ME V7 -> V8 upgrade. Final recommended path?

[BillDH2k]

Great guide!

But it is not clear to me from your guide what is the final verdict for a proven ME V7 to V8 upgrade method? I have Z620/420 with V3.96 BIOS.

In "Upgrading ME firmware v7 -> v8 in OS" section, you listed 5 different options. In the end under "Special Case Considerations", you stated to "use intel fptw64 and the E1 AMT/ME FDO header". Did you mean the 3rd option? Could you clarify?

Thanks!

[BillDH2k]

Follow up - I did the following: starting from a dump v3.96 bios from my board, then replaced the ME and Boot Block with codes from the official v.3.96 BIOS ("J61_0396.BIN"). Flashed the modified BIOS into the board (using PI 3+B). Now I have 2013 boot block and 8.1.x ME. Everything is working. The only issue is that "ME is in manufacturing mode" msg during booting.

Update (6/12/2024):

Credit to the great works by @bibikalka1 (see his posts below in this thread), the "ME in Manufacturing Mode" can be safely exited, by re-flashing the ME region with the same ME code (extracted from the official V3.96 BIOS) with one byte change at offset 0x400 (0xFF->0x01). You do not need a hardware programmer to accomplish this, since under "Manufacturing Mode" the ME region can be altered directly using FPT.exe tool (Intel_ME_System_Tools, v8 DOS version).

Basic steps (credit to bibikalka1): 1) Move the FDO jumper on the motherboard to ON position. 2) Boot to DOS, and execute "fpt.exe -ME -f ME8.bin". ME8.bin is the ME code cropped from the V396 BIOS, with one byte change at offset 0x400 (0xFF->0x01). 3) Then "fpt -greset". System will boot up without "ME in Manufacturing Mode". 4) Replace FDO jumper to OFF position.

In facts, it is now possible to perform BB2013/ME V8 upgrade without the need of a hardware flasher. Thanks to bibikalka1's work.

[akierum]

How did you replace the data? HxD ?

ME: 0x005000 to 0x50FFFF Boot block region: 0xFF0000 to 0xFFFFFF

Did you solve the "ME is in manufacturing mode" msg during booting. ???

[BillDH2k]

I used HxD to replace the two specified blocks.

I did not solve "ME is in manufacturing mode" msg issue during booting, but the system works just fine. BTW, I am using the PC as a stand-alone, running Windows 10/Hackintosh (Monterey macOS).

[akierum]

How did you solve the "ME is in manufacturing mode" msg issue during booting?

On Mon, Aug 29, 2022 at 10:02 PM BillDH2k @.***> wrote:

I used HxD to replace the two specified blocks.

I did solve "ME is in manufacturing mode" msg issue during booting, but the system works just fine. BTW, I am using the PC as a stand-alone.

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/SuperThunder/HP_Z420_Z620_Z820_BootBlock_Upgrade/issues/8#issuecomment-1230731954, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AHQVDIV2Y5A4QPJJTPPNMUTV3UCN5ANCNFSM5V4KXTKA . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: <SuperThunder/HP_Z420_Z620_Z820_BootBlock_Upgrade/issues/8/1230731954@ github.com>

[Pandimus]

I used HxD to replace the two specified blocks.

I did not solve "ME is in manufacturing mode" msg issue during booting, but the system works just fine. BTW, I am using the PC as a stand-alone, running Windows 10/Hackintosh (Monterey macOS).

Does this error stop the boot process? Reason i ask is i'm planning my bios upgrade, and am using this machine as a hypervisor host in a closet, and having to hit enter or something everytime i boot may be problematic.

[BillDH2k]

No. It does not effect boot process. Just a message displayed on the screen.

[corrreia]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but have you managed to update the boot block date with the V3.96 BIOS? Did you follow this guide?

[fbzto]

Hope this helps somebody. I just finished upgrading a v3.96 bios. I easily updated bootblock but didn't realize the ME could be flashed via clip. Damaged my clip trying to reflash the ME modified bios. The easiest way to get to boot is move the amt header to pin 1 and 2 this diasables Intel ME. Problem solved. Thanks for the write-up was so helpful

[bibikalka1]

If anyone still needs this - can upgrade ME to 8 (or downgrade to 7) using the official HP tools: https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/hp-workstations-owners-club.254315/page-13#post-5251044

[BillDH2k]

@bibikalka1 Great find! I will give it a trial using your method. Since my machine is already in ME 8, brute force flashed with a SPI programmer (thus not properly initialized), I guess I need to full back to original BIOS 1st, based on your writing.

