• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Need help changing a Asus bios Cap file into a Rom file

LiveOrDie

LiveOrDie

Joined
May 19, 2007
Messages
4,520 (0.69/day)
Location
Perth AU
System Specs
Processor Intel Core i9 10980XE @ 4.7Ghz 1.2v
Motherboard ASUS Rampage VI Extreme Omega
Cooling EK-Velocity D-RGB, EK-CoolStream PE 360, XSPC TX240 Ultrathin, EK X-RES 140 Revo D5 RGB PWM
Memory G.Skill Trident Z RGB F4-3000C14D 64GB
Video Card(s) Asus ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4090 OC WC
Storage M.2 990 Pro 1TB / 10TB WD RED Helium / 3x 860 2TB Evos
Display(s) Samsung Odyssey G7 28"
Case Corsair Obsidian 500D SE Modded
Power Supply Cooler Master V Series 1300W
Software Windows 11
I need some one good with hex editing i have killed my bios chip trying to flash it onto another chip now i have no working image and i can't use cap bios version of the asus website the programmer software says it to large i need some on to make it into a rom file and remove the cap data.

i know it can be done found this info if it helps.

So having tried several other BIOS flashing tools on this system to no avail, I decided the BIOS might be so borked that it wasn't going to be able to flash itself and that it needed outside help.

Unfortunately I imported this board and getting warranty service on it would be a lot of hassle. I was unable to locate a new BIOS chip, so I decided to try to remove it externally.

Of course I was also unable to find an EEPROM programmer. I'm sure they exist, I just couldn't find the right people to ask, so I opted to build one. This turned out to be easier than I expected.

I had a couple Raspberry Pi boards lying around and read that it has an SPI interface necessary for this sort of thing. The author of flashrom seemed to think it should be possible, and more recently there is a wiki page on the flashrom site with the necessary pinouts. That lead me to this tutorial, which I more or less followed.

Another trip to the electronics parts bazaar for a breadboard, some resistors, a capacitor and some wire, and I was ready:

omO7R.jpg


Crazily enough, it worked!*

I cut the CAP header off of the latest bios image file (dd bs=2048 skip=1 if=BIOS.CAP of=BIOS.BIN) and used flashrom to write it (flashrom -p linux_spi:/dev/spidev0.0 -w BIOS.BIN). After sticking the chip back in my motherboard, it boots just fine. I can open the BIOS and have successfully setup my OS.
Click to expand...
 
Live OR Die said:
I need some one good with hex editing i have killed my bios chip trying to flash it onto another chip now i have no working image and i can't use cap bios version of the asus website the programmer software says it to large i need some on to make it into a rom file and remove the cap data.

i know it can be done found this info if it helps.
Click to expand...
You're using the wrong flashing utility then if it's asking for a .ROM and not a .CAP. ASUS updated their stuff after moving to the CAP format. Using CAP files requires you to run another utility that coverts the video card to the CAP format first.

I would flash an old BIOS that still uses .ROM, run the CAP updater, then flash the newest .CAP BIOS to the board.

Are we talking about your ASUS Rampage V Extreme?
 
Well story goes i got my rampage v with one dead chip so i brought a EZP2010 programmer to flash the chip i 1st saved the good image off the working chip it saved as a bin file, then i went to copy the bios from one chip to another as the programmer can do that with out the software but i needed up flashing the wrong chip -_- now both don't work i have tired flashing the saved image onto both chip using the software but that doesnt work ether the save was from the dud chip or some think else i need to re-flash them using the Asus bios file but the programmer software will read it but it says it to long and doesn't work when flashed?


Using that tool this is what i get from both files? also i get data format cant be detected?

aaa.png
 
Last edited:
I used a tool to remove the cap part of the image bios 1 chip is working again now but bios 2 chip boots to a error code on the board.
 
Live OR Die said:
I used a tool to remove the cap part of the image bios 1 chip is working again now but bios 2 chip boots to a error code on the board.
Click to expand...

It is the ME firmware I guess... CAP bioses must use ME past 8, ROM firmwares work only with 7.xx ones... I know it because I run a ES Xeon, those are only supported by ROM type of bios. So you can't just cut off the CAP header. It does not work, I tried it too.

