Adventure: Running 8/9th gen Coffee Lake CPUs on Z170 motherboard (ASUS Maximus VIII Ranger)

[Sabertoothz170m1]

Sure. All the best. I really hope it works this time.

Got my fingers crossed!

Today is not my day, completely disassembled my build and motherboard removing that asus armor, and unsocketing my bios chip and I legit laughed for several hysterical seconds when the programmer quit functioning completely....ahh good times...lol! But all is good got another programmer coming in 2 days time or less. Still keeping the faith! Once again thank you for all of your help so far, will update ASAP!

 

[Sabertoothz170m1]

Still no dice, sadly after getting the replacement ch341aprogrammer and reflashing with Asprogrammer and even doing the sctocc mod on the board it does the same exact thing will not load windows it simply freezes at the pinwheel.

At this point I just do not know what to do is it some setting in Bios? A setting that windows does not like tried different combos of csm (compatibility support module), and secure boot on/off, windows uefi and other os setting...nothing works. On the plus side a couple of days ago I got a wonderful deal on a z390 board, although I really wanted this mod to work so only other thing, I can think is trying a different BIOS file from ASUS and reinstalling windows.

Anyways thought I would give an update!

 

[itsakjt]

Still no dice, sadly after getting the replacement ch341aprogrammer and reflashing with Asprogrammer and even doing the sctocc mod on the board it does the same exact thing will not load windows it simply freezes at the pinwheel.

At this point I just do not know what to do is it some setting in Bios? A setting that windows does not like tried different combos of csm (compatibility support module), and secure boot on/off, windows uefi and other os setting...nothing works. On the plus side a couple of days ago I got a wonderful deal on a z390 board, although I really wanted this mod to work so only other thing, I can think is trying a different BIOS file from ASUS and reinstalling windows.

Anyways thought I would give an update!

I see. Might be an issue with the board itself since it happens with the 7th gen CPU as well. You are using the latest BIOS for the mod right?

 

[Sabertoothz170m1]

I see. Might be an issue with the board itself since it happens with the 7th gen CPU as well. You are using the latest BIOS for the mod right?

Yeah, using the last BIOS that ASUS made official 3801, thought that I might try an older one the 3504 and try using a different OS like linux mint.

 

[itsakjt]

Yeah, using the last BIOS that ASUS made official 3801, thought that I might try an older one the 3504 and try using a different OS like linux mint.

You can also try downloading a fresh ISO again from MS site and using Rufus to write it again on a different USB drive.

 

[Sabertoothz170m1]

Success!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After all this time trying everything possible it was the windows download itself causing problems. Once I downloaded rufus and the latest available version ISO through rufus it successfully installed the first time!

Now I just have to figure out how to get my important programs reinstalled that had the licenses, do you have any suggestions on how to retrieve these? Should I just contact the companies directly or possibly try and transfer them over even though I doubt that would work although I did enter my backup product key for windows 10 during install, I have yet to connect my network and see if it will go through and allow activation. But since the last install of windows was essentially corrupt or something else causing the initial problems with windows not operating properly, would microsoft allow this new install with my backup key?

 

[itsakjt]

Success!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After all this time trying everything possible it was the windows download itself causing problems. Once I downloaded rufus and the latest available version ISO through rufus it successfully installed the first time!

Now I just have to figure out how to get my important programs reinstalled that had the licenses, do you have any suggestions on how to retrieve these? Should I just contact the companies directly or possibly try and transfer them over even though I doubt that would work although I did enter my backup product key for windows 10 during install, I have yet to connect my network and see if it will go through and allow activation. But since the last install of windows was essentially corrupt or something else causing the initial problems with windows not operating properly, would microsoft allow this new install with my backup key?

Awesome news. Enjoy your upgrade.
For the licenses, Windows should auto activate itself once connected to the Internet.
For the other applications, if your licenses were tagged to your account (if applicable), technically they should restore automatically once you sign in to the applications. For applications that do not use account based activation, you can search for the emails you possibly got from a particular software company and try to find out the necessary information.

