@bergelru Nice trick with the old version The F20 beta version has at least no longer a pad- file right before the mc- partition. and the nvme module can be easily added with mmtool (and UEFItool). ..... Normally I check versions first, but .....
Funny thing here: If you add NVME module with UEFItool then it gets the pad- file. (For F20 a seond set of microcodes is no longer in PEI section, but now in DXE- section, there still with the well known pad- file, same pad- file gets added by UEFItool 25/28 right in front of mc section when adding NVME module)

F20 did download fine for me right now (link)

@Lost_N_BIOS Sorry for bothering you, especially with an old version I waited for kinda trick here, but it seems it's mostly trying step by step... Thanks a lot for explaining

@lfb6 For the broken link, I was talking about the modded F20e bios that @Lost_N_BIOS referred to.

@bergelru - You're welcome! Yes, since you can boot and all was fine, you have nothing to worry about, this wont cause any delayed issues. IF and when this causes a problem, it's a brick as soon as you reboot
Yes, I noticed that about the link when I mentioned above, I will add a mirror now (the link is still good, but that site has been messed up all week ) Adding mirror there now, just in case you want it = Done

Yes, F20e is stable, but I always run latest beta BIOS, so to me that is always best unless there is some known issue.
Since this board is EOL, you can consider that the final BIOS most likely, and then any updates you want you'll have to request someone to mod for you, such as updated ME FW, or microcodes etc.
I am using Z390 now, and have Z490 I will be moving to as soon as I have time to re-theme it's BIOS, but I do have this Z77X-UD3H board and have used F20e without issues.

@Fernando @lfb6

Here is quick solution, it could be done in other ways, as I discussed randomly above, but I found quicker easier solution up front before getting into all my "one at a time" this/that dance
So I'm stopping here for now unless you'd like to know other more involved solutions?

1. Using UEFITool 25.0 >> Do normal NVME mod like you just don't care >> Save >> Interim.bin
2. Using UEFITool 25, 51, 57 etc, open Interim.bin >> Extract FV_Main_Nested As-Is >> Save as Nested-Mod.ffs
3. Use MMTool 5.02.0024, Open Stock BIOS >> Go to Replace Tab
4. Select Nested FV at top >> GUID - AE717C2F-1A42-4F2B-8861-78B79CA07E07
5. Replace with Nested-Mod.ffs >> Ignore what you see in MMTool at this point
6. Save (Hours!)
7. Rename to stock BIOS .extension (I think any name or extension may be OK on this board, I can't remember)
8. Done >> Win

Flash via Qflash, no Q-Flash block removal required.

* edit - @lfb6 - Padding above/below uCode/BIOSAC is one to really watch out for, this almost always = brick if added or removed.
And any ucode you see in PEI volumes,only do via either MMTool or straight hex (w/corrections to ucode header is/as needed, for size/checksum)

Hello Everybody,
After modding my Bios yesterday, I try to flash it with the ASUS tool EZFlash 2 from the Bios option, but I have an error when I try to flash with my file.


What can be the problem ?
Is the modded BIOS corrupted ?
Need I use an other program to flash the Bios ?

Thanks for your help.

Zitat von Lost_N_BIOS im Beitrag #5988

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... * edit - @lfb6 - Padding above/below uCode/BIOSAC is one to really watch out for, this almost always = brick if added or removed.
And any ucode you see in PEI volumes,only do via either MMTool or straight hex (w/corrections to ucode header is/as needed, for size/checksum)

---

@lfb6 - You're welcome! MMTool for PEI ucode edit is much easier and safer
I can't remember if FF or 00 better for this PEI maintain spacing during that kind of mod, it may differ between BIOS versions/brands, etc too, so probably best to just do these with MMTool when you run into them

@Captain Caverne - You cannot flash mod BIOS with EZ Flash, except in rare instances. See here for possible ways to flash your mod BIOS - [Guide] How to flash a modded AMI UEFI BIOS
Actually, your board has USB Flashback and file must be in properly signed capsule named Z9PED8WS.CAP, that is how you should flash mod BIOS on the Z9PE-D8-WS board
Google and you will find videos, and read your manual too so you know which port to use.

I used the AFUwin solution from Fernando to flash my Bios, and it works, but I can't see the NVMe SSD in the new Bios for booting on it. I have new option named PATA in hard disk boot possibility.
It's a Samsung 960EVO on a Gen3 4x NVME adapter, I have cloned the actual sata SSD to this new one, and no "Windows Boot Manager" option. I think I need to start a new installation of Win10.
Strange...
I will try to test other option in Bios, but I'm not sure that the modding Bios works on this Mobo...
Perhaps it's the adapter, but I can see it on win 10

Hello @Fernando and everyone involved on this topic!

First of all, I appreciate so much for creating this excellent guide, I'm very impressed by the level of details! That was really very well done, congratulations!

Well I'm building a home lab server with following configuration:

MB: ASUS Z9PR-D12 Server Intel C602-A Chipset Socket LGA-2011 - I've updated the BIOS to latest version (6002) in order to make CPU work properly
CPU: 2 X E5-2667 V2 Ivy Bridge EP LGA2011
NVME SSD: 1 TB Adata XPG SX8200 Pro
RAID 1st Array: 10 x 600GB HDD SAS 15k (Mixed brands)
RAID 2nd Array: 3 x 3TB HDD SATA 7.5K (Hitachi)
GPU: EVGA RTX 2080 SUPER
OS: Windows Server 2019

My plan is to install the OS in the NVME drive and concurrently create and run the RAIDs for storing files, processing data etc.

So before I get started into this process I'd like to ask you some questions to avoid any possible problem and make sure I'm going to right direction, ok? I'm sorry if some of them are not relevant but I think it doesn't hurt to ask in this case

-> What would be the main advantages applying the "Modded BIOS Method" over "Clover-EFI Bootloader Method" or vice versa? I've noticed the second one looks less risky and simpler than this one but it's not clear for me which are all cons/pros of each one in terms of performance or anything else relevant.

-> Does this method work well with a RAID configuration running together as I intend to do? I will use the ASUS PIKE Raid Card (8 SATA/SAS ports) + additional RAID Controller Card (4 SATA/SAS ports) + 2 SATA 3.0 ports of motherboard.

-> Looking to my build and what I'm planning to do, would you please have any advice or concerns that I might have along this process? Your expertise and knowledge are most appreciated.

Thank you so much for your time and help.

Yes I see your instalation guide, but I would like to clone the actual SDD (Sata SSD ) to my new NVMe device without reinstall the complete system.
I have found this post, I will test it tomorow :
https://faststorage.eu/how-to-clone-wind...le-boot-device/

@Fernando ,

Thanks for your fast response.

Great! So I'll go for this Modded BIOS method. Ok, good advice I'll keep that in mind. Actually I didn't create the arrays yet but most probably I'll create after installing the OS on NVMe SSD a RAID10 (w/ 10 x 600GB SAS HDD) and RAID0 (w/ 3 x 3TB HDD).

@Captain Caverne - I agree with what Fernando says above, but if you must clone... I know, some people dread clean install, or even repair/in-place upgrade that keeps everything >>
Clone SSD to NVME
Installing Clean Win7x64 on M2.2280 PCIe Gen3x4 SSD A-DATA SX8200 Pro << My way
[Guide] How to get full NVMe support for all Systems with an AMI UEFI BIOS (330) << Fernando's way
[Guide] How to migrate Windows 7 64bit boot drive from MBR SATA to UEFI NVMe without data lose << Shawn's way