Hi Everyone,

First of all, I'm a little new to the topic of Intel ME, so I hope you can bear with me.

I have a HP Zbook 15 Base Model (1st generation). After a windows update, it started shutting down on its own, even when left in BIOS. It shuts down after 30 minutes exactly, and that led me to the various threads here in win-raid about Intel ME. My Zbook exhibit the common symptoms, including Intel ME not showing in device manager, and Platform not supported error when running the Softpaq driver installer for Intel ME. I believe my Intel ME is corrupted.

I went through the Guide-Unlock-Intel-Flash-Descriptor-Read-Write-Access-Permissions-for-SPI-Servicing. What I got was that I need to (1) unlock read/write access to my SPI and then (2) load the correct firmware of the Intel ME.

I didn't know what my Intel ME version was, and the MEInfo did not run successfully. But fortunately, I had this second Zbook that was purchased at the same time, hence, I took the MEinfo and ran it there instead. It showed my ME firmware version as 9.0.22.1467. So I went to the Intel ME Tools thread and downloaded the firmware files. I saw that there are 1.5MB and 5MB files. Not sure which to use.

As for the SPI access, I did try to dump the various regions, but only managed to dump the FD and BIOS regions. I did try to load the ME using FPT but of course CPU does not have write access to ME region as expected. I read that HP sometimes have key combinations to unlock read/write access to the SPI, however, I did not manage to find one that works for my Zbook. I posted this question on HP forum as well but have yet to receive a working suggestion. I read about pinmod, opened up my laptop chassis but did not manage to find a realtek chip. Hence, I opted to go for the hardware programmer method, and made the purchase for CH341A + SOIC8 clip + 1.8V adapter. Items are still pending delivery. I'm posting this thread here to get some last minute advice before attempting the operation.

1. Should I use the 1.5MB firmware or the 5MB one? There is a warning that the 5MB one will not be fully written, so I assume I should use the 1.5MB one. I thought about dumping the Intel ME from my second Zbook and then loading it onto this one. Is that a good plan?
2. I do not recognize which is the bios chip. I have googled some images, but I am just not 100% sure if I am looking at the right one. On the chip it is written "winbond 25016DVS10 1424". Is this the chip I should work on?
3. When I get my hands on the CH341A, should I straight away load the Intel ME firmware into the bios chip? or should edit dumped FD to unlock ME region > load edited FD > run FPT in windows > load ME using FPT?

Regards
Ilyas

Zitat von Ilyas im Beitrag #1

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...... 3. When I get my hands on the CH341A, should I straight away load the Intel ME firmware into the bios chip? or should edit dumped FD to unlock ME region > load edited FD > run FPT in windows > load ME using FPT?

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Hi lfb6,

Thank you for the heads up regarding the unconfigured ME. I didn't know that ME FW can be configured or initialized. If I understand correctly, I should put in a configured ME that hasn't been initialized. Is this right?

Does that mean I cannot use the ME firmware downloaded from [Thread:Intel-Management-Engine-Drivers-Firmware-amp-System-Tools] because it is not configured with OEM settings; and must use my second Zbook to get the initialized ME, clean it, then only put it in my faulty Zbook?

About the bios chip, I flipped my Zbook around and there is another winbond chip, this time, 25Q128FV, which is closer to what FPT noted, but not exact. Should I keep on looking?

If I search for the datasheets of the winbond chips, I see 3V noted on the front page. Should I still use the 1.8V adapter?

I got my CH341a yesterday. I'm trying to see if it works. I connected My laptop > CH341a > 18v adapter > Clip > Winbond Chip. The power led on the CH341a lit up, but the run led did not light up. I tried refitting the clip again a few times and it still does not light up. Is there other ways to confirm that I have everything connected?

I downloaded AsProgrammer to use with the CH341a, but it got stuck when trying to identify the chip. Is there another software that you can recommend for use with CH341a?

So far, I haven't bricked my Zbook yet.

Appreciate any advice anyone could give.

W25Q128FV:
The 16MiB flash chip that stores the BIOS firmware is called the system flash

W25Q16DV:
The 2MiB flash chip that stores part of the system flash content is called the private flash.lt is part of HP Sure Start.

You need to disconnect the CMOS battery and then flash(Don't use 1.8v adapter)

Zitat von Ilyas im Beitrag #3

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Hi lfb6,

Thank you for the heads up regarding the unconfigured ME. I didn't know that ME FW can be configured or initialized. If I understand correctly, I should put in a configured ME that hasn't been initialized. Is this right?

Does that mean I cannot use the ME firmware downloaded from [Thread:Intel-Management-Engine-Drivers-Firmware-amp-System-Tools] because it is not configured with OEM settings; and must use my second Zbook to get the initialized ME, clean it, then only put it in my faulty Zbook?

About the bios chip, I flipped my Zbook around and there is another winbond chip, this time, 25Q128FV, which is closer to what FPT noted, but not exact. Should I keep on looking?

If I search for the datasheets of the winbond chips, I see 3V noted on the front page. Should I still use the 1.8V adapter?

I got my CH341a yesterday. I'm trying to see if it works. I connected My laptop > CH341a > 18v adapter > Clip > Winbond Chip. The power led on the CH341a lit up, but the run led did not light up. I tried refitting the clip again a few times and it still does not light up. Is there other ways to confirm that I have everything connected?

I downloaded AsProgrammer to use with the CH341a, but it got stuck when trying to identify the chip. Is there another software that you can recommend for use with CH341a?

So far, I haven't bricked my Zbook yet.

Appreciate any advice anyone could give.

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