I am so happy for you.

 

[Sabertoothz170m1]

Awesome news. Enjoy your upgrade.
For the licenses, Windows should auto activate itself once connected to the Internet.
For the other applications, if your licenses were tagged to your account (if applicable), technically they should restore automatically once you sign in to the applications. For applications that do not use account based activation, you can search for the emails you possibly got from a particular software company and try to find out the necessary information.

I am so happy for you.

Thank you so much for all your help, and I certainly will enjoy this upgrade!

Long live z170/z270!

 

[BobbyBoyGaming]

@itsakjt
Hello, I ended up buying an OEM "iBuyPower" AsRock z390 Phantom 4s/ac, and I was able to flash the Retail (non-oem BIOS) with some trickery I learned at the win-raid forum. and Now It is basically a retail board and it supports resizable BAR natively.

As for my old Asrock z170 Fatal1ty ITX/ac, I will keep it modded for coffeelake but instead of throwing in my real 9900K i will just put in an Aliexpress modded CPU, which is also suppossed to perform equally to the 9900K or around the same level of performance.

But what I also wanted to add is that I remember you were trying to add resizable BAR to the z170, and I am not sure if you already succeeded in doing this, but it should be fairly easy now if you follow the github guide by xCurio and the Win-raid guide for modding old mobos for nvme support.

LMK if you need links or finding any information I already did it, but since there was an official bios for this motherboard I ended up just crossflashing it with an official release that supports resizable BAR

Here is the link to the post were I add Resizable BAR to my current board, but it also talks about resizable BAR mods which is for any board.

Z390 Phantom Gaming 4S/ac BIOS CROSSFLASH Resizable BAR

What about just modding the OEM “1.21A” BIOS with resizable BAR? Can anybody help me with that since this is a request forum? Are there any generic tutorials for me to DIY it? I am getting a bit lost in the forum here.

winraid.level1techs.com

Here is the link to how to apply the resizable BAR mod, but it is incomplete because you need to know how to mod the bios file

GitHub - xCuri0/ReBarUEFI: Resizable BAR for (almost) any UEFI system

Resizable BAR for (almost) any UEFI system. Contribute to xCuri0/ReBarUEFI development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

Here is the part where it tells you how to add the Rebardxe.ffs into your current bios for Resizable BAR support

[HowTo] Get full NVMe Support for all Systems with an AMI UEFI BIOS

@ all: Please read this before posting into this thread: This thread has been designed by me for users, who want to do the required BIOS modification themselves by following this guide. Users, who want to get an already modded BIOS, may search for it within >this< Sub-Forum or post their...

winraid.level1techs.com

You have to be careful about a padding error that might happen with uefitool but there is another article that explains how to easily check your resultant mod to see if that error occurred or not, and how to bypass it.

 

[itsakjt]

@itsakjt
Hello, I ended up buying an OEM "iBuyPower" AsRock z390 Phantom 4s/ac, and I was able to flash the Retail (non-oem BIOS) with some trickery I learned at the win-raid forum. and Now It is basically a retail board and it supports resizable BAR natively.

As for my old Asrock z170 Fatal1ty ITX/ac, I will keep it modded for coffeelake but instead of throwing in my real 9900K i will just put in an Aliexpress modded CPU, which is also suppossed to perform equally to the 9900K or around the same level of performance.

But what I also wanted to add is that I remember you were trying to add resizable BAR to the z170, and I am not sure if you already succeeded in doing this, but it should be fairly easy now if you follow the github guide by xCurio and the Win-raid guide for modding old mobos for nvme support.

LMK if you need links or finding any information I already did it, but since there was an official bios for this motherboard I ended up just crossflashing it with an official release that supports resizable BAR

Here is the link to the post were I add Resizable BAR to my current board, but it also talks about resizable BAR mods which is for any board.