[bibikalka1]

@bibikalka1 Great find! I will give it a trial using your method. Since my machine is already in ME 8, brute force flashed with a SPI programmer (thus not properly initialized), I guess I need to full back to original BIOS 1st, based on your writing.

See this issue for updated details: https://github.com/SuperThunder/HP_Z420_Z620_Z820_BootBlock_Upgrade/issues/12

I believe you can MEBLAST ME8 on top of existing ME8, it just overwrites that entire ME fully section anyway. But do save the existing one so you could copy it back easily!

I just diffed the ME region from J61_ME8a.bin with the BIOS ME section after MEBLAST8, and it's identical but 1 byte, at address 0x5400, the original has 'FF', and the BIOS ME section has '01' there. So MEBLAST literally does what it says - blasts away the entire ME section, LOL.

Watch out for 2.07 not booting on v2 Xeons, I think the original pdf said something to that effect, but I am not sure how true that is.

But - if you have everything in your BIOS as you need it, there is probably no reason to risk bricking a working system, LOL.

[BillDH2k]

@bibikalka1 After reading more of your other posts, need a clarification about "Exit the Manufacturing Mode" by restoring the original "ME/GBE" contents. Does that mean you fall back to ME 7? But don't we need ME 8 for V2 Xeon support? I must miss something here. Could you clarify? Thanks!

Also, to your specific suggestion to my situation (from the post above): "MEBLAST ME8 on top of existing ME8". What is the 1st instance of "ME8" referring to? ME code from the official V3.96 BIOS? If that's the case, then I am re-writing the ME section with the same code again, but using MEBLAST tool?

[bibikalka1]

@bibikalka1 After reading more of your other posts, need a clarification about "Exit the Manufacturing Mode" by restoring the original "ME/GBE" contents. Does that mean you fall back to ME 7? But don't we need ME 8 for V2 Xeon support? I must miss something here. Could you clarify? Thanks!

Also, to your specific suggestion to my situation (from the post above): "MEBLAST ME8 on top of existing ME8". What is the 1st instance of "ME8" referring to? ME code from the official V3.96 BIOS? If that's the case, then I am re-writing the ME section with the same code again, but using MEBLAST tool?

@BillDH2k Sorry if I was confusing at first! The main reference point that you must keep is the full contents of your BIOS chip before you start doing anything. The vendor BIOS files are incomplete - so you cannot use those. If you already have ME8 in your BIOS chip that is properly configured (1st instance) - you just back that up, and back up GBE too before you start. MEBLAST will put a fresh ME8 on top of ME8 you had, in order to trigger the manufacturing mode when you downgrade to 2.07. Then, in manufacturing mode, put the image of ME8/GBE you already had from BIOS back. That will restore things to a normal state, and will exit the manufacturing mode. Alternatively, just put the entire BIOS image you dumped first back into the BIOS chip while in manufacturing mode - but of course that defeats the purpose of gaining unlimited write access.

I am confused still if BIOS v2.07 would work for Xeons v2 if BB is 2013. That's an unknown combo. So if you have a v2, I think you should not try this - otherwise you'd have to swap the CPU or do the chip clip (or USB recovery?) to get back to a working state if for some reason v2.07 does not work with Xeon v2.

[BillDH2k]

@bibikalka1 Thank you for your clarification. If a board has a working ME 8, then the board automatically should have BB2013 (HP official configuration). So my goal here was to upgrade ME 7 + BB2011 configuration to enable V2 Xeon (Ivy-Bridge) support. Basically, your method will enable flashing BB2013 without a hardware programmer. This is a big improvement!

As regarding to V2 support with ME 7 + BB2013, it should work as long ME is disabled: ME_v7v8_with_Xeon_v1v2_test_notes.txt

But a successful ME7 to ME8 transition is still a questionable goal. Flashing ME 8 via programmer would result in "ME in manufacturing mode" (not sure if ME is fully working in this state, but V2 CPUs runs fine).

BTW, I tried to MEBLAST ME8 on top of the hardware programmer flashed BIOS, and the command failed.

[bibikalka1]

@BillDH2k

A few clarifications.

