Broken vBIOS on GTX 1060

[stanky]

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?

 

[eidairaman1]

Pull the heatsink and get pics of gpu die without paste and ram surrounding gpu die and a closeup of 1 chip

 

[Caring1]

It's a mining card so it needs a mining specific Bios.
P106 is the card type.

MSI 106 VBIOS

6 GB GDDR5, 1506 MHz GPU, 2002 MHz Memory

www.techpowerup.com

I'm not finding a 3GB version of that card for MSI.

 

[stanky]

Pull the heatsink and get pics of gpu die without paste and ram surrounding gpu die and a closeup of 1 chip

It is quite hard to focus due to the reflectivity of the GPU chip, I hope this is good enough - If not, I will try again. It is a GP106-300-A1, right part of the marking has faded but can be seen under a microscope/magnifier. There are a total of 6 RAM chips, K4G41325FE-HC25 which should be 512 MB each (4 Gb), which would amount to a total of 6x512 MB = 3GB.

It's a mining card so it needs a mining specific Bios.
P106 is the card type.

MSI 106 VBIOS

6 GB GDDR5, 1506 MHz GPU, 2002 MHz Memory

www.techpowerup.com

I'm not finding a 3GB version of that card for MSI.

I am not so sure, honestly. Look at the connectors:

That part looks completely different.
And it corresponds to this card completely: https://www.msi.com/Graphics-Card/GeForce-GTX-1060-3GT-OC

 

[Mussels]

Theres an unverified BIOS that matches the card here (i think?)

VGA Bios Collection: MSI GTX 1060 3GB 3 GB | TechPowerUp

And some other possible matches here (all MSI 3GB)
VGA Bios Collection | TechPowerUp


Visually at least, that cooler is from a 6GB model
MSI GeForce GTX 1060 6GT OC Review - Introduction (guru3d.com)

 

[stanky]

Theres an unverified BIOS that matches the card here (i think?)

VGA Bios Collection: MSI GTX 1060 3GB 3 GB | TechPowerUp

And some other possible matches here (all MSI 3GB)
VGA Bios Collection | TechPowerUp


Visually at least, that cooler is from a 6GB model
MSI GeForce GTX 1060 6GT OC Review - Introduction (guru3d.com)

I think that is for MSI GTX 1060 ARMOR 3G OCV1. Even though, I tried it, as well as all of the MSI 3 GB vBIOSes in tpu base - no luck. I even tried Gigabyte, GALAX and another one which all had the same chip revision, same PCB revision and same display setup - without luck, unfortunately.
What I do not understand is why the compare fails/why the dump is not the same to the image I am flashing. Is that normal behavior?

 

[stanky]

I have an update - I found another ROM image containing supposedly an earlier vBIOS version - tried flashing it, comparing it afterwards and got the following message:

Now the mismatch only occurs on InfoROM portion - what does this mean? Is this normal?
I am also posting this firmware version in the post attachment.

 

[Mussels]

hopefully someone can help with that info, i'm not that experienced with these types of errors

googling found this in anotehr TPU thread:

Update Inforom firmware: nvflash [options] --flashinforom <filename>.ifr
Save Inforom firmware to file: nvflash [options] --save <filename>.ifr
Backup InfoROM to embedded IB: nvflash [options] --backupinforom
Restore InfoROM from embedded IB:nvflash [options] --recoverinforom
Read Inforom OBD info to file: nvflash [options] --rdobd <filename>
Read Inforom OEM info to file: nvflash [options] --rdoem <filename>
Update Inforom OEM info: nvflash [options] --wroem <filename>


another says certain versions of NVflash have issues, and that they used 5.370 succesfully

 

[Regeneration]

As long as the card works fine, pay no attention to the InfoROM.

Just compare the ROMs from the original and to a dumped one. Just a few different bytes also not a big deal.

