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Lets enable overclocking on all 6 and 7 series laptops


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@kenglish

Hi buddy!

Do you know any attempts of unlocking the ME for an ASUS G46VW?

I could donate some $ for you if you'd like to help me!

For me the reference clock is grayed out in all versions of XTU that works for win 8.1.

Thanks buddy!

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Send me your ME FW and I'll mod it. Asus does not lock the ME FW in the flash descriptor so it's easy.

@kenglish

Hi buddy!

Do you know any attempts of unlocking the ME for an ASUS G46VW?

I could donate some $ for you if you'd like to help me!

For me the reference clock is grayed out in all versions of XTU that works for win 8.1.

Thanks buddy!

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Send me your ME FW and I'll mod it. Asus does not lock the ME FW in the flash descriptor so it's easy.

Usually the flash descriptor is locked at the production line. The BIOS updates have an unlocked descriptor but it doesn't matter if it's already locked. I have verified this for desktop Asus motherbords and I suspect it's the same for mobile.

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Yeap, this is what I said above. Your flash descriptor is locked. It doesn't matter if the BIOS update has an unlocked 4KB Flash Descriptor region. If your current BIOS has a locked descriptor you would need to unlock it in order to a) Modify the ME and B) Unlock the descriptor via BIOS update for good.

Also, you are using an old FPT version. You can find the latest firmware & tools at my ME thread HERE. Not that it matters for the current problem you are having. You need an unlocked descriptor first.

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hmm so that means it is locked. I have seen ASUS without it locked, but I guess they changed that policy. I do not know how to unlock your descriptor, but if you find out I will modify the ME FW.

Damn, that's too bad :(

Weird enough I don't find that G75VW users have the same problem...

Thanks anyway!

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Damn, that's too bad :(

Weird enough I don't find that G75VW users have the same problem...

Thanks anyway!

To unlock the descriptor you need to use the HDA_SDO method which requires you to have physical access to the audio chip of the motherboard. So you would need to open the laptop for that.

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To unlock the descriptor you need to use the HDA_SDO method which requires you to have physical access to the audio chip of the motherboard. So you would need to open the laptop for that.

Oh that's no problem at all, had it fully disassembled 10 times or more.

Is there any guide I can use to localize everything I need?

Thanks buddy!

EDIT: I found your example here

Help Wrong version update of Intel ME need to update back the good one

Now the question is which pins are corresponding to my audio chip:

I suspect the VIA chip in the lower right of this image:

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cOvXRuB9bsc/maxresdefault.jpg

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The VIA chipset could also be for USB or other functionality. Not audio necessarily. There is a better post by me here:

RE: Intel Management Engine: Drivers, Firmware & System Tools - 48

Don't follow it though since it's for another system with ME 9. The procedure is pretty much the same though. What audio chip does your laptop have? It's not mentioned at the Asus website specifications.

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@pluromaniac

I will check my audio chip tomorrow and come back to you, thank you very much for helping me out buddy.

Sent from my iPhone

If it helps, I've documented the audio pinmod method of unlocking the flash descriptor for a Dell E6440 at http://forum.techinferno.com/dell-latitude-vostro-precision/6980-14-dell-latitude-e6440-owners-lounge.html#post99289 . If you can't get a schematic for your system, get the PCI ID of your sound card from Device Manager-> [sound card] -> right click -> Properties -> Details -> hardware IDs . Then lookup the hardware ID to find the manufacturer name. Eg: mine is a 10EC:0292 . 10EC = Realtek and 0292 is the ALC3226 model. Actually, I found the model by reviewing Dell specs since a google or PCI-ID search didn't find it.

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Alright guys, my audio chip is a Realtek:

10EC = Realtek 0269 = ALC269

My system have two audio chips, guess the latter one is for HDMI?

Realtek High Definition Audio: 10EC 0269

and

High Definition Audio Device 10DE 0042 (Nvidia)

wdsgDCk.png

I will now do the following:

1. shut down system

2. find Realtek audio chip

3. jump 1 -> 5 with paper clip

4. pass post-screen then remove clip

5. dump my ME

Correct?