So HP offered ME8 since J208 version, that's the BIOS version in MEBLAST8 if you look at the end of the bin file where the boot block sits. If you look at the ME8 pdf (see attached), it actually has ME8 with boot block 2011, and J204 bios! I guess those systems might not have shipped at all commercially?

To use MEBLAST, did you move the FDO jumper as the pdf in the ME8 update package says (attached)? The pdf has good details! I guess you may also want to take off that other green jumper (password protection) so it's not afraid to downgrade.

To get from v1 Xeon to v2 one should update the BB to 2013, and ME to ME8 using ME8 blast. Once v1 is working with BB2013/ME8, it's time to swap the cpus.

MWP_UpdateMeFw_Z420_Z620.pdf

P.S. I've chased CPU microcodes in different BIOS versions with UBU to see which steppings are supported where. J123 has only v1 steppings. J207 has early v2 (306E0), J305 has early v2 (306E2 & 306E3), and bootblock 2013. Looking at the recent one - J391, the v2 stepping there is 306E4, and the prior ones are missing.

And I have a dump from an actual v1 motherboard - it says BIOS is J315 (in the permanent FDO header), but bootblock is 2011 from J255. It has 3 (!) v2 steppings listed - 306E2 / 306E3 / 306E4. So strangely HP did not ship this board as ready to accept v2.

I think that's why the original guide says this : The first BIOS version with a 2013 boot block and BIOS code compatible with v2 Xeons is v3.50.

I think below or at bios J350 is probably where they started shipping boards with the 2013 bootblock.

[BillDH2k]

@bibikalka1 Thanks for the ground discoveries. I will give it a trial again since I have another V1 board that I can experiment with.

Regarding my attempt with MEBLAST8, I did have the jumpers set properly. The command failed (can't remember the exact message) because, may be, the underlying ME (inserted by a hardware programmer) is not working properly?!

[bibikalka1]

@BillDH2k

OK. I verified J350, it is the 1st BIOS that only has 1 v2 stepping - 306E4. Looks like HP cleaned it up before rolling this out commercially. The original pdf guide is correct :) The prior J3XX versions were for internal HP use only with v2. That's how a computer with J315 ended up still having BB2011. HP was flashing BB2013 internally with J3XX branch, but shipped the old BB2011 until J350. You can download J350 & J365 here: https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp63001-63500/sp63328.html https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp64501-65000/sp64992.html

For you v2 Z620 that you already converted from v1, I don't believe that upgrade to ME8 via programmer did anything to prevent MEBLAST operation. But! I wonder if your GbE area got messed up since you entered Manufacturing Mode somehow after the ME8 insertion. Do you have a backup of your prior GbE while you still had BB2011?

Anyway, try this. Move green jumper from password protection to E14 BB. Shift ME/FD override jumper by 1 position so FDO is unlocked. Do this in DOS: 1) backup your entire BIOS with fpt 2) Install J365 (or J350?), reboot (go back in time a little) 3) try MEBLAST8, see if it works, if it does - reboot as instructed so it initializes 4) if MEBLAST8 does not work, try MEBLAST7 (ME7), reboot as instructed, once it's all good, go try MEBLAST8 again on top 5) once ME8 is good after MEBLAST and it is initialized properly, install J396 or whatever version you want, such as the old J391, before the slow microcode updates https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp78001-78500/sp78208.html

For your v1 computer, you can follow my workflow, but do try one new thing. Backup all, MEBLAST8, then J365 (instead of J207), and see if that gets you to manufacturing mode too. If it did not, downgrade J365 to J207, that should work for sure. Just don't do cold reboots in between. Once in manufacturing mode, update BB to 2013 with fpt, restore ME/GBE from backup (your old ME7?), reboot. Once you rebooted out of the manufacturing mode, do MEBLAST8 again, reboot as instructed so it initializes. Once you have BB2013/ME8 initialized, you are good to swap to v2 cpu.

The reason to try J365 is to see if there is a way to trigger Manufacturing mode with a v2 cpu already installed, since one cannot really go to J207 for v2.

I attached my IMET8 DOS folder, it has useful scripts in there, backup and md5all. Usage "backup 00", "md5all 00" in DOS, it'll create backups and will calculate md5 sums for a given index 00. You can backup a bunch easily, after any step! Read the scripts - they have the exact commands you want, navigating around DOS is slightly tricky :) IMET8a.zip CAPTURE.TXT

P.S. The zip file includes "capture.com" utility, for DOS. It will take the current screen capture, then you do "ren TEXT.VID text01.vid" before the next capture or it gets overwritten. This is for any errors you get - of course you can also just take a picture with your phone.

