I have no idea what the spec is on the cpu, it shows its a QQLS ES and its a A2 in hwinfo but im assuming most of the info on the cpu is incorrect

I flashed it, How do i check if ME is enabled?

yes that vbios is from gpu-z

Dell https://imgur.com/gallery/p5zaLDN

Sorry, I meant what was the S-Spec printed on CPU, which you gave above QQLS, so thanks, this is ES CPU. I see from your images no IHS cover on the CPU anyway, so no laser printed S-Spec, but luckily you found this info in HWINFO64

Did you order flash programmer and SOIC8 test clip w/ cable yet?

First in DOS or EFI, wherever you were able to use FPT properly, run >> FPT -greset

Then run MEInfoWin - verbose / and MEInfoWin -fwsts and show me the output.

It says QQLS on the processor and some other numbers, above and below the die

It was flashed in FPT, can't boot legacy into dos.

here is the output

https://pastebin.com/raw/LMUF2V72

I'm going to order one from the united states this week, shipping from china will take a month

What do you mean >> flashed in FPT, can't boot legacy into dos. ???

Be sure it's from the US if you are paying much more than $2-3 each item, many sellers on ebay or elsewhere say US/USA, but really ships from China, so check feedback for this (Positive, neutrals and negatives)

Great, ME FW is now enabled, remember you couldn't get MEInfoWin output before, now it's full output and I can see Boot Guard is not set on FPF side!

So, ME FW side sorted, at least for now! Once you get programmer we can test getting you onto retail ME FW and see if that will work with your chipset or not.
We should probably wait until then to test stock BIOS region swap in too, but that's up to you, if you have other systems and can let this one sit with a bricked BIOS until programmer arrives if it doesn't work, then we can try now if you wanted.

I can't find any info on QQLS Show me image of CPU-z main tab, and another image of HWINFO64 showing main CPU-z like little window and the large window with CPU expanded and then selected but with little CPU-z window moved so it looks like this, so I can see both at once
This way I can see what CPUID is being used, so we can maybe update your microcodes

https://imgur.com/a/yoXlT6f


I meant i used efi to flash and i need legacy to boot into dos i believe

lets try the microcodes then retailmefw then try stock firmware, no need to wait

i ordered it, i have other systems i use, i only get on this one to follow your instructions
it gets laggy due to being 4k and cpu not boosting its clock speeds like it should, 800mhz kills me :(

@bobcatchris - Thanks, I gotcha now, I'll have to see, stock BIOS may be locked to UEFI Only too - unless we make setting visible to you, or change it to allow both.
Thanks for the image, your CPU is one that had two different microcodes in there, only ten days apart in build dates too. Hopefully it doesn't require one of those to run, if it does, we'll figure it out, hopefully this isn't the case as that may be what's limiting it to x8 (I assume it's doing this on AC Correct?)
Here is microcode test, both updated to latest, there is only 906EA and 906EC microcode in there. I planned to send you ME FW Test this time too, but I need to clarify something I noticed with plutomaniac again while getting ready to build a ME FW test BIOS.
And for the BIOS region replacement, I thought it would be best to test that after the ME FW test, in case something in it requires the other ME FW. If the ME FW test fails, then we try anyway
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?fil...292104814893246

Can you take some images of the BIOS for me, at least one showing all main pages if it looks like normal AMI BIOS (Main, Advanced, Security, Boot, Save & Exit)
If it looks like normal Dell BIOS, then up to you how much to take, but try to show a good amount, I'll see about unlocking it all for you so you can set whatever you want.
Please resize the images if you can't F12 screenshot to USB, or even if so since it's 4K. I only need to see the BIOS at a glance, not in 4K/HD/2-5MB images per then put in archive (7zip preferred, but zip/rar OK too)


plutomaniac - You mentioned HDR usually only contains unconfigured ME FW, I checked this to confirm just in case, and it appears to be configured to me, am I correct?
If yes, what does that mean in regards to my previous SKU difference question?

I'm using a old power adapter for the laptop which can be why its not performing correctly

i borrowed one from a alienware from work, so maybe that will fix it

I'll try the microcodes in a few hours when i get home and let you know


Thank you again!

You're welcome! On the PSU block, that may be why then, some Dell as you probably know, will only work (properly, or at all) with Dell adapters. I've not seen that mentioned as much recently as in the past though, but I assume they're still up to stuff like that.
Usually when this happens, some non-Dell battery or power block limitation it will tell you in the BIOS on the power/battery or performance page somewhere, at least I know it did on some older Dell BIOS.

I see Tcc Activation Offset set to 2 in your BIOS vs 0 in the stock BIOS, but I think that only means to start throttling at 2 degrees less than tjMax (100C). How is the temps at idle and load?
From your HNWINFO image, it doesn't look wattage or power limited in any way, all says unlocked/unlimited. However, I do see Intel ConfigTDP enabled on your BIOS vs disabled on the stock, but that may be for testing purposes, I don't see any limit imposed in this area vs stock

I was looking at "File System State" = Configured, totally forgot about RGN being RGN. Now, more confused
It shows RGN "extracted" though, same as any I do configure/run through FITc, or same as any other BIOS with already configured ME at ME Region, how can I remember to notice configure/unconfirgured?
I tell ya, ME FW is not my thing

Yes, when we do the PRD ME FW test I will use latest anyway, I was only looking at that HDR version for info purposes

Thank you for the detailed explanation, I will try to absorb and remember. ME FW always so confusing, more so now with V12, configured and extracted means neither, they need to keep it in a straight line!
Could that kind of detection be noted/changed to say something else in MEA, so it's less confusing for V12, or does this really only apply with Dell or other FW UPD images (or something you're in the middle of rebuilding manually)?

Thanks again, makes it easy to tell, hopefully I can remember this

The cpu seems to be running normally on a alienware adapter. Going above 800mhz, with speedstep disabled sticking at 2.1ghz as it should. , before i was getting a power adapter error although it was a dell and the same watts as the original.

I tried throttlestop to try to control the cpu but not doing much if at all, actually it makes it worse most of the time

Is there a way to unlock the multiplier or set it base multiplier to 3.9ghz instead of 2.1ghz? I'm assuming we aren't anywhere near that. When benching, turbo doesn't stay at a high frequency and scores are lower than expected since its averaging 2.6ghz

One thing I did notice is the igpu nor the gpu will run 3d applications, it says no direct3d device although it shows compatible in dxdiag

Here is a picture of the bios, seems the same as the normal bios. I forgot to take more but its pretty much the same, nothing different.


https://i.imgur.com/BrVRBnF.jpg


the microcode did update according to AE, is that the latest revision? it didn't register as a i9, im sure it is a ES but its a P0 so I believe its a early revision and not a QS