Z390 Phantom Gaming 4S/ac BIOS CROSSFLASH Resizable BAR

What about just modding the OEM “1.21A” BIOS with resizable BAR? Can anybody help me with that since this is a request forum? Are there any generic tutorials for me to DIY it? I am getting a bit lost in the forum here.

winraid.level1techs.com

Here is the link to how to apply the resizable BAR mod, but it is incomplete because you need to know how to mod the bios file

GitHub - xCuri0/ReBarUEFI: Resizable BAR for (almost) any UEFI system

Resizable BAR for (almost) any UEFI system. Contribute to xCuri0/ReBarUEFI development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

Here is the part where it tells you how to add the Rebardxe.ffs into your current bios for Resizable BAR support

[HowTo] Get full NVMe Support for all Systems with an AMI UEFI BIOS

@ all: Please read this before posting into this thread: This thread has been designed by me for users, who want to do the required BIOS modification themselves by following this guide. Users, who want to get an already modded BIOS, may search for it within >this< Sub-Forum or post their...

winraid.level1techs.com

You have to be careful about a padding error that might happen with uefitool but there is another article that explains how to easily check your resultant mod to see if that error occurred or not, and how to bypass it.

Hello @BobbyBoyGaming
Long time. I also got an ASUS Maximus X Formula for the 9700K and am still using my Maximus VIII Ranger with an i7 9700KF.
I saw the Resizable bar mod from a video posted by Miyconst. This one to be exact.

I have downloaded the artifacts as well and am just waiting to get some time to perform the mod. Not that I require it since my RTX 3070 is installed on my Maximus X Formula which natively supports Rebar and the 2060 Super is installed on the Maximus VIII Ranger which does not support Rebar anyway but I will still do the mod since it is the only modern feature lacking on that old but awesome motherboard (going to be 7 years old next year February).

Thanks a lot for the input. I will update this post as well once I perform the mod.
As far as I understood, the mod will work on any motherboard supporting PCIe 3.0 and Above 4G decoding.

 

[limited_imagination]

Hi there @itsakjt thank you so much for all your help.

I am running an ASUS Prime Z270-A motherboard, and I followed the video and modded the BIOS downloaded from AUSUS support for this board (in my case v.1302 dated 03/15/2018), eventually adding my MAC address, UUID, etc., by means of the Aptio V AMI Firmware update utility and FD44Editor as instructed in the video (all my settings are now identical to the video's suggested settings):

My question has to do with the Intel Management engine versions.

This PC currently has the Intel ME version 11.8.50.3399 installed, and I understand that nothing newer than 11.7.0.1229 is going to work with the modded BIOS. Interestingly, the factory BIOS download v.1302 already has ME version 11.7.0.1229 as part of it. So I must have updated this PC at some point later than 03/15/2018 that I can't remember now, whether via automatic Windows 10 updates or manually through the Intel website.

I am very concerned that just flashing this modded BIOS with the older ME v.11.7 to replace the ME v.11.8, will brick the PC.

Is it possible to downgrade the Intel ME by flashing the modded BIOS and keeping the existing Windows 10 installation on this PC, or am I asking for trouble?

And can you confirm that I must prohibit this PC from ever updating itself from ME v.11.7 into the future, or else it will brick itself? If that is the case, I guess the price of running new CPU technology is eternal update vigilance...

I have not bought a new CPU yet, just taking baby steps to see if the modded BIOS will work with my existing i7-7700 CPU that has been in the PC since I built it in 2017.

I'm totally happy with the PC performance as it is, but I'm slowly getting ready for the day that Microsoft forces a move to Windows 11. Trying out a modded BIOS with all the hardware staying the same, seems like a good conservative first step in the process, since I know all this hardware and the existing Windows 10 installation works fine.

 

[hackalova]

Hi there @itsakjt thank you so much for all your help.

I am running an ASUS Prime Z270-A motherboard, and I followed the video and modded the BIOS downloaded from AUSUS support for this board (in my case v.1302 dated 03/15/2018), eventually adding my MAC address, UUID, etc., by means of the Aptio V AMI Firmware update utility and FD44Editor as instructed in the video (all my settings are now identical to the video's suggested settings):

My question has to do with the Intel Management engine versions.