[BillDH2k]

@bibikalka1

Finally got around and did a quick check on my V1 board (Z420). Surprised to find that it is a V3.92, BB 2011, and ME 8.1.31.1351! So I was wrong about ME 8 was only shipped with BB 2013!

For curiosity, I went back to my current V2 Z620 setup. I found the original BIOS dump and decided to flash them back to its original state. I replaced the CPU with V1 2670, restored the original BIOS (via flash programmer), and booted up. "ME in Manufacturing Mode message" was gone. But surprised again to find: V3.96, BB2011, ME 8.1.10.1286. I had thought that I had a ME7, BB2011 board!

So my memory did not serve me right here. I did flash several of these boards, using the same methods, from Z420 to Z820, all ended up with "ME in Manufacturing mode". I am very certain, at least some of them were BB2011 ME 7 configurations. (But admittedly, I did not verify each of them, since I simply flashed them, with the bare board outside the case without powering on, and declared job done).

So for my BB2011 + ME 8 configurations, if I just replace BB2011 -> BB2013, I should have a fully working board with V2 support. Will test this tonight (with a programmer for now, and, if I could get around, trying your other suggestion). - Follow up: Simply replace the boot block with 2013 version works. ME 8 remained fully configured.

I did have a Z820 which I believe, for sure, was a ME7 + BB2011. But I have to restore the original BIOS to find out. If it was ME7+2011, I will test your suggestion for software flash only approach.

[bibikalka1]

@BillDH2k

Man, that's a lot of legwork! Not sure if one can fish out the ME version from the BIOS dump without flashing it back. I tried to look for differences in ME7 & ME8. ME8 around 0x5000 will have these 3 strings, $FPT, KRID, FOVDKRID. ME7 around the same area has only $FPT, FOVDKRID. So open your bios dump in either HxD2500 or WinMerge (2 files are needed), and examine what you see around 0x5000 address. It's way easier than your programmer procedures :)

On my side, I tried the path J396/ME7 -> MEBLAST8 -> J365 - no manufacturing mode Then tried J365 to J207 right after, still no manufacturing mode. Took J207 to J391, no manufacturing mode. Tried MEBLAST8 on top of J391 here again (never did a full AC cycle), it gave an error: `_MEBLAST.com - v0.01.0.4, Sep 05, 2012
Copyright (c) 2011, 2012 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
Date / Time 06-10-2024 / 11:04:30:04
Override Jumper is installed.
ME Unlocked via FDO Jumper.
*** Warning - SPI Flash Regions are Locked.

ERROR - Global Valid is NOT SET, Please Power Cycle the System.

ErrorLevel = 1
C:\Z620\MEBLAST8>_`

So I did a full A/C power cycle, it rebooted, showing properly initialized J391/ME8.

I did ME8/J207 on top of this, and got Manufacturing Mode! So this ME8/J207 sequence seems critical. And, I could also MEBLAST 8 on top of properly initialized ME8 without errors once ME8 is initialized.

So I don't seem to be able to get into Manufacturing Mode with a BIOS version that's support a v2 CPU. I guess I'd wait to swap to v2 before I straighten out the BIOS mods!

So I wanted to try BIOS modding with some added modules. If you have such an quick set up with the programmer, could I provide a few BIOS versions for you to test and see if they'd boot?

Here is the info on modding: I know that J394+NVME boots fine (info from the techpowerup forum). I would try 1) J396+NVME+ReBAR modules (very benign insertion) 2) J396+NVME+ReBAR+older microcodes (microcode is slightly messier, but can be benign if I do binary copy/paste)

Older microcodes are faster but have those Intel bugs, not critical for 1 user systems. Windows updates the microcode, but that can be disabled so it'd use the one from the BIOS.

You would need to just flash these, and see if they boot. I tried once a lot of patches - and got a brick :( So I investigated what moved, and have a different plan now.

Are you OK to experiment a bit? Once I know a modded BIOS works, I'd flash it using my Manufacturing mode hack.

[BillDH2k]

I'd glad to help, but it has to wait until next week, at the earliest. Just shot to me the BIOS mods for me to try, and I will test them out.

