SPI Programming a motherboard BIOS.

NOTE : Please follow this guide properly, and precisely, and double check EVERYTHING prior
to applying power, or plugging anything in. This is flat out dangerous, and if you aren’t
careful, you can damage your CPU or your motherboard rendering it useless. CONSIDER THIS
YOUR CAUTION TAPE AND HEED IT WISELY.
NOTE2: REMOVE ALL PARTS FROM THE PC, INCLUDING CPU, MEMORY, AND ALL ADAPTER
CARDS. IT SHOULD BE THE BARE BOARD WITH NOTHING ELSE.
NOTE 3: THIS IS PROVIDED AS AN UNOFFICIAL GUIDE AND IS NOT SUPPORTED BY MSI. DO
THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!

First off, you need to identify your BIOS chip and then find out what manufacturer it is and
what model it is.
Here’s what one of my test boards looks like, an MSI Z270 Tomahawk Arctic :
In the bottom right corner, right below the chipset heatsink, you can find JSPI1 and a small 8 pin
chip. This is shown below :
Specifically, this is an Winbond 25Q128FV chip. Doing a quick google search reveals :
http://www.winbond.com/hq/product/code-storage-flash-memory/serial-nor-
flash/?__locale=zh&partNo=W25Q128FV
As well as a datasheet : http://www.winbond.com/resource-
files/w25q128fv%20rev.m%2005132016%20kms.pdf
From this, you can see in the datasheet that this part can take a supply voltage of 2.7V to
3.6V.
THIS IS NEEDED INFORMATION! DO NOT PROCEED IF YOU DO NOT KNOW THIS
INFORMATION!
FROM THIS POINT FORWARD, THE GUIDE
CONTINUES UNDER THE ASSUMPTION THE
CHIP IS A 2.7V TO 3.6V CHIP. IF IT IS NOT, DO
NOT CONTINUE. AT THIS TIME I DO NOT HAVE
SUPPORT FOR 1.8V SPI PROGRAMMING (YET –
HOPEFULLY AN UPDATE IN THE FUTURE)
Also, in the picture above, you can see where PIN1 is. Pin 1 is right next to the small round
‘dot’ on the top of the chip. VERIFY THIS IN THE DATASHEET AS WELL! See below :

Now we have all the needed information to program the BIOS chip.
Next, we need to identify a programmer and cable that you can use.
I purchased the following 2 items from Amazon :
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013Q5P3ES/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8
&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015W4PKR6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8
&psc=1
The first item is the actual programmer. The second item is a cable adapter that you can use to
plug into the programmer, and then ‘clip’ onto the BIOS chip to easily program it.
In total, these parts cost me $21.00.
First, connect the cable adapter to the BIOS chip, BUT MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE WIRE WITH
THE DASHED RED/PINK LINES AT PIN 1 ON THE BIOS CHIP!
THIS IS TRICKY, as it should rest against the pins and not the BIOS chip. I found after playing
with it a few times, it wasn’t too bad.
See below :

DASHED WI RE

PI N 1

Now, we must connect the cable to the adapter, and then insert the adapter into the
programmer socket.
 PI N 1

LEVER

PI N 4
DASHED WI RE

First, place the cable onto the adapter, ensuring that the dotted wire is closest to the number
‘1’ marked on the adapter board.
Then, lift the small lever on the far right of the programmer upwards and insert the adapter
into the programmer with the number 4 inserted into the socket furthest from the lever. Once
it’s fully insert, press the lever back down to it’s original position as shown above.

Download and extract the software included in the POST. It should be version 1.18 (HELP-
>About). I have found that this version works as expected.
First, insert the USB Programmer into your PC. ENSURE THAT WHEN YOU DO, IT DOES NOT
PULL THE ADAPTER OFF THE BIOS CHIP ON THE BOARD! IF IT DOES, UNPLUG THE USB
PROGRAMMER AND START OVER.

Now, with the programmer installed, run “CH341A.exe” and you will be at the main screen. It
should look similar to below :
You can try pressing “DETECT” button to see if it detects the chip. For me, this worked and it
should work for you as well. It should change all the menu’s above to match. It should now
show whatever manufacturer your BIOS chip is, as well as what BIOS CHIP it is.

DO NOT PROCEED IF THIS DOES NOT WORK. IF YOU CANNOT DETECT THE CHIP PROPERLY,
THERE IS NO POINT IN TRYING TO PROGRAM AS IT WILL NOT WORK!

If you can read the chip properly, then you can pressing the “READ” button. See below :
 READ BUTTON

PROGRESS BAR

After the bar gets to 100%, you should have a screen that looks similar to above. It should no
longer show nothing but “FF” all the way across the screen anymore. In the above, you can see
that I searched through (Using the Data Buffer -> Find option, and searching for MSI) and found
where it shows “MSI Z270 TOMAHAWK ARCTIC (MS-7A68)” indicating the board.

At this point, you can click “OPEN” and load your flash file you wish to program. In my case, it
was E7A68.B20, and after opening the file, I pressed “Program” (the button next to the “Read”
button). After the progress bar showed 100% again, I closed the program, disconnected the
USB Programmer from the computer, disconnected the adapter cable from the BIOS chip, and
install your CPU, cooler, and all the other components. Verify the PC boots up and that you can
enter the BIOS.