This PC currently has the Intel ME version 11.8.50.3399 installed, and I understand that nothing newer than 11.7.0.1229 is going to work with the modded BIOS. Interestingly, the factory BIOS download v.1302 already has ME version 11.7.0.1229 as part of it. So I must have updated this PC at some point later than 03/15/2018 that I can't remember now, whether via automatic Windows 10 updates or manually through the Intel website.

I am very concerned that just flashing this modded BIOS with the older ME v.11.7 to replace the ME v.11.8, will brick the PC.

Is it possible to downgrade the Intel ME by flashing the modded BIOS and keeping the existing Windows 10 installation on this PC, or am I asking for trouble?

And can you confirm that I must prohibit this PC from ever updating itself from ME v.11.7 into the future, or else it will brick itself? If that is the case, I guess the price of running new CPU technology is eternal update vigilance...

I have not bought a new CPU yet, just taking baby steps to see if the modded BIOS will work with my existing i7-7700 CPU that has been in the PC since I built it in 2017.

I'm totally happy with the PC performance as it is, but I'm slowly getting ready for the day that Microsoft forces a move to Windows 11. Trying out a modded BIOS with all the hardware staying the same, seems like a good conservative first step in the process, since I know all this hardware and the existing Windows 10 installation works fine.

Hello,

In my case to get my 9700 (non k) to just work on Asus z170 Pro Gaming Aura, I had to disable IME in generated bios. Before doing that it wasn't starting at all, although I can not guaranty that disabling the IME is the only factor that allowed it to start, but I lacked time to make further testing.

After that I could reach BIOS but had an IME error during windows boot. So I used original BIOS chip (I bought a second bios chip, and kept the original unchanged as a backup) to boot to windows and uninstalled IME related software in windows, put back the modded bios chip and it worked.

SO, I think if you flash your bios with a different version of IME you are taking some risks that windows might refuse to boot. I suggest you to make a backup of your original bios before doing anything.
For windows 11 upgrade, you can bypass TPM check according : https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/bypass-windows-11-tpm-requirement

Also, informations on what works and what does not varies between blog posts and videos.
This YouTuber says you should take the most recent IME version, and he uses 11.8.77.3664. But he also disables it right at the same time so it's quite cryptic how IME works.
The CoffeeTime tool is updated every now and then so what was not possible before might be in the future

 

[itsakjt]

Hi there @itsakjt thank you so much for all your help.

I am running an ASUS Prime Z270-A motherboard, and I followed the video and modded the BIOS downloaded from AUSUS support for this board (in my case v.1302 dated 03/15/2018), eventually adding my MAC address, UUID, etc., by means of the Aptio V AMI Firmware update utility and FD44Editor as instructed in the video (all my settings are now identical to the video's suggested settings):

My question has to do with the Intel Management engine versions.

This PC currently has the Intel ME version 11.8.50.3399 installed, and I understand that nothing newer than 11.7.0.1229 is going to work with the modded BIOS. Interestingly, the factory BIOS download v.1302 already has ME version 11.7.0.1229 as part of it. So I must have updated this PC at some point later than 03/15/2018 that I can't remember now, whether via automatic Windows 10 updates or manually through the Intel website.

I am very concerned that just flashing this modded BIOS with the older ME v.11.7 to replace the ME v.11.8, will brick the PC.

Is it possible to downgrade the Intel ME by flashing the modded BIOS and keeping the existing Windows 10 installation on this PC, or am I asking for trouble?

And can you confirm that I must prohibit this PC from ever updating itself from ME v.11.7 into the future, or else it will brick itself? If that is the case, I guess the price of running new CPU technology is eternal update vigilance...

I have not bought a new CPU yet, just taking baby steps to see if the modded BIOS will work with my existing i7-7700 CPU that has been in the PC since I built it in 2017.

I'm totally happy with the PC performance as it is, but I'm slowly getting ready for the day that Microsoft forces a move to Windows 11. Trying out a modded BIOS with all the hardware staying the same, seems like a good conservative first step in the process, since I know all this hardware and the existing Windows 10 installation works fine.

