Sager NP8651/Clevo P650SE - BIOS not updating

[Nuttty]

Hello All,

 

MY Sager NP8651/Clevo P650SE laptop with a Samsung 850 EVO SSD suddenly takes about 3-5 minutes to boot up to the OS whether it's Windows or Linux. I had never flashed a firmware update and on contacting Sager support, who were helpful, provided me with the latest BIOS and EC firmware.

 

I used the MS-DOS and the windows version of the BIOS updater, but it wouldn't update the BIOS. I would get an error. The error log is below:

 

Spoiler

C:\8651BV501LS1\8651bv501>FlashMeWinX64.bat

 

Intel (R) Flash Programming Tool. Version: 9.1.0.1120

Copyright (c) 2007 - 2014, Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.

 

Platform: Intel(R) HM87 Express Chipset

Reading HSFSTS register... Flash Descriptor: Valid

 

    --- Flash Devices Found ---

    GD25Q16 ID:0xC84015 Size: 2048KB (16384Kb)

    GD25Q32 ID:0xC84016 Size: 4096KB (32768Kb)

 

 

Warning: Not all of the file data will be written to flash because

         the file is longer than the flash area to be written to!

              File: "P650SE6M.01"

              File Length: 6291456

              Write Length: 2097152

 

Y

 

PDR Region does not exist.

GBE Region does not exist.

 

- Reading Flash [0x200000] 2048KB of 2048KB - 100% complete.

- Erasing Flash Block [0x003000] - 100% complete.

- Programming Flash [0x003000] 8KB of 8KB - 100% complete.

- Erasing Flash Block [0x006000] - 100% complete.

- Programming Flash [0x006000] 8KB of 8KB - 100% complete.

- Erasing Flash Block [0x021000] - 100% complete.

- Programming Flash [0x021000] 100KB of 100KB - 100% complete.

- Erasing Flash Block [0x0CF000] - 100% complete.

- Programming Flash [0x0CF000] 556KB of 556KB - 100% complete.

- Erasing Flash Block [0x142000] - 100% complete.

- Programming Flash [0x142000] 456KB of 456KB - 100% complete.

- Erasing Flash Block [0x17A000] - 100% complete.

- Programming Flash [0x17A000] 204KB of 204KB - 100% complete.

- Verifying Flash [0x200000] 2048KB of 2048KB - 100% complete.

RESULT: The data is identical.

 

FPT Operation Passed

+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+

| AMI Firmware Update Utility v3.02.00 |

| Copyright (C)2012 American Megatrends Inc. All Rights Reserved. |

+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 Reading flash ............... done

 - FFS checksums ......... ok

 

4 - Error: ROM file ROMID is not compatible with existing BIOS ROMID. 

 

The EC flash worked and it's currently on v1.05. But my BIOS is at v1.03.06RLS11.03

 

As per the Sager support, the BIOS chip is corrupted and I'll need to ship it to the factory for getting it fixed, which will cost a lot.

 

I tried to flash with the BIOS from the below thread, but it too didn't work.

 

And before anybody asks, I followed the instructions to a T, especially running Meset.exe first and then flashme.

 

Is there a way I can wipe the BIOS clean and flash the latest BIOS? I'm OK with installing a Modded BIOS as well.

 

@Klem - Please don't mind, I'm tagging you for your help as you recently helped someone with another issue but the same laptop model.

 

Regards,

Nuttty

 

 

 

 

Edited August 17, 2023 by Nuttty