IMPORTANT BIOS Update Information For ASRock Intel 6 Series and X79 Chipset Mother Boards

[parsec]

Re: IMPORTANT BIOS Update Information For ASRock Intel 6 Series and X79 Chipset Mother Boards

I just flashed my updated 2.20 BIOS,i was updated CPU Microcode and OROM IRST SATA.
All went well and ME FW remained v8.1.52.1496 :)

Yes, that is normal. Updating or rewriting the IME firmware is not done on regular BIOS updates. That is one reason why the BIOS update for Ivy Bridge processors MUST be done correctly, if it isn't the IME firmware is corrupted and then causes problems, as you know.

So your board is working well for you now?

[parsec]

Re: IMPORTANT BIOS Update Information For ASRock Intel 6 Series and X79 Chipset Mother Boards

Thanks for taking the time to post this thread, when clearly even the ASRock couldnt be bothered to include decent details.

I was thinking about updating my Z68 bios to the latest/Ivy version even though I have a SB CPU. Glad I found this before doing it and potentially causing issues.

Sad that their documentation is so poor. Between this and (moreso) their customer svc (9 days to respond to an email FFS), I'll never buy ASrock again.

EDIT: Sounds like the BIOS update is fairly safe, judging from all those that said it worked. Still, I'm gonna wait to do it until I have the cash to buy a new mobo in case I brick it. I also emailed ASRock('s ****ty) customer support to shed some light on this (I won't hold my breath).

I understand what you are saying about the lack of explanation about this BIOS update, but if you check other mobo manufacture's BIOS updates for their Intel 6 series chipset boards, they are not any better. Even Intel's own 6 series mother boards, which have similar updates, do not explain it well IMO. Plus each manufacture seems to do it a little different. I found an Intel document about this, and while quite detailed it could be confusing and did not seem to match what the other manufactures were doing. This particular BIOS update, really the IME firmware portion of it, is unique among PC mother boards.

If you did brick your board, it is possible to fix it with a new BIOS chip, which will cost ~$20. The chips can be replaced.

Not to excuse ASRock, but they are likely busy with the new Intel 9 series chipset boards being released next week. IMO there is a bit of a language barrier problem with the documentation, either the engineers are not fluent in English, or the tech writers are not well trained in the tech details, the latter being a typical problem.

[Bebop0389]

Re: IMPORTANT BIOS Update Information For ASRock Intel 6 Series and X79 Chipset Mother Boards

Very good points parsec. I agree with what you're saying. Thanks for reminding me about the BIOS chips; it slipped my mind. It was ~6 months ago that I emailed them and it took 9 days to respond. No excuse for that IMO. I'll be interested to see how long it takes and what they have to say about this BIOS update (if anything).

EDIT: It's been about a month and no response from ASRock. Apparently they think nothing of ignoring a customer. I'm hoping to sell my board and buy a used Gigabyte or EVGA; something of better quality from a company worth supporting.

[Veky83]

Re: IMPORTANT BIOS Update Information For ASRock Intel 6 Series and X79 Chipset Mother Boards

Yes, that is normal. Updating or rewriting the IME firmware is not done on regular BIOS updates. That is one reason why the BIOS update for Ivy Bridge processors MUST be done correctly, if it isn't the IME firmware is corrupted and then causes problems, as you know.

So your board is working well for you now?

Yes,the board is working fine now.

I have i5 2500K
With 2.20 bios I was having problem to boot with overclock with PLL Overvoltage Enabled,it was booted every tenth time and when it boots than everything is fine,100% stable.
A while i was sure that i did not have that problem with 1.30 Bios but now i am not sure.

Now with updated 2.20 Bios(CPU Microcode) I rarely have a problem with boot at 4800 and 5000MHz with PLL Overvoltage Enabled.

And Asrock sent me a Bios Chip with 1.32 Bios which I can not found on the internet,i will try it these days :)

I selected option 2
CpuMicroCode with stock 2.20 bios
2.20 bios with updated CpuMicroCode

And this is stock 1.30 bios CPuMicroCode

06A6 and 06A7 are codes for SB so i guess that issues that some people have has to do with update revision of codes,it seems that Update revision 28 is best for SB,I do not understand it very well but someone who understands that will perhaps know better.

[PLAY911]

Re: IMPORTANT BIOS Update Information For ASRock Intel 6 Series and X79 Chipset Mother Boards

You have a new BIOS chip? What BIOS version does it have? You are using a Sandy Bridge E CPU, correct, which model? Did you install the Intel IME software?

Changing to BIOS 3.0 on your original BIOS chip did not fix everything because the IME firmware that is part of the BIOS did not get replaced. That only happens on special BIOS updates like 3.20.

If the new BIOS chip did not allow you to change the VTT and VCSA voltages, something is really wrong. Have you cleared the CMOS/BIOS, loaded the UEFI/BIOS defaults, removed the board's battery and cleared the CMOS/BIOS at the same time?

