I think I killed my MSI Z97 U3 PLUS Motherboard!!!

[Solaris17]

Blackcat expects the bios file to be packed in a Zip file which only complicates things.

For what programming the BC or the chip? because it doesnt either way. Also by forums Im assuming you must mean these.

https://blackcatusb.net/index.php

because that site is NOT the official in any way shape or form.

 

[silentbogo]

The only other difference is the Blackcat expects the bios file to be packed in a Zip file which only complicates things

When did that happen? After almost 2 years of daily use I never had to zip my BIOS dumps for flashing. You are confusing something.

 

[davidm71]

It happened last night when I tried to flash my Winbond chip. The Blackcat software rejected the bios file saying it was invalid. So I read from the chip and it saved the backup as a zip file with the bios file named Bios.bin and an xml file in there. So I swapped the bios file and the Blackcat software flashed it without complaint.

Also about the SO Si swap yeah I read about it in that Blackcat forum I think.

 

[Sasqui]

It happened last night when I tried to flash my Winbond chip. The Blackcat software rejected the bios file saying it was invalid. So I read from the chip and it saved the backup as a zip file with the bios file named Bios.bin and an xml file in there. So I swapped the bios file and the Blackcat software flashed it without complaint.

Also about the SO Si swap yeah I read about it in that Blackcat forum I think.

Im aiming to try the wiring I posted this evening. I did find a post from someone who did NOT reverse the SI/SO and it failed but when they did it SI-SO it worked: https://blackcatusb.net/index.php?t...ts-not-curently-supported-msi-board-help.453/

 

[davidm71]

Wonder if you can connect the second unused Vcc to WP# ? That is if the 3.3v current would flow into the second Vcc from the first Vcc? That way you wouldn’t have to join wires together. Btw WP I found out stands for Write Protect so I wonder if you could read in any case if not volted. As for Si-So swap try both. Good luck.

 

[Sasqui]

Wonder if you can connect the second unused Vcc to WP# ? That is if the 3.3v current would flow into the second Vcc from the first Vcc? That way you wouldn’t have to join wires together. Btw WP I found out stands for Write Protect so I wonder if you could read in any case if not volted. As for Si-So swap try both. Good luck.

I just soldered the splitter for VCC and WP#. Will be trying shortly:

 

[davidm71]

This another way to do it with the CH341A. I’m taking the extra Vcc current for the WP from the unused set of top rows on the Ch341a. Haven’t tested it yet. The only thing I don’t understand is why with just 9 pins the WP# is ignored and not with 11 pin setup.

 

[Sasqui]

... YEAHAAAAHHHH!! @Solaris17 @silentbogo

The pin out worked. The whole process was flaky*, wouldn't recognize the chip until I put power to the board, then all sorts of weirdness... but finally, FINALLY!!!

*I think the jumpers to VCC and #WP were wonky... they were for different size jumpers but eventually it flashed to the latest BIOS

Wohooo!!!

... I need a drink badly

 

[eidairaman1]

Congrats dude now we need a PIN this and I would honestly write up a flash procedure for this

 

[Sasqui]

Congrats dude now we need a PIN this and I would honestly write up a flash procedure for this

Or better documentation for newbies like me. If I had started with the right clip from Embedded Computers, this thread would be a lot shorter!

 

[eidairaman1]

Or better documentation for newbies like me. If I had started with the right clip from Embedded Computers, this thread would be a lot shorter!

Well definitely write a guide

 

[davidm71]

Congrats! Way to go! It’s a great feeling isn’t it?! Please detail every step for the rest of us with lots of photos too!

Thanks

 

[Solaris17]

... YEAHAAAAHHHH!! @Solaris17 @silentbogo

The pin out worked. The whole process was flaky*, wouldn't recognize the chip until I put power to the board, then all sorts of weirdness... but finally, FINALLY!!!

*I think the jumpers to VCC and #WP were wonky... they were for different size jumpers but eventually it flashed to the latest BIOS

View attachment 94713

Wohooo!!!

View attachment 94715

View attachment 94714

... I need a drink badly

told you my dude she wasnt dead! EEPROM flashers are a hell of a life saver great work for your first go and congratulations! we'll have to catch some multiplayer sometime!

 

[silentbogo]

Congrats on your first unbricked board!

 

[jsfitz54]

Congrats! I've been checking back to see how this goes.

I noticed that there is a Bios v1.1 and newest is v1.A and what shows on your screenshot is v1.10, so I am confused by the MSI number scheme, or at least by how it is displayed.

Was there anything you had to do with the ZIP folder as mentioned above?

