Various errors! The Saga Continues!

[KeyboardDemon]

Given the state that my drivers were in when I last tested a different GPU in my rig to how they are now, what can I do to determine the source of the hardware error?

I'm inclined to say it will be either mobo (most likely) or GPU (a possibility). I'm saying mobo due to the Intel Management Engine Driver issues but it could be GPU due to the IRQ conflicts. If the issues persist now that I have removed the GPU from IRQ 16 what can we assume from that information? What if it resolves the issues, would that prove a hardware fault?

I really don't want to have to send hardware for RMA as that would a royal PITA. But I guess what's more important now is to eliminate the probable causes until we can isolate the actual cause, rather than jumping at conclusions and buying more hardware that won't fix my problems.

Also, how do I stop the driver verifier?

[satrow]

I don't think it's an IRQ issue, I've not seen any of those in W7, that problem has vanished in recent years.

It could still be 'board, PSU or GFX I reckon, best test would be to switch out the GFX card with a friend/colleague for a few days... OCCT might pick up an error?

[aramil]

Disclaimer:
I accept no responsibility for any damage to anyone’s computer by following this.
It worked for me, but please if you are unsure do not use the utility in the optional part as it is dangerous. (no really it is)

Best case it works! Worse case you need a new pre-programmed Bios chip.

Easy Bit

Have You updated your Management Engine FIRMWARE to 8.1 (ships with 8) IntelME81_Updating_Tool_V10001.zip (Asus using same link for all Z77 Boards).

After doing this you MUST reset (via Jumper) your Bios & after booting normally, reboot to bios and check your settings(as it can sometimes cause issues (corrupt/missing options))

[optional]If you still have M.E. issues or corrupt options : (the hard bit)

Download latest Bios

Download this BIOS flasher: http://www.ami.com/?AMIBIOS_and_Apti...te_Utility.zip

Extract the zip, navigate to: AMIBIOS_and_Aptio_AMI_Firmware_Update_Utility\Aptio\AFUWIN
Depending on your OS architecture, either open the 64 or 32 folder
Open the zip in the folder you just opened
Extract the folder within the zip
Either restart your computer or close every application that's running, this step is important!

Return to your extracted folder and run AFUWINGUI.exe
save your old bios as a backup, just in case
Click "Open" then browse to the latest BIOS file
Under the Setup tab, tick the "Program All Blocks" check box (see below image)


FLASH.... (can take some time as it is a full bios rebuild)
Hold breath.....
BOOT
Profit (hopefully)

NB. You may have to fully reinstall windows for that fresh feel but you should be able to to see if it worked.

[KeyboardDemon]

Disclaimer:
I accept no responsibility for any damage to anyone’s computer by following this.
It worked for me, but please if you are unsure do not use the utility in the optional part as it is dangerous. (no really it is)

Best case it works! Worse case you need a new pre-programmed Bios chip.

Easy Bit

Have You updated your Management Engine FIRMWARE to 8.1 (ships with 8) IntelME81_Updating_Tool_V10001.zip (Asus using same link for all Z77 Boards).

After doing this you MUST reset (via Jumper) your Bios & after booting normally, reboot to bios and check your settings(as it can sometimes cause issues (corrupt/missing options))

[optional]If you still have M.E. issues or corrupt options : (the hard bit)

Download latest Bios

Download this BIOS flasher: http://www.ami.com/?AMIBIOS_and_Apti...te_Utility.zip

Extract the zip, navigate to: AMIBIOS_and_Aptio_AMI_Firmware_Update_Utility\Aptio\AFUWIN
Depending on your OS architecture, either open the 64 or 32 folder
Open the zip in the folder you just opened
Extract the folder within the zip
Either restart your computer or close every application that's running, this step is important!

Return to your extracted folder and run AFUWINGUI.exe
save your old bios as a backup, just in case
Click "Open" then browse to the latest BIOS file
Under the Setup tab, tick the "Program All Blocks" check box (see below image)


FLASH.... (can take some time as it is a full bios rebuild)
Hold breath.....
BOOT
Profit (hopefully)

NB. You may have to fully reinstall windows for that fresh feel but you should be able to to see if it worked.

WHAT??? OMG. Could all of this have been resolved months ago? I didn't know anything about this, and have probably been having issues for as long as I've been running 8.1, which I think is October 18th. I can't do anything now, but if that resolves it then I will have a top notch PC, running at it's best with the cleanest Windows Installation that I have ever had, thanks to satrow and other helpful posts on here.

[aramil]

WHAT??? OMG. Could all of this have been resolved months ago? I didn't know anything about this, and have probably been having issues for as long as I've been running 8.1, which I think is October 18th. I can't do anything now, but if that resolves it then I will have a top notch PC, running at it's best with the cleanest Windows Installation that I have ever had, thanks to satrow and other helpful posts on here.

LOL. Hopefully it should sort your PC.