Hello there,

Flashing the modded BIOS would not brick your board but depending on the way you are flashing it, the ME Region might not get changed. ASUS BIOS flashback and EZFlash do not flash the ME Region unless it detects an "upgrade".
On a Prime Z270-K board that I did the mod on, there is an option to temporarily disable ME which will unlock the entire BIOS chip for flashing within Windows. There, you can use FPT (Flash Programming Tool) to flash the modded BIOS using FPTW -rewrite parameter and it will work.
I would not recommend disabling ME as you will lose fTPM support along with some other security features.
And the latest ME version known to work with the mod is 11.7.0.1261. It won't upgrade automatically. I think you updated it back when the Meltdown and Spectre thing happened because that's when ASUS released that exact version you have.

 

[limited_imagination]

Hello,

In my case to get my 9700 (non k) to just work on Asus z170 Pro Gaming Aura, I had to disable IME in generated bios. Before doing that it wasn't starting at all, although I can not guaranty that disabling the IME is the only factor that allowed it to start, but I lacked time to make further testing.

After that I could reach BIOS but had an IME error during windows boot. So I used original BIOS chip (I bought a second bios chip, and kept the original unchanged as a backup) to boot to windows and uninstalled IME related software in windows, put back the modded bios chip and it worked.

SO, I think if you flash your bios with a different version of IME you are taking some risks that windows might refuse to boot. I suggest you to make a backup of your original bios before doing anything.
For windows 11 upgrade, you can bypass TPM check according : https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/bypass-windows-11-tpm-requirement

Also, informations on what works and what does not varies between blog posts and videos.
This YouTuber says you should take the most recent IME version, and he uses 11.8.77.3664. But he also disables it right at the same time so it's quite cryptic how IME works.
The CoffeeTime tool is updated every now and then so what was not possible before might be in the future

Thanks for this. I think I will go with the @itsakjt advice to retain ME in some form, though.

I'm aware of the way people bypass TPM support for W11, but there's no telling how long Microsoft allows that loophole to exist, and I don't want to get shut out unexpectedly in future. This board has TPM enabled already in the BIOS, it just doesn't have a W11 supported CPU. So if I can force feed the board a CPU that Microsoft accepts for W11, then I'm happy. To hell with generating unnecessary e-waste and planned obsolescence.

I do like your idea to buy a second BIOS chip for mods, and to keep the original as a backup. I hadn't considered that before. Maybe I should buy one for a test, flash it with the stock ASUS BIOS v.1302 with ME 11.7.0.1229, and then see if W10 goes nuts over the downgrade. If W10 stays happy that way, then I would have more confidence in the BIOS generated by CoffeeTime with the same ME downgrade. If W10 won't boot, then I still have the stock BIOS chip.

It is a bit weird that CoffeeTime 0.99 allows choosing ME v.11.8.77.3664 if that version won't work in actual practice. I can't see the purpose of including that ME version in CoffeeTime.

But I do like the idea that it might be possible that CoffeeTime gets updated in future, and newer ME versions could be supported.

Hello there,

Flashing the modded BIOS would not brick your board but depending on the way you are flashing it, the ME Region might not get changed. ASUS BIOS flashback and EZFlash do not flash the ME Region unless it detects an "upgrade".
On a Prime Z270-K board that I did the mod on, there is an option to temporarily disable ME which will unlock the entire BIOS chip for flashing within Windows. There, you can use FPT (Flash Programming Tool) to flash the modded BIOS using FPTW -rewrite parameter and it will work.
I would not recommend disabling ME as you will lose fTPM support along with some other security features.
And the latest ME version known to work with the mod is 11.7.0.1261. It won't upgrade automatically. I think you updated it back when the Meltdown and Spectre thing happened because that's when ASUS released that exact version you have.

Thanks, now that you mention it, I think you are correct that I must have manually updated the BIOS from ASUS for INTEL-SA-00086.