Did you have to flash the saved bios first or did you jump straight to the newest?

YES, please write up a stickie with the correct procedure for the uninitiated, with pictures.

 

[Sasqui]

Congrats! I've been checking back to see how this goes.

I noticed that there is a Bios v1.1 and newest is v1.A and what shows on your screenshot is v1.10, so I am confused by the MSI number scheme, or at least by how it is displayed.

Was there anything you had to do with the ZIP folder as mentioned above?

Did you have to flash the saved bios first or did you jump straight to the newest?

YES, please write up a stickie with the correct procedure for the uninitiated, with pictures.

The BIOS had the extension .1A0 - but shows as 1.10 as you can see on the BIOS screens. I had to rename it to .BIN, that's all, nothing to do with ZIP files.

Quite honestly, I could write up something about what NOT to do I first flashed with the original saved BIOS ...that was a different size from what the downloaded versions are but couldn't get it to boot again, just turn on.

When I re-flashed with the latest BIOS, it wouldn't boot, then I realized I had left the jumper shunt from VCC to WP# on the board, duh. When I took that off...

I could write a few tips on getting started. The first of which was getting the USB drivers loaded.... the second flashing the firmware on the Flashcat itself

The other thing that was weird is it not recognizing the BIOS a few times, then all of a sudden it would. At one point, plugging in the USB cable would not recognize the Flashcat, requiring a PC reboot. The first time I got it to correctly recognize the chip was with the PC powered on, the second time was just only the PSU turned on, board off. Again, I think it had something to do with the ghetto jumper setup I had. Soldering on the wires was all good and solid.

 

[Kyan31]

Hi guys, I'm new to the forum and I'm sorry to bring up an old thread but I need help, really would be appreciated. I recently updated my bios on my MSI Z97S Krait Motherboard and put shortly it messed up the BIOS chip, but reflashing it using an SPI programmer should fix it. Now I just wanted to ask, has anyone used the CH341A SPI Programmer to reflash the BIOS through an 11-pin JSPI1 port on their board? I have purchased the SPI programmer and some standard 2mm motherboard jumpers which I will wire manually, but I was hoping someone could help me out on which programmer pin corresponds to which pin on the motherboard JSPI1 port. I have read through this entire thread so I am fairly confident on where most of the connections should go but if someone has actually already done it, that would definitely make me feel a lot more confident about this if they could give me a diagram or something for the headers. My BIOS chip is a Winbond 25Q64FV which is rated between 3.0V and 3.6V, so I don't need to worry about the supply I assume. Also I just wanted to ask, if I reprogram the BIOS chip am I supposed to have the motherboard connected to the power supply of my computer or not? I would assume not, but just asking to be sure. Thank you very much for this thread by the way, wouldn't have even known SPI programming is a thing without stumbling upon this, you guys might have saved me months of waiting for an RMA as I was about to go down that route.

 

[Jetster]

Hi guys, I'm new to the forum and I'm sorry to bring up an old thread but I need help, really would be appreciated. I recently updated my bios on my MSI Z97S Krait Motherboard and put shortly it messed up the BIOS chip, but reflashing it using an SPI programmer should fix it. Now I just wanted to ask, has anyone used the CH341A SPI Programmer to reflash the BIOS through an 11-pin JSPI1 port on their board? I have purchased the SPI programmer and some standard 2mm motherboard jumpers which I will wire manually, but I was hoping someone could help me out on which programmer pin corresponds to which pin on the motherboard JSPI1 port. I have read through this entire thread so I am fairly confident on where most of the connections should go but if someone has actually already done it, that would definitely make me feel a lot more confident about this if they could give me a diagram or something for the headers. My BIOS chip is a Winbond 25Q64FV which is rated between 3.0V and 3.6V, so I don't need to worry about the supply I assume. Also I just wanted to ask, if I reprogram the BIOS chip am I supposed to have the motherboard connected to the power supply of my computer or not? I would assume not, but just asking to be sure. Thank you very much for this thread by the way, wouldn't have even known SPI programming is a thing without stumbling upon this, you guys might have saved me months of waiting for an RMA as I was about to go down that route.

Should have started a new thread

Anyway, it doesn't have a removable chip or BIOS switch?

And you tried the clear cmos jumper? remove battery?

 

[Kyan31]

Should have started a new thread

Anyway, it doesn't have a removable chip or BIOS switch?

