A fix for Valve CEG games causing BSOD on Bulldozer -issue

[mR Yellow]

I saw it, but was wondering when the official release will be out.

[MiseryOne]

me too. the modded bios does work, but some times the performance drop is huge. I hope they'll release an official one soon.

[The Stilt]

me too. the modded bios does work, but some times the performance drop is huge. I hope they'll release an official one soon.

Sabertooth bios (0813)?
Under what conditions can the "performance drop" be seen?

[MiseryOne]

With the 0813MOD there are perfomance drops or lets call it, very poor performance, e.g. in Portal 2 (20 FPs), Saints Row 3 Initiation Station (15 FPs) also the Intro Video from Saints Row (a BINK video) plays only with about 6fps. With the normal 0813 the intro plays well and if the game runs for a couple of seconds it has more fps.
On my Xeon (Signature) with the older GPU these games have around 50-70fps.

But, with the improvements at the Crosshair V Bios, I hope that the Sabertooth will follow soon.

[The Stilt]

Yeah the performance issues are not fixed by the modded bioses (microcode in 0813 / 9913), just the BSOD problem.
Bios 9921 for Crosshair V is the first one to do it.

The fix will be available on all motherboards which will still get bios updated.
It is integrated in the code base supplied by AMD.

[The Stilt]

Made a small "program" (Orochi-CEG) which fixes the performance issue in CEG games.

Orochi-CEG

VirusTotal report (check the results by reputable companies...)

It is a temporary fix for the performance issue, it needs to be applied after each reset.
The permanent fix can only be provided by the motherboard vendors.

Also in case the system crashes because of the faulty microcode this fix naturally does not help.

I´ll start providing modified bioses for other boards and brands than just Asus soon.
Not official but they work.

Required system:
CPU: AMD FX 4/6/8-core processor (any stepping).
Motherboard: Any

The performance issue in Valve (Steam) CEG protected games has been
fixed TEMPORARILY. A bios update is required to permanently fix the issue.

The fix will be removed during a power cycle (reset), therefore it must
be applied after each and every reset.

This fix DOES NOT cure the crashing issue caused by a faulty microcode.
In this case you need to wait for the official fix via bios update or
download a modified bios version.

Potential effect: Up to 685% increase in minimum fps in CEG games.

[The Stilt]

New betas for Gigabyte boards (full fix):

Gigabyte GA-970A-D3 F8D (F8D)

Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 F5A (F5A)

Gigabyte GA-990XA-UD3 F10F (F10F)

Gigabyte GA-990FXA-D3 F5E (F5E)

Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 F6E V1.0 & V1.1 PCB (F6E)

Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 FCE V1.2 PCB (FCE)

Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5 F7G (F7G)

Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD7 F7F (F7F)

[mR Yellow]

Thanx Stilt, u rock even if i don't have a gigabyte mobo/

[The Stilt]

More updated bioses as promised.
Only the microcode has been updated (to fix the BSOD issue).
I cannot update the base code as I do not have access to the original bios projects (model specific).
Use together with Orochi-CEG program to completely fix the issue.

EFI bioses first as I need to change my tools for older AMI Core.

Asus M5A97 0810
Asus M5A97-EVO 0813
Asus M5A97-PRO 0810
Asus M5A99X-EVO 0813

Biostar TA-990FXE 99FAD919 Beta

MSI 990FXA-GD65 J52 Beta
MSI 990FXA-GD80 B74 Beta

Sapphire Pure Black 990FX-N 1APEF019

I suggest using Flashrom program to update the bios (in pure DOS mode via bootable USB drive).
Use command "flashrom -w filename.rom -p internal:laptop=this_is_not_a_laptop" to update the bios.

Special note for MSI bioses: These bioses did not have the BSOD issue as they were using a very old version of the microcode. I updated it to the newest version anyway. DO NOT flash MSI bioses with their integrated flasher found in bios (this is MSI´s own instructions).

[The Stilt]

Fully fixed bios for Biostar TA-990FXE (99FADB24).
New microcode and new AGESA.

[BeepBeep2]

@The Stilt
I'm running 9921 and my minimum fps @ 4.8 Ghz/2.4 NB in Counter-Strike:Source are ~15-16...also, character movement is buggy as if there is a netcode fault.

I'm not sure what I need to do to fix this as this is the "fixed" bios...minimum fps with Thuban would sometimes dip into 50 range, I usually hold 110 FPS average plus with large amount of players and maps.

