Shift key on your keyboard and click the Restart button.
  • Choose Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings and click the Restart button.
  • When your computer restarts you'll see a list of options, press F7 on your keyboard to select "Disable driver signature enforcement".
  • This is needed only ONE TIME to successfully install the modified kernel, in the next reboot the driver signature enforcement will return to normal.
  • Install the driver normally with setup.exe in C:\AMD\Win10-64Bit-Radeon-Software-Crimson-ReLive-16.12.1-Dec7
  • DO NOT REBOOT WHEN ASKED
  • When the installation is finished run the atikmdag-patcher.exe (this will take care of driver signature for windows so we no longer need to disable the enforcement with F7)
  • Press yes to patch the file
  • When finishes reboot the PC and enjoy your modified bios
The patch has currently only been tested on the x64 version of Windows 10. AMD could, in a future driver version remove the active BIOS hash checking from their driver suite (which they historically did before) but whether that will or won't happen is something only those at the red team know.
Source: Overclock.net Forums
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70 Comments on AMD BIOS Signature Check re-enabled with ReLive, Locks out Polaris BIOS Modders

#51
davidm71
I've never done that just saying worst case scenario.
Posted on Reply
#52
eidairaman1
The Exiled Airman
davidm71I've never done that just saying worst case scenario.
You just jinxed yourself.
Posted on Reply
#54
LyGhT
Hey, i just flashed my BIOS, now i need to do this Workaround, the only problem is, that i dont have the 16.12.1 Driver, i only got the new 17.1.1.
What can i do about this?
Posted on Reply
#55
eidairaman1
The Exiled Airman
LyGhTHey, i just flashed my BIOS, now i need to do this Workaround, the only problem is, that i dont have the 16.12.1 Driver, i only got the new 17.1.1.
What can i do about this?
Grab the old driver by using google.
Posted on Reply
#56
LyGhT
eidairaman1Grab the old driver by using google.
Just did this, allready yesterday. Works fine =).

After 1 month + i finally found a 4gb Gigabyte version :D
Posted on Reply
#57
Slawek189
I have modified card rx 460 loaded bios and now Crimson 16.11.5. Or maybe someone step by step how to write it to write the latest drivers? Someone wrote in the topic, it is easier method. The computer uses a younger cousin. Thanks in advance.
Posted on Reply
#58
MSTFON
Hello. Does the method in the first post work on the newest drivers also? Right now newest is 17.2.1. Can I apply the method for this or is 16.12.1 specific?
Posted on Reply
#60
Jorgey17
Hello .. im new here tha ks for this work you guys doing here ... i having problems with the last update 17.2.1 ..... this solution can works in this update ??? After i flash the bios i patched the drivers with the patcher ... but when i tried to overclock a minimal thing the gou crashes .. any help ?
Posted on Reply
#61
kruk
If you have a RX 460 then note that the unlock increases the power consumption which can lead to instability.Try to lower the voltage and increase power limit. If you don't how to do this safely, then ignore my advice :).
Posted on Reply
#64
kruk
CaioKhauamBut does it work with the latest driver or only 16.12.1?
It works for me on the latest drivers ...
Posted on Reply
#65
Dante112
i have rx 480 8 gb i have 17.4.2 install the patch the driver works but the VSR ( virtual super resolution ) not working , with the 16.11.5 the VSR was working ( in games )
Posted on Reply
#66
Beefcake9000
@All, I have 3xRX480's I ran this mod and it worked.. However, now win 10 x64 Pro only sees ONE GPU.. Any thoughts??
Posted on Reply
#67
alan092177
I followed the instructions religiously and I was able to enjoy my unlocked RX-460. However, after updating to the latest version of Crimson ReLive (17.5.1) and Toasty's Pixel Clock Patcher (1.4.5) I've ran into trouble. Haven't tested any games yet, but surprisingly Windows 7 disabled the Aero and transparency function because:
"The current video card may support Aero with a driver that is compliant with the Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM). Contact the manufacturer of your computer or video card for a WDDM-compatible driver."
I would assume that something as simple as the above would affect programs that are reliant on graphics.
alan092177I followed the instructions religiously and I was able to enjoy my unlocked RX-460. However, after updating to the latest version of Crimson ReLive (17.5.1) and Toasty's Pixel Clock Patcher (1.4.5) I've ran into trouble. Haven't tested any games yet, but surprisingly Windows 7 disabled the Aero and transparency function because:
"The current video card may support Aero with a driver that is compliant with the Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM). Contact the manufacturer of your computer or video card for a WDDM-compatible driver."
I would assume that something as simple as the above would affect programs that are reliant on graphics.
Just to update this, I rolled back to a driver that I knew worked in the past - 17.2.1 - but still used the same Pixel Clock Patcher, and voila! Everything is back to normal.
Posted on Reply
#68
fl1k
Doesn't work on the latest driver

18.4.1 (april 26)

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

Since I bumped this old topic, for everyone looking for a solution in 2018 this is the reply you need
krukUse AMD/Ati Pixel Clock Patcher. It's much simpler: www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/amd-bios-signature-check-re-enabled-with-relive-locks-out-polaris-bios-modders.228536/page-2#post-3587441

1. Install the driver (it might say partially installed)
2. Run the patcher
3. Reboot
Posted on Reply
#69
Matiassueldo
Hi,

Sorry to open this again, Do you know if AMD has removed signature check on drivers?. I have an STRIX RX460 Nitro and i really want to try this out. I do not have money to spend in a new Graphic card in a near future. here in argentina they are really expensive :(
Posted on Reply
#70
qubit
Overclocked quantum bit
I don’t have a card to test with, but I can’t see any reason that they would remove it.

I don’t understand how this relates to the situation with your graphics card though?
Posted on Reply
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