The "way I flash it" would have been to follow the steps in that video, and to use the CH341A Programmer app like you did.

Just to be clear: are you now suggesting that it would be possible to skip buying the CH341A flasher altogether, and just use the Intel Flash Programming Tool instead to flash the BIOS within a running instance of Windows 10?

So you are saying that I could go into my BIOS settings, temporarily disable the ME from there, then at that point I could use Intel FPT to flash the new BIOS binary file that I have created with CoffeeTime?

And that process would work, even though the new CoffeeTime BIOS would have ME 11.7.0.1229, instead of the currently installed version 11.8.50.3399?

That sounds like an amazing short cut, if I have understood you correctly!

I'm not familiar with the Intel FPT, but I think I just found a copy of it in the "Intel ME System Tools v.11.0" package, which comes with a 163 page user guide. Yikes!

If I've understood you correctly about your suggested flashing process, and you have any pointers for using FPT in this way, I'd be all ears (well, eyes at least).

 

[itsakjt]

Thanks for this. I think I will go with the @itsakjt advice to retain ME in some form, though.

I'm aware of the way people bypass TPM support for W11, but there's no telling how long Microsoft allows that loophole to exist, and I don't want to get shut out unexpectedly in future. This board has TPM enabled already in the BIOS, it just doesn't have a W11 supported CPU. So if I can force feed the board a CPU that Microsoft accepts for W11, then I'm happy. To hell with generating unnecessary e-waste and planned obsolescence.

I do like your idea to buy a second BIOS chip for mods, and to keep the original as a backup. I hadn't considered that before. Maybe I should buy one for a test, flash it with the stock ASUS BIOS v.1302 with ME 11.7.0.1229, and then see if W10 goes nuts over the downgrade. If W10 stays happy that way, then I would have more confidence in the BIOS generated by CoffeeTime with the same ME downgrade. If W10 won't boot, then I still have the stock BIOS chip.

It is a bit weird that CoffeeTime 0.99 allows choosing ME v.11.8.77.3664 if that version won't work in actual practice. I can't see the purpose of including that ME version in CoffeeTime.

But I do like the idea that it might be possible that CoffeeTime gets updated in future, and newer ME versions could be supported.


Thanks, now that you mention it, I think you are correct that I must have manually updated the BIOS from ASUS for INTEL-SA-00086.

The "way I flash it" would have been to follow the steps in that video, and to use the CH341A Programmer app like you did.

Just to be clear: are you now suggesting that it would be possible to skip buying the CH341A flasher altogether, and just use the Intel Flash Programming Tool instead to flash the BIOS within a running instance of Windows 10?

So you are saying that I could go into my BIOS settings, temporarily disable the ME from there, then at that point I could use Intel FPT to flash the new BIOS binary file that I have created with CoffeeTime?

And that process would work, even though the new CoffeeTime BIOS would have ME 11.7.0.1229, instead of the currently installed version 11.8.50.3399?

That sounds like an amazing short cut, if I have understood you correctly!

I'm not familiar with the Intel FPT, but I think I just found a copy of it in the "Intel ME System Tools v.11.0" package, which comes with a 163 page user guide. Yikes!

If I've understood you correctly about your suggested flashing process, and you have any pointers for using FPT in this way, I'd be all ears (well, eyes at least).

Yes provided your board also provides that option (which it should), you can flash the BIOS within Windows. The command is
fptw64.exe -rewrite -f <biosfilename.rom>
Or
fptw64.exe -f -rewrite <biosfilename.rom>

That .rom can be the extension of your BIOS file (it can be .bin as well).
One of these commands will work. I forget which is the correct one every time. The other will throw an error in syntax.
Also, Windows 10 will continue to boot just fine regardless of ME version, provided you have bitlocker disabled.
Since the firmware TPM region is controlled by ME, and TPM stores the bitlocker keys, it is my speculation that downgrading it can cause issues. Without bitlocker, there are no issues (tried and tested).

