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HP Recommended

I have now managed to install the older BIOS version 1.21. Unfortunately, nothing has changed. I think that even an installation of the original version 1.03 would not solve the problem with the ME update.

HP Recommended

Thats a shame Jo0404.  I had an error message attempting to install 1.21 as well.

 

1.22 includes a note stating that...

WARNING: After installing this BIOS version onto the system, prior BIOS versions cannot be installed onto the system.

 

.All that aside, how did you manage the downgrade from 1.22 to 1.21?  I might as well have a go just in case something different happens on my motherboard.

 

I've found 1.16 under the Linux support stream.  I've no doubts that the BIOS within can be extracted and installed using the WIndows tools so I'll try 1.21 and 1.16 once I know your method. 

 

https://support.hp.com/gb-en/drivers/selfservice/closure/hp-z200-workstation/4100568

HP Recommended

Also - did you retry to install the ME BIOS and or any Windows drivers related to ME?

HP Recommended

doing bios updates/downgrades will not affect the "ME" firmware as they are two SEPERATE things that are physically seperate chips that each have firmware that can be updated

 

you might want to join/post o this forum about your corupted "ME" firmware issue

 

https://www.win-raid.com/

 

create a account, then post in the correct forum

 

https://www.win-raid.com/f39-Special-Intel-Management-Engine.html

HP Recommended

There is truth in what you say but the regular BIOS and the ME BIOS is held in one chip on the motherboard.  I accept the ME engine itself runs across various components on the motherboard.  The ME firmware is 'offset' in the addressable space available in the chip.  This is why ME firmware updates must be sourced from the motherboard manufacturer and not Intel.

 

I know this is true after more research and discovering 'me_cleaner'.  me_cleaner is github project.  It's a tool intended to remove or disable the ME firmware which some see as a backdoor security risk to their privacy.  I have invested in a Raspberry Pi and a IC clip.  I have read the Z200's BIOS into the Pi and the me_cleaner tool can see ME firmware regions held in the chip.  There is no doubt the one piece of silicon on the motherboard contains code from 2x firmware installers.

 

For the sake of this conversation, imagine the regular BIOS fills the bottom half of the flash chip and the ME BIOS fills the top half of the flash chip.  The bottom half of the BIOS contains the screens I've previously shown and also the code for 'Ctrl-P' which when pressed loads and presents the AMT screens from the ME/AMT firmware from the top half of the flash chip.

 

As you know, the ME firmware isn't working properly for Jo0404 and I.  The Ctrl-P button press doesn't bring up the AMT screens.  The ME has become unmaintainable and inaccessable.  The logic in downgrading the regualr BIOS is that it *might* reconnect to the ME firmware and expose it to Windows and HP's native firmware tools and Intel's drivers and maybe the 30 minute watch dog issue can be fixed.

 

Where I'm at now is that I've a basic understanding of where the code lives physically on the motherboard but I lack the skills and knowledge to attempt a write of ME firmware via the Raspberry PI to the upper region of the flash chip.  I'm hoping to find older versions of the regular BIOS to 'have a go'.

 

I also accept that chances of success are low but there is nothing to lose by trying.  Our motherboards is useless in this state.

HP Recommended

Also - thanks for the link. I'll have a look at Win-RAID today.

HP Recommended

Hi Lwoody7110,

I found this document http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01132920 . It describes how to proceed when the update process is interrupted. And so I did it: started bios update from the bios screen. Load the Version 1.22 from USB stick. During the update I pulled the power cord. Stick exchanged against one with the older version. Computer switched on and proceed as described in the document mentioned on page 18/19. The behavior of the computer was as before. This means installing the ME BIOS and Windows driver is not possible. The Device Manager will still not display com 3.

