Hi, I realize I'm hijacking an old thread, but my question also relates to updating the microcode in the BIOS for a 206A7 CPUID. I have several of these laptops in service with an Intel Core i7-2655LE CPU. The issue I've run into is instability in Windows 10 version 2004 (20H1) and above. The rarity of this motherboard prompted me to investigate whether other systems with comparable hardware were experiencing similar issues, which led me to find what appeared to be a close analog. A forum with countless users detailing the same problem with the AsRock P67 Pro3 motherboard. Complete stability in Windows 10 1909, and random KMODE Exception BSOD's in V. 20H1 and above. Further research uncovered similar user reports with 2nd Gen i7 processors and these recent Win 10 feature upgrades.

In the case of the P67 Pro 3, a Beta BIOS update was provided that apparently resolved this issue, and the changelog only lists a single entry "CPU Microcode Update". I'm sure this is an overly simplistic assumption, but this evidence has me tentatively convinced that a CPU Microcode update in the BIOS of the Twinhead board might resolve the stability issue as well. Unfortunately in my case the Manufacturer no longer exists, so an OEM BIOS update will never be released.

Although it may not be related, it's worth mentioning that the Windows 10 task manager also reports 100% CPU load continuously, and following this update: KB5003169 causes it to misreport the CPU frequency as an insane value (ie 847639765.50GHz).

I was planning to attempt the BIOS mod myself, but came across multiple warnings on this site cautioning against using UBU with mobile chipsets, so I thought it best to first reach out to the community for guidance. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Let me know what resources I should provide and I'll post download links.


Edit by Fernando: Posts moved into a separate thread with a more specific title

The facing problem in this kind of mod is the flashing itself not the modification or the use of UBU.
This is always ONLY user option and risk...after all this is MOD, simple as that.

[Guide] How to flash a modded AMI UEFI BIOS

I'm aware of the inherent risks involved, but fortunately these motherboards have replaceable BIOS chips, secured only by two small screws and easily accessible. I'd rather not lose any, but it's a price I'm willing to pay. My hope is someone will recognize the issue I described in my previous post and either confirm or disprove the outdated microcode as the root cause.

I know the BIOS is AMI Aptio 4. The outdated manufacturer provided bios updates included AFUWIN for the flashing procedure, is it still advisable to instead use a utility like Flashrom tool or even AFUDos ?

No one, besides a user with identical board, can assure u of nothing.
So u take ur chance or not, perform valid backups/dumps of the current bios with AMI tools or Intel FPT, besides an SPI programmer, edit/update the bios and test the results.
Usually official tools like AMI dont like bios mods, expected...as it conflicts with internal securities or OEM securities in motherboard, so again no one can assure u how different tools behave.
U should also take a look on the Intel ME FW 7/8, u must ckeck version on system, as this impacts on the system

Thanks for the advice MeatWar. I have multiple copies of the original BIOS releases, and several backups I've made with AFUWIN and Universal BIOS Backup toolkit. I'll try and find my way with UBU & mmtools, but if the only course is to integrate the updated microcode with hex editor (as above) I might need some help.

Here's a copy of the BIOS for anyone interested:

I also noticed some (but not all) of the downloaded bios include a bin file, could it be ME firmware ?

Zitat von Infinitesimality im Beitrag #12

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Here\'s a copy of the BIOS for anyone interested:
I also noticed some (but not all) of the downloaded bios include a bin file, could it be ME firmware ?

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Looking at it again I actually think the .bin file is the EC FW.

It is possible the misreported frequency and CPU load issue is related to ACPI ? If so, is this a module that can typically be updated in the BIOS ?