Flashing iPXE rom on motherboard NIC

Hi,

I did an attempt just to see if flashing a ROM works on my motherboard
before flashing i-PXE rom.
I try to backup with command: flashrom -p internal -V -r biosback
Then flashing the same backup: flashrom -p internal -V -w biosback
No error occurs and after a reboot the system is OK.

I am frightened to destroy entire BIOS while flashing an i-PXE rom on my
onboard NIC.
The previous mentioned backup is 1,048,576 bytes and seems realy large
and may be it contains bios data other than PXE code.
I have doubt where the program retrieve and write his data because there
is no atheros feature for it.

I want to know if there is any danger to alter the entire BIOS if I
flash an i-PXE ROM on my onboard NIC ?

Thanks

[Mike Banon]

Tell us your motherboard model etc, so that we can learn more about
the possible recovery options just in case. Maybe you can get a dirt
cheap (2 dollar) flashrom-supported programmer like CH341A (green
PCB), remove a chip using a PLCC clip, insert to a programmer, backup
the contents and then do the experiments you'd like to try - and, if
anything goes wrong, you just restore a knowing good image using
another computer.

On Mon, Sep 14, 2020 at 11:49 AM [e-mail]  wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I did an attempt just to see if flashing a ROM works on my motherboard
> before flashing i-PXE rom.
> I try to backup with command: flashrom -p internal -V -r biosback
> Then flashing the same backup: flashrom -p internal -V -w biosback
> No error occurs and after a reboot the system is OK.
>
> I am frightened to destroy entire BIOS while flashing an i-PXE rom on my
> onboard NIC.
> The previous mentioned backup is 1,048,576 bytes and seems realy large
> and may be it contains bios data other than PXE code.
> I have doubt where the program retrieve and write his data because there
> is no atheros feature for it.
>
> I want to know if there is any danger to alter the entire BIOS if I
> flash an i-PXE ROM on my onboard NIC ?
>
> Thanks
> _______________________________________________
> flashrom mailing list -- [e-mail]
> To unsubscribe send an email to [e-mail]

On 09/15/2020 12:39 PM, Mike Banon wrote:
> Tell us your motherboard model etc, so that we can learn more about
> the possible recovery options just in case. Maybe you can get a dirt
> cheap (2 dollar) flashrom-supported programmer like CH341A (green
> PCB), remove a chip using a PLCC clip, insert to a programmer, backup
> the contents and then do the experiments you'd like to try - and, if
> anything goes wrong, you just restore a knowing good image using
> another computer.
>
> On Mon, Sep 14, 2020 at 11:49 AM [e-mail]  wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > I did an attempt just to see if flashing a ROM works on my motherboard
> > before flashing i-PXE rom.
> > I try to backup with command: flashrom -p internal -V -r biosback
> > Then flashing the same backup: flashrom -p internal -V -w biosback
> > No error occurs and after a reboot the system is OK.
> >
> > I am frightened to destroy entire BIOS while flashing an i-PXE rom on my
> > onboard NIC.
> > The previous mentioned backup is 1,048,576 bytes and seems realy large
> > and may be it contains bios data other than PXE code.
> > I have doubt where the program retrieve and write his data because there
> > is no atheros feature for it.
> >
> > I want to know if there is any danger to alter the entire BIOS if I
> > flash an i-PXE ROM on my onboard NIC ?
> >
> > Thanks
> > _______________________________________________
> > flashrom mailing list -- [e-mail]
> > To unsubscribe send an email to [e-mail]

Hi,

The mother board is a Gigabyte GA-G41MT-S2P (rev.1.5)

[Mike Banon]

It's BIOS chips are soldered SOIC-8 ones, so - in addition to a
programmer like - you'll need a SOIC-8 test clip to backup the
contents of these chips. USB extension cable is also recommended for
more convenience. You can do a backup of both chips (BIOS and Intel
ME) and then proceed.

On Tue, Sep 15, 2020 at 1:02 PM [e-mail]  wrote:
> On 09/15/2020 12:39 PM, Mike Banon wrote:
> > Tell us your motherboard model etc, so that we can learn more about
> > the possible recovery options just in case. Maybe you can get a dirt
> > cheap (2 dollar) flashrom-supported programmer like CH341A (green
> > PCB), remove a chip using a PLCC clip, insert to a programmer, backup
> > the contents and then do the experiments you'd like to try - and, if
> > anything goes wrong, you just restore a knowing good image using
> > another computer.
> >
> > On Mon, Sep 14, 2020 at 11:49 AM [e-mail]  wrote:
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > I did an attempt just to see if flashing a ROM works on my motherboard
> > > before flashing i-PXE rom.
> > > I try to backup with command: flashrom -p internal -V -r biosback
> > > Then flashing the same backup: flashrom -p internal -V -w biosback
> > > No error occurs and after a reboot the system is OK.
> > >
> > > I am frightened to destroy entire BIOS while flashing an i-PXE rom on my
> > > onboard NIC.
> > > The previous mentioned backup is 1,048,576 bytes and seems realy large
> > > and may be it contains bios data other than PXE code.
> > > I have doubt where the program retrieve and write his data because there
> > > is no atheros feature for it.
> > >
> > > I want to know if there is any danger to alter the entire BIOS if I
> > > flash an i-PXE ROM on my onboard NIC ?
> > >
> > > Thanks
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > flashrom mailing list -- [e-mail]
> > > To unsubscribe send an email to [e-mail]
>
> Hi,
>
> The mother board is a Gigabyte GA-G41MT-S2P (rev.1.5)