I have a HP EliteDesk 800 G3 65W with a ME that does not work anymore. The ME stopped working as I was upgrading it from 11.6 to 11.8.9.3987 using sp136319. The ME Setup menu option is no longer available in the BIOS menu. But the AMT settings are available in the remote management menu in BIOS settings. If it matters, I had the MeshCommander compressed web application installed at the time.

According to the InstallCmdWrapper-InstallCmd log:

Sending the update image to FW for verification: COMPLETE
FW Update: last value was at 73%

After:

Error 8769: Polling for FW Update Failed.

Error 8193: Fail to load MEI device driver (PCI access for Windows)
Above error is often caused by one of below reasons:
Administrator privilege needed for running the tool
ME is in an error state causing MEI driver fail
MEI driver is not installed
C:MEFWDetailFile.exe
1 File(s) copied
Update complete. You must reboot your computer in order for the Management Engine firmware update to be effective.

Attempts to rerun the software give:

"System is not match prerequisites to update MEFW"

I was on the latest BIOS (2.39), and in an attempt to rescue the ME, I tried downgrading and upgrading hoping the BIOS upgrade process would also identify an unresponsive ME and force write it. I went down to 2.38 and back up, I also downgraded down to 2.35 using local USB before going back up to 2.39, 2.35 is the most up to date available on the HP Drivers website even though 2.39 is available. But this was wishful thinking, after all even in normal process the ME firmware upgrade is separate. I'm not sure if there is a way to make a crisis recovery happen, and if it would even rescue the ME.

I also tried using HPIA, which ironically says it successfully installed firmware.

I found this website while looking for information on ME firmware... Before I get a EEPROM programmer and re-read the guides thoroughly, are there any other rescue options that I can try?

I have access to additional similar computers, all 800 G3 65W with the same P21 board and BIOS. If it matters, I have them in different configurations (same CPU, but slightly different memory, slightly different storage, some with or without Wi-Fi, etc.) Hopefully this can be helpful in some way.

If not, I will have to get shopping. Along with a CH341A, is a SOIC8 clip the right size for the ME chips on these computers? Anything else I should get?