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Meltdown & Spectre potpourri

I cant find it either, but that doesn't mean it didn't update. I am going into auto updates for Asus and look
 
I cant find it either, but that doesn't mean it didn't update. I am going into auto updates for Asus and look

It may just be a staggered release. The Maximus VIII Extreme previously took longer to get newer BIOS releases than some other ASUS Z170 motherboards. This time they apparently decided to push the M8E to the front.
 
Oh I don't doubt for a second the M8F is going to get it, just a matter of time. And ain't going to flash immediately. Going to let the M8E do the testing

Sent from my Nexus 6P with Tapatalk
 
Oh I don't doubt for a second the M8F is going to get it, just a matter of time. And ain't going to flash immediately. Going to let the M8E do the testing

Sent from my Nexus 6P with Tapatalk

I am going to flash the second it’s available


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
Things haven't gone to hell... yet.

2018-04-24_134142.png

Edit: ASUS held on to this BIOS update for 5 weeks before the official release as noted from the BIOS date.
 
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They haven't pushed it for the Maximus VIII Formula, apparently. Same goes for the Maximus VIII Hero, etc. It looks like the Maximus VIII Extreme is the first to get it this time around which could be a good thing or bad. At least I finally got the Intel ME updated since it was included in the 3801 BIOS update.

The 3801 changelog is a bit vague but given the date I expect that it contains the "finalized" Spectre microcode update. When I say finalized I mean more like the microcode that Microsoft pushed in KB4090007.
 
My ASUS Z87-A motherboard is way too old to expect a BIOS update so I removed the BIOS chip (it was in a socket), read it into a file with a TL866CS and modified the file with a tool I found out about here, reflashed the modified BIOS into the chip with the TL866CS and put it back in the motherboard. Hey presto I have spectre variant 2 protection microcode.

Not needed if I was running Windows 10 because the microcode is now in KB4090007 but I still run Windows 7 at the moment.
 
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They haven't pushed it for the Maximus VIII Formula, apparently. Same goes for the Maximus VIII Hero, etc. It looks like the Maximus VIII Extreme is the first to get it this time around which could be a good thing or bad. At least I finally got the Intel ME updated since it was included in the 3801 BIOS update.

The 3801 changelog is a bit vague but given the date I expect that it contains the "finalized" Spectre microcode update. When I say finalized I mean more like the microcode that Microsoft pushed in KB4090007.
Do you have the Extreme or the Formula?
 
The Extreme. That image I posted of CPU-Z is from my system. :)
For some odd reason I thought we had the same board, I wonder if the Extreme BIOS would be the same for the Formula, they are both basically the same board and nothing on them is different that involves the BIOS
 
For some odd reason I thought we had the same board, I wonder if the Extreme BIOS would be the same for the Formula, they are both basically the same board and nothing on them is different that involves the BIOS

I had wanted the Maximus VIII Formula when I went to build my system but it was impossible to locate the board for a sane amount of money. I don't know if they had ceased production or what. So, I instead got the Extreme which gave me built in wi-fi, etc. Far cheaper than the going price for the Formula. In the long run it was really the better choice.

In theory I'd agree about the BIOS but I also wouldn't gamble on it. LOL
 
I had wanted the Maximus VIII Formula when I went to build my system but it was impossible to locate the board for a sane amount of money. I don't know if they had ceased production or what. So, I instead got the Extreme which gave me built in wi-fi, etc. Far cheaper than the going price for the Formula. In the long run it was really the better choice.

In theory I'd agree about the BIOS but I also wouldn't gamble on it. LOL
The Formula even has built in wifi. The only difference has to do with the water-cooling built in fittings.
 
The Formula even has built in wifi. The only difference has to do with the water-cooling built in fittings.

For some reason I didn't think it did. Not sure why. Nonetheless, I'd expect to see the BIOS come out soon.
 
InSpectre Release #8 (2018-04-11): https://www.grc.com/inspectre.htm

Changelog:

  • Release #8 — Now shows whether an Intel microcode patch is (ever) available for Spectre.
    Intel has finished designing microcode update patches for its processors. On April 2nd, 2018, they announced that processors that have not yet been patches will never be patched. Their full statement is available in this PDF document. In that document, Intel specifies which of their many processors do have patches and which of their more recent processors will never receive updated firmware. Now that the industry has this information, this 8th release of InSpectre incorporates that list of CPUIDs and displays whether microcode firmware updates exist for the system's Intel CPU.
Note: The release date is from earlier in April so it predates Microsoft's new release of Update to enable mitigation against Spectre, Variant 2 (KB4078407).
 
There's no connection or relevance of one to the other at all for these two pieces of information.

I'm aware. InSpectre detects whether mitigations have been applied or not but not by which method: OS microcode vs BIOS microcode and/or not KB4090007 vs KB4078407. I was merely noting the newer Microsoft update also exists.
 
I'm pretty certain KB4078407 doesn't do anything on it's own, it just clears a flag in the registry some people might have set to tell windows not to bother with Spectre variant 2 mitigation even if it's available.
 
I'm pretty certain KB4078407 doesn't do anything on it's own, it just clears a flag in the registry some people might have set to tell windows not to bother with Spectre variant 2 mitigation even if it's available.

I agree given the information for KB4078407 on Microsoft's website. For whatever reason some sites are reporting the update is more than that.
 
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