[bibikalka1]

@BillDH2k

I started a fresh issue, please see the attached bios mods, and the instructions in there: https://github.com/SuperThunder/HP_Z420_Z620_Z820_BootBlock_Upgrade/issues/13

Many thanks in advance!

[bibikalka1]

@BillDH2k

So my memory did not serve me right here. I did flash several of these boards, using the same methods, from Z420 to Z820, all ended up with "ME in Manufacturing mode". I am very certain, at least some of them were BB2011 ME 7 configurations. (But admittedly, I did not verify each of them, since I simply flashed them, with the bare board outside the case without powering on, and declared job done).

Btw, if you have those ME8 versions you've flashed with the hardware programmer - can you share somehow? I am thinking that perhaps I could MEBLAST a version like that on top of J3XX, and get manufacturing mode that way for a v2 chip - if you are saying you had that happen a lot to you. I compared MEBLAST for v7/v8, and the meblast.com is exactly the same. So it literally takes a BIOS file copy, and writes the ME area to the flash chip. There is nothing else to it. I could probably recreate what you've done for the ME8 upgrade in software!

P.S. It occurred to me that MEBLAST changes 1 byte in the ME region when it does its thing relative to the input BIOS file, which you don't do manually. Thus it comes back in manufacturing mode after the programmer. But! Manufacturing mode should allow you to copy anything to the ME region, so it's easy to fix by fpt writing the ME region with the exact replica post MEBLAST [fpt.exe -ME -f MEOO22.bin]. I have attached my ME dump after MEBLAST below. You can compare this to the ME region in J61_ME8a.bin from sp59991, and see it is different, by 1 byte: MEOO22.zip

My prior post: I just diffed the ME region from J61_ME8a.bin with the BIOS ME section after MEBLAST8, and it's identical but 1 byte, at address 0x5400, the original has 'FF', and the BIOS ME section has '01' there. So MEBLAST literally does what it says - blasts away the entire ME section, LOL.

P.P.S. After ME8 initializes itself, that whole region starting from 0x5400 (full BIOS address) flips from "01 FF FF .." to "00 00 00 ..". Same story with the initialized ME7 - a bunch of zeros at these addresses. I did the comparisons.

[BillDH2k]

@bibikalka1 Is this what you want? A full BIOS dump from my V2 Z620 which was hardware flashed with ME8 + BB2013 insertion ("ME in manufacturing mode"). Here is (read off the chip from a programmer):

(Change: I removed the full BIOS dump and just leave the cropped ME block here: ME_dump.zip )

BTW, this Z620 had a confirmed ME7 + BB2011 originally.

[bibikalka1]

@bibikalka1 Is this what you want? A full BIOS dump from my V2 Z620 which was hardware flashed with ME8 + BB2013 insertion ("ME in manufacturing mode"). Here is (read off the chip from a programmer):

(Change: I removed the full BIOS dump and just leave the cropped ME block here: ME_dump.zip )

BTW, this Z620 had a confirmed ME7 + BB2011 originally.

@BillDH2k

OK, you have a simple issue I think. That byte is still "FF" in your dump, so ME never initialized, and it did not know that it needed to! It's FF at address 0x400 in the cropped ME, just compare to my file above in WinMerge app. Instead, it should be "01". It seems you took ME from ~J396, and I see some ME differences with the stock J396, as if it tried to change something, but did not complete it. Technically, you can grab any ME8 version you want, change that 1 byte to "01", and flash it as in my fix below. If you don't want to mess around, just flash my stock ME8 initial from MEBLAST from above.

I propose this fix. Move that FD jumper to enable ME write access. But into DOS, and do a few steps which are equivalent to using a programmer (you should have full fpt write access here - so all should work):

fpt.exe -d BACKUP.bin fpt.exe -f ORIG_ED.bin (if you have that saved, very original backup for this computer with v1, plus BB2013/ME8 edits that you did for the programmer, don't worry about broken ME8, you'll overwrite it again with a proper ME8 next) fpt.exe -ME -f MEOO22.bin (I uploaded this above in this thread, original ME8 plus 1 byte flipped to "01") fpt -greset

It should power off. Pull the cord. Open, move the FD jumper back, push/hold the BIOS reset button for 10 sec. Plug in the power cord. Hopefully it'll initialize when it reboots.

I observed some GBE changes when updating ME and getting into manufacturing mode, that's why I recommend flashing the original edited BIOS. Then you put ME8 that's going to initialize properly on top.