There was a cheat... if you reset dozens like times the board it sometimes boots with inappropriate ME region..., well at least for me. But still get an oldest bios you can get with ROM type, fill out your special board ID fields, and flash that rom using SPI programmer...

I did the same, as my board had CAP bios and had this CPU, so I was screwed, as my old system also died the same week.

I had a raspberry PI and booted it and wired up a external board on GPIO heads. And all went smooth as butter. My RPI paid off his 20bucks in a flash, lol, literally.

http://www.win-raid.com/t58f16-Guide-Recover-from-failed-BIOS-flash-using-Raspberry-PI.html

PS.

ME region is a tough nut, it only gets reset after complete power down, as it is fed form PSU stand by 5V

PSS.

By the looks of it, your backup is pretty screwed and blank.
 
Last edited:
i fixed both chips now i had to erase the 2nd chip which was dead when i got the board then program it again and it started working like normal it was sitting on that Q code for around 2 minutes then it posted but all working now thanks.
 
Live OR Die said:
i fixed both chips now i had to erase the 2nd chip which was dead when i got the board then program it again and it started working like normal it was sitting on that Q code for around 2 minutes then it posted but all working now thanks.
Click to expand...

yes but your MAC is and other stuff is default, ain't it?

This is like I have.

Clipboard02.jpg
 
Last edited:
I'm not sure i downloaded the bios off Asus website then used a UEFI tool to pull the intel image from the CAP file then flashed it and its working fine now, Your images isn't working.
 
Live OR Die said:
I'm not sure i downloaded the bios off Asus website then used a UEFI tool to pull the intel image from the CAP file then flashed it and its working fine now, Your images isn't working.
Click to expand...

Yes that's the way... except adding your original board info from bios Backup, you have to fill out those fields manually now(read from stickers attached to the board). Stock bios from ASUS is blank and uses default MAC. Well I guess it doesn't matter much if you are behind a router much.

And the image must work.
 
Image does work now was TPU server problem which i get a lot.
 
Ferrum Master said:
@W1zzard well then, he would like to hear about that :D
Click to expand...

I forgot to back up my Mac address and UUID and MB S/N is just the serial for your board right? Is each Mac address different ? from what i read theres one for each network controller so i should be able find one for my NC? and the UUID was reset i had to call up Microsoft to active windows again so i don't think the UUID is a problem its just the Mac address i worrying about?
 
Live OR Die said:
I forgot to back up my Mac address and UUID and MB S/N is just the serial for your board right? Is each Mac address different ? from what i read theres one for each network controller so i should be able find one for my NC? and the UUID was reset i had to call up Microsoft to active windows again so i don't think the UUID is a problem its just the Mac address i worrying about?
Click to expand...

All number should be located on your motherboard as stickers on the backside or the lan port itself. Serial is just for warranty and ASUS specific things. But MAC can cause troubles, as the default one may be blacklisted, and yes it is present with the hard drive serial and Sata driver in the M$ activation token generation.
 
Ferrum Master said:
All number should be located on your motherboard as stickers on the backside or the lan port itself. Serial is just for warranty and ASUS specific things. But MAC can cause troubles, as the default one may be blacklisted, and yes it is present with the hard drive serial and Sata driver in the M$ activation token generation.
Click to expand...

Ok thanks ill see if i can find it. i think my UUID has been set to a default one as well after running "wmic csproduct get name,identifyingnumber,uuid" both seem to be the same on both BIOS chips which would mean this number is default of the bios i downloaded? should i change this number as i have no idea where to find the original one? under name in CMD it says "all series" doesn't say the board im using.

Is there a way i can get the boards UUID with in windows so i can re-enter it into the bios file the above command brings back a longer number ill be using this info to help people flash there bios chips thanks .
 
Last edited:
Nope. You downloaded just a blank empty bios file. It contains nothing specific, during ASUS bios setup, it doesn't touch those fields with those numbers usually. You had a blank memory IC and those fields had to be filled with nothing.

You must use FTK and prepare your specific image and using those tools repair the fields. There are no ways of recovering and seeing them software wise anymore, they are gone, the only solution is to screw out the board and write down the numbers from labels.
 
i see the mac address on the back of the board but not any UUID as i wiped both chips and showed above the info wasn't saved in the bios image i extracted from the chip where do i go from here? The bios file must of had some info needed as i havent had one problem with my system.



