Intel ME and BIOS Updates - General Advice

[iBruceypoo]

Thread created for JohnAb

Take it away John. 🙂

[JohnAb]

Thanks, once we have a few BIOS and ME combinations I'll compile a list in one place...

[JohnAb]

Please see first post for ME Windows drivers, firmware and BIOS installation guide. To the best of my knowledge, here are the matching firmware and BIOS versions. Feel free to add updates if you are still using older (and working) combinations...

=====================
Z690 Chipsets:
BIOS 2004 does not allow going back to any previous BIOS
MEI Drivers = 2229.3.2.0, ME Firmware = v16.1.25.1885. BIOS 2103 (can go back to 2004)
MEI Drivers = 2240.3.4.0, ME Firmware = v16.1.25.2020. BIOS 2204 (can go back to 2103)
=====================
Z790 Chipsets:
MEI Drivers = 2240.3.2.0, ME Firmware = v16.1.25.1917. BIOS 0502
MEI Drivers = 2240.3.4.0, ME Firmware = v16.1.25.2020. BIOS 0703
=====================

[mbacco]

JohnAb wrote:
Please see first post for ME Windows drivers, firmware and BIOS installation guide. To the best of my knowledge, here are the matching firmware and BIOS versions. Feel free to add updates if you are still using older (and working) combinations...

=====================
Z690 Chipsets:
BIOS 2004 does not allow going back to any previous BIOS
MEI Drivers = 2229.3.2.0, ME Firmware = v16.1.25.1885. BIOS 2103 (can go back to 2004)
MEI Drivers = 2240.3.4.0, ME Firmware = v16.1.25.2020. BIOS 2204 (can go back to 2103)
=====================
Z790 Chipsets:
MEI Drivers = 2240.3.2.0, ME Firmware = v16.1.25.1917. BIOS 0502
MEI Drivers = 2240.3.4.0, ME Firmware = v16.1.25.2020. BIOS 0703
=====================

Hi all,
today i find the new bios for my Prime z690-P wifi: bios 2212 with ME Firmware 16.1.25.2020_v2
but i dont find the E Firmware...
any Help?
tks and happy new year

[JohnAb]

They say you learn something new every day lol. I thought all 690 chipsets used the same BIOS. Apologies. What do you mean by the E Firmware?

Do you mean the MEI Windows drivers? They are on your support page, listed as "Intel consumer ME driver V2229.3.2.0 For Windows 10/11 64-bit." (look under Chipset/See All downloads),

Install the MEI drivers, then the ME firmware update, then the BIOS...

[BJBBJB]

I know this thread was a bit ago and it is a great summary! I am trying to figure the correct way to do this for my new ASUS TUF Gaming Z690-Plus WiFi LGA 1700 which is a new build. The bios download page says to install the ME update first via the ME update tool....which runs in windows which of course is not installed yet. I always install bios updates first to ensure cpu and memory compatability.

So what is my best path? Download bios after windows install and after the ME update or just do the bios first regardless of the download page alive?
Thanks,
BJB

[JohnAb]

Hi BJB,

I would be tempted to install Windows first (leave the BIOS for now) and then install all of your drivers (including IME Windows drivers, then ME firmware). Make sure that everything is stable and working well and then think about the BIOS. I just think there will be less risk of problems that way, like an NVME slot not working properly which has happened on other Z690 boards (without the latest ME firmware). Before you decide on the BIOS, do a bit of reading around and just see if there have been any issues with the latest versions. I don't know what memory you have or how many sticks, but it would be better to make a decision on the BIOS after seeing if anybody has had issues with your RAM combination. It's OK to have ME firmware later than your BIOS requires, so the order I suggest shouldn't cause any problems.

