Pascal vBios flash with HW programmer

So I tried to flash my vBios on my MXM GTX 1060N with several programmers and clips, however I always got the same result. It reads the vBIOS to 95% correcly. It has some sort of distortion in the upper end part when reading it. I consulted with several people who do SPI programming on a daily basis however they all seem to agree that the graphicscard is draining the power a bit from my programmers hence making it a bit to weak and said that I would need to desolder the chip, that being said I don't have a rework station as of now so that's not an option, is there any other way I can make this happen?

Maybe @Mr. Fox got some ideas?

EDIT:

This is the "distorion" happening. It should be 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000 instead I get FFFFFFF coupled with random other hexidecimals.


Chip is a: W25Q80EW

This is the error:


maybe @Prema knows a solution.


I really wished we could flash with nvflash like in the old days.

Maybe @Meaker@Sager has an idea what to do?

 

You dont need a rework station to remove a SOIC-8 chip..

A bit of solder, and a soldering iron, flood one side, lift a bit with a tweezer, then the other side, after 2-3 iterations its free, after doing a couple its easy and way faster than using hot air, I can do that in 30 seconds, I dont like flashing chips soldered into boards, always remove then. Then its just a mather of using a ZIF socket.

 

Mh.. I might try, need to get some new flux tho. Gonna wait for more input tho.

 

If you have a soldering iron, and a bit of solder, and flux, you can just lift leg number 8, thats the one that supplies power into the chip, you can lift it 1-2mm and the clip will still make contact, but you have the chip isolated(1.8v rail only, ground still common), so it might help.

 

If I do solderwork I think it's better to remove the entire chip since moving just 1 leg and forcing it might bend it or break something. If i go that route I'd rather just take the entire chip off.

 

A few things can affect it. Sometimes it is hit or miss. I have had random circumstances with difficulty flashing with an SPI programmer. Based on my past experience, here are some questions that come to mind that may help isolate the problem. Falcon Security may be interfering.

• Are you using a 1.8V adapter?
• Try unchecking the flash verification box and see if the write finishes successfully. Are you sure the checksum value is correct? If not that can fail in the flash verification stage.
• If you were able to read the tiny numbers on the chip and you are certain (or believe you are) that the correct chip was selected, try selecting the next model up or down in the list for the same brand.
• Does the programmer automatically ID the chip correctly?
• Have you tried using the programmer with the GPU installed in the MXM slot and removed? For some reason I have had it fail using one method and switching to the other method allow the flash to complete without error. I never understood this because it happened both ways on the same machine. (Possibly related to Falcon security... not sure.)

The original Sky X9 (P870DM-G) that I had from Eurocom (the developer unit) to help with @Prema BIOS modding had difficulty with SPI flashing. It always failing in the verification stage at the end. Disabling the verification process allowed me to flash firmware mods with the SPI programmer with no negative implications.

If all else fails, an ordinary soldering iron with a fine tip will let you take the chip off and on relatively easy.

 

A Skypro programmer and 1.8v adapter will never fail.
If the Pascal Bios Editor supports the vbios it will always work with a Skypro and 1.8v adapter (NO 6 core versions equipped with MXM cards are supported by the 1 year out of date programmer; attempting to use a 4 core MXM Vbios on a laptop equipped with a 6 core processor will cause a BLACK SCREEN. Because Ngreedia. Because desktops are overpowered. Because big brother is watching you.

If you want to circumvent the green goblin, you need to learn some XDA and reverse assembly and manually flash your own modified vbios. Only three people on this forum are skilled enough to do this. One is Prema. You already have an idea of the two others (if someone says Falkentyne, you are completely WRONG. I am a chess player, not an escalator!)

 

1.) On the CH34A1 I tried with and without (the programmer has a 1.8v mode) same result and I didnt even try without 1.8v adapter on my skypro since I know that thing needs an adapter.
2.) Tried, it still doesn't read the chip 100%.
3.) I used NVFLASH to read the chip and the detected chip on the Skypro software is detecting the same chip, so I assume all is fine with that.
4.) Ch34A1 doesn't (since it doesnt support it direcly), Skypro does.
5.) I'll try that once I woke up again, I never left the card in the slot. This might actually fix it since when I remember correcly everyone who had BGA notebooks could flash without issues, but some peopel with MXM had issues. You might be on to something here.

 

I am not sure why it has an effect sometimes. Maybe being ungrounded with card removed or a completed circuit with the card installed does something to interfere.

 

I never had any issues with ch341a but maybe that's because all the chips I've been flashing the software had profiles for.

 

After checking I realized flashing while the card is in the slot isn't going to happen. On the GTX 1060N the Bioschip is on the backside of the card which isnt possible to reach when its plugged in...
ALso I got a question, I got this Skypro:


What is the difference between the upper und under part? Since it seems there are 2 ways of plugging the adapter or a clip into it.

@bennyg
Hilariously enough all other cards are getting read flawlessly by the CH34A1 and SKypro as well, only this one GTX 1060N is being a problem.

 

What software are you using?

Flashrom, or a program made by/for the programmer?

 

CH34A1 1.29 and 1.17
Skypro official software

 

Flashrom supports your programmer, its a command line only tool, but I would give it a try:

https://flashrom.org/Supported_hardware#USB_Devices

EDIT:

Err, maybe not, you say its called CH34A1, and there is a chip called CH341A, either a typo on one of the parts, or just a curious naming.

 

Typo on my part, I tried flashroom but I get weird errors.

 

Can you copy/paste, or screenshot the errors?

 

This is the "distorion" happening. It should be 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000 instead I get FFFFFFF coupled with random other hexidecimals.


Chip is a: W25Q80EW

This is the error:


maybe @Prema knows a solution.

 

try flashrom -p ch341a_spi -r backup.rom
Keep using the admin console, but I'm not sure if it works out of the box on Windows.

One problem might be that ch341a(at least with flashrom) will always run at 2Mhz clock, and 2Mhz clock on a long cable plus the spring clip might cause too much ringing and cause all the problems you have currently of garbage data.

 

I'm always using admin for this, also my connection to the chip is perfect, I have a high quality modded clip. I assume this issue is caused by windows 10 rather than the programmer or software.

 

So far it looks like I have to get a new hot air station. My soldering iron isn't fine enough and I don't want to accidently ruin the PCB or other components.

So if anyone has other inputs in how to either make my clip work or somehow flash the modded vBios onto the card through different means, I'm open to anything.