Also, the higher versions of ME in Coffee Time are corporate cut versions and are usually used for disabling ME. Not recommended for consumer boards like yours.
So if you have the BIOS file ready, give it a shot. Please make sure to temporarily disable bitlocker if you have that enabled. All the best.

 

[lightning70]

As usual Intel is a robber and we see platform changes every 1-2 years to sell motherboard chips.
This is the conclusion that can be drawn from here.

 

[limited_imagination]

So if you have the BIOS file ready, give it a shot. Please make sure to temporarily disable bitlocker if you have that enabled. All the best.

Awesome, thank you so much.

I need this PC to complete a work assignment due fairly soon, so I will have to wait until that is done before having the confidence to screw with the BIOS that way.

I will report back on my result.

 

[ouro]

hello everyone,
I've tried to run a 9600kf CPU on MSI z170 gaming m7, the process went fine but the clock speed is stuck at 0.8, I couldn't change it no matter how I tweak the core voltage or anything else,

any idea of how to solve this?
><"

 

[limited_imagination]

On a Prime Z270-K board that I did the mod on, there is an option to temporarily disable ME which will unlock the entire BIOS chip for flashing within Windows. There, you can use FPT (Flash Programming Tool) to flash the modded BIOS using FPTW -rewrite parameter and it will work. .... Yes provided your board also provides that option (which it should), you can flash the BIOS within Windows.

Do you remember where exactly in the BIOS settings you found this option to temporarily disable the ME?

I just went through all my BIOS settings, and the only place I see the ME mentioned at all is under the "Main" column, where it has "ME FW 11.8.50.3399" greyed out as part of a list of basic system information specs. Nothing to enable or disable is there, it just tells me which ME version is installed. I can't "click" it to select a change.

I can disable TPM under the "Advanced\Trusted Computing\Security Device Support" column, or else change it from PTT and PTP aware OS under "Advanced\PCH-FW Configuration\PTT Configuration".

But I don't think that TPM stuff what you meant.

Unless I am blind or else you know a trick, I'm not seeing the ability to temporarily disable the ME in my Z270-A board, that you found in your Z270-K board.

So I guess that means it's back to the CH341A plan, unfortunately.

 

[itsakjt]

Do you remember where exactly in the BIOS settings you found this option to temporarily disable the ME?

I just went through all my BIOS settings, and the only place I see the ME mentioned at all is under the "Main" column, where it has "ME FW 11.8.50.3399" greyed out as part of a list of basic system information specs. Nothing to enable or disable is there, it just tells me which ME version is installed. I can't "click" it to select a change.

I can disable TPM under the "Advanced\Trusted Computing\Security Device Support" column, or else change it from PTT and PTP aware OS under "Advanced\PCH-FW Configuration\PTT Configuration".

But I don't think that TPM stuff what you meant.

Unless I am blind or else you know a trick, I'm not seeing the ability to temporarily disable the ME in my Z270-A board, that you found in your Z270-K board.

So I guess that means it's back to the CH341A plan, unfortunately.

Hi there, in my Z270-K, it is under Advanced>PCH-FW configuration>ME Operation Mode - Set to Temporarily disable.
It will re-enable on a power cycle of the system.

 

[limited_imagination]

Oh, sad trombone noise.

On my Z270-A board, the only entry under PCH-FW configuration is "PTT Configuration".

So I guess I'm now in the market for a CH341A programmer.

 

[itsakjt]

Oh, sad trombone noise.

On my Z270-A board, the only entry under PCH-FW configuration is "PTT Configuration".

So I guess I'm now in the market for a CH341A programmer.

Ah, I see. On your board, very likely the BIOS chip is not removable. It is going to have a SPI header (looks very similar to a USB 2.0 header, the difference being the pin pitch is smaller). I have the pinout with me (to be honest, that's how I first flashed my Z270-K). You will require wires that connect to it and connect those to the corresponding pins on the programmer.
Another way is to get a BIOS chip clip that looks like this.