I have no experience with your board (I'm on 2204 now with the Hero and it's working fine for me), so just my suggestion. Please remember that once you go to 2004 or later, you cannot go back to a BIOS before 2004. If you are pre-2004 now, I found 1601 to be good as well. There were issues reported with 1720 and 2004 (not for everybody), but I avoided those versions. Anyway, enjoy your new build 🙂

Perhaps someone else here with your board might have some advice too. The final thing I'd say is that if you want to play it safe, then if your board comes with 1720, you could always flash it back to 1601 if you wanted (as long as you aren't using a 13th gen chip). For 13th gen you will need at least 1720, in which case I would simply jump to 2204).

[BJBBJB]

JohnAb wrote:
Hi BJB,

I would be tempted to install Windows first (leave the BIOS for now) and then install all of your drivers (including IME Windows drivers, then ME firmware). Make sure that everything is stable and working well and then think about the BIOS. I just think there will be less risk of problems that way, like an NVME slot not working properly which has happened on other Z690 boards (without the latest ME firmware). Before you decide on the BIOS, do a bit of reading around and just see if there have been any issues with the latest versions. I don't know what memory you have or how many sticks, but it would be better to make a decision on the BIOS after seeing if anybody has had issues with your RAM combination. It's OK to have ME firmware later than your BIOS requires, so the order I suggest shouldn't cause any problems.

I have no experience with your board (I'm on 2204 now with the Hero and it's working fine for me), so just my suggestion. Please remember that once you go to 2004 or later, you cannot go back to a BIOS before 2004. If you are pre-2004 now, I found 1601 to be good as well. There were issues reported with 1720 and 2004 (not for everybody), but I avoided those versions. Anyway, enjoy your new build 🙂

Perhaps someone else here with your board might have some advice too. The final thing I'd say is that if you want to play it safe, then if your board comes with 1720, you could always flash it back to 1601 if you wanted (as long as you aren't using a 13th gen chip). For 13th gen you will need at least 1720, in which case I would simply jump to 2204).

Thanks for that! Great explanation. If it helps we are putting in an i7 Raptor Lake 13700K CPU and 2X16 GB of DDR5 G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-6000 CL36-36-36-96 1.35V that was on both Asus and G.Skill compatibility lists for that specific MB. I am now reading of 2 sticks vs. 4 sticks memory issues based on bios and the ME version. Do I have it right the issue is with 4 sticks?

Updating the bios on a new build is automatic for me but not if it creates issues. And once a PC is up and running....I do not rush out to update the bios for no reason for sure. With you on that. And quite frankly I will leave with the risk of my ME firmware not being updated but it sounds like they are marrying that update with the bios in order to get everything working right. So it seems we are kind of forced to update in order to get the most recent bios. But if I don't need the bios for my CPU or memory....then it can wait for sure as can the ME update....

Thanks again,
BJB

[JohnAb]

Hi BJB,

If you are going to use a 13700 CPU then you will need at least 1720 if I remember right, but 1720 was not received well by people. See what BIOS your motherboard comes with - that will decide the issue for you. I'm trying to remember if you can access the BIOS fully if the BIOS does not support 13th Gen, but if not, then you can still use the flashback port, even without a CPU installed.

Based on what I have read (even though I only have a 12th gen) then I think going straight to 2204 would be a pretty safe bet. You can still go back to 2103 and 2004 if necessary, so one of those versions should be good for you. If you have to upgrade the BIOS to even boot with the 13th gen, then you will be forced to update ME etc AFTER the BIOS update, because otherwise, you can't install Windows. That should still be OK, just bear in mind that (possibly) the NVME slots might not be 100% until ME is updated fully. It won't do any lasting harm to do things in 'reverse order' and perhaps you will have no choice. Yes, as far as I know, 4 memory sticks are more likely to give problems, but not always of course. I only have 2 sticks, so less experience of that personally.

I have based my answer on the belief that you do not have the motherboard yet. If you already have it and are using 12th Gen now, then simply do the ME firmware, go to BIOS 2204 and then swap out the CPUs. So I'm not 100% clear on your situation, but hope you can get some sense from my rambling answer lol. Hopefully if you are getting a brand new motherboard, it will arrive with 13th gen support anyway.