NB. later asus bios's reset the motherboards MAC address to 88:88:88:88:87:88, without serial numbers etc. (a none issue unless you use several asus z77 motherboards on the same network) can be edited before flashing using this: https://github.com/LongSoft/FD44Edit...ases/tag/0.9.2 (all the info, should you need it, is on the motherboard stickers)

Section 7 of THIS POST has instructions for the editor.

Not something you have to do, but just in case you want to.

Any Questions just ask

[KeyboardDemon]

It looks like I have the latest Intel ME Firmware as I got this error in the error log when I tried to update it:

Error 8772: Invalid usage, -allowsv switch required to update the same version firmware

[satrow]

Perhaps under the Hardware_id in Device Manager ... Properties > Details (example: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1E3A&SUBSYS_1E3A1849&REV_04)?

[aramil]

Is there anyway to check what version of the Intel ME firmware I am currently running before I run the update?

http://www.mediafire.com/download/h4...and7series.zip

extract & run the windows version in an admin command prompt
\MEInfo_6and7series\MEInfo 6and7series\Windows64\MEInfoWin64.exe

[aramil]

It looks like I have the latest Intel ME Firmware as I got this error in the error log when I tried to update it:

I can only only assume either a bad F/W or bios flash or corrupt drivers (but as you have reinstalled several times, i guess you have downloaded several).

You Could try the full AMIBios flash [optional] in my first post.

it's either that or the board itself

[KeyboardDemon]

This is what I got:



I might try doing a full jumper BIOS reset though as I have just been resetting using the BIOS options to load optimised defaults. But I won't be able to do that now as the kids are asking me to watch some netflix with them and maybe play a board game. lol

[KeyboardDemon]

OK. Completed the BIOS jumper reset and an unusual thing happened, something that I have come to expect as a normal operation when I start up my PC is no longer happening. When I hit the power button what used to happen was my fans would ramp up to full speed and scream for about a second then they would slowly ease down to a normal operating speed. What just happened now was I had a completely silent startup, which was nice.

I ran OCCT CPU:Linpack with 64 bits, AVX Capable Linpack and Use all Logical Cores enabled, it crashed after five minutes with an error but I can't remember where it save the screen shots of the graphs! I'll try it again and then I'm going to leave my PC and spend the rest of the evening with my kids.

See you all later.

[aramil]

Something is wrong my FW version is higher?
[IMG][/IMG]

on the plus side i am updating my drivers lol

OK. Completed the BIOS jumper reset and an unusual thing happened, something that I have come to expect as a normal operation when I start up my PC is no longer happening. When I hit the power button what used to happen was my fans would ramp up to full speed and scream for about a second then they would slowly ease down to a normal operating speed. What just happened now was I had a completely silent startup, which was nice.

I ran OCCT CPU:Linpack with 64 bits, AVX Capable Linpack and Use all Logical Cores enabled, it crashed after five minutes with an error but I can't remember where it save the screen shots of the graphs! I'll try it again and then I'm going to leave my PC and spend the rest of the evening with my kids.

See you all later.

Np. looks like a bad bios flash.

[KeyboardDemon]

Do you mean a bad mobo BIOS flash or Intel Memory Engine Chipset?

If it's the mobo it shouldn't be a problem to download the latest version and re-flash it right?

This is what happens when I try and run the IME Updater:

[KeyboardDemon]

Ok, I've manually updated the driver to 11.0.0.1115 using the device manager and that worked fine.

I can't seem to upgrade my MEI BIOS though, the American Megatrends program doesn't seem to recognise the .bin file that I've downloaded and I'm not sure if I want to change the extension to fit the type .cap or .rom that it is expecting. I think I need to sleep on it, but I feel confident that things are moving in the right direction. Hopefully I'll have more joy after work tomorrow.

Oh yeah, it looks like the silent startup I had straight after my BIOS reset was only a temporary thing as my fans are back to their normal noisy startup that I used to get before.

[aramil]

Ok, I've manually updated the driver to 11.0.0.1115 using the device manager and that worked fine.

I can't seem to upgrade my MEI BIOS though, the American Megatrends program doesn't seem to recognise the .bin file that I've downloaded and I'm not sure if I want to change the extension to fit the type .cap or .rom that it is expecting. I think I need to sleep on it, but I feel confident that things are moving in the right direction. Hopefully I'll have more joy after work tomorrow.

Oh yeah, it looks like the silent startup I had straight after my BIOS reset was only a temporary thing as my fans are back to their normal noisy startup that I used to get before.

to flash a bin file use http://www.mediafire.com/download/ae....1.40.1456.rar
latest z77 8.* firmware http://www.mediafire.com/download/c1...281.5MB%29.rar

extract to same folder

admin command prompt then

FWUpdLcl64.exe -f ME8_1.5m_production.bin

you must fully shutdown your computer after this (not just reboot)

As always with firmware flashes you do them at your own risk.

just done mine to prove it works

[shaithis]

I know some boards are picky about upgrading the IME if the BIOS is below a certain point....and while you may have the latest BIOS, you probably don't have all the newest modules in it.

Might be worth upgrading the various parts using UEFI BIOS Updater (UBU)