@Spectral @Lost_N_BIOS

I don't have this board anymore, unfortunately. I gave up trying to get Ivy Bridge to work on it.

Modding this bios is not super easy but it is not impossible. It is possible to unlock FD, update to the latest ME7, and update microcodes. All my experiments with ME8 failed. All my experiments with ivy bridge CPUs failed.

I did not try to add NVME support to the bios. However, the compressed section with the bios DXEs that causes UEFITOOL to fail out with "decompression failed", is available in uncompressed form by loading the raw .bio files on Intel's website into UEFITOOL.

If you find and then transplant this section from the BIO file to your dump you can change the DXE modules as you wish with UEFITOOL. The bios will function normally with the transplanted section (this is where my testing ended).

Thanks @IntelModder - I sent him a BIOS to test, but only with ME8 and added microcode for Ivy-E, I doubt it will work but still waiting to hear back. I put in ME8 using FITc so settings did get transferred from the original ME7, but I still think other modules need modified.
How did you do the ME8 attempts, did you use FITc or just insert it? If just inserted I assume that may fail, but really I think it will all fail due to major ME change overs need to be done by manufacturer because of all the other module changes that need done at same time too.
Thanks for your tip on the volume swap, that would help with NVME insertion if he needs that. I think too many other internal modules need updated to also allow ME8 to work, aside from just putting it in there, and this usually needs done by manufacturer.

I can't find it now but at the time I followed a guide that was posted on another forum about manually updating ASUS boards with ME7 to ME8. This guide required you to transfer each individual setting in FITC. It didn't work.

I also found some examples where ivy bridge cpus were working on platforms with ME7 (from memory, although i could be wrong, the mac pro was one such platform).

Thanks, yes, that's probably similar as the guide we have now for cleaning/transferring stuff to new ME, although there may be some stuff FITc does that you can't see or manually transfer?
You are correct, some chipsets can run Ivy on ME7, unsure about Ivy-E on ME7 though.

Zitat von Lost_N_BIOS im Beitrag #17

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Thanks @IntelI sent him a BIOS to test, but only with ME8 and added microcode for Ivy-E, I doubt it will work but still waiting to hear back.

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Thanks @Spectral - When using V1 CPU does the ME look healthy now, check with MEInfoWin - verbose (From V8 system tools)
If it does, then maybe CPUDXE/MemInit/PCHInit etc need updated to be compatible with the CPU and to properly run all ME8 functions (probably many other modules too), which only manufacturer can do

Did you get post 00 before when trying with original BIOS, or no codes at all?

00 - first post code, when BIOS loaded\failed. Generic post saying that BIOS unable to start.

When using V1 CPU does the ME look healthy now, check with MEInfoWin - verbose (From V8 system tools)

Zitat von Lost_N_BIOS im Beitrag #23

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When using V1 CPU does the ME look healthy now, check with MEInfoWin - verbose (From V8 system tools)

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@Lost_N_BIOS did you ever get the Ivy Bridge working on your DX79SR? I have one and bought a CPU without checking compatibility and now I'm stuck with a CPU I can't return and from what I've read on many forums all I need is a microcode update? how much truth is to this? @IntelModder

@newguy2intel

Unfortunately you are out of luck. It is not just a microcode update. ME also needs updated (which we can do), but the board will not post with an ivy bridge cpu without updating a number of bios modules (which we likely can't do without manufacturer support).

I was not able to get this to work on mine, and @Lost_N_BIOS has tried multiple times with this series of motherboards (DX79 - SR / TO /SI).

Unlike the third party manufacturers (ASUS, ASROCK etc) Intel abandoned their consumers on this series of boards.

Your best option is to try and on-sell either the motherboard or cpu.

thank you for replying, I'm gutted, I knew MSI would have treated me better, I got sucked into marketing extreme this skull logo and all



@Lost_N_BIOS did you ever get the Ivy Bridge working on your DX79SR? I have one and bought a CPU without checking compatibility and now I'm stuck with a CPU I can't return and from what I've read on many forums all I need is a microcode update? how much truth is to this? @IntelModder

Thanks @IntelModder - I wouldn't have remembered trying Do you know where I tried previously so I can look at what was discussed?
Did you remember if you ever tried microcode removed (ie none added I guess)? Or ME Disabled by itself, and or ME Disabled + Microcode removed? Or the ME8 BIOS I posted minus microcode?

@newguy2intel - I never had any of the Intel X79 variants, I assume he is correct solely based on what he mentioned above.
This is due to updating ME FW Major version is not a simple task end user/BIOS Modders can do generally due to many other BIOS modules need updates at same time too, by manufacturer as he mentioned
I assume you mean Ivy-E CPU, not Ivy, correct?

Probably best to sell that board, and get a different X58 board from better brand (MSI, Asrock, Gigabyte, Asus etc) if you want to keep that CPU and stay on X58