HP Recommended

in order to program the "ME" you need to bring the chip either High or Low to enable the correct address range just doing a bios update/downgrade will not touch the "ME" adress space  which is why i said a bios update is pointless

 

and the "ME" itself is  in several locations depending on the chipset

 

Until the release of Nehalem processors, the ME was usually embedded into the motherboard's northbridge, following the Memory Controller Hub (MCH) layout.] With the newer Intel architectures (Intel 5 Series onwards), ME is included into the Platform Controller Hub (PCH)

 

The ME state is stored in a partition of the SPI flash, using the Embedded Flash File System

 

i suspect what you are seeing in the Bios, is the code For the intel AMT which is part of the Intel Management engine feature set

 

again what most people miss, is that AMT is for remote access to a computer that has vPro hardware (no vPro= no AMT)

it's the intel AMT that requires/uses the com 3 port as a Serial Over Lan Driver

 

the "ME" portion that controls AMT has no need of the com port itself to do it's functions

 

if "ME" is corupted, this can very well affect the AMT portion's operation that resides in the bios

HP Recommended

So far so good, the clever guys over at Win-Raid fixed it with a relatively simple reinstall of the regular BIOS via the flash programmer.  They had to remove a ME region from the HP BIOS so the programmer could fit it on the flash chip.  Perhaps it was this additional region that caused the issue?

 

The motherboard has lasted more than 30 minutes twice this evening.  The HP softpaqs containing ME drivers have installed.  An additional BIOS menu option appeared called Management Options.  I guess this is what you were expecting me to see in some of your previous comments.

 

I've some additional play time tomorrow but core issue is resolved and this PC is useable now.

 

Thanks for your help DGroves :generic:

 

Jo0404.  It'll be worth you tracking the post on Win-raid.  Make a note of your serial, mac address, and UUID from the BIOS before you flash anything from the Win-Raid link.

HP Recommended

Although I have a totally different setup, I am having the same problem with the system shutting off without warning after 30 minutes whether on the Bios screen or in Windows. This probelm started after I did a clean install of Windows 10, upgraded the RAM and installed a 64GB Msata SSD to take advantage of Rapid Storage Technology. The BIOS got corrupted somewhere in the process and I installed the latest and only version currently offered by HP for this machine by flashing from a USB. More details are provided below. I don't know my way around BIOS and Firmware like Lwoody7110 or Jo0404 but would appreciate any help you can offer.

 

This is my system

Computer:                          Hewlett-Packard Envy DV6-7250ca Notebook

OS Name                             Microsoft Windows 10 Home

Version                                10.0.17763 Build 17763

Processor:                           Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3630QM CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2401 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)

Motherboard:                   Hewlett-Packard 181B (also Indicated on the board as Goya/Balen 1.0-DDR3   11254-3   48.4ST10.031)

Chipset:                              Intel 7 Series/C216

BIOS Version/Date:         Insyde F.2E, 2016-09-07 (Previously installed version was F.28, 2013-07-25)

RAM:                                   16 GB – G.Skill F3-1600C11D-16GRSL DDRL-1600 8GBx2 (Replaces factory installed 2x4GB RAM)

HDD:                                   750 GB, 5400 rpm

Added a 64 GB Msata SSD to available slot.

 

This HP notebook computer started out as received new with Windows 8. The OS has been updated over the years to Windows 10 but had never had a clean install of the OS. It was getting really slow so I added a 64 GB Msata SSD to take advantage of Intel Rapid Storage Technology and upgraded RAM from 8 GB to 16 GB. At some point during the process, the computer wouldn’t start up and using HP’s Virtual Agent and HP Forum discussions determined that the Bios was corrupted. The only Bios offered by HP for my computer was version F.2E which is now installed. Since then there were a few other issues so I did a clean install of Windows 10 home and accelerated the HDD using Rapid Storage Technology. Everything operates as it should and the system starts up and runs much faster than previously except that every 30 minutes it shuts off. There is no warning, no shutdown procedure, no BSOD and no DMP files. It is like someone pulled the plug on a desktop PC. This will also happen if I go to the Bios screen on start-up and let it sit for 30 minutes. The system can be restarted immediately and will operate normally for another 30 minutes. This behaviour did not occur prior to the changes I made. 

The system log does not show anything at the time of one of these shutdowns, but on restart, it lists an Error, Event ID 13, System Watchdog timer was triggered, followed by 2 Critical Level entries, Event ID 41, The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly and Event ID 142, The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error is caused because the system stopped responding and the hardware watchdog triggered a system reset.

I discovered on further research of forums that Windows 10 does not automatically install drivers for the Intel Watchdog Timer. I was able to get Windows to install WDT drivers by updating the drivers for one of the motherboard resources listed. Installed drivers are ICCWDT.sys and wdfcoinstaller01009.dll (File version 110.0.1007). This however did not solve the problem.

 

 

 

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