[BJBBJB]

JohnAb wrote:
Hi BJB,

If you are going to use a 13700 CPU then you will need at least 1720 if I remember right, but 1720 was not received well by people. See what BIOS your motherboard comes with - that will decide the issue for you. I'm trying to remember if you can access the BIOS fully if the BIOS does not support 13th Gen, but if not, then you can still use the flashback port, even without a CPU installed. Edit: I see my board does not have flashback it has "Asus Crashfree BIOS 3" which allows me to do that bios renaming thing using the renamer and still update that way if I read correclty.

Based on what I have read (even though I only have a 12th gen) then I think going straight to 2204 would be a pretty safe bet. You can still go back to 2103 and 2004 if necessary, so one of those versions should be good for you. If you have to upgrade the BIOS to even boot with the 13th gen, then you will be forced to update ME etc AFTER the BIOS update, because otherwise, you can't install Windows. That should still be OK, just bear in mind that (possibly) the NVME slots might not be 100% until ME is updated fully. It won't do any lasting harm to do things in 'reverse order' and perhaps you will have no choice. Yes, as far as I know, 4 memory sticks are more likely to give problems, but not always of course. I only have 2 sticks, so less experience of that personally.

I have based my answer on the belief that you do not have the motherboard yet. If you already have it and are using 12th Gen now, then simply do the ME firmware, go to BIOS 2204 and then swap out the CPUs. So I'm not 100% clear on your situation, but hope you can get some sense from my rambling answer lol. Hopefully if you are getting a brand new motherboard, it will arrive with 13th gen support anyway.

Thanks again. Your rambling is very instructive! 🙂

I do have the motherboard but it is in the box and not installed yet. Waiting for all parts to come together and I do not have a 12th gen to bootup with.

Based on your input I will (hopefully) boot to the bios after all is put together and see what bios version I have and then go from there. But as you said if not, I can use the flashback port as I am familiar with that from my old Hero board. If I recall flashback will be smart enough to only upgrade the bios version if necessary but if it doesn't boot, my assumption is it will need upgrading.

Looking at the details of the bios versions for my board, 2103 added the 13th gen support while 2204 adds the ME firmware and DRAM compatibility improvement. So maybe an approach would be to flash to 2103 first, install windows, do the ME software firmware upgrade, then go to 2204? Then I don't have the potential NVME issue, no ME conflict, but potentially have a DRAM compatibility issue that 2204 fixes?
EDIT: Hmmmm. although listed differently now I see both do mention the ME update tool. I don't know...

FWIW my boot and secondary drives are both NVME so I will have to look into that potential issue more. I at least need the C drive to be recognized during the windows install process to install windows.

Asus should really adjust the description of the bios and ME updates on the drive page for this board. Their assumption is 100% the board is already active but I assume if someone is buying a new board they are starting from scratch like me...

Thanks again,

BJB

PS. My last edit. Sigh.... I am now reading that for this board, if it ships with the original bios it will not boot with a 13th generation CPU and since it does not have flashback, and you cannot use the Flashboack bios 3 to update if it will not boot the cpu, you have to buy an old CPU like a Celeron AG6900 to update the bios?! This is ridiculous.... I guess if it does not boot to the bios I will just return it. I can't believe I would have to purchase and install a second CPU to get a CPU that the motherboard is sold as supporting to boot.... Or, I found a local shop that will flash it for a fee.

[JohnAb]

I think the M.2 NVME issue was on slot 2_1, at least it was for the 690 Hero boards (from memory). Might be different on yours, but if you can't see the boot drive, you can always move it to another slot and get Windows sorted, followed by the Windows ME drivers and firmware update. Your plan sounds good to me, at least I had zero issues with 2103. One of the things that my support page says for 1720 is "2. Update Microcode for next generation Intel Processors" That's why I thought 13th gen support started with that version. Of course, without a 13th gen CPU I never tried it myself. Regardless if it works or not, it seems to be a problematic BIOS anyway, so yeah, go to 2103 then and take it from there. You'll be fine I'm sure, just a case of seeing what's what when you have all the parts. Enjoy your new build and good luck.