Intel I225-T1 NVM update

[brendini]

I have an I225-T1, Model K77919. It's a retail card and so I was hoping to do the NVM update to possibly get rid of the issues and have working ASPM (one can hope!).

First I am confused as to what is my supported driver. I go here: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/211808/intel-ethernet-network-adapter-i225t1/downloads.html

select 'downloads' and select the full driver pack here:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/15084/intel-ethernet-adapter-complete-driver-pack.htmlhttps://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/18293/intel-network-adapter-driver-for-windows-10.html

1. It's confusing that windows 10 gets offered 28.2 but the complete driver pack (valid for win10 according to the docs) gives you 28.2.1.

2. In the list the i225-t1 is not marked as supported under "This download is valid for the product(s) listed below.". Yet if we look at the readme: https://downloadmirror.intel.com/787127/readme_28.2.1.txt - it explicitely mentions that i225-t1 RSS has been disabled in this release - so it is supported? Your notes also have lots of duplicates mentioned, I guess it's generated from some other IDs but then trimmed?

3. So we go find a driver in PRO2500\Winx64\W11 (let's ignore that it says win11) and the readme there says it's good for the i225 (no mention of the i226, bit weird but let's keep going)

4. Off to find the NVMUpdatePackage, we go can only find 700_Series, E810, I210 & X550. I can only assume that the i210 family includes the i22x so I go there?

5. Once we've gone through a few layers we then go to run the funny tool that seems to run (unless you untick it :D) SecureFiles.bat which calls nvmupdatew64e.exe and spits out:

Intel(R) Ethernet NVM Update Tool
NVMUpdate version 1.37.28.0
Copyright(C) 2013 - 2021 Intel Corporation.


WARNING: To avoid damage to your device, do not stop the update or reboot or power off the system during this update.
Inventory in progress. Please wait [|.........]


Num Description                          Ver.(hex)  DevId S:B    Status
=== ================================== ============ ===== ====== ==============
01) Intel(R) Ethernet Network Adapter   1.87(1.57)   15F2 00:003 Update not
    I225-T1                                                      available
02) Intel(R) Ethernet Controller (3)   1.115(1.73)   15F3 00:005 Update not
    I225-V                                                       available


Tool execution completed with the following status: Device not found.
Press any key to exit.

And yes I am lucky enough to also have an i225 on my MSI motherboard (and no they dont provide NVM - but I can't be mad at you guys there ;-)). But we can see that that version seems far newer than on the i225-t1, but since there is no info on versioning except a random file named version that reads "v2.00" who knows what is what!

I tried to follow some disjointed info here and there but am confused at how to do the firmware update. How does this all work? Are there instructions somewhere?

[Srri]

Hello Brendan,

I hope you're having a wonderful day. I am just making a follow up on the information that we requested below.

1. And are you using an onboard/imbedded network card?
2. What is the brand and model of your board?
3. Have you tried Clean driver Installation?

If you have questions, please let us know. In case we do not hear from you, we will make a follow up after 3 workings days. Thank you.

Best regards,

Srri

Intel Customer Support

[brendini]

Thanks - hope you also are having a nice day!

1. No it's an I225-T1 (https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/211808/intel-ethernet-network-adapter-i225t1.html) which is a pcie x1 device plugged into my motherboard

2. It's an MSI Z790-A Pro DDR5 -> but I am not trying to update the onboard NIC rather the i225-T1 card as mentioned

3. I am not trying to install the driver but rather update the NVM

[Srri]

Hello Brendon,

Thank you for your reply. For I210 EEupdate would be used to update the firmware. This will require a non-disclosure agreement requested from the resource and design center. See the following thread in Embedded Communities for details https://forums.intel.com/s/question/0D50P00004906ESSAY/obtaining-eeupdate-utility?language=en_US If you have any questions specific to using the tool or updating the firmware, Embedded Communities would be the best place to ask.

https://community.intel.com/t5/Embedded-Products/ct-p/embedded-products

Let us know if you have any other questions.

Best regards,

Srri

Intel Customer Support

[brendini]

I don't understand.

1. This is not an embedded product, the i225-T1 is a "retail ethernet product" (see https://cdrdv2.intel.com/v1/dl/getContent/639476)

2. This is not an i210, it's an i225. You haven't explained if this would be suitable for my card?

FYI asking for an NDA to get firmware updates for a retail product is absolutely insane.

[Srri]

Hello Brendan,

Please try this instruction as below for updating the i225 nvm instruction.

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000057261/ethernet-products/gigabit-ethernet-controllers-up-to-2-5gbe.html

If you have any further questions or queries, please kindly let us know.

Best Regards,

Srri 

Intel Customer Support

[Srri]

Greetings Brendan,

We would like to follow up regarding the issue.

Is there anything else that we can help you.

If you have any further questions or queries, please kindly let us know.

Best Regards,

Srri 

Intel Customer Support

[Andrew32]

I am also looking for the update for the same card (and the i226 version).

None of the links or recommendations provided are a solution.

[Srri]

Hello Brendan

Thank you for contacting Intel Community.

These two documents may be helpful but you will need a Premier account to get access to them or refer to an Intel Sales Representative near your zone to get help.

Document #618457 - Intel® Ethernet Controller I225/ I226 IEEE Tool User Guide

Document #615722 - Intel® Ethernet Controller I225/ I226 LAN Tools

Best regards,

Srri

Intel Customer Support

[brendini]

Hi Srri - I was just denied an Intel premier account because I am not a company. I bought this card as a private customer, I expect you to provide customer support based on this.

As a consumer, do you have any advice to get my local Intel Sales representative on the phone?

[Srri]

Hello Brendon,

You can try to contact our distributor from the list, please follow the below link for you to contact them.

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/partner/showcase/partner-directory/distributor.html#sort=relevancy

If you have any further questions or queries, please kindly let us know.

Best Regards,

Srri 

Intel Customer Support

[Srri]

Hello Brendan,

Is there anything else that we can assist you further. If no can we proceed to close the case.

Best Regards,

Srri 

Intel Customer Support

[Srri]

Hello Brendan,

Is there anything else that we can assist you further. If no can we proceed to close the case.

Best Regards,

Srri 

Intel Customer Support

[brendini]

Honestly I am unable to get to the documents you mentioned. I'm amazed that a simple firmware update requires an NDA document (which i haven't even managed to get as the instructions from support seem out of date).

So feel free to close the request - I don't have the patience to keep going with this issue.

[brendini · Accepted solution]

I took a little break from this and by a bit of guessing I found the way to update the NVM on most Intel NICs. I'm amazed the instructions are not more clear on official documents. I made a small blog post here: https://arfoll.github.io/posts/intel_nic_nvm_update/. Leaving it here in case anyone is also stuck on similar issues.