I can try other games like L4D2, Portal 2, to see if it fixes the problem for those...but CS:S is unplayable and I'm now considering switching back to X6 for just that.

Min FPS in CS:S 10-15:
http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/9049/csstf.jpg
Min FPS in L4D2 15 (vsync enabled for L4D2):
http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/8554/l4d2sa.jpg

[dmandn]

Hi, is it possible to mod the crosshair iv formula (890fx) bios with this fix too? It currently has a beta bios supporting fx series cpus.

[The Stilt]

Couple of official (fully fixed) bioses by Asus:

Asus M5A97 0901

Asus M5A99X EVO 0901

Asus Crosshair V Formula 1003

[mR Yellow]

Thx.

Any word on Sabertooth?

[dmandn]

If I provide the latest bios for the crosshair iv formula, would you be able to apply the fix to it? This is the official link if it helps, http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/...-ASUS-3027.zip .


PS. If direct link like this is not allowed let me know, I will remove.

[The Stilt]

I already have modified the bios but it has not been tested.
Unless I find someone to test the bios (who has ability to hotflash) you´ll need to wait the official fix (if there will be one).

Any volunteers?

[The Stilt]

Asus M5A97 EVO 0902

Asus M5A97 PRO 0902

Fully fixed.

[wez]

Hey Stilt, possible for you to mod the Crosshair IV formula/extreme (890fx) bioses? If you get a chance, it would be highly appreciated. (I can verify the extreme version if needed)

Crosshair IV Extreme BIOS 3027:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/v87k8e...-ASUS-3027.zip

Crosshair IV formula BIOS 3027:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/vduzeb...-ASUS-3027.zip

[The Stilt]

Hey Stilt, possible for you to mod the Crosshair IV formula/extreme (890fx) bioses? If you get a chance, it would be highly appreciated. (I can verify the extreme version if needed)

Crosshair IV Extreme BIOS 3027:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/v87k8e...-ASUS-3027.zip

Crosshair IV formula BIOS 3027:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/vduzeb...-ASUS-3027.zip

This is a hard one
I´ve tried several different methods to modify the bios and they have all failed.
It seems that there are some kind of special checksum or encryption which prevents AGESA from loading if the microcode is changed.
This does not seem to be any "standard" feature by AMI so it will be hard to figure out.

[dmandn]

Just a note for those of us with Crosshair IV formulas, on the 3027 bios I have found I get BSOD if I try to open any steam-ceg game normally. However if I load the Orochi-CEG app then try the games, they ALL work......tried this over 3 restarts now.

So even though it says it doesn't fix the BSOD issue, it does for me....and maybe you too.

[The Stilt]

Thats quite... Interesting I must say.

It should not work since the code is faulty, however if it does hows the framerates you are getting?

[dmandn]

Thats quite... Interesting I must say.

It should not work since the code is faulty, however if it does hows the framerates you are getting?

I haven't done much testing, but dow II Retribution campaigns were very smooth on max everything. So far I have gone and made sure every game mentioned on sites where ceg problems were mentioned have run both with and without this app, all bsod my pc without it but with it let me run and so far dow II retribution and dirt3 definitely have good framerates. Still to try others (for framerates).

[wez]

This is a hard one
I´ve tried several different methods to modify the bios and they have all failed.
It seems that there are some kind of special checksum or encryption which prevents AGESA from loading if the microcode is changed.
This does not seem to be any "standard" feature by AMI so it will be hard to figure out.

Thats a bummer, thanks for trying

Downloading Team Fortress 2 now to see how it works with/without the Orochi-CEG app. (Haven't had any problems with any game that I actually wanted to play yet)

[The Stilt]

Asus Sabertooth 990FX 0901

Fully fixed.

Asus also released new bioses for M5A87 & M5A88 -series boards too.
However they used the same faulty microcode + old AGESA version so they do nothing to the issue...

[Tonyb]

Asus Sabertooth 990FX 0901



Fully fixed.

Asus also released new bioses for M5A87 & M5A88 -series boards too.
However they used the same faulty microcode + old AGESA version so they do nothing to the issue...

Tried the 0901 BIOS, I found it a bit flaky with my system and the memory performance was down it might have been a bad flash but for now I'm back on 0813 and everything is back to normal