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Intel BIOS updating with AMT

fred29210
Beginner
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I am trying to determine the process for updating the BIOS on an Intel board with AMT, i.e. a 965 motherboard. Referring to the following link, it appears that the only method for updating the BIOS and retainingsettings on an AMT provisioned system is to use the Windows update procedure with the user/pass switch. No other BIOS update method, including DOS based, will allow you to retain AMT settings, correct? I don't have an Intel board, so I am hoping someone who does has tried the upgrade and can confirm or deny this post.

http://support.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/sb/CS-025681.htm

In addition, it appears that the Intel Windows BIOS update package is an all-in-one update, i.e. itwill update; BIOS version, ME version, and AMT firmware version in one single process, correct?

The reason for the question is that it appears some manufactures are packaging AMT updates and BIOS updates separately.

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5 Replies
Ylian_S_Intel
Employee
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Hi and thanks for the question,

I am hoping someone else can confirm your question for sure. From my experience, a firmware update does not generally wipe out your Intel AMT settings unless you use the jumper update technique which wipes out everything. Reading the Intel firmware readme file I know that if you update from a really old firmware, you will have to wipe out all your settings (But, it's only for really early releases).

All the motherboards I have in my lab, mostly Intel boards with various version of Intel AMT, all of them have a single firmware package for BIOS/AMT. It's probably technicaly possible to update just one, but there is lots of code in the BIOS to talk to AMT, so you would not want a mismatch.

Just for my curiousity, what vendors have seperate BIOS and AMT updates?

Thanks,
Ylian (Intel AMT Blog)

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fred29210
Beginner
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These appear to be the motherboards Intel has AMT on:

Intel Desktop Board DQ965CO

Intel Desktop Board DQ965GF

Intel Desktop Board DQ965WC

I am referring to the latest Intel BIOS release for these boards:

BIOS Update 5858

http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scripts-df-external/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=N&Inst=Yes&ProductID=2381&DwnldID=12978&strOSs=164&OSFullName=Windows%20Vista*%2032〈=eng

According to the following link there are three methods that allow you to update the BIOS:

BIOS Recovery resets AMT settings to default

Iflash BIOS Update Cant be performed if AMT has been provisioned.

Intel Express BIOS Update will retain AMT settings but must use user/pass switch to upgrade AMT

Based on the above, the only method for upgrading AMT and retaining settings is to use the third option which can only be performed in Windows and requires that the upgrader know the user/pass for the AMT portion.

HP has released a BIOS update for the dc7700 which has split the BIOS/AMT update in to two separate updates. The first updates the BIOS/ME version and the second updates the AMT firmware.

BIOS Version: 2.09 Rev. C (6 Mar 2007)

This thread from the HP forum illustrates what happens if you dont perform both updates.

http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/bizsupport/questionanswer.do?threadId=1105560

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Gael_H_Intel
Moderator
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HP does handle their updates differently - for the intel systems (pre-production)it is easiest to create a CD with the BIOS and Firmware and update the system - HP does provide updates separately and can be done from Windows. You do need to make sure you look for all the appropriate updates (Bios, Firmwares, HECI/SOL/LMS/LAN drivers) and make sure you have all the most current updates as if one is updated, it usually means the others had to change as well in order to still function together.

HP actually has pretty good documentation on their support site that provides instructions on how to configure the vPro systems.

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fred29210
Beginner
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The link below is the official word from HP regarding the separate updates and problems that may be encountered.

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=c00911144〈=en&cc=us&taskId=101&prodSeriesId=3232029&prodTypeId=12454

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Ylian_S_Intel
Employee
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Ha yes. I have an HP UltraSlim dc7700 in my lab and it's great (The F12 key actualy works with SOL on that machine). These HP computers update both BIOS and AMT at the same time, just like Intel. It's my understanding that they ran into an issue because someone could install the Intel AMT enabled firmware on a non-AMT enabled machine with weird consequences. As a result, they added this warning message to tell users not to use the wrong firmware.

Ylian (My Intel AMT Blog)

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