Hi Parsec, I have made some testing....with bios 2.10 and below everything Works fine but the mic input doesnt work fine. with bios 2.6 - 3.0 voltajes lock mic input ok. Bios 3.20 and up voltajes ok but less OC capabiity and MIC jack input ok....really weird....any ideas????
Thank you

[Bebop0389]

Re: IMPORTANT BIOS Update Information For ASRock Intel 6 Series and X79 Chipset Mother Boards

Now with updated 2.20 Bios(CPU Microcode) I rarely have a problem with boot at 4800 and 5000MHz with PLL Overvoltage Enabled.

Have you noticed any other voltage or overclock related changes? Though unlikely, I'm hoping my 2600k will need less vcore on the updated bios.

[chemdex]

Re: IMPORTANT BIOS Update Information For ASRock Intel 6 Series and X79 Chipset Mother Boards

i recently updated my BIOS. Yesterday i wanted to use the integrated Intel GPU of my CPU - but in BIOS it was no more available....
I created a thread with my problem.

Thanks to parsec he posted his thread here.

So for my problem....:
Am i right that i simply have to redo the 2.20 BIOS Upgrade and do not remove the USB Drive until Windows was restarted and the ME and ATXU installed?
Then everything should be fine?

If so i will try today and report here...

Best, chemdex

[funpilot]

Re: IMPORTANT BIOS Update Information For ASRock Intel 6 Series and X79 Chipset Mother Boards

Hi everyone, Please help. I have a X79 Extreme 9 - I7 3930K and I can't update the BIOS 3.9 from beta3.61. every time I boot into F6 or F2, the system recognises (can see) The BIOS file 3.9 in my usb. It doesn't flash itself nor I can install it manually, cause' the machine stalls all I can do is moving the mouse pointer around, but can not click on any thing to work, accept to press restart button to reboot normally. I try too many times (still same problem) and I even try to downwards to BIOS 3.60. but still can not install the 3.60. I can browse the BIOS menu normally. It only stalls when I try to update or downgrade the BIOS.
Please help..what have I done wrong ? very much appreciate for your help.

I have the same issue that I just posted in another thread. I have not tried to go back though. I am still at 3.9

[Dave Perry]

Re: IMPORTANT BIOS Update Information For ASRock Intel 6 Series and X79 Chipset Mother Boards

So, I decided to buy a bigger SSD and clone. I get a warning that it won't be bootable until I enable UEFI boot mode. So I cloned and sure enough, it didn't boot.
Couldn't find UEFI boot mode in the BIOS so decided to update it.
The motherboard is an asrock P67 Pro3 and I was offered nice friendly windows method update to BIOS 3.30.
So, I ran it, let it reboot, now I have issues. Missing memory and overlclocking problems. CPU is a sandy 2500K
I'm not sure if the IME firmware updated as part of the process or if it got bypassed, is there some way I can confirm it?
I really don't know what to do at this point.
Any suggestions are welcome :(

[ventech]

[Dave Perry]

Re: IMPORTANT BIOS Update Information For ASRock Intel 6 Series and X79 Chipset Mother Boards

Contact Asrock, I did over the weekend and had a reply this morning, which I am about to post.

[Dave Perry]

Re: IMPORTANT BIOS Update Information For ASRock Intel 6 Series and X79 Chipset Mother Boards

I have had a reply!


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Hello,

In 2011 there has been a recall for Intel 6-series motherboards. The B2 stepping of the Intel chipset had some bug which was mainly SATA3 related. This was fixed in the B3 stepping of the chipset. The B2 version cannot support Intel ME8 firmware either, which is part of BIOS 3.10 and later BIOS versions.

So your motherboards cannot support BIOS 3.10 or later. The last suitable official BIOS version for your motherboard is 2.00.
1. Do you need UEFI boot mode because you want to use Ultra Fast Boot in Windows 8.1? Or because you want to install Windows on a 3TB HDD?

2. How did you update the BIOS? With the downloads there we offer on our website it should not be possible:
ASRock > P67 Pro3
The flash tool for Windows will check which chipset version your have, and if it is not suitable then you should not be able to flash the BIOS.



Replacing the chip is easy. Please see the attached example.

Thanks,
ASRock Support

[ventech]

Re: IMPORTANT BIOS Update Information For ASRock Intel 6 Series and X79 Chipset Mother Boards

Contact Asrock, I did over the weekend and had a reply this morning, which I am about to post.

Thanks you Dave Perry. By where you contacted? by website?, or they have any email address where I can contact them?

[funpilot]

Re: IMPORTANT BIOS Update Information For ASRock Intel 6 Series and X79 Chipset Mother Boards

Best thing to do is call ASRock and ask for them to send you a new bios chip. They did it for me.

[Dave Perry]

Re: IMPORTANT BIOS Update Information For ASRock Intel 6 Series and X79 Chipset Mother Boards

Thanks you Dave Perry. By where you contacted? by website?, or they have any email address where I can contact them?

From here:
ASRock > Support
Click on "Contact Technical Support"
It will take you here:
ASRock > Support Request Form