Hi,
I recently bought an "as is" MSI GTX 1060 3GT OC (two fan model) for a really low price. Stated error was a bad vBIOS flash, which I thought should be easy enough to handle and fix, albeit recognizing the risk.
The card looks fine, no bad/cold or hot solder joints.
Indeed, upon first GPU-Z inspection, bad bios flash was confirmed and there was no display output. I am using X570 I AORUS PRO WIFI with Ryzen 5, 400W Corsair PSU, 2x16 GB RAM to debug due to the availability of integrated GPU, although the card will go to another computer if it is successfully repaired. I tried flashing a number of various vBIOSes for the same model/PCB from the TechPowerUp base, since I could not find the vBIOS for exact model. Afterwards it seems I found the original vBIOS (old and new version) for my card (two fan model) on the MSI forum (new version attached, nv809.rom).
None of the vBIOSes helped, and GPU-Z still reports problematic values (Unkown BIOS version):
What I found out during the debugging process was the following: when I flash the vBIOS and dump it immediately afterwards, two binaries are not the same - sometimes there is a subtle, and sometimes there is a drastic difference (EDIT: To clarify, it depends on which rom I flash). I inspected this using HxD (I first did the checksums which showed me something was wrong). I also tried using inbuilt nvflash compare (nvflash -k name.rom) and it reports the following:
I used multiple various nvflash versions, v5.590, patched v5.590, v5.728 etc, with following commands:
nvflash --protectoff
nvflash -6 name.rom --> No need to specify GPU as it is the only nVidia card in the system
nvflash --protecton --> Tried with and without, no difference
Is this behavior normal?
The specified ROM chip is Winbond W25Q40EW which is 512KB. If it is too large, is it possible to extend the vBIOS image, or to buy and solder W25Q20EW which is half the size?
I can also try shorting the pins, but that would only disable the chip - I don't see how it could interfere with the flashing and result in a "corrupted" image.
There is also a possibility of flashing the chip using a Raspberry Pi Zero as a flash programmer with flashrom (since I have it), or order a new chip via Mouser, flash it and replace. Since I am an electrical engineer, soldering and desoldering is not a problem.
Is there anything I am missing? Is it still possibly a wrong vBIOS?
I recently bought an "as is" MSI GTX 1060 3GT OC (two fan model) for a really low price. Stated error was a bad vBIOS flash, which I thought should be easy enough to handle and fix, albeit recognizing the risk.
The card looks fine, no bad/cold or hot solder joints.
Indeed, upon first GPU-Z inspection, bad bios flash was confirmed and there was no display output. I am using X570 I AORUS PRO WIFI with Ryzen 5, 400W Corsair PSU, 2x16 GB RAM to debug due to the availability of integrated GPU, although the card will go to another computer if it is successfully repaired. I tried flashing a number of various vBIOSes for the same model/PCB from the TechPowerUp base, since I could not find the vBIOS for exact model. Afterwards it seems I found the original vBIOS (old and new version) for my card (two fan model) on the MSI forum (new version attached, nv809.rom).
None of the vBIOSes helped, and GPU-Z still reports problematic values (Unkown BIOS version):
What I found out during the debugging process was the following: when I flash the vBIOS and dump it immediately afterwards, two binaries are not the same - sometimes there is a subtle, and sometimes there is a drastic difference (EDIT: To clarify, it depends on which rom I flash). I inspected this using HxD (I first did the checksums which showed me something was wrong). I also tried using inbuilt nvflash compare (nvflash -k name.rom) and it reports the following:
I used multiple various nvflash versions, v5.590, patched v5.590, v5.728 etc, with following commands:
nvflash --protectoff
nvflash -6 name.rom --> No need to specify GPU as it is the only nVidia card in the system
nvflash --protecton --> Tried with and without, no difference
Is this behavior normal?
The specified ROM chip is Winbond W25Q40EW which is 512KB. If it is too large, is it possible to extend the vBIOS image, or to buy and solder W25Q20EW which is half the size?
I can also try shorting the pins, but that would only disable the chip - I don't see how it could interfere with the flashing and result in a "corrupted" image.
There is also a possibility of flashing the chip using a Raspberry Pi Zero as a flash programmer with flashrom (since I have it), or order a new chip via Mouser, flash it and replace. Since I am an electrical engineer, soldering and desoldering is not a problem.
Is there anything I am missing? Is it still possibly a wrong vBIOS?
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