 

[stanky]

First I would like to thank all of you for your help and suggestions, it really means a lot.

hopefully someone can help with that info, i'm not that experienced with these types of errors

googling found this in anotehr TPU thread:

Update Inforom firmware: nvflash [options] --flashinforom <filename>.ifr
Save Inforom firmware to file: nvflash [options] --save <filename>.ifr
Backup InfoROM to embedded IB: nvflash [options] --backupinforom
Restore InfoROM from embedded IB:nvflash [options] --recoverinforom
Read Inforom OBD info to file: nvflash [options] --rdobd <filename>
Read Inforom OEM info to file: nvflash [options] --rdoem <filename>
Update Inforom OEM info: nvflash [options] --wroem <filename>


another says certain versions of NVflash have issues, and that they used 5.370 succesfully

I've now tried some older versions including 5.370, unfortunately nothing changes.

As long as the card works fine, pay no attention to the InfoROM.

Just compare the ROMs from the original and to a dumped one. Just a few different bytes also not a big deal.

Unfortunately it seems that the card still does not work, however this is good information - using previously mentioned "initial.rom" there are only a few different bytes, probably some kind of a timestamp or something similar.

I noticed another thing, which may or may not help with the debugging.
If I launch GPU-Z immediately after flashing vBIOS, it displays mostly correct information:

If I restart (or otherwise perform a power cycle) as instructed by nvflash, things seem to revert and GPU-Z displays same old "Unkown BIOS" information:

 

[stanky]

Tried flashing in safe mode with no luck. In other news, MSI support confirmed that above mentioned "initial.rom" is original vBIOS for my card, but stated that they cannot send any newer vBIOS versions due to "company policy" when asked if that is the newest version.
Will try a few more tricks, if unsuccessful I will try using rPi Zero with flashROM as SPI flasher (will need to makeshift some level shifters and separate power supply, since W25Q40EW is 1.65-1.95 V and Pi is 3.3 V).

 

[stanky]

Got a bit sidelined by a flu, but today I finally got level shifters and custom 1v8 power supply up and running. Flashrom reports:

Found Winbond flash chip "W25Q40EW" (512 kB, SPI) on linux_spi.
Error: Image size (259072 B) doesn't match the flash chip's size (524288 B)!

Not sure if I should pad the file, and how..?

 

[Regeneration]

Got a bit sidelined by a flu, but today I finally got level shifters and custom 1v8 power supply up and running. Flashrom reports:

Found Winbond flash chip "W25Q40EW" (512 kB, SPI) on linux_spi.
Error: Image size (259072 B) doesn't match the flash chip's size (524288 B)!

Not sure if I should pad the file, and how..?

Hex edit the image and add 00s or FFs in the end until its filled to 524288 bytes.

 

[stanky]

Hex edit the image and add 00s or FFs in the end until its filled to 524288 bytes.

Thanks! Tried it, no luck. Also tried taking the backup of the "nvflashed" rom to see how nvflash performs the padding. Tried this way, also no luck.
I saw a few listings on ebay for pre-flashed vBIOS chips, where you can specify exact model and serial number so you can solder it to your GPU. Does anybody have any experience with such chips? It may be more cost efficient and time efficient to go this route...

 

[Regeneration]

Thanks! Tried it, no luck. Also tried taking the backup of the "nvflashed" rom to see how nvflash performs the padding. Tried this way, also no luck.
I saw a few listings on ebay for pre-flashed vBIOS chips, where you can specify exact model and serial number so you can solder it to your GPU. Does anybody have any experience with such chips? It may be more cost efficient and time efficient to go this route...

Best thing to do is to locate the original BIOS chip brand and model and to buy a replacement.

 

[guilherme897]

Hey, I am having a similar problem, did you manage to fix it?

 

[Mussels]

Just throwing it in there as i played around with a GTX 970 and bios modding yesterday, try the modded NVflash versions

TPU's BIOS flashing section has all the legit versions of NVflash while the BIOS modding section has the modded ones:
BIOS Modding Downloads


In my case i was modding the BIOS and undervolting the GPU, but this may also help you flash a BIOS, if the BIOS you received the card with was already modded