R5E_9-Motherboard-bottom.jpg
 
Here is a good guide... I can't rememeber correctly where was my sticker... it seems UUID must be composed by hand.

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1726429

Code Rush is an awesome guy btw... I've encountered him in may areas. N900/N9 maemo/nitdroid, many driver threads at driver station, also UBU development and here, I wonder why he ain't coming here.
 
He does say the below i do have a DTS sticker i can see some of it on the ATX port ill need to get a mirror to see it, The Mac address not sure on this one the R5E comes with a cover over all the OI ports.

Only System UUID can't be fully restored from stickers, but it can be reconstructed using this rules:
1. If your board has DTS key sticker, then bytes 3 - 10 of UUID are same.
2. It can be any random bytes except 00 and FF.
Click to expand...


EDIT that could be the Mac address on the side of the ATX port.
 
Ferrum Master said:
Here is a good guide... I can't rememeber correctly where was my sticker... it seems UUID must be composed by hand.

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1726429

Code Rush is an awesome guy btw... I've encountered him in may areas. N900/N9 maemo/nitdroid, many driver threads at driver station, also UBU development and here, I wonder why he ain't coming here.
Click to expand...

Im not sure how to reconstruct a UUID off the sicker it seems to be 4 numbers to short i have a sticker on a old Asus board thats dead i want to use this DTS number ? Also my MB/SN is only 11 numbers long its way to short.

The MB/SN on the box matches the one on the back of the board so many this code should be used? its 12 spaces long.
 
Last edited:
Just a update i got my mac address entered i had a small problem i entered my mac address wrong to start with and my NC would fail to load its drivers, i got stuck on this problem for a few hours until i went and had another look at the address as i was using a small mirror to view it as i didn't want to remove my board i had 1 number wrong after fixing the number i entered my MB/SN and a random UUID and flashed both chips so they match and windows didn't even ask me to active it again not sure why.
 
Hi everyone. Firstly I'm sorry to bring back such an old thread but I'm having the same problem with a bricked asus chip. I've already copied the mac info into a bios file and have the .bin but when I try to use fpt or ftk I get error 25: The host cpu does not have write access. Only afudos seems to flash it I can use /p /b /k /n /x and it says successful but it still doesn't boot afterwards and uefi tool shows invalid uefi image when I dump the chip again and open the dumped image. Only part of the bios is there. It's an OEM P8H61-M PRO. I'm using a hotswap to flash the chip on my brothers board which also has h61 chipset.

Anybody know if there's any way to save the chip?

Thanks
 
steocullen91 said:
Hi everyone. Firstly I'm sorry to bring back such an old thread but I'm having the same problem with a bricked asus chip. I've already copied the mac info into a bios file and have the .bin but when I try to use fpt or ftk I get error 25: The host cpu does not have write access. Only afudos seems to flash it I can use /p /b /k /n /x and it says successful but it still doesn't boot afterwards and uefi tool shows invalid uefi image when I dump the chip again and open the dumped image. Only part of the bios is there. It's an OEM P8H61-M PRO. I'm using a hotswap to flash the chip on my brothers board which also has h61 chipset.

Anybody know if there's any way to save the chip?

Thanks
Click to expand...
The best way around is to find someone with an SPI flash programmer, like FlashcatUSB or any variation of Serprog, and simply write the binary to your chip.
Usually you get Error 25 if the ME section is locked. On most ECS boards there is a jumper (ME_UNLOCK), which needs to be set before flashing the whole firmware, but some other boards may only have a placeholder for this jumper, or nothing at all... Which makes manual flashing very-very hard.
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NANO-BIOS-P...537456?hash=item4159260270:g:jBkAAOSwo3pWcZX9

To those with an issue like the above - Grab one of these and try it.
Just yesterday I updated the BIOS to my benching CHV-Z with mine and the program it uses didn't have an issue flashing the chip at all. These things are NICE to have when dealing with issues and the like. Works whether the file is a .bin or cap file, no need to convert it to a .bin file. It will also let you know if the chip itself is bad or OK and can erase a chip no prob.
The program and driver it uses is on the same page, just scroll down and you'll see the link for it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top