ASRock Z370/Z390 Taichi (and some others, actively modding!) Firmware with Intel Management Engine Disabled, new method

[R00kie]

what is the use for this?
Plugging government snooping holes?

 

[Space Lynx]

what is the use for this?
Plugging government snooping holes?

You could just buy Ryzen instead, wold save you from the 70 security fixes incoming to Intel in a week or two as well.

@R-T-B Just having fun with ya froggy boy

but yeah I have to admit I love my 3600.

 

[R00kie]

You could just buy Ryzen instead, wold save you from the 70 security fixes incoming to Intel in a week or two as well.

@R-T-B Just having fun with ya froggy boy

but yeah I have to admit I love my 3600.

Ive got no intention to buy ryzen, my PC is fine the way it is. I was just wondering if there is a need for me to do any of this.

 

[R-T-B]

what is the use for this?
Plugging government snooping holes?

Explained in old post.

I don't really buy the goverment snooping argument as I've seen no evidence to support it. This is more a effort to rid your machine of a subsystem you have little control over, and that could (if left unpatched) be hijacked against you.

Ive got no intention to buy ryzen, my PC is fine the way it is. I was just wondering if there is a need for me to do any of this.

A good honest question. My advice: If you keep your bios religiously up to date like many enthusiasts, no. They'll patch any big vulnerabilities before they spread far. Plus disabling management engine breaks some DRM functionality like the TPM. Not sure anything uses that, but ymmv.

I mostly do this because I'm researching the Management Engine internals anyways and people asked for it. I don't know that it has a terribly common usecase, lol.

You could just buy Ryzen instead, wold save you from the 70 security fixes incoming to Intel in a week or two as well.

@R-T-B Just having fun with ya froggy boy

but yeah I have to admit I love my 3600.

I mean, on one front your right (minus the hyperbole), but the AMD PSP gives me a bad vibe really. So little known about it.

 

[NEROVINCIO]

I have no idea why it would not be working. You aren't loading a saved OC profile at the end for certain?

Really strange.

great news !!! after several attempts and reset bios I managed to flash the 4.20 mod starting from 3.20 stock, then 4.20 stock and finally 4.20 mod from windows, finally from bios I see Intel ME version 0.0.0.0.
now I would like to have the same with bios mod 3.20 but I can't, how should I proceed from 4.20 mod to flash to 3.20 mod?

 

[R-T-B]

see pm.

 

[krusty]

Can you also remove Spectre & Meltdown patches on the Z390 Phantom Gaming X bios?

 

[R-T-B]

Can you also remove Spectre & Meltdown patches on the Z390 Phantom Gaming X bios?

I could, but won't. I don't have time for it if I don't use it myself honestly plus I don't really want to encourage people to leave those bugs wide open.

Not saying I can stop you, or that it's not even ok in some circumstances, just that I don't consider it worth my time to do so.

 

[NEROVINCIO]

YOU ARE THE BEST!!! LOOK

 

[R-T-B]

YOU ARE THE BEST!!! LOOK

Context is this user asked months ago for a reversion friendly build of 3.20 (for OC reasons) for his z370 taichi. I just finished it yesterday, been busy.

Build is at http://glacialsoftware.net/FIRMWARE/EXPERIMENTAL/ for those who want it.

 

[NEROVINCIO]

Context is this user asked months ago for a reversion friendly build of 3.20 (for OC reasons) for his z370 taichi. I just finished it yesterday, been busy.

Build is at http://glacialsoftware.net/FIRMWARE/EXPERIMENTAL/ for those who want it.

thanks for your great work, when you have time check if you can unlock the LOAD OPTIMIZED CPU OC SETTING function always on the bios 3.20 z370 taichi since when you mount 8086k this function is disabled

 

[R-T-B]

thanks for your great work, when you have time check if you can unlock the LOAD OPTIMIZED CPU OC SETTING function always on the bios 3.20 z370 taichi since when you mount 8086k this function is disabled

Sounds like the 8086k auto-oc thing may not like that old microcode.

I'll see what I can do... but may take a while. Been crazy busy.

 

[NEROVINCIO]

Sounds like the 8086k auto-oc thing may not like that old microcode.

I'll see what I can do... but may take a while. Been crazy busy.

Don't worry, when you have time, I already found the perfect setting for Z370 taichi, 8086k and ram, it's just out of curiosity, I don't need it soon

 

[krusty]

Can you release updated Z39PGX bios has update from 1.10 to 1.20 would be much appreciated

 

[R-T-B]

Can you release updated Z39PGX bios has update from 1.10 to 1.20 would be much appreciated

Yes. I do apologize for being a bit behind. Will work on this some tomorrow hopefully.

 

[R-T-B]

Yes. I do apologize for being a bit behind. Will work on this some tomorrow hopefully.

So this fell on the back burner yet again lol. I hate having to have... responsibilities.

I'm working on it now though, won't be long.

 

[R-T-B]

Ok it's up. In experimental folder here. Please test and let me know if you have any issues.

 

[R-T-B]

This project is on temporary hold until I figure out how to port my aproach to being doable in linux (I switched over to gentoo entirely last weekend).

I may just break down and either load a vm, or just post a "do it yourself" guide. These last few releases have been slow as molasses anyways.

 

[biffzinker]

I just seen this posted up on phoronix, thought you might be interested @R-T-B.

Intel Quietly Released A Redistributable, Lightweight ME "Ignition Firmware" Binary - Phoronix

www.phoronix.com

 

[R-T-B]

I am, but only for myself sadly.

I decided the amount of effort to maintain this cannot be justified with my present job. I am short on time as is, and time is money, sadly.

Harsh reality. I may make a guide later though.

EDIT: I also lack edit rights to the OP. Could I get those to indicate this?

 

[nois]

Hi R-T-B,
I'm at rabbit hut in japan.

At first, thank you for your great mod bios.
It makes can flash back any version of bios.

This is just technical report
I could get 0.0.0.0 on z370 taichi mobo with your P4.00, P4.20 amd exprimental P3.20.
I could not investigate your bios before P3.10 because of my cpu is I3 9100f.
P3.10 bios in old directory still may have intel me.

But, I have never seen "PCH-FW Configuration" menu on this guy.
It may appear only on z390 taichi mobo?
Or, I skip important procedure?
Oops, this is not report...

I hope you still interested in this thread.

 

[R-T-B]

Or, I skip important procedure?

That part is only relevant to older versions. You are fine without it.

Thanks for the report. For others interested: No longer maintaining this but I recently commercially updated this for a client who will remain private, and am open to doing so on request. It takes about an hour to update to a particular build or board from asrock and I bill at $30.00 per hour, for reference. That's the usual anyways. I don't exceed estimates without contacting clients, as well.

 

[nois]

Thank you again for your mod bios and giving your time for me!

 

[R-T-B]

A sponsor has offered an update (paid work by me) for the Z390 Taichi to be released as public (for free). As such, we now have an updated version for 4.30. I will update this post with credit when/if they tell me if they want me naming names, heh.

Find it in the usual spot. Version 4.30.

 

[UnsortedReality954]

Resurrecting an old thread (sorry! ) to ask a question about people's experience with disabling ME. I'm on z390 with BIOS v4.30. Got IME disabled - showing as version 0.0.0.0.
And now Windows 10 does not shut down. It hangs on Shutting Down screen with no events in event log indicating any issues. I uninstalled IME from Device Manager and Apps.

Any suggestions?