ASUS P11C-I with ASMB9-iKVM: After FW update, password not working

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jasperk

New Member
Feb 26, 2021
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Yep, he's dead, Jim:

$> ipmitool lan print 1
Could not open device at /dev/ipmi0 or /dev/ipmi/0 or /dev/ipmidev/0: No such file or directory

Is there really no way to access the module from the BIOS or anything along these lines?
 

jasperk

New Member
Feb 26, 2021
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Alright, the new module arrived today and I can confirm that this does solve the issue. It looks like the firmware listed on Asus' website is flawed.
 

mlinsemier

New Member
Mar 5, 2021
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Alright, the new module arrived today and I can confirm that this does solve the issue. It looks like the firmware listed on Asus' website is flawed.
Answered my own question.. wrong firmware applied.. looking for a way to reflash it via dos with the right firmware
 
Last edited:

Alex0220

Active Member
Feb 13, 2021
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This module is basically the MegaRAC software from AMI. So you could ask them if there is a way to reflash it.
 

goffy59

New Member
Sep 22, 2021
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I followed Rand_' instructions and holy shit it totally solved my problem! I flashed "ASMB9_FW1153_WS_C621E_SAGE" which was wrong which caused the password issue the OP has mentioned.Thank you so much. I didn't change any jumpers or anything. I just ran SOC and flashed the latest firmware bmc for my board, then I changed the MAC addresses back after they were gone and now ALL IS WELL! Thank you so much.
 

edrose

New Member
Oct 4, 2021
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I stumbled across this thread after having the same issues described by @Alex0220. I flashed the wrong firmware and neither yaflash or socflash wouldt work. I very nearly bought a second module, but in the end I did manage to fix my issue using a Raspberry Pi that I had lying around. I'll post it here in case anyone else stumbles across it, but it's not the easiest thing to do. Unless you have experience with electronics, this is a 'try this if you have nothing else to lose' kind of job. You could easily fry the module by connecting it wrong.

The ASMB9 module that Asus sells is actually nothing more than a bog-standard 32k SPI flash chip, soldered onto a pcb with a keyed 2mm female pin header. The ".ima" firmware file is also 32k long and simply contains what needs to be flashed onto the chip, minus some persistent data such as MAC address and various persistent config variables. Nothing is encrypted or modified in any way.

I buzzed the pin header connections through to the chip with my multimeter and worked out which header pin connected to which pin on the chip. From that I was able to produce a pinout as below. This pinout has the 2mm header pointing upwards (i.e the module is upside down compared to where it would sit on the motherboard), and with the header connector on the right.

Code:
 N/C □ □ GND
N/C □ □ GND
N/C □ □ WP
CLK □ □ N/C
  DO □ □ N/C
  CS □ ■ KEY - no hole here
3.3v □ □ DI
Looking at the Raspberry Pi pinout, connect the pins as follows:
Code:
3.3v <=> 3v3 Power
GND  <=> Ground (only one is necessary)
CLK  <=> SPI0 SCLK (GPIO 11)
CS   <=> SPI0 CE0 (GPIO 8)
DO   <=> SPI0 MISO (GPIO 9)
DI   <=> SPI0 MOSI (GPIO10)
WP   <=> Don't connect anywhere
You then can power the Pi and check that the led on the ASMB9 lights up, indicating that the power leads were connected correctly. If it doesn't light up, pull the plug and re-check your connections. It's likely that other connections are wrong too.

Once booted into the Raspberry Pi, you need a utility called "flashrom". It can be installed from the command line using sudo apt update followed by sudo apt install flashrom, but the version it installed was too old for me to flash this chip with. Depending on how old this post is, you might be able to simply install it and skip building it from source.

To build the latest version from source you need to run the following commands (from memory, apologies if there are mistakes)
Code:
sudo apt update
sudo apt remove flashrom
sudo apt install build-essential git libusb-1.0-0-dev libpci-dev libftdi-dev
git clone https://github.com/flashrom/flashrom.git
cd flashrom
make
sudo make install
Ensure you have the correct kernel modules loaded:
Code:
sudo modprobe spi_bcm2835
sudo modprobe spidev
Check that everything is connected correctly:
Code:
sudo flashrom -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev0.0,spispeed=1000
If the above command fails, check your connections. If it works, backup your current firmware:
Code:
sudo flashrom -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev0.0,spispeed=1000 -r backup.ima
Flash the new firmware to the chip:
Code:
sudo flashrom -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev0.0,spispeed=1000 -w <new_fw_file>.ima
The process takes about 15 minutes. Once it's done, you still need to write the MAC addresses back into the chip as described by @Rand_ . In my case, the MAC address was printed on a sticker on the module itself. The second MAC address was identical to the first, but with 1 added to the final byte (1st MAC ended :FE, 2nd MAC ended :FF).

I hope that this is helpful to someone.
 

sdealmeida

New Member
Mar 18, 2023
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I ran into the same issue with my Asus ASMB9-iKVM module after updating it via the iKVM GUI. I used the drivers provided from the Asus P11C-I page. Not sure if the drivers they give are bad, or not compatible with my iKVM, but after updating it, my iKVM was bricked.

I followed the steps from above (using the raspberry pi) and I was able to fix my module.

Not sure if I can post links, but google "DriversCollection ASUS P11C-I ASMB9-iKVM Firmware v.1.12.11" and you should find a working firmware.
As for the MAC address, if you don't know which one you have, you can make one up. You can also login to your modem portal and find the MAC address in the logs (from when the iKVM was working).