How to open and modify an HP Z600 non-UEFI BIOS

[Bernd83HN]

Hello,

i have a HP Z600 Workstation.
With the last BIOS 3.60 but the Intel Option Raid ROM is still very old.

I want to set 2 or more SSD Drives in Raid-0 but the old RAID ROM doesn´t support
TRIM in a RAID 0. The first Intel RST ROM was 11.2 which can TRIM over RAID.

Is there someone in HP side who can change the Option ROM and set the BIOS, as BETA when he want, on the Download side.
Or does someone know a tool to change the option Rom in the BIOS File.

With Award/AMI/Phoenix Bios is this no Problem but HP use a own Format for the BIOS File.

Thanks for your help

Bernd

[Skylarking]

z600 BIOS v3.57 was released in 2013, then HP released v3.60 in 2016 to "provide mitigation to the Memory Sinkhole issue which affects certain Intel processors". Who knows why this late release was done as it's not normal HP behaviour from what i have noticed. Maybe Intel paid for this 2016 BIOS release to fix Intel CPU issues.

The reality is that HP depreciates support and simply expects you to buy a shiny new supported system. If HP really wanted to support their older systems and for example update OROM's they would have done it already. And in the case of z600 done it with the 2016 BIOS release. 

Heck, in my case, HP couldn't even be bothered packaging an updated Intel RST driver on their support page for the z210 workstation. Buying a new z220 would have resolved the fixes that Intel had made to the driver

My solution was to save a few grand and  download the Intel driver.

But back to your issue, hacking system firmware should be doable though i have only ever hacked old compaq laptop (removed wifi whitelist check) and dell desktop firmware. Traditional BIOS' are simpler though EFI and UEFI firmware are also doable from what i have read but they can be a little tricky since they are signed.

Unfortunately discussing how to hack HP firmware on HP's forums will likely see posts or threads or members deleted so no point in discussing here.

If you want to look at what is needed, google "bios hacks mods" or such and likely you will find a dedicated site that should help should you wish to go down the rabbit hole...

Good luck.

[MtothaJ]

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@Bernd83HN wrote:

Hello,

i have a HP Z600 Workstation.
With the last BIOS 3.60 but the Intel Option Raid ROM is still very old.

I want to set 2 or more SSD Drives in Raid-0 but the old RAID ROM doesn´t support
TRIM in a RAID 0. The first Intel RST ROM was 11.2 which can TRIM over RAID.

Is there someone in HP side who can change the Option ROM and set the BIOS, as BETA when he want, on the Download side.
Or does someone know a tool to change the option Rom in the BIOS File.

With Award/AMI/Phoenix Bios is this no Problem but HP use a own Format for the BIOS File.

Thanks for your help

Bernd

---

Have a look here for ideas: http://www.win-raid.com/t12f16-Guide-AMI-non-UEFI-BIOS-Modding.html

My experience with the Zx00 is very limited, but I have a feeling that getting anywhere with this on the Z600 this will be difficult to accomplish - in theory even if you succeed in adding / replacing the OPROM using the AMI tools there is the question of flashing the moddified bios file to bios chip - most likely it will not flash, or there is a risk of a brick. 

And while I agree with both of you that HP Support for the older products is pretty poor, it is pretty much a similar situation with virtually all manufacturers. At the current rate of 'progress ' with new boards / platforms dropping almost on an annual basis, I guess there is just not enough resources to ensure adequate support for legacy products. The key difference is that while adding e.g. unofficial NVMe support to old Asus or Gigabyte boards is relatively straightforward, the HP stuff is so locked down that after official support ceases one is basically stuck.

[Bernd83HN]

i´m in this Forum too.

But the HP BIOS is no AMI, or Phoenix, or something else.
I found no Bios tool which can open the BIOS.

[Skylarking]

You posted this thread How to open and modify an HP Z600 non-UEFI BIOS on Win-RAID forum which has BIOS modding experts on it. One expert said he'll have a look in a few days but to remind him...

So you'd have more chance getting help on Win-RAID than here, so best to remind plutomaniac and maybe he can help.


As for your initial question "Is there someone in HP side who can change the Option ROM and set the BIOS, as BETA when he want, on the Download side." the answer would be a strong NO.

[pcwizzy37]

Strange for HP to do that, and I'm also looking to mod the BIOS, but it's very very proprietary, looking through it for strings, brings almost nothing too. I dislike the fact that it disables the SmBUS controller when I start Linux.