(Not to beat a dead horse, but let’s pull this pony out and try a new whip…)
I’m attempting to flash an Asus CN65 with a UEFI firmware image to turn it into a Windows box. After some meticulous research I was able to determine that, because developer mode is locked out, this machine would require an unbricking using the ch341a programmer and flashing the FIZZ firmware image.
Following Mr. ChromeBox’s detailed unbricking instructions step-by-step (fantastic job, BTW!) I was able to get to the final step of Flashing Your Device, but this is where my journey halts. After running through the procedure, I keep getting one of two results…
Reading ich descriptor… done.
Couldn’t parse the descriptor!
…or…
Reading ich descriptor… done.
Invalid region specified: “bios”.
Like a crazy person, I’ve removed all newly created files and repeated the process numerous times, even with and without the hardware write protect screw for S’s & G’s. No change. The ‘parse’ issue shows up most often, with the ‘region’ popping up every now and again. Although not mentioned for Kaby Lake, I’m wondering if stepping up to 3.3V as mentioned for Bay Trail… “more reliable flashing at 3.3v though due to current leakage”… would be advisable at this point.
Below is a copy of my latest terminal session. I don’t believe I’ve missed anything here, but an extra set of eyes would be much appreciated.
echo-bravo@echo-bravo-Guado:~$ sudo flashrom -p ch341a_spi
[sudo] password for echo-bravo:
flashrom unknown on Linux 6.11.0-26-generic (x86_64)
flashrom is free software, get the source code at https://flashrom.org
Using clock_gettime for delay loops (clk_id: 1, resolution: 1ns).
Found Winbond flash chip “W25Q128.V..M” (16384 kB, SPI) on ch341a_spi.
No operations were specified.
echo-bravo@echo-bravo-Guado:~$ wget https://mrchromebox.tech/files/firmware/full_rom/coreboot_edk2-fizz-mrchromebox_20250427.rom
–2025-06-20 14:20:29-- https://mrchromebox.tech/files/firmware/full_rom/coreboot_edk2-fizz-mrchromebox_20250427.rom
Resolving mrchromebox.tech (mrchromebox.tech)… 78.47.63.107
Connecting to mrchromebox.tech (mrchromebox.tech)|78.47.63.107|:443… connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response… 200 OK
Length: 16777216 (16M)
Saving to: ‘coreboot_edk2-fizz-mrchromebox_20250427.rom’
coreboot_edk2-fizz- 100%[===================>] 16.00M 10.6MB/s in 1.5s
2025-06-20 14:20:31 (10.6 MB/s) - ‘coreboot_edk2-fizz-mrchromebox_20250427.rom’ saved [16777216/16777216]
echo-bravo@echo-bravo-Guado:~$ wget https://mrchromebox.tech/files/firmware/full_rom/coreboot_edk2-fizz-mrchromebox_20250427.rom.sha1
–2025-06-20 14:20:38-- https://mrchromebox.tech/files/firmware/full_rom/coreboot_edk2-fizz-mrchromebox_20250427.rom.sha1
Resolving mrchromebox.tech (mrchromebox.tech)… 78.47.63.107
Connecting to mrchromebox.tech (mrchromebox.tech)|78.47.63.107|:443… connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response… 200 OK
Length: 86
Saving to: ‘coreboot_edk2-fizz-mrchromebox_20250427.rom.sha1’
coreboot_edk2-fizz- 100%[===================>] 86 --.-KB/s in 0s
2025-06-20 14:20:38 (20.6 MB/s) - ‘coreboot_edk2-fizz-mrchromebox_20250427.rom.sha1’ saved [86/86]
echo-bravo@echo-bravo-Guado:~$ sha1sum -c coreboot_edk2-fizz-mrchromebox_20250427.rom.sha1
coreboot_edk2-fizz-mrchromebox_20250427.rom: OK
echo-bravo@echo-bravo-Guado:~$ sudo flashrom -p ch341a_spi -r badflash.rom
flashrom unknown on Linux 6.11.0-26-generic (x86_64)
flashrom is free software, get the source code at https://flashrom.org
Using clock_gettime for delay loops (clk_id: 1, resolution: 1ns).
Found Winbond flash chip “W25Q128.V..M” (16384 kB, SPI) on ch341a_spi.
Reading flash… done.
echo-bravo@echo-bravo-Guado:~$ ./cbfstool badflash.rom read -r RO_VPD -f vpd.bin
echo-bravo@echo-bravo-Guado:~$ ./gbb_utility badflash.rom --get --hwid | sed ‘s/^hardware_id: //’ > hwid.txt
echo-bravo@echo-bravo-Guado:~$ ./cbfstool coreboot_edk2-fizz-mrchromebox_20250427.rom add -n hwid -f hwid.txt -t raw
echo-bravo@echo-bravo-Guado:~$ sudo flashrom -p ch341a_spi -w coreboot_edk2-fizz-mrchromebox_20250427.rom --ifd -i bios
flashrom unknown on Linux 6.11.0-26-generic (x86_64)
flashrom is free software, get the source code at https://flashrom.org