Extra credit - try to flash my uploaded modded BIOS while you are still in the ME mode, although if it bricks, you'd need the programmer ! :) Here is the command to flash the permanent part of the BIOS, you'd need to crop this out first from the full 16MB files that I uploaded: fpt.exe -f BIOB00.bin -A 0x580000 -L 0xA70000 This does not touch the boot block.

All the BIOS variables sit before that, in this section: fpt.exe -d BIOSVAR.bin -A 0x510000 -L 0x070000

See this for a similar procedure: https://winraid.level1techs.com/t/solution-for-hp-z200-mt-shutting-down-after-30-minutes-management-platform-in-manufacturing-mode/35267

P.S. I've attached my crop of [-A 0x580000 -L 0xA70000] for J396 so that you can QC those cropped files easily. BIOB21.zip

[BillDH2k]

@bibikalka1

Your trick worked! I followed your instruction above. I did not need to reflash the BIOS, since it was already an original BIOS + ME8/BB2013 insertion. I used the ME block (V8.1.60.1561) cropped from the official 3.96 BIOS (0x5000 to 0x50FFFF), changed the byte value at the address 0x400 to 0x01 (was 0xFF), saved it as ME8_MOD.BIN (all done via HxD), then "fpt.exe -ME -f ME_MOD.BIN", followed by "fpt.exe -greset". Now, "ME in manufacturing Mode" is gone, and I have a fully working ME V8. Thank you very much for your in-depth knowledge and background work!

I will test your other BIOS mods. But I won't be able to work on it until next week. Thanks again!

[bibikalka1]

@BillDH2k

Happy to hear it worked!!! What you did is perfectly good, using the latest ME8. Now go and fix all those other machines your converted to v2, LOL.

My only reason to ask you to reflash the original bios dump first is that I saw GbE area changes when going from original -> manufacturing mode. Some bytes in that area are related to the manufacturing mode. When you have a chance, could you compare original GbE in v1 Bios dump to manufacturing mode GbE to current GbE where ME8 is fixed (3 versions). Did GbE revert to the original version, or are some bytes still different? You can just dump your current GbE without changing any jumpers, [fpt.exe -GBE -d gbe.bin ]

Btw, only when you described your recent hardware re-flashing experiments I realized you had trouble exiting the Manufacturing Mode, while I was in contrast seeking ways to enter it to get full fpt write access, LOL! But!!! I am now thinking I can try to hack MEBLAST to write the ME8 region with FF instead of 01 (what you did with the programmer), so it'd get stuck in manufacturing mode. Then one can do any and all updates, and exit by flashing the original ME image back, or a proper "01" version. This would provide a software only path to have full write access to flash chip!

I also just noticed your Hackintosh github project. It could be easy for people to software flash libreboot for ZX20 if somebody develops that. On my side, I am just OK with a few BIOS tweaks for now.

Anyway, hopefully more developments to come!

[BillDH2k]

@bibikalka1

Here is the three Z620 BIOS dump of your interests (here).

The 2nd one, as you noticed earlier had ME from V3.94. so it may not the match you wanted.

[bibikalka1]

@bibikalka1

Here is the three Z620 BIOS dump of your interests (here).

The 2nd one, as you noticed earlier had ME from V3.94. so it may not the match you wanted.

@BillDH2k

Thanks for letting me take a look!!! And, you can take it down!

Basically, your manufacturing mode and mine through J207 are different :)

Mine happens because of some BIOS variables with the uninitialized ME and screwy J207 downgrade, that somehow flips GBE around too. But GBE is not a cause, it sort of goes with the MEBLAST action.

Yours happens because ME is messed up, so GBE never changes. I will try to figure out if I can mod MEBLAST and have "FF" in it instead of "01", so it'll recreate your manufacturing mode. It's a 1 step process to full fpt writeable flash, which is attractive given how easy it'd be. No programmer is needed!

[BillDH2k]

@bibikalka1 Indeed, I was think of the same thing if we could simply flip one byte within the ME block! I am going to confirm if that's the case with a flasher.

[bibikalka1]

@bibikalka1 Indeed, I was think of the same thing if we could simply flip one byte within the ME block! I am going to confirm if that's the case with a flasher.

@BillDH2k - you could test it. But it's more or less self-evident, other than the flash chip, there is no other storage :) It's just that I need to boost my non-existent binary hacking skills :)