You don't need to update the ME to move from Windows 7 to 10. As for updating in general, without providing helpful system info we can't do anything. What model? What current ME firmware? Drivers installed?

Download and use the latest ME8 System Tools package as provided at the first post to exclude any missing file or related issues. Do you have MEI drivers installed at Device Manager? This is the ME firmware that the latest HP bios you linked has:



Let's try some things. Obviously make sure you have MEI drivers installed first or use the DOS tool versions. First use Flash Programming Tool with command fptw -greset and test MEInfo and MEManuf again after the system has reset. If that doesn't work, make sure that you haven't enabled any motherboard jumpers that are used to Disable the ME, Service or similar. Next, go to BIOS and check if you have enabled any setting that says "ME Reflash", "Disable ME", "ME Override", "HMRFPO" or similar. For the motherboard jumpers and BIOS settings I suggest you check the HP Manual as well. If nothing, I suggest you try reflashing the latest BIOS from HP followed by setting default BIOS settings in order to exclude any BIOS issue or misconfiguration. If the problem persists, you probably have a corrupted ME region and in that case a ME Region reflash is needed. For the latter you need read/write access to the usually locked ME Region so an Unlocked Flash Descriptor. Check if your flash descriptor is unlocked by using Flash Programming Tool with the command fptw -d spi.bin or fptw -d me.bin -me. I expect some sort of answer for all the aforementioned suggestions to be able to help.

For the OS update and new ssd, you don't need to deal with the ME. The only reason I said the things above is because, despite your upgrade intentions, there seem to be errors when the tools are run. So the steps above are only to hopefully solve the errors and not for the other updates.

For Flash Programming Tool, yes, as you said. Use the Windows version if you like after first navigating to the appropriate files directory.

At Device Manager > System Devices, do you see the device Intel(R) Management Engine Interface? If yes, what driver version does it report?

Based on what you said and the service manual I just briefly read, there is no need to check the BIOS. The E14 jumper is irrelevant. However, the E1/JP1 jumper you mentioned (Bios ME/AMT Flash Override Header) is definitely the one we need to allow Read/Write access to the ME region in case it's indeed corrupted. That jumper is used to service the ME so if it's enabled the ME won't respond properly and thus MEInfo and MEManuf will report errors. At the manual it should (whether it actually does is a different story) say which pins are responsible for enabling the Override and which for disabling. For normal operation and no errors at the tools, the jumper needs to be set to "no override" if you know what I mean. If the manual doesn't specify what configurations pins 1-2 and 2-3 are then you can safely test yourself at both the BIOS and also by running MEInfo, MEManuf from within Windows or DOS. If the problem is indeed the jumper being enabled, then disabling it should show proper results at MEInfo and MEManuf. Otherwise, at least find out which position (1-2 or 2-3) is the one that disables the ME and thus allows Read/Write access to it's region as that will be useful later on. To test the latter, as I said at my previous post, use Flash Programming Tool the command fptw -d spi.bin or fptw -d me.bin -me and no Error 26 or "cpu access" errors should be shown to verify that the Flash Descriptor is unlocked.



Generally, the facts that a) that board has a "Disable ME" jumper and b) HP includes the ME Region at their released BIOS (SPI) image, unlike other models, means that we can definitely restore the entire ME region in case it's corrupted. But if it's just a missing driver or a BIOS setting then these should be the first to exclude.

Alright, you covered everything perfectly. The reply from HP was actually surprisingly helpful even though you had already figured the pin combinations yourself. Maybe because it's a Workstation and thus more knowledgeable people assist compared to consumer support I'm used to seeing. So if I understand properly 1-2 are to Override the ME whereas 2-3 is the normal locked state. The fact that you are able to perform fptw -d spi.bin successfully without errors such as "cpu access" or "26" means that you can replace the ME region and thus hopefully fix the errors. The fptw -greset command is safe and does not delete any settings or similar. It's very useful to force the ME to reset it's state and start clean so to speak. It's also obligatory to perform after reflashing the entire ME region which what we are planning to do.

Since you can unlock the flash descriptor with the jumper and HP provides the ME region at their BIOS/SPI image pre-configured and flash-ready then we can proceed to reflash the ME region with the HP provided one. Where I write FPT I mean Flash Programming Tool.

1. Make sure the jumper is set to "ME Override" mode and the system has booted with that state.
2. Keep a backup of your entire SPI image by using FPT with command fptw -d spi.bin and store spi.bin somewhere.
3. Download the attached ME region which is taken from the latest HP BIOS for your model (Z820, v3.88 RevA, sp71580).
4. Use FPT with the command fptw -rewrite -me -f ME.bin
5. After it's done (successfully), use FPT again with the command fptw -greset
6. Once the system boots up, go to BIOS and after restoring default settings, shutdown.
7. Set the jumper to normal ME operation, no override.
8. Boot the system and check BIOS, MEInfo, MEManuf.

Be careful with FPT and type the flashing commands carefully. If at any point you see any strange warning about size mismatch or similar, stop and report back to reassess the situation.

The fact that me version is not shown in BIOS when AMT is disabled is probably the way HP has set it to behave. What I can say for sure is that the ME firmware itself is ok now. As for the tool errors, I am not certain where the problem is. If the driver under Device Manager is still not there then that's the problem and that's almost certainly BIOS configuration related at that point. Anyway, as you said, this has nothing to do with your upgrade planning so leave it as it is. You don't use AMT either way. Thank you and enjoy your 2nd hand system.