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1. Download ME System Tools v8.x from my ME Thread

2. Shut Down the computer

3. At your motherboard, find the Realtek Audio chip

4. Use tweezers or a paper clip to short together pins 1 and 5

wn1j7l.png

5. Power the PC on and wait for POST screen to show up

6. You can now stop shorting the two pins

7. Boot at Windows (you are now running the system with an unlocked descriptor)

8. Go to Flash Programming Tool, open a command line as administrator and type FPTw64 -d BIOS.bin and then FPTw64 -d ME.bin -ME

9. Two files should appear if the descriptor is unlocked. One 1.5MB ME.bin file which the dumped ME region and one 8MB BIOS.bin file which is the whole SPI dump (it's god to keep a full image dump in case of problems).

10. Attach us here the ME.bin file and someone will modify it.

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wow, that chip is so tiny!

I have tried 15 times now,

Only reaction I've got so far is that sound chip get disabled after boot. Reboot and it works again, still error 26.

hmm.. I'm starting to lose hope about this method. Gonna give it 5 more tries

Edit: Nope, no dice...

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Yes it is indeed very hard, today's HDA chips are way too small to perform that thing. The OEMs probably have some super-thin strong wire or something to do it. It's impossible with a paperclip. Another way would be to use a flash programmer which won't care for any flash descriptors and such.

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wow, that chip is so tiny!

I have tried 15 times now,

Only reaction I've got so far is that sound chip get disabled after boot. Reboot and it works again, still error 26.

hmm.. I'm starting to lose hope about this method. Gonna give it 5 more tries

Edit: Nope, no dice...

Good luck trying to touch pin1+5. They are so tiny.

<STRIKE>Instead, see if pin 5 has a track that leads to a larger pad somewhere. If it does, The can just short that pad to GND. Ideally via a small resistor to prevent shorting.</STRIKE>

Alternative #1: see if there are hidden BIOS setup settings you could change to unlock the flash descriptor. Example: http://forum.techinferno.com/dell-latitude-vostro-precision/8176-%5Bguide%5D-dell-e6530-cpu-tdp-multi-unlocking.html

Alternative #2: remove the flash eeprom chip and read it with a SPI eeprom burner, flash the modified version, then solder back on the eeprom chip. You'd need a SMT hotgun to do properly. Not soldering iron type work.

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Good luck trying to touch pin1+5. They are so tiny.

Instead, see if pin 5 has a track that leads to a larger pad somewhere. If it does, The can just short that pad to GND. Ideally via a small resistor to prevent shorting.

Alternative #1: see if there are hidden BIOS setup settings you could change to unlock the flash descriptor. Example: http://forum.techinferno.com/dell-latitude-vostro-precision/8176-%5Bguide%5D-dell-e6530-cpu-tdp-multi-unlocking.html

Alternative #2: remove the flash eeprom chip and read it with a SPI eeprom burner, flash the modified version, then solder back on the eeprom chip. You'd need a SMT hotgun to do properly. Not soldering iron type work.

I'm going to see if those pins leads to something more accessible, I brought the notebook to work where we have a lab and equipment.

I'll update you guys during the day, thank you so much for all suggestions so far!

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Tested very carefully to short pin1 + pin5 on startup (found a joint that had direct contact with VDD pin1):

This didn't work, I measured ~70mA between pin1+pin5 at startup, which seems quite a lot (what do I know)?

Then in windows got the earlier mentioned behavior of sound chip disabled and ERROR 26 during "FPTw64 -d -bios.bin" (in Flash Programming Tool\windows64\).

I don't believe this is a valid method for unlocking flash descriptor newer ASUS laptops frown.png.pagespeed.ce.k7JIVwiiFa.png

EDIT: could it be the FPTw64 that plays me a prank, UEFI boot settings or anything else I can try?

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Alternative #1: see if there are hidden BIOS setup settings you could change to unlock the flash descriptor. Example: http://forum.techinferno.com/dell-latitude-vostro-precision/8176-%5Bguide%5D-dell-e6530-cpu-tdp-multi-unlocking.html

I guess that @Klem (that unlocked the BIOS) would already know about this if it was possible.

Reply from Klem:

"Hi!

If ME FW is realy locked in descriptor, then it can be unlock only with hardware programmer device.

Best Regards,

Klem"

(I hope you didn't mind me sharing your reply)

@svl7

I see that you've done a lot of work on BIOS side of the G75VW, is your flash descriptor unlocked on that system?

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It's definitely a valid way of unlocking the descriptor according to numerous Intel documentation. Noone said it's easy though... FPT will detect whether it's locked, it's not playing any games.

So I should probably try some more using the same method. Could it be possible that I need to use a resistor or something between pin1 + pin5?

Could Windows UEFI boot be any factor here? Thanks!

Sent from my iPhone

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