A guide and collection of resources on how to flash 2013 BootBlock and modded BIOS to HP Z420, Z620, and Z820. The flashing procedure is done with software only, and no BIOS chip clips or desoldering. The modded BIOS supports NVME boot, ReSizable Bar, and a range of CPU microcodes.
The modded Z440 bios will not flash with official HP tools. Checksum verification will fail! Need to find a way to bypass that. Can probably do a chip clip. I stared at z440/640/840 motherboard pictures. They all have a soic8 flash chip. Seems flash chip type is W25Q128BV . Z440/Z640 chip orientation is convenient to clip, Z840 is much worse. Read about the clip process here:
Needed: official old bioses, such as v1.53 (sp71547.exe), etc
ZX40 jumpers look identical to ZX20. Same pwd protection, Bootblock (E14, the undocumented jumper next to the pwd one, not to confuse with the BBR jumper!), ME/AMT flash override (FDO unlock).
BIOS backup: create DOS USB, unpack IMET9 below, turn off, move green pwd jumper to the undocumented BB E14 jumper, move FDO jumper to the other position, boot to DOS USB. In DOS - [cd imet9; backup 11]. Put jumpers back as they were, reboot back to your main OS. See this picture where the pwd jumper is empty and BB E14 jumper is installed, for some reason they swapped the actual green connector with the black BBR one:
( picture credit @antiqua https://forum.overclockers.ua/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=218885&p=3467242#p3467242 )
There is quite a bit of discussion about this workstations in this thread:
https://forum.overclockers.ua/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=218885
In summary, all BIOS flashes on that forum were done with a clip, and they have 1 specific 2015 BIOS version that was modded for overclocking. That one particular version worked on 100s of reflashed workstations. All the newer BIOS versions with attempted modding failed to boot or did not work properly.
For full guarantee of flashing BIOS buy a SOIC8 clip, such as this one (typical cost $3-4):
This post will be an ever green document.
The modded Z440 bios will not flash with official HP tools. Checksum verification will fail! Need to find a way to bypass that. Can probably do a chip clip. I stared at z440/640/840 motherboard pictures. They all have a soic8 flash chip. Seems flash chip type is W25Q128BV . Z440/Z640 chip orientation is convenient to clip, Z840 is much worse. Read about the clip process here:
https://libreboot.org/docs/install/spi.html https://github.com/SuperThunder/HP_Z420_Z620_Z820_BootBlock_Upgrade
ZX40 official maintenance and service guide: http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c04823811.pdf
Needed: official old bioses, such as v1.53 (sp71547.exe), etc
ZX40 jumpers look identical to ZX20. Same pwd protection, Bootblock (E14, the undocumented jumper next to the pwd one, not to confuse with the BBR jumper!), ME/AMT flash override (FDO unlock).
BIOS backup: create DOS USB, unpack IMET9 below, turn off, move green pwd jumper to the undocumented BB E14 jumper, move FDO jumper to the other position, boot to DOS USB. In DOS - [cd imet9; backup 11]. Put jumpers back as they were, reboot back to your main OS. See this picture where the pwd jumper is empty and BB E14 jumper is installed, for some reason they swapped the actual green connector with the black BBR one: ( picture credit @antiqua https://forum.overclockers.ua/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=218885&p=3467242#p3467242 )
IMET9.zip
*Anybody willing to help out, please backup your BIOS as it is, zip all 11.bin files, and send those to me.**
For reference, ME tools are here, use [ME System Tools v9.1] https://winraid.level1techs.com/t/intel-converged-security-management-engine-drivers-firmware-and-tools-2-15/30719
First ME 9.1 update: https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp70501-71000/sp70519.html https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp70501-71000/sp70519.exe
Possibly, AFUDOS 2.39 may help to flash the unsigned modded BIOS (rename AFUDOS.SMC to afudos.exe ) : https://update.shared.it/SUPERMICRO/X9SCM-F/beta/
There is quite a bit of discussion about this workstations in this thread: https://forum.overclockers.ua/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=218885 In summary, all BIOS flashes on that forum were done with a clip, and they have 1 specific 2015 BIOS version that was modded for overclocking. That one particular version worked on 100s of reflashed workstations. All the newer BIOS versions with attempted modding failed to boot or did not work properly.
For full guarantee of flashing BIOS buy a SOIC8 clip, such as this one (typical cost $3-4):