Sorry about that, I thought continuing the thread would be more appropriate as I didn't want to clutter the forum, but I will definitely make a separate write up about this after if I end up fixing my board for anyone in the same position as me, and nope it has neither unfortunately, but it does have a 11 pin JSPI1 header. I have checked out the schematic for my SPI programmer and a lot of the pin Labels correspond with a JSPI1 diagram I found online, but some of the pins don't so I'm a little confused on what connects where, I have attached images of my programmer and the JSPI1 diagram below:

 

[Sasqui]

Anyway, it doesn't have a removable chip or BIOS switch?

And you tried the clear cmos jumper? remove battery?

MSI boards (most) have a single BIOS and it's soldered. In the case of a bad flash, which is all too common, there is an MSI unpublished back-door BIOS header known as JSPI-1. That's what the OP is trying to use.

I used a different flash device, the Flashcat USB which was made with several purposes, including the MSI JSPI1 header. After hours of trying, I finally saved my board.

I don't have any experience with the CH341A... so I can only offer the pin-outs that worked for the Flashcat... This diagram: https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/...3-plus-motherboard.238973/page-8#post-3767632

 

[Kyan31]

MSI boards (most) have a single BIOS and it's soldered. In the case of a bad flash, which is all too common, there is an MSI unpublished back-door BIOS header known as JSPI-1. That's what the OP is trying to use.

I used a different flash device, the Flashcat USB which was made with several purposes, including the MSI JSPI1 header. After hours of trying, I finally saved my board.

I don't have any experience with the CH341A... so I can only offer the pin-outs that worked for the Flashcat... This diagram: https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/...3-plus-motherboard.238973/page-8#post-3767632

Thank you for confirming a working diagram, I believe our boards are very similar so its a big help, I will attempt to reflash my bios as soon as my jumper cables arrive in the mail and I'll post my outcome here later, will make a guide here too if successful.

 

[Sasqui]

Thank you for confirming a working diagram, I believe our boards are very similar so its a big help, I will attempt to reflash my bios as soon as my jumper cables arrive in the mail and I'll post my outcome here later, will make a guide here too if successful.

What are you using for jumper cables? I made my own from the cables that came with it, and got it working but wow it was flaky. Then I bought a purpose built one from embeddedcomputers.net ... but I cannot get it to work at all! I've tried it on two different boards.

 

[Kyan31]

What are you using for jumper cables? I made my own from the cables that came with it, and got it working but wow it was flaky. Then I bought a purpose built one from embeddedcomputers.net ... but I cannot get it to work at all! I've tried it on two different boards.

View attachment 97590

I'm going to use standard 2mm jumper cables, same ones you'd use for any Arduino or rasperberry pi kit etc. and if that doesn't work I will probably purchase a bios clip instead, the jumper cables should do the trick though as that's how the FlashcatUSB works.

What are you using for jumper cables? I made my own from the cables that came with it, and got it working but wow it was flaky. Then I bought a purpose built one from embeddedcomputers.net ... but I cannot get it to work at all! I've tried it on two different boards.

View attachment 97590

Regarding your issue, you should email embedded computers, they reply very quickly.

 

[Sasqui]

I'm going to use standard 2mm jumper cables

To do the pinout with the DIY cables, I had 2mm, but had to use 2.54mm cables for the split since I ran out of 2mm headers (for VCC and WP#). That's probably why it was flaky.

Regarding your issue, you should email embedded computers, they reply very quickly

They have been amazing and pretty quick in replying. Honestly, I think there is something wrong with the JSPI1 cable I got from them. I also bought the SOIC8 clip... I'm able to flash loose chips with it (I bought 10 just for testing sake), but can't get it to connect to the chip on-board... again, tried two different boards.

Also, I noticed if I left the CMOS battery in, the PC would not recognize the Flashcat period when I plugged the USB in.

 

[Kyan31]

To do the pinout with the DIY cables, I had 2mm, but had to use 2.54mm cables for the split since I ran out of 2mm headers (for VCC and WP#). That's probably why it was flaky.



They have been amazing and pretty quick in replying. Honestly, I think there is something wrong with the JSPI1 cable I got from them. I also bought the SOIC8 clip... I'm able to flash loose chips with it (I bought 10 just for testing sake), but can't get it to connect to the chip on-board... again, tried two different boards.

Also, I noticed if I left the CMOS battery in, the PC would not recognize the Flashcat period when I plugged the USB in.

Thank you for the tip on the CMOS battery, will make sure it's removed before flashing the bios, and yes it is possible your cable is faulty but I'm sure embedded computers will be happy to send you a replacement, by the way the cable seems to only be 10 pin and most JSPI1 ports are 11 so that could be an issue, but I assume one of the pins is simply a reserve pin so probably not.