Zitat von Fernando im Beitrag #15

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Zitat von @JSebastian im Beitrag #14

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And UBU doesn't give me the option to rename the updated BIOS...

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Why not? You can give the updated BIOS any name you want.
The only question is, if the BIOS chip of your laptop will accept the updated BIOS.

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@Fernando
Ok perfect... Now the only issue is that my BIOS is locked... So the obvious question is how do I unlock it? Unlocked I should be able to access other features Intel® MEI... Thermal management, Power Options... CPU settings maybe... etc... At least I should be able to flash the BIOS Mod... I understand that its a lot riskier trying to unlock the BIOS... But if you have experience with this and you can give me some pointers... I'll give it a shot!
One other thing, the last time I re-flashed my BIOS with the latest update from Asus, I rebooted and decided to enter directly into the BIOS instead of Windows... I noticed that Secure Boot Mode was "Setup" and Secure Boot State was "Disabled" (Greyed-out) but Secure Boot setting "Enabled" does that affect being able to flash a BIOS mod or not? Because HWinfo64 shows Intel® ME Firmware Protected Sector as "Unlocked" and if Secure Boot Mode is "User" and enabled ME FW is locked... Does that matter???

Yeah I'm also afraid to brick my system... Maybe I'll just wait and build a custom rig with a UEFI MB and I'll have an easier time modding the BIOS... Thx anyways!!! Now one other thing... Do you know why Intel® HD Graphics Control Panel and DxDiag show> Video BIOS 0.0? Instead of GOP Version? I have seen screen shots on the Intel® Community Forum I think that do show as GOP Version... Win8.1 detects the HD 4000 iGPU as being part of the CPU in a weird way... Forces me to use one particular driver and Windows Update doesn't offer any WDDM drivers... Dx11 doesn't work correctly... WinSAT D3D Dx10 assessments abort due to not having a WDDM driver... And on the OEM Win8 I don't have that issue... Does it have anything to do with the vBIOS maybe needing to be updated or because I clean installed Win8.1 instead of upgrading the OEM Win8??? Or might it have anything t do with a BIOS issue?

@Fernando

Zitat von Fernando im Beitrag #21

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Zitat von @JSebastian im Beitrag #20

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Do you know why Intel® HD Graphics Control Panel and DxDiag show> Video BIOS 0.0? Instead of GOP Version?

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The GOP version will only be used and shown, if you are running your OS in UEFI mode using the GUID Partition Table (GPT) instead of the LEGACY mode Master Boot Record (MBR) partition table.
This may explain the differences between your clean installed Win8.1 and the updated OEM Win8.

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@Fernando

Zitat von Fernando im Beitrag #23

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Zitat von @JSebastian im Beitrag #20

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And on the OEM Win8 I don't have that issue... Does it have anything to do with the vBIOS maybe needing to be updated or because I clean installed Win8.1 instead of upgrading the OEM Win8???

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I don't think so. A clean OS installation is always the better choice than doing an upgrade. Furthermore the Intel VGA ROM module will not be used by the Intel HD4000 graphics adapter, if you are running the OS in UEFI mode with disabled CSM.

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@@JSebastian

I already replied 2 days ago to your private message. Since you haven't replied back, I can only assume that you have ignored the same conversation you started. This was my reply:

"Rename the modded BIOS to K55A.bin by hand. The checksums should have been corrected by MMTool, but it could be that your BIOS has a security check to prevent modding. Can you post a screenshot of the error, to see what it says?
Try to update only Intel OROM and flash this. If you have an error, then your BIOS is locked. It could still be by-passed by using FPT, recovery flash or security patched, but you increase your chances of failing."

Maybe I should have kept this private, even though it contains nothing personal, but it is my strongly recommendation that you should try to post everything here, to help each other, to let others share their thoughts.

I then saw your cross-post here, which makes me consider if I should help you further. My reply still stands and I think you will eventually waste someones time by asking for mods that you don't test or report back.

This is another try: do you understand the double risk of modding and custom flashing your BIOS, do you fully agree to test no matter what?

@lordkag
Hey, here's a shot of WinFlash when trying to flash the modded BIOS I named K55A.BIN... With updated IRST OROM v12.7 and EFI GOP's... I left the vBIOS alone for now... I did make sure that the new medded BIOS file is the exact same size as the original file prior to the mods... I will also include the modded BIOS as well as the original here ok... Maybe you can check it over and verify that it's ok, please...

@Fernando
I think I read somewhere that when performing a "Clean" install of Win8/8.1, (depending on the type of UEFI/BIOS) some drivers need to be installed with CSM Enabled and Fast Boot Disabled (Take my BIOS type for example) I only have those 2 options... And with Secure Boot Disabled and if possible in SETUP mode not USER... Do you have any insight on this??? I know as another example, Device Manager shows "ACPI x64-based PC" followed by "Microsoft ACPI-compliant System" Shouldn't I see a "Firmware" entry in the device tree??? Or something related to UEFI??? Or is that just for "FULL" UEFI based boards/systems??? I noticed in DxDiag report that it shows my GPU as a "Hybrid Graphics GPU: Integrated" and no mention anywhere of GOP... I will upload my latest DxDiag Report for you to check it out please... I never expected so many things changing on Win8.1... So many incompatibility issues for a lot of hardware... From what I have seen all over the internet... And I had never really looked into the whole "EFI/UEFI" BIOS related to Win8/8.1... Everything seems so much less complicated with Win7 Ultimate... Maybe I'm just confusing myself and making things more complicated than they actually are... LOL... I have ran into a bunch of issues running Win8.1 Pro or maybe it's just my laptop... I mean my USB 2.0 port is recognized and controlled by the Intel® USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller - 0100 (Microsoft) / USB Root Hub (xHCI) stack... 3.0 ports are are running at 2.0 speeds... The whole iGPU issue, and the most interesting is that ALL devices have a ACPI "Location Path" in there respective properties (Details Tab) ALL other laptops/PC's I have checked, their devices ALL have a PCI Location Path... Except of coarse the devices that are controlled by ACPI, like the battery and CPU's... But not the devices listed under the PCI Express Root Complex...
One doubt... the BIOS Update file from Asus is K55AAS.407 ok... Could it be that I might have to change the extension to .BIN? Like the original BIOS file K55A.BIN that's on my OEM Win8 HDD hiiden in C:\. Does that matter any??? Just curious...

@@JSebastian

Do you also get all those unknown sections with the original K55A.bin? The security check happens in WinFlash.exe and I think it can be by-passed with replacing first ja with jmp.



But this is quite dangerous and should be your last step, also a programmer is a must. Luckily, you have other safer methods. The first one is to try CodeRush's guide, which Fernando pointed. The /GAN command should be avoided, as it might not work with your laptop.

The second method is to use Intel FPT. Download the attached rar (many thanks to CodeRush for FTK, I just updated the components to 8.1.40.1456 and added metest+flash bat) and use the appropriate folder. First use spiinfo.bat and post the screenshot. Then use backup.bat or biosbck.bat and update the .bin file you obtained with UBU or MMTool, while keeping the same name. To flash the modded BIOS use the corresponding -flash.bat with the updated bin file. But it is better to wait and only report the outcome of spiinfo.bat, backup.bat and biosbck.bat

As stated before, it is your full responsibility how you use the files and information provided here.