You can hook this up direct to the BIOS chip. It is tricky and often takes a few attempts to ensure the connection is perfect.
Another way is to desolder the BIOS chip using a soldering gun, put it on the programmer for flashing and putting it back on the board.

You can go with the one you are most comfortable with.

 

[limited_imagination]

Ah, I see. On your board, very likely the BIOS chip is not removable. It is going to have a SPI header (looks very similar to a USB 2.0 header, the difference being the pin pitch is smaller). I have the pinout with me (to be honest, that's how I first flashed my Z270-K). You will require wires that connect to it and connect those to the corresponding pins on the programmer.

Well, you did warn everyone right in the title that this would be an adventure.

Yes, you are correct. There are no socketed chips of any description on this board, so finding the bios chip is the treasure hunt at the beginning of the adventure.

I had a close look at all the 8-pin chips on the motherboard, and I see that sandwiched in between the PCI-E slots, near the "TPU" chip, is an 8 pin chip with a part number that starts 25Q128A.

I attach a photo.

Nothing is printed on the board identifying it as the BIOS chip. I guess that would be too easy.

Can you confirm this thing is the BIOS chip that I am looking for?

Amusingly and disturbingly, the first Google hit that I got with that part number is a thread by a guy who bricked this very board, screwing with the 25Q128A chip in pursuit of a Coffee Lake CPU.

LOL!

ASUS Z270 Prime Bricked after BIOS Update

Hello I am creating this thread since I bricked my ASUS motherboard z207-a Prime I was trying to flash my BIOS chip to do the Coffee lake mod, I was able to get a successful read however once I was flashing it I guess I moved it and now I am unable to get a read on the chip I tried with a pomona...

winraid.level1techs.com

 

[itsakjt]

Well, you did warn everyone right in the title that this would be an adventure.

Yes, you are correct. There are no socketed chips of any description on this board, so finding the bios chip is the treasure hunt at the beginning of the adventure.

I had a close look at all the 8-pin chips on the motherboard, and I see that sandwiched in between the PCI-E slots, near the "TPU" chip, is an 8 pin chip with a part number that starts 25Q128A.

I attach a photo.

Nothing is printed on the board identifying it as the BIOS chip. I guess that would be too easy.

Can you confirm this thing is the BIOS chip that I am looking for?

Amusingly and disturbingly, the first Google hit that I got with that part number is a thread by a guy who bricked this very board, screwing with the 25Q128A chip in pursuit of a Coffee Lake CPU.

LOL!

ASUS Z270 Prime Bricked after BIOS Update

Hello I am creating this thread since I bricked my ASUS motherboard z207-a Prime I was trying to flash my BIOS chip to do the Coffee lake mod, I was able to get a successful read however once I was flashing it I guess I moved it and now I am unable to get a read on the chip I tried with a pomona...

winraid.level1techs.com

View attachment 281957

You are right. That is the BIOS chip and right below it is the SPI flash header.

If you do everything properly, killing the board is next to impossible. You have no idea how many attempts I made with my Z270-K, to the point when I thought I am probably going to break the pins on the SPI header.

Also curious, does your board have USB BIOS flashback?

 

[limited_imagination]

No USB BIOS flashback on this board. I understand that was only available on higher end boards than this one.

So about that 9 pin SPI flash header under my BIOS chip: Is there any way to connect the CH341A device to that, with some kind of female molex connector, to flash the BIOS chip?

I had the idea that might be possible from your earlier posts.

The spring clamp gadget that clamps directly onto the BIOS chip looks janky as hell. One of the videos I watched showed the guy breaking off a little resistor beside the BIOS with that clamp, and that was even after he bent the header pins away from the chip to accommodate the clamp. My soldering skills are laughable, so I would much prefer to avoid that road.

Also, I see a bunch of chatter to the effect that all the CH341A programmers are set for 5 volt usage, but BIOS chips like mine demand flashing with 3.3 volts.

There are a bunch of sites showing how to hack the CH341A to yield 3.3 instead of 5 volts.

Do you agree that voltage issue is a significant concern, or did you just roll